Cycle of Learning - The Enigma Emporium Season Two - Veritas - Card One

 My partner and I are back at it after a break - delving into the second set of cards in The Enigma Emporium's second season - The Cycle of Learning. We started with Trial By Cipher, and are now working our way through Veritas, which features an X-files-esque cover photo of some guys in a moodily-lit field. Not that this is the only order - the EE website has the four sets of puzzles 'linked' but not in any particular order. In we go.

The front of our first card features a space rocket lift off against a background of stars, some lines which I presume will be constellations/words on the back, song lyrics from Frank Turner's "Silent Key," and the words Island Maze Tsunami Parliament, with an arrow pointing to 'maze'. 

On the reverse, deep purple pretty, there are two sides. On the left, an encrypted message overlaying a series of circles/orbits with dark print denoting some of Jupiter's moons. Down the center there is a website pointing us to a page at our friends The Infiniti Institute that doesn't, at least at first attempt, appear to exist. On the right hand side, we have: a picture of Galileo, discoverer of the first 4 of Jupiter's at least 79 moons; a stamp with a little spy icon 'cancelled' with a stamp requesting a password; and a series of numbers in X.Y format. First thought, MoonofJupiter.Letternumber

I abandon my partner on that and go work on the cipher. I can solve the first few lines easily, as a logic puzzle then realize that the different orbits are different ciphers. As I'm talking, my partner realizes they're not cryptograms per se but Caesar ciphers, based on the order in which they were named. 

• (Callisto: +4): I have learned much in my years undercover. Hopefully what I am now bringing the Institute will 
• (Callisto + Sinope: 4+9=13) serve the gre
• (Sinope:+9) at understanding  
• (Elara + Sinope: 7+9): for which we
• (Sinope: +9) stri
• (Sinope+Europe: 9+2=11) ve
• (Europa:2) seven
• (Elara + Sinope: 7+9): years at NASA
• (Sinope+Europa: 9+2=11): and eight
• (Europa: 2) more at
• (Elara + Sinope: 7+9): my present i
• Sinope+Europe: 9+2=11): nfiltratio
• (Europa:2) n have
• (Sinope:+9): shown me many
• (Sinope+Europa: 9+2=11): secrets
• (Europa:2) Of those,
• (Sinope:+9): I am writing to
• (Sinope+Europa: 9+2=11): prese
• (Europa:2):nt to you
• (Sinope:+9): the greatest

I have learned much in my years undercover. Hopefully what I am now bringing the Institute will serve the great understanding for which we strive. Seven years at NASA and eight more at my present infiltration have shown me many secrets. Of those, I am writing to present to you the greatest. 

Space spies? I feel like I've seen that movie, but I'll totally watch it again :) Gives us an idea, though, for the coordinates. There've only been 5 space shuttles (Enterprise apparently never flew outside earth atmosphere), and none of the second coordinate goes above 5. So, Letternumber.SpaceShuttle? Would be in keeping with the Challenger quote on the front. In order, they were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.

That gives us:

• 1.4 - 1.Atlantis: A
• 6.3 - 6.Discovery:V
• 1.2 - 1.Challenger:C
• 2.4 - 2.Atlantis: T
• 4.5 - 4.Endeavour: A
• 3.1 - 3.Columbia: L
• 7.4 - 7.Atlantis: I
• 8.1 - 8.Columbia: A
• 8.1 - 8.Columbia: A
• 7.4 - 7.Atlantis: I
• 2.2 - 2.Challenger: H
• 5.3 - 5.Discovery: O

And that makes no sense to us, either. Bah, humbug. Maybe it's the quote on the front? Word.Line? Not making any more sense....

• 1.4 - Were
• 6.3 - I
• 1.2 - Led
• 2.4 - Down
• 4.5 - ???

Letter.Line? Not any better. I still think the arrow pointing to the Maze must have something to do with it. 

• 1.4 - W
• 6.3 - A
• 1.2 - L
• 2.4 - E
• 4.5 - N
• 3.1 - E
• 7.4 - W
• 8.1 - N
• 8.1 - N

Does the song have anything to do with it? Line.Word?

• 1.4 - Of
• 6.3 - I'm
• 1.2 - The
• 2.4 - As

We give up, and go look for a clue. It turns out that the gentleman isn't Galileo, but Claudius Ptolemy. He came up with the geocentric universe, at which point maybe these are in the order he thought the "planets," including the sun and moon, orbited the earth? Earth (center), Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Eureka! Transmission

• 1.4 - T
• 6.3 - R
• 1.2 - A
• 2.4 - N
• 4.5 - S
• 3.1 - M
• 7.4 - I
• 8.1 - S
• 8.1 - S
• 7.4 - I
• 2.2 - O
• 5.3 - N

Not sure what that gets us, as the institute doesn't have a /transmission. The full message would be 'ask me about the transmission'. Does he have his own institute page? No, apparently not. 

We go back for another hint. The arrow wasn't just pointing at 'Maze'. *sigh* We find the website. 

We get a name using the 'constellations', following another website hint. This card is really requiring a lot hints, and would potentially require us to either write on or cut up the card, neither of which we want to do. Wire? String? My digital image software skills are lacking, so we go with the full hint. We put the full name into the website, and get an email address. Presumably to ask about the transmission? We, of course, do so, presuming as well that it has to do with the search for extra terrestrial life that his bio mentions. 

We get an email response, and other website, which requires another password. Meanwhile, apparently the transmission in question is something that conspiracy theorists said was sent by Neil Armstrong himself having seen aliens on the moon. Still, not the password. And then we do a google image search - it's Chrome's "Incognito Mode" icon. FFS. The result is apparently the aforementioned missing tape. Hmf.

I'm afraid this wasn't a particularly auspicious start to the second set of Enigma Emporium's Cycle of Learning - Veritas. While it goes well into the theme of the card and the X-files vibe, the puzzles themselves require more online sleuthing and digital manipulation than solving. My favorite part was honestly solving the cryptogram before realizing it was a Caesar cipher. I had fun, because hanging out with my puzzling partner doing puzzles is fun no matter what, but it didn't feel as satisfying as some of the other puzzles. I hope the rest of the set have more ciphers and less Google Image search.