You pick up the phone.
”Why hello there!”
You think you might have heard this voice before. Maybe they were on television—no, this is not a celebrity.
“No need to respond to anything I say. I already know who you are, and this is all prerecorded. I can tell about you anything, so long as it isn’t cognitohazardous. I have reason to believe that—even with your high position— you have questions that your superiors won’t answer. I know—I know this sounds treacherous, treasonous even! If you don’t want to ever hear my voice again you may hang up now.”
You can’t get in trouble for just listening to a prerecorded message, can you? In fact—if you hang up now, you’ll be missing potential intel on an enemy that has confidential information about the M.E.G., That would be irresponsible!
”I speak about Corporal. Oberon, traitor and fool.”
What? No…
”You likely know this; Oberon was a respected corporal. Oberon went missing, suddenly. Gone without a trace, along with his agents. Only one of his agents was ever heard from again, and they were only heard from once. Agent. Casanova, yes? Warned of a cyberattack by my hands.”
That’s whose voice it reminds you of. Can’t be, though… isn’t she dead because of this person? That’s the official consensus.
”Not surprising, considering she trained in cybersecurity. Back in the real world. Seemingly connected only by temporal proximity is the nonsense telegram. Surely you’ve heard of it.”
You think you actually have a copy of it. You search your desk drawer… there, that’s the file.
What is this even meant to mean?!
I usvtt uibt uie dfbl js jn psefr, opw tibt j’je gvmgjmmfd ny fod. Tijs js tpnfuijog uibt j’je lpplfd gpsxbsd up gpr a lpog ujne. I lopw opt wiy zpu btlfd gpr ne to fousvtt ny bhfous uo tie dmaxs pf uie qbsuzhpfss, bvt jt js hsfbuftt fouivtjbtm tibt I uble ny qsjae. I xjmm dpnf uo uie lpdbujpn zpu ibwe tqfdjgjfd.
Pcfspn
It’s definitely not any of the classic ciphers.
“The M.E.G. failed to decode it. They had used it in the past, but everyone who knew how to solve it was dead. You might be wondering, ‘Wait, you don’t know anything about it? What’s the point of this?’ I know this cipher by heart. I’m good as dead, so no contradiction. It’s like a Caesar cipher, but the last letter of every word and first letter of every fifth word remain untouched. The key: one. I encourage you to solve it yourself, but I’ll read it for convenience.”
“I trust that the deal is in order, now that I’ve fulfilled my end. This is something that I’ve looked forward to for a long time. I know not why you asked for me to entrust my agents to the claws of the partygoers, but it is with greatest enthusiasm that I take my prize. I will come to the location you have specified.
Oberon”
You’re gonna have to check that yourself. Even if it’s right, how do you know Oberon really sent it?
“I know this isn’t enough to prove anything. I have more proof, though. The problem; if I tell you anything more there’s gonna be a need for opsec. I’m fairly confident that no one’s listening in right now, so let’s use that cipher. I doubt it’s gonna be broken anytime soon. Goodbyes from the notorious Void Ten-Zero.”
*Beep*