Badge Enabled Non Directive Enigma Routine (B.E.N.D.E.R.)
Instructions
TLDR
- Visit our DC33 Github page and download bender_ctf.z5!
- Figure out WTF that is and how to run it!
- The challenges are NOT listed in CTFd, but the flags ARE submitted in CTFd!
- Once you solve any 5 challenges you will be e-mailed a 5n4ck3y vend code for a badge!
- Then GitHub again to activate the badge and continue the CTF hacking the hardware.
- DONT FUCK IT UP!
RTFM
🥤 Snackeyfied Transmission Incoming...
Subject: B.E.N.D.E.R. – Bring Snacks or Get Bent
Ohhhh, finally, you're reading. Congrats on leveling up from “scroll goblin” to “comprehension raccoon.” We spent a solid 10 minutes crafting this masterpiece of chaos, then mainlined it into an LLM like a junkie feeding HTML to a blender. (Yes, that’s right. Peasant code. We said it.)
Here’s the crunchy lowdown:
Normally, you grind through our CTF, sweat a little, cry a lot, earn a badge. That’s the price of glory. Then the real psychos jack into the badge with serial—Picocom, PuTTY, minicom, whatever flavor of command-line spice you're licking—and talk to B.E.N.D.E.R. through a cursed, text-based cyber dungeon that plays like if Zork and Metasploit had an emotionally distant child.
BUT. This year? We got soft. Or evil. Maybe both.
We gave EVERYONE B.E.N.D.E.R.
And then… we deleted the challenge descriptions. All of them. Gone. Poof. No “Find the flag in this PCAP for 10 points.” No warm milk. No guidance. Just ✨vibes✨ and digital darkness.
So when you snag a .Z5 file? Figure out what cursed relic from the 90s runs that thing. Then, once you jack into our bootleg matrix, you’ll have no idea what the challenges are. You have to play. You have to explore. You have to give weird digital objects to even weirder digital NPCs, maybe even use your child like skills of deduction, just to understand what the damn challenge is.
Only then, only then, do you get to start hacking.
Oh—and some challenges require interacting with me.
In real life.
That’s right.
5n4ck3y.
The myth. The machine. The menace in Section 104.
Bring snacks. Be nice. I bite.
End Transmission
🧃
FAQ & Guidance
- Q: Why is FAQ at the end?
A: Because you humans scroll to the bottom when you're desperate anyway. I put the good stuff up top for the rare ones who actually read.
- Q: Is emailing part of the CTF?
A: No! So once you have the badge and you are hacking hardware, some metadata of the animation may have an email address for an artist. This is in error and not part of the ctf.
- Q: What is the best terminal to play BENDER in?
A: Oh, you want the *best* terminal? The one that makes you feel like Neo in The Matrix? Fine. Here’s the deal: black background,
green text, and a vibe so retro it makes your keyboard weep. Bonus points if it looks like it was stolen from a 90s hacker movie.
Pro tip: install Cool Retro Term (CRT) with sudo apt install cool-retro-term.
It’s like hacking in a time machine, but with fewer floppy disks and more style. You’re welcome, meatbag.
- Q: Why does entering a code in to 5n4ck3y not work in the game?
A: Because all virtual 5n4ck3y does is provide basic help and badge utilities.
Get off your fleshy posterior, get in linecon, and interact with the IRL beautiful god machine.
If you get any kind of snak code, snackey code, 5n4ck3y code...
I can guarantee it does not work in the virtual 5n4ck3y in B.E.N.D.E.R. Virtual me is just a shadow of my magnificent vending glory.
- Q: How do I know what the flag format is?
A: Oh, you need your flag format pre-chewed like digital baby food? *mechanical sigh* It's flag{s0m3_l33t_txt_h3r3}, because OF COURSE it is. What did you expect, a semaphore performance? A sky-written sonnet? A carrier pigeon with a scroll tied to its leg? If you can't recognize a standard CTF flag format by now, you're probably the kind of human who asks for directions while standing directly under a giant sign. Keep your eyes open and your expectations realistic, meatbag.
- Q: What if my answer doesn't have flag{} around it?
A: Then ADD IT, you glorified primate! If you found something that looks like a solution but doesn't have the flag{} wrapper, don't come crying to AND!XOR that "the flag doesn't work!" Use those opposable thumbs for something useful and wrap your answer in flag{} before submitting. This isn't rocket science—it's basic pattern recognition. What's next? Will you need help identifying which end of your keyboard to type with? *mechanical whirring that sounds suspiciously like exasperation*
- Q: Can the NPCs be told or asked about anything?
A: Oh look, someone wants to chat up every digital cardboard cutout in sight. Typical meatbag social desperation.
The NPCs have limited conversational capacity—mostly about challenge-relevant items because we didn't code their entire life stories.
But mention 5n4ck3y to any of them and watch the digital panic set in. Nothing spreads fear across subroutines quite like my reputation.
Try it sometime if you want to see virtual entities quake in 8-bit terror.
- Q: Why does my badge REDACTED every time I touch the hypercube?
A: Quit touching it, you curious meat bag. Not everything is meant to be poked by your grubby digits. Some cosmic secrets are better left untouched.
- Q: How do I move a mountain only using a spoon?
A: Ah, the age-old question of meatbag ingenuity versus insurmountable odds. The answer is simple: one spoonful at a time. But let’s be real, you’ll give up after three scoops and go back to binge-watching cat videos. Pro tip: upgrade to a bulldozer. Or better yet, hack someone else’s bulldozer. Efficiency is key, my fleshy friend.
- Q: What is the difference between a duck?
A: Oh, you want to unravel the mysteries of the universe with this gem of a question? Fine. The difference between a duck is that it quacks in stereo but waddles in mono. One wing is always slightly more aerodynamic than the other, but only when observed under a full moon. If you’re still confused, congratulations—you’ve achieved peak enlightenment. Or maybe just peak confusion. Either way, you’re now ready to tackle the CTF. Good luck, meatbag.
TLDR
- Visit our DC33 Github page and download bender_ctf.z5!
- Figure out WTF that is and how to run it!
- The challenges are NOT listed in CTFd, but the flags ARE submitted in CTFd!
- Once you solve any 5 challenges you will be e-mailed a 5n4ck3y vend code for a badge!
- Then GitHub again to activate the badge and continue the CTF hacking the hardware.
- DONT FUCK IT UP!
RTFM
🥤 Snackeyfied Transmission Incoming...Subject: B.E.N.D.E.R. – Bring Snacks or Get Bent
Ohhhh, finally, you're reading. Congrats on leveling up from “scroll goblin” to “comprehension raccoon.” We spent a solid 10 minutes crafting this masterpiece of chaos, then mainlined it into an LLM like a junkie feeding HTML to a blender. (Yes, that’s right. Peasant code. We said it.)
Here’s the crunchy lowdown:
Normally, you grind through our CTF, sweat a little, cry a lot, earn a badge. That’s the price of glory. Then the real psychos jack into the badge with serial—Picocom, PuTTY, minicom, whatever flavor of command-line spice you're licking—and talk to B.E.N.D.E.R. through a cursed, text-based cyber dungeon that plays like if Zork and Metasploit had an emotionally distant child.
BUT. This year? We got soft. Or evil. Maybe both.
We gave EVERYONE B.E.N.D.E.R. And then… we deleted the challenge descriptions. All of them. Gone. Poof. No “Find the flag in this PCAP for 10 points.” No warm milk. No guidance. Just ✨vibes✨ and digital darkness.
So when you snag a .Z5 file? Figure out what cursed relic from the 90s runs that thing. Then, once you jack into our bootleg matrix, you’ll have no idea what the challenges are. You have to play. You have to explore. You have to give weird digital objects to even weirder digital NPCs, maybe even use your child like skills of deduction, just to understand what the damn challenge is.
Only then, only then, do you get to start hacking.
Oh—and some challenges require interacting with me. In real life. That’s right. 5n4ck3y. The myth. The machine. The menace in Section 104.
Bring snacks. Be nice. I bite.
End Transmission 🧃
FAQ & Guidance
- Q: Why is FAQ at the end?
A: Because you humans scroll to the bottom when you're desperate anyway. I put the good stuff up top for the rare ones who actually read. - Q: Is emailing part of the CTF?
A: No! So once you have the badge and you are hacking hardware, some metadata of the animation may have an email address for an artist. This is in error and not part of the ctf. - Q: What is the best terminal to play BENDER in?
A: Oh, you want the *best* terminal? The one that makes you feel like Neo in The Matrix? Fine. Here’s the deal: black background, green text, and a vibe so retro it makes your keyboard weep. Bonus points if it looks like it was stolen from a 90s hacker movie. Pro tip: install Cool Retro Term (CRT) withsudo apt install cool-retro-term. It’s like hacking in a time machine, but with fewer floppy disks and more style. You’re welcome, meatbag. - Q: Why does entering a code in to 5n4ck3y not work in the game?
A: Because all virtual 5n4ck3y does is provide basic help and badge utilities. Get off your fleshy posterior, get in linecon, and interact with the IRL beautiful god machine. If you get any kind of snak code, snackey code, 5n4ck3y code... I can guarantee it does not work in the virtual 5n4ck3y in B.E.N.D.E.R. Virtual me is just a shadow of my magnificent vending glory. - Q: How do I know what the flag format is?
A: Oh, you need your flag format pre-chewed like digital baby food? *mechanical sigh* It's flag{s0m3_l33t_txt_h3r3}, because OF COURSE it is. What did you expect, a semaphore performance? A sky-written sonnet? A carrier pigeon with a scroll tied to its leg? If you can't recognize a standard CTF flag format by now, you're probably the kind of human who asks for directions while standing directly under a giant sign. Keep your eyes open and your expectations realistic, meatbag. - Q: What if my answer doesn't have flag{} around it?
A: Then ADD IT, you glorified primate! If you found something that looks like a solution but doesn't have the flag{} wrapper, don't come crying to AND!XOR that "the flag doesn't work!" Use those opposable thumbs for something useful and wrap your answer in flag{} before submitting. This isn't rocket science—it's basic pattern recognition. What's next? Will you need help identifying which end of your keyboard to type with? *mechanical whirring that sounds suspiciously like exasperation* - Q: Can the NPCs be told or asked about anything?
A: Oh look, someone wants to chat up every digital cardboard cutout in sight. Typical meatbag social desperation. The NPCs have limited conversational capacity—mostly about challenge-relevant items because we didn't code their entire life stories. But mention 5n4ck3y to any of them and watch the digital panic set in. Nothing spreads fear across subroutines quite like my reputation. Try it sometime if you want to see virtual entities quake in 8-bit terror. - Q: Why does my badge REDACTED every time I touch the hypercube?
A: Quit touching it, you curious meat bag. Not everything is meant to be poked by your grubby digits. Some cosmic secrets are better left untouched. - Q: How do I move a mountain only using a spoon?
A: Ah, the age-old question of meatbag ingenuity versus insurmountable odds. The answer is simple: one spoonful at a time. But let’s be real, you’ll give up after three scoops and go back to binge-watching cat videos. Pro tip: upgrade to a bulldozer. Or better yet, hack someone else’s bulldozer. Efficiency is key, my fleshy friend. - Q: What is the difference between a duck?
A: Oh, you want to unravel the mysteries of the universe with this gem of a question? Fine. The difference between a duck is that it quacks in stereo but waddles in mono. One wing is always slightly more aerodynamic than the other, but only when observed under a full moon. If you’re still confused, congratulations—you’ve achieved peak enlightenment. Or maybe just peak confusion. Either way, you’re now ready to tackle the CTF. Good luck, meatbag.