"The Stones"

[Typ_mit_Playse]

Do we know what happened to Murphy?

He could be in that escape pod at the crashed SRV. Maybe.

Taylor also went missing. (Log Oct 30th)

Maybe Taylor was obsessed or something? I mean even more than Murphy. Maybe Taylor became what the soldiers were shooting at and destroyed the comms relay.. (The "Log..."-log.)?

 

[Banana's_Are_Good_For_You]

Or that 'it's right under their noses'.
Will have to look again at that stream to see where they where, what they were they doing, when making that comment.

Maybe so but i think we'll either find out more, when then do an in depth study, or maybe spaceship go boom before that happens...who knows.
I have enjoyed it though and very happy to see these kinda things again.

 

[CMDR Jago Kain]

I reckon it's solved now, and just in time for me to move on to the new CGs. The only outstanding mysteries are, in my estimation, either narrative handwavium (eg. refueling the Adamastor) or elements that give the tale its necessary spookiness. (eg. What exactly was recovered from the wrecked interceptor?)

The latter is great fuel for speculation and I won't be surprised if the narrative thread, or a similar event, leads to some Odyssey walking-around stuff.

 

[Vetinari]

Do we know what happened to Murphy? I may have missed it. Congrats to the people here who solved it all, I enjoyed reading and visiting the identified locations in-game.

In a movie they could finally find the Thargoid thing and destroy it, say "Phew, we got rid of the alien", but then cut to Murphy saying "Muhahaha, I will avenge my master".

We dont actually know.

He could have been in the SRV that is facing the stones. The door is open and theres an Escape Pod nearby. He may be in the pod.

His last message doesnt mention an SRV, just says hes hiding....but hes alive at that stage and seemingly not seen by anyone or anything.

Bruce speculated about what it would mean at Carvers final site and what it would mean as speculative that there was something in the ship, maybe Carver body if nobody else had been, maybe implying someone else had been, maybe even implying something else was on board, maybe implying that a 'clean up crew' had been out after and thats why there was little left? I dont know, I need to watch that again. He seemed to be trying to point out something.

RE The code - mad idea. last number is a 4 iirc? What if we count backwards in 4s or whatever that last digit is, do we get another message? I cant even get the first one to line up, not sure where the extra spaces go or are removed so Im getting nothing but that means nothing evidentially as I cant do repeat the solved one.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Let's not forget, when we pushed back the Thargoid invasion in the Witch Head Nebula, we were told the Thargoids would not be attacking from that direction anymore.
First, that's a strange assumption, only the Thargoids could really know that.
Second, they could be coming from another direction.

 

[G4RY]

Yep, i'm not that great with it either but i ran with the theory that one might react badly with oxygen due to the change of environment.
Arf's livestream snozz thing made me think it as well.
The oxidation of nitric acid results in nitrogen dioxide which causes severe burns, eye damage and is fatal when inhaled so maybe this is what happened to the crew.
This is, after all, just a theory, with quite a lot missing science, but i'm just gonna throw it out there and see if ppl can make it work or debunk it.
Just for fun.

Hmm... yeah i see what you got here definitely! I came up with something a little different though...

So this is purely speculation and theory.

Spoiler

20th October 3111
The crew retrieve a "something" at the Tharg crash site. Gets transported to Geological Site 23B and thrown in a Faraday (possibly)

That "something" is inert... a defenseless little thing - showing no signs of serious hostility ...YET... but has the ability to throw out bursts of frequencies causing the site equipment to start failing over the span of a week. Which is typical tharg behavior..

27th October 3111
The crew have been 'poking and prodding'... seeing what they're working with - whereas they have no clue. A week has passed since they retrieved the "cargo".

A snippet taken from the log:
"Everything’s changed since we found the crashed ship. For one thing, it’s… it’s alien. Definitely non-human technology. I should sound more excited, I know. Every scientist’s dream, isn’t it? But something about this just feels wrong. I know the others feel the same. Even Kumalo isn’t smiling any more."

In bold we can either say that they have been experimenting on this thing, a direct command from whoever is in control... and that they are feeling remorse for what they are doing to this being. Or... they are feeling "uneasy" about what the actual mission is and why they are there (they have been lied too etc)

Another snippet:
"The equipment failures meant O’Keefe couldn’t fully analyse its chemical structure, making him so angry that he actually attacked Kumalo for telling him to calm down."

Is O'keefe so angry that he cannot fully analyse the beings chemical structure? did he start tampering and adding his own "flavour"? Or is he just tired and exhausted?

30th October 3111
3 days later... the crew are now starting to feel 'different'
Snippet:
"Nothing works properly anymore. Especially not us."

Exhaustion within the crew? or something else?

That "something" starts getting restless - starts getting noisy.. angry... wants help... needs help. This thing 'possibly' has been tampered with and is so unnaturally chemically imbalanced due to O'keefe's own "flavour" it has no clue what it even is anymore... maybe.

Snippet:
"God, I’ve never seen my team like this. What’s wrong with them?"

Is this thing now throwing out bursts of "your gonna die, but first ima mess with your minds first"??

Snippets:
"Yesterday, O’Keefe came bursting in through the airlock like a pack of wolves was after him."
"He couldn’t make out where they came from, only that the nebula above us seemed to be moving. He said… he said the night was opening up like a giant mouth."

Why are the thargoids taking their sweet time to rescue the little guy? The little guy has already became noisy... would the thargs pick the noises up?

Meanwhile... the lights from the thargs that are doing whatever to the barnacles are also shining down on Murphy... what the HELL is going on with Murphy?? he clearly becomes 'different' which is shown in the last log. He can barely remember his name plus hes still alive... But thats besides the point. The barnacles are 20 seconds away from the geo site. The thargs must of heard something from the noisy little guy. I'm guessing they did from the rest of Murphy's log - attacking the base etc pulling the soldiers up. But the little one was already on the Adamastor.
I'm also wondering whether the thargs deployed new unseen ground based aliens - who we will meet in Odyssey.

Carvers Sidewinder Log
Date??? possible same day.

Snippet:
"The cage they’ve constructed in the cargo hold isn’t going to be strong enough."

Its angry. Do the thargs age quick? i dont know.

Last snippet i promise:
"I can hear screaming. Shooting. It’s happening again!"

No UA is going to sprout legs (possibly) and start walking around murdering humans. Its still alive. Its getting shot at.. but the Adamastor's crew... well - you can see the ship for yourself which is currently sitting in Chukchan... annihilated.

Conclusion to my whacky theory
As you have already said - baba tharg. I think so too. But this one had been tampered with and exploited ('possibly') and has bursts of "mass destruction - wipe out humans" because it is finding its feet. maybe...



No, i don't think the new ground based thargs we will see in Odyssey are all going to be younglings and us humans are going to be on a mad murdering spree, that wouldn't make sense. I think this one is unique... and just a little "teaser" if you will for Odyssey.. maybe

Odyssey without ground based aliens.... well I'm not seeing it.

 

[Vetinari]

"I can hear screaming. Shooting. It’s happening again!"

A lot depends on what 'it' is that is being referred to. Put simply the whole story is a Halloween ghost story of madness and murder with aliens thrown in. Narrativey theres a lot of white space where nothing is specified just hinted at. This allows the reader to interpret it in their own fashion and speculate on what it means or allows changes of direction later on.

So it is either, from simplest to most spooky.

1. The object is causing the ship to fail, people are fearing death, they have left their teammates behind to die once already, they are scared and fights have broken out before
2. The mercs are attempting to take control of the ship from the bridge.
3. Carvers 1st log introduces fear and paranoia before anything is found. The rest could just be this multiplied. She blames the object when its her and their own paranoia which was already there and not helped by any of the events described..
4. Something has effected everybody over and above normal fear and paranoia, some actual mind control signal or effect and they are attacking each other
5. Something is 'alive' and is 'escaping'

And any of them can be true, its Agatha Christie type stuff, 6 suspects and any of them 'could' have done it and a reasonable case can be made against any of them depending on the authors wish......or maybe reactionary depending on which way the playerbase goes.

So its Raxxla all over again, it could be anything and little is disproven or able to be disproven. So I say they found the star map to Raxxla, prove me wrong

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

The retrieved item is

Hmm... yeah i see what you got here definitely! I came up with something a little different though...

So this is purely speculation and theory.

Spoiler

20th October 3111
The crew retrieve a "something" at the Tharg crash site. Gets transported to Geological Site 23B and thrown in a Faraday (possibly)

That "something" is inert... a defenseless little thing - showing no signs of serious hostility ...YET... but has the ability to throw out bursts of frequencies causing the site equipment to start failing over the span of a week. Which is typical tharg behavior..

27th October 3111
The crew have been 'poking and prodding'... seeing what they're working with - whereas they have no clue. A week has passed since they retrieved the "cargo".

A snippet taken from the log:
"Everything’s changed since we found the crashed ship. For one thing, it’s… it’s alien. Definitely non-human technology. I should sound more excited, I know. Every scientist’s dream, isn’t it? But something about this just feels wrong. I know the others feel the same. Even Kumalo isn’t smiling any more."

In bold we can either say that they have been experimenting on this thing, a direct command from whoever is in control... and that they are feeling remorse for what they are doing to this being. Or... they are feeling "uneasy" about what the actual mission is and why they are there (they have been lied too etc)

Another snippet:
"The equipment failures meant O’Keefe couldn’t fully analyse its chemical structure, making him so angry that he actually attacked Kumalo for telling him to calm down."

Is O'keefe so angry that he cannot fully analyse the beings chemical structure? did he start tampering and adding his own "flavour"? Or is he just tired and exhausted?

30th October 3111
3 days later... the crew are now starting to feel 'different'
Snippet:
"Nothing works properly anymore. Especially not us."

Exhaustion within the crew? or something else?

That "something" starts getting restless - starts getting noisy.. angry... wants help... needs help. This thing 'possibly' has been tampered with and is so unnaturally chemically imbalanced due to O'keefe's own "flavour" it has no clue what it even is anymore... maybe.

Snippet:
"God, I’ve never seen my team like this. What’s wrong with them?"

Is this thing now throwing out bursts of "your gonna die, but first ima mess with your minds first"??

Snippets:
"Yesterday, O’Keefe came bursting in through the airlock like a pack of wolves was after him."
"He couldn’t make out where they came from, only that the nebula above us seemed to be moving. He said… he said the night was opening up like a giant mouth."

Why are the thargoids taking their sweet time to rescue the little guy? The little guy has already became noisy... would the thargs pick the noises up?

Meanwhile... the lights from the thargs that are doing whatever to the barnacles are also shining down on Murphy... what the HELL is going on with Murphy?? he clearly becomes 'different' which is shown in the last log. He can barely remember his name plus hes still alive... But thats besides the point. The barnacles are 20 seconds away from the geo site. The thargs must of heard something from the noisy little guy. I'm guessing they did from the rest of Murphy's log - attacking the base etc pulling the soldiers up. But the little one was already on the Adamastor.
I'm also wondering whether the thargs deployed new unseen ground based aliens - who we will meet in Odyssey.

Carvers Sidewinder Log
Date??? possible same day.

Snippet:
"The cage they’ve constructed in the cargo hold isn’t going to be strong enough."

Its angry. Do the thargs age quick? i dont know.

Last snippet i promise:
"I can hear screaming. Shooting. It’s happening again!"

No UA is going to sprout legs (possibly) and start walking around murdering humans. Its still alive. Its getting shot at.. but the Adamastor's crew... well - you can see the ship for yourself which is currently sitting in Chukchan... annihilated.

Conclusion to my whacky theory
As you have already said - baba tharg. I think so too. But this one had been tampered with and exploited ('possibly') and has bursts of "mass destruction - wipe out humans" because it is finding its feet. maybe...



No, i don't think the new ground based thargs we will see in Odyssey are all going to be younglings and us humans are going to be on a mad murdering spree, that wouldn't make sense. I think this one is unique... and just a little "teaser" if you will for Odyssey.. maybe

Odyssey without ground based aliens.... well I'm not seeing it.

The retrieved item is definitely affecting them. EM bursts will do that to the human brain.

 

[G4RY]

A lot depends on what 'it' is that is being referred to. The whole story is a ghost story of madness. Narrativey theres a lot of white space where nothing is specified just hinted at. This allows the reader to interpret it in their own fashion and speculate on what it means or allows changes of direction later on.

3. Carvers 1st log introduces fear and paranoia before anything is found. The rest could just be this multiplied. She blames the object when its her and their own paranoia which was already there and not helped by any of the events described..
4. Something has effected everybody over and above normal fear and paranoia, some actual mind control signal or effect and they are attacking each other

Just this here reminds me of the Thetis logs damn that ship sent chills down my spine for a while.

But yeah i know what you mean.

The mercs could very well be trying to take control of the ship though.. turn it around and try save their buddies. I like it.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Thetis, also a goddess of the sea. Did we ever figure out where those transmissions came from?

 

[G4RY]

Thetis, also a goddess of the sea.

Oh I yeah!! Interesting...

 

[Banana's_Are_Good_For_You]

Hmm... yeah i see what you got here definitely! I came up with something a little different though...

So this is purely speculation and theory.

Lots of good stuff in there.
The human behaviour patterns seemed interesting so i googled
"ammonia anxiety".
That's fun.
Àlso seems they were clueless as to what it was, weyland-yutani at its best methinks.
And we can't be sure when it was put in the cage or if would stop the thargoid affecting the crew.

 

[Speedcuffs]

Let's not forget, when we pushed back the Thargoid invasion in the Witch Head Nebula, we were told the Thargoids would not be attacking from that direction anymore.

Where did you get that information from please?

 

[Maolagin]

I reckon it's solved now, and just in time for me to move on to the new CGs. The only outstanding mysteries are, in my estimation, either narrative handwavium (eg. refueling the Adamastor) or elements that give the tale its necessary spookiness. (eg. What exactly was recovered from the wrecked interceptor?)

The latter is great fuel for speculation and I won't be surprised if the narrative thread, or a similar event, leads to some Odyssey walking-around stuff.

If nothing else, we now know that if unsecured Thargoid stuff is around, people discharging personal weapons is a possible outcome. Sounds like an Odyssey setup to me!

 

[Vetinari]

Where did you get that information from please?

If theyre referring to what I think theyre referring to, I think it was in a GalNet story, some human saying 'we have won a massive victory and the WHN is safe' type stuff. Usual propaganda for the masses, no Thargoid was available for comment.

 

[knausis]

Devs have changed years in some older logs? Whats with those discussion a few pages earlier?

 

[Vetinari]

1st Thargoid contact changed from earlier to 3125 (original date of original Elite) on a Tourist Beacon, dont know of any other.

 

[Stonn Mrogg]

Carriers (and I think also stations/megaships) show up as human signal sources

Gah, that's right. And I was getting all wound up because the signals have gone down to nine

Do we consider this solved?

From what the guy with the magnificent cranium said on the LS, he says it's been solved but there has been some info that has gone overlooked.

He also said he underestimated the community and the next mystery adventure will be "hard." :George Takei voice: Oh my.

edit-

Does anyone have a timestamp for the whole Arf/snozz thing and which LS was it? That would be tremendous.

 

[Vetinari]

I posted it on one of the threads, either this or the Cryptic one, all in one place spoilered if you can find it.

 

[Stonn Mrogg]

I search your profile posts for "arf" or "snoz" or "snozz" or "shnozz" and I get "No results found." Broken/useless search perhaps? Broken/useless CMDR Mrogg perhaps? I thought of leafing through your posts but you are a... prolific poster. Thanks though.