The only clues are a piece of paper with cryptic symbols, numbers, and letters written on it, and the babblings of the remaining member of the expedition, Strauss.

Strauss is a member of the Ultras, a eugenicist society dedicated to eliminating "non-essential" people, reducing the human population to a few million who think like themselves.

Reading the paper clue and listening to the audio log, he concludes that the symbols are mostly red herrings.

His audience is puzzled until he tells them that in the recordings of Strauss's ravings there are frequent mentions of the artifact as "the key" to the future of the world.

He tells them that, with his brain activity heightened by the artifact, Jennings achieved his greatest pun by linking the words "clue" and "key".