unforum

[CoffeeJedi]

you're right GSC, but we don't really know the timing on any of these convergant storylines... if we knew that, we could piece together who was doing what, where, and when

[improvius]

Well, we DO know that the shipboard memories were from right before Troy got glassed. And we know "receipt" takes place 2-3 months after that. We could assume that the comm disruption ties the 4 audio records together, putting them all about 3 months after the shipboard stuff.

-Imp

[johnny5]

Has any of the sound engineers out there been able to isolate the "interference" from troy.wav?

[mayday]

[Elec]

Now that it's obvious all 4 of the new axons tell a single story, I'm interested in a couple more META questions about the content.

1) How did Melissa come by this recording? We have to remember that all the axons are being delivered to us by Melissa, which means that they are all in some way related to her. They happened on her ship or near or ship or whatever, but she was in the right place at the right time to record this, or else gained access to it sometime later (like somebody plugged in a new database or she gained access to a network it was on, or whatever).

2) Why is it being used as an axon? In reality, it's possible a lot of the axon info would be garbage. But since this is presumed to be a game, I have to make the assumption that everything we're presented with is a puzzle to be solved or plot to be put together or at least useful in some way.

3) Potentially the most important: Why are these four axons and, therefore, this story a secret? Melissa made the axons, but didn't advertise them to us. That suggests to me that she wanted them heard, but not by us (her crew). We only got to hear them because SP found a way to eavesdrop. So why were they secret? Who were they intended for?

[mayday]

[jegger]

[SecondSundodger]

[Worker]

I'll risk a trout about the "old man" and the strange interruption in the phone call.

I believe the whole thing is recorded from the receptionist's side (which would make sense in its own right). You can hear her say "one moment sir" and put him on hold (two beeps). She knocks on and opens the door into some 'information center', where she walks around (female shoes). She sits down at another terminal (or ruffles some papers), and looks up the information. While she's in this room, she overhears the conversation about the ship. She then returns to her desk, un-holds the old man and gives him the news.

Thoughts?

[kalamazoo]

Listening to "hello", a very important point stands out:

It's the NAVY that wanted the Grumpy Old Man's papers! I thought all this time that he was the one making a stink about them, because "they mean a lot to ME".... but that's not it at all.

Something in the GOM's family papers is of interest to ONI. That's the only logical explanation.

My guess? The GOM, or one of his relatives/ancestors, was a xenoarchaeologist on Troy, and had dug up a Forerunner artifact. ONI Section Two wanted the data, and when they found out that the Covenant were headed there, they grabbed all available data on it.

This ALSO explains why Higher was listening in on the conversation. Over the 1.5 hours prior to the communications interrupt, at some point, Higher (an ONI officer, remember?) got alerted that GOM was asking about his papers. Higher decided to 'ghost' him, so as to know what he said to the functionaries he was calling. Maybe he wants to know what GOM knows about the papers; maybe he just wants to make sure GOM doesn't spill something he shouldn't.

Higher and GOM may be played by the same voice actor (to save costs, probably), but they are NOT the same character as many have [SPEC]'d.

During the break in the conversation, Higher checked in with Lower to find out what was happening... at which point he finds that the Apocalypso has jumped in, astoundingly close to Earth, and that there's a "lot of chatter" over this event.

Which brings up a question: if Melissa was on the Apocalypso, am I supposed to believe that during the few seconds of the comm blackout, she got into all these systems -- simultaneously -- to record all this? That's a seriously good AI with major multitasking, if so. And why were all these people targeted by her? The GOM and his papers on Troy are the only ones that seem to relate to Melissa's actual mission... the Jersey and Jan story has promise, but is only connected by Jersey's dad the Castaway; the Sophia and Kemal story is pretty random. (From the PM's perspective, it probably exists to establish the existence of 'ghosting'. But the PM's have to have an excuse for Melissa to record that.)

And isn't it convienent that LCPL Adams has bought the farm?

[improvius]

[Oh, It's Just Pawl...]

the black out and the timeline

[meta]

Worker, i can see your spec, and i hear the women's footsteps..hmm listening over and over

[WaveLine]

Re: the black out and the timeline

[Astald]

Alright, taking in alot of spec, I have developed one of my own. If the Apocalypso is Melissa's ship, the one that contains the foreign device. What if when they are coming into the system, the device somehow opens. That could be the cause of many things, the power outtage, Melissa losing her memory, possibly releasing the sleeping princess. And it would make sense, since they could be heading to the sub sub basement to drop the device off anyhow. Although, that still doesn't give any reason at all to the actual wavs we are hearing. Maybe I will think it over, or let someone else take the helm.