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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
[SPEC] The Truth - Central Story of ILB
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clamatius
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Joined: 24 Jul 2004
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Quote:
I was thinking that Troy is only gone for Durga--for Melissa, Troy won't be glassed for 500 years.

No, I don't think that's really the case. It seems to me like the time-lines are linked - so while time is passing for us, it passes in the future too. Remember that Melissa has a channel to Durga. So Harmony isn't gone yet.

If the timelines aren't linked, it removes a lot of the point of the game since nothing that happens here will affect the story in the future.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:07 pm
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Macavity
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 		Re: [SPEC] The Truth - Central Story of ILB
clamatius wrote:
There's a lot of talking in ILB about "The Truth". The Flea wants to reveal it. Melissa doesn't want Durga to know it. And so on.

Here's the spec: "The Truth" is simply that ONI knew about Troy being attacked before it was glassed, but didn't reveal it to protect their intelligence source. Millions of innocent lives sacrificed.

Given that one piece of spec a lot of things fall into place. Now the main characters in the story are really Herzog and Standish - the whole story is about the conflict between them. Almost all the characters stories now fit together.

Standish represents the faction of ONI that wants to cover-up the Truth - ends justify the means and he wants to win the war no matter what. Herzog wants to reveal the Truth - he is angry and disgusted that this sacrifice could be made.

Herzog leaks information indirectly so that a junior investigator (Rani) in another department finds out about marines on Troy - the first step to the Truth. Standish tries to have Rani killed to cover up the leak but Herzog's security saves her - Herzog has justification since Standish's "wetwork" wasn't authorized. Jan, Gillie and James James story ties in because of James James's "black taxi" carrying McKaskill, who's in hiding. Standish's cover-up operation has already killed Captain Greene of the Apocalypso and tried but failed to take out McKaskill too.

Jersey's story is tied in because his father is the Castaway, Jason Morelli. It also gives us information on Durga and some justification for the Melissa in our time hearing all this stuff.

Ok, now a little more spec.

  • In this version, the Pious Flea is probably not a Covenant AI after all, but a human-made AI introduced into Melissa's system intended to rewrite her secrecy goals to reveal the Truth. The Flea would be introduced by one of Herzog's faction, probably Herzog himself (see Shad0's spec) Jason Morelli but possibly McKaskill. Remember that Melissa is very ruthless and would almost certainly be in Standish's camp.
  • Durga is probably a copy of Melissa sent to Jersey by Jason - and it may well be that the mysterious Artifact caused the copy to split in time, one part landing in 2004 and one in the future.


There are two major missing pieces remaining: the nature of the Sleeping Princess and the link to Kamal's story. Aside from that, the Truth spec I describe seems to tie up most of the missing information. I think to join those final pieces you have to make some pretty wild spec without more information.

{edit}Added link to Shad0's relevant and likely spec.{/edit}

>I want the truth!
You can't handle the truth!


Trout me if you've heard this one before, but . . .

This might also explain why:

A) there were Navy sentinels sniffing around Jersey's system, and

B) why Durga warned Jersey not to reinitialize the system with the "lolitic package" (because any other sentinels would be able to get past JEANIE - Jersey's usual AI - with ease).
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:27 pm
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clamatius
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Quote:
A) there were Navy sentinels sniffing around Jersey's system, and

B) why Durga warned Jersey not to reinitialize the system with the "lolitic package" (because any other sentinels would be able to get past JEANIE - Jersey's usual AI - with ease).
A) sounds good

but B) is just Durga telling Jersey not to bother trying to delete her because it won't work.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:39 pm
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Son of a Beep
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 		Here's my [spec]

My idea is that melissa and the sleeping princess are one and the same. It is also my opinion that melissa/sleeping princess is also Ronnie from the other sound clips, and that Ronnie is possibly Kamal's sister.

The info revealed this week that his sister was replaced with a flash clone indicates she was snatched away to be involved in the military. I believe that she was snatched away and grew up as ronnie, eventually became The operator(remember brain_ninjas?), crash landed in our time, and her memory of herself as Ronnie is coming through as the Sleeping Princess. The operator wants to isolate this old human conciousness but it is coming through. As for the flea, I subscribe to the typical idea that it's a covenant AI that's copied itself to the operator, much like it tried to do to cortana.

Evidence-
Ronnie is involved in seeking information about the "old man" pretending to be evacuated from coral. This coincides with the operator's seeking information.
Kamal says his sister used to be unusually smart before she was taken. This would suit her well to be used to construct an AI.
Durga has an unusal interest in kamal that she doesn't have control over, this could be The operator/Ronnie seeking out information about her past.
The Operator's Seek/Evade/Reveal the truth could be either the truth about her past, or the truth that the flea wants.. the location of earth.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 2:08 am
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anaerin
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 		It's quite simple, this one, I think.

"The Truth" is in Chawla Base.

The Artifact is missing, but most likely stashed on a military base somewhere by Standish.

A military base like, say, Chawla Base...

Ergo, "The Truth" is the Artifact.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:07 am
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klobbermeister
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Quote:
The Queen is hiding something from Durga. Something stashed in Chawla Base.

behold:
Chawla Base >> truth

What?

behold:
Chawla Base >> truth

But why would the Queen !evade truth?

master-sector sec proc >> !evade truth Durga

But…shouldn't we REVEAL it?


FWIW...the Flea knows exactly what the Truth is. I just can't interpret it from the lack of syntax...

PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:16 am
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clamatius
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Quote:
"The Truth" is in Chawla Base.

The Artifact is missing, but most likely stashed on a military base somewhere by Standish.

A military base like, say, Chawla Base...

Ergo, "The Truth" is the Artifact.

I will grant you that this is possible. If my spec is correct though, it just means that the proof of ONI's foreknowledge of Troy's destruction is on Chawla Base. If that's the case, the artifact may well be part of the proof.

Quote:
FWIW...the Flea knows exactly what the Truth is. I just can't interpret it from the lack of syntax...

This would fit in nicely with Herzog being the person who infected Melissa with the Flea. He knows the Truth but doesn't have solid proof. If he did have solid proof, he would have leaked that rather than the oblique hint he gave to Rani.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:50 am
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halcpu
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 		Not to point out something that's been brought up before, but melissa isn't the only one searching for the truth, so are the Covenant.
I really fear that Melissa is in violation of the Cole protocol which so many other beekeepers are trying to express. She still may be searching for a truth but I fear it is the same as the covenants goal. While we may be able to use that to our advantage if the truth is the artifact, but Melissa cannot be allowed to risk the safety of the entire human race by keeping secrets and working in the dark.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:26 pm
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clamatius
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Quote:
Not to point out something that's been brought up before, but melissa isn't the only one searching for the truth, so are the Covenant.

Bear in mind that if I'm right and Herzog is effectively the author of the Flea, there may well be no Covenant characters in the ARG at all, it's all human vs. human. I think you are still operating under the assumption that the Flea is Covenant.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:27 pm
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halcpu
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 		I'm trying to ignore the flea and look at it simply from who seeks the truth. It is quite clear that the Covenant seek the truth and they also are seeking forerunner tech...I just don't think we should rule out the covenant involvement just yet without substantial evidence. We cannot forget about the cole protocol either.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:42 pm
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clamatius
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Quote:
It is quite clear that the Covenant seek the truth

In the context of this ARG, what are you basing that assertion on? I guess I'm confused.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:46 pm
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halcpu
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 		The Flood
I'm currently reading the 2nd novel, "The Flood" in which we can read from the perspective of the covenant. The Truth is something they aspire to and search for. If you need I can probably find some quotes from the text. Forgive me though, I've not finished the book and I know that means that the truth could be explained later in the book.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 1:13 pm
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Platonix
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 		One problem with the Truth = Artifact spec. Melissa speaks of the consummation of the Truth. What would be the "consummation" of an object?
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:10 am
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skyhawk0000
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 		vatthu-sampatti?
[spec]
or, more seriously.. in This situation, the "consumation" of the object could be Revealing the object as part of the overall Truth. Seek, Behold, Reveal, so completing all of this would be the Consumation of the Law, or the consumation of the Truth.

[/spec]

or.. late night spec'ing is broiling my brains
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:29 am
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GabrielBlade
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 		Integration of the object with Melissa's systems and activation of its powers for her control, whether that is for the good of humanity, or not?

Just a possibility.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:29 am
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