On the Subject of the Cipher Machine
A machine that knows no bounds when it comes to ciphers.
- The big screens on the left are labeled 1 - 4, top to bottom. The smaller screens on the right are labeled A - D, top to bottom.
- The screen on the bottom right not only displays the current page number, but also displays what cipher it uses via a 2 letter key. It also acts like a submit button while in submission mode.
- To enter submission mode, type on the module using the keyboard below. Submit the decrypted word to solve the module.
The text on the 1st screen on page 1 is the encrypted word. This word can be 4 - 8 letters long. Each page after the first displays the cipher that the module used.
Each cipher has at least 1 page to display what cipher it uses on the page number/submit button screen. Use the 2 letter key after the page number to determine which cipher it used. Then, follow the steps to decrypt the encrypted word.
By default, there is a total of 3 ciphers that the word was encrypted by. Follow the instruction for each cipher in page number order to decrypt your encrypted word.
Sometimes a cipher might say "Convert the letter on screen N to a Value via the Value Table". Use the letter on the Value Table to get a value from it.
More often, a cipher might say "If the Boolean Expression on screen N is true...". The first letter determines the Boolean Expression it uses. Convert the letter(s) after that via the Value Table to represent X and/or Y.
If a cipher says to "Create a key using the keyword and the Boolean Expression", do the following instructions:
- 1. Remove any duplicate letters from the keyword, keeping each letter’s first occurrence.
- 2. Then take the alphabet and remove any occurrences of all the letters in your current key.
- 3. If the Boolean expression is true, place the alphabet at the end of your key. Otherwise place the alphabet at the beginning of your key.