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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: The Jejune Institute
Reflecting on the story
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MrEricSir
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 		 Reflecting on the story
How does it all add up?
After the finale, I think it's time to reflect on the story. Personally I think it makes sense in the end, but your mileage may vary.

Here's my interpretation:

The Jejune Institute's initiation card was all a ruse. Octavio told us not to look at it, but of course we did. He must have known it was there, since he referred to it not only in the video, but he also gave us a phone call while we were following the directions.

The directions led us back to the Jejune Institute, where they give us a special key that takes us to a box that contains an image of Eva and a secret passcode. This means that the JI knew about Eva all along, and wanted us to get in touch with EPWA.

EPWA tells us we shouldn't have visited the Jejune Institute, and presents the story of Eva. They then had us protest the JI. But wait; how would they have know that Octavio would have been waiting for us at the protest?

Then Kelvin comes into the picture, with some more information about Eva. He's found videos of Eva as well as a secret tape of her at the Jejune Institute. EPWA isn't happy about this and goes so far as to kidnap him.

Kelvin leads us to Terrance, who has a tape from Eva that guides us around the Chapel of the Chimes. Again, the story of Eva is explored in further detail, and we find that she's gone for good to "Elsewhere." We're then granted access to Terrance's repository of information.

We then find Eric Jamuel's garage sale. Jamuel was somehow doing work on JI-related technology, but judging from what he had at his garage sale, he's also in cahoots with the EPWA. How else would he have the Archival Field Recording footprint logo?

Finally at the Socio-Reengineering Seminar, we learn that Octavio himself was aware of the game, and it seems to have been created for him to make a point. But he ends his speech with "Eva bless" which either means Eva is real and it's not just a game, or she's a creation of his for the purpose of the game and he's saying this as a prayer of some kind, or maybe he's just messing with us(?).

Some open loops:
* Was Eva a real person, a creation of Octavio, or something else?
* What was Jamuel's involvement with EPWA and the JI?
* How does the patent registration play into all of this?
* If Kelvin is just uncovering information, why wouldn't EPWA/JI support him? Or are they behind the entire thing?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:19 am
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Everfalling
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 		in terms of the story arcs and not how Jeff ultimately decided to 'break down the illusion' i think saying that the EPWA and Divine Nonchalance being a product of the Jejune Institute is a horrible way to ham-fistedly wrap up any lingering problems with the conflict between the two entities (which is why really i hope it was only a passing thought/jest when Jeff said they imagined that 'nonchalance' was hired by the JI for PR purposes). Why elaborate on what happened to Blair, Jane, Drybones and Audrey if they were all either illusory characters or in on the gig the whole time? Why bother stating that the EPWA was still a force against the JI especially after Drybones and C14 had evolved a bit more? Why do a lot of things that happened that didn't really do anything to necessarily further 'socio-reengineering' if the end result was that it was all a farce anyway?

I think the downfall parody video crumblydoughnut made expressed it best and that it'd be a supreme cheat if the story was merely wrapped up as being 'all just a dream' and that there was never really a reason to have sided with the EPWA in the first place. I think Jeff's explanation that Act V basically bridged the gap back from 'the game' to 'the real world' with the lessons learned intact but the world left behind no less valid than before. At least that's what I took from it.

personally I'd really like to know how Act V was initially supposed to wrap up the story line (revolt and all) before the team decided that the seminar alone was all they wanted to do. Part of me feels like the reason the story ends so abruptly with little resolution with such a hard to grasp concept is because that choice was made.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:34 pm
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Everfalling
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 		also, if we're going purely on the initial story arcs, Erik was one of the, if not the main, researcher on the Polywater experiments and because the JI had stolen that technology he was being harassed by goons to stop his research. Erik would have had a lot of the EPWA's stuff at his garage sale for the simple fact that he was a part of the EPWA or at the very least was present during its conception in 1989 (see: the 'invent' bbs chat logs) and remained close to the group afterward.

The patent registration was most likely something that merely occurs within the EPWA and doesn't really add any details to the story itself.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:38 pm
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MrEricSir
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Everfalling wrote:
also, if we're going purely on the initial story arcs, Erik was one of the, if not the main, researcher on the Polywater experiments and because the JI had stolen that technology he was being harassed by goons to stop his research. Erik would have had a lot of the EPWA's stuff at his garage sale for the simple fact that he was a part of the EPWA or at the very least was present during its conception in 1989 (see: the 'invent' bbs chat logs) and remained close to the group afterward.


But if Erik Jamuel left the JI to start the EPWA, and both groups are one and the same, then he too must have been involved in the deception.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:15 pm
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probabble
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 		I've been looking at it as a defeat of the Alliance in this supposedly final battle. We were so confident that we would win, but a few simple scheduling mishaps dash our hopes! We watched him walk out, and none of us stood to stop him. . .

Were we corrupted from within? Or did they pick up our intentions with those giant crystals? ( & Dr. Spearmint's meticulous application of synthetic telepathy! )

Or were we just hypnotized by Jujunite technology?

Well. Hypnotize me once, shame on you.
Hypnotize me twice? No dice! I'M WEARING A TINFOIL HAT!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:44 pm
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Everfalling
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MrEricSir wrote:
Everfalling wrote:
also, if we're going purely on the initial story arcs, Erik was one of the, if not the main, researcher on the Polywater experiments and because the JI had stolen that technology he was being harassed by goons to stop his research. Erik would have had a lot of the EPWA's stuff at his garage sale for the simple fact that he was a part of the EPWA or at the very least was present during its conception in 1989 (see: the 'invent' bbs chat logs) and remained close to the group afterward.


But if Erik Jamuel left the JI to start the EPWA, and both groups are one and the same, then he too must have been involved in the deception.


honestly? if we accept the idea that it was all a ruse made up by the JI then nothing is real. EPWA never existed, Nonchalance is just a facade and another way to express the jejune method, and Eva was nothing but a figure head. if that's what actually happened then that's really fucking depressing. :/
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:23 am
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Uzi Reptoid
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 		NACHALOIR
I TRIED TO TELL YOU FROM THE START. YOU WANT TO PLAY THE GAME, YOU HAVE TO THROW AWAY THE BOX. WE ALREADY DID THIS. THIS ALREADY HAPPENED. YOU WERE INVOLVED IN A MIND CONTROL SIMULATION DESIGNED TO SEE IF "GAMERS" WERE READY TO MAKE THE JUMP INTO BEING ACTUAL COOLONOIDS. I WAS DOING THIS WHEN I WAS 12 YEARS OLD. GOING WHERE I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO. TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO WERE PROBABLY DANGEROUS. EXCHANGING PACKETS FOR PACKETS. HUNTING FOR THE BIGFOOT. GETTING ABDUCTED BY ACTUAL ALIENS. LISTENING TO PIRATE RADIO STATIONS. MAKING SECRET MARKINGS ON THE STREET. TRAINING SEAGULLS TO RETRIEVE THINGS. THIS ALREADY HAPPENED. A LONG TIME AGO. WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE MUCH YOUNGER THAN YOU. YOU'RE LATE BLOOMERS. YOU'RE CHICKEN MCNUGGETS WITH HONEY SAUCE. HONEY DIPPERS. SUCKER SIPPERS. I SAID THIS ALREADY. MKULTRA, WE TOOK IT & MADE SOMETHING OUT OF IT. WE TURNED IT INTO CULTURE. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. YANKEE ROSE

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:26 am
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Everfalling
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 		Re: NACHALOIR
Uzi Reptoid wrote:
I TRIED TO TELL YOU FROM THE START. YOU WANT TO PLAY THE GAME, YOU HAVE TO THROW AWAY THE BOX. WE ALREADY DID THIS. THIS ALREADY HAPPENED. YOU WERE INVOLVED IN A MIND CONTROL SIMULATION DESIGNED TO SEE IF "GAMERS" WERE READY TO MAKE THE JUMP INTO BEING ACTUAL COOLONOIDS. I WAS DOING THIS WHEN I WAS 12 YEARS OLD. GOING WHERE I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO. TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO WERE PROBABLY DANGEROUS. EXCHANGING PACKETS FOR PACKETS. HUNTING FOR THE BIGFOOT. GETTING ABDUCTED BY ACTUAL ALIENS. LISTENING TO PIRATE RADIO STATIONS. MAKING SECRET MARKINGS ON THE STREET. TRAINING SEAGULLS TO RETRIEVE THINGS. THIS ALREADY HAPPENED. A LONG TIME AGO. WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE MUCH YOUNGER THAN YOU. YOU'RE LATE BLOOMERS. YOU'RE CHICKEN MCNUGGETS WITH HONEY SAUCE. HONEY DIPPERS. SUCKER SIPPERS. I SAID THIS ALREADY. MKULTRA, WE TOOK IT & MADE SOMETHING OUT OF IT. WE TURNED IT INTO CULTURE. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. YANKEE ROSE


shush you. i don't even remember what your role was in here in the first place.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:44 am
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probabble
Boot


Joined: 20 Jul 2010
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 		nothing/0=
UZI makes a point. Repeatedly. About . . . something.


Sure: it was 'all a dream', the EPWA doesn't exist any more than the SFPUC does.


But does that make Sextonfield any less responsible? Do you not feel violated that he went in there with his sophisticated methods and controlled your thoughts, your passions, your moral outrage? IS THIS OKAY WITH YOU?


I'm ready to chalk the whole thing on Sunday up to microwave interference. T must have been compromised. Or even the whole EPWA, making us super vulnerable to Jejunite mind control. Remember the penultimate C14-Dispatch? He sounded . . . resigned, and admitted to 'following orders'. Could JI suppression keep down even our Commander?


If we failed it was because we didn't stand up for ourselves in the critical moment. Can you DEPEND on agents of nonchalance to come to your aid? NOT REALLY.


The battle for Divine Nonchalance is not through and it did not begin when "Jeff" got all "artistic" with the "Nonchalants TM". THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. UZI, HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS SOONER

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:06 am
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tungsten
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 		> shush you. i don't even remember what your role was in here in the first place.

"Turtles fight with honor & fall back into the shadow of the knight!"

Uzi's _core_ Nonchalance, my friends. Do you understand what I'm saying here? Follow the breadcrumbs of respect. Back farther. No, farther. FARTHER. YOU CANT NO IT.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:51 pm
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