User:CIA391/The Unknown Helper

AdjutantReflex's first post.

"The Unknown Helper" is the first episode of the Halo 3 Alternate reality game Iris. It started on June 11, 2007 throughout several forms of media, ending on June 29, 2007. It was followed by the following episode "Flood Control".

Overview

Beginning on June 11, 2007 the first episode began with the mystery of Adjutant Reflex and several mystery events on Earth, with Adjutant warning something was coming, and that it could not stop it. Due to the mystery events, this caught the attention of Society of the Ancients (SOTA) a conspiracy group dedicated to the many unexplained. There was also the discovery of the Halo 3: Cradle of Life comic, a parallel path to the SOTA one that lead people to the first server. During those events Adjutant Reflex was then taken over by the entity it warned the community about leading to a mystery of what that entity wants to tell us. Before the first server was unlocked the mysterious entity spoke giving people "keys" to unlock the server. The first server detailed the firing of Halo array, and a log that gave the hope that someone would hear the warning.

Summary

Prelude

On March 26, 2007, months before the ARG formally began, a news post on Bungie.net called "The Warthog" was posted that went over the Warthog as it was in Halo 3. Included in the post was a video called "wart3.mov" that included a low poly rotation look at the Warthog. Hidden in various frames of the video was several bits of text that when put together made the following "X.XX.713 > ghost.713/non-auth/activity ongoing". This then unassuming text and variants of it would become re-occurring throughout Iris and the Terminal narrative.

This will be a good place to begin.

Main article: Adjutant Reflex posts

AdjutantReflex's first post.

On June 11, 2007 at 10:26 AM PST, a thread appeared in the Halo 3 forum on Bungie.net titled "System Integrity Confirmed" (See all Adjutant Reflex posts from the thread here) with the text "This will be a good place to begin." The thread was created by a user named "AdjutantReflex" whose system security role was "CompoundIntelligence", with the Forum Signature of "Array integrity questionable.". Throughout the following two hours AdjutantReflex posted; answering questions and queries such as saying it took by "force" access to the forum when queried on how the account could do things like have yellow text; mentioning how there was no hostile intent; its status as a facilitator of Halo Array requirements; before ending the thread on when the Halo array last fired going back from 2007.

Adjutant Reflex then moved to HBO, posting a similar series of mysterious writings in the halo.bungie.org (HBO) forum.(See all Adjutant Reflex posts from the thread here) Though according to Adjutant later "Bandwidth restraints prevented its use."

Forerunner Email

Main article: Forerunner Email

Image capture of the rendered email.

On June 12, at exactly 11:00 AM PST, AdjutantReflex created another thread, titled "Archive/Resource Estimate," (See all Adjutant Reflex posts from the thread here) with his first post stating that "Archives/Resources will be compiled in approximately 38 hours [1:00 AM PST on Thursday, June 14]." Another several posts followed, but no further substantive information was gleaned.

The next day, at 3:43 PST, AdjutantReflex posted an addendum to "Archive/Resource Estimate", with the text "Tick Tock.", later mentioning that "When the tipping point occurs, I will do my best to facilitate. Tick tock.", and when someone said they would be ready the ominous statement "You're wrong. This time, no one will be ready."

When June 14 came, AdjutantReflex posted again saying "It has begun. The first seeds are scattered." This coincided with the release of the Forerunner Email, that featured a Forerunner symbol and the key phrase "Look for the signs".

Following the command "Look for the signs" lead to people finding the symbol in the email in numerous places such as recently added to Halo3.com, and eventually was quickly made the avatar of the AdjutantReflex account on Bungie.net, and subsequently used throughout the rest of the alternate reality game as a re-occurring symbol.

AdjutantReflex then posted a new thread on the Bungie.net forums titled "Who?" with the text "Who is the path of light from blackest Earth to brilliant heaven? On whose golden wings will we fly from here to there?", fans who noticed that their avatar was changed and had the file name "Chrysopteron.gif" realised the answer was "Iris". This prompted AdjutantReflex to respond that it was "Time to sleep" as "Somwrhing that once was malevolent is stirring." This posting corresponded to a change at Halo3.com, where the main page had been replaced by five darkened images, labeled "Servers #1-5".

Cradle of Life

Main article: Halo 3: The Cradle of Life

The Circuit City circular that was due to release on June 17 2007.

Late June 14, a Bungie.net forum user who delivered papers noticed an Ad in the Circuit City circular that had the forerunner symbol as seen on AdjutantReflex's avatar and the Forerunner Email keeping to the "Look for the signs" the email asked people to do. This circular alongside a similar one tied to Best Buy was meant to release on June 17. The ad directed people to "www.halo3.com/comic" which was a webcomic called Halo 3: The Cradle of Life.

The webcomic was a story set 100,000 years ago prior to the firing of the Halo Array, based around a elder of a tribe called N'chala as he watched over the "gods" that were building what appears to be the portal to the Ark. N'chala doesn't understand these "gods" but he is said to paint for months to tell their story, pondering if the "gods" will ever reveal themselves to him. Until then he will watch and wait.

Society of the Ancients

Main articles: Society of the Ancients, Society of the Ancients (Website)

Something stirring

Main article: Transmission Log

Bounce Path Control and Server 1

Main articles: Bounce Path Control, Server