Dead Drop: July 17

HIGH-SPEED CRYPTO MACHINE UNVEILED: Rolls-Royce is now taking orders for its super-secret 2021 special-edition luxury ride. Only the first 50 billionaire spies to apply will be able to secure one of the limited editions of this half-million-dollar car. Called the “Wraith Kryptos,” the coupe contains a cryptographic scavenger hunt–a series of ciphers hidden throughout the vehicle’s trim and other design features–culminating in a promised “enlightening conclusion.” Katrin Lehmann, seen in this video, is a recent college grad with a degree in transportation design, and is the brains behind the game. The company has apparently placed a huge amount of faith in her puzzle-making skills, since the amateur cryptographer’s solution has been vetted and shared with only one other individual. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös has the secret securely under lock and key in his office–for dramatic effect, of course.

ORGANIZING SPACE:  The fledgling U.S. Space Force has figured out how to organize itself.  As any bureaucrat can tell you – Job One in a new organization is designing the wiring diagram. The Space place has decided it will have three primary field commands: the Space Operations Command — known by the acronym “SpOC” (see what they did there?), the Space Systems Command (SSC) and the “Space Training and Readiness Command,  AKA “STARCOM” which is a pretty cool acronym for what is probably the most boring part of the organization. But wait – there’s more.  The next level below the field commands will be known as “Deltas” because, well, it sounds cool, we guess.