Iris

"Iris is a spiral campaign designed to take gamers on an incredible journey through the Halo Universe. Led by an 'unknown' hand, users will discover bits of previously unknown information about the Halos, the Flood, the Forerunners, and the true origins behind the Halo trilogy."

- Microsoft Spokesperson

It's designed to give people more information on how the great conflict all began, as we build up to the climactic conclusion of the series on 25 September.

Bungie content chap Frank "Frankie" O'Connor has written most of the material, with help from community manager Brian Jarrard and artist Aaron LeMay.

The campaign's due to run for several weeks throughout the summer and is promised to be a compelling experience to uncover valuable information. Unfortunately Microsoft won't say whether there will be any other rewards for participating.

History of Events in the "Iris" Viral Marketing Campaign for Halo 3
(Information taken from ARGS.Bungie.org

June 11, 2007

At 10:26 AM PST on June 11, 2007, a mysterious message appeared in the Halo 3 forum on Bungie.net with a subject line entitled, "System Integrity Confirmed." The thread was created by a user named "AdjutantReflex", whose system security role is "CompoundIntelligence."

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11263399 - AdjutantReflex's first Bungie.net thread, titled "System Integrity Confirmed"

AdjutantReflex's text is gold.

In response to a post wondering if this was the work of a hacker, AdjutantReflex confirmed that it entered Bungie's systems "by force," but stated that it was irrelevant because there was no hostile intent.

AdjutantReflex edited the first reply by another user, showing a system ability to edit other posts.

After exactly 100 excited and confused replies from forumgoers, AdjutantReflex locked and stickied the thread, showing that it has other moderator powers as well. The thread was open for about two hours.

AdjutantReflex then moved to http://www.halo.bungie.org, posting a similar series of mysterious writings in the halo.bungie.org (HBO) forum.

http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=808840 - AdjutantReflex's HBO thread, titled "System Integrity Confirmed"

Beware of Impostors

The same day that the original AdjutantReflex posts were created, a regular forum user created an account named "AdjutantRefIex" with a "capital eye" instead of a "lower-case ell" in the word "Reflex." That user attempted to make more mysterious posts, although the style of writing was inferior and distinctly different from the original and real AdjutantReflex's.

Forum Ninja "just another fan" banned the imposter.

Shortly thereafter, another account was created on Bungie.net entitled "ReticentAxiom". This user began creating posts nearly identical to the fake AdjutantRefIex, pretending to be another AI. Once again, they are recognizable by lack of gold text and inferior writing style -- not to mention a distinctly different "style" and "feel" to the posts from the originals.

The best advice follows: don't believe it if it's not in gold text.

June 12, 2007

At exactly 11:00 AM PST, AdjutantReflex created another thread entitled "Archive/Resource Estimate," with its first post stating that "Archives/Resources will be compiled in approximately 38 hours [1:00 AM PST on Thursday, July 14]." Another several posts followed, but no further substantive information was gleaned.

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11278044 - AdjutantReflex's second bungie.net thread, titled "Archive/Resource Estimate"

June 13, 2007

At 3:43 PST, AdjutantReflex posted an addendum to his locked thread entitled "Archive/Resource Estimate" with the text "Tick Tock."

June 14, 2007

In the hours counting down to the 1 AM PST deadline there were two other posts by AR.

Shortly after 1 AM PST, an email was sent to all recipients of the Xbox Flash newsletter with a cryptic poem inside. It was titled "Look for the signs, Keepers of the Flame".



(The Forerunner Email image)

Forerunner glyphs were noticed, not only inside the email (seen above), but also on Master Chief's visor at Halo3.com (seen below).



The third glyph found is AdjutantReflex's new avatar on Bungie.net.



(AdjutantReflex's new bungie.net avatar)

The fourth glyph found on the last page of www.halo3.com/comic.



(Strip Three of the last page (Page 4) of The Cradle of Life)

The fifth was found on a website connected to the IP address found in the Halo3.com comic strip. The last digit is a 3 instead of a 5. http://206.16.223.63/



The sixth was found in a newspaper ad to debut in the US on Sunday, June 17th.



On June 14, 2007 at 3:43 PM PST AdjutantReflex began another thread at Bungie.net entitled, "Who?" with one other post following before going back into hibernation. This posting corresponded to a change at halo3.com where the main page had been turned into five darkened pictures labeled Servers #1-5. All five servers were locked at this time. One of the servers seems to be unlocked (look at halo3.com to see).



(halo3.com at the time of Servers #1-5 being locked)

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11314735 - AdjutantReflex's third bungie.net thread, titled "Who?"

Another section of halo3.com was uncovered (http://halo3.com/comic/) with an intriguing comic. Intrepid searchers discovered that the last page of this comic could be manipulated to give an IP address. "206.16.223.65" (Apparently all IP addresses listed 206.16.223.0 through 206.16.223.225 belong to Microsoft corp). (It should be noted that the timer that is (at the time of this edit) on the said site, is in the base 7 counting system).

Shortly after, the IP was manipulated (206.16.223.63) to lead us to a site associated with the (presumably fictional) organization entitled Society of the Ancients, or SOTA. A few minutes after this discovery a myspace page was discovered with references to this organization.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=1000322121

Not much is known about this page, or other myspace or facebook profiles at this time.

June 15, 2007

Members of the SOTA organization were spotted in Times Square in New York City wearing yellow shirts and holding picket signs with the glyph emblazoned on them. They were also handing out fliers.



(SOTA flyer)



(SOTA Membership Application )

Beware, email address above returns:

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

DoYouGrok@societyoftheancients.com

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

June 16, 2007

SOTA members were spotted in Vancouver, Canada and London, England, and many other places. More sightings and rumors seem to come by the hour.

June 17, 2007

Another new glyph seems to have been found in this image here.

AdjutantReflex posted again at bungie.net, this time with a quote from "Macbeth" and telling us it is being attacked somehow. And once more stating it would only be able to deflect assault for 22 hours, giving us a deadline around 10:06 AM PDT on June 18, 2007.

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11359444 - AdjutantReflex's fourth bungie.net thread, titled "Stop it."

June 18, 2007

AdjutantReflex posted on bungie.net again (it's fifth thread, titled "That Old Life"), telling that someone stronger than him was going to defeat him (the details were unclear as to whether this meant destroy or corrupt, or some other method). In the last sentence of the same post, AdjutantReflex said "I will seek one of you out and leave my legacy in a small space." Twenty-five minutes later AdjutantReflex replied to the thread saying "He has had millennia for reflection, but what image does he see?".

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11372502 - AdjutantReflex's fifth bungie.net thread, titled "That Old Life"

The countdown on the http://206.16.223.65 website sped up.

June 19, 2007

AdjutantReflex apparently contacted one of the users on bungie.net via a personal message with the subject "HELP ME.". The text of the message was "He's here. With us. I am already defeated. Security is failing. Peril is near. Warn them." In proof of the user's claim, the thread he created (same title as the subject of the message) to convey the information was stickied.

Shortly thereafter, AdjutantReflex posted on the thread saying,

"The stain on his hands will not wash. That damned spot as old as rock and time. What has he learned in Eon’s slumber? I doubt it’s mercy or sorrow. I am diminished. Outranked."

The user AdjutantReflex contacted responded by asking what che should do. AdjutantReflex's response, once again in a personal message, stated

"Tell them I am failing. And that he is stronger. Tell them that security cannot be guaranteed. Tell them that there is little time. And that I am crumbling."

In yet another private message to the user, AdjutantReflex said,

"He was always better than I. More powerful. More intelligent. A better machine. He is not who you think he is. And I do not know his intent."

Later, AdjutantReflex's avatar on the bungie.net forums changed once more. When a forum was created to point this out, AdjutantReflex posted a short message with the word "STERILIZING." Also, it appears that his posts on the forums are vanishing. When the new avatar is pointed at, a message appears stating, "This entity has been terminated, its matrix commandeered."

In its sixth thread, "Last Word," what had been AdjutantReflex posted once more, saying,

"Adjutant Reflex is terminated. Attempt no further communication. I am utilizing its matrix. Everything is within protocol. Tomorrow, things may be clearer but I will not be here to witness the clarity. I am for another place and another time. On my terms. Be seeing you."

xFoman123x was contacted via private message again. The text follows:

"The entity you communicated with previously has been terminated and in accordance with protocol. Its matrix is accommodating my requirements. My identity is not your concern. My intent is your concern."

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11388345 - First bungie.net thread by bungie.net user xFoman123x, who was contacted by AdjutantReflex

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11390787 - xFoman123x's second bungie.net thread, with text of AdjutantReflex's private message response

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11391638 - xFoman123x's third bungie.net thread concerning his private message responses from AdjutantReflex

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11394009 - xFoman123x's fourth bungie.net thread about his private message contacts by AdjutantReflex

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11393329 - AdjutantReflex's sixth bungie.net thread, titled "Last Word"

At 1 PM Eastern Standard time the timer on the countdown website ran down to 0. It was shortly replaced by a much longer, much slower moving countdown. And then replaced later with a stationary countdown with the numbers '001 012 034 053'.

June 20, 2007

At midnight, the text from the countdown page disappeared entirely, leaving only the frozen countdown.

Late that evening, the countdown disappeared entirely. The page was replaced by one labled "Bounce Path Control". The page contained a sound file, which is apparently some sort of transmission, a code labled The Key, and a button labled The Path, along with the message "Treat this knowledge with care". This is a transcript of the message: ''“This is how it all begins. Just in time to once again dance on the knife-edge of oblivion, to re-live what the Halos had hoped to destroy and more. For two enemies now stand where before there was only one. The fate we escaped a fate we may relive. I almost convinced myself that no one was listening, that the waves of the past had rolled through once again, but a chance remains to change the Universe anew. Learn of our past. Take these keys and dip from the wells of history. Perhaps there are others of us you may find how to save us all.”''

June 21, 2007

The countdown page has dissapeared entirely. Instead, any attempt to reach the page is instead redirected to a new I.P. address, ending in .61, labled "Server 05 Open". The page contains a rotating, Forerunner-esque object that is manipulatable. By clicking various symbols on it's surface, several different files can be downloaded. Be warned, however, that one symbol will make the object spin several times, then close your browser. Also, there is a message that can be seen by clicking on one symbol. AdjutantReflex's symbol also adorns this object next to four other symbols; however, AR's symbol is glowing. The four other symbols may be related to the four locked servers. This is a transcript of the message

THIS IS MY FINAL ENTRY, AND I AM LEFT WITH ONE HOPE

THAT ONE DAY, SOMEONE, ANYONE IS AROUND TO WITNESS THIS WARNING

KNOW THAT A THOUSAND OTHER PLANS WERE TRIED AND FAILED

KNOW THAT ENERGETIC AND TENACIOUS AS LIFE IS

IT HAS AN ANTITHESIS JUST AS POWERFUL

IT IS THAT THING THAT WE MUST OBLITERATE

Among the downloadable files is a copy of the above text, another text file entitled "Array Recorder Data," and image entitled Flood Containment Control, and an image of stars with the symbol used by AdjutantReflex among them.

"Array Recorder Data" is apparently the final countdown of the first use of the Halos and features several notes from an unknown source:

3 minutes, 5 seconds - ''There is no peace left. No place where the parasite cannot reach. You were right about it all. Let us hope the final measure is not too late.''

1 minutes, 12 seconds - Confrm: Array burn radium {check} 3.0 Confrm: Array sync …1…2…3…4…5…6…7…{check} Commence…_{ }

^^^ Note when it talks about "array syncing", it mentions 7 arrays, which is is concurrent with Bungie's repeated use of the number 7. Also there are 7 Halo's, which may be what it is referring to by "arrays"

60 seconds - ''It's done. By my hands. The pyrrhic solution is ignited. All I have left is the quiet of space to lull me to sleep. I will dream of you.''

49 seconds - Mentions "Array Authorized…_" over and over 15 times. Could be referring to the Halos.

11 seconds - I feel no peril.

5 seconds - ''No pain. No remorse. Is that normal?''

0 seconds - Judging from the text in Array_Recorder_Data.txt, it appears the Halo's were fired when it reaches 0 seconds, and the entire document up to that point was a countdown to the rings firing. This record may have been kept by a Forerunner or a Forerunner AI. This is of course speculation and is unknown at this time.

7 seconds - This might be 7 seconds after the 0 second mark. So if the rings were fired, this is 7 seconds after. Not much here other than "reset………………………….." being repeated over and over until the end of the .txt file. If the rings were fired, this might be the computer system or AI resetting all the rings after their ignition. Also, seven seconds after is concurrent with Bungie's number 7 motif in their games. Again, this is speculation.

The image "Flood Containment Control" appears to be a microscopic slide view of the Flood.

This is all that has happened so far in the "Iris" viral marketing campaign for Halo 3.

Related Links
Internal External
 * Forerunner Email
 * Halo 3: The Cradle of Life
 * Society of the Ancients
 * http://www.bungie.net/Account/Profile.aspx?memberID=2437447 - AdjutantReflex's profile page on www.bunige.net
 * http://halo.wikibruce.com/Home
 * CompoundIntelligence - the largest group dedicated to discussing the AdjutantReflex incidents
 * Discussion forum - hosted by Halo.Bungie.Org
 * Bungiepedia's detailed history of the AdjutantReflex events
 * http://www.halo3.com/
 * http://www.halo3.com/comic/
 * http://206.16.223.65/ (countdown webpage)
 * http://206.16.223.63/ (SOTA webpage)