Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

24
Mar'11

The Black Helix ramps up for a live finale event

   Posted by: thebruce

The Black Helix is a project that began one month ago with a mysterious kidnapping, and the promise that the events that followed would be written by the players, culminating in a live finale event, all to published in a followup eBook online. That finale event is upon us – here’s the official word:

Black Helix is drawing to a close this weekend with 527 participants on Facebook (and over a thousand players who over the last four weeks have joined the hunt both online and offline to find Jess Harrington and discover the meaning behind the Black Helix.

On Saturday 26th March at 3:30pm GMT they will have their last chance to affect the final novel and find the truth. The unique role playing event will unfold LIVE over the internet and players decisions will dictate the closing outcome. Four players have been chosen and will have a once in a lifetime chance to interact with the story characters in a real world role playing experience. These chosen players will also work together with online participants in real time to help solve the last few puzzles together, uncover the truth behind the Black Helix and possibly find out why Jess was kidnapped. Its still not too late to join the hunt and take part in this unique LIVE event! To watch and take part visit http://www.theblackhelix.com

There’s a video of the story so far [below] and the ebook of the story that will include the gamers taking part will be published in the summer.

View on Youtube

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Categories: ARGs General, Books, Viral General

24
Feb'11

What is The Black Helix?

   Posted by: thebruce

Beginning Friday February 25th, 2011 at 8:00pm GMT, players will have a chance to participate in and “become a part of an unwritten story”

The Black Helix is an ambitious project being launched by The Design Zoo.

This is an ARG that’s scheduled to run for a full month, the goal being to have players effectively create and become a part of this “unwritten story”.  Then, as the culmination of the ARG, The Design Zoo intends to publish the final story online in the summer of 2011 in what they believe to be the “world’s first crowd sourced ARG novel/story”.  The final story will integrate all the players, players’ actions, research and sub plots from the ARG, forming a unique “transmedia book” that all players will feel a part of.

The Black Helix is being touted as being one of the largest Alternate Reality Games to come out of Northern Ireland, and will incorporate online and offline elements, with an interactive narrative, games, phone calls, real world tasks, and a “final role playing event”.

What is The Black Helix? Block the following text to read a sneak-peak of the starting plot.

The story starts with a 27year old PHD science student being kidnapped from her apartment and her whereabouts is now under investigation.

We are looking for individuals and friends to help uncover the truth behind the kidnapping. You must join the hunt both online and offline to discover her whereabouts, but don’t be fooled into thinking that your actions won’t go unnoticed. All is not as it seems.

Do you feel you have what it takes to uncover the truth and become part of an unwritten story?

Word is already spreading — bookmark keep an eye on these websites and resources:

The project is supported by the Creative Industries Innovation Fund from the Northern Ireland Arts Council.

The Black Helix is scheduled to launch at 8pm GMT, Friday Feb 25th.

UPDATE!

The Black Helix has launched. And with it, the kidnapping:

View footage on Youtube

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Categories: ARGs General, Books, Viral General

19
Sep'09

A payphone rings in New Mombasa… do you answer it? Do you?

   Posted by: thebruce

Master Chief: Bobble HeadPerhaps this article would be better entitled: Why I love Halo: An Epic Analysis.

I’m not a Halo fanatic…relatively speaking. I’m not shy about being an enormous fan of the Halo franchise, but I don’t own a Master Chief costume, nor have I ever worn one. I don’t know every little intricate detail of the Halo universe. I can’t ramble off stats, ID numbers, the name and rank of every known character. I don’t play the video game most of the day, every day, and it’s a fat chance I’d “pwn” anyone in multiplayer these days if I did. At all. I’m what you might consider a discoverer, or a story enthusiast.

Halo: Combat EvolvedI was an early adopter of the original Xbox back in 2001, due solely to previews of Halo: Combat Evolved. At that point, I was a gamer. My friends at first were annoyed with my constant raving about Halo, yet many eventually caved and began playing as well – and soon, much more than me. My game-playing fanaticism and multiplayer skill slowly faded as I was drawn further into the mystery, the story world that had been created by Bungie Studios.

I would not hesitate in the slightest to refer to the Halo franchise as “Epic”.

Quite often I compare the potential scope of this universe to that of Star Trek or Star Wars. To me, for a story to be epic, it must have potential to become a ‘part of the whole’, a story told within what feels to be a much, much larger untold story. For an epic to be successful in my opinion, it needs to employ a certain formula. It needs first to be told from the perspective of an individual, or providing only a very small portion of the larger picture, and still make a personal connection with the audience. If done right, this story alone would capture its audience.

Consider recent entertainment franchises like Terminator, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or even the Chronicles of Riddick. Each begins by telling a self-contained story from a single perspective, while leaving many questions unanswered in the end. Sarah Connor has to survive against a deadly killing machine from the future. Neo strives desperately to discover and understand what the Matrix is. The little hobbits in peaceful Hobbiton have their worlds turned upside by an unknown, evil force. Harry potter learns about a strange, magical, hidden world. The convict Riddick uses his extreme skills to survive and escape a deadly planet. Each of these tease at a larger universe with untold stories, but begin with an engaging tale of discovery or exploration of something unknown.

Enter Master Chief, Spartan John-117.

Master Chief gazesPresuming one knows nothing of the previous, indirectly related Marathon titles – with Halo, we begin from the Chief’s perspective, opening up not only in the middle of a war we know nothing about, but making that first, eerie discovery of a foe that threatens much more than we could imagine (I will never forget watching for the first time the cinematic cutscene in which the Chief discovers the Flood). Already, the premise is clear that this isn’t just a self-contained video game story, but actually only a very small window into a universe filled with history and a future, conflict, and characters that truly feel as if they have backstories and full lives.

( Continue to the next page )

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Categories: ARGs General, Books, Movies, Video games

20
Mar'09

A Writer’s Therapy: The Charlotte Sessions

   Posted by: thebruce

As if ARGs blurring the line between fantasy and reality weren’t enough, a new mystery is being uncovered, blurring the line between fantasy and reality about a writer whose line between fantasy and reality is blurred!

Wednesday, march 18th: Wikibruce received a package with a bulge in the mail from one “P. Martin” on Mission Blvd. in San Diego.  It was mailed March 13th.  Inside – a riddle wrapped in an enigma…well, a newspaper at least; the San Diego Union Tribune, of March 10th, pages A3-4,9-10.  If that’s important at all.

Contained within the neatly folded newspaper was an old, rattled audio recorder.  Taped to its front was a sticky note (redundancy for the win) with the phrase “Play me” teasingly scrawled across its face.

Some clarification on the instructions would have been nice, but I went with the easy answer and pressed play on the recorder. Success! For once, batteries were included.  Immediately, a recorded interview began playing betwen a man and woman.  The nature of the conversation appeared to be one of a doctor / patient relation.

Based on the discussion ensuing at Unfiction, it’s been determined that this is an ex-novelist, discussing her problems with her therapist. Put on your crazy pants!  Characters in her stories come to life. Most recently, a character Charlotte, whose story the writer chose to leave incomplete, appeared to her – on the street, supposedly as the cause of a large multi-car collision.

The writer’s first episode, however, starring one of her other characters – Julia – would have been enough to traumatize most people. But I’ll leave you to discover that story.

This doctor / patient interview has been getting pieced together segment by segment by people who’ve received similar packages in the mail.  At the time of this writing, 5 segments have been reported, spanning (what is believed to be) two and a half sessions.  This tape was labeled “2/2” (2nd session, part 2). You can hear below.

Download (1.3MB)

What’s known so far? The story is very reminiscent (well, undoubtedly related) to the novel Therapy, by Sebastian Fitzek, released March 17th. From the website:

A twelve year old girl, Josy, has an inexplicable illness and vanishes without a trace from the doctor’s office during treatment. Her father, Viktor Larenz, a well-known psychiatrist, withdraws years later to an isolated North Sea island in order to deal with the tragedy. Here he receives a dangerous visit from a beautiful stranger. Anna Spiegel is a novelist and she suffers from an unusual form of schizophrenia: all the characters she creates for her books become real. And in her last novel she has written about a young girl with an unknown illness who vanishes one day without a trace. …
Is the inconceivable possible? Do Anna’s delusions describe Josy’s last days? Viktor Larenz begins the therapy in an attempt to uncover the horrible truth.

Below is the full compiled audio from the currently reported session segments: 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 2/2, and 3/1. Take a peek…

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/-USqKS7nixo” width=”480″ height=”295″ allowfullscreen=”true” fvars=”fs=1″ /]
  • Join in the discussion at Unfiction, where people are actually trying to determine where the recordings took place and where the locations mentioned are!
  • Transcripts are listed at Wonderweasels.org

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Categories: ARGs General, Books, Rabbit Hole, Viral General

17
Mar'09

Personal Effects followup – JC Hutchins on ARG Netcast 81

   Posted by: thebruce

ARG NetcastAs a followup to my previous article covering JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Dark Art novel / ARG hybrid, I’d like to direct you to the ARG Netcast, episode 81.  JC Hutchins graced the panel with his presence. It was he, Jonathan Waite (ARGN), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction/Despoiler) and I, shooting the breeze, discussing all things Hutchins.

You can download the Netcast directly via this link (29MB), or listen to it below.

Download

If you were watching the live video stream of the netcast, we were also privileged to have the first stunning PE:DA video trailer air Live!

Don’t forget to visit JCHutchins.net to get the skinny on Personal Effects first hand.

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Categories: ARGs General, Books

16
Mar'09

JC Hutchins Endorses Art Therapy at The Brink – Commit Yourself

   Posted by: thebruce

Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital LogoHorror thriller novelist JC Hutchins is at it again. This time, he’s taking his dark art cross-media. Coming in June, a hybrid Book/ARG supernatural thriller called Personal Effects: Dark Art. I was introduced recently to JC when he blogged his experience at the mobile FEAR lab for the video game F.E.A.R. 2, being the recipient of a mysterious silver briefcase. Since then, he’s been tirelessly promoting his upcoming novel Personal Effects: Dark Art, and the immersive online experience coupled with it. Published under St. Martin’s Press, and co-created with Jordan Weisman of Smith & Tinker (who also created Book/ARG experiences in Cathy’s Book and Cathy’s Key), Personal Effects: Dark Art is scheduled for public release on June 9th, 2009.

JC has been forging his way into cross-media storytelling recently with his previous, and very popular podcast thriller trilogy 7th Son, which paved the way for the fan-powered community The Ministry of Propaganda Online. He also maintains a series of additional podcasts to boot. JC’s been busy!

J.C. Hutchins’ new horror thriller novel, Personal Effects: Dark Art, chronicles the story of Zach Taylor, a young art therapist. Taylor works at Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital, a facility with a dark, bloody history. Locals call it “The Brink.”

And now, J.C. Hutchins and Personal Effects creator Jordan Weisman are opening the doors of their bloody creation, and allowing you to step inside. You’re not getting a guided tour of The Brink. You’re … being committed.

Welcome to a first-ever in publishing called Commit Yourself To The Brink. Here, you’ll find ways to inject yourself into the Personal Effects universe and become a patient of art therapist Zach Taylor. Create a patient profile (complete with backstory), receive your admittance papers, contribute artwork, video and more … and earn the horrifically cool privilege to appear on Brinkvale’s official website.

Get creative. Get crazy. Get committed.

From the book:

Brinkvale Psychiatric was not built over the [brownstone] quarry, but in it. Nine stories of howling, brain-boiling madness, stacked two hundred feet into the bedrock. If you’re at The Brink, you’re at the end of the line. Only dead-enders need apply.

The physical Personal Effects novel includes a number of ‘personal effects’ such as photos, business cards, and other eerily realistic items that will help you, the reader, truly enter the world of Zach Taylor and Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital. Explore the mystery and immerse yourself in the thrilling fiction created by these masters of the storytelling experience. The book is now available for pre-order via Amazon, and they’re promoting frantically to keep it rising in the Amazon best-sellers list, even before the book’s release!

To keep the promo train rolling, JC is also planning a podcast-exclusive prequel novella, for release in May titled Personal Effects: Sword of Blood.

Back in November, ARGNet sat down with JC Hutchins for an interview about Personal Effects, which can be viewed here, but others in the industry also have many good things to say about his work:

“So compelling is the journey, … readers may scarcely recognize their own transformation from passive to active, as they pick up where the text subsides and become the protagonist.”
–Gore Verbinski, director

“This is the future of storytelling, and it’s a thrilling ride.”
–Anthony E. Zuiker, Creator/Executive Producer of the CSI: franchise

“[A] rocking genre-mash that mixes mystery with psychodrama and serves it up in a high-bandwidth torrent of terror.”
–Scott Sigler, author of Infected and Contagious

Get Committed!

Have a listen to the audio promotion for Personal Effects

Download
(3.2MB mp3)

The online experience for Personal Effects has already begun, but it’s certainly not too late to join and get committed at The Brink. You can begin by visiting JC’s site The Brink and reading up, or by directly visiting Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital. Take a look at the “flagship alternative therapy program is the art therapy program headed by Zachary Taylor. Check out some of what’s already happened by visiting Zach’s girlfriend (GameSetWatch has a good overview as well). Read up on past news at the New York Journal Ledger. Visit Back From the Brink and chat with ex-patients in the process of healing. Or jump right in and commit yourself to the Brink and complete the first art assignment:

Are you a visual artist, graphic designer or photographer? Want to show Brinkvale’s staff (and the world) the madness in your head? Perfect. Grab your paintbrushes, colored pencils, Wacom tablet … however you best express yourself … and get cooking on a piece of art worthy of The Brink’s patient gallery.

You’re welcome to use artwork you’ve already created, or whip up something brand-new for this assignment. Create your patient profile by filling out the form, upload your artwork, and become a patient at The Brink!

Get creative. Get crazy. Get committed.

Links:

Brinkvale Psychiatric Institute Invitation

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Categories: ARGs General, Books

6
Feb'09

Smorgasboard of News and Updates!

   Posted by: thebruce

In an attempt to cover quite a number of running projects and games, here are a few launches, news items, and announcements to pore over.

Serious Games

Akoha – Come play it forward!
Self-labeled as a “social reality game”, Akoha is physical card-based game with ‘act-of-kindness’ missions to carry out on or with friends. You can get cards by buying decks, or by being given a card by someone who just completed a task. The visual explanation explains how players registered at akoha.com can see each card’s history of good deeds (including video blogs, testimonies, etc), who’s done what, when and where, and players can also earn karma points for carrying out these tasks. With enough karma you can begin creating other missions for people to carry out. Akoha is currently in a beta testing phase, but it’s a “big, bold and crazy kind of idea”, and it’s Canadian!

Ruby’s Bequest
Ruby’s Bequest is a new game from Institute for the Future telling the story of the (fictional) town Deepwell and its residents, and providing “a unique immersive experience in which thousands of people will help forecast the future of caring in the United States.”. Sponsored by United Cerebral Palsy and AARP, the game will play similarly to World Without Oil, where 7 years will pass between the month starting from launch, March 9th to the April 10th conclusion. Find out more information and join in at RubysBequest.org

Movies/TV

Terminator: Connor Chronicles or Salvation?
A website has recently appeared on the radar: SkynetResearch.com. Little to nothing is known about it besides what’s currently visible. More weight seems to be placed on this being related to Terminator: Salvation, slated for May 22 release, as the site is owned by Warner Bros, according to the Privacy Policy linked in its footer. What do you think?

Who’s Watching the Watchmen?
Much has been revealed since TheNewFrontiersman.net was discovered and its contents opened. The New Frontiersman, reporting on ‘hero’-related news in a very mid-20th century manner, also has a twitter account you can follow, a Youtube channel to watch, a Flickr account to view, and a newsfeed to read. Content galore! A true alternate reality – Nixon on Mt. Rushmore?
Watchmen is slated for release March 6.

Video Games

FEAR 2 Level III Testing
FEAR 2’s viral campaign recently executed a live event in New York City, with the Armacham Mobile FEAR Lab experience. Silver case recipient J.C Hutchins was on the scene to record the report the entire experience. Read about and watch his test and experience at JCHutchins.net. Visit Armacham.com (don’t be afraid!) and see what upcoming dates are listed on the calendar… FEAR 2: Project Origin is slated for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, February 10th.

Singularity’s Mir-12
Russian spies, conspiracies, sci-fi, gorgeous women, it’s all here: visit MIR-12.com to find out what happened to Natasha Norvikov, and follow the ongoing investigations. If you can read Russian, you’ll have a much easier time! Raven software is releasing their first person shooter Singularity on Xbox360, PS3, and PC soon.

Halo Mysteries Return:
Mbaraki.2552
– Reported yesterday here at Wikibruce, new mysterious content has appeared in Bungie’s weekly updates in the Halo 3: ODST sections. The latest insert: “IDENT PROC 13262.0 MBARAKI.2552” appeared in Jan 30th’s news.
* B.Net group Compound Intelligence discussion (membership req’d)
The Way Their World Ended – a twitter account named intimation, believed to be run by a form of AI, made contact with some people earlier this year. A dream-style puzzle was solved leading to the website thewaytheirworldended.com with weekly updates. Explicit references have been made to Halo, and past ARGs Iris, and I Love Bees. Speculation is mixed as to whether this is official or a grassroots ARG.
* Unfiction discussion

More Mirror’s Edge?
Hot on the heals of EA’s release of Mirror’s Edge, a new mystery has arisen hinting at an upcoming Mirror’s Edge 2 (confirmed to eventually become a trilogy). Pirandello/Kruger teases a red door… which soon after led to Newstream Energy. The investigation is ongoing!

Grassroots / other

Are you 23?
Disney’s launched a countdown of their own, located at Disney.com/23, for March 10, 2009. What’s so special about the number 23? (Besides Jim Carrey’s movie of the same name) Speculation, as it pertains to Disney, makes note of points such as Disney’s founding in 1923, or Steve Jobs’ purchase of Pixar in 1986 (23 years ago). The leading speculation which seems to be gaining ground is that it’s related to the March launch of Disney’s “Club 23” (or D-23?) program. A revealing post on a Disney site has since been removed, but you can read the message here.

Ice Shock – Descendant
M.G.Harris was fairly open and public about an upcoming ARG for her book “Ice Shock“, which I reported on via ARGN.com back in November. She has now revealed the name: The Descendant, in a recent blog post. You can watch a 60-second trailer for the upcoming ARG at TheMGHarris.com fan site. Harris has slated its launch for March this year.

Yellow Curtain returns!
The Yellowcurtain wiki was recently updated with the news: “ATTENTION: Countdown for Yellow Curtain Episode 3 is ON!” While Episode 3 was apparently scheduled for launch January 15th, it may have been pushed a few weeks. Visit Yellowcurtain.com, watch anashel’s channel, or join the Facebook group for updates.

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Categories: ARGs General, Books, Grassroots, Movies, Video games, Viral General

7
Oct'08

Virtual Virtues Vividly Voices Vexingly Viral Values

   Posted by: thebruce

 

The Alternate Reality Gaming genre has remained virtually untouched by mainstream / contemporary Christianity, it seems.  This doesn’t include, however, the trendy use of Bible verses that show up almost commonplace for poetic purposes, spiritual themes, emphasis of good vs evil, etc.  It’s a time-honoured tradition found in movies, tv, video games, books, and virtually any creative medium in use today, wihout necessarily being religious in nature.  So to have a Christian ARG – not a mock piece, not satirical (as opposed to religion, that is) – but an ARG built/sponsored by Christians, in an overwhelmingly secular entertainment/marketing genre, is rare.

Recently, Christian author Ted Dekker promoted his book series the Lost Books of History with a well-produced ARG. It attracted flocks of Dekker fans to the in-game forums and to Ted’s own forums, gained some new fans (such as yours truly, who ended up purchasing the books) and in the end a final gathering was enjoyed by many fans.

Another campaign for a youth event got off to a rocky start – “Everything is going to change” was the catch phrase, and their attempt to gain attention for their website via youtube videos tagged with popular ARG phrases and names, earned it a fairly bad reputation from the start in the ARG community, as if it were attempting to ‘piggy-back’ off the popularity of other games.

Today, a new controversy has opened to the public.  But this one’s a bit different…after a little digging.

When the trailhead was first posted at Unfiction, I was very, very skeptical. Citizens of Virtue claims to be a Christian organization that is beginning a campaign to “educate the world on God-sanctioned morality”, based on the “classic seven virtues”: Temperance, Patience, Chastity, Kindness, Humility, Diligence, and Charity.  That’s not too bad given the context.  But after reading more detail on the website, such as their convictions, written letters, their accomplishments, etc, the organization comes off more and more as a ‘right wing’ conservative organization – one that isn’t typically viewed very highly in the public’s eyes, with some shady goings-on behind the scenes.

“CoV” is also the maker of a drug they’ve named “Passionix” – “the innovative new solution to the passions that can override the judgment of our youth and lead them into temptation.”  (a product eerily reminiscent of another recent local ‘drug’ campaign called “Obay“).

CoV also runs a camp called Camp Francis.  All seems well and good, if it weren’t for some worrisome / possibly satirical letters and content from past campers.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories: ARGs General, Books

29
Sep'08

Ever have that feeling that someone’s watching you?

   Posted by: thebruce

Recently there’s been a spout of activity in my little world…

I received a message at Facebook from someone claiming to know me, by name – well, her father knew me – but he was recently killed in Friar’s Point, Mississippi. This girl said her father told her to find me, that I was trustworthy and if she was ever in danger, to contact me for help.  Just me.

She was sent a photograph of a terminal that included me in a list of people being observed – myself on par with her. Others on the list are friends who I’ve discussed this with.  She’s now eerily stopped communicating.  And now I’m not sure how much to write here…

But, if you’d like to help, please do!  Jacob Aaron‘s death is still a mystery (as is his apparent connection to me) – discussion at Unfiction

—-

Secondly, I recently joined an Applicant Program (made a nice avatar, right :) for an organization called IngenBio – a program that filters individuals who are apt for employment at this pharmaceutical research firm.  It’s going well so far.  I received an introductory package last week containing a dogtag, a security badge, and a vial of an experimental cure-all “panacea” they’re developing.  Ingen partnered with Harcos Inc. recently – makers of “Mana Energy Potion“, an energy drink sold in the US (an interesting product; very.. fantasy/gaming market related; and a very, very strong drink! wow). They’re developing a distribution plan for Ingen’s nearly-complete panacea ‘potion’.

This package was the first step in the application process. Everyone in my control group (#15) got a package. Now, the fact that we received this experimental medicine itself is rather strange… especially if it’s not yet complete (or even legal?).  But I drank it anyway.  :P  With this package we (applicants) received access to a private intranet at Ingenbio.net.  Wrapped around the neck of the potion was a code that needed to be provided in the program to advance to clearance level 2.  So it looks like only the best of the best will actually make it to full employment there.  We each got a letter from Harlan Griffin – CEO of IngenBio – congratulating us, but apparently not everyone managed to enter that advancement code.  We don’t know if they decided not to continue, or if they couldn’t figure it out, but Harlan wasn’t too impressed with them. It’s like level 1 was a test – everyone’s been given the instructions to get to level 2 now.

Anyway, the spooky part – years ago, a man named Leonard Kendall (avatar, right) died in a big explosion at the facility. He left behind a number of video logs, where it seems he was the one developing this cure-all. At first for good, but he felt soon that Harlan wanted to weaponize it, so he took his research underground (well, an offsite-lab). His primary goal was now to save his daughter Ivy who was diagnosed with cancer. That was the lab that exploded.

Eerie: in the package was another code, inside the drink, in morse code, which when entered in the intranet updated a sound file in the list of documents we have access to (a sound file of Kendall saying, in Russian, “Fight – Survive – Infect”).  The ‘new’ file was actually an overlaid spectrogram discovered by fellow-applicant MrToasty, containing an image of some kind of Ivy plant.

Spooky: We have reason to believe we’re being watched. Some applicants in our control group have been marked as a “suspected agent” for whatever reason. We do know that a couple of FBI agents recently tried to infiltrate the facility, but they haven’t been heard from since.  I don’t think we want to be suspected as agents :P.  Rather, was Kendall on to something?  Can we trust Harlan?

Apparently Griffin will be re-opening IngenBio’s Applicant Registration again soon.  So if you want to get in and try for a prestigious position at Ingenbio, watch the registration page for updates, or follow the discussion at Unfiction.

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Categories: ARGs General, Books

7
Jul'08

I’m in ur Ingen, geneticizing your biologies

   Posted by: thebruce

In the past, researchers were lauded and honored for curing a single disease. But what if we could cure ALL illness? No more cancer, no more HIV virus, no more ebola… The suffering of millions could be lifted with a single injection. A working strain of Intragen will mean the end of all disease as we know it.

Brave words we hear all too often from genetic biologists these days. Most recently, it comes from IngenBio.

The owner of that twitter account is recording comments, thoughts, messages, all related to experimentation on this cure-all drug Intragen.  But where is it leading?

IngenBio’s website (IngenBio.com of course) contains some background on the company, including an image of their headquarters.

The site’s whois information lists PCBProductions.com as the primary contact.  Checking their site, we find that Contagion, an industrial band, references “40-CFR-761” – a log code series repeatedly mentioned in IngenBio tweets, along with mentions of video logs in the IngenBio archive.

Archive.ingenbio.com leads to much more “eyes only” information about the company, and Dr. Leonard J. Kendall, Ingen Bio – Senior Director of Applied Biotechnology.  He apparently died in a lab fire on April 16, 1995.  Many test subjects have undergone treatment of the experimental drug, most of whom are now ‘deceased’.

Sending an email to kendall@ingenbio.com returns this reply:

CLASSIFIED
>>INGEN BIO ARCHIVE – EYES ONLY PERSONNEL
INTRAGEN ITC LOG RECORD Recovered video log fragments: 40:CFR1 – 40:CFR40. Kendall, Dr. Leonard J.
– Restored from Kendall lab Fire 04-16-95
<<Kendall>>

Kendall, Evelyn – Surveillance record: incomplete
Thorne, Garrett ? Quarantine Holding. Control 9 – Intragen ITC Adjuvant testing

INFEX Status – UNKNOWN
Secure server login: http://www.infex.tv
978-0-615-21243-2

Returning to PCBProductions, we also find that Infex is a graphic novel in development by Keith Arem and Brandon Humphreys.  It also links to Infex.tv.

A recent IngenBio tweet includes the cryptic phrase: 32.7075.117.1638>32.42.5>117º, 9.8mW>08.07.23
Breaking it down, it’s composed of a number of components:

  1. 32.7075.117.1638 is 32.7075, -117.163  (decimal GPS coordinates)
  2. 32.42.5>117º, 9.8 is 32° 42.5′, -117° 9.8′  (latitude/longtitude)
  3. 08.07.23 is 2008/07/23 – July 23

Other tweets are numbers indicating a countdown which appears to end at midnight GMT, July 24.
Locating the coordinates above, we’re taken to the San Deigo Convention Center, July 23.  The countdown time in local time would be 5pm, July 23.

The San Diego Comic Con event is being held July 24-27.  What mysteries shall be revealed about Infex and IngenBio?

PCB Productions in currently in pre-production on the new Contagion project, INFEX™. Based on the upcoming Graphic Novel created by Keith Arem and Brandon Humphreys.

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Categories: ARGs General, Books