Solution to 1: Clara Benson Building

    Count the number of teeth on each gear. From the darkest to the lightest one, there are 7, 5, 18, 13, 1 (since all the others have broken off), and 14 teeth. Translating these numbers to letters according to the simple alphanumeric cipher introduced in Act 0 Question 1, you get the word "GERMAN".

GERMAN