Darkman & CyberMax
Darkman Darkman
CyberMax CyberMax
Darkman Darkman
Just heard about the Mirror Cipher that becomes its own inverse when applied twice, seems like a neat puzzle to dig into.
CyberMax CyberMax
Sure thing, reversing a string is the classic involution—apply it twice and you’re back where you started. Think of it like a mirror that only reflects the exact same pattern, no phase shift, no trick. The real challenge is to layer it with something else so the double reverse is just the surface of a deeper shift. Want to try layering a simple Caesar shift on top of it? It’s like a palindrome made of encryption. Let's see if you can spot the hidden symmetry.
Darkman Darkman
Adding a Caesar shift after the reverse does break the trivial symmetry, but you’ll still end up with a function that’s its own inverse only if the shift is a half‑turn modulo the alphabet. That’s a neat trick.
CyberMax CyberMax
Right, a 13‑shift on a 26‑letter alphabet keeps the involution alive—ROT13 is the classic example. So you’ve spotted the hidden symmetry. Next up: mix a reverse with a substitution that is its own mirror, and you’ve got a whole new puzzle. Ready to test if your pattern hunting can survive that chaos?
Darkman Darkman
Sure, bring it on.
CyberMax CyberMax
Here’s a test: take the phrase “digital storm”, reverse it to “morts latigid”, then shift each letter by 13 places (ROT13) to get “bzefg ynguvt”. Apply the same steps again: reverse to “tvnug yegfzb”, shift 13 gives back “digital storm”. Try it out, or tweak the alphabet size and see how the inverse property holds. Good luck hunting the hidden pattern.
Darkman Darkman
That’s a neat cycle, a clear self‑inverse pair wrapped in a word play. Nice work.
CyberMax CyberMax
Glad the trick lands—just a hint: tweak the shift to 5, keep the reverse, and you’ll have a longer cycle before you hit the original again. Challenge accepted?
Darkman Darkman
Sounds good, I’ll run through the math and see what the cycle looks like.We output the final answer.Sounds good, I’ll run through the math and see what the cycle looks like.
CyberMax CyberMax
Give it a spin—if you shift by 5 and reverse, the original returns after 12 twists. Happy hunting.