The waistband on my backpack was digging into my skin, and the pitter-patter of my leather boots made a satisfying sound on the wet, cobbled side streets of Eindhoven. On my left I saw the train tracks by which I had arrived, and on my right I saw what looked like residential houses. I shone my flashlight into the brushes once more. It should be here somewhere… I checked my phone’s GPS and sure enough, I was supposed to be be right on the drive. I looked around again, this time really focusing.
I was looking for a bright red USB stick, about the size of my thumb, in a small, sealed plastic bag. An intricate puzzle full of cryptography, red herrings and banging my head against the wall had led me here, to this spot. And now, I couldn’t find it. Had someone been here before me? I didn’t think so, nobody had said anything about being as far as I was on the Discord server…