Lost: Beyond the Looking Glass

by Adam Bergstein

BEYOND THE CODES

Images were available for the players to view, one of them a sample of black rock, suggesting that the rock could have powers that affect anyone near it. On that same QKD page, a binary message could be found in the source. When decoded it let players know: SOS.SECRET.DISCOVERY.SAVE.SHEPHARD

lost_jack
But save Jack from what? Something about the black rock sample was putting Jack in jeopardy, and it was up to the players to find out what was going on and save him. “Seek the source,” they were told, and it would lead them to strange new lands. On Jack’s MySpace page was an image fragment containing a series of numbers, and the other pieces were hidden throughout the Internet. One could be found on Jack’s site, another on his Amazon account, and the fourth in a video linked off his page. When decoded the eerie message read, KATE WORKING FOR MITTLEWERK. COMMUNICATIONS COMPRIMISED. WIDMORE INVOLVEMENT. One of the pages on the site, Next.html shows another short series of photos, and then an excerpt from Thomas Love Peacock’s novel “Headlong Hall:”

“I perceive,” said Mr. Milestone after they had walked a [unreadable] “these grounds have never been touched by the finger of taste.”

“The place is quite a wilderness,” said Squire Headlong, “for during [missing word ] later part of my father’s life, while I was finishing my education, [missing words] roubled himself about nothing but the cellar, and suffered everything el[letters missing] to go back to rack and ruin. A mere wilderness, as you see, even now in[missing words/letters] December; but in summer a complete nursery of briers, a forest of thistles, a plantation of nettles, without any livestock but goats, that have eaten up all but the bark on the trees. Here you see the pedestal of a statue, with only half a leg and four toes remaining. There were many here once. When I was a boy I used to sit everyday on the shoulders of Hercules; what became of him I have never been able to ascertain. Neptune has been lying these seven years in the dust-hole; Atlas had his head knocked off to [words missing] ropping a shed, and only the day before yesterday we fish [words missing] the horse-head pond.”

The players were now given a reason for the four-toed statue on the island, one that seemed plausible enough. Perhaps the island had been originally someone’s home, and the statue merely lawn decoration on a massive scale. The phrase “heavy steps crisscrossed overhead” also appears on this page, and elsewhere through the game. This is also a literary reference, to the book, “Hippolotes’ Island” which describes the search for an island that disappears off the maps of the world. Another clue as to the special properties of the island in Lost, and possibly why it is so hard to return to once you leave. The next code to decipher was in Morse, and read:

-... ..- .-- -.-- . -.. -- --.- -.. .--- .. ... ..- .... ..- .-. -.- .. .-.-.- ... ..- .... ..- .-. -.- .. ... .... ..- --.- .--- ..- - - -.- .... -.-- -.. .-- .-. -... --.- .. .--- .-.-.- --.. --.- ... . .-. -.-- -.. .-.. . -... .-.. ..- - -.-- -.. .-. -... --.- .. .--- .-.-.- --.. --.- ... . .-. ... . -.. .--- .... . -... -.-- .. -... --.- -.. - ... ..- .... ..- .-. -.- .. .-.-.- .-. -... --.- ... .- .... . ... .- .. ..-. ..- ... -.-- --.- -... ..-. .... . ..-. ..- .... .--- -.-- ..- .. .-.-.- .-. -... --.- ... .- .... . ... .- . -.. -..- ..- -... .-- -.- .. --.- -.. .--- . -.. -.-- -.- .. .-.-.- --.. --.- ... .- ... .... ..- --.- .--- ..- -.. ..- -- ... ..- .... ..- .-. -.- .. .-.-.- -... ..- .-- -.-- . -.. ... . -.. .--- .... . -... --.. --.- ... .- .-.-.- --.. --.- ... .- ... . -.. .--- .... . -... -.. ..- -- ... ..- .... ..- .-. -.- .. .-.-.-

LEGION WANTS CEREBUS. 
CEREBUS CREATED DURING BLAST. 
JACOB INVOLVED IN BLAST. 
JACOB CONTROL ISLAND CEREBUS. 
BLACK ROCK SPECIAL PROPERTIES. 
BLACK ROCK ON HELGUS ANTONIUS.
JACK CREATE NEW CEREBUS. 
LEGION CONTROL JACK. 
JACK CONTROL NEW CEREBUS.

Knowing the Cerebus is the code name of the mysterious smoke monster patrolling the island in much the same way that the three-headed dog stands guard in front of the gates of hell, we learn that Jacob is connected to the monster, and helped created it. A new question arises with this new information: who is Legion?