unforum

[RyoShin]

[SPEC] Fifth Columnist

[dARKcHAOS]

well i can identify the people-

hacker- SPDR
traitor- Cortana (possibly? her name is everywhere)

and i think she thought that the fifth columnist is the thing repairing whatever it is......

i lost myself a long time ago...

[Dorkmaster]

check out the "organization anyone?" thread in the puzzles category... we're trying to work out similar stuff. Also, good catch on the Fifth Columnist. This is interesting stuff!

[Max Damage]

[kalamazoo]

The Operator is trying to figure out who Dana is. She figures she should have heeded the Spider's warning.

The problem is that the Operator doesn't realize she's been thrown into the past, and Dana has no idea what the Spider is talking about.

Unfortunately, the Operator has a HIGHLY INTRUSIVE INCLINATION and so is now trying to poke at Dana...

[Thief]

The "Fifth Columnist", while in-game is obiously speculation on a potential ally, or enemy, in Bungie's terms, it could be a reference to the Seventh Column, which is Bungie's official fanclub, and "Underground Army" whcih they will use to "help us achieve our goal of world domination!".

The website, which seems to be down at the moment, is located at: http://www.seventhcolumn.org/

[Shad0]

Re: [SPEC] Fifth Columnist

[huckleberry]

The Operator is accustomed to being attacked by hostile aliens.

Now, however, it finds itself under attack from a human being ( = Dana ).

An obvious explanation is that Dana is a fifth columnist, i.e. a human being who is secretly working in league with the hostile aliens.

[NACIONAL]

[Macavity]

Here's my take on the whole deal between Dana and The Operator:

1) Operator attacked by hostile forces (enemy ship/AI).

2) Operator takes refuge in the first secure area it comes across (www.ilovebees.com)

3) SPDR is triggered, and begins repairing Operator, corrupting the website in the process.

4) Margaret calls Dana - "My webpage is screwed up, can you fix it for me?" or words to that effect.

5) Dana attempts to fix the damaged website, further damaging Operator.

6) SPDR/Operator notes this, and considers five possibilites:

A - Enemy hacker trying to finish Operator off.
B - A traitor trying to subvert her and turn Operatotr into a fifth columnist.
C - A fifth columnist (but that would be absurd, you'd need to have a trusted AI that was corrupted by the enemy - and all AIs are kept under tight security),
D - An innocent civilian, caught up in something outside her experience.
E - An agent from a rival department in ONI, attempting to sabotage the repair job (which would explain the "out of uniform" reference).

7) SPDR/Operator eliminates C on grounds of impossibility, and D on the grounds of "She tried to wipe me completely - that's a hostile act". That leaves A, B, and E as possibilites. In any case, Dana has been classified as hostile.