After we filled Kylie in all on the info, she didn't seem that surprised. She just nodded her head and followed us.
We made a map of the area as we went to keep track of where we were going. The secret passage that Zqartx came from was filled with corridors, and many drawers and cabinets were open, probably when Zqartx was investigating them.
We found a few papers, but these said SPYDER was planning to bomb the Washington Monument, not bomb somewhere in California, as another paper said before. All these clues and puzzles still floated around in my head, and I was unable to put them together.
The most interesting clue so far was a note that was written in code:
ꪀᠻᠻꪊ ꪜꪻ ᥇ꪊ ꪊ꠸ᠻ ᥊᥇ꪻ꠸꠹ꪮꫝꪊρꪮ ꪀρꪮꪜꪀᠻꪮꪊ ᥇ꪊ ᠻ꠹ꫝ꠸ꪊ ꪇꪀ ꪊρꪀρᦓᦓρ᥊ ꪊρ ꫀ꠹ꪻᦔꪜꪻꪻ ꪇꪑ᥇ꪮ. ꫀρꪮ'ꪊ ᥴᠻ ꪑ᥇ꪊᠻ. ꪑᠻ᭙ᠻꪑ ρꪮᠻ ꪻᠻᦔꪜᦓ꠹ꪊƺ ꠹ꪮꪻꪜᦓᠻꫀ. ᥇ꪑꪑ ꪀᠻꪀᥴᠻᦓꪻ ᥊꠹ꪊ꠸ ꪑᠻ᭙ᠻꪑ ρꪮᠻ ᥇ᦔᦔᠻꪻꪻ ᥊꠹ꪑꪑ ᥴᠻ ᥇ꫀꪀ꠹ꪊꪊᠻꫀ. ꪇꪑᠻ᥇ꪻᠻ ᥴᦓ꠹ꪮꫝ ƺρꪜᦓ ρ᥊ꪮ ᧁρρꫀ ᥇ꪮꫀ ᥊᥇ꪊᠻᦓ. ꪇꪑᠻ᥇ꪻᠻ ᦔρꪮꫀꪜᦔꪊ ᥇ ꪻᠻᦔꪜᦓ꠹ꪊƺ ᦔ꠸ᠻᦔꪶ ᥇ꪮꫀ ꪊ꠸ρᦓρꪜꫝ꠸ ᦔꪑᠻ᥇ꪮ ꪜꪇ ᥇ᧁꪊᠻᦓ᥊᥇ᦓꫀꪻ. ꠹ᧁ ᦔ᥇ꪜꫝ꠸ꪊ, ꪇᦓρᦔᠻᠻꫀ ᥊꠹ꪊ꠸ ꪇꪑ᥇ꪮ ρꪀᠻꫝ᥇.
-ꪻꪇƺꫀᠻᦓ ᥇ꫝᠻꪮꪊ ꠸᥇ꪑꪑ᥇ꪑ
"What the heck is THAT?!!" Mike asked. "Is that even ENGLISH."
"Whatever it is." I said. "It's in code, which means it's important info. I'd say we try to decode this."
I knew it wasn't a simple code to decode. There were quite a few letters that started with "᥊", which looked like "x". But what kind of 4 letter english word started with an "x"??\
I decided to bring the note back to Erica so we could all try to decode it.
She took one look at it and said, "I need time to decode this, but its english. Those weird symbols are english. The phonetics and sentence structure are 92% similar, so I can assume it's some sort of substituting code."
I realized that the last part was probably Joshua something. The last word, "꠸᥇ꪑꪑ᥇ꪑ", looked like it started with a "J", but if it was a substituting code, why were there 3 "ꪑ"s. A thought struck me. "Hallal" had the same structure as "꠸᥇ꪑꪑ᥇ꪑ".
The H matched to the "J" looking character, the a matched to the "b" looking character, and the l matched to the "m" looking character.
Hold up.
h ➜ j
a ➜ b
l ➜ m
Or perhaps...
h ➜ i
a ➜ b
l ➜ m
The code to the normal text was shifted one letter back from the wonky letters!
"Guys!" I shouted. "I need a pen! I think I know how to solve this!"
Kylie took out a notepad and pencil from her backpack, and handed it to me. My friends watched as I began decoding.
After a while, I got this:
NFFU VT BU UIF XBTIJOHUPO NPOVNFOU BU FJHIU QN UPNPSSPX UP EJTDVTT QMBO. EPO'U CF MBUF. MFWFM POF TFDVSJUZ JOTVSFE. BMM NFNCFST XJUI MFWFM POF BDDFTT XJMM CF BENJUUFE. QMFBTF CSJOH ZPVS PXO GPPE BOE XBUFS. QMFBTF DPOEVDU B TFDVSJUZ DIFDL BOE UIPSPVHI DMFBO VQ BGUFSXBSET. JG DBVHIU, QSPDFFE XJUI QMBO PNFHB.
-TQZEFS BHFOU IBMMBM
Kylie's eyes widened as she realized what I was doing. I handed a sheet of paper to her as she took out another pencil. I began working from the front as she began from the back, shifting the letters.
Finally, we got this:
Meet us at the Washington Monument at eight pm tomorrow to discuss plan. Don't be late. Level one security insured. All members with level one access will be admitted. Please bring your own food and water. Please conduct a security check and thorough clean up afterwards. If caught, proceed with plan omega.
-SPYDER Agent Hallal.
Mike and Zoe read the message, and began to say "SPYDER is -" as I shushed them and gestured to Zqartx. "He might me faking unconsciousness. We need to leave now!"
We secured the bonds on Zqartx, and headed towards the exit, determined to find out SPYDER's plan.
No one noticed as a shadow tiptoed into the room, and carefully unbound Zqartx. And no one noticed, as the two figures slowly followed the group.