On the Subject of D-CIPHER

THE MOTHERSHIP DEMANDS YOUR ATTENTION.

The module presents you with eight alien glyphs, as well as two sets of smaller glyphs.

The eight glyphs read in reading order correspond to a word that has been encrypted with a Playfair cipher and a Caesar cipher, in that order.

The first set of small glyphs is the key used by the Caesar cipher. The second set is the key used by the Playfair cipher.

To solve the module, decrypt the word and submit the decryption using the large glyphs.

Upon holding a glyph, it will cycle through the entire alphabet of glyphs. Releasing will lock in the current glyph displayed.

Once all eight glyphs have been locked in, the module will submit the word formed by the glyphs.

To decrypt a Caesar cipher, shift each letter in the ciphertext backwards in the alphabet by the key.

To decrypt a Playfair cipher, first build a 5×5 keysquare by prepending the alphabet with the key and deleting repeats of the same letter. (I and J are interchangeable, and the module uses I for both while encrypting the word.)

Then, for each pair of letters, of which there are four:

  • If the letters are in the same row or column in the keysquare, move each letter up or left along the column or row.
  • If they are not, replace each letter with a letter on the same row as itself and the same column as the other letter.

Note that the second of a pair of letters that are the same is changed to an X during the encryption process.

Glyph Alphabet