alternate reality game
During a trek to New York City on the dime of the Armacham Technology Corporation, I participated in the Mobile FEAR Lab experiment. It was a tremendously cool experience ... and you're riding shotgun.
Watch Armacham employees deftly deflect my attempts at learning more about their company -- and watch me play the awesome upcoming FPS, FEAR 2.
I also drop the f-bomb. With good reason. You've been warned. :)
Big big thanks to C.C. Chapman, who filmed much of my FEAR Lab experience.
--J.C.
For those following my Silver Case adventures, here's an update that'll tickle you. As many of you know, I've been warned by a mysterious fellow named "Case Man," aka Richard Findes, about the allegedly nefarious deeds of the Armacham corporation. Armacham has targeted me to apparently participate in a marketing event for the release of the new video game F.E.A.R. 2, the Case Man said. But the company shouldn't be trusted, he insisted -- Armacham is using the event as a ruse to possibly perform genetic testing on me and other Silver Case recipients.
I've remained fairly neutral about Case Man's accusations; after all, he could be spreading misinformation about Armacham. At the same time, I've been skeptical about Armacham's supposed "targeting" of me; why in the the heck would a major conglomerate reach out to me? There's nothing special about J.C. Hutchins.
But yesterday, I received this letter from A.T. Harman, an employee at Armacham Technology Corporation. (A scan of the letter is beneath my transcript.) Things are getting ... interesting.
I'm going to personally pursue this mystery later today, and get back to you with some video and opinions. In the meantime, enjoy this very intriguing letter.
If this is real, should I go? My personal safety might be at risk. Sound off in the comments...
--J.C.
Dear J.C.:
Congratulations. I am pleased to inform you that Armacham Technologies would like to include you in our upcoming *FEAR LAB trials in New York City.
Armacham will fly you to New York City to be one of the first to experience F.E.A.R. 2 during the weekend of January 17th and 18th. As part of the **Level III test, you will be granted access to our mobile FEAR LAB, allowing extensive interaction with the game prior to its public release.
The F.E.A.R. 2 module represents a major leap forward in FPS game-play and as part of Armacham’s outreach, we will provide live blogging & live streaming stations at the event for you to share with your audience.
Please contact our travel coordinator … to make arrangements.
Best Regards, A.T. Harman
*Measurable PK attunement and Neuro-inductive Cognition is amplified by up to 22% by subjects utilizing the chair, although prolonged use is still being restricted to those displaying an initial Zener rating of 9+.
**Level III is designed for bloggers/gamers identified to possess exceptional latent Ganzfield reactions; these players will be among the first test subjects of the new module outside of Armacham’s secret research facility.
Today, I received an email from Jeff Watson, a young fellow who's been following my videos and updates about the recent F.E.A.R. 2 "Silver Case" mystery. Here's the full text of the email:
Hi JC,
Ever since those weird cases started showing up my friend and I have been following the whole Armacham/F.E.A.R. 2 drama and we know you have been too. We think we actually tracked the Caseman down! Here is a clip of our "interview" with him, he was super freaked out. To be honest I'm getting a little jumpy myself when I think about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dok2qRrNELE
If Quan and I come up with anything more I'll forward it to ya.
Jeff
I don't know Jeff, and -- according to my email archives -- I've never corresponded with him until today. However, I've reviewed Jeff and Quan's video (seen below), and it is indeed possible that the duo discovered the mysterious "Case Man" -- aka R., aka Richard Findes.
The voice of the man in this video sounds similar to the voice we heard in past personal videos to me. (In those older videos, Case Man's voice has been modulated to protect his identity ... but there are some tonal and enunication similarities between those vids and this one.) It appears Richard Findes is close to a "breakthrough" in his attempts to expose Armacham's secrets.
This likely means we'll learn more from him soon. In the meantime, here's the video Jeff sent me:
Is it legit? A fan-created hoax? Something else? It's hard to say. Jeff Watson's YouTube account indicates that he has only two videos uploaded there. Both are related to the F.E.A.R. 2/Armacham mystery, uploaded mere days ago. His YouTube account was created in October. Interestingly, his profile says he's 35 years old.
This is a head-scratcher, since the video's off-screen Jeff sounds far younger than that.
Either Jeff is shooting straight, and he's discovered Richard Findes' location ... or something else is afoot here. A misinformation scheme, perhaps? We'll only know when more info becomes available. I'll keep you posted.
My video take on Jeff's email and video (created for my podcast audience; it contains much of the information found in this post) is below.
--J.C.
PS: I've replied to Jeff's email, providing him a link to this blog post and asking him about his age, and geographic location. Where was this filmed? If I learn more, I'll let you know...
It's the final episode in the Silver Case video series. Here, I share some parting thoughts about the mysterious case and its contents, and encourage viewers to further explore the Armacham.com website, and visit the sites of other Silver Case recipients. Newcomers: Here are links to Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four of this video series.
I also suggest you learn more about the Armacham mystery by reading ARGNet's coverage of the Armacham.com site debut, and the comprehensive (and very cool!) thread cooking over at Unfiction.com.
From the Unfiction forums, here is the list of other Silver Case recipients (and links to their posts about their involvement):
Enjoy the rest of the mystery, and kindly keep me in the loop if you discover something awesome!
--J.C.
Part One chronicled my acquisition of the mysterious Siver Case. Part Two revealed its contents.
Part Three unearthed a mysterious video, and illuminated a package sent to me from the Armacham corporation.
What we know so far:
Torn by my desire to steer clear of the Armacham corporation and yet learn more about its experiments, I realized my next step was clear. I needed to learn more about Armacham. And so begins Part Four...
--J.C.
P.S.: You simply must experience this for yourself. I've laid some groundwork, but I'm certain I've only scraped the surface...
What is inside the Silver Case? As this video series has progressed, you witnessed the opening of the Silver Case, and saw and nearly all of its contents revealed. But what of the case's shiny USB thumb drive ... and what of the mysterious second envelope I received?
Part One in this video series chronicled my journey to acquire the silver case. Part Two showcased what was inside. At the conclusion of Part Two, two mysteries remained: the USB drive, and the package from the Armacham corporation.
Here, I document my discoveries. Have the questions been answered ... or have more mysteries been exposed?
--J.C.
What is inside the Silver Case? In Part One of "The Silver Case" video series, I explained how I'd received two strange envelopes in the mail. One featured a hand-written address and USPS "delivery confirmation." The other was from a company called Armacham. (Yes, yes, I know the company is fictional. Suspend your disbelief, for criminy's sake.)
Forsaking the Armacham letter for the time being, I tore open the hand-lettered envelope. Inside was a DVD and a note. Mysterious footage on the DVD informed me that I had been targeted by the Armacham corporation, a weapons manufacturer known for its "genetic testing." Eager to expose this conspiracy, the DVD footage instructed me to obtain a locked case from a nearby locale.
As Part One revealed, I did just that, and brought you along for the ride. I successfully obtained the case, visited a website (as instructed), and unearthed its combination. And as I opened the case ... the screen faded to black.
Here's Part Two of The Silver Case, in which I reveal nearly all of its contents. Below this video are high-resolution scans of the documents I found in the case, courtesy of PhillyD.tv. (Made-of-awesome vlogger Philip DeFranco was one of several fellow Silver Case recipients. His vlog is a must-see ... the dude's brilliant, and brilliantly funny.)
PhillyD's case apparently did not include a "military" photo, which I received. This photo can be seen in the video. However, I did not receive a copy of the "name list" document, which is included below, scanned by Phil. Click "Full Size" in the gallery to view the images as full resolution.
There's still more to uncover, including additional data, and the Armacham letter. And, of course, the question: What does it all mean? Stay tuned.
What is the Silver Case? What is inside the Silver Case? On a day in late November, I received two letters in the mail. One featured my name and address written on it, with USPS delivery confirmation. The second was from a company called Armacham. Neither had a return address.
Intrigued by the hand-written letter, I opened it first. Inside was a hand-written note and a DVD. The disc had no label. The note instructed me to visit a nearby locale, and to watch the DVD. I did. I learned about the Silver Case. I followed the instructions to obtain it.
It was a Rabbit Hole.
Here is Part One of what happened.
--J.C.
J.C. Hutchins discovered an unusual envelope in his mail today ... and inside was an item so mysterious and perplexing, he had to document its contents for you. It appears to be a "rabbit hole" -- an intriguing gateway into a viral promotion or Alternate Reality Game.
J.C. has no idea who sent this envelope, and is stymied by its encrypted contents. Watch the video and examine the PDF in this post (found below; look for the "EBOOK PDF" icon) and see if YOU can decode its secrets. You can also find hi-res photos of the envelope's contents on J.C.'s Flickr page: http://flickr.com/photos/jchutchins/
Please spread the word about this mystery (J.C. recommends the "Share This" feature at the end of this post). And feel free to post your thoughts (or decryption progress) here in the comments. He may have been the "first to find" this rabbit hole ... but when it comes to its secrets, J.C. doesn't want to be the last to know!
UPDATE: Thanks to you amazing people, we've tracked down several other recipients of the letter, and determined that those letters are similar -- but not identical -- to the one J.C. received. Find out more here:
