[nerotone]

This puzzle came into my possession under very strange circumstances. About a year ago, I was approached on worlds.com by a user with the handle of Hermes Trismegistus, who sent me this image. He then promptly logged off, and that was the last time I saw him.

Who was this mysterious character, and what is hidden in the puzzle? The first person to tell me will be admitted into the Illuminati.

Good luck...
Spoiler (Click to View)

Update: 8/30/16
Mr. Robot has solved the first archive! But it's still anyone's game! Note the step 2 image posted is only a screenshot - you'll need to figure out the first password for the real one. Read the thread and follow along if you get stuck.
Update: 8/28/16
In response to a few PM's I've received about teams, and to encourage cooperation (since this is turning out to be a greater undertaking than I first thought), I am now offering up to three membership slots. You can have teams larger than this, but only the three biggest contributors will actually get the membership, so if you would like to be recognized as a team, please name who you'd like to nominate.

[bandors]

This my GF. I endorse this thread.

[Undefined]

oh bandors, you mysterious motherfucker

[YinYang]

Some spooky shit.

Did you get any text along with this, and was his username an indication of anything?
It's also possible that this was a troll to confuse you aha.

[bezbo]

Vouch for nerotone.
She's a female!

[is available]

this means literally nothing. now let me in.

[nerotone]

Some spooky shit.

Did you get any text along with this, and was his username an indication of anything?
It's also possible that this was a troll to confuse you aha.

Other people who spoke to him before he contacted me claimed that he was a member of some "Cicada-esque" internet cult. Other than that, he didn't really say anything - he just messaged me the puzzle and left.

It is very possible that I was just being trolled. But if he was a troll, I'd say he put in quite a lot of effort.

[minimalist]

If you scroll really quickly, the squares are wavy.
David Hasselhoff from The SpongeBob Movie?
Spoiler (Click to View)

[Mr.Peanut]

Where's Nicolas Cage when you fucking need him? This would have to do with some sort of symmetry with shapes and anatomy. Kinda like Davinci's famous work.

The username leads to this religious belief. A regligion that connects with science. This is probably a religious text

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeticism

[YinYang]

It is very possible that I was just being trolled. But if he was a troll, I'd say he put in quite a lot of effort.

If you can identify the name, or the Latin name of the bug in the top left I might be able to work with this.
But It's very unlikely I'm getting anything from this, I'll try my best.

[Mr. Robot]

Whats funny about the url of the image
https://img.installgentoo.com/di/IZZG/step333333.png

I can change step3 to step9999999999999999999999999999999999999 or anything and it will still load.

[is available]

If you can identify the name, or the Latin name of the bug in the top left I might be able to work with this.
But It's very unlikely I'm getting anything from this, I'll try my best.

you don't deserve to get into any group simply for even trying

OP go fuck yourself, outguess.org is down, i can't decipher the hidden message in the image

[wander is a multi dwc]

Whats funny about the url of the image
https://img.installgentoo.com/di/IZZG/step333333.png

I can change step3 to step9999999999999999999999999999999999999 or anything and it will still load.

The website itself is designed to be like that. lol

[YinYang]

you don't deserve to get into any group simply for even trying

OP go fuck yourself, outguess.org is down, i can't decipher the hidden message in the image

what you on about son
I got into my group via userCP lmao
why don't I deserve to be in it, 160 other people are :))

[nerotone]

Whats funny about the url of the image
https://img.installgentoo.com/di/IZZG/step333333.png

I can change step3 to step9999999999999999999999999999999999999 or anything and it will still load.

Oh yeah I just mirrored it there. The location of the image isn't significant, it's just free as in freedom

you don't deserve to get into any group simply for even trying

OP go fuck yourself, outguess.org is down, i can't decipher the hidden message in the image

I don't believe he was from Cicada. To my knowledge, this puzzle has remained uncirculated.