The instructions to each puzzle has one or two boldfaced letters, which can be used to order the puzzles:
When each puzzle is solved, the blackened-in grids suggest digits:
A: 3 B: two C: one D: 40 E: 6 F: 04 G: 94
The "Cruciverbalist" puzzle has three words missing in the list (according to the instructions): FIRST TELEPHONE DIGIT; and the sample puzzle for it has three missing words: TEN IN ALL. That suggests that players should call the phone number
(321) 406-0494
Teams call the number produced by the AA puzzle and a human answers.
Thank you for calling Gazillion Corporation. May I help you?(team either fumbles around, hangs up or laughs)
Hello? May I ask who's calling?
Oh, team [team name]! I have a message in case you called. It's from Melissa; she's a bit — tied up — at the moment so she can't come to the phone. It says all of you should go to The Hub cafe in B46 and then proceed to the location shown in photo 14. Do you have that? Great. Hope it means more to you than it did to me. Melissa is so cryptic sometimes. Have a nice day and Thank you for calling the Gazillion Corporation.
At The Hub we'll have a laptop showing photos taken from the exteriors around Google Campus. Each photo will have a number. The number given by the phone message (14) is the first photo in the photo chase. It's a picture of Vision (aka, Hurling Man — the 20' tall sculpture looking out over Charleston park). (See below)
In sequence:
The floorplan map inside the side door has a large You Are Here dot where you're at and You Want To Be Here dot on Casablanca (which, actually, is visible from outside the door, although we'll have the blinds drawn).
A sign on the door of Casablanca says Inflation Research Department. Inside the room are a whole bunch of Infletters, strewn about randomly. Melissa has left a note.
Each infletter has a number stuck to it. The numbers run from 1 through N; sort the letters by number and it spells out this message:
GO GET NAKED IN THE LOBBY OF BUILDING FORTY TWO.
(We could change the message, and make this slightly more interesting than just sorting integers, but we want to be sure that teams remember that this is a run-around.)
In the Naked Juice cooler in the lobby of B42, there will be yet another note from Melissa.
This trail takes them to Gardo in B43, one of the tent conference rooms.
Melissa is at her laptop, back to the window, looking at e-mail. When teams arrive she tells them her spiel:
"You got my message, good, come in, no, don't untie me. Quickly, close the door. Okay.
"I'm glad you found me. I'm sorry you had to see me throw a little fit at the opening ceremonies. I had to do that, though, to make it really look like I was quitting Googol. I didn't actually quit Googol — I'm still working for the Board, and I'm trying to infiltrate the Gazillion Corporation.
"Here, I have some information for you; it's there on the table, take a few copies, I have lots." On the table we'll have a stack of the PowerPoint presentation slides that teams can take back with them.
The Powerpoint deck
"A few weeks ago I was approached by a startup looking to hire a CEO. They made lavish promises about the perks of the position but I still refused. I told Schmeric about this and he suggested that I actually do take the job, as this may be a way to learn something about our missing employees. When Perry and Lergey later disappeared I knew I had to do whatever I could to help find them. So I went back and accepted the offer but now look at me: they offered me a CEO position but I'm just one of their contractors in the field! Fortunately I managed to sign up for a contract position here at Googol, although my boss checks in on me often enough, so I can't let you untie me, or let him see you. That's also why I couldn't have just told you straight away where I was, else I'd have aroused too much suspicion.
"So far, I've found out a good bit of information about Gazillion's organization. Here's what I've learned so far:
"I made some copies of this information. It's hidden in that folder by the desk. Perry and Lergey are being forced to write code! They're in pretty bad straits, so we need to find them soon.
"Oh, and, one last thing: when you do reach Perry & Lergey, watch out, as I've heard that the mastermind of the Gazillion Corporation herself is personally whipping them into shape. I've heard that she has a weakness but I don't know what that is. With any luck Perry & Lergey themselves can help you help them.
Good luck!"
Armed with new knowledge, the teams go back to their rooms. The End.
The dot trail message found in the Naked juice area was changed during the actual hunt — the sentence "Don't move an inch until you spot the next step!" was added after many teams would pick up the sheet and return to their conference rooms!
321 is the area code for Cape Canaveral, Florida.