Chapter Four Summary - Light and Shadows

Sam's Story

• Continuing on from last week, Sam has found his opportunity to hack the chart plotter and try and figure out where these coordinates are. He has been carrying them around written on a piece of paper waiting for his chance.

• Sam tricks Ockham into thinking the plotter has a fault and while "fixing" it he uses a nifty little program on his pen drive to give him access and locate the coordinates. Turns out to be right in Talbot's search grid.

• Unfortunately for Sam, while he fooled Ockham, Talbot is more suspicious and finds the piece of paper that Sam had carelessly left lying around. Talbot gives him a warning "You have no idea what your involved in" he says.

• Sam counters by telling Talbot he was given the co-ordinates by the Maxwell group. Strangely Oscar isn't phased. "Stay away from those coordinates, you won't find what you're looking for."

• Returning to his cabin, Sam finds a voice mail. Seems Sam isn't as broke as he thought he may be. An investment in a box company has come through, or so he is told by Richard who works for a person named Randy. The news is a welcome break for Sam.

• More Good news for Sam turns up in the form of an email from Tracey. She seems to have smoothed things over with Sam's Mum and has even agreed to spent Christmas with her.

• However things then take a bad turn. Sam receives another mystery email. This time containing a code (hidden in anagrams of numbers that then convert to letters of the alphabet). The message is "Love you Madly" something he and Sonya used to say to each other all the time.

• Later during one of Sam's night time strolls on the deck he spots something glowing off in the distance.He grabs a pair of binoculars and gives it a closer look. It looks like some kind of Aurora.

• Sam returns to his cabin to look into it. He emails Tracey who tells him (after joking about aliens from the planet Zubelleedubelee), that it probably was an Aurora, although she found it odd that it faded away so quickly. She speculates that it could be related to the strange mishap on the bridge the other day.

• Following on from this Sam looks up some information online on Aurora's and finds a website on the phenomenon of the Aurora Australis (the Southern version of the Aurora Borealis).

• Sam is having mixed feelings. Are people just messing with his head? He doesn't know, but he knows he misses Sonya and thinks about her all the time. He has decided to continue to help "these people" to find The Black Rock in the hopes that they will give him what he wants in return.

The Clues

• Love you madly - Were the Maxwell group playing with Sam with this message or is it a message from Sonya. It should also be noted this is something Sun and Jin used to say to each other as well.
• The Box Company - Sam's payout from his investment here has raised suspicion that this could be Hurley's box company.
• The Season four clue this week was a bottle of pills from the Santa Rosa Mental Hospital. The other clues included a picture of Vincent and playing cards with "The Swan" Station logo on.
• The Aurora Australis - Was this what Sam saw, or was it some other kind of Aurora
• There were a LOT of screen flashes in this weeks video diary. The highlights of which seem to be information relating to James Clerk Maxwell's equations.

Behind The Scenes

• We finally have the password (X4x98adfo97)to the hidden message in the stegosaurus picture from last week. This was provided via more braille characters hidden in this weeks opening video. The hidden message was binary code which when translated turned out to be a Walt Whitman Poem title "When I heard the learn’d astronomer". Seems Sam won't be following up on Tracey's "Holiday tip", so he will probably never find this out.
• There is hidden text in the background of one of the websites on Sam's laptop (Sunda Trench). There are columns of numbers under the headings of the letters A to F. When each column is added and divided by six they give: a: 115 b: 104 c: 105 d: 109 e: 109 f: 114. These numbers can then be converted into ASCII characters and these come out as: S H I M M R. What this means remains to be seen.
• Camp Millar - This comes from hazy sources, but is allegedly hidden in a code on the label to the pill bottle from the clue hunt.
• Commenter Oodles guided us toward how this clue was solved. ~Ange
  
• The passwords for this weeks clue hunt were: Miles Straume and Frank Lapidus (SPOILER ALERT: If you google this, you WILL be spoiled).

The other characters

• Oscar Talbot - Didn't seem surprised to hear Sam has been getting information from the Maxwell Group. He also seemed to know what the coordinates were all about.
• Mr. Ockham - Hardly present this week and seems Sam can easily pull the wool over his eyes.
• Tracey R - Seems willing to do a lot for Sam, including stay with his Mum for Christmas.
• Sam's Mum - Still worried about Sam but has Tracey looking after her now.
• Richard and Randy - We don't know much about these two except that Randy seems to be Sam's accountant and Richard works in his office.

Unless there is a false ending at the conclusion of the supposed final chapter, next weeks summary will be the last. So that will be posted followed by a retrospective the following day. To end this week I leave you with a quote:

"Stars hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires."

Chapter 4- Video Diary 4

Video Summary

Sam recaps Chapter 4 for us saying he can not pin Talbot down. He recounts the incident with Talbot and the coordinates. Sam admits that he indeed has no idea who he is dealing with. He thinks they (Maxwell) are toying with him, using coded e-mails.

He mentions the LOVE YOU MADLY mail and how he and Sonya said that to each other all the time. He feels that someone is trying to mess with his head, or spur him on. Sam misses Sonya and thinks about her all the time.

He knows he can't trust, "these people," but he feels that he needs to find The Black Rock to give them what they want. Then maybe they will give him what he wants in return.

Screen Shot of Disturbances and Helpful Links

Here are some great shots of the blips from Video Diary 4 (Thanks Jess and Fenris!). Also some links to James Clerk Maxwell's Theories written by Germain Rousseaux (thanks Jess) and Carol in comments found what appears to be the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science where it appears the image blips from Sam's video may have come from. Oodles in comments also found James Clerk Maxwell On Physical Lines of Force that shows more of the images that look to have been used.

Chapter 4- Some e-mails and some reading.

Tonight there are two e-mails and a web site.

Sent Mail

Subject: Strange Lights Recipient: Tracey- Sam explains to Tracey that he saw a "green cloud of light" while on the deck of the Christaine 1. He explains that they blended and moved, and faded after 20 seconds.

Inbox

Subject: Lights Sender: Tracey- She kids Sam about aliens from the planet Zubelleedubellee. She also explains that Sam most likely saw an aurora, but that the one he saw seems like it faded away too quickly. She also mentions that it could be related to the "...mishap on the bridge the other day." (referencing the time all of the instruments went haywire).

It seems Sam decides to to a little aurora research himself and finds tonight's website.

Website:

On Sam's laptop we get a web site for the Aurora Australis (It looks like Kyle was a little clairvoyant with that link he posted in comments today!).

• These are natural phenomena in the southern hemisphere caused by magnetic forces in the atmosphere and plasma particles colliding with the Earth's magnetic field.
• www.southernauroralights.com is a live site.
• There are two images not loaded and one that is.

Some things of note. The planet name Tracey mentions seems long and elaborate. Is there something hidden in Zubelleedubellee? Also when Sam writes to Tracey he sometimes writes to Tracey and other times to Tracey R. Is this significant?

Chapter 4 Clue Hunt

UPDATE 1/24/08- At Darkufo there is a post regarding a possible solution to the numbers found on the pill bottle in the Chapter 4/Season 4 Clue. We are not sure if it is legit because the clues on how to solve it came from Lostforever in their chat room. At one point Darkufo informed us that characters in his chat room are fake and the real "in game" characters are posting in his comments. I really apologize for all of the confusion. We do not want to fall behind if it is a "real" clue. Also, I know there may be some of you who would like to try to solve if for yourself. Soooo, I will give you the synopsis hidden with links to Photobucket pics if you want to check it out. :D

Kudos to TAE at Darkufo who came up with THIS solution to the numbers on the pill bottle. Here is a Map of the clue. (Thanks aimless22 and Kirsten)
~Jess
The Chapter 4 Clue Hunt Video tonight shows Sam walking the outside decks of the Christiane 1. He spots something off in the distance and grabs his binoculars to get a closer look. (What is that he sees?)
*Maven had an interesting post in comments with a link to Wiki on how electromagnetism and auroras are related. It even references Faraday.

The Chapter 4 Clue Hunt takes place in the Lounge area of the Christiane 1. You can see where the clues are located by clicking on the following picture.
Clues

• Season 1 - Picture of Vincent
• Season 2 - Swan Hatch Logo on Cards
• Season 3 - Parachute (Naomi)
• Season 4 - Picture HERE

Once all of the clues have been found, you are guided to your Network Affiliate for tonights Game.

• Mr Ockham wants to test Sam's ability to locate coordinates on a map.

• You are given 5 sets of coordinates that you have to mark on a map. Screenshots of the answers are posted in Photobucket. The coordinates are:

1: -11.1784, 69.2522
2: -6.4024, 117.0123
3: -27.0297, 35.8210
4: 36.5817, 107.4063
5: 12.7017, 83.5802

After the game is solved you are given one of two passwords to enter at Find815.

• ABC- Frank Lapidus SPOILER ALERT: If you google this, you WILL be spoiled.
  
• Yahoo 7- Miles Straume (Thanks Carol and Patch)

Entering the password reveals our Chapter 4, Season 4 clue.

Chapter 4- E-mails, & voice mails, & letters, oh my!

UPDATE 1/23 - Last night Maven e-mailed us about some numbers showing up in the Sunda Trench website on Sam's laptop. I took a screen grab and played with the contrast and they are there. Click here for the picture in the Oceanic Conspiracies Photobucket. Carol in comments mentioned that the numbers are in columns and when thinking about the Walt Whitman poem from the other night along with the equations at the bottom of each column, we glean that you need to add each column and divide by 6. Here's what you get:

a: 115 b: 104 c: 105 d: 109 e: 109 f: 114

These numbers can then be converted into ASCII characters and these come out as:

S H I M M R

What these are for and/or what they mean is as yet unclear.

~Ange

Tonight we have a voice mail and four new e-mails.

Voice Mail:

• From Randy's Office- It's someone called Richard calling per Randy. There is an insurance pay out from an investment in a box company that has come through and would like to know how he is to get him the money.

E-mails:

Inbox

• Subject: your mum Sender: Tracey- she called his mum and confirms that she is worried about him. She's also scored an invite for Christmas with Sam's mum.
• Subject: [no subject] Sender: unknown- It's a random string of numbers and letters again.
• The letters in each line are anagrams for numbers spelled out (ie. twelve, fifteen, etc). When decoded you get:
  
• 12 15 22 5 25 15 21 13 1 4 12 25 which using corresponding letters of the alphabet gives you LOVE YOU MADLY
• Is this a message from Sonya?!
• Thanks to Ellen in comments who points out: Sun would tell Jin that she loved him every time she spoke to him, and then he would ask her, "madly?" and she would respond with "yes, madly." It became sort of an icon...especially when we got the flashback of her infidelity.

(Thanks Takes a Village for the e-mail and Jess and Fenris for working it out.)

Sent Mail

• Subject: payout Recipient: Randy- Per message he is replying by e-mail because he can't make calls. He's happy about the box company payout and he needs the money now that he's not at Oceanic.
• Subject: Homesick Recipient: Tracey R- Sam thanks her for the "holiday tip" but he won't be following up on it.

So is the box company THE box company? Is there more to the whole Mum part of this story? Are these messages telling us something? Does Sam not following-up on the holiday tip mean that that clue is a dead end? Could the possible Jin and Sun reference be a clue that Paik Heavy Industries is involved here?