Iris ARG Update 7

To K-Mart!

I guess we are at the mercy of microsoft. since AR has been terminated all we have to go on are the clues from server5. needless to say, this isn't any incredible amount by any standards and without AR to guide us we seem to be dead in the water.
I would say we should be patient for a couple days and wait for any new developments, in the meantime studying the server5 clues for more info. However, I'm almost positive that most everything has been gleaned from those documents.

Unless some new info is provided we should stop going off on rabbit trails and focus on what we have, not what we don't have, however frustrating that maybe.

Im sure you all remember the first time we got anything about Halo 3, that mindblowing E3 trailer. Well upon watching it again last night, I noticed what looked to be, and I know this sounds crazy, Stonehenge, in the distance. Watch an HD version of the trailer and look across the ARK to the far side. You'll see what I'm talking about. I know Stonehenge is in England, not Africa, but any number of things could explain this that I'm not even going to guess at, but when I saw it, I remembered the Society of the Ancient's references to Stonehenge. Anyway I dont know if this has been discussed or not yet, but someone please check this out.

YOU ARE RIGHT FOR THE MOST PART:

but it seems to have smaller segments near it and of course its not in africa, but that may be what the glyph is based on.

Some of the theories people have said are just way to far off of the storyline to work , but I've thought about a lot of them.
I think that it's obvious that Humans are definintely related to the Forerunners, since Bungie has been trying to push that since Halo. I also like the idea that there be more than one spieces in the Forerunner grouping. If you think about it Guilty Spark and Penitent Tangent (the red one with Gravemind) never call Humans Forerunners, just Reclaimers. I wouldn't be surprised if the Elites were once involved somehow with the Forerunners. And its kind of a given that Humans and Elites will eventually work together, if not in the beginning of Halo 3. That would explain why the Arbiter and his Elites didn't just kill Keyes and Johnson.
Also, I think we have as much info as we can get so far. MS probably has to make the next move. The only question is when.

Ref#070507... don't suppose the next move will appear on the 5th of July? That's just a theory of mine I've had since I saw the photo.

I just got the new Halo 3 Zune MP3 today (shit! the $265 price tag had me paying out the @$$) and on it there is a video titled 1.618 with no further description. The vid shows an image of a giant Desert Mountain range (the mysterious African volcano?) then what appears to be the combined sentinel digging machines, then a huge field of orchids under a PURE WHITE SKY! (The Ark?). Then nothing...

CLUE???!!!!... Bum Bum Bum!...

I just skimmed over the vid the first time. Upon closer inspection, I see that the Sentinel like machines are digging towards a PORTAL!

There is actually no sky over the flowers, just black. The flowers themselves are white, and at some points appear metalic with eyes?? (wierd, I know, but that's what they look like)

There is also a bunch of white and pink lines that run into each other, forming intricate patterns before fragmenting into themselves and dissappearing. %(. And then there's some wierd yellow spinning petally thingy...ya... My head hurts!...

P.S. If anyone has this video, can they please post it here because I can't. Sorry...

Does it have any audio? Music? Sound Effects?

Does anybody know where one can find that zune video? It may have some clues as to the next part of the ARG. Ive looked on youtube but came up with nothing.
Please help!!

We have to find a Halo Zune for the next clue? Are you serious? No one has a Zune, let alone a Halo Zune! There has to be some other way to get this video, if it is important. Start your search engines! First person to find it gets a lolipop!

hey guys, i found the zune vid on youtube:

Sorry to disappointed you, but it has nothing to do with IRIS. It is a song by an electronica musician called BT, from his album This Binary universe. The video is also on regular zunes, im told.

Confirmed. I saw this video on a regular Zune at a display kiosk. It's unrelated.

what if the numbers on the Strep image actually refer to an ip address. I mean, there are several combis that can be found. Just exclude the zeros and maybe it will lead to something. Who knows? worth a try.

ok i think sota changed their site since. but at one time i swore it said that membership application meetings were on the 1st of the lunar month. now voi or near voi shows new lunar month on the 15 there.
http://www.rodurago.de/en/index.php?month=7&year=2007&geodata=-4.04%2C39.40%2C3&site=details&link=calendar

as it does on santa fe NM where they are based out of.

Sorry evryone... It looked important... Damn...

You're right. If you look up Aaron Eliot (the sota chairman) and sota on google, one of the things that pops up is a PDF form to register with sota, and it says..
"Membership reviews usually happen on the first day of the new lunar cycle."
I onlhy have time to write this, but someone has to try to sign up before the start of the next lunar cycle, which seems to be around July 1st to (here's the big one) July 5th. I'm not sure if that's exact. Like I said I'm rushing. I can't try right now so someone has to. The email to send it to AE is on the PDF.

It's Elliot, not Eliot.

OK, now this is real. I've managed to piece together some more of the plot of Halo 3, or at least the origonal concepts for the plot, from the Halo 3 concept art on the Halo Zune and the little that Bungie has told us. Here it goes...

The first pics show Master Chief in a UESC base hidden in a giant cliffside in what appears to be some part of the African savvanah. They move on to the Cheif exploring some giant oil tanker grounded on a large sandbar. Then they show Chief being dropped off in a dark rainforest somewhere.

Don't know if these things will actually come up in the actual plot or if they will be outed as the story writers change things around. That's just what I saw.

I took a look back at the Strep image, to see if there might be an ip. Right when I opened it I realized something. It goes back to one of Mintz's previous posts. The reference number on the file and on the image are different. Remember when I said it looks like the start of the next lunar cycle is somewhere between July 1st and July 5th (thank you voi boy for the link)? Well, the reference number on the file name is 070107 and the one on the image is 070507. Now this is way, way too much of a coincidence to pass up. I'm about 90% sure that this is the timeline for the next clue. The only problem is where to find it. I think the sota newsletter will probably explain that. So we might havve to sign up using that newsletter. Someone tell me if they follow this or not. I'd rather be proven wrong than go on a goose chase.

that does sound too coincidental. I was looking for a connection between those two dates and i think what you're saying makes the most sense
good job

Seems like Bungie has been putting a lot of effort into this ARG, and maybe they've had it planned for a while. Which makes me wonder if there are other clues in older material that predate the Circuit City ad. As a for instance, wasn't there a Spartan in the DOA game at 360 launch? Anybody know of any other Bungie sanctioned earlier appearaences that might be clues?

I've been looking at the starmap again and I'm wondering if maybe it's not the surrounding stars that matter so much...

Ok, I still think the glyph's center is almost pointing at Polaris. That said, I don't think it's what is being centered by the glyph (that is to say what it's pointing at in the center of it's mass) so much as what it overlaps.

Look at the starmap image. If you look at the lines of the glyph, you'll see that at least 7 if not 10 of the stars in the starmap are on or adjacent to the lines that make up the glyph. I'm going to investigate this further as I have time.

ok, my friend told me about this great puzzle of finding things about halo 3 and maybe winning crap. anyway, it is my understanding that we are looking for an IP address. going purely on numbers, I have noticed a few things. when the system array comes online there are 205 "/" marks. for some reason the array syncs with 7 rings but wasn't one destroyed? the array activates 15 times (or the computer tells you 15 times) and it resets 104 times after launch. now it's been a while since i've done anything with halo but i love puzzles, so where can i find this circuit city add, and the link to the zune vid didn't work

They have indeed. As of Friday the home page had more displayed along the lines of what was handed out. As well, I cannot locate the PDF membership form on the site, I had been able to locate it on Friday.

Phantomoftruth

the 'DoYouGrok@societyoftheancients.com' address is still returning:

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 13): 550 relay not permitted

This could resolve once the address is activated. I plan on hitting it 070107 and daily after that

I thought the word Grok might be a little important, so I decided to check out what wikipedia said about it. This is only the the introductory part of the article, I'm too tired to read all of it.

"Grok (IPA /gɹɑk/ (GA) or /gɹɒk/ (RP), both rhyming with rock) is a verb that connotes an internalized way of knowing -- knowledge greater than that which can be sensed by an outside observer. It is an understanding beyond empathy and intimacy. In grokking, one experiences the literal capabilities and frame of reference of the subject. The verb can be used both transitively and intransitively; in the transitive sense the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "to understand intuitively or by empathy; to establish rapport with", while in the intransitive sense it is defined as "to empathize or communicate sympathetically with; also, to experience enjoyment." The OED also specifies the alternate spelling "grock".

Robert A. Heinlein originally coined the term as part of a fictional Martian language in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, where it literally means "drink" and figuratively refers to the merging of essence that encompasses the theme of the book. The term has become part of the English language, attested in dictionaries and used mostly by certain counterculture groups and in hacker culture."

If you want to see the whole thing, look it up. I'm not link savvy.

I'm sorry, but the Halo that was destroyed happened during Chief's time. The Array Record is from the first firing, when there where all 7 Halos. just a minor correction...

well so far i found some clip that has some weird word play in it saying something about how only one enemy stood but now two stand and also to take these keys and look through history and the numbers 1 and 5 are the same in this right now because it says server one is open but it takes you to server 5 so which server takes you to server one just thought id put that out there oh yeah and the starmap the glyph may be there but stars dont form it they form around it if that makes any sense to you

and look at the flood containment picture closely and look at what place does it look like on a map

ok yeah and has anyone else read the poem because that one is really weird and i think it has a load to do with the audio clip oh if you want the audio clip go here
http://args.bungie.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=28

ok also why does the timer not show up anymore when i try to go to the timer it takes me to server 5/1 now so i just figured id ask that question

oh yeah the SOTA i think theres a lot more to this then bungie actually planned because there sure are a lot of coincedences happening with this i mean sure maybe they planned the AdjutantReflex or something but they might not have so just think about that when you start looking again

*cad...

Man that runon gave me a headache. I'm sorry, but that was horrible grammer. I need periods.

To answer your question, all of the stuff posted on that site, has already happened. Server 05 was unlocked, and we got all of the information inside. Also, Bunige has all this planned out. Just look at ilovebees. That seemingly has nothing to do with Halo 2, but it does. It's just going to take a while to figure all of this out, so calm down, think, and use teh grmmr ur LA teacher taughted yous.

Fine I shall use the proper grammar next time but can you blame me for bad grammar when i hadnt slept any at all no so calm down, and thank you for answering my questions.

Four full days and no official updates....this ARG is turning out to be one of the lamest I have ever played. No dissrespect to the storyline but I prefer something with more of a steady update beat.

"I can smell your Greed..."- CynicalWalter

Okay, Flame on! This ARG was not meant for regular ARGers, but those who liked Halo. It is so slow because it was meant to last untill the Halo 3 launch date, September 25. If you're that impatient than you can just go play some other ARG. Also, you probably NEED to be enough into Halo that you can get some of the obscure back references (as in, REALLY into Halo. Like, you read all the books, beat both games, and looked at the Cortana letters and the iluvbees stuff.)

"Greed is stinky, like you."-Whozzit

That statement would have a lot more credibility if you actually USED good grammer when you replied to CM. Just saying, DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU'RE GOING TO DO YOU FRIGGIN ILLITERATE HICK.

P.S. I'm actually proud of you for trying to post even though you obviously have one extreme case of dislexia. Is it because of all the inbreeding? How do you get service in whatever backwards third-world country you live in?

P.P.S. Sorry, I just REALLY hate bad grammer... I REALLY HATE IT!! HATE! HATE! HATE!

Yeah, I think we need a little bit of grammar and spell check. Can't stand typos, but I'm being a bit of a hypocrite.

I did a search for possible links between the Halo storyline and scripture on the Flood and came across something very interesting.

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html

"And he (the chief archon) repented for everything which had come into being through him. This time he planned to bring a flood upon the work of man. But the greatness of the light of the foreknowledge informed Noah, and he proclaimed (it) to all the offspring which are the sons of men. But those who were strangers to him did not listen to him. It is not as Moses said, 'They hid themselves in an ark' (Gn 7: 7), but they hid themselves in a place, not only Noah, but also many other people from the immovable race. They went into a place and hid themselves in a luminous cloud. And he (Noah) recognized his authority, and she who belongs to the light was with him, having shone on them because he (the chief archon) had brought darkness upon the whole earth.

---

If you keep reading the rest of the text, it goes on to talk about "angels" breading with man, and the lost knowledge.

This could be where the guys at Bungie got some of they're ideas for the storyline.

It would also explain why we're called "Reclaimers" and not Forerunners. We have their genetic code within us but aren't full blooded Forerunners, explaining the "guiding hand" that UFO sites like SOTA always talk about.

Just some food for thought.

Sorry, I was so friggen angry I didn't double check my spelling. At least I use proper punctuation.

It has been explained how Johnson survived the first Halo, and how he can't be affected by the Flood, right? Was he even called a Reclaimer? Please tell me if I'm wrong.

You know how the audio file said, "For 2 enemies now stand where before there was only 1"?

I don't think that the Covenant and humans are offspring or whatever of the Forerunners. If this is a file from the Forerunners, than maybe the Covenant and the Flood are the 2 enemies?

Or maybe the Humans and The Flood are enemies?

Or maybe...the Humans and the Covenant are the enemies?(!)

Yes, it has been explained why Sgt. Johnson cannot be infected. No, I do not remember him being called a reclaimer. I still think that the human/covenant forerunner society is the most likely. Oddly enough, it just makes the most sense from a story teller's point of view. You have to think in a writer's mind frame. The human/covenant forerunner society would lead to the best conflict resolution. Because when the humans and elites defeat the flood, and when the rest of the covenant have either been defeated of realize they are being lead astray (I hope the prophets, jackels, and brutes all die), they need something to bring them together as a whole, instead of two separate sides on a temporary truce. The revelation of an ancient society of human/aliens living together could be that something.

Sincerely, Whozzit

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