Oct 3, 1996
Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> writes:

"A marathon is a race that is 26.2 miles long. The creator type for Marathon 1 is 26.2. Strange huh?"

Oct 6, 1996
Noah Daniels <ndaniel1@swarthmore.edu> writes:

"Not only is the Marathon 1 creator code 26.2, but the Marathon 2 creator code is 52.4. Can you guess what the Marathon Infinity creator code is? :-)

Oct 22, 1996
Josh Noel <carinoel@mail.gte.net> points out that you can easily miss the third terminal on the "Whatever You Please". Josh writes:

"At the very end of the level you go up a platform to get to a save term and a console that takes you to the next level. But, if you jump across to a thin room that is above the catwalk you just took to get to the above console. Then jump across a couple of platforms you can go up to a place that appears like just a couple of walls. But up there there is a save term and a secret console that takes you to Carroll Street Station."

Oct 31, 1996
Michael Boeddiker <AirPfhorce@aol.com> points out that on the Marathon Infinity CD the Bobs sing a version of Johann Strauss' the "Blue Danube". Johann Strauss, Bernhard Strauss, a coincidence?

Interesting to note that the "Blue Danube Waltz" also featured in that sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The connection between this film and Marathon should be obvious by now.

Nov 5, 1996
The Jjaro are here!

Today tens of millions of Americans will vote to make William Jefferson Clinton the first Democratic president to win a second term since Franklin D. Rossevelt in 1936.

Exactly two and half years ago Ryu'Toth, a Jjaro representative, appeared via hologram before President Clinton and five of his senior military staff. The events that transpired following that fateful visitation have never been adequately documented until now.

Are you prepared for the... truth?

Nov 7, 1996
Just in case you missed these Noah Johnson <streak@well.com> points out that there are three terminals on "Eat the Path" which involve you jumping through a window and walking on air to reach. Surreal stuff... but then again this is a dream. Trouble is it's difficult to know when you wake up.

Nov 9, 1996
Scot Jaeger <pepino@indy.net> writes:

"On Poor Yorick, Tycho says, "The Enforcers, as you may remember, are not vacuum enabled..." well, on Post Naval Trauma, as i was dashing to find an oxygen bottle, i go up an elevator and blast an... Enforcer. Right next to the terminal talking about Juggernaut weaponry."

Don't believe everything you read.

Peter de Blanc <giule@aol.com> points out that Bungie's first game was "Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete" In the original story a certain number of men and a certain number of women were sent as a yearly tribute to satisfy the Minotaur. Guess what that certain number was? No clues now.

Nov 12, 1996
Peter de Blanc <giule@aol.com> points out that on Bungie's page for Desert Storm the download size is given as 743K but if you try and download it the size is infact 537k. So? Big deal. Simple mistake. But wait go back and look at that number on the page again. And while you looking see if you can find the missing 206K. Could it be that secret message left by the Ancient Ones. ;-)

Nov 15, 1996
Greg Kirkpatrick speaks... read his lips:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Decreasing emphasis on plots at Bungie?
Date: 15 Nov 1996 02:55:08 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 57
Message-ID: <grendel-1411962157550001@192.163.1.100>
References:<scr-ya023060041311960004380001@nntp2.mindspring.com>
<mrenigma-1211962215130001@news.earthlink.net>
<IJBall-1311961044500001@mac_rbk_3.chem.ucla.edu>
<look-1411961641290001@cyber061.cyberspc.mb.ca>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net

In article <look-1411961641290001@cyber061.cyberspc.mb.ca>, look@it.up
(A.S.) wrote:

> In article <IJBall-1311961044500001@mac_rbk_3.chem.ucla.edu>,
> IJBall@aol.com (Ian J. Ball) wrote:
> 
> > I'd rate it this way: the first half or 2/3 of MI had a good plot, much
> > better than M2, as you tried to figure out what was going on. 
> > 
> > But somewhere in the second half of the game, the plot became, I don't
> > know, less interesting. And I'm in the camp that thinks the ending was
> > quite disappointing. We never get an explaination as to what was going on
> > earlier in the game. And no Leela, which was also disappointing.
> > 
> > Frankly, I'd only rate the first half or so of MI's plot as better than
> > M2's. But I liked the ending of M2 a lot more, and I think MI runs out of
> > gas in the last half of the game.
> > 
> > Overall, I guess I'd agree with Steve.
> 
> Um, if they told you exactly what happened in the end, it would suck. The
> great thing about Marathon's plot is that you can spend month trying to
> figure it out. People who expect a plot that reveals all without any
> thought on the part of the player would probably enjoy DOOM type games
> more than those who like to think about it.
> 

Personally, I like the ending in Marathon Infinity the best of them all.

<grin>

I thought I'd throw in my opinion here, as one of the primary creators of
the Marathon story.  I can see why people would think that the Infinity
story gets weaker towards the end.  Knowing this, I know that as a
storyteller I have failed somewhat.  But I can also assure you that the
end of the story does the difficult trick of actually ending the
story(something that we forgot to do in Marathon 1 and 2.), although what
happens exactly is subtle.  

As for Double Aught and our opinions of story (the universally accepted
Double Aught view):

Read my lips:

Computer games tell stories.

That's what they're for.

Later,
Greg K

---------------------
head tool
00
double aught software
www.doubleaught.com
---------------------

Rick VanderLeest <bme185@icaen.uiowa.edu> writes:

"On the level "Eat the Path" at the beginning, instead of following the obvious pathway across the lava, there is a stairway under some lava opposite the start of the path. If you follow this route, you can eventually get to a room with a lava pool and a switch on the opposite wall. If you step back and look at the pool, the flickering lights in the room spell the word "HOME" on the lava."

Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> points out that there appears to be only one date in Marathon Infinity. On "Post Naval Trauma" terminal 3 the signoff is dec, 210ace. Avi writes:

"ACE is another word for AD, often used by religions who do not accept Christ as the messiah, such as Judaism. It stands for After Common Era."

Nov 19, 1996
Greg Kirkpatrick speaks... again:

From: grendel@doubleaught.com (Grendel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Moo's Twisted Plot...
Date: 18 Nov 1996 20:42:07 GMT
Organization: Double Aught
Lines: 30
Message-ID: <grendel-1811961545040001@192.163.1.100>
References: <look-1711962326060001@cyber138.cyberspc.mb.ca>
<19961118195000.OAA05071@ladder01.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gregk.dialup.access.net

In article <19961118195000.OAA05071@ladder01.news.aol.com>, c1ndyh@aol.com
wrote:

< << self willed the peril of a thousand fates>>
< 
< This could refer to the Champion Eternal of the Elric Saga series by
< Michael Moorcock. There are more similarities of this series to the MI
< story, including a the use of Roland's horn, entities who maintain the
< balance of the universe, and chaos ceatures. There's a good web page on
< Elric ...um...somewhere. Comment, Greg K.?
< 

Well, actually, never read any of the micheal moorcock stuff.  Although I
heard about all 17(?) books second hand when I was 13 from my friend Josh
who read them all...

Here's a question:

Where do an android's dreams come from?
(Inquiring minds want to know...)

I vaguely remember something about a movie, my brother was there..
Unicorns running through the terrible city filled with magic.  Was it all
just a dream?

later
greg k

Most readers of the Story page will know the movie to which Greg refers to and the original story on which the film is based.

Was it all just a dream?

Nov 20, 1996
Durability. A word that keeps cropping up in Marathon Infinity. Is there a reason for this? Nick Nethery <MagicElbow@aol.com> pointed out sometime ago that the French name Durendal meant enduring. A possible connection?

And while we are on the subject.

Nov 22, 1996
Greg Kirkpatrick goes wild... and replies to the long Moo's Twisted Plot... thread on agm:

Man this is a good thread.. Thanks for the feedback (someone's previous
post about the story being overdone.)  Actually to answer him - Mƒ was
planned as an expansion for M2.  We basically locked down the story after
assuming that people were familiar with the previous games.

A bunch of you guys are on the right track, but I think that you're still
not seeing the big picture.  What's been going on since M1?  What do we
all dream about (non-Freudian)?  What in a general sense are all stories
about?  What is life about?  What does the Jjarro have to do with all
this?  What is the connection between dreams and reality?  What is the
connection between a story and reality?  What is the connection between
our perception and reality?

Answer these questions and you shall know the truth.

ciao
Greg k

Tell me of your homeworld, Usul


PS I cackle all the time, but this thread makes me cackle like crazy...

----------------
Head Tool
Double Aught,inc
----------------

The big picture... mmmhh. Questions...? Truth...??

Who tried to warn us of the inevitable destruction of the Tau Ceti colony and how could they have known?

Why did Durandal not take us with him when he left Tau Ceti in the Pfhor scoutship?

And why does Greg K spell "Jjaro" with two r's (Jjarro)?

And now for something completely different... tidbit trivia... so beloved of the Marathon's Story page... but Cindy never sent it. :-(

Subject:      Re: Infinity Ending (SPOILER)
From:         c1ndyh@aol.com
Date:         1996/11/20
Message-Id:   <19961120181100.NAA19563@ladder01.news.aol.com>
References:   <19961120152400.KAA16872@ladder01.news.aol.com>
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups:   alt.games.marathon
X-Admin:      news@aol.com


Here's an important story tidbit.

Has anyone noticed the nonsense text strings appearing in many of the
terminals? In Aye Mak Sicur there's this one, with my translation of two
lines next to it:

^9320wrefkddud
 9034thssksbvs -------<This sucks, Beavis
 9066hhhthsrls----------<Huhhuhhuh, this rules
 0394yh...e.e.
overthought unravel

Are Beavis and Butthead our evil puppet masters? Huh huh.

Cindy

And it goes on...

From: Alan Lively <alively@anet-dfw.com>
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Infinity Ending (SPOILER)
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 22:27:28 +0000
Organization: Anet News Services
Lines: 17
Message-ID: <329385D0.4D66@anet-dfw.com>
References: <19961120152400.KAA16872@ladder01.news.aol.com>
<19961120181100.NAA19563@ladder01.news.aol.com>
<32932526.43EE@worldnet.att.net>
<329390BD.580@shore.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp116b.anet-dfw.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0 (Macintosh; I; PPC)

Quartz wrote:
> 
> Jeff Ragucci wrote:
> >
> > c1ndyh@aol.com wrote:
> > >
> > > Here's an important story tidbit.
> > >
> > > Has anyone noticed the nonsense text strings appearing in many of the
> > > terminals? In Aye Mak Sicur there's this one, with my translation of two
> > > lines next to it:
> > >
> > > ^9320wrefkddud
> 
> how about : we're f***ed

or: we're f***ed dude?

Nov 23, 1996
Matt Soell has his say... about time too... way to go Matt. But here's the TRUE story behind the Marathon delay. <Yeah I know it's old.>

Bungie even updated their link to the Marathon's Story page... nice one Webmeister. Who is that masked man? (woman?).

Greg K confesses. Jjaro should be spelt with only one 'r'. And should be pronounced "Yaro".

Note also how Jonas Eneroth <Jonas@bungie.com> used to sign himself:

Jjarro Liasion Officer and "That Swedish Guy"

Jjaro Liasion Officer and "That Swedish Guy"

Nov 24, 1996
Todd Dillen <tdillen@aol.com> writes concerning the similarities between the comic book series Strikeforce Morituri, published by Marvel 1986-1988, and Marathon. Todd writes:

The setting is about a hundred years in the future. Mankind is under assault by a pillaging group of nomads called the Horde. Much like the Pfhor, they got their start in the slave making business by stealing technology from other races, just as the Pfhor did with Jjaro technology. Outclassed, the humans resort with super heroes. By inducing a high power metabolism in certain people, marvelous effects such as increased density, strength, stamina, and "powers" are realized. Each Morituri is easily the match of hundreds of the enemy. The catch: death is certain within a year. This contrasts quite interestingly with the notion of the Marathon protagonist as a cyborg, whose existence, as Durandal put it, is limited only by the lifespan of neurons within a brain.

The real clincher involved one Morituri who happened to be my favorite as well as the most effective member of the second series of Morituri. His codename was Marathon.

Nov 26, 1996
Thanks to all those who wrote in saying how much they enjoyed the TRUE story behind the Marathon delay. Here's a small sample of humorous posts from that insane time. But remember - you had to be there to really appreciate these.

Nov 27, 1996
Ty Klein <mrenigma@earthlink.net> provides an interesting piece of text from the book "The Legacy of Heorot" by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes. As has already been mentioned this may have been an influence on the Marathon Story. Indeed Greg Kirkpatick has stated that Niven was an influence.

They hung in rows, lost in endless dreams. (Cadmann was startled at the thought. Were there dreams in cryosleep? The neurologists said no, but his memory said yes. Perhaps it was only before the drugs took hold and the blood chilled there was one final thought that remained locked in a frozen brain, a thought that unthawed along with the body. Just a wisp of dream beginning of sleep and one at the end, linked by decades of silence and darkness.)

Nov 30, 1996
Kris Norberg <knorberg@pipeline.com> points out that there are seven Forge tutorials!!!

Dec 1, 1996
Jim Mitchell <BobJam@aol.com> makes an interesting observation. Apparently in Marathon and Marathon 2 it is possible to kill a purple Pfhor fighter with three run punches on the Total Carnage difficulty level. Yet at the beginning of Infinity it takes four run punches. Our full punching power only seems to return at around "Son of Grendel". Jim wonders whether we are still the strongest of the colony's troubleshooters.

Dec 2, 1996
Jim Mitchell <BobJam@aol.com> has solved his apparent lack of punching power. Jim notes that in Marathon 2 the purple fighters have vitality rating of 80 but at the beginning of Infinity this is set at 115. On "Son of Grendel" the rating drops back to 80. The reason for this change is as yet unclear.

Dec 9, 1996
Adam Sandler and Marathon? David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes:

"On one of Adam's albums, "They're all Gonna Laugh at You", there's a bit called "Tollbooth Willie", about an englishman working in a tollbooth, and people who cross the border continualy insult and verbally abuse him. He shouts back, and makes several threats to come out of the tollbooth to beat, maim, injure, or incapacitate his assailants, until finally he is pushed over the edge and shouts "Okay, that's it, I'm commin' out of the booth!" and is hit by a car.

Anyways, that same line, "I'm commin' out of the booth!", is something the VacBobs in Infinity shout, with the same English accent.

Perhaps Doug likes Adam Sandler? I wouldn't be surprised."

Dec 10, 1996
Matt Soell <matt@mail.bungie.com> sets the record straight:

"Comin' Outta The Booth": None of us have actually heard the Adam Sandler album in question. We picked up the phrase from a letter our Webmaster received from a customer who was angry that we'd "sold out" and ported M2 to Windows 95. You can probably still find it on the Old Letters page."

"Anyway, part of this barely-comprehensible and profanity-laden message was the immortal phrase "I'm comin' outta the booth," which soon became standard Bungie terminology. When we sat down to come up with new Bob quotes, it didn't take long for someone to suggest that one."

You can find the letter Matt refers to here. It's the one full of [EXPLETIVE DELETES].

Dec 11, 1996
David Cornwell <goldragonne@earthlink.net> writes concerning the Bob phrase "I'm comin' outta the booth!"

"Okay, here's what the letter that unknown wacko sent in said:

-------
You're gonna die, [EXPLETIVE DELETED]! I'm comin' outta the booth!
-------

It is exactly what the Adam Sandler CD says. This is not suprising, because if you were to censor that track, it would end up a lot like this guy's letter.

It appears no one at Bungie listens to Adam Sandler, but a certain once-fan of Bungie does, and has picked up a little language skill from Adam's CDs."

Steve Wood <smwood@ccs.neu.edu> also writes concerning the Bob phrase "I'm comin' outta the booth!"

"Just to set the record straight, the Tollbooth Willie skit from Adam Sandler's album is set in Worcester, MA. (About an hour from Boston, and where SuperSpy on irc lives!) Someone else said that the character had an English accent, but in truth Tollbooth Willie speaks with the indecipherable northern New England tongue...."

Dec 21, 1996

Jan 3, 1997
Jim Mitchell <BobJam@aol.com> writes:

"Did you ever notice that strange combination of letters and numbers on the bottom of the M1 screen? The last four digits are 4DUG. A dedication to Doug Zartman perhaps? You'll also notice the numbers 6200, which are the last four digits in Bungie's telephone number."

Jim goes onto to say:

"I'd also like to point out that there were 7 crew members in the movie Alien on the "Nostromo". Strangely, the science officer in that movie was a cyborg. Wasn't the player supposed to be a science officer?"

Jan 5, 1997
Dustin Westphal <bachus@rdc-cybersign.com> writes concerning the Holiday Bungie Card:

"There are 7 balls hanging from the S'pht.
There are 7 aliens on the front: S'pht, Enforcer, 2 fighters, Cyborgs, Hunter, and F'lick'ta.
There are 7 words on the first line of text inside the card.
The card is 7 inches on the diagonal.
There are 7 "Lines" if you can call them that, of tinsel."

And people say I'm crazy. ;-)

Jan 7, 1997
Kirill Levchenko <kirill@lava.net> writes concerning the existence of an Enforcer on "Post Naval Trauma", a supposedly vacuum level. Kirill writes:

"It's not clear that "Post Naval Trauma" (and "Acme Station" for that matter) is a vacuum level. It may have an atmosphere we cannot breathe but that the Pfhor can. First of all, you have the fighters running around, and fighters are not vacuum-enabled either (M1 pre-G4 terms say _Troopers_ are vacuum-enabled and G4 has no fighters). Then you have the dripping sound on "Acme Station". In a vacuum, matter is either a gas or a solid, you can't have a liquid, so if there is a liquid on "Acme Station" then it must be pressurized but not breathable."

Jan 8, 1997
What time is it? Chad Poland <proedge@mindspring.com> points out that the the US Navy have a computer called Tycho and wait for it... it tells the time.

Now I wonder what Durandal does? ;-)

Jan 11, 1997
Many thanks to Eylon Caspi <eylon@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu> for sending the Story page a lengthy MacWorld Expo report. What were Bungie showing? You can find out here.

Jan 14, 1997
Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> writes concerning the text in the secret map "Hats Off To Eight Nineteen":

"I believe the secret of this level lies in the term text. In it, there are references to a pistola (shapes file name for pistol), a poly and 50 meters (maximum viewing distance, assuming 1WU = 2m, correct me if I'm wrong)."

Based on information at the Hastur Pages at Double Aught's site the maximum viewing distance is 28 world units which is slightly more than 50 meters. Nevertheless there are many secrets hidden in the text of "Hats Off To Eight Nineteen". Unfortunately it may be some time befor~~ff`~~~~ff`fXff`

warning... everything is not as it seems{}. seems{}. seems{}.

Dan goes onto say:

"You should add the term text to your page."

hmmm... you mean you haven't found it buried amongst all the other secret stuff. ;-)

Jan 15, 1997
Steve Wood <smwood@ccs.neu.edu> writes concerning the text in the secret map "Hats Off To Eight Nineteen":

"..."the autocrat's tale" sounds an awful lot like Stanislaw Lem's stories. I haven't found the story in particular, but we read a collection of Lem stories entitled "Mortal Engines" and the 819 term sounds very much like these stories. In particular, the non-human main character (3 meters tall, with four arms), the invented words ("autocrat", "pistola") and fairy-tale like quality of the story are Lem's trademarks."

Jan 31, 1997
An interesting post from Chris Geisel, co-author of the Infinity story, on alt.games.marathon:

From: chrisg@doubleaught.com (Chris Geisel)
Newsgroups: alt.games.marathon
Subject: Re: Infinity's plot explained by Hamish (???)
Date: 21 Jan 1997 05:04:27 GMT
Organization: Double Aught, Inc.
Lines: 35
Message-ID: <chrisg-2101970008100001@chrisg.dialup.access.net>
References: <look-2001971608380001@cyber082.cyberspc.mb.ca>
NNTP-Posting-Host: chrisg.dialup.access.net

In article <look-2001971608380001@cyber082.cyberspc.mb.ca>, look@it.up
(A.S.) wrote:

[snip]
> 
>    Infinity was all a dream. A dream, get it?
> 
> This is the guy who knows more about marathon than anybody else except
> maybe... no, no one.

hey,

i've always hated 'dream' episodes of anything.  it's too easy: the
characters don't have to change, nothing 'really' happened, precious
characters, plots, and worlds safely frozen in nostalgic stasis forever. 
this is the surest sign that a story has had the life sucked out of it,
packed in little vacuum sealed jars, labeled, priced, and shelved (or
sold, as the case may be).

without commenting too explicitly ('cause i think the story is more
meaningful by itself), the story of infinity is the story, more than any
of the others, of the player.  and the player's 'growth' into something
new.

dig,

chris

-- 
-------------------
Chris Geisel
L'homme Wiggly
Double Aught, Inc.
www.doubleaught.com
-------------------

And what exactly does the player grow into?

Here's a very perceptive post on alt.games.marathon by Dan Rudolph:

Subject:      Re: Infinity's plot explained by Hamish (???)
From:         Face <rudolph.family@mcleod.net>
Date:         1997/01/28
Message-Id:   <32EE74B8.6F40@mcleod.net>
References:   <Hamish.Sinclair-2101970800550001@smd022.smd.tcd.ie>
<19970121190301.OAA22844@ladder01.news.aol.com>
<Hamish.Sinclair-2201970806210001@smd022.smd.tcd.ie>
<petrichE4En0B.Ax2@netcom.com>
<postmaster-2201971801310001@miyu.herringn.com>
<Hamish.Sinclair-2301971432100001@smd022.smd.tcd.ie>
<gabe-2701970542500001@dialin2-76.wustl.edu>
<look-2701971824190001@cyber137.cyberspc.mb.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-Ascii
Organization: McLeod USA
Mime-Version: 1.0
Reply-To:     rudolph.family@mcleod.net
Newsgroups:   alt.games.marathon
X-Mailer:     Mozilla 3.0 (Macintosh; I; 68K)


A.S. wrote:
> 
[snip]


> also note, it says you were "grafted to machines your builders did 
> not understand". That doesn't sound like the known definition of a 
> battleroid, as their just grafted to a bunch of metal.
> 
> Perhaps you have a Jjaro implant? Or a pfhor implant? is there a
> difference at this point?
> 
Perhaps there was more to the battleroid project than ever made it into
the Marathon's computer banks.  Where did they get the technology that
was incorporated into the humans?  Perhaps they found some Jjaro stuff
and experimented with it, using it to make both cyborgs and AIs.  This
would explain why Durandal went rampant.
-- 
Face (Dan Rudolph) <rudolph.family@mcleod.net>
The Dark Avenger of Netiquette
President, Watcher Comics <ftp://ftp.eyrie.org/pub/racc/watcher/>

Much will be revealed soon. :-)

Here's a joke from Randy Reddig.

How many Jjaro does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Two. One to create the technology, the other to wait 9 million years for a sentience race to install it

This is a good one. It comes from Bungie's letter page, always worth a read:

I have noticed that on the CD for M2 and Marathon Infinity there are 69 items on each CD! Is that a sick joke or it just happened that way?

Jim Pochas, jimp@mail.microserve.net

Jim-

Do I have to spell everything out for you?

69 can be sparated into the component numbers 6 and 9.

6 + 9 = 14.

14 / 2 (Marathon sequels) = 7.

Now do you understand?

It's simple numerology, not rocket science.

Is it a sick joke? Maybe - if you think the idea of Bungie subtly and slowly assuming complete control of the entire universe is FUNNY.

You have to think about this one. With logic like this who knows what Bungie will assume control of. ;-)

Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> writes:

"The chapter screen for the prologue in Marathon Infinity looks alot like Michelangleo's Creation of Man from the Sistine Chapel. The pose is similar, and I think the idea is. The final screen also bears a certain resemblance to Michelangelo's "Creation" but the take is quite different."

Dan Rudolph <rudolph.family@mcleod.net> also writes to say:

"Duality and Two For the Price of One are more or less the same map. If zoom all the way out on either one of these you can see the map is a giant DOUBLEaught logo. Could we have another magic number?"

Another interesting post from C1ndyh on alt.games.marathon:

Subject:      Re: Infinity's plot explained by Hamish (???)
From:         c1ndyh@aol.com (C1ndyh)
Date:         1997/01/31
Message-Id:   <19970131154701.KAA16277@ladder01.news.aol.com>
References:   <32F0E368.1004@mosquitonet.com<
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups:   alt.games.marathon
X-Admin:      news@aol.com


<< I did mean to imply something along those lines, but not necessarily that
<< Durandal incorporates Jjaro technology. Remember Traxus? Then think about
<< this quote from Durandal:

<Whoa, wait a minute, you lost me.  What indications are there that
<Traxus had Jjaro influences?

There seems to be a connection between the introduction of Jjaro
technology and at least the potential for rampancy. The battleroids in the
asteroid war, the Hulks, the S'pht. You? As regards the AIs, what kind of
chance discovery could make Durandal's rampancy possible? When you
consider the kind of cascade (almost viral) effect that must have happened
with the Hulks and the S'pht, and compare it with Traxus infiltrating
other AIs on the Martian net, the possibility that Traxus incorporated
Jjaro technology and passed his rampancy on to other AIs on the net, one
of which was Durandal, seems reasonable. 

But WHY would rampancy occur?

Feb 2, 1997
Many thanks to Jimmy Mitchell <jmitch@mail.erskine.edu> for sending the first Total Carnage film of getting to the co-op carnage break level "Robot World Arena" from "Rise Robot Rise". He gets it right the first time too. :-) You can see the film here. Thanks to all those who also sent in films.

Feb 3, 1997
Thanks to all the people who have written in pointing out the Bungie style mathematics on the page.

9 + 4 = 12, 1 + 2 = 3

Feb 12, 1997
Concerning the startup quote in Marathon:

somewhere in the heavens... they are waiting

William Vuong <vuongm@earthlink.net> writes:

"Is this alluding to the Pfhor or the Jjaro? Think about it!!!"