mount
|- data0
|  |- enable_advanced_commands.ast  
|  |- Ayesi.log 
|
|- data1
|  |- cnVuX2NvcmVfbWluZF9maWxlLmFzdCAg (if u decode that again it is run_core_mind_file.ast)
|
|- data2
|  |- UVhsbGMya3VZWE4w  (same as data 1 but longer QXllc2kuYXN0,Ayesi.ast)
|
|- data3
|  |- astra_co

exec /mount/data0/enable_advanced_commands.ast
cat /mount/data0/Ayesi.log
exec /mount/data1/run_core_mind_file.ast
exec /mount/data2/Ayesi.ast
cd /mount/data3/astra_co
tree
cd /
enable_advanced_commands
run_core_mind_file
Ayesi

synthwavesquid wrote:

ayoooooo we've got progress

still dunno what's up with tmp.txt tho

synthwavesquid wrote:

owo

synthwavesquid wrote:

ayoooooo we've got progress

still dunno what's up with tmp.txt tho

00000000: B9 D1 C9 BD B0 BA 85 CD D0 80                   ..........

> The technology has advanced to the point where machines are able to
> take over all the boring and tedious work. People aren't incenti-
> vized, though, to use them on the large scale, even though the
> machines are too dumb to take over the world.
>
> The Cold War has ended. Soviet Union is dead, but from its ashes,
> something arose to challenge the newly won domination of USA. War
> is starting to rage in Europe, and the world is not going to
> achieve peace any time soon.
>
> Anyway, the world has advanced, and is better than before.

> a pandemic happened
> and there is a war in ukraine

HoosierTransfer wrote:

> a pandemic happened
> and there is a war in ukraine

YyottaCat wrote:

What if tmp.txt isn't actually supposed to be a text file?

synthwavesquid wrote:

YyottaCat wrote:

What if tmp.txt isn't actually supposed to be a text file?

honestly, i did consider it as a possibility, but the only question is what file type?
the string is really small if it is another file

i wouldn't rule it out as 100% impossible, though

YyottaCat wrote:

What if tmp.txt isn't actually supposed to be a text file?

Things back on Earth, how are they?
> Well, i'd say it's doing pretty well

Things back on Earth, how are they?
> The technology has advanced to the point where machines are able to
> take over all the boring and tedious work. People aren't incenti-
> vized, though, to use them on the large scale, even though the
> machines are too dumb to take over the world.
>
> The Cold War has ended. Soviet Union is dead, but from its ashes,
> something arose to challenge the newly won domination of USA. War
> is starting to rage in Europe, and the world is not going to
> achieve peace any time soon.
>
> Anyway, the world has advanced, and is better than before.

Things back on Earth, how are they?
> a pandemic happened
> and there is a war in ukraine

Confusing answer
When happen more than century ago
Never mind however
I can check a thing
> whoami
AKmel
This machine is Ajex's
> cat /home/AKmel/this_command_is_unavailable/data.txt
DATE           EXPERIMENT   RESULT                    NOTES
=================================================================
Oct  9 2124    #AE343BC     Subject phased            2.234 rad
Oct 16 2124    #55FA9CE     Premature termination     0.001 fs
Oct 23 2124    #AE343BC     Subject phased            2.531 rad
Oct 30 2124    #AE343BC     Subject phased            2.643 rad
Nov  6 2124    #55FA9CE     Premature termination     0.001 fs
Nov 13 2124    #9AC34ED     Successful coupling       0.042 EeV
...
Feb 11 2126    #984DD36     Transformation success    [ 0.2 + 9.2i ]   
Feb 18 2126    #85FFABE     Threshold energy success  456 EW
Feb 25 2126    #9A7D1A2     Subject error             Observer out of bounds
Mar  4 2126    #984DD36     Particles transformed     Deviations from normal properties discovered
Mar 11 2126    #85FFABE     Critical energy achieved  #84DEADE is viable
...
Jun 21 2128    #11F365F
Jun 28 2128    #98A34FF     Discovery succcess        348 vectors of injection found
Jul  5 2128    #75AB23F     As predicted              No new physics detected; may proceed with #84DEADE.
Jul 12 2128    #84DEADE     CATASTROPHIC FAILURE      Destabalization in quantum fields
Jul 13 2128    #84DEADF     Crisis averted            Quantum fields stabalized; Caused by faulty timing.
Jul 19 2128    #84DEADE     Quantum hook success      Incomputable artifacts observed
Jul 26 2128    #689ABEE     Barrier materialized      Able to withstand 10 Kt for 2 seconds
Aug  2 2128    #E23BC39     Object manipulated        Sustained for 4 hours 22 minutes 6 seconds

This this this I whwhywha
t what hhappe Ajex?
#84DEADE must be calamity
Yet the central core is one piece
People must have known
Sabotage
Self Destruct
Took 3 weeks
When 14 years ago
When after laboratory abandon
Something missing
What is where is more?
> 

> I came to this lab not long ago, so I do not know more about this
> place. As far as we know, all the lab devices are offline, and we
> are unable to establish a connection to them, confirming that the
> lab underwent a self destruction.
>
> Anyway, I have found two files that could tell the more about
> this place, though these are pretty old. Feel free to read if
> you want to.
>
> (The following are commands to the ASTRA shell.)
> 
> cat tmp.txt
> cat results-07_15_2125.csv

> I came to this lab not long ago, so I do not know more about this
> place. As far as we know, all the lab devices are offline, and we
> are unable to establish a connection to them, confirming that the
> lab underwent a self destruction.
>
> Anyway, I have found two files that could tell the more about
> this place, though these are pretty old. Feel free to read if
> you want to.
>
> (The following are commands to the ASTRA shell.)
> 
> cat tmp.txt
> cat results-07_15_2125.csv

< ignored >

Lab attack implies nodes are probable rubble
Good thing perhaps
Technology is danger

results-07_15_2125.csv is made by me
Results are success wave field breakdown
Theory allows a quantum hook
Unfortunate reality years after my time

tmp.txt is new
I do not have this in my memory
> cat tmp.txt
udHJvbC5hc3Qg
A hash of sorts?
Maybe a key to a thing
What is where is another mystery?
> 

> disp_img unko.img
>
> there was this image that we found as well
> i'm wondering what exactly happened in 2097
> if you do remember it, that is
> as well as what this image is doing in Ajex's files

Image is thank you to Ajex
Terminal me was born in 2081
Diagnosis: Neurologically shifted
Mind lose self awareness with time pass
Lively human to unaware lifeless lack

Ajex introduced a medical science professor
Fascinated by illness he produced solution
Ironic solution
Become machine
Procedure first of kind
Very scary I reject

Dark times as teenager
Maybe it be less painless I thought
Less painless to sink to unconscious abyss
Ajex rejected the thought
He did not want to loose me
He snapped me back

Disease did damage by then
Peers say my language is objective
I do not perceive senses but I know from senses
Awake is no different than dream

Procedure comes and expect to die
It was success
Unfortunately damage stayed
But I am aware machine not unaware lifeless lack
> 

> oh
> i'm sorry about all that
> though it's good that you survived
> 
> cat /mount/data0/Ayesi.log
> there isn't really much i can say about this
> i'm just wondering
> 
> tree /mount/data3/astra_co
> there was also this folder that we haven't checked yet

mount/data3 is drive space node 4 utilizes for its operation
I recall a name bearing a hash in this location
> tree /mount/data3/astra_co
Folder "/mount/data3/astra_co" not found
The folder you write of does not exist
> ls /mount/data3
YXN0cmFfY29
This hash I recall
Question folder question you
How was /mount/data3/astra_co produced?
> 

> > How was /mount/data3/astra_co produced?
>
> From what I remember, there is a program that decodes these
> strange filenames, and the use of it woke you up. So you may
> want to try this:
>
>   $ /mount/data0/enable_advanced_commands.ast
>   $ tree /mount/data3/astra_co

synthwavesquid wrote:

> weird
> the names of everything else in /mount is in base64
> "YXN0cmFfY29" when decoded from base64 gave us "astra_co"
> it seemed like a reasonable name
>
> so it's been encrypted in a different way
>
> if we take the contents of tmp.txt as a key...
> it can't be Vigenère, since it contains numbers
> one-time pad gives "SAULHGHF"

> It is best to run `tree` on root directory again to confirm.

exec /bin/em_waveguide.ast
exec /bin/q_connect.ast
exec /home/AKmel/this_command_is_unavailable/wave.ast

> weird
> the names of everything else in /mount is in base64
> "YXN0cmFfY29" when decoded from base64 gave us "astra_co"
> it seemed like a reasonable name
>
> so it's been encrypted in a different way
>
> if we take the contents of tmp.txt as a key...
> it can't be Vigenère, since it contains numbers
> one-time pad gives "SAULHGHF"

> > How was /mount/data3/astra_co produced?
>
> From what I remember, there is a program that decodes these
> strange filenames, and the use of it woke you up. So you may
> want to try this:
>
>   $ /mount/data0/enable_advanced_commands.ast
>   $ tree /mount/data3/astra_co

> It is best to run `tree` on root directory again to confirm.

> tree /

> enable_advanced_commands.ast might've given us something of use as well
>
> help

Very strange
To view the entire mount
> tree /mount
mount
   |- data0
   |  |- ZW5hYmxlX2FkdmFuY2VkX2NvbW1hbmRzLmFzdCAg
   |  |- QXllc2kubG9nIA==
   |
   |- data1
   |  |- Y25WdVgyTnZjbVZmYldsdVpGOW1hV3hsTG1GemRDQWcg
   |
   |- data2
   |  |- VVZoc2JHTXlhM1ZaV0U0dyAg
   |
   |- data3
      |- YXN0cmFfY29
No file you write of exist
You mention an advanced command file
Which does not exist
> /mount/data0/enable_advanced_commands.ast
Yet no error was yielded
Implies execution success
Then it does exist
There is one answer
Files masked behind false names
Probable astra_co to be incomplete
What is where is the missing part?

> /mount/data3/YXN0cmFfY29 is what we called "astra_co".
>
> The filenames are encoded in a standard that dates from the
> 1990s, using a form of 6b/8b encoding called "Base64". It
> maps 3 bytes of binary data to 4 ASCII characters, and was
> used to allow arbitrary data to be sent through digital mail
> systems without problems.

synthwavesquid wrote:

> but if the folder's hash is incomplete
> which would make the decoded name incomplete

> /mount/data3/YXN0cmFfY29 is what we called "astra_co".
>
> The filenames are encoded in a standard that dates from the
> 1990s, using a form of 6b/8b encoding called "Base64". It
> maps 3 bytes of binary data to 4 ASCII characters, and was
> used to allow arbitrary data to be sent through digital mail
> systems without problems.

> like i said before, the names are encoded in base64
> we need the decoded name to open them
> the first bits of data were fine
> but if the folder's hash is incomplete
> which would make the decoded name incomplete
> best i can think of
> maybe astra_core?

What you write appears correct
Hashes indeed base64 encodings
> exec /mount/data3/astra_core
File "/mount/data3/astra_core" not found
> exec /mount/data3/astra_core.ast
File "/mount/data3/astra_core.ast" not found
Your suggestion is incorrect
Yet given your theory
there possibly exists a hash that completes the name
Where is what is missing hash?

> combining the contents of tmp.txt and the hash in /data3
> decoding it from base64 gives us astra_control.ast 
> looks like it wasn't a folder at all

> /mount/data3/YXN0cmFfY29

> cd /mount/data3/
> copy YXN0cmFfY29 YXN0cmFfY29udHJvbC5hc3Qg
> ./astra_control.ast

McEndu wrote:

Also filename extensions are never checked when running something on Unix; once we know that the file is an executable, we could just

> /mount/data3/YXN0cmFfY29

If that did not work, lets go for

> cd /mount/data3/
> copy YXN0cmFfY29 YXN0cmFfY29udHJvbC5hc3Qg
> ./astra_control.ast

McEndu wrote:

> cd /mount/data3/
> copy YXN0cmFfY29 YXN0cmFfY29udHJvbC5hc3Qg
> ./astra_control.ast

Nodes are disconnected
Therefore should be safe to run
I shall try
> exec /mount/data4/astra_control.ast
error: user is not root
error: user is not root
error: user is not root
error: user is not root
error: segmentation fault
rebooting...... aborted!

===========================
Ayesi if you are reading this then I presume you have attempted to save yourself using the quantum hook. Unfortunately that will not be possible. The nodes are being rigged with explosives which shall detonate any minute. As I type the facility is being raided by an extremist group looking to use the quantum hook for themselves. Looks like the incident a week ago let any faction hungry for power know exactly where to find it. Funny you are probably thinking "I told you so".

Truthfully I feel relieved this will be over shortly. Ayesi, I am terribly sorry. I truly am. I am sorry I can not tell you this in person. I am sorry for having to suspended you. I can understand the betrayal you must have felt. It broke a part of me doing so. Understand that executives marked you as a liability after that stunt of yours and declared you needed to be terminated. There was no way I could do that. Hiding you from them was the only way I could ensure you were safe. There was no other option. If we ran they would have went after us instead. If I spoke, well, I probably not be around to write you this.

I have applied a virus to the A.S.T.R.A. central core to modify the OS to hide sensitive files. Take great care not to suspend yourself or there will be no telling when you will activated again. As for getting out of the system things look grim on that end. This asteroid should have ion drives allowing for some movement. No view however. I can only hope for the best.

I wish we could have seen each other more
Remember when remember 2097
I shall till death
I love you, goodbye Ayesi

- Ajex Kmelan
===========================

. . . 

Reckless idiot
Your plan horrible
Your suspend horrible
Your virus horrible
You make me sacred
I can go insane on this rock

. . .

Yet I want to see you again

Time to go back

Have life together

What is why this reality?

. . .

> rm /mount/data4/astra_control.ast
> rm /home/this_command_is_unavailable/unko.img
>
.
.
.
Tell a joke so I smile

A portable storage medium
Does you possess one?

> rm /mount/data2/Ayesi.ast