Today the Star Trek ARG took a big step forward with the revelation of ‘Malak0’ on video, showing off an interesting alien-looking device. There is also more ‘chat’ going on at the viral site. So just one day after our last update, we have a whole new update and analysis of the exciting Star Trek alternative reality game.
[4/22 UPDATE: One more clue added, see below]
APRIL 21st STAR TREK ARG UPDATE 4
NOTE: if you are new to the Star Trek ARG see ‘Quick review’ at the bottom of this article
April 21 Clue 1: Malak0 posts a video of the mysterious device
Malak0, following up on his "Enough is Enough" email from April 20th, sent out another email with a link to his YouTube profile page. He’s posted one video, giving us a first look at who he is … and the mysterious device he’s retrieved.
Here is a translation (thanks to Eric Saussine of UnificationFrance)
I’m doing this video following my post on the Internet. The other day I was at the Café Presles at the intersection of Rue de la Fédération and Rue de Presles and there was this man in the street who fell next to where I was sitting and who let an item fall behind him. (showing the item) That’s like a P.D.A., some of sort computer, I think, with a screen and buttons. I put a message online and I got many replies from people who were interested and some even offered money. I’m really looking for its rightful owner to make some sort of deal because I imagine he wants his item back. (showing the item in detail) There is a connector on the back. There are several buttons. I successfully started it. When I touch (the screen) here there is this light effect. There may be some battery problem or something missing but… it doesn’t work beyond that – I can’t make it fully work for now. It’s rather heavy. I think there is some info in it and I think it must be rather important for the owner. So he probably wants it back. It must be rather expensive. Contact me to get it back and to make some deal.
The device looks worn and dinged, like it has seen its fair share of abuse in the open. It also looks very alien. Here are some screencaps:
Malak0 revealed
The Device
The device activated
It may also be worth noting that the poster behind Malak0 is The poster for the 1998 Rennes Film Festival (Rennes is in French Britanny).
Poster clue?
April 21st Clue 2: Another QR Code
Sharp-eyed "Jenni Generation" noticed that there’s another QR code visible when Malak0 flips the device over, similar to the QR code discovered on PHPChatUser5’s Twitter page yesterday.
Bottom of device, note sticker bottom right
April 21st Clue 3: 2387-42.com chat updated
While people were still analyzing Malak0’s video, a contentious exchange started on viral chat site 2387-42.com…
Transcript courtesy of community members "Tom,"Merzmensch aka kosmopol," and "Slaynest" (original, untranslated messages below translations)
PHPChatUser1 (ja) "It takes too much time, it won’t be a wonder, if we will be annihilated by him. [he/we should] ask for help. Because they will notice my access point tomorrow"
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
PHPChatUser5 (en) DON’T YOU DARE!!! DON’T YOU DARE!!!
PHPChatUser5 (ja) "We shouldn cooperate with them! Even for the sake of their surviving. They should understand the whole story!!!"
??????????????????!!!????????????!!!???????????????!!!
PHPChatUser4 (es) "And what will you do when them run from your appearance?"
¿Y qué harás cuando ellos corren de tu aparencia?
PHPChatUser1 (ja) "Don’t worry, we will put the SNS, make new friends, like in a game, and we will elicit them!!!"
???????SNS????????????????????????????????????!!!
PHPChatUser5 (en) That doesn’t make any sense, I cannot allow you to risk everything!!! You need to listen to me. You have lost it. You
PHPChatUser3 (de) "Let him do it, they won’t know, what do see there. Let the baby think, he does something meaningful"
Lass ihn machen, sie werden nicht wissen, was sie da sehen. Lass den Kleinen glauben, er tut was sinnvolles.
____PHPChatUser3 has disconnected____
PHPChatUser5 (en) This is madness.
PHPChatUser4 (es) "He won’t do it."
El no lo hará.
____PHPChatUser1 has disconnected____
PHPChatUser5 (en) We’ve got to do something about him.
____PHPChatUser5 has disconnected____
____PHPChatUser4 has disconnected____
Star Trek ARG – A quick review
The Star Trek Alternative Reality Game began a couple of weeks ago after some fans spotted URLs on the walls of ‘Star Trek Dance Party’ photos up at thecobrasnake.com, these clues led to more sites, which in turn led to more clues. Here are the previous four TrekMovie articles on the Star Trek ARG:
- April 10th – first article identifying ‘binary’ sites
- April 15th Update, identifying ‘Malak0’
- April 17th Update: more ‘PHP chat’
- April 20th Update: Twitter conversation leads to "APUS:01-05"
Also, all TrekMovie articles regarding this are now in a single Star Trek ARG Category.
What do you think? — and A NOTE before you comment
Before you post clues or speculation in the comments below, check the previous TrekMovie articles (including comments) to be sure they haven’t already been covered.
New Star Trek ARG Forum
TM community member "Tom" — who hosts the very active ARG chat where much of the problem-solving is taking place — has graciously responded to the request for a better way of dealing with updates by setting up a forum for posting clues and speculation. It also includes links to the chat.
Other resources
- ARG site Unfiction also has a thread dedicated to the game
- Thread at startrekmovie.com
- This Star Trek ARG wiki is a great place to get caught up on the chats and their translations
UPDATE: Malak0 posts picture of QR Code on mysterious device
More activity from our friend Malak0! At around 9:50 GMT, community members who emailed Malak0 requesting a clearer picture of the QR code on the dropped device received an email back with a link to a closeup!
QR code on device (Click to enlarge)
Community member "Dougrass" quickly decoded the message: CHAMAELEON: 13-23.
The APUS: 01-05 clue from earlier suggests that these are references to the constellations Apus and Chamaeleon, both located in the southern sky, both first defined by Petrus Plancius in the 16th century, and both first depicted by Johann Bayer.
Community member "LoneStranger" summarizes some interesting speculation:
Romulus is 128 Trianguli III-A. Triangulum is in the northern hemisphere, whereas the constellations Apus and Chamaelen are in the southern hemisphere. However … there is a constellation Triangulum Australe, located right next to Apus.
[Please note that the reference to "128 Trianguli III-A." is non-canon: although it appears in many Star Trek novels]
There has been much speculation on the precise meaning of "01-05" and "13-23" (stars in the constellations? coordinates for triangulating a position in 3D space? Biblical references?) but nothing that points definitively to a new clue yet.
Any new clues or theories? Let us know!
but again, be sure to check previous posts to make sure they haven’t been covered. If you really think you are on to something, send in a clue to tips [at]
trekmovie
[dot]
com. However, please keep tips to new (at least semi) verified clues, and not just speculation, that is what the comments are for.
Unless the first person to figure this all out gets a date with Zoe Saldana, I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Wow, this is all very confusing, lol.
FIRST! No idea why folks are interested in this!
Curiouser and curiouser.
again, requesting everyone to come and join the chat =) just click my name, that’ll do.
Drat – my first chance at first…and I blew it! : ( I’d better take typing lessons.
What about a date with Zachary Quinto!
Cool stuff!
I really do wonder what all of this could possible culminate in… I’m totally fascinated regardless, but what other tricks could they have up their sleeves?
wow wicked weird
Just from looking at the picture of the device turned on, it looks to be Romulan in origin.
->Combine that with what we know, all this may mean there is a Romulan spy on Earth and these people have found a piece of the spy’s surveillance arsenal.<-
The video is a fake.
No LENS FLARE.
Looks more like a Vorlon device.
Right Mike?
You know, after you mention the Vorlon, it just might be,
Check out this ship design
http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10003/vorlon_med.jpg
For all those who don’t see the point in this –
The mystery is fulfillment in itself. Who doesn’t enjoy a good mystery?! That’s the point!
Well obviously all this is taking place whether or not WE find out about it, the PHPChat-Users probalby will also “see” the YouTube video and somehow contact Malak0 and try to get this padd/scanner back.
Screencap above from after the screen is touched looks like a squeezed picture of Nero sitting in his seat on the Narada.
http://www.filmedge.net/StarTrek/images/STapproved/Nero_1000.jpg
Its deffinately romulan
It really has some details that could match the Nero Picture… but I don’t know… if it is this picture then it is heavily distorted and squeezed
It could be the picture. There seems to be a big light splotch in the middle, which could or couldn’t be from him touching it.
Any one know how to read the code thing on the back?
I tried to match the blue lower left light with the right alignment on the Nero Picture and it does somehow match a bit you can see a something like a staff and a lighter spot that could be the head… and I think the big blob in the middle is from malak0 touching it.
I’ll take a little stab at part of this. I was first noticing what a shitty job the camera person was doing, like drunk or something, and then we hear what I think is a female voice sounding ill or moaning at the end which could explain why she couldn’t hold the camera still for more than a second. That’s all I got. Otherwise… WTF?
… or Reman?
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Reman
I wonder if this team is here to stop Nero, and the device Malak0 has is a general data storage or something like it, one item on there being a photo of Nero to positively identify him (possibly also containing photos of his crew).
This team is here to try and stop Nero, because they knew he had a screw loose. I wonder if it’s some kind of group from Rura Penthe?
One clue could be the footage in the second (?) trailer, which was taken out of the movie, showing Nero’s escape from the prison. This group could contain a Klingon.
Is there something going on with his tie? They seem to freeze on it for quite abit at the end of the video….
Another thought, maybe it is just me but the sound the device is making sounds a bit like the static from the binary sites….
This is too geeky to even catch my interest. Too dry.
Is it of any help?
Just googled for ‘mklvnd’
‘mklv’ Command: The mklv command creates a new logical volume within the VolumeGroup. For example, all file systems must be on separate logical volumes.
Good job on this, Aliotsy
I’ll be working on this…
#22
Decalithium poisoning maybe from residual elements on the device maybe. But malak0 didn’t look ill.
Selor is right, id does kinda sound like the binaries.
If that is so, then maybe the sites we have been seeing are the different parts of the data they were talking about, which is why they need this one back, the last piece of data to complete the plan.
He, he. I was just trying to put some vowels in ‘mklvnd’. So far the only ‘logical’ combination is: mAkE-lOvE-nUdE ;) Huh… o_O
The tie must be a clue … O
What about the poster?
FESTIVAL DE CINEMA DE RENNES 1998.
Google it: http://www.jimdietz.com/festival_files/image016.png
The guy who sell this poster has a studio in Paris. He also has an adress in the US:
JIM DIETZ VINTAGE POSTERS
1011, 4010 GALT OCEAN DR. FORT LAUDERDALE,FL 33308 USA
954- 563-3353, EMAIL- jsdietz@earthlink.net
Picture of him: http://www.jimdietz.com/poster_files/image002.png
His website contain some tiny pics of the flat he´s renting, anything familiar in the malak0 maybe?
Poster is pretty expensive too..$150. Artist is “Bilal”
…did i go to far? :p
Yeah, you probably did. :)
I don’t see how the apartment of the guy who found the device would help us in this game. What seems to matter is the PHPChatUsers and using information about them to figure out their story.
How this will end?
Maybe, the chat users will find Malak0, take their thing (and kill him?), will be killed somehow themselves or go back in time, just before May 7th.
Maybe?
The guy who does these posters seems to specialise in military paintings, maybe there is something there but again I think i’m taking that too far
I keep coming back to that tie shot. Could that be binary code in the tie?
yes, it was weird the shot of the tie lasted so long, im with u on that
why wear a tie, also?
If you look closely at the tie there are circles. If you zoom in there are little dots around those circles, if I remember correctly from chemistry class ,eons ago:), ‘O’ stands for oxygen and the dots stand for electrons, if i’m not mistaken.
Not sure what it would mean, but you never know.
Just my 2 cents.
–M–
Has anyone heard from Malak since the video went up?
Hmm. This doesn’t really seem much fun like the Dark Knight viral campaign was.
Did you noticed the avatar of Malak0’s youtube-Account? Is it possible that it contains another qr-code?
@44– It looks like Napolean Bonaparte to me, not sure if it contains another qr-code..
–M–
Got an email from Malak0!
Email exchange as follows:
From Aliotsy Andrianarivo
to mklvnd@aol.fr
date Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:11 AM
subject Re: Vidéo de l’appareil
Malak0,
Merci beaucoup. Pardon-moi, mon francais n’est pas bon.
Il y a un image (un “bar code” ou “QR code”) en dessous l’objet, comme
l’image j’ai attache pour identifier le proprietaire. S’il te plait,
est-ce que vous pouvez pris un photo de l’image?
Merci,
Aliotsy
=============
I attached a picture of the QR code from yesterday. His response below!
=============
from mklvnd@aol.fr
to aliotsy
date Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 2:50 PM
subject Re : Vidéo de l’appareil
http://aol.pixum.fr/album/sharingImage/id/4280878/page/1
=============
QR Code tentatively translates as: CHAMAELEON:13-23
Question: is the correct translation for “Yarakashita’s” message “we SHOULD” or “we SHOULDN’T” help them? It doesn’t seem to make sense if it’s “we shouldn’t”. Anyone?
-RedShark
@47 It’s “Should.”
Kosmopol commented that he’d made a mistake in his translation.
This is getting too complicated to be fun now. I will keep checking back for anything interesting, but after 4 days its becoming a bore, clues are too random and there is nothing for the average person to do other than watch.
Good luck all!
46)
Chamaeleon is also a constellation in the same area as Apus…