Here is a rather longish recap of where we are and how we got here:
Walterdw released a new video titled A Proper "Introduction"
We have learned he has left clues in this video that will ultimately lead us to his true identity. The name WalterDW is a shield he created to protect himself until we earn is trust.
At the beginning of the video, numbers and letters flash by the screen
Theresascraps discovered these lead to http://tinyurl.com/36gy77, which redirected us to craigs list where Walter had posted a string of
base64 code which translated to
We knew the Soviets had them. They were at least ten years ahead of
us. The Kirov and Sverdlovsk facilities were producing results before we
had even begun. It wasn't hard for some half-witted military drones to
weaponize the standards, although I do feel for the whitecoats. Lovett
wanted something more from us, the intellectual elite. We were to
produce a more discrete product.
gaagagcaagcgccatgttgaagccatcattaccattcacatccctcttattcctgcagctgcccctgctggg
agtggggctgaacacgacaattctgacgcccaatgggaatgaagacggatccaccacagctgtcgagtg
ggaaatctgggactggagggggctggtgagaagggtggctgtgggaaggggccgtacagagatctggt
gcctgccactggccattacaatcatgtgggcagaattgaaaagtggagtgggaagggcaagggggagg
gttccctgcctcacgctacttcttctttctttcttgtttgtttgtttctttctttcttttgaggcagggtctcactatgttg
cctaggctggtctcaaacggatcctcctggctcgactctagtgatcctcctgcctcagcctttcaaagcacca
ggattacagacatgagccaccgtgcttggcctcctccttctgaccatcatttctctttccctccctgccttcatttt
ctccccaatctagatttcttcctgaccactatgcccactgactccctcagtgtttccactctgcccctcccagga
tccgaggttcagtgttttgtgttcaatgtcgacatatgagcatggcgaccagcaccttcagtgcgcagtgtgg
cccggagcatcattacctggctgaacattcttctatttttaatggcgtcttcagccagcagcttaaaaacaac
cttatctactttccctcctcctactttccctcctcccgcttgagggtaggccccatccccccctttcgagtacatg
gatccgaattgcacttggaacagcagctctgagccccagcctaccaacctcactctgcattattggtatgag
aagggacgagggggaggggatgaagaagaggtgggttggatcagagaccaagagagagggtagca
agtctcccaggtaccccactgttttctcctggggtaagtcataagtcggttgaggggagatgaggctaggct
ctggatatctgcagtacccagattggccccactgttcctcttccttccatcgaacctttctcctctaggtacaag
aactcggataatgaggatcctaaagtccagaagtgcagccactatctattctctgaagaaatcacttctggc
tgtcagttgcaaaaaaaggagatccacctctaccaaacatttgttgttcagctccaggacccacgggaacc
caggagacaggccacacagatgctaaaactgcagaatctgggtaatttggaaagaaagggtcaagag
accagggatactgtgggacattggagtctacagagtagtgttcttttatcataagggtacatgggcagaaa
agaggaggtaggggatcatgatgggaagggaggaggtattaggggcactaccttcaggatcctgacttg
tctaggccagggtcgagaatgaccacatatgcacacatatctccagtgatcccctgggctccagagaacct
aacacttcacaaactgagtgaatcccggatccagctagaactgaactggaacaacagattcttgaaccac
tgtttggagcacttggtgcagtaccggactgactgggaccacagctggactgtgagtgactagggacgtg
aatgtagcagctaaggccaagaa
1(+8 ) 1 3(+7) 2(-1) 3(-6) 1(+4) 1(+3) 2(+3) 5 1 6 1 1(-1) 4 7 2 6 9 9 1 5 4 1 1 2 3 1 2 4 4(+1) 5(-1) 5 3 9 9 1 3 1(+1) 1 4 1(+2) 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2(+1) 4 1 7 6 1 6 7 1
TOSG decoded this to find a hidden message:
"I had new hope after meeting her. I had my reels back. Three Three R Five Nine P"
which lead to another tinyurl
Leads to
http://tinyurl.com/33R59P
TOSG's recap on how he did it:
Okay, here's my explanation. I wish that I had some brilliant, razor-like solution, but I'm afraid that I just used logic and persistence, with a few guiding principles.
1) Looking at a BLAST (
http://130.14.29.110/BLAST/ ; look at "nblast") alignment of the sequence, I saw that there were three large regions of human DNA, and two regions of DNA sequence that did not match with any known DNA source.
2) So, I hypothesized, as before, that the unmatched DNA was likely where the message was encoded (as Walter could have free reign to encode any message he liked there, rather than being constrained to a given sequence of human DNA).
3) Thus, I manually removed most of the regions that had homology with the human DNA, so I could focus on the (in my estimation) important part of the sequence.
4) So, I made a restriction map of this sequence (on the NEBCutter 2.0 program), showing all the restriction enzymes that cut the sequence.
5) I noticed that BamHI was a double-cutter of this sequence (BamHI is a commonly used enzyme, so that tipped me off), and removed the rest of two of the human DNA regions. So, I cut the DNA with that.
6) I then looked at this fragment in NEBCutter, again.
7) Given the clue that TaqI might be used (see my previous post), I searched for that, and found that it cut three times.
I counted up that Walter had given instructions for decoding 61 letters, so I looked for a DNA fragment that was 61*3 = 183 bases long.
9) Awesome! I found that two of the TaqI cut sites combined to leave behind a 183-base pair sequence!
10) I put this sequence into a protein translator, and then grinded away at decoding the letters, according to the same principles as last time.
So, there you have it! Probably not the most elegant way to do it, but it worked, and pretty fast.
For the curious, the DNA sequence is: cgacatatgagcatggcgaccagcaccttcagtgcgcagtgtggcccggagcatcattacctggctgaa
cattcttctatttttaatggcgtcttcagccagcagcttaaaaacaaccttatctactttccctcctcctactttccctcctcccgcttgagggtaggccccatcccccccttt
And the protein sequence is: R H M S M A T S T F S A Q C G P E H H Y L A E H S S I F N G V F S Q Q L K N N L I Y F P S S Y F P S S R L R V G P I P P F
this second tinyurl lead us to a telegram from WD
MY NEW ACQUAINTANCES
I FEAR THAT I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST YOU STOP
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU SOMEHOW MANAGED TO PROPERLY CUT THE DNA STOP
I AM SURPRISED STOP
THE FIRST CUT MAY BE THE DEEPEST, BUT THE SECOND ENZYME WAS MORE SIGNIFICANT STOP
I SUPPOSE THAT IT IS TIME THAT I LET YOU KNOW MY FULL IDENTITY STOP
TO FIND IT YOU WILL HAVE TO SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEQUENCE THAT GOT YOU HERE STOP
With these letters stamped on the paper
wnhwyry
aaanay
aagwehjjh
nauaj
The paper the telegram was written on had a number 11226 or possibly 11228 cut off at the top of the paper. Originally I thought they might mean something, but now my thought is they were just random arbitrary numbers on the paper, although I suppose it's possible he could have used them as a key to encode something. But probably not. We have learned we have a vigenere cipher which requires letters for the passphrase, not numbers.
We have taken so long in decoding this and finding Walters true identity, that he gave us a hint through a change in his profile "You act as if I gave you a chiffre indéchiffrable" (French for 'the unbreakable cipher') and which is understood to be a Vigenère cipher.
In order to uncover the true Identity of WalterDW, we must decipher this Vigenère cipher he left us in the telegram.
Hope this makes sense and is helpful to everyone
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Need a moderator to handle that request - maybe Trainer? That might help breathe some new life into this. I fear we are failing Walter, and the old fart is 87. We've gotta handle this before we loose him 