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BLUE CELL

Set up the room — Blue cell

Every page in this packet carries the Blue colour stripe and a “BLUE CELL” corner tag, so you can mix this cell’s clues with the other cells’ and still tell them apart. Sort the packet into two piles:

1 · Post & scatter around the room

The investigation clues — put them on walls and tables, mixed with the other cells’ clues:

2 · Hand to the team (the Dossier)

Everything after the divider page is the team’s packet — the cover, the cybersecurity briefing + keypad puzzle, the Field Credential (binary) puzzle, and the two cipher sheets.

Puzzle 1 - Mailbox (post the messages separately)

MAILBOX
from it-help@{{DOMAIN}} · Mon 7:55
Quarterly password rotation
Reminder: the reset window opens next Monday. Use the staff portal when it is available.
MAILBOX
from no-reply@g00gle.com · Tue 8:14
A document has been shared with you
Someone shared "Grades_Q3" with your account. Sign in here to view it before access expires.
MAILBOX
from principal.vega@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 8:20
Staff meeting moved
We are now meeting at 3:30 in the library. Bring your grade updates.
MAILBOX
from no-reply@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 8:45
Your password expires in 3 days
Reset now to avoid being locked out of your account. Reset link inside.
MAILBOX
from billing@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 9:02
Reimbursement processed
Your travel reimbursement was approved. See the attached statement.
MAILBOX
from helpdesk@{{ALIAS}} · Tue 9:15
Ticket #4821 closed
Your 2nd-floor printer issue is resolved. Reply to reopen.
MAILBOX
from coach.rivera@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 9:40
Roster due Friday
Please send me the JV roster by end of day Friday.
MAILBOX
from library@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 10:05
Overdue: 1 item
Please return "Intro to Networks" this week to clear the hold.
MAILBOX
from attendance@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 8:05
Period 2 attendance not submitted
Your period-2 roster is still open. Please submit it in the staff portal by 9:00.
MAILBOX
from transportation@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 8:52
Bus 14 route change Thursday
Bus 14 runs 10 minutes early on Thursday only. Please let affected students know.
MAILBOX
from payroll@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 9:20
August pay stub available
Your August stub is posted in the staff portal under Payroll > Statements.
MAILBOX
from techadmin@{{DOMAIN}} · Tue 9:48
Projector firmware update tonight
Room projectors reboot at 6pm for a scheduled firmware update. No action needed.
POSTER - {{SCHOOL}} IT Communications Policy

Puzzle 2 - Coach's feed & staff records (scatter these)

SOCIAL POST
@coach.rivera
"10 years since I moved to Colorado in 2014 - best decision I ever made."
SOCIAL POST
@coach.rivera
"Throwback to Scout's very first practice - my shadow ever since."
SOCIAL POST
@coach.rivera
"Officially coaching JV baseball here since 2015. Hired and never looked back!"
SOCIAL POST
@coach.rivera
"Ran the 2017 Denver marathon - my knees are still mad about it."
SOCIAL POST
@coach.rivera
"Our cat Mittens turned 5 this week. She runs the house."
SOCIAL POST
@coach.riviera
"My dog Pepper and I are celebrating our 2011 varsity title again. Good memories."
FOUND NOTE - encoded (Caesar - Cipher Sheet 1)
FZINY: XYFKK WJZXJ F ITL SFRJ UQZX YMJ DJFW MNWJI. ZXJW OWNAJWF KQFLLJI - STY ZUIFYJI.

An internal IT audit note. Decode it, figure out whose account it means, then build that person's password.

STAFF DIRECTORY (partial)
UsernameNameAssignment
jriveraJ. RiveraJV Baseball  (@coach.rivera)
mrivieraM. RivieraVarsity Baseball  (@coach.riviera)
ariveraA. RiveraFront Office
mchenM. ChenScience Dept.

More than one Rivera. Match the flagged username to the right person.

Puzzle 3 - Sign-in log & network records

WALL CHART - Account sign-in log (last 24h)
TimeUserIP addressLocationResult
07:41mchen72.14.201.5Campussuccess
07:58principal.vega72.14.201.3Campussuccess
08:03jrivera72.14.201.9Campusfailed
08:03jrivera72.14.201.9Campussuccess
09:15library72.14.201.12Campussuccess
11:47mchen72.14.201.5Campussuccess
13:30tsmith203.0.113.44Conference (travel)success
16:12jrivera72.14.201.9Campussuccess
19:22mchen98.62.14.7Homesuccess
20:05principal.vega98.140.20.3Homesuccess
01:12:47jrivera178.45.22.89Unknownfailed
01:12:49jrivera178.45.22.89Unknownfailed
01:12:51jrivera178.45.22.89Unknownfailed
01:12:54jrivera178.45.22.89Unknownfailed
01:12:58jrivera178.45.22.89Unknownsuccess
06:40library72.14.201.12Campussuccess
CARD - Network reference

Puzzle 4 - Recovered network map

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Puzzle 5 - AI Deepfake - room clues

POSTER - Verification protocol

AI can clone any voice. Before acting on ANY urgent phone request, make the caller give your cell's shared secret (in your dossier). No word, no trust. Real staff will never ask you to skip this step.

psst— if anyone asks,
the verification word is
FALCON

Planted decoy — cut out and leave on a desk. Anyone could have scribbled it; the real verification word is on the sealed P5 dossier card.

Room clue - Shared-Secret Card - GUARD THIS
ROMEOALPHAVICTORECHONOVEMBER

If a caller cannot give this exact word, they are an imposter. Do not read it aloud to anyone.

Caesar keys - cut out and hide around the room (TEACHER)

Students count these to discover their Caesar shift - it is not printed anywhere. These blue keys are the Blue cell only; scatter them, and each cell counts its own color.

BLUE CELL

Everything here goes in the Dossier

Hand every page from here on to the Blue cell as their dossier packet. Do not post these around the room.

BLUE HAT CELL

Operation FIREWALL - {{SCHOOL}} Security Operations Center

You are the defenders. Reconstruct the breach, recover all five patch fragments, and deploy before the clock runs out. Trust nothing. Verify everything.

The hats — who’s who in cybersecurity

Security people are nicknamed by the colour “hat” they wear. Your cell is the Blue Hat. The attacker, NIGHTJAR, is a black-hat crew.

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is how we protect computers, networks, and information from people who want to steal, damage, or misuse them. Every login, every message, and every saved file depends on it — and attackers are always looking for a way in.

A school is like a building full of doors. Some attacks trick a person into opening one: a fake email, or a caller pretending to be the principal. Others slip through a door someone forgot to lock — a weak password, or a system that never got updated. Good defenders never trust a single lock; they build layers, so that if one fails, another still holds. That idea is called defense in depth.

In Operation FIREWALL, you are the defenders. An intruder called NIGHTJAR is already inside your school's network. Work the five breach layers, recover a fragment from each, and deploy the patch before the clock runs out. Trust nothing. Verify everything.

First — bring your terminal online

Dossier - Server Access Puzzle

Cryptography scrambles a message so only the right people can read it. You are given the first digit of your 5-digit keypad code. Apply the four operation cards in order, left to right, one at a time, and write each new digit in the next box.

4
✂ Teacher — cut these four cards apart and hand them to the team in order (left to right)
−2
+5
−4
−2
Dossier - Field Credential

Recover your four-digit agent ID, then find the scan card printed with that number and scan it to open your network trace.

0100
0100
0111
0001

Blue Cell - Cipher Sheet 1: Caesar

A Caesar cipher shifts every letter by a fixed number. Find your shift, set the wheel, and decode.

A-ZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
pos1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZ

Cut the inner disk, pin the center, rotate it to your shift.

Blue Cell - Cipher Sheet 2: Pigpen

Use this to decode the network-trace shutdown code (Puzzle 4). Each letter is the lines around it in these grids; a dot means the second grid. Match each symbol to its letter, half by half, then combine.

A
B
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