Trash Terms
"Fire and Brimstone Seven Riders of the Apocalypse Labyrinth
of Dreams Armageddon Irregular Removal of Tissue Happenstance
Conflagrate Condign Binnacle of Spiritual Blistering"
"Fire and Brimstone Seven Riders of the Apocalypse Labyrinth
of Dreams Armageddon Irregular Removal of Tissue Happenstance
Conflagrate Condign Binnacle of Spiritual Blistering"
Matthew Smith <matthew@quest.net> writes concerning one of the 'trash' terminals on Arrival designated as (;L002.WELCOME.trash.TERM2):
<Unauthorized access-alarm 2521-> <Security Breached 49-h<294.2.577.456>-> 18RF(kgf42# f#h %34(*,96693 349973@) fkeoocp) *0001101011101110111000111101110101110110101011 *1001100001110100101001001001001000010100101111 *1001000101011110100101010101000001001000101110 00000378003E000007FE0032000011AE00080001AF420000 06726F636B657421000000000000000006726F636B657421 0000000000000000 <Spurious Interrupt- Breach Disabled> <Further Access Denied> <Alert> Security Breach at <294.2.577.456><Arrival (Terminal 3)>
Matthew writes:
00000378003E000007FE0032000011AE00080001AF420000 06726F636B657421000000000000000006726F636B657421 0000000000000000is hexadecimal for (garbage) rocket! (garbage) rocket! (garbage), where (garbage) are characters you don't see or can't be represented so they appear as little blocks or whatnot.
Matthew explains further:
Characters in a computer are represented by hexadecimal (base 16) value pairs which can be translated into a decimal number with a value of zero to 255. The characters we normally use have decimal values ranging from 65 ("A") to 122 ("z"), which hexadecimal-wise is a range of 41 to 7A.So look at part of this code string: 726F636B657421 and break it into pairs:
72 6F 63 6B 65 74 21 and I look on my handy ASCII chart to find:r o c k e t !
Ben Fisher <bfisher@enterprise.net> writes concerning the following
text of the "trash" term (Terminal 2) on Arrival from the Marathon Demo.
^^Fire and Brimstone Seven Riders of the Apocalypse Labyrinth
of Dreams Armageddon Irregular Removal of Tissue Happenstance
Conflagrate Condign Binnacle of Spiritual Blistering^^
Ben writes:
The definitions of a few of the words for those who don't know are as follows:Conflagrate : great and destructive fire
Condign : severe and well-deserved
Binnacle : housing for a ship's compass'Labyrinth of Dreams' could refer to the player in MI: trapped in his own broken psyche.
Ben wonders what the rest could refer to?
Note also that this text was dropped from the final game. Why?
It was replaced with the following text.
^^Fire and @3DC39 aspects of the theory are as follows: each
society has some controlling force or forces which decide its
direction, but the relationships in society are arbitrary-
humanity can relate to money, machines, neighbors, anything
really; %6582@1<logical reset @67FC229>
individual character and personality are preserved in stories,
movies, Rom-personalities, etc; although individual expression
is a universal ability, individual freedom is constrained by
the society.(see attached figure)^^
Granted this replacement text has less occult overtones but is equally garbled. Perhaps the occult references in the original text were thought to be so out of character with the rest of the story that they were replaced?
But let us not forget the text of the Marathon Infinty demo. Part of which goes as follows:
biblical candy machines
earthy sandy cracking schedules
sculptures
dumb stones unknowning alone
ignorance like selfish solitude
is the opium that dances the eye
it's b-r-i-- an ashen hole
Similar in ways to the original demo text above. And this too was removed from the final version of Infinity. Coincidence?
Christian Bauer <cbauer@student.physik.uni-mainz.de> writes:
Now that the M2 sources are released it can finally be determined where the garbled source in Terminal 2 of Sorry Don't Make It So and Terminal 1 of Begging For Mercy Makes Me Angry comes from. I found it in the file render.c, approx. lines 1040-1060. Interestingly, the code is from a function called "decide_where_vertex_leads()". In Sorry Don't Make It So, Durandal is obviously having a hard time deciding what to do after the infiltration of his network by Tycho, while in the Begging For Mercy term he seems to have found his final conclusion. :-)
Christian refers to the following lines in the "render.c" file of the Marathon 2 source code:
struct line_data *line;
struct world_point2d *vertex;
long cross_product;
*line_index= polygon->line_indexes[index];
*side_index= polygon->side_indexes[index];
*polygon_index= polygon->adjacent_polygon_indexes[index];
line= get_line_data(*line_index);
if (*polygon_index!=NONE && LINE_IS_TRANSPARENT(line))
{
polygon= get_polygon_data(*polygon_index);
/* locate our endpoint in this polygon */
for (index=0;index
Here is the garbaged terminal 2 on "Sorry Don't Make It So" (Terminal 2)
li5%!_data(*li!$ne_in ary, "endpoint &%d not in polygon &%d (fro &%d)", endpoint_index, polygon_iing the shipd. ndex, polyg't believe everython_index));nS_TRANSPARENT(line)) {polygon= get_polygon_data(*polygon_index); case _clockwise_bias Tycho is infiltrating the ship. Don't believe everything you read. /* loif (*polygon_indor (index=0;index< polygon->vertex_count && p polygon_index, polygTycho is infiltrat3on_index));nS_TRANSPARENT(line)) {polygon= get_polygon_data(*polygon_index); *line_E_I>endpoint_ indexes[index]!=endpoint_ index;+'index);vasse tyc!=cool polygon->vertex_courcate our endpo n->adjacent_polygon_indexesuct line_data * line;struct wor ld_point2d *vertex;long cross_product;olygon-t, csprintf(tempo switch (bias){ You were inadvertently transported to an abandoned and unimportant section of the ship, but the Pfhor followed you anyway. Someone's after you, personally. One word; two syllables; rhymes with Psycho. dex!=NONE){strex]; /* loif (*polygon_indor (index=0;index<polygon->vertex_count && p *polygon_index= polygo The humans sustained heavy losses while you were gone and our defenses are falling apart, but the evacuation is not yet complete.li5%!_data(*li!$ne_in
And the garbaged terminal on "Begging For Mercy Makes Me Angry!" (Terminal 1)
Yt-c469d02l;12 ary, "endpoint &%d not in polygon &%d (fro &%d)", endpoint_index, polygon_iing the shipd. ndex, polyg't believe everython_index));nS_TRANSPARENT(line)) {polygon= get_polygon_data(*polygon_index); case _clockwise_bias Finish me. I won't be like Leela. Get out of here and find the human leader, Blake. /* loif (*polygon_indor (index=0;index< polygon->vertex_count && p polygon_index, polygTycho is infiltrat3on_index));nS_TRANSPARENT(line)) {polygon= get_polygon_data(*polygon_index);Yt-c469d02l;12
Francesca Poppi <electro.pencil@flashnet.it> writes concerning
those cryptic character strings in Marathon Infinity noting that while there
are a large number only a few have been unravelled. Francesca
offers a possible solution to one line on Son of Grendel (Terminal 3):
I am writing about one of these things in the Tycho terminals in Infinity. In many terminals there are some strange strings of characters:^4910cercifucatcleqlib
^4911dixpicatnccbieana
[Rise Robot Rise, Terminal 0, 1st and 2nd message]^4910mllykttyizarat
^4911dinnbdydntsytht
[Confound Delivery, Terminal 2, 2nd Message]And many others (I don't rewrite all for the sake of bandwidth :-) )
Some of these strings were explained by Mr. Avi Selk in the
"Grendel" and "The Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon" sections:^000992grndlsfrcetu = grendel's [?]
[Son of Grendel, Terminal 3]^589222hstrlstherth = hastur rules the earth
[Son of Grendel, Terminal 3]I have figured out a little bit of the other:
^000091hyydnarzpths = hey ydnar [?] this
[Son of Grendel, Terminal 3]
"hey ydnar zap this" possibly?
Below is a full list of the cryptic character strings in Marathon Infinity.
A few have been identified on the Story page over the years. I've compiled
the solutions at the end of the list. Further solutions are welcome.
^4910cercifucatcleql ^4911dixpicatnccbiea ^4910cercifucatcleql ^4911dixpicatnccbiea ^4910cercifucatcleql ^4911dixpicatnccbiea Rise Robot Rise (Terminal 0: 1st Message) ^4910cercifucatcleqlib ^4911dixpicatnccbieana ^4910cercifucatcleqlib ^4911dixpicatnccbieana ^4910cercifucatcleqlib ^4911dixpicatnccbieana ^4910cercifucatcleqlib ^4911dixpicatnccbieana Rise Robot Rise (Terminal 0: 2nd Message) ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq Rise Robot Rise (Terminal 2) ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq Rise Robot Rise (Terminal 3: 1st Message) ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq ^91011errtaninilwd ^91011levtencentxq Rise Robot Rise (Terminal 3: 2nd Message) ^7002nckeqlcacibule ^7391docivlbdile3x1 ^7391docivlbdile3x1 ^7002nckeqlcacibule ^7391docivlbdile3x1 ^7002nckeqlcacibule ^7391docivlbdile3x1 Poor Yorick (Terminal 0: 1st Message) ^69101bfabrctecleul ^69101wapconqciqbon ^69101bfabrctecleul ^69101wapconqciqbon Poor Yorick (Terminal 0: 2nd Message) ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc Poor Yorick (Terminal 3: 1st Message) ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc ^19201facltebicubcc Poor Yorick (Terminal 3: 2nd Message) ^4910mllykttyizarat ^4911dinnbdydntsytht ^4910mllykttyizarat ^4911dinnbdydntsytht ^4910mllykttyizarat ^4911dinnbdydntsytht Confound Delivery (Terminal 0) ^38111fndsftcnscns ^38111embcrdbrdsid ^38111fndsftcnscns ^38111embcrdbrdsid ^38111fndsftcnscns ^38111embcrdbrdsid ^38111fndsftcnscns ^38111embcrdbrdsid Confound Delivery (Terminal 2: 1st Message) ^4910mllykttyizarat ^4911dinnbdydntsytht ^4910mllykttyizarat ^4911dinnbdydntsytht Confound Delivery (Terminal 2: 2nd Message) ^^^alks897 ^^^^rwx777 ^^rw-664 ^^^alks897 ^^^^rwx777 ^^rw-664 Aie Mak Sicur (Terminal 0) ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw Acme Station (Terminal 1: 1st Message) ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw ^28199bfubrictefxal ^28199thdmncobwbsnw Acme Station (Terminal 1: 2nd Message) ^731ipwide ^lert Sta181: 309c1adcast D^te: 3fc1a Post Naval Truama (Terminal 0) ^73312whlpshgdwntrn ^73312dtdrpwpdsdmy ^73312whlpshgdwntrn ^73312dtdrpwpdsdmy ^73312whlpshgdwntrn ^73312dtdrpwpdsdmy Post Naval Truama (Terminal 1) ^31882stkevctnngld ^31882ybordeclqkng ^31882stkevctnngld ^31882ybordeclqkng ^31882stkevctnngld ^31882ybordeclqkng Post Naval Truama (Terminal 2) ^73lipwide ^lert Sta1f1: a0ec1adcast D^te: 3fc1a Post Naval Truama (Terminal 3: 1st Message) ^73lipwide ^lert Sta1f1: a0ec1adcast D^te: 3fc1a Post Naval Truama (Terminal 4) ^389433asaliskwl ^777373asaliskwl ^834393asaliskwl ^389433asaliskwl ^777373asaliskwl ^834393asaliskwl Son of Grendel (Terminal 0) ^654204sprdnksprdnk ^092969zpzpzpzpzpzp ^090472tlboitlboitl Son of Grendel (Terminal 2) ^589222hstrlstherth ^000992grndlsfrcetu ^000091hyydnarzpths Son of Grendel (Terminal 3) ^654204sprdnksprdnk ^092969zpzpzpzpzpzp ^090472tlboitlboitl Son of Grendel (Terminal 4) ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm You Think You're Big Time? You're Gonna Die Big Time! (Terminal 2: 1st Message) ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm You Think You're Big Time? You're Gonna Die Big Time! (Terminal 2: 2nd Message) ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm ^99102hngbrncztscl ^99102wgrclbtfrcmm You Think You're Big Time? You're Gonna Die Big Time! (Terminal 3) ^9320wrefkddud 9034thssksbvs 9066hhhthsrls 0394yh...e.e. Aye Mak Sicur (Terminal 0: 1st Message) ^4u235hriamgw ^wrealn030-34 Aye Mak Sicur (Terminal 1: 1st Message)
On the The Cthulhu Mythos in Marathon page
Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> pointed out that the
line on Son of Grendel (Terminal 3):
^589222hstrlstherth
was possibly "Hastur rules the Earth"?
And on the Grendel page Avi Selk <avi@terra.cyberspc.mb.ca> pointed out that the line on Son of Grendel (Terminal 3):
^000992grndlsfrcetu
was possibly "grendel's ---"?
Cindy Hoffa provided the following interpretation for the character
strings on Aye Mak Sicur (Terminal 0: 1st Message):
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
Alan Lively provided an additional line in a follow-up post:
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?
Elbert Wall <elbertdw@radiks.net> writes concerning
one of the cryptic strings on Son of Grendel (Terminal 4)
^090472tlboitlboitl = toolboi toolboi tool
"toolboi" was one of the nicknames used by Greg Kirkpatrick.
Dave McGee <kallikanzaros@home.com> writes:
^4910mllykttyizarat ----->smelly kitty is a rat
not sure what the din is and the rest doesn't
Confound Delivery (Terminal 0)
Acme Station (Terminal 1: 1st Message)
Son of Grendel (Terminal 4)
Post Naval Truama (Terminal 1)
here are some possible solutions to more of those trash terms
ill list the codes with solutions next to them.
^4911dinnbdydntsytht ---->din? anybody don't say that
really make sense but it fits
the same phrases appear at Confound Delivery (Terminal 2: 2nd Message)
next
^28199bfubrictefxal
^28199thdmncobwbsnw ---->this damn cobweb is new
and also at Acme Station (Terminal 1: 2nd Message)
next
^654204sprdnksprdnk
^092969zpzpzpzpzpzp ----> zap zap zap zap zap zap
and last
^73312whlpshgdwntrn ----> while pushing down, turn
^73312dtdrpwpdsdmy
Joshua Inglima <jinglima@thinkpos.com> writes:
^73312whlpshgdwntrn ----> While pushing down turn
^28199thdmncobwbsnw ----> the damn cob-webs now
Post Naval Trauma (Terminal 1):
^73312dtdrpwpdsdmy ----> don't drop weapons (?), dummy
Acme Station (Terminal 1: 1st Message):
Bradley Attfield <iku-turso@home.com> writes:
^99102hngbrncztscl
How about "hang brain, cuz it's cool"?
You Think You're Big Time? You're Gonna Die Big Time!
James Gurnee <harness@access1.net> writes:
Son of Grendel (Terminal 2 & 4)
^654204sprdnksprdnk ----> spnkr dink spnkr dink
Sebastian Brytting <zorkar@yahoo.com> writes:
^4911dinnbdydntsytht
could be
din? anybody don't say that
and the "din" is probably "didn't"
just wanted to say that. doesn't make more sense now, but anyway.
Somebody wrote and said that
Mietek Bak <desp@poznan.mtl.pl> writes concerning Sebastian Brytting's
suggestion (above) about the letters din in the line
4911dinnbdydntsytht and offers instead:
What about 'Dink'? I guess someone's fed up with the Bungie trademark
saying... ;)
Chris Purcell <cjp39@cam.ac.uk> offers a suggestions for the cryptic character strings
mentioned above:
Perhaps:
4911dinnbdydntsytht - Dink! No, buddy, don't say that.
Ryan Woodward <RD007BOND@aol.com> writes:
I think 4911dinnbdydntsytht probably means: Dink! Nobody doesn't say
that! (punctuation questionable). Although it isn't gramatically
correct(double negative), it makes more sense than anything else I can
discern from the string.
Similarly Forrest Cameranesi <forrest@bungie.org> writes:
Mietek Bak said "I guess someone's fed up with the Bungie trademark saying...".
This made me think that "4911dinnbdydntsytht" might be "'Dink!' Nobody don't say
that..." - that is, complaining that nobody ever says Dink, though they all say Blam.
From the Trash Terms, it occurred to me:
Simon Benoit <simben1@yahoo.com> writes:
On the THIRD terminal in Marathon 1 (thus the 3rd one in Arrival), there is the following binary code:*0001101011101110111000111101110101110110101011
*1001100001110100101001001001001000010100101111
*1001000101011110100101010101000001001000101110In binary code, 7 is 111. Now count how many times 111 is repeated in the sequence (not couting the 1111s). SEVEN TIMES. Coincidence, or conspiracy? :)
Note also that in this terminal some of the binary code is in bold and italics.
Simon Benoit <simben1@yahoo.com> writes concerning the following binary code on
the third terminal on Arrival:
*0001101011101110111000111101110101110110101011
*1001100001110100101001001001001000010100101111
*1001000101011110100101010101000001001000101110
If you take all the bytes (series of 8 bits) in the sequence one by one (I know the last one of each line only has 6 bits, but just make it so that it's 00 followed by the 6 bits), it gives you the following results:26, 238, 227, 221, 118, 43
152, 116, 164, 146, 20, 47
145, 94, 149, 80, 72, 46Add these up, and it gives you 2104.
2104...
2+1+0+4=7...
The magic number...And I've calculated it with a few more methods (depending where I reduce the numbers) and I still get 7. I'm beginning to think that the whole Seven thing is just because that number has more odds of appearing than any other number in many operations. After all, it IS the most likely result of throwing 2 dies (On 36 possible combinations, 6 of them make 7, thus there's a 6 to 1 chance of getting seven). But still, I just CAN'T believe that terminal was just put there with random 1s and 0s. It makes no sense.
poenadare in another Story forum post writes:
I just noticed Ne Cede Malis (Terminal 1): siklicar 21`perie1cesOh wow, it means "Cyclical Experiences".
Phonetic spelling in Marathon whatever next?
siklicar is more likely pronounced as "cyclicular" which is sometimes incorrectly used for the word "cyclical".
An excellent example of the use of phonetic spelling can be found in Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks.
Here's part of the plot summary for the book:
Humanity has lost much of its technological background, due partly to an exodus by much of the species,
and partly to the fact that those who remained (or at least their rulers) are fighting against more
advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence.
The works of Mr. Banks are no stranger to the Story page. Feersum Endjinn is a challenging read, particularly
because large parts are written phonetically. Here is an example:
In here, thi trik is thinkin rite. Thas all u ½ 2 do. U ½ 2 think rite. U ½ 2 b dairing & koshis, u ½ b ver sensibil & totily mad. Moast ov ol u ½ 2 b cluvir, u ½ 2 b ingenius. U ½ 2 b abil 2 use whotevir is aroun u, & thass whot it reely cums doun 2; thi kript is whot they col self-referenshil, which meens that — up 2 a poynt — it meens whot u want it 2 meen, & displays itself 2 u as u r best abil 2 understand it, so iss up 2 u reely whot yoos u make ov it aftir that; iss ol about injiinooty & thass y itz a yung persins meedyum, frangly.
The reference to "Cyclical Experiences" is very similar to Thoth terminal on Requiem For a Cyborg
where Thoth says:
(circumstances are cyclical)