As if a race against time to unlock Portal 2 early wasn't enough, Valve have been dropping cryptic hints that there's more to come from the ARG. A decrypted morse code message hidden in the latest Steamcast read "it's not over the others have been compromised." Later, a message from the mysterious "Doug" alludes to an Aperture Science Icebreaker Ship. The only one of those we know about is the Borealis. The Borealis was last seen seen at the end of Half Life 2: Episode 2. This is getting very exciting indeed.
Catch up with the latest clues below. We'll be updating this post with the latest info as it arrives.
The details here have been gleaned from the Valve ARG wiki. Here's the message from Doug in full.
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---LOG FROM , BY J.H. TO C.J.---
1. We designed the entire thing to be very, very durable. It was easy to get the materials since everyone's been thinking it's a simple icebreaker ship. Ha.
2. We have made sure to strip it of anything not necessary, so that we have plenty of space for it. It doesn't have any backup supplies in the event the crew runs out of food, though. And there isn't much food onboard in the first place.
3. In the event you need to send it off all of a sudden, use the OR box with code 'hb1'.
That's all, C.J. Not much else I can tell you other than this won't leave a blight on our record. Mesa is going to be sore when they see what we've done.
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C.J. is likely to be the CEO of Aperture Science, Cave Johnson. We don't know who J.H. is just yet. Notice also the mention of Mesa in the final line, surely a reference to Black Mesa, Aperture Science's competitor in the Half Life 2 universe.
There's more. Throughout the ARG, select players have had their Steam and email accounts taken over by GLaDOS. After yesterday's message about the Borealis, Valve employee, Jeep Barnett responded to questions denying that there was anything going on outside of the Portal 2 countdown. This morning, he responded to all emails with this message.
"I am okay. I am still a person. Who is okay. I am busy doing safe things that are supervised by a responsible safety associate."
He's been taken over by GLaDOS, too.
Current estimations suggest that Portal 2 will unlock in just over a day's time. Perhaps we'll know more then. We'll be updating this post with all the latest from the ARG as it happens.
