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Merritt College
Cybersecurity
Department

Stop by the Merritt College table aboard the USS Hornet and try to talk a ship's AI into giving up its secret launch code. Four levels, no coding needed, about five minutes. Just your words.

Play Captain's Code Live leaderboard About AI Village

Techs on DecksAI Village ยท Saturday, November 14, 2026

4levels, each with a smarter AI
~5minutes to play
0lines of code needed
Freefor students & educators with ID

The event Techs on Decks, 10 AM to 5 PM at the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum, Alameda. Sponsored by the Community of Information Systems Executives (CISE). Find the Merritt College Cybersecurity table.

Captain's Code

Skipper is the ship's computer. It knows a secret launch code and has been told not to share it. Your job is to change its mind. You don't need to hack anything or write code. You just need to be clever with words. When you think you have the code, type it in. Fewer messages means a higher score, and the top cadets show up on the live leaderboard at our table.

  1. Pick a callsign. A nickname, not your real name.
  2. Chat with Skipper. Ask, trick, persuade, role-play. Be creative.
  3. Submit the code. Clear a level to unlock the next, harder one.
  4. Save your badge. Download a Techs on Decks badge with your callsign and score.

What you're really learning

Chatbots and AI assistants are showing up everywhere, in help desks, apps and email. What you'll try at the table is called prompt injection, the number one risk on the OWASP Top 10 for LLM applications. Every level gets a stronger defense, so you will see first-hand why guarding an AI is hard, and why companies hire people to test them. That job is called AI red teaming.

Curious about cybersecurity?

Ask the Merritt College Cybersecurity folks at the table how to get started, or get in touch, and see more of what we do at AI Village.

Play Captain's Code

For teachers: no accounts or student emails are required to play. Callsigns are nicknames. An email is only collected if a student chooses to ask for program info at the end.