Chapter One Summary - The Adventure Begins Here.

THE STORY

• The time line is hazy, but appears to be set a fairly short while after Flight 815 went missing

• The experience starts as Oceanic Airlines prepares to start up services again after a period of being shut down while they investigate the disappearance of Flight 815. As part of this they have made a press release, re-launched their website, set up a number of billboards and opened a hotline.

• Oceanic's investigation apparently found nothing and is now closed.

• Sam Thomas, an IT technician at Oceanic Airlines lost someone very dear to him on that flight, a woman named Sonya. He has made it his personal mission to find out what happened to her. As part of this he has launched a website "find815.com" to track his progress and gain publicity for his endeavour. He also has a Facebook and MySpace page and has even started up a T-Shirt campaign.

• Sam had planned to propose to Sonya on the 8th anniversary of when they first met. This is apparently two months away. He had purchased an engagement ring.

• As a result of his investigations and criticisms of Oceanic, Sam has lost his job but this has only led to him being more determined. Oceanic also claims he has some property of theirs that they want returned. His mother is worried about how this obsession is effecting him.

• After some exposure on the news Sam is contacted by a mysterious person who hides some clues for him inside a picture of Sonya (see below for the specifics). The email appears to have originated from "The Maxwell Group". So far there is no information about this group and while they have a website it is simply a log in screen that is currently out of action, reportedly until "02/01/2008 00:08:15 UTC".

• The clues are as follows: "Sunda Trench", "Christiane 1", "Black Rock" and "Tell no one, grave consequences"

• Sam finds the location of Sunda Trench on his map in the northeastern Indian Ocean and does a bit of research on it discovering it is a central point for natural disasters including volcanic activity and that it has a reputation similar to the Bermuda Triangle due to vessels and aircraft going missing.

• He also figures that "Christiane 1" sounds like a ship and with the help of a friend he discovers that it is a salvage vessel that is due to sail out from Jakarta.

• Sam has decided to head to Jakarta and hitch a ride on board this vessel. He also applied for a job with Air Austral, an airline based in Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar (and an overseas region of France).

THE CLUES

• The Oceanic Air Press Release - Lists the following destinations:
  
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Tustin, CA
3. Ames, IA
4. Miami, FL
5. New York, NY
6. Portland, OR
7. Knoxville, TN
8. Seoul, South Korea
9. Sydney, Australia.
   

All of these locations have turned out to have billboards advertising Oceanic Airlines. They also mention London later in the press release, but it is not in the main list.

• The Oceanic Air Hotline - To begin with this took names and numbers and publicized the website. Now you can access voice mail on it, however so far this hasn't lead to anything.
• Oceanic Airlines Billboards (see below)
• Sunda Trench - A an area in the North East Indian Ocean with a reputation for mysterious disappearances of planes and boats as well as various seismic activities, currently Sam's only lead on a location.
• Christiane 1 - This is a salvage vessel. It is currently in Jakarta and going to head to an unknown destination.
• Black Rock - We all know about the Black Rock. But we don't know for sure how it relates to this story. We did however learn in the first Lost Experience that it's destination when it disappeared was the South Indian Ocean,
  
• The Maxwell Group - So far we know nothing about this group, except someone from their wants to help Sam. The website seems like it is not due to be involved until February.
• Matthew - (Abaddon is an alternate password given) password received from ABC's mini-game to finish the clue hunt, it may relate to this story, it may relate to Season 4, or it may be nothing.
• Sam's manifest on 815 passengers - This bares no direct relation so far to the rest of Sam's story. It may be just to tie this story into the show or there may be further significance to it.
• Oceanic Airlines property. Apparently Sam has some of their property and they want it back.
• zkillen_t99@hotmail.com (appears on the mystery email when first viewed in the video, but not on Sam's computer)
• Zeke Klotho Freundlich - the last line given in response to emailing the above address. The response also says "Since the dawn of our species, man's been blessed with curiosity. Your curiosity will be rewarded. Namaste."
• Interesting Note: Clotho/Klotho is the youngest of the Greek Fates. It was Clotho who spun the threads of life with her distaff. Her Roman counterpart Nona, was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of pregnancy.
  
• The Mystery Man - Sam's video diary had flashes of this mystery man. Who is he? A lot of people have commented that he looks familiar.

THE BILLBOARDS

The Billboards are one of the bigger mysteries at the moment. Several have been found in the locations listed in the Oceanic Airlines Press Release, usually near airports. These are the only real world clues in the experience so far. Each billboard has a location on it and a slogan. This is what we have seen so far:

• Portland, Oregon - "A new life awaits you in Seoul". **One of the Korean signs in the background reads "keu chung 6 myeong man i" which means roughly "Out of that group 6 only six people..."
• Tustin, California - "Discover the mysteries of Berlin". Interestingly there is no commercial airport in Tustin, which makes this location unusual (Thanks Alison and Memphish for that).
• Sydney, Australia - "Fly to L.A.".
• New York, New York - "Lose yourself in London"
• Los Angeles, California - "The Adventure Begins Here". Shows Sydney, Australia.
• Knoxville, Tennessee - "Find your way back to LA" (LA Again, but a different slogan).
• Ames, Iowa - "Lose yourself in London" (London Again and the same slogan).
• Miami, Florida- "Discover the mysteries of Berlin"
• Seoul, South Korea- "The adventure begins here. You have arrived at your ultimate destination." It shows Sydney, Australia and is translated slightly different from Korean.

CHARACTERS

• Sam Thomas - IT Technician extraordinaire and protagonist of this story.
• The mystery helper from the Maxwell Group
• Sonya - Sam's girlfriend, a flight attendant that disappeared with flight 815.
• Sam's Mum - She is worried about Sam and wants him to call her.
• David Massingham - former work colleague of Sam's. Helped him get tickets to Jakarta.
• Tracey R - A friend of Sam that helped him track down the Christiane 1.
• Sean Dowling - Oceanic Air Employee Relations, wants Sam to return Oceanic's property.
• Referenced Lost Characters - Kate Austen, James Ford, Dr Jack Shephard, Sayid Jarrah, Jin Kwon, Sun Kwon, Hugo Reyes, Claire Littleton, John Locke

So that's it so far! Let me know at the usual address if I have missed anything, and I'll fill in the blanks. Failing that or any further billboard finds this weekend I'll see you all after Monday's reveal.

Thank-you Rizzia for e-mailing about the Klotho information.
Thanks to Winged_Eel in comments for the confirmation/translation of the Korean on the Portland billboard.