Saturday 12 January 2008

Chapter Two Summary - Into the Deep End.

Sam's Story

  • As we wait for Sam to arrive at the Christiane 1, he sends out an e-mail to his friend Tracey to ask if she can find any information on “Black Rock” and how it may relate to the Christiane 1.
  • Sam arrives at the Christiane 1 and tries to convince the captain (Mr. Ockham) to let him ride aboard. His chances appear slim until an opportunity presents itself in the form of a broken plotter, which he fixes to demonstrate his usefulness.
  • Sam comes across Mr. Oscar Talbot, whose company appears to be paying for the expedition. Mr. Talbot appears to take a dislike to Sam and treats him with distrust. He also seems to hint that he knows something about Sam.
  • Sam sets up a temporary office on the boat in a room that includes such features as a picture of black smoke pillowing away from what appears to be a temple in the middle of a forest and Penny Widmore's phone number (02079460893). He sets to work on his laptop.
  • Sam receives a mystery e-mail, which he believe to be from The Maxwell Group once again. The e-mail is just a string of numbers, although the following numbers appear in gray rather then black “-1 1. 1 7 8 4
  • Sam sends an e-mail to Sean Downling at Oceanic claiming he has indeed returned all their property and sees no reason for them not to release his final pay check. He also receives a reply to his query about employment with Austral Air. They say they have no positions at the moment but will keep his file on record.
  • Sam researches a website with information about various planes and boats that have gone missing in the region of the Sunda Trench. Most notable in this is someone that was searching for Amelia Earhart. The page also mentions that there have been reports of unexplained electronics failure and magnetic interference (effecting compasses).
  • Sam e-mails Tracey to see if she can find any information on Mr Talbot and mentions that the camera she lent him seems to be playing up.
  • While waiting for replies Sam hears what appears to be a radio broadcast from the past about the loss of Amelia Earhart. Wondering if he was hearing a documentary he e-mails the Broadcasting Authority to see if any were broadcast that day. They reply that there was no documentary and cite amateur radio enthusiasts as a possible explanation for the broadcast.
  • Sam's mum leaves another voice mail. She hasn't spoken to him, she doesn't know where he is, and is still worried.
  • We leave Sam 300KM off the Indonesian coast at the Sunda Trench. He is having second thoughts and wondering if he has made a big mistake in going there on the strength of a mystery e-mail. He wonders if he has been played for the fool. He can't make sense of the mystery numbers in the e-mail and can't see what The Black Rock has to do with Oceanic Flight 815. He is thinking about getting off at the next port.

Clues

  • Graffiti advertising find815.com has appeared on all of the Oceanic Air Billboards.
  • Live commercials from Oceanic Airlines have appeared on VH1 and The Sci-Fi Channel (Thanks to barbarajay, dedjezter, and takes a village for having an eagle eyes on those.)
  • The Clue words for this weeks clue hunt were: 423 Cheyne Walk and Daniel Faraday.
  • The expedition has “special requirements
  • Electronics Malfunctions are common in the area.
  • Sam claims he has returned all property to Oceanic.
  • -1 1. 1 7 8 4” The numbers in gray in the mystery email Sam believe to be from The Maxwell Group.
  • Amelia Earhart (see below)
  • The Black Rock (see below)
  • Video Flashes – We saw this last week with a flash of Mr.Talbot in Sam's video diary. This week there are flashes of Oceanic's advertising and text relating to The Black Rock along with the word “salvage”.
  • The Name Talbot – Speculation in comments has linked this name with a character killed by Locke's father. It has also been noted by myself that Talbot is the name of a character in Anne Rice novels who involved in a cult that studies supernatural activity.
  • Missing Images on the Websites – This is probably just to show the poor internet connection Sam has at sea. However it is worth mentioning just in case these pictures are revealed later (when back on dry land) and have relevance.

The Black Rock

  • A 19th century slave ship thought to be owned by “The New Word Sea Traders”. A company that is now under the wing of the Allied Copenhagen Marine Merchants (which itself is owned by The Hanso Group)
  • Usually sailed from Portsmouth, England (where it was docked in slip 23) to Africa, the Americans and the Pacific.
  • On it's last voyage (in 1881) it was due to leave Indonesia and Papua New Guinea with a shipment of gold which it would exchange in Africa for slaves. However on leaving the area it unexpectedly headed east away from Africa and was never seen again.
  • The web site www.slaveshipsearch.com was confirmed as in-game by Dark UFO.

Amelia Earhart

  • 1937 Amelia Earhart attempted a mission to be the first woman to fly around the world.
  • Communication was lost with her on July 2nd 1937 while she was flying (along with navigator Fred Noonan) from New Guinea to Howling Island in the Pacific.
  • Her plane was low on fuel and there are reports from across the pacific of intercepted communication with her. 8:43am was the last communication.
  • Her body and plane were never recovered.
  • Another pilot involved in searching for Earhart is known to have gone missing near Sumatra.
  • Often speculated about or hinted at in relation to Lost.

Other Characters

  • Oscar Talbot –From a highly reclusive and very rich east coast New England family with a sketchy history in the diamond trade. They arrived in New England in 1908 from Somerset (England).
  • Mr. Ockham – captain of the Christiane 1 salvage boat
  • Tracy R - Continues to aid Sam by finding information for him. She has now researched Christiane 1, The Black Rock and Oscar Talbot.
  • Mystery Maxwell Contact – Provided Sam with another cryptic e-mail that he is yet to decipher.
  • Owen – Crewman aboard the Christiane 1.
  • Mr. Sukanaro – The man Mr. Ockham usually goes to for technical support.
  • Isaac Chapman – HR for Austral Air. Turned Sam down for a job.
  • Sam's Mum – Sam still hasn't contacted her and she is still worried.
  • Sean Dowling – Oceanic HR. Sam told him he had returned their property

Thursday 10 January 2008

Chapter 2- Did you hear what I heard?

1/11/08 Video Diary: "There's nothing to find here."


Sam has given us his second video diary. In it he looks weary, seems discouraged, and tells us, "I think I have made a big mistake."
  • He gives his location as: 300 KM off Indonesian coast at the Sunda Trench (which is 7,000 meters deep in places).
  • The video is skippy with horizontal lines across it. There are several blips where something is visible in the frames of the video (see the shots above). One blip contains the words shipwreck, Black Rock, and salvage while a second is a blip of the Oceanic Air commercial.
  • He references the Maxwell Group e-mail with it's "incomprehensible numbers", and can't make sense of it. He wonders if someone is playing a trick on him because he was "...mouthing off on TV ," and he thinks he should get off at the next port.
1/10/08 Clue:

Tonight's update gives us: 2 Web Sites, 5 e-mails, and 1 voicemail.

Web Sites:
The first is the Black Rock site which we had an accidental preview of earlier.
  • The site outlines the history of the ship mentioning that it collected gold from mines in Papua New Guinea.
  • Instead of sailing west to Africa it went easterly and was never seen again.
The second is about Amelia Earhart. It outlines her biography and is also missing three images at the bottom of the page.
  • 1928- She was first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
  • 1932- She repeated the flight solo.
  • 1937- She attempted a mission as the first woman to fly around the world.
  • On July 2 of that year she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared en route from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island in the Pacific.
  • Her body and plane have never been recovered
E-Mails:
  • Sent: Sam writes to the Broadcasting Authority. He inquires about any radio documentaries about Amelia Earhart's disappearance broadcast in the last few days .
  • Inbox: The Broadcasting Authority replies stating that there were no records of the transmission that Sam heard. They cite amateur radio enthusiasts, who tend to broadcast materials including historical recordings, as the likely explanation.
  • Sent: Sam writes to Tracey, telling her that the camera she lent him is "playing up" and it's interfering with the playback heads and affecting the motor drive.
  • Inbox: Tracey replies saying the camera was working when she last had it.
  • Inbox: Tracey writes giving Sam information about the Black Rock. The information is consistent with the voicemail she left with clues for the Black Rock trivia game.
    • It also confirms that the Christaine 1 is indeed going to look for the Black Rock
Voicemail from Mum:
  • She is wondering why he hasn't called her back.
  • Apparently he hasn't told her that he has left for the Sunda Trench as she went to his place and he wasn't there.
  • She's worried that he hasn't been himself and that he might do something "silly".
And Also:
Finally, something interesting comes in an e-mail to Oceanic Conspiracies, from korijane. Attached was a picture of yesterday's Season 1 Clue. Could this be the temple that Ben is leading everyone to?

Wednesday 9 January 2008

Chapter 2- Clue Hunt and a Blast From the Past


Chapter 2 continues at find815 with a video, a clue hunt for 4 clues, and 1 e-mail.

The Video:
We start with Sam laying in bed looking at the ring. He then gets up and begins to tune a radio in his cabin, moving through the static until he gets a signal. Sam hears a news report seemingly from the past about Amelia Earhart. The report states:
  • Communications with her have been lost while she is flying from New Guinea.
  • 8:43 AM today (the day of the transmission) was last communication.
  • Her plane was low on fuel, and there are other reports from "across the Pacific" of intercepted communications with her.
    • Amelia Earhart was also mentioned in the web site about the Sunda Trench found on Sam's laptop.
    • In the episode Not in Portland (Season 3), Juliet is taking a flight to the island with Herarat Aviation, which is an anagram for Earhart.
The Clue Hunt:
This takes place in Sam's Cabin where we find clues for Season 1-4. To complete the hunt you must go to ABC.com or Yahoo7 , play a game, and get a password to view the Season 4 clue. The Season 4 Clue is the book on Sam's bed. If you click it, you will be prompted to enter a password. (*It seems that the site has some glitches with clicking the book. Try refresing a few times to make the book "clickable".)
  • The game is Black Rock trivia, which is played after listening to a voice mail from Tracey educating us on the subject.
  • When you get 100% you are given 1 of two passwords to open the Season 4 Clue. The passwords are: 423 Cheyne Walk OR Daniel Faraday (*Note: Originally the password for Clue 4 was 423 Cheyenne Walk, but ABC changed it to reflect an address in London.)
  1. Pillar of Smoke- your Season 1 Clue
  2. Balloon- your Season 2 Clue
  3. Ping Pong-your Season 3 Clue
  4. Penny's Number (02079460893)- your Season 4 Clue

E-mail:
In Sam's inbox there is an e-mail from Tracey titled, you owe me big. In it she says:

  • Talbot is from an east coast New England family with a sketchy history in the diamond trade.
  • They are reclusive in a way a LOT of money can buy.
  • They arrived in New England in 1908 from the English county of Somerset.
There are screen shots of some of the clues and various other areas of the Chapter 2 play in the Oceanic Conspiracies Photobucket. As usual, e-mail us with anything you notice, and stay tuned for updates!

Thanks to Patch for e-mailing with the second season 4 password.

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Chapter 2 - All Aboard.

*Update 1/9 7:00am- The find815 website no longer has our new found Black Rock website on Sam's laptop. It's now been replaced with a web site called Sunda Stories from findoutpedia.com which details a time line of "List of notable ships and planes lost in the Sunda Trench".
  • Lots of interesting things on the time line but I saw this and thought Berlin (In 1981- Pleasure craft captained by West German business tycoons disappeared). Could this be our Berlin tie-in per the billboards?
  • There is also a mention of Amelia Earhart (that someone searching for her disapeared).
  • Also on the time line: "In addition to these, there have been reports of high incidence of unexplained electronics failure in the area. Compasses have also been know to behave erratically."
  • There are again two missing images from the Sunda Trench site (perhaps to reflect the poor internet connection?). -Ange

The website has updated with 2 new emails and a new website and as you can see above, Sam's desk has changed to reflect his new surroundings!

The first new email is to Trace asking for yet another favor.

  • Sam is after information on Mr Talbot.
  • His first name appears to be OSCAR.
  • Sam believes Mr.Talbot is old money and a company man.
The second email is a reply to his application for employment with Austral Air. A person named Isaac Chapman replied saying they have no positions but will keep his file on record.

Finally, have a website on the Black Rock (provided by Trace? Maybe, we don 't know). The website tells us stuff we already know from the previous experience. But to recap:

  • The Black Rock is one on three 19th century slave ships thought to be owned by "The New World Sea Traders".
  • Usually sailed from Portsmouth, England to Africa and then on to the Americas or the Pacific Ocean.
  • On it's last voyage it left Portsmouth and went to the South Indian Ocean where it collected gold from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to exchange for Slaves in Africa.
  • However on leaving that area, instead of heading west to Africa as expected it headed in an easterly direction and was never seen again (well until Lost anyway).

There are two missing images from the bottom of the article that read "image not loaded, check network settings". Perhaps they will turn up later

Monday 7 January 2008

Chapter 2 - Finally

Morning all. Fenris here. Seems I can access everything this morning so let's get with the update!

After a brief recap of episode one we see Sam arrive at the Christiane 1. The captain (Mr. Ockham) isn't keen on having him tag along, but an opportunity presents itself in the form of a broken chart plotter. IT guy extrordinaire Sam offers to fix the plotter himself in return for passage aboard and the Captain agrees.

Here follows a timed game (*Click here to see the solution. Thanks to Elizabeth for e-mailing the picture!). The game itself is simple but with three minutes to do it, I have to admit it took me three tries. The game basically involves rotating squares on a board to get the circuitboard to match up with no loose lines. There are three boards to fix in the time.

Once repaired the captain lets you on board. However a mysterious Mr.Talbot, who's company is paying for the expedition (and has "special requirements") seems suspicious and appears to know more about Sam then he is letting on. Fortunatly, Mr.Ockham, wanting to honour his word to Sam, comes to his defence and states "Given our destination I can't rule out a complete electronics meltdown..."


Mr Talbot


Back to the Sam's Desk and we see there has been some activity before Sam left.

  • As reported during the Chapter 1 recap, Sam has sent a further email to his friend Trace, asking if she can find information about "Black Rock" and how it may link to the Christiane 1.
  • Sam has sent a response to Sean Dowling at Oceanic claiming he has indeed returned all their property and he sees no reason for them not to release his final pay pack.
  • Finally Sam has received a very mysterious email from an unknown sender. This email is nothing but numbers but if you look closely at it you can see some numbers are written in grey rather then black and appear to be as follows "-1 1. 1 7 8 4"

According to the "My Progress" section that is all for this update. However there are in total 6 Emails (1 found, so I guess some of the above didn't count), 3 Web Sites, 1 Video, 1 Message, 1 Activity (complete), and FOUR clue hunts (makes sense while your on a salvage boat) listed as part of this chapter.

That's it.
~Namaste, Fenris

PS: I've left this last bit from the original Post as Ange has a good point. It's a bit early to be breaking down the doors of random companies (Unless their names are Hanso, Maxwell, Paik or Widmore, naturally). [Fenris]

I don't even need to really say this, but please just be patient. I don't think it's wise to start e-mailing the companies hired to create this game for us (until we know for sure who they are). No one could really ever mean for this to happen. Just my two cents.
~ Ange

Chapter 2 Where are you? / Billboard Graffiti

This post is in lieu of tonight's continuation of the story on Find815.com. When things get up and running on find815 we'll have a new post for you. -Ange

But for now...

SPOILER WARNING: It seems most people have no access and may not get access until much later maybe even tomorrow. However as there may have been a few things seen before the site went down, the comments section may well spoiler you. If you don't want this, please avoid the comments and come back when the new article is up. Namaste - Fenris

UPDATE 10:46pm: Winged_eel just sent us a picture of the NYC billboard with graffiti. THANKS winged_eel! -Ange


UPDATE: Hot off the presses from special agent Capcom! The Knoxville billboard has also been "vandalized". NICE WORK Capcom! -Ange


Dark UFO is also posting pictures of Tustin and Portland's (photo by Squid Vicious) billboards with the find815.com graffiti.


UPDATE Jess4ua 5:10pm: It has been brought to my attention (Thanks espiao!) that Darkufo has posted a pic of the Miami Billboard with a new look. Apparently it has graffiti on it that says find815.com. I am very curious to know if the other billboards are getting the same makeover!
Also, Ange brought up that the graffiti on the Miami Billboard is similar to the graffiti on Sam's Facebook. I put the two images together for your comparison and posted them in Photobucket. Tell us what you think.......In-game, or the work of misdirected artists.