1. Start with the secret message```a  smay sstniaci,s svuiRs ieomnoasr yy,b  annede sp r,otprhueotc,  taan de rbuyg ioft heevriss iavsi da  ar eslaiwg ieoHu s. }cthoabr_leahtta_ns.i _Trhoet cheirgihD _peohiTn@t{ toofo rR2ats0p0ubt isni' sg aplofw eerh Tw a.sa iilni h1p9o1m5e hw hmeonr fN idcehroelfafsu sI Io hlwe f,ti eSxte.l AP e,tneorss byulrngo  tso' eolvpeurosce el aRiursespimain  eahrtm ireosf  frieglhateihn ga  Wsoar lgdn iWtacra  In,a gienbc rneiatsuipnsga Rb o,t6h0 9A1l eextaanld rnaI  a.n5d0 9R1a srpeubtmienv'osN  innif laurednncaex.e lRAu ssssiearnp mdEe fdenaat ss amloouhnctieNd  rdourreipnmgE  ttheem  wdanra,  ehrouwgeivfe ry,t eaincdo sb oat he mRaacsepbu teiHn  .asnrde dAaleelx alnadircao sb edcnaam eh cirnuchrce aesmionsg ldye tuanvpiotppualca re.h  Ienr ethhwe  ,e5a0r9l1y– 4m0o9r1n ifnog  roeft n3i0w  Deehcte mrboe r3 0[9O1. Sn.i  1g7r uDbescreemtbeePr ]. t1S9 1o6t,  dRealsepvuatritn  ewHa s. hacsrsuahsCs ixnoadtoehdt rbOy  naa igsrsouuRp  eohft  cnoin sneorivtaitsiovpe  lnaoibcliefmfeon  ownh od loephp oeshe dh ghuiosh ti n,f)lmuierngclei po vreor  rAelreexdannadwr(a  'aknidn nNaircthso'l aas .s aH irsot okrnioamn sa  osfat edne bsiurgcgseesdt  nteheabt  sRaahs peuHt i.n7'9s8 1s cnain dyarleotussa naonmd  as ionti setgearm irregpluitpa tai ognn ihkealtp erde tdfias cercendeiitr etphxee  tnsoairsirsetv ngoocv esrunomiegnitl earn da  tdhauhs  ehHe l.p)etds aplrbeOc inpeimtuaytTe  ftoh et coivretrstihDr oywk sovfo ktrhaeY  Rwoomna(n oevt adryonnarsetvyo Ga  kfselwo bwoeTe kfso  adfzteeyrU  hyek swnaesm uaysTs aeshsti nnait eedy.o kAscvcooruknotPs  foof  ehgiasl lliivf en aainrde biinSf leuhetn cnei  wyelriem aoff ttenna sbaaespe da  oont  hneraorbs asya wa nndi truupmsoarR```
2. The decryption program```file = list(open('file').read().strip())message = ''for i in range(1, len(file), 2):    message += file[-i]for i in range(0, len(file), 2):    message += file[i]print(message)```
3. The result```Rasputin was born to a peasant family in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye in the Tyumensky Uyezd of Tobolsk Governorate (now Yarkovsky District of Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after taking a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897. He has been described as a monk or as a 'strannik' (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. He traveled to St. Petersburg in 1903 or the winter of 1904“â1905, where he captivated some church and social leaders. He became a society figure and met Emperor Nicholas and Empress Alexandra in November 1905. In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for the imperial couple's only son, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. The flag is b00t2root{@The_Director_is_the_bot}. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary, and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The high point of Rasputin's power was in 1915 when Nicholas II left St. Petersburg to oversee Russian armies fighting World War I, increasing both Alexandra and Rasputin's influence. Russian defeats mounted during the war, however, and both Rasputin and Alexandra became increasingly unpopular. In the early€ morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative noblemen who opposed his influence over Alexandra and Nicholas. Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the tsarist government and thus helped precipitate the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty a few weeks after he was assassinated. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor```
4. Here is the flag```b00t2root{@The_Director_is_the_bot}```