Case No. 1 · “Submerged Signals”
The Case of the Drowned Signal
Before the House had its new name, strange signals rose from the lake beneath the estate, signed with just two letters. This is the oldest case in the archive, and the hardest. Nothing here is written plainly.
0 of 6 pieces of evidence
- The diving bell: not found yet
- The flood valves: not found yet
- The diver's logbook: not found yet
- The porthole: not found yet
- The sonar: not found yet
- The brass nameplate: not found yet
I · The Boathouse
The diving bell
A rusted bell hangs over the black water. Divers rang it to call the others up. It took more than a few rings to be heard down there.
Evidence found: a waterlogged note
“The vault was set to the day the first signal surfaced. Month, then day. The four rooms below the waterline will tell you how, if you think like a diver.”
Need a hint?
Five quick rings, not three. The deep is harder to reach.
II · The Pump Room
The flood valves
Four valves keep the boathouse from going under. A warning is painted on the wall: open them from the deepest water to the shallowest.
Evidence found: a chalk mark behind the valves
“I · Signals sent before this one: count them, then add the one you are reading.”
Need a hint?
Abyss is deeper than a trench, a trench is deeper than a reef, and the shore is where it ends. Then: no signals came before the first.
III · The Chart Room
The diver's logbook
Water got into the last page. Something is still there, written in a hand that only shows up in warmth.
Evidence found: a line in the logbook
“II · As many lamps as burned on the floor of the lake.”
Need a hint?
Hold the page to the lamp until it warms through. Then ask yourself how much light there is at the bottom of a lake.
IV · The Lower Deck
The porthole
A brass porthole, painted shut, with the cover of the first record pasted over the glass.
Evidence found: scratched into the brass
“III · My shape is the answer.”
Need a hint?
Peel back the record and look at the porthole itself. What shape is it? Which numeral looks like that?
V · The Sonar Hut
The sonar
The old sonar still listens to the lake. Put the headphones on and count what answers from the deep.
Evidence found: a reply from the deep
“IV · Not the calls. The replies.”
Need a hint?
Sound on. Count every reply you hear, then think about what was first.
VI · The Nameplate
The brass nameplate
Before the House was imTP, the signals were signed with only two letters. The plate has two empty letter wheels.
Evidence found: the old signature
“Signed in brass: TP. The first name the signal ever had.”
Need a hint?
The album was released under the old name. Two letters, before the rebrand.
The vault
Case No. 1
Locked. Collect all six pieces of evidence first.
The first signal
You brought the oldest signal back to the surface. Before imTP, there was TP, and this was where it started: the first album, Submerged Signals.
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