Some time ago, we discovered that the sum of the numbers of the agents mentioned in the Interlude was 171 (19×9).
Some other time ago, Adam Laceky told me he was convinced that the major mnemonic system was somehow afoot within the Interlude and perhaps more of SoT. I had never heard of the MM and was reluctant to believe.
He pointed out that if you take the numbers of the first two agents mentioned in the Interlude (4, 34) and apply the MM, you get the word RUMOR. Intriguing, given the emphasis on that word in the footnotes and the alternative title to Ship of Theseus (Principality of Rumor), but still. Is there more?
On p307, Adam insists, we discover the 5th Fn of the Interlude, and it focuses heavily on music. In the MM, 307 = music.
Apophenia! I challenge. To which Adam points out that Sola = 05, and there is a conspicuous absence in the agent numbers of either 5 or 0, as there is a conspicuous absence of Sola in the Interlude.
At this point, Adam had me delving into the world of the MM and searching to corroborate his insistence that it had something to do with the Interlude code. Whereas I have always been convinced that the key was the title of chapter: Toccata and Fugue in Free Time – just as Jennifer Hayward writes herself directly beneath the title.
What if both are true?
Toccata = 171 – which happens to be the sum of our agent numbers.
Fugue = 87 – the sum of agents 4, 34, 47, and 2.
Free = 84 – the sum of the remaining agents 26, 8, 9, and 41.
Toccata = Fugue + Free?
What about time, you say? Where does it fit in?
Time = 13 – the number of footnotes in the Interlude.
I’m now convinced. The MM is somehow a key, if not the key, to the interlude cipher. Adam and I are calling on the rest of you who are still working on S to join us in ferreting out the Interlude cipher and its solution. Together, we should discover it in time.