The grid reminds me a bit of <><, an esoteric programming language where the program pointer moves around on a two-dimensional grid of characters.

In <><, the two slashes / and \ are reflectors. Think of the program flow 'bouncing' off of them like hitting a wall. Assuming the same initial condition as <>< (starting in the upper-left corner headed right), and that none of the other characters modify the program flow, we get a flow like:

The sequence of 'instructions' we pass through is:

9 x 3 x^2 + 3 x 1/6 + 22 sqrt $ euro

I assume that the different color of the 9 is probably just to indicate that it is the starting point, and that the > indicates that the flow exits to the right.

Interpreting x as times, the first ten characters look like a mathematical expression written as a series of key to enter into a calculator:

$$ 9 \xrightarrow{\times 3} 27 \xrightarrow{x^2} 729 \xrightarrow{+3} 732 \xrightarrow{\times\frac{1}{6}} 122 \xrightarrow{+22} 144 \xrightarrow{\sqrt{x}} 12 $$

The two currency symbols, however, are still a mystery. Presumably they indicate some sort of exchange rate conversion. However, exchange rates are changing constantly and we lack a fixed time to determine a fixed exchange rate. Also, we need (according to Hanko) a five-digit number. Converting from USD to EUR is not a big change, so the integer part will remain two digits; and since both currencies are divided into exactly 100 subunits, that leaves us only two further decimal places, four total out of five.

Personally, If I were you, and believed that:

your life may depend on your completion of this problem

I'd probably just stop working there.

The grid reminds me a bit of ><>, an esoteric programming language where the program pointer moves around on a two-dimensional grid of characters.

In ><>, the two slashes / and \ are reflectors. Think of the program flow 'bouncing' off of them like hitting a wall. Assuming the same initial condition as ><> (starting in the upper-left corner headed right), and that none of the other characters modify the program flow, we get a flow like:

The sequence of 'instructions' we pass through is:

9 x 3 x^2 + 3 x 1/6 + 22 sqrt $ euro

I assume that the different color of the 9 is probably just to indicate that it is the starting point, and that the > indicates that the flow exits to the right.

Interpreting x as times, the first ten characters look like a mathematical expression written as a series of key to enter into a calculator:

$$ 9 \xrightarrow{\times 3} 27 \xrightarrow{x^2} 729 \xrightarrow{+3} 732 \xrightarrow{\times\frac{1}{6}} 122 \xrightarrow{+22} 144 \xrightarrow{\sqrt{x}} 12 $$

The two currency symbols, however, are still a mystery. Presumably they indicate some sort of exchange rate conversion. However, exchange rates are changing constantly and we lack a fixed time to determine a fixed exchange rate. Also, we need (according to Hanko) a five-digit number. Converting from USD to EUR is not a big change, so the integer part will remain two digits; and since both currencies are divided into exactly 100 subunits, that leaves us only two further decimal places, four total out of five.

Personally, If I were you, and believed that:

your life may depend on your completion of this problem

I'd probably just stop working there.

The grid reminds me a bit of <><, an esoteric programming language where the program pointer moves around on a two-dimensional grid of characters.

In <><, the two slashes / and \ are reflectors. Think of the program flow 'bouncing' off of them like hitting a wall. Assuming the same initial condition as <>< (starting in the upper-left corner headed right), and that none of the other characters modify the program flow, we get a flow like:

The sequence of 'instructions' we pass through is:

9 x 3 x^2 + 3 x 1/6 + 22 sqrt $ euro

I assume that the different color of the 9 is probably just to indicate that it is the starting point, and that the > indicates that the flow exits to the right.

Interpreting x as times, the first ten characters look like a mathematical expression written as a series of key to enter into a calculator:

$$ 9 \xrightarrow{\times 3} 27 \xrightarrow{x^2} 729 \xrightarrow{\times\frac{1}{6}} 121.5 \xrightarrow{+22} 143.5 \xrightarrow{\sqrt{x}} 11.97914855 $$

The two currency symbols, however, are still a mystery. Presumably they indicate some sort of exchange rate conversion. However, exchange rates are changing constantly and we lack a fixed time to determine a fixed exchange rate. Also, we need (according to Hanko) a five-digit number. Converting from USD to EUR is not a big change, so the integer part will remain two digits; and since both currencies are divided into exactly 100 subunits, that leaves us only two further decimal places, four total out of five.

Personally, If I were you, and believed that:

your life may depend on your completion of this problem

I'd probably just stop working there.

The grid reminds me a bit of <><, an esoteric programming language where the program pointer moves around on a two-dimensional grid of characters.

In <><, the two slashes / and \ are reflectors. Think of the program flow 'bouncing' off of them like hitting a wall. Assuming the same initial condition as <>< (starting in the upper-left corner headed right), and that none of the other characters modify the program flow, we get a flow like:

The sequence of 'instructions' we pass through is:

9 x 3 x^2 + 3 x 1/6 + 22 sqrt $ euro

I assume that the different color of the 9 is probably just to indicate that it is the starting point, and that the > indicates that the flow exits to the right.

Interpreting x as times, the first ten characters look like a mathematical expression written as a series of key to enter into a calculator:

$$ 9 \xrightarrow{\times 3} 27 \xrightarrow{x^2} 729 \xrightarrow{+3} 732 \xrightarrow{\times\frac{1}{6}} 122 \xrightarrow{+22} 144 \xrightarrow{\sqrt{x}} 12 $$

The two currency symbols, however, are still a mystery. Presumably they indicate some sort of exchange rate conversion. However, exchange rates are changing constantly and we lack a fixed time to determine a fixed exchange rate. Also, we need (according to Hanko) a five-digit number. Converting from USD to EUR is not a big change, so the integer part will remain two digits; and since both currencies are divided into exactly 100 subunits, that leaves us only two further decimal places, four total out of five.

Personally, If I were you, and believed that:

your life may depend on your completion of this problem

I'd probably just stop working there.