MC is embarrassed by the idea that Penny would see him in that getup as him. So he pretends to not be until he can't anymore (but while still trying to help). And he's a bit trapped by the "story" he's being brought along to properly search for others. So he's focusing on helping Penny with hopes to find a sign of the others as he goes. That's the idea.
That would be not so logic. Why the "embarrassed" more important than his/her friend life ? And why the "get along with the story" help him/her to find his/her friend ? Normally people will explain the current situation and find the "friend" first, then solve the story later. Else, it make the whole conversation at the beginning between MC and Harper seem non-existent.
Btw i'm stuck at the second laser gate and don't want to use the walkthrough/manual. Working on it, you guys know how to wreck other's mind, lol
The alphabet and number hint seem useless, for example:
Dominion (37) - roll test many rounds:
- Steps from A: 3-14-12-8-13-8-14-13 (or 35384854) => wrong both case
- Steps between letters are: 11-2-4-5-5-6-1 (or 2245561 not enough 8 letters/numbers and the 11-2-4-5-5-6-1 are 9) => wrong both case
I didn’t say it was more important. MC doesn’t see a need for revealing it until later. And they didn’t have much choice in looking for Harper or not.
As for the puzzle, any help I’d give would just be me noting what’s written in the walkthrough, so I’d suggest that (specifically the “old walkthrough” since that section needs to be updated still in the new walkthrough style). Not entirely sure what you’re referring to with your logic and numbers there, but you may be overcomplicating it
It took an embarrassing amount of time to understand why my own application of the hint was incorrect, especially as it fit with most of the in-game hints.
As extra clues: