Viard Album Secret Message

PERPLEX CITY, SEASON ONE The search for the Receda Cube on Earth

The Album

Viard produced an album on the Hesh Records label in late 2005. The album was found to have secret messages and hidden noises on it, which was deemed unsuitable for sale in Perplex City. The Perplex City Council had the album banned. So, Hesh Records decided to have it produced by Mind Candy on Earth.

And it was a smashing success. The album was initially released as part of a "start kit" to Firebox buyers who spent more than 100 pounds.

The track listing is:

1. Wenicke'S Aria
2. Journey From The Centre
3. Heartfelt
4. Treasured Chest
5. Culture Shock
6. Inversion
7. Southbound
8. Conchis
9. Incandescent
10. When We Were Young

• UF User Belogroak made some nice observations about the names of these songs.

However

The end of the last track was discovered to have this message:

I can't tell you who I am, they'd kill me if they find out how much I know. You know who they are. Follows something that you need to know. A detective here in Perplex City, Helena Frye is an agent of The Third Power. The Third Power stole the Cube. They killed people. Who knows what they're capable of. If you're sensible just stay away, but if you want to help us, if you want to find the Cube, wait for the Ceremony of the Kindling of the Flame. Exactly 7 days after that send someone to the abandoned subway station on Gillit Road at 10pm. You'll find out enough to prove that Helena is a spy.

• According to the message, Helena Frye is a member of The Third Power!
  • This has massive ramifications.
  • Particularly, it means we cannot trust the police.
  • Also, it means when we had Sylvia Salk talk to Helena about Monica Grand, she immediately informed V, who came and killed Monica.
  • So that's ... bad.
• Of course, none of this can be verified, per se; the intent or truth of these claims are dubious at best.
  • A Morse code message relaying "3P email security compromised" was encoded in the music, leading some to believe the arranged meeting is a trap.

Morse

• Lastly, there's a short burst of audio after the above message.
• The audio consists of a burst of rythmic tones. It was observed this may be Morse code.
• The morse code has been transcribed to say:

3P email security compromised

• It seems likely this is in response to our discovering and infiltrating the 3PGroupwareManager
• This piece sends mixed signals, then.
  • On the one hand someone is telling us who to see when and where.
  • On the other hand, someone appears to be warning the third power.
  • Does that make the whole thing a massive setup? Or multiple people working on the effort? Or a double agent?

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Investigation

Where?

Careful enquiring (which we include here because it is brilliant maneuvering) revealed that the Gillit Road station is, in fact, within Perplex City:

Hi Kurt, I note from one of the puzzle cards which you designed for us members of the Earth CRT, that you are a bit of a player of "Mornington Crescent". As I'm sure you are aware, the game is very popular over here also, and features many different variations of rules and subtleties of play. I am looking into the possibilities of a paper, detailing the main differences between the Perplex City version, and our own here on Earth. To this end, I am attempting to collate a list of stations which feature in your subway system, but I'm sure that I am missing some. The information which I'm going by, might possibly be out of date, so I was wondering if you could take a quick glance over my listing, and perhaps give me a pointer or two about any which I am lacking. I do intend to include a list of all stations used here on Earth, including those which are abandoned or simply closed - so any which are in a similar state on your side of the equation would be useful to know also. Kindest Regards Juxta

Hi Jamie, You're correct in saying that I'm a fan of Mornington Crescent; indeed, I was placed second in the all-departments Academy Second Division Crescent Challenge 2005, and was only prevented from winning by a particularly nefarious use of the 'Reverse Triple-jump Cyclotron' (which, as I'm sure you're aware, takes advantage of the fact that the Perplex City Subway runs 24 hours a day). Your list of subway stations is accurate - those are all the stations in the 'central' area (i.e., those used for modern 'casual games' of Mornington Crescent). If you want to include a couple of abandoned stations, I know there's one at Gillit Road, and another on Scope Road. Cheers, Kurt

Who?

• Inquiries to Helix Hesh about the message have revealed only a nasty reply saying he does not know what message we are talking about, and please leave him alone.

Hi. Thanks for writing. You and many other people from Earth have written to me about a "hidden message" on The Silver City. I don't know what you could possibly be talking about - there is no message of any sort on the album. I've listened to it again a number of times, and I've even spoken to Viard, who agrees - no message. I would pass your query on to the sound engineer who worked with Viard, but he is no longer with Hesh Records. I'm afraid I can't explain whatever it is you think you've found, but I'd appreciate it if you could stop bothering me personally with it.

When?

First, this pieceof news was posted on the Sentinel:

Mild Winter May Delay Kindling The Brotherhood of the Six has warned that this year's late winter will likely delay the annual Kindling of the Flame. Meterologists have widely predicted this winter will be warm and dry, a pleasant change after heavy rains in the spring. --The Sentinel, 02-DEC-05

Eventually, Sister April Flynnt of The Brotherhood of the Six wrote to UF User Bert:

Dear Earth-dweller, We at the Botherhood of the Six are delighted to hear of your interest in the Holy Light of the Cube! We are convinced that the presence of the Cube on Earth has attuned the people of your planet to its message and power. Soon the whole of your world will receive the glorious message of Everlasting Peace which we enjoy every day. Our festival of the Kindling of the Flame is a holy, meditative and spiritual festival which occurs in Perplex City everhy year at first snowfall. We encourage you to celebrate the festival in your own home town at first snowfall, or you may join with us to celebrate when the first snow falls in Perplex City. A late winter is predicted this year, but we watch the skies eagerly evry day for this holy event. The festival is also mentioned on our website, which contains more information about the other celebrations in our year: www.brotherhoodofthesix.com. With love, in the light of the Cube, Sister April Flynnt.

And soon after, the Brotherhod website was updated to say:

We are gratified that the people of Earth have shown such interest in our beliefs and way of life, even paying attention to minor festivals such as the Kindling of the Flame, which we celebrate each winter at first snowfall. We believe that this new interest in the Way of the Cube is directly caused by the Holy Presence of the Cube on Earth, brining its enlightenment to new worlds!

What?

The message suggests someone should meet someone else at a certain time at a certain place. But who to send? There is no telling what would happen to the person who went. Possibly death. The matter was not to be taken lightly. Many suggested sending the most trsutworthy person we know: Kurt. Other balked, saying he was too much of a geek, and not a spy.

Kurt himself agreed:

• blog, 05-JAN-06 "Gillit Road" link

It's a lengthy, interesting post. However, he comes to the conclusion that yes, he is the right man for the job. While we did't know what he will be up against, we knew where and when, so the matter was largely in his hands.

It All Goes Down!

Source: Kurt --

• blog, 18-JAN-06 "Helena Frye and the Third Power" link

According to Kurt, some people came into the station. Here's what he heard:

"...few minutes. We have to move faster," said one. "But he handled it, didn't he? We're supposed to-" said another. "I know that's what he said, but things go wrong. I don't want anything to go wrong. So let's pick up the pace," replied the first. For a minute, they were silent, and just as I was about to move away, they spoke up again. "Okay, it's time. She'll be here by now. Let's get moving." They clambered up into the side tunnel, muffling my audio reception, and my key was only able to pick up a final few words. "...want to know how Frye managed to get the police involved in this. Would've thought that the third wouldn't want to risk..."

Then moments later, a storm of police entered, Kurt panicked, and was apprehended by Helena Frye, who inferred two things:

1. She is no member of The Third Power.
2. She thinks Kurt is a member of The Third Power.

This is all the subject of a subsequent Sentinel article:

• article, 19-JAN-06 "Police Raid Disrupted, Claim PCPD Sources" link

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More Answers, more questions

• At length, Cyrus Quinton was discovered to be the sound engineer who worked on the album.
• The original sound file was discovered in his files directory on the Hesh Website.
• And -- err -- something else was discoverd.