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[Mornington]

Whois info

[Mornington]

[wildspec] population?

[spockgrrl]

I received an email this morning from Zack Parsons:

[Grimm7756]

Looking at it right now, just got the e-mail as well. I read all three pages, and there are some concerns. The confections tells us a first point. There are three types of people now, type one type two and type three. At first, I thought it was just about different people with different tastes. Then I went to institutional. The different 'types' are new, started growing in at least 1980, and somehow more keep appearing. Mexico City now has a DMZ, and there's a counter-insurgency in Los Angeles, and it more than likely has to do with the types. There might be a rebellion. The pictures are weird too. The picture that doesn't change features a man with a barcode tattoo getting food. I'd call them, but the area code is for New Mexico.

I just looked at the Survival page. It's a disease, and it's been spreading since 1980. Could have helped had I read the pages in order. What I can tell from the two names, it's at the very least akin to AIDS. It's not really a counter-insurgency in South Los Angeles, it's a quarantine. The survival page also says there are spores. They're probably in the air, as Lewis Foods is keeping their protein bars sealed. If it's opened and not immediately eaten, then it's almost guaranteed to be infected with the spores. Quarantines I understand, but how bad do things have to get for there to be a demilitarized zone in Mexico City of all places.

[Nostromo]

I've phoned that number but it gives no further hints.

First i heard a siren sound and then only a static noise, after 2 minutes i've hung up.

[shinything]

Glad this finally popped up here! I've been sort of following this over on SomethingAwful.

Zack Parsons is in my opinion the best writer they have over there, and I thought I'd compile some of his serial articles/short stories here so that people who don't follow SA can get a little more acclimatized to his usual brand of weird apocalyptic fiction.

That Insidious Beast, a series of articles detailing a future where the dual threats of possibly supernatural, possibly alien creatures called "Unfolders" and "Angels" have made our world their battleground. The first series of his I ever read. Leaves a feeling of creeping despair, so be forwarned.

Instruction For A Help, followed by The View from Below, a series written from the point of view of someone you'd least expect. The View from Below really helps explain exactly what the hell is going on in the series, so be sure to read that LAST.

CONEX Convict Connections is probably my favorite series of his, told via the medium of a Craigslist-type web auction/classifieds service for prisoners in a modern dystopian world. Absolutely hilarious and freaky at the same time. There is also a prequel trilogy of related articles written in the same universe, North American Panopticon Wishes You A Merry Christmas 2007, A Special Gift From Chairman Petteridge And The Board Of Directors, and The Clavo Times Christmas Pageant 2007 Review. Don't pass these up, they're gold.

Hopefully reading what Zack Parsons is capable of can give you something of an idea of what he's capable of putting together, and the themes he likes to use. Some things, like the Instructions For A... series and the CONEX articles have echoes in some of the stuff on the Lewis Foods site, like the barcode on the guy's arm, and the strange insect theme/'become(ing) us' rhetoric used. If you aren't psyched about this already, you will be after reading the stuff he writes, man, I guarantee it.

[spockgrrl]

Also, at the bottom of the Lewis Foods homepage, there is a very faint silhouette of and insect. If you click on it, it leads to the "Beginnings" page. The "beginnings" page kind of sets itself up as if it is owned by a group that is some sort of revolutionary or anti-establishment force; perhaps the insect/link is an indicator that Lewis foods is an ally?

And, is it just me, or does the gloved hand in the picture for Institutional page on the homepage look . . . three fingered/not quite human?

I'm kind of new at ARGs, so feel free to shut me up at anytime if I'm looking too much into things.

[SolarMarr]

Hum. The flipping baby head on the Institution page was rather disconcerting. That hand on the home page also caught my attention.

If anyone's curious, it looks like a fungus called Pneumocystis pneumonia only infects humans, is inhaled, and forms spores. I don't think it causes hemorrhaging, though.

I didn't think that Staphylococcus frequently caused hemorrhaging, although I have to admit I'm really only familiar with about four different species groups. I don't think it's a spore-forming bacteria, but it's a disconcerting thought that a Staph. strain would be the source of infection, since it's a native species on humans.

EDIT: Looking further, there apparently is a type of hemorrhaging Staph. that causes pneumonia-like symptoms. Very curious as to how new fungal and bacterial strains happened to cause coinciding outbreaks...

[stugots]

well i'm throwing my hat in on this one.

good catch on the yellow gloved hand but i think that's just picture processing, i could be wrong

[seekeroftruth]

this looks very interesting! im in...my previous arg expierence is really scarce, basically the first two seasons of lonelygirl15 and the haunted major's mask BEN arg but im trying to get in any arg that seems interesting and so far this looks the most interesting...anyways, yeah the flipping baby head was very disturbing, i kept waiting for something else to happen...also has anyone tried to see if siwelcal is an anagram?

[stugots]

i thought the same thing but nothing fished out
Ace Swill
Ace Wills
Aces Will
Case Will
Lilac Sew
Lilacs We
Lac Wiles
Call Wise
Lacs Wile
Claws Lie
Claws Lei
Claw Leis
Claw Isle
Claw Lies
Caw Lisle
Ail Clews
Ails Clew
Sail Clew
Walls Ice
Wall Ices
Slaw Lice
Laws Lice
Awls Lice
Awl Slice
Law Slice
Was Celli
Saw Celli
A Sec Will
A Sic Well
Lac Slew I
Call Sew I
Call We Is
Calls We I
Claws El I
Claw El Is
Sac Well I
Sac We Ill
Caws Ell I
Caw Ell Is
Caw Sell I
Caw Ells I
La Clews I
La Clew Is
All Sic We
Wall Sec I
Las Clew I
Awl Sic El
Law Sic El
Was Cell I
Saw Cell I
Aw Cell Is
Aw Cells I
Aw Sec Ill
Aw Sic Ell

there was also some verbage in the lewis food site that raised my eyebrow. in institutional food service
-With our parteners under the Bishop umbrella we can provide a full package of supply-chain satisfaction.
-Our recent customers include the Bishop Spire(central cafeteria planning and outflow food services)
-Lewis Foods has a reputation for rising to meet any challenge. Since 1980 we have worked closely to provide for the growing populations of type ones, twos and threes inside and outside of the South Los Angeles Military Cordon. Our points of service in San Pedro, Creeptown

[amandel]

[veebee]

On the Institutional page I'm intrigued by a couple of things.. the fact that the head in the logo at the top is spinning, unlike the other pages. Also, one of the pictures that pops up looks like an emergency vehicle, yet has the word "Gardeners" on the front and the logo on the side of the van is a stag. Emergency gardeners? Seriously?


(Hi BTW, been lurking a bit )

Edit: I find this curious too (from the Licquorice Splendids description)

[Aiobhan]

He's a bee! Hence the references to spires (hives), queens/mothers, water, and flora. Also, they'd have reason to be pissed at us - we're slowly wiping them off the face of the earth. There are three basic types of bee inside of a bee colony: the workers, the drones, and the queen. Additionally, bees don't like smoke (clue from the twitter) because it makes them "fall asleep", and some bees (fpr yet unknown reasons) love salt so much they "collect" it if you scatter it around a beehive or "drink" it out of salt water. Maybe that's why number twos like salt and the others like sugar.

Also, siwelcal is just lewis backwards added to "cal", for calories.

Edit: I'm pretty sure Quezon City, North Philippines is not part of the US. Interesting inclusion on the Lewis page, that.

Edit again: Okay, wait a minute. This has got to be an alternate timeline of some kind. It references American Indochina, as if we'd won the Vietnam war and taken over, it references "West Germany" as if the Berlin Wall was still standing, and a DMZ (as in Korea) between the U.S. and Mexico. Clearly, the outbreak in 1960 changed the course of history. It all has connections back to the Veitnam war era (also in the 60s).

Anyway, I'll keep a little eye on this. Being out of a job leaves lots of time for ARGs, especially since Green Gecko disappeared.

[Aiobhan]

HA! I WIN, ZAC PARSONS:

http://bishopunlimited.us/

Not active... yet. ;D Yay, domain activity lookup!! Separate post for separate, important information.

Also... this one too, probably: http://mastifflogistics.us/ , seeing as he owns it. It looks like all of the sites that show up on October 23rd are in-game: http://www.domaintools.com/research/reverse-whois/?all[]=Zack+Parsons&none[]=