Find and Shutdown Frosty's Snowglobe Machine
Overview⚓︎
You've heard murmurings around the city about a wise, elderly gnome having a change of heart. He must have information about where Frosty's Snowglobe Machine is. You should find and talk to the gnome so you can get some help with how to make your way through the Data Center's labrynthian halls.
Once you find the Snowglobe Machine, figure out how to shut it down and melt Frosty's cold, nefarious plans.
Elder Gnome
A change of heart, I have had, yes. Among the gnomes plotting to freeze the neighborhood, I once was. Wrong, we are. Help you now, I shall.
The route to the old secret lab inside the Data Center, begins on the far East wing inside the building, it does. Pitch dark, the hallways leading to it probably are, hmm.
A code outside the building, the employees who once worked there left, yes. A reminder of the route, it serves. Search in the vicinity of the Data Center for this code, perhaps you can.
A story I recall, yes. Another computer person like yourself, ten years ago there was. Lost inside the Data Center, an intern had become. Found, they were, by this person. But before the reconstruction, that was. Exactly the same, the current route likely is not, hmm.
Search for the Data Center's past in the historical archives of the Internet, you should. More information helpful to you, may be found there, yes.
Hints⚓︎
A Code in the Dark, You Must Find
The Elder Gnome said the route to the old secret lab inside the Data Center starts on the far East wing inside the building, and that the hallways leading to it are probably pitch dark. He also said the employees that used to work there left some kind of code outside the building as a reminder of the route. Perhaps you can search in the vicinity of the Data Center for this code.
Backwards, You Should Look
The Elder also recalled a story of another "computer person" like yourself who managed to find an intern that got lost inside the Data Center about 10 years ago. But that was before the reconstruction, so the current route likely isn't exactly the same. Maybe you can search for the Data Center's past in the historical archives that is the Internet for more information that may be helpful.
Solution⚓︎
Video Walkthrough⚓︎
fun fact: My very first edited video with sound and text, hosted on my very first YouTube channel!
Full walkthrough showing the elevator maze navigation using the reversed Konami code sequence.
Decoding the Binary Breadcrumbs⚓︎
Walking around the Data Center perimeter, we spot a pattern of dark bricks on the wall. Somebody left us a message!
Those dark bricks aren't random decorations. They're forming a binary pattern! Let's transcribe what we see:
01101001 01101101 01100001 01101110 01101111 01001011
Converting from binary to ASCII:
Binary Decode
01101001 = i
01101101 = m
01100001 = a
01101110 = n
01101111 = o
01001011 = K
Result: imanoK
imanoK... that's "Konami" spelled backwards! Any gamer worth their salt recognizes that reference. The legendary Konami Code from classic games: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. The cheat code that launched a thousand extra lives.
But why backwards? Hold that thought, we need more clues.
A Ghost in the Machine (2015 Edition)⚓︎
The Elder Gnome mentioned someone finding a lost intern about 10 years ago. Following his advice to check the "historical archives of the Internet," we search for the 2015 Holiday Hack Challenge writeups. Nothing says "holiday spirit" quite like digging through decade-old CTF documentation!
We find the winning report by Michael Pella, which includes an achievement called "Find Your Way Through the NOC Maze". Turns out this Data Center has been giving people navigation headaches for years.
What we learned from 2015:
- There was an 8-room maze to navigate in the NOC (Network Operations Center)
- The hint was the intern loved the book "Ready Player One" and the Konami Code
- The Konami Code gave the directions needed:
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A
But our binary message said "Konami backwards"... so we need to reverse this sequence!
The Floor Map Blueprint⚓︎
While poking around in the browser's developer tools (because of course we are), we spot something interesting in the Network tab: a file called datacentermaze_floor.png.
Data Center Maze Floor (Unnecessarily Full Sized for FULL EFFECT!)
This floor map shows a grid pattern with dark squares marking specific positions. Now we can see what we're dealing with!
The Reversed Konami Sequence⚓︎
Normal Konami Code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A
Reversed: A, B, Right, Left, Right, Left, Down, Down, Up, Up
Makes sense, right? Frosty's clearly a fan of doing things backward. Now we need to figure out how this maps to the elevator maze.
Heading to the far East wing of the Data Center as instructed, we enter through the easternmost door and find ourselves in a room full of elevators:
Each room has 12 elevators total: 3 on each wall (North, South, East, West). The elevators are labeled with symbols: B, ↑, and A.
Here's where it gets interesting: the first elevator that gets us INTO the maze doesn't count as part of the sequence. It's just the entry ticket. Once we're in the 3x3 grid of rooms, THEN we start following the reversed Konami code.
Navigating the Elevator Labyrinth⚓︎
The reversed Konami sequence tells us which direction to exit each room:
Entry: ↑ elevator heading north (gets us into the maze, doesn't count)
Then the actual sequence:
A (exit north)
B (exit south)
Right (exit east)
Left (exit west)
Right (exit east)
Left (exit west)
Down (exit south)
Down (exit south)
Up (exit north)
Up (exit north)
The fun part: which symbol (↑, A, orB) achieves each direction varies by room. Each room's elevator arrangement is different, so we need to experiment as we go. Pick the wrong elevator and you get unceremoniously booted outside to start your freezing walk back through the snow. Someone really didn't want visitors finding Frosty's machine!
Following this reversed sequence through all 10 rooms eventually leads us to the prize: Frosty's Snowglobe Machine! No more elevators, no more getting kicked outside into the snow.
Interacting with the machine shuts it down and completes the objective. Take that, Frosty!
Snow Crystal
A crystal powered by holiday magic. Legend has it this crystal manifests its owner's most-desired gift during the holiday season. In Frosty's case, that gift was the power to cover the city in snow forever. Hm... didn't something similar happen in a movie once?
Gloooory! We decoded binary bricks on a building wall, dove into Internet history from 2015, reversed a classic cheat code, and navigated an elevator maze that would make even Santa's elves dizzy!