The first byte
2am. Of course, I'm the only one left in the open space. Stupid "last minute functionality for tomorrow please Greg"... I hit $<$Enter$>$ : compilation started. Well. I have a few minutes now, time for a coffee...
Or time to check Steven's desktop. The guy has been missing for, like, a week. Nobody knows where he went, why, or if he's in any sort of trouble. I only remember he left in the middle of the afternoon, with a weird face, and never came back. Two days ago, I noticed his computer was still on, only the screen was shut down.
Nobody's here, right ? Well, I'm gonna have a look. Just a look. I get up and approach his desktop. Among two unsolved Rubik’s Cube, food stains on scribbled paper and a dozen of E.T. and Elliot plastic miniatures (man, this is an obsession!), I reach for the power switch.
When the pixels suddenly lit up, I knew I was looking at what Steven saw right before his one-way travel from office to God knows where.
Just next to the screen, a sticky note :
Perplexed, I stay in front of the screen a few minutes, without moving. I forget about the program that must have finished compiling. I forget about everything else than what I'm seeing right now, and with only these informations, I get back to my desk.
10 minutes later, I know a bit more about Steven's agenda : I know what happened just when he left office. And you, do you ?
General hint :
This puzzle is less about cryptography and more about doing real stuff outside SE.
Specific hints (you'll know when you need it) :
1 :
I've already seen Steven typing his password. He used the numpad only.
2:
Where was he when he created this password ?
3:
Who was waiting for Steven when he left ?
Note : This investigation is the first of a series. Once someone figured out, the stories will go on with new challenges, under the "Killing Entropy" licence.
EDIT : Just before I left Steven's computer, I noticed the popping sound of an incoming mail.
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