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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): Interaction
[NEW] Email from Dana 8-22 "What We Know"
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drizjr
Unfictologist


Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 1700

 		[NEW] Email from Dana 8-22 "What We Know"
Quote:
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:33:20 -0700
From: "Dana Awbrey" <danatwing@gmail.com>
To: "driz jr" <xxxx@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: A Quick Question


Hi Driz,
I hope I'm not bothering you by asking, but I thought you might be
able to help me with something...
I'm trying to draft a sort of "What we know, in 50 words or less" post
for my blog. (Hmmm... maybe 100 words is more like it...? Or 25? I
guess it depends on how much you think we've actually figured out....)
I have a feeling that whatever happens when the axons go hot, it's
going to attract even more attention, and I want to be able to tell
people what we've figured out after a month of investigating.
So: You've sent me some really clear-headed explanations and smart
theories in the past. I guess I'm hoping you might have a few ideas
for what I can put up. What do you think we know, for sure, so far?
-d.

----- Original Message -----
From: driz jr <xxxx@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 18:32:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: A Quick Question
To: Dana Awbrey <danatwing@gmail.com>


Hi Dana,
This is an odd question, but I wanted to eliminate the possibility
that the Queen has access to files in you Aunt's computer.
I was wondering if your Aunt has had any surgeries or hospitalizations
that she might have written about and stored in her computer.
The following was something that previously came to the Queen while
the SPDR probed her; but that she didn't recognize at all...."The
white coats coming at you with their needles and knives, their kind
and serious voices.Their heartfelt belief that it's all for a good
cause."
Does that sound like something your Aunt might have written?
Sorry to bother you with such weirdness... just trying to leave no
stone unturned.
I hope all is well by you.
drizjr


Well, I'll be thinking on this one , but I sure could use everyone's help. Smile

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:44 am
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xnbomb
Unfettered


Joined: 13 Oct 2003
Posts: 660
Location: J302B S8JDC

 		Same email
I just received more or less the same email from Dana (except that the original message was some nonsense that I sent her Smile ). Although the text was not quite identical, it was certainly derived from the same form letter (with some nice personalized touches). So drizjr, it's not all on you ... I suspect lots of us will receive a similar request from Dana.

Still, she doesn't ask for much does she Rolling Eyes ? What do we know for sure anyhow? Well, I've replied to her with the situation as I see it thusfar:

xnbomb wrote:
Over the last month, some very strange phenomena have occurred at
www.ilovebees.com. Files have been corrupted, with foreign data
inserted into the files that tell a fascinating tale. The inserted
data suggest that four entities (known allegorically as the Widow, the
Queen, the Princess, and the Flea), likely of extraterrestrial origin
and of a digital or artificially-intelligent nature, have
inadvertently been marooned in the web server where www.ilovebees.com
is housed. The Widow's purpose seems to have been to repair the
Queen, and in that task it has apparently succeeded to some extent.
The Princess, once confined by the Queen, appears to now have enough
freedom of movement (or at least awareness) to eavesdrop on the events
of the Queen's court, and through surreptitious means is able to
communicate with web surfers. The Flea's role remains unclear, beyond
a need to find, record, and disseminate certain data, and a recent
development where the Flea has apparently usurped the Widow as the
Queen's servant without the Queen's knowledge.

The Queen has vigorously defended herself against what she perceived
to be attempts to injure her, although her 'attacker' (Dana, the
webmaster of ilovebees) was doing nothing more than trying to repair
her corrupted web site, not realizing that parts of the Queen's
digital self were stored in the files that Dana was replacing. In
response, the Queen seems to have made it her mission to cause Dana
harm, in an effort to defend herself from future 'attacks'. To
further her objectives, the Queen has stated that she will attempt to
improve her reach in the networked world by sending some sort of
tranmission to a set of locations she has specified. Exactly what
interest the Queen has in these locations and what sort of
transmission will be sent is unclear; we'll find out next Tuesday when
whatever it is happens.

That's a lot more than she asked for, and I don't think we know all of these things for certain, but that's my take on the situation at this point. I'm sure she'll receive lots of replies, and she can edit/select what she feels is important Smile .
_________________
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:59 am
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Siege88
Veteran


Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Posts: 139

 		I got one too:

Guess it proves this was all just pregame so far. Let the games begin come Tuesday!




Hi Siege,
I hope I'm not bothering you by asking, but I thought you might be
able to help me with something...
I'm trying to draft a sort of "What we know, in 50 words or less" post
for my blog. (Hmmm... maybe 100 words is more like it...? Or 25? I
guess it depends on how much you think we've actually figured out....)
I have a feeling that whatever happens when the axons go hot, it's
going to attract even more attention, and I want to be able to tell
people what we've figured out after a month of investigating.
You've sent me some really clear-headed explanations and smart
theories in the past. So I guess I'm hoping you might have a few
ideas for what I can put up. What do you think we know, for sure, so
far?
-d.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:09 am
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raveneyes
Guest


 		I got the same email..I have the feeling at the same time it's the PMs doing the whole, "what do they really think they know so far". It is nice to see that we are still pregame tho. be sad if it were to all end on tuesday.

~b

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:53 am
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firefox
Unfettered

Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 333

 		ok so the first word is 'nothing' Rolling Eyes

where is everyone posting what we will send? or is it just free for fall?

i no i no, use search - but its become really hard Mad so many posts to wade through Razz

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:09 am
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Nightmare Tony
Entrenched

Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 824
Location: Meadowbrook

 		sigh, mine never came in. Got some good ideas for what to answer when the time comes, though.
_________________
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Nightmare Park

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:05 pm
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Siege88
Veteran


Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Posts: 139

 		My response to Dana that I just emailed this morning. Thanks to the #kazoo people for help with it (there ya go: a shameless plug for the channel) =)





Hey, Dana

Not bothering me at all. I'll see what I can come up with...

Just want to start by saying, though, that I was a little disappointed with
your previous email. I realize you're afraid and all, since Melissa knows
what you look like now... But I think these axon locations shows that this
whole thing isn't just about you anymore. Melissa, or the Operator, only
saw you as a threat because you tried to "clean" her off the webpage.
That's kind of understandable, no? To be honest, it's a little frustrating
seeing that she seems to be on our side, yet so far, we've been unable to
communicate with her directly, or at least warn her about the flea. The
Sleeping Princess has taken a liking to you. If you're afraid to contact
Melissa yourself, I'm sure she'd be willing to do it for you. Unless the
flea has its own agenda and is completely controlling Melissa, I don't see
why we shouldn't attempt to communicate with her directly. Then again,
maybe Tuesday's events will clear up what's happening to her more -or even
change things around some. I, for one, will be in Manhattan at the 11:17
PDT location.

Anyways, onto the description of known facts so far...



There were 4 entities trapped within the ilovebees website when this all
began:
Melissa (also called The Operator and The Queen)
The Sleeping Princess
The Pious Flea - ?
The Spider (also called The Widow) - A repair program for Melissa.

Melissa, an artificial intelligence, was damaged in some kind of crash. She
became trapped in the ilovebees website, with her thoughts and memories
seeming to spill out and corrupt the site. The Spider, an automated repair
program, posted a warning message (SPDR) and began repairing her. Dana, the
website's owner, tried to fix the strange text and corruption showing up on
the webpage. Melissa, thinking she was being attacked, threatened Dana.
The Sleeping Princess, which seems to be some type of foreign or alien AI
(since it had to first learn English), seems very indifferent to the whole
matter, but communicates with us and tries to help Dana. She has awoken and
been released from what she calls 'a dungeon', and now her primary
motivations seem to be that she is lonely (wants us and Dana as her friends)
and she is bored (plays tricks on the other entities and games with us - she
is almost childlike). The Flea, which we don't know much about yet, sneaks
around and The Spider tries to kill it. Melissa, annoyed that the Spider
seems to be deleting important memories, destroys the Spider. The Flea then
gains some type of influence over Melissa, through its trickery. Melissa,
possibly now being controlled by the Flea, plans on some type of real-world
communication or interaction at 210 locations around the US on Tuesday,
August 24th.



Hope this helps. I wonder how big this thing is going to be if you're
worried about needing a special introduction just for new people who want to
help...
By the way, how's Asia been so far? Where are you heading to next over
there? Any souvenirs for the gang? Razz


All my best,
Siege

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:30 pm
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Raveneyes
Boot


Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 55
Location: NOLA

 		I'm thinking that the pms might rule out anything over 50 words and under 25..they did give the guidelines pretty clearly..

~b

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 3:05 pm
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drizjr
Unfictologist


Joined: 28 Nov 2003
Posts: 1700

 		Here's what I ended up sending. It's way too long. Embarassed

Quote:
Hi Dana,
No bother at all, I'm here to help in any way I can.
It's very difficult to put this all in "50 words or less".
And summarizing was never my strong point, but I'll give it a try.

What we know:
The Operator/Melissa/The Queen
The Widow/SPDR
The Sleeping Princess (SP)
The Pious Flea (PF)
These four entities were somehow shipwrecked in ilovebees.com.
Their messages have been found, in bits and pieces; scattered, throughout the site....
viewed in multiple refreshes, discovered embedded in pictures and 404 pages, and
sent out in emails. They tell a story of a damaged Queen, being repaired by the SPDR.

From The Operators memories and a page of her diary (provided by the SP), we
learn about the crew. The Operator took care of them.
Prior to the crash, a mysterious osmium object found adrift in space; was brought
on board and suspected to be Covenant (enemy). It had an encrypted message
around it's rim. We learn of a decrypted message: the planet Troy is to be glassed.
Something from this metal suitcase possibly infected the Operator.
There was a Castaway on board, who we don't know too much about.


The Sleeping Princess awakens. She learns how to communicate by emails sent
to ladybee777. Though her character is childlike, she is smart and playful (tricky?).
She considers Dana a friend.

The Queen, on the other hand, considers Dana "the killer" for tampering with the site,
despite the warning on the main page.
When the queen dismantles the SPDR, the Pious Flea, whose mantra
"Seek the truth,
Behold the truth
Reveal the truth
That is the law and the whole of the law" is now whispering in the Queen's ear.....
Seek
Evade
Reveal
Escape.


The Queen, determined to find a way of "growing a body" to escape from where she is,
(she's already built a voice), has set up these 210 axons, that "go hot" on August 24th.

The Queen's memory is impaired, but she knows that "Ultimately, I need to return to ...
wherever I was, and report ... whatever I witnessed."

Well, that's way over fifty words. Maybe you might want to go with something like.....
Entities shipwrecked in ilovebees.com, struggle to communicate and scheme to fulfill
their individual life missions.

Actually Dana, for each thing that I think I know; I'm left with more questions than answers:
What was the ships particular mission?
Was it the PF that infected Melissa?
Who is the Castaway? Is he a spy?
Who is the innocent bystander? (I didn't mention this one, did I?)
Is the Sleeping Princess a trickster, or a backup copy of Melissa?
Did the Queen misunderstand the PF's precepts, confusing them with his attempts to evade the SPDR?
What will happen on the 24th?
What did Melissa witness?

Well, I hope that helps some. Feel free to use what you think might be worthwhile.
Just do me a favor and fix any misspellings first. Smile

Be well,
drizjr


PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 6:07 pm
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 4117

 		what I sent
I sent this to Dana along with the summaries that I have posted elsewhere here. I tried to write a little like she does, but that made it too long.

Also- I suggested she could delete the bracketed stuff if she wanted.


SHORTEST SUMMARY

Quote:
What we have discovered about "it" is unbelievable, but somehow and for unkown reasons, computer programs from the future, one of which ran a military space vessel, took over the website thereby causing the problems. Through text placed on the site, Melissa or "the Operator" tells of being almost destroyed in the shipwreck that brought it here. My attempts to debug the site cause Melissa further damage, it took over my webcam and identified me as a killer it needed to hunt. Causing me to flee to China and safety.

Melissa's extensive damage caused the System Peril Distributed Reflex (SPDR) program to take control and effect repairs. Memories accessed during the repair tell of Melissa's ship, captain and crew. [ The ship was ONI, a strange device- a cylinder found in space with unrecognized symbols- was in the ship's hold, the ship's mission was possibly more important than saving an entire planet and a mysterious Castaway, a person not originally part of the crew, was onboard. ] As the repairs were completed, Melissa began to search for a voice and to create a new body. Increasingly frustrated by the interference of the SPDR, Melissa destroyed it when a different program ( we call it the Pious Flea) mimiced the SPDR, disguising itself as a more recent version of the SPDR software. The Pious Flea may be a virus that Melissa acquired when it decrypted a Covenant transmission.

Happily, I have made a friend as well as an enemy. A program we call the "Sleeping Princess" hid text in images, causing the distortion, and through corresponding with us, learned how to communicate. The Sleeping Princess refers to me as a friend and says it will help me. I have emailed it myself!


PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:19 pm
Last edited by rose on Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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SuperJerms
Unfettered


Joined: 21 Aug 2004
Posts: 537
Location: indiana
Dana wrote:
I'm trying to draft a sort of "What we know, in 50 words or less" post for my blog. (Hmmm... maybe 100 words is more like it...? Or 25? I guess it depends on how much you think we've actually figured out....)
I have a feeling that whatever happens when the axons go hot, it's
going to attract even more attention, and I want to be able to tell
people what we've figured out after a month of investigating.


Folks, I think this should be a huge red flag for us. If dana is about to put a summary on her blog, that means that invisible wheels are probably turning somewhere. It sounds like another way of saying, "If we (PM's) have our way, you can expect a mongrel hoarde to descend upon this game after the 24th."

[SPEC] Maybe it's related to the OXM advertisement, or maybe there's another form of advertisement that will happen in the next few days. Heck, they may even be shooting for more of a media event on the 24th than an in-game event (think press releases to every major journalistic source saying, "Go to the payphone at this GPS at this time. -Microsoft.").

I'm not just spitballing here... this was a leading story for CNN.com just five days ago. The story is fresh, the game idea is proven with Beast. Last time they had 8,000 cloudmakers. Maybe MS is looking to quadruple the scope this time around. It's what I would do in their shoes. And it would be a good idea...one link from penny arcade a week ago, and I have spent my entire vacation reading, thinking and working on the GPS problem. I now know the back story to Marathon and Halo, and I want to go buy an xbox now more than ever, just to play these games after the ARG is over. I'm even thinking about writing my Master's thesis on the campaign. If MS play their cards right, this could end up being one of the most brilliant campaigns in recent history.

At any rate, dana's e-mail single-handedly convinces me that the game starts on tuesday.

**edit: oops, i posted this in the wrong thread. That's what I get for having dual windows going**
_________________
"If we could make your toaster print something we would." - Jordan Weisman

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:21 pm
Last edited by SuperJerms on Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:17 am; edited 1 time in total
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thebruce
Dances With Wikis


Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Posts: 6899
Location: Kitchener, Ontario

 		hehe superjerms, good to have you on board Smile TechTV also had a call-in talk show where one caller simply said on air "i love bees" and they knew what he was talking about and starting discussing the mystery... of course, they were waaay behind on the times, and mentioned (after bungie denied, no less) that it was most likely a demo release... I don't have the transcript, but as soon as she said that I just yelled "no! you're wrong!" Very Happy hehe

but ya, really the only places this story will get printed or reported are really places where the person writing the article/report are tech/gaming fans... otherwise, it's just another 'computer game' pretty much... but hey, considering how far you came superjerms, who knows who could be reeled in Razz
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:35 pm
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Macavity
Entrenched


Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Posts: 883
Location: UNSC Comm Relay Station Alpha, West Shokan, NY

 		I got the same email. Here's my response:

Quote:
Dana-

What do we know? Well, in six words: Not a hell of a lot.

In slightly more detail:

The AI that's invaded your aunt's website is damaged, and while attempting to repair itself, screwed up the website.

You - thinking it was just some hacker playing games - tried to repair the damage. (I probably would have thought and done the same, in your position). The AI, however, took exception to this, and thought you were trying to kill it.

Since then, it has:

1) Taken webcam pictures of you (for visual identification of a suspected hostile)

2) Threatened you (not a very wise choice in my opinion, as it drove away one of hte few people who might be able to help it)

3) Supplanted its autonomous repair program - the SPDR - with another repair program of unknown origin (and with what appears to be a different purpose) known thus far as the "Pious Flea".

4) Begun constructing routes out of the server it - and your aunt's website - are located on (all of which appear to be in major population centers, such as Washington D.C. and New York City). The purpose of these routes are, as yet, unknown.

It is also still trying to find a way to get to you - and, luckily for us, it has been unsuccessful so far.



However, another artificial intelligence - this one known as the "Sleeping Princess" - has been in contact with us. At first, its messages were constructed of parts of other messages that had been sent to your aunt's email address. Recently, however, it's begun to write messages on its own, having learned enough about the English lanuage to feel confident that its own messages would be understood.

Thus far, the Sleeping Princess is the only digital entity we've had any real contact with. We're not sure of its purpose either, but the general consensus is that it's a different version of Melissa, aka the Operator - perhaps an earlier version, kept as a backup copy in case the copy in use became erratic (which, in my opinion, it certainly has - threatening to kill someone that made an honest mistake doesn't sound very sane to me!).

I hope this helps you, Dana. Best of luck, and watch your back - even though China is axon-less so far, it may not stay that way! Remember, we're dealing with a scared, injured, and (quite possibly) insane artificial intelligence here, and we have no way of knowing what it'll do next.

- Peter


_________________
You are likely to be eaten by a grue. If this predicament seems particularly cruel,
Consider whose fault it could be, with no match or torch in your inventory...
NP: Erase The Truth

PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:36 am
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