Areql Ba

Areql Ba (sometimes stylised as AREQL BA) is a codename for a file that was sent out to the public from a then unknown source during the events of an uninhabited and unnamed universe being inexplicably destroyed without any explanation. The file is only a few bytes large, only containing several characters. The file was examined for a long period of time before it was finally decoded and it was revealed that it was simply supposed to be a cryptic apology.
== Origin ==
A few minutes after the incident of a random universe being inexplicably deleted out of nowhere, all devices within a 2 * 10^10^2304 ly radius of said universe that have the ability to wirelessly receive text files were presented with a file titled "AREQL BA" with the following contents:
--_||-=\_|+_=_-|+_=-+|_+-=_|+-=-+|_=-=_|+_-=-=+|_+_=-=-\+_+|_+-=-=\-+_|+_+_|+=|_+_|+-==\_+|_+|+=-=-=\-=\-\=_|+_|+-\=-\=_|+_|+_|=-\=\-+_+_=-=_|+_|=\-\=_+_|_+|_||+|||_+||++|++++==\\-_|_|+|+_|--==-\_|+-
It was usual to receive strange files in these locations, so many individuals did not think twice about the file, but a few remarked on the fact that it would be coincidental for it to happen almost immediately after a universe was deleted. However, someone named {} who had just moved in was unfamiliar with these texts and decided to try to decode its meaning. The first observation made was that the points representing the places it was received created a perfect hypersphere with the removed universe in the origin, leading {} to believe that it had some form of correlation with that universe.
== Decoding the Message ==
It took many days to initially figure this out, but using a coded brute-forcer, {} was able to figure out that, if each symbol in the original text was considered a placeholder for a corresponding symbol in an obscure written language used by around 14 individuals in a random verse near the destroyed one, it creates a valid sentence in that language, that translates roughly to:
"Piece of paper written in house 4"
After this discovery, {} decided to publicise this message by sending a journal of its correlation to some of the nearby individuals in the area, and it was eventually seen by many individuals. One day, someone who lived near a place with many numbered houses was notified of it, and was aware of a house called 4, so that individual checked all over that house, and there was a piece of paper glued under the table that said:
"48284652 4927475262 9584747646334322 1758239 293847273 281 from Hasfield"
This was immediately shown to other individuals in the area, and they became more intrigued by this wild goose chase. It was sent to the individuals of close proximity to the destroyed universe, i.e. the ones who received the file in the first place, and it became a group effort to try to figure out what this meant. Unfortunately, the next part was figured out using merely trial and error rather than decoding it, but the next part of the puzzle was still found. It was known from the beginning that there was a place called Hasfield with an infinite number of tiny galaxies in a linear formation after that, so someone simply checked the first 10^16 of them and found the next part in one of them. It was later found out that the one it was in, 9584743059232465, can be derived by adding the first number, subtracting the second one, adding the third, subtracting the fourth, adding the fifth, and subtracting the sixth.
There was nothing noteworthy in that tiny galaxy, but the numbers of stars in each of its three arms were almost exactly equal to the numbers that were meant to be subtracted in the original paper from house 4. The first one had 715 more than the number, the second one had 2015 more than the number, and the third one had 202 more than the number. Eventually, someone figured out that decoding these into English letters (via 7 15 20 15 20 2) results in the string "GO TO TB". TB stands for "The Box".
The final part of the puzzle was the discovery that, by using the shortest possible line from galaxy 9584743059232465 to The Box, there were symbols floating in the air that spell out a message when read from The Box to the galaxy, in some other random conlang. This was seen to be the actual message that it was leading towards, which read:
"$^ $%$##$%%$ # %%% $$$$#$%^^$# $^$#^$ ^$%^$^$^. $%^$#$%%^$^#%^ ^%^$%#^$% #$%^$ % %$#$%^ %%% $^$^%#$^#$^$^, ^%#."
However, there was unfortunately a mistake in the translation, so this doesn't actually mean anything. As a result, they were changed to be legible. The message was re-read again, and it was revealed to be merely an apology for deleting that one uninhabited universe, as it was an accident.
== The Message ==
After some investigation, it was found that the entity who crafted the AREQL BA puzzle was playing a game involving subtly changing the colours of the exteriors of universes to create images and models. However, the entity accidentally pressed the wrong button and deleted a verse that was intended to be changed to orange instead. In a panic, the entity quickly created an apology and a cryptic puzzle to find it, because the entity was embarrassed about its actions due to the fact that it was misinformed and thought that the universe was inhabited, because the majority of the ones around it were. However, the entity only wanted it to be seen by "intelligent" individuals due to a belief that they were the only ones that could properly reason with it, which is why it was put behind a cryptic puzzle. The individuals who solved the puzzle informed the entity that this was not a good mindset to have, so the mindset was altered by the time it was resolved. The solution to AREQL BA was still found to be interesting, so it was digitally archived, and now instructions towards finding the solution can still be found in various locations, especially near the deleted universe.
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