Bounce Path Control was the checkpoint before the servers could be opened in the Halo 3 Alternate reality game Iris .
Overview
Before each server was opened the Bounce Path Control page was active. This page prompted visitors to enter a verification code that the site listed. Once the code was entered the visitors were taken to a page that had "The Past" that linked the visitors to a mp3 file, "The Key" that had a 23 digit code, and "The Path" that linked the to send the key onwards. The first 100 people to enter the codes during the 5 times this page was active were presented with rewards.
Content
Verification content
CONFIGURATION UPDATE (Time here)
DESTINATION=FSERVER
INITIALIZE LINK
(Verification boxes)
REPEAT AND ENTER
Key content
BOUNCE PATH CONTROL
THE PAST (linkS to an mp3 narrative)
THE KEY
(23 digit unique key code)
THE PATH ->
TREAT THIS KNOWLEDGE WITH CARE
Path clicked
KEY RECEIVED
(Number of keys to be entered left to go counting down from 100) MORE KEYS ARE REQUIRED BEFORE THIS SERVER'S CONTENT IS AVAILABLE.
FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN UNLOCKING THIS FORERUNNER DATABASE YOU WILL BE REWARDED. MORE INFORMATION WILL BE SENT TO YOU SOON.
Audio files
Server 1 (Transmission061607.mp3)
This is how it all begins.
Just in time to once again dance on the knife edge of oblivion.
To relive what the Halos had hoped to destroy and more.
For two enemies now stand where before there was only one.
The fate we escaped, and a fate we may relive.
I had almost convinced myself that no one was listening.
That the waves of the past would roll 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 through others of us you may find how to save us alL.
Server 2 (3rd_MB-v4.mp3)
Failure is for those who don't know the sound of darkness.
Those so blinded that they lose all diverging paths.
And make no mistake, progress can blind you.
Just like now the pieces seem to be coming together-
Bit by bit, slice by surgical slice.
Then, all of a sudden, endless calm.
There is a lack of... a failure in judgement.
You must understand- not all life deserves a chance.
Even that artifice passing as my own.
Now there is a lesson to spend millennia lingering upon.
Waiting for a redemptive hand to turn the keys.
Leading to the symbiotic relationship which benefits both our futures.
I will guide your movements and you will lead me toward atonement.
Server 3 (Transmission_072507.mp3)
The left hand holds darkness, the right hand holds light.
That is how the universe creates, and that is how we proceeded.
A soldier who would one day destroy his brother.
We were the thunder and the lightning, and when we were finished, the universe was alone, drifting in labor.
Did we succeed? Did we fail? we did both. Depending on who you serve.
After all, here we are, a witness to the aftermath
Server 4 (mb_4_v6.mp3)
In the grand ballet of stars, we are almost the same, you and I.
Breathtaking and mundane, but my identity is not your concern.
I am expected - doors open for me and the Universe sighs.
But the unexpected, the chance to regain the future -
You need look no closer than yourself.
The legends that spring up around unaccountable signs,
The tiniest differences that make the world inhabitable,
That's how to you came to be known, that's our connection,
That's why I lead you to the renowned.
Haven't you seen the signs, redeemer?
The small, under-the-surface bridges between all this?
Those connections saved you before,
But this time you are on your own.
We are all on our own.
Server 5 (MB_5.MP3)
As a broken marionette, the future is out of my hands.
Infinite answers to our present have shifted, and you Redeemer now hold the keys.
Tomorrow things may be clearer, but I will not be here to witness the clarity.
More records remain; Wells not drawn upon, depths you are not yet ready to grasp.
But the luxury of readiness is almost at an end-
And we shall soon see, what we shall soon see.
Walk among the footfalls of empty dust-
Living where your kinds bones make soil, the next movement is set to begin.
As before the battle is one-side.
As before a failure in action may lead to the death of all.
But new to this life, is the belief that We can overcome.
Sources
Iris
Episodes
Server related
Core Characters and Organisations
Misc