Cole Johnson send a new email with the subject
Phase 1 Recruits: ɛ Challenge
Phase 1 Recruits,
Congratulations on your progress so far. Soon we will be opening up Phase 2. In preparation for that, please discuss amongst yourselves and select a candidate from each of the 4 Divisions.
In the meantime, we can use your help in deciphering a strange series of photos sent in to our public contact.
The images are accessible at EPSILONIMAGES. Any information you can figure out will be useful.
-Cole
The same message was added to the Database on the internal website:
Phase 1 Recruits: ɛ Challenge
Record ID: RECRUITP104
Last Update: Nov. 9, 2020, 11 a.m.
Filed by: cjohnson
Phase 1 Recruits,
Congratulations on your progress so far. Soon we will be opening up Phase 2. In preparation for that, please discuss amongst yourselves and select a candidate from each of the 4 Divisions.
In the meantime, we can use your help in deciphering a strange series of photos sent in to our public contact.
The images are accessible at EPSILONIMAGES. Any information you can figure out will be useful.
-Cole
EPSILONIMAGES
The given Record ID leads to a new entry with several images
ɛ Images
Record ID: EPSILONIMAGES
Last Update: Nov. 9, 2020, 11 a.m.
Filed by: cjohnson
| image | filename | location |
|---|---|---|
 |
apple | NYC: 5th Ave & W 25th St |
 |
big | NYC: 4th Ave & E 12th St |
 |
intersection | NYC: 1st Ave & E 14th St |
 |
names | Space Needle, Seattle, US |
 |
near | NYC: 2nd Ave & E 5th St |
 |
PVKOWIUCTZD | Eifel tower, Paris, France |
 |
the | NYC: 3rd Ave & E 23rd St |
 |
using | YTN Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower), Soul, South Korea |
 |
vigenere | Coit Tower, San Francisco, US |
Solution
Intersections
The intersection images names when sorted by Ave we get:
Intersection near the big apple
Remark: It seems that the puzzle was meant to be solved in the other direction —> First: Find the above right sentence —> Second: Determine that "Intersection.png" belongs to 1st Ave, "near.png" to 2nd Ave and so on. Should be a help in finding the right Intersections.
The right order of the intersections:
| filename | Ave | St | letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| intersection | 1st | E 14th St | 14 = "N" |
| near | 2nd | E 5th St | 5 = "E" |
| the | 3rd Ave | E 23rd St | 23 = "W" |
| big | 4th Ave | E 12th St | 12 = "L" |
| apple | 5th Ave | W 25th St | 25 = "Y" |
Translating the Streets into letters 1 = "A", 2 = "B", … results in
NEWLY
Towers
This leaves the tower images names. Sorting them again into a meaningful sentence
vigenere PVKOWIUCTZD using names
And repetively using the tower names as vigenere keys results in:
PVKOWIUCTZD + COITTOWER (as Key) = NHCVDUYYCXP
NHCVDUYYCXP + NSEOULTOWER (as Key) = APYHJJFKGTY
APYHJJFKGTY + EIFFELTOWER (as Key) = WHTCFYMWKPH
WHTCFYMWKPH + SPACENEEDLE (as Key) = ESTABLISHED
leading to the final phrase:
NEWLY ESTABLISHED
