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Trevor woke up suddenly. He found himself in some sort of office, though it looked like it had been abandoned for sometime. It was relatively clean, however. Apart from the desks and computers, there was a single door marked exit. Trevor looked around, and made for the door. Locked. Suddenly a small computer by the door lit up. There was a keyboard beside it, prompting for a password. He then heard the crackling of some speakers -and a voice:

"Let's not get too hasty with that keyboard, Trevor, because you won't get many tries for this," said the voice.

"Are you going to kill me?" Trevor said in fear.

"No, not if you find the password to the door, which I had to change after someone a while back got some outside help. Why don't I give you the past few recordings of victims with this new password scheme to help you along?"

"Please don't do this," Trevor replied. "Surely you have the wrong person for this challenge."

The voice ignored the comment. "Remember: each victim has a different password, you can take all the time you need, many details are unnecessary, your password is at least 4 characters and you can call me 'The Wise One'."

"Wait, wait! Can I ask a question?" said Trevor. No response; just the crackling of the speakers as the first recording began:

Wise One: Hello, if you don't want to be my first victim, you need to find the password to the door, which the information is being given to you. Personally, Patrick, you have little chance but know this: your password is 2 characters and you can call me 'The Wise One'."
Patrick: "Hold on. I'm not getting any information! I could use a little more help. … Hello, still there? … Can I have a hint? … I didn't get anything!"

The speakers crackled again as the next recording started:

Kevin: [under-breath] "Come on door, budge!"
Wise One: "Let's not get hasty, Kevin."
Kevin: "Who is there? I think I wandered into the wrong place."
Wise One: "No, you will be my next victim if you don't find the password, which I am giving you in addition to the recording of my last victim."
Kevin: "Can I have it then?"
Wise One: "Very well, but know that your password is 6 characters, he had a different password, some details are meant to be confusing and you can call me 'The Wise One'."
Kevin: "Okay. … What is the password? … Hello?"

The speakers started the next recording.

Wise One: "Sorry to disturb you, Jane, but you will be my victim if you don't get the password to that door."
Jane: "Oh no!"
Wise One: "Many have tried, but they didn't understand very well. So I am giving you a slightly easier one and the recordings of their failings."
Jane: "Okay...okay. Do I get anything other than the recordings, like a clue or something?"
Wise One: "Note the following details: your password is 7 characters and some details are meant to be confusing, so save effort like I do."
Jane: "Wait, is that it?"
Wise One: "Good luck, Jane."

The speakers crackled, and then Trevor heard his own recording play. No more responses from the Wise One: just the computer waiting for the password.

What should Trevor type in as the password?

Hint 1/Extension:

"Wise One," Trevor calls. "I don't know what to look for!"
"Luckily you decided to call me by name for more help. No one else thought to do that. What do you need?"
"Well," replied Trevor. "If you can't give me the password itself, maybe tell me what I should be looking for in these recordings?"
Wise One chuckled. "Realize that you need to fill in a few gaps for yourself, and that your second conversation with me may help you too."
Trevor nodded. "Anything else?" No response.

Hint 2:

Wise One has to choose only a few of his words carefully, and sometimes it results in some strange conversation.

Hint 3: (somewhat major)

Wise One would never greet Jane with a "Hello" or "Good Morning". In the same way, Patrick and Kevin would never get a "Good Luck".

Hint 4: (major)

The first letter of Patrick's password is H, the first letter of Kevin's is L, and the second to last letter of Jane's password is n. Trevor's password has 5 more vowels than Patrick's.

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    $\begingroup$ You should probably link it in somewhere in the post. $\endgroup$
    – RShields
    Jun 27, 2019 at 16:57

1 Answer 1

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I believe Trevor's password is:

Alienware

Explanation:

In each recording, when taking the letters at the beginning of The Wise One's sentences, you get:

Pat: "HP"
Kevin: "LNV"
Jane: "SMSNG"
After this, we can see that adding the vowels to these passwords yields HP, Lenovo, and SAMSUNG (all tech companies).

With "LNWR" as Trevor's initial password, we just need to add 5 vowels, that make it a tech company.

Thanks to Michael Moschella for Kevin's password, and Stiv for Trevor's vowels. This was super fun to try! Unfortunately it seems I need to read up on my tech companies!

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  • $\begingroup$ Ladies and gentlemen, we got him. $\endgroup$
    – Pat
    Jul 9, 2019 at 16:00

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