Dare to read 2015 by sockying

The Story So Far...

Mission 1: Identification Required

Mission 2: A Sticky Situation

Mission 3: Lost

Mission 4: The Historical Event

Mission 5: Important Supplies

Mission 6: The Poison

Mission 7: Babylon

Mission 8: The Mysterious Symbol

Mission 9: The Virus and the Cure

Special Mission: Secret Ingredients

Mission 10: The Distraction

Mission 11: The Secret Lab

Mission 12: The Missing Ingredients

Mission 13: The Mess in the Lab

Epilogue 19 Cheat Sheet

Recommended Mystery Stories

Accessing NLB eResources

Previouslyâ&#x20AC;Ś After the end of the Great War, Earth became a harsh and brutal place to live on. Survivors of the war began rebuilding their lives by creating self-sustaining communities. Things seemed to improve, until a mysterious epidemic wiped out a cluster of these communities. Soon after, people in other communities developed similar symptoms. Scientists scrambled to find a cure, and discovered a type of medicine that could slow the spread of the virus and prolong human life. However, everything changed when Brian survived the illness. The evil Mayor of a stricken community began to hunt Brian down, hoping to use him to eliminate the disease. Fortunately, Brian befriended Lela, whose parents had invented a time machine. In a bid to escape the Mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clutches and save his parents, Brian stepped into the time machine.

NAME:

CLASS: MISSIONS Mission 1 Mission 2 Mission 3 Mission 4 Mission 5 Mission 6 Mission 7 Mission 8

TOKENS

(while stocks last)

Pen Notepad Lanyard Earphones

Mission 9

Magnet

Special Mission

Sling bag

Mission 10 Mission 11 Mission 12 Mission 13

Metal collar pin Post-it Pad

AND NOW… MISSION 01

Identification Required

Brian looks back in horror as the Mayor’s henchmen catch up with Lela. She presses a slip of paper into his hands urgently and shoves him forward. “Go without me!” The time machine powers up and the doors shut. Brian stares at the dashboard and wrinkles his brow in confusion. He realises nervously that he only has mere seconds to activate the time machine before the Mayor’s henchmen catch up.

What are the 3 forms of identification needed? 1. 2. 3.

MISSION 02

A STICKY SITUATION

ROUTE 3

ROUTE 2

ROUTE 1

The time machine bumps to a rough landing. Brian looks outside and sees an unfriendly environment. He decides that the safest thing to do is to keep moving, but which of the three routes should he take?

Help Brian choose the least dangerous route.

>>>

ROUTE

MISSION 03

LOST

As Brian makes his way down the chosen route, he finds himself lost in a dense forest. Night has fallen and with no clear sign of where he is, Brian looks up into the dark sky, hoping that the stars will shed some light.

How can Brian find his way out of the forest?

MISSION 04

THE HISTORICAL EVENT

Stumbling out of the forest, Brian knocks on the door of the first house he sees. A girl throws open the door. “Mum? Dad?” Her smile fades when she sees Brian. The girl immediately tries to close the door. He puts his palm on the door. “Please. I just want to ask for directions and a glass of water.” She hesitates for a moment, taking in his weary face, before waving him into the house. As Brian waits in the living room, he notices a news-tablet:

What is the exact date that Brian has travelled to? D D M M Y Y Y Y

MISSION 05

IMPORTANT SUPPLIES

Relieved that he has landed in the right time period, Brian looks up as the girl returns with a glass of water. “Thanks. I’m Brian.” “Emma.” “How far are we from Newton Road? I’m looking for someone who lives there.” “That is a day’s walk from here.” Emma said as she tries to draw out the directions for Brian. Brian looks at the map in confusion. Emma says with a sigh, “I will go with you. I am running low on supplies too.” Emma takes out a rucksack to pack the items that they will need for the journey.

Here are some things that will help them on the way. Crack the codes to find out what these items are. 1 2 3 4 5

2 15 Z Z 12 T Q 14 Z

G 6

E 9 R 19

22 I 14 T 7 Q 18 W 9 E

K 2 G 14 Q 20 T

26 O 16 S 15 E 11

2 Q 7 L

HINT: Cracking the numbers first will help.

23 Q 20 T 18

G 6

19 G 4 Q

MISSION 06

THE POISON

Brian and Emma set off. Suddenly, Brian doubles over in pain. “My ankle hurts! I think something bit me!”

This animal was smuggled in a basket of figs to kill Cleopatra after Antony’s death. It is considered to be one of the sacred animals of Hinduism. It shares the same name as a type of carnivorous lily native to Northern California. What is this animal?

What bit Brian?

Emma applies some medicine to Brian’s wound. They continue on their journey. Finally, they reach Newton Road. Brian approaches the house cautiously while Emma leaves to buy provisions. When the door opens, his parents are incredulous. “Brian?” Before Brian can respond, they notice a man coming and urge Brian to hide. Brian looks through a small slit from his hiding place, and stares at the dishevelled man. “I don’t have it anymore, Steven! I gave it to my dying son!” his father shouts. “We were desperate! Who knows what it could have been…” His father’s voice trails off as he walks to the far end of the house. He stops in front of a cupboard and takes out a crystal vial. “This vial may have contained the cure, but whatever it was, it worked and we have tried to replicate what was inside…” His father reluctantly hands it to the man, Steven. Sighing, Steven leaves the house with the vial. “Who was that?” Brian asks his parents. “Steven Wang. He was our colleague. He used to be a brilliant scientist…”

MISSION 07

BABYLON

The name resonates in Brian’s mind. The person who started the spread of the virus was a man named Steven Wang! Finding him could give me valuable information about the virus, and how to stop it! Brian thinks to himself, shocked that his parents knew the man who would go down in history as the murderer of millions. “Where is he headed? I can’t explain why, but I need some very important information from him,” Brian asks. “Well, he studied the photo of this strange-looking place before he left,” his mum replies, retrieving the photo on their news-tablet and passing it to Brian. The photo is part of an article about secret facilities. Its location is unknown — all that the reporter had managed to find out about it was its connection to an ancient rhyme.

How many metres to Babylon? One score and fifteen. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, there and back again. If your feet are nimble and light, If you are not afraid of heights, High up in the sky garden You will get to Babylon. Where is ‘Babylon’?

MISSION 08

THE MYSTERIOUS SYMBOL

As Brian turns to leave, his mother grabs hold of him and slips a beautiful silver pendant into his hands. “Keep this with you wherever you go. You never know when it might help you.” As he walks out the front door, Brian turns back and looks at his parents. I’ll see them again, he assures himself. Grasping the pendant tightly in his hand, Brian jogs towards Emma, whom he sees standing in the distance. “Where did you get that?!”asks Emma, glancing at the pendant in Brian’s hands meaningfully. “My pare…I mean, The Angs,” Brian points back at the house. “They gave it to me.” Suspicious, Emma remains unconvinced. “Why would they give it to you, a complete stranger?” Brian shrugs and hangs the pendant around his neck. He fills Emma in as they make their way to find Steven. They finally catch up with him as dawn breaks. Brian confronts Steven about the vial he took. The man retorts, “Why should I tell you?” The sunlight glints off the silver pendant and the man sees the symbol. “Where did you get this? You look too young to have been around during the Great War.”

What does the symbol represent?

MISSION 09

THE VIRUS AND THE CURE

“The Great War? What has this pendant got to do with that?” Brian asks. “Back then, our government was desperately looking for ways to end the war and a group of scientists was roped in to help. We created a deadly virus. However, before we could release the virus, the war ended. The government shut down the lab and silenced all who were involved. When the dust settled, the scientists came together to form a secret assembly. Each member received one of these pendants and a vial. To prevent the virus and the cure from landing in the wrong hands, we kept the virus and the cure separately. Some of us also kept failed versions of the cure as decoys. In order to find out which contain the virus and the cure, these vials have to be collected and the numeric symbols on them have to be decoded as a whole.” Steven proceeds to empty out his bag of vials. “I have yet to crack the code.” “Why do you need to crack the code?” Brian asks. “I have a week to hunt down both the virus and the cure for the Mayor.” Steven’s face contorts with pain. “He kidnapped my wife when he realised that I was one of the scientists who made up the secret assembly. I barely managed to hide my daughter or he would have taken her too. Please help me.”

Help Steven to figure out which vials contain the virus and the cure. Hint: The numeric symbols printed on the vials have to be decoded as a whole.

VIRUS CURE

Vial C Vial A

Vial D

Vial B

Vial E

SPECIAL MISSION

Secret Ingredients

“What the Angs had is indeed the cure while I was given the virus! What am I supposed to do now?!” Steven sobs in despair. “Why can’t you just replicate the cure?” Brian probes. “I tried, but I’m missing some ingredients. And the Angs gave the cure to their son. So now, the only way to replicate the cure is to get the missing ingredients, but I don’t have the time.” Emma offers eagerly, “We’ll help you. But how?” “The lab could have some remnants of the missing ingredients.” Steven suggests as he rummages through his pockets. Pulling out a tattered notebook, he flips it open, mumbling under his breath. “Somewhere in here is a list of all the ingredients we need to make the cure.” Which is the correct page with the missing ingredients for the cure? Instructions: Go to the NLB online reading portal, discoveReads.sg, where you will find three lists containing book titles and page numbers. Check the availability of the books on search.nlb.gov.sg. Borrow the books at the library and check if one or more ingredients appear in the books. If not all the ingredients are mentioned in the books, this is not the correct list.

MISSION 10

THE DISTRACTION

An idea suddenly occurs to Brian. “Could we extract the missing ingredients from the blood of the boy who consumed the cure?” “Possibly,” said Steven. “However, it may kill the boy as we will need a lot of blood. We will be wasting precious time running tests on the boy and time is not on my side! I need to get going…I need to save my wife and Lela. My precious daughter… I must keep her safe…” Steven walks away, hunching his shoulders. “Wait! Your notebook…” Emma’s voice trails off as Steven disappears from sight. “Lela?” Brian repeats, shocked to discover that the friend he left behind in the future is Steven’s daughter. “Let’s go!” Emma grabs Brian’s arm, snapping him out of his reverie. Brian and Emma hurry to the lab, only to find the entrance heavily guarded by men in black suits. “How are we going to get in there?” Brian asks in frustration. Emma grins as she rummages through her rucksack. She gets down to work immediately.

Which supplies in her bag can be used to create a distraction?

MISSION 11

The Secret Lab

The plan works beautifully. Emma’s creation produces an extremely loud noise. The guards rush over to investigate the source of the noise. Brian and Emma sneak into the old building unnoticed. “This building has four floors! How are we supposed to find the lab before the guards return?” Brian asks, flipping through Steven’s notebook for a clue. “There’s a floor plan over here!” Emma says, pointing to one of the pages.

BAS EME NT

LE VEL 1

F LO O R P L A N

“There’s also a page that describes the location of the lab.”

The lab has either glass cabinets or filing cabinets. The lab does not contain chairs. The room with the long table on the first floor is the canteen. The lab is not on the same side of the building as the toilets. There are 4 cabinets in the lab. The lab is not in the south-east corner of the building.

LEV EL 2

Circle the correct location of the lab in the floor plan.

LEGEND Heating Duct Sink Wall Filing Cabinet

LEVEL 3

Glass Cabinet Table Door Checkpoint Toilet Stairs Table and Chairs

MISSION 12

THE MISSING INGREDIENTS

They finally enter the lab. The floors are filthy, and there is broken glass everywhere. “This place is huge! We need to split up,” Emma exclaims. While Emma starts to open the cabinets, Brian wanders over to examine the lab apparatus. Suddenly, Emma shouts, “Over here!” Emma points to a cabinet marked with a symbol similiar to the one on the pendant. She tries in vain to open the cabinet as Brian rushes over to join her. “How are we going to open this door? We are so close to getting to the missing ingredients!” “This looks like some weird version of a combination lock…but what’s the code?” Emma asks. Brian looks at the symbol on the cabinet, and the similar one on his pendant. He turns it over. Help Brian and Emma unlock the safe in 3 moves. Turn the knobs to match the code.

The knobs work in the following fashion: If you turn A, you will move B as well. If you turn B, you will move A and C too. If you turn C, you will move B and D as well. If you turn D, you will move C too.

Knob

Number of turns

Direction of turn (clockwise/anticlockwise)

1st move 2nd move 3rd move

MISSION 13

THE MESS IN THE LAB

The lock opens. They find different kinds of plants in the cabinet that could be the missing ingredients. Help Brian and Emma find the missing ingredients.

EPILOGUE “Now that we have the ingredients, how are we going to prepare the cure?” “I’m not sure. We only have a small sample of the ingredients. It’s a long shot.” Brian ponders. He stares at the veins in his arms. Is extracting my blood an easier way to get to the missing ingredients? Brian remains lost in thought until Emma calls his name. By then, a decision is made, along with a plan that will change everything…

To be continued…...

MISSION 02

MISSION 01

This list is also available on discoveReads.sg* for easy access

Title: Biometric Technology Author: Mark Lockie Call No.: Y 599.94 LOC

Title: T he Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, Book 6) Author: Eoin Colfer Call No.: J COL

NLB eResource

*NLB eResource

Article titled “New Passports may be taken at face value” from NewspaperSG: 1. Go to http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/ 2. Type “new passports may be taken at face value” into the search bar, and press Enter. 3. Click on the article dated 30 July 2003.

Article titled “Biometrics” from Science Online: 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Science Online database. 3. Type “biometrics” into the search bar, and press Enter. 4. Click on the first article that is published by Encyclopaedia of Computer Science and Technology, titled “Biometrics”.

Title: What is the Threat of Invasive Species? Author: Eve Hartman and Wendy Meshbesher Call No.: Y 578.6 HAR

*NLB eResource

MISSION 03

Article titled “Purring Monkey, Vegetarian Piranha Among New Species Described” from Science Online: 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Science Online database. 3. Type “purring monkey” into the search bar, and press Enter. 4. Click on the article “Purring Monkey, Vegetarian Piranha Among New Species Described”, dated 23 October 2013.

Title: What is a Constellation? Author: Laura Loria Call No.: J 523.8 LOR

Title: Stars and Constellations Author: Nick Hunter Call No.: J 523.8 HUN

*NLB eResource

Article titled “Ursa Major (Constellation)” from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online database. 3. Type “ursa major” into the search bar for teens, and press Enter. 4. Click on the article “Ursa Major (Constellation)”.

Article titled “Directions (Geography)” from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online database. 3. Type “directions” into the search bar for teens, and press Enter. 4. Click on the article “Directions (Geography)”.

MISSION 04 MISSION 05

Title: 50 Greatest Moments in Singapore Football Author: S Murali Call No.: SING 796.334095957 FIF

Title: G ila Bola!: Surviving Singapore Soccer Author: Dan Koh Call No.: SING 796.334095957 KOH

NLB eResource

Article titled “Malaysia Cup” from Infopedia: 1. Go to eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/ 2. Type “Malaysia Cup” into the search bar and press Enter. 3. Click on the article “Malaysia Cup”.

Article titled “Home Ground in the Malaysia Cup” from iremember.sg: 1. Go to iremember.sg 2. Type “Malaysia Cup” into the search bar and press Enter. 3. Click on the article “Home Ground in the Malaysia Cup”.

Title: Totally Cracking Codes Author: Diana Kimpton Call No.: J 652 KIM

Title: Survival First Aid Author: Patrick Wilson Call No.: Y 355.54 WIL

Websites • C an You Crack the Code from FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/april/canyou-crack-a-code/can-you-crack-a-code

MISSION 06

• S ecret Codes for Cubs and Scouts: https://sites.google.com/site/codesforscouts/tipsfor-solving-cryptograms Title: Snakes of The World Author: Chris Mattison Call No.: 597.96 MAT – [ANI]

Title: V enomous Snakes of The World Author: Mark O’Shea Call No.: 597.96165 OSH

*NLB eResource

Article titled “Cobra (Snake)” from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online database. 3. Type “cobra” into the search bar for teens, and press Enter. 4. Click on the article titled “Cobra (Snake)”.

Article titled “Cobra” from Grolier: Encyclopaedia Americana 1. Log on to NLB eResources (see page 25). 2. Go to the Grolier: Encyclopaedia Americana database. 3. Type “cobra” into the search bar and press Enter. 4. Click on the article titled “Cobra”.

MISSION 08

MISSION 07

This list is also available on discoveReads.sg* for easy access

Title: Lost in Babylon (Seven Wonders, Book 2) Author: Peter Lerangis Call No.: J LER

NLB eResource

Website

Article titled “Gardens by the Bay” from Infopedia: 1. Go to eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/ 2. Type “Gardens by the Bay” into the search bar, and press Enter. 3. Click on the article “Gardens by the Bay”.

• C loud Forest from Gardens by the Bay: http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/thegardens/attractions/cloud-forest.html

Title: African Culture Author: Catherine Chambers Call No.: J 960 CHA

Title: Africa Author: Clive Gifford Call No.: J 916 GIF

Websites • W awa Aba from Adinkra Project: http://adinkraproject.com/

MISSION 09

• 6 3 African Symbols for Creative Design: http://www.siliconafrica.com/african-symbols-forcreative-design/

Website • P eriodic Table: http://ptable.com/

MISSION 10

Title: Dad’s Book of Awesome Science Experiments Author: Mike Adamick Call No.: 507.8 ADA

Title: W holly Irresponsible Experiments! Author: Sean Connolly Call No.: 507.8 CON

Website

MISSIONS 11 -13

• H ow to Make a Bomb Bag from WikiHow: http://m.wikihow.com/Make-a-Bomb-Bag

Title: Objective Thinking Author: Charles Phillips Call No.: 793.73 PHI-[REC]

Title: 50 Puzzles for Visual Thinking Author: Charles Phillips Call No.: 153.42 PHI

Websites

Website

• L ateral Thinking Puzzles: http://www.folj.com/lateral/

• L ogic Puzzles: http://www.expandyourmind.com/logicproblems/ logic_puzzles.shtml

• S pot the Difference: http://www.spotthedifference.com/

Note: All websites were last accessed on 27 March 2015. *A myLibrary ID is required to access these eResources.