Monday Summary: What Happened May 25- May 31
From ARG Guide/Trail Wiki
Marcus announced that Elias Grodin has been fired; this was amid speculation that Elias and Thad Tidwell were in fact the same person. He asked people not to contact him. Later Marcus let it slip UF Forum (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4388) that Thad and Elias were the same person. In two different messages on Melody’s blog (http://amboymelody.blogspot.com) she mentions her heartbreak at Thad’s betrayal, and then says he slapped her (hard enough to leave a mark) during an argument over the incident. Some people talk to her about, she seems more mad and angry with herself than anything. She says she will not press charges. She also mentions she’s a regular churchgoer. At rose’s suggestion, she writes an article for Amboy Monthly (http://www.amboymonthly.com) about domestic abuse.
A picture in the article (http://www.amboymonthly.com/news.htm) has a stegged message, which is revealed (UF Forum (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=40816&highlight=#40816)) to say, “You found the Research notes, and I am hoping you will find this. I may need to use this method to contact you in the future. Be strong, be true to what you believe.” In a conversation with drizjr (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4428) and in chat (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4427) she is shocked to find out there was a hidden message in the picture. She also says that her blog was hacked, and a coded line of text that was there (she has since removed) was put there by someone. The line of text is decoded to reveal the address, http://www.amboymonthly.com/OmniscientEyes.wmv (http://www.amboymonthly.com/OmniscientEyes.wmv)
This is a video that Melody placed on the site for safekeeping, but not under than file name and not with any available link. Someone renamed the file and posted the message to locate it to her blog. The video is of Marcus, trying to keep his dog still and on his cell phone with Jude outside her house. This is the video Melody took of him when he came to apologize. She also put a new Letter to the Editor (http://www.amboymonthly.com/letters1.htm) on Amboy Monthly about personal privacy. She’s also very upset by all that’s happened, and she leaves a chat about it after stating she has broken down crying. Basically Melody has had a VERY bad week.
As for Marcus, a message (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4384) from an OE agent claims that Marcus is planning on selling TOBI to the Chinese government. He denies this, although not as vocally as some would like. He confirms that the wroddington who joined the IU forum is the real Professor Roddington, not Palser (Krystal’s kidnapper). A chat (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4415) is arranged in the #ideltech IRC room. During the chat some things about TOBI’s potential and its background are discussed.
We also find out that Alecia got access to the Ideltech computers by the use of ten passwords, she stole databases and got part of TOBI. Marcus says that TOBI is still functioning, but doing strange things. They claim they will still be ready to launch on time. However, on Marcus’ blog (http://mthesburg.blogspot.com/) very early Sunday morning, he mentions that he swore he heard TOBI saying “TobI is looking for resorces for repair,” despite not having the necessary hardware attached for him to talk. He is also not supposed to self-repair, according to Marcus. The others were all asleep or out of the room when it happened, and when he brought Jude in to show him, TOBI had stopped doing it. He’s not sure if he was just too tired and imagined it, and Jude said the same.
Marcus had earlier posted a list of names on his blog (http://mthesburg.blogspot.com/), which appears to be the security code for Ideltech (UF Forum (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4421)). He also mentions in his blog about how tired he is and how hard they are working to get TOBI ready for the launch.
Alecia has also been busy with her new information. She’s been contacting (http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=40802&highlight=#40802) Ideltech employees, and bouncing back and forth between bribing them and threatening them with bodily harm. She has made a blanket offer of $315 million dollars to whomever can deliver TOBI to her.
Thad, meanwhile, tells rose that he is seeking anger management after hitting Melody; he has learned that TOBI is doing things Marcus isn’t aware of, he will be recruiting and creating a new and better site for the Restorers.
It seems clear that either TOBI has already reached self-awareness, will reach it on the launch of the game, or will reach it very shortly thereafter. Obviously he’s beginning to already. There is also a new potential player in whoever hacked into Melody’s blog (http://amboymelody.blogspot.com) and/or Amboy Monthly (http://www.amboymonthly.com), although the consensus seems to be it’s an established character. It is also unclear whether the same person/group did both. Another important note, we have been told from all sides that there is to be no more spying for any reason. This is firmly the new rule, any spies for any side will be canned by their actual employer. One person was already outed and summarily fired by Ideltech.
More than anything this week, we have learned that no one’s closets are free of skeletons. While we’re being asked to choose sides, each sides motives and potential danger is still suspect.