Bungie receives an unexpected guest: Adjutant Reflex
by Jared Rea 
{ Jun 13th 2007 at 3:00AM }
At 10:26AM Monday morning, someone -- or more accurately, something by the name of Adjutant Reflex, compromised Bungie.net, the website of the acclaimed Halo developers. Classifying itself as an administrator and compound intelligence (we smell an acronym), it created, stickied and released the first of what would be a confusing two days worth of messages.
"This will be a good place to begin."
The being then touched down on the HBO forums, declaring it another good place to begin. Begin what, exactly? While plenty of folks have tried, it has proven difficult to gather much information from Adjutant Reflex as, once it achieves its goals (which are vague to begin with), it tends to go into hibernation.
Though, the most recent incident, has been given a time table.
In one of its final transmissions on Bungie.net, Adjutant Reflex states that in 38 hours, "Archives/Resources will be compiled." With a completion time set for 1AM (PST) Thursday morning, the community is buzzing over Adjutant Reflex's origin and perhaps, more importantly, its intent. If it truly is an A.I. slipping through time to warn us of something, it most certainly wouldn't be the first time. Until then, only believe half of what you see as there are more than a few time burglars lurking about.
[via UnFiction Forums]
"This will be a good place to begin."
The being then touched down on the HBO forums, declaring it another good place to begin. Begin what, exactly? While plenty of folks have tried, it has proven difficult to gather much information from Adjutant Reflex as, once it achieves its goals (which are vague to begin with), it tends to go into hibernation.
Though, the most recent incident, has been given a time table.
In one of its final transmissions on Bungie.net, Adjutant Reflex states that in 38 hours, "Archives/Resources will be compiled." With a completion time set for 1AM (PST) Thursday morning, the community is buzzing over Adjutant Reflex's origin and perhaps, more importantly, its intent. If it truly is an A.I. slipping through time to warn us of something, it most certainly wouldn't be the first time. Until then, only believe half of what you see as there are more than a few time burglars lurking about.
[via UnFiction Forums]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fickenab @ Jun 13th 2007 3:22AM
WTF? I mean seriously WTF?
Jason @ Jun 13th 2007 3:33AM
ILOVEBEES V. 2.0
Deckart @ Jun 13th 2007 3:35AM
Adjutant Reflex has the same naming convention as Guilty Spark and the other forerunner AIs from Halo. So I guess its ilovebees all over again.
untitled @ Jun 13th 2007 3:34AM
off to an early start, i see...
bearattack79 @ Jun 13th 2007 3:37AM
Its something to do with Halo.
Or not.
Kritz @ Jun 13th 2007 3:39AM
God. A viral marketing campaign + Bungie forum community. I can already smell the fail.
Like ilovebees, I'm steering well clear of this.
Though, I do enjoy reading the "WHAT THE HELL BUINGUE WAS HACKED HELP HELP" posts on BNet.
Bageloid @ Jun 13th 2007 3:43AM
Right you are Deckart, but he has no number, which may mean he is the first moniter.
Adjutant is a military position, but its latin root means one who helps, so its either military reflex(to the flood) or helping reflex(helping the humans/forerunners survive the flood)
thoughti @ Jun 13th 2007 3:48AM
Flippin' sweet. ilovebees was really interesting. I didn't partake in any of the sleuthing, but I sure as hell enjoyed the sound files.
This should be fun.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Jun 13th 2007 3:50AM
You're falling for another inane viral marketing campaign.
In the coming days, it'll be important no to forget:
When MS does viral marketing, it's laudable.
When Sony does it, it's reprehensible.
BulletToothTony @ Jun 13th 2007 3:55AM
honestly it's like all of the sudden people are talking in a different language.. lol i guess halo does take you to another level
Dustin @ Jun 13th 2007 3:56AM
Aw man, I love this shit.
... but this post by 'him', what does it mean?
"[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] CorvetteHalo3 I know about Voi.[/quote] 3:22:44S (-3.3788) 38:34:07E (38.5687)"
Dave @ Jun 13th 2007 3:57AM
Well, this sort of viral marketing is usually more interesting than the non-viral kind. It's not as though they're not being blatant or trying to pretend they're positively reviewing a product as an unbiased third-party. Besides, I don't feel manipulated since there's no way I wouldn't buy Halo 3.
Avateur @ Jun 13th 2007 3:58AM
"Until then, only believe half of what you see as there are more than a few time burglars lurking about."
Is this suggesting that the Gamer Tag was fake, or that the posts on the Wiki are fake? Or Both?
The tag was deleted when the thing said it was going to hibernate, and an extension was added to its name:
http://i10.tinypic.com/4pes3km.jpg
That extension translates from 1337 speak to: I LOVE BEES FNC365. For more explanation:
http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=809776
Steve @ Jun 13th 2007 5:31AM
I hate this lame viral campaign crap.
And I'm sure this site will cover every step along the way.
ssuk @ Jun 13th 2007 5:51AM
Uh... Okay then... Maybe I can actually be a part of this re-hash of ILOVEBEES... I felt I missed something when I paid no attention to the other one.
synce @ Jun 13th 2007 6:46AM
This is so fucking cool. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go out and purchase next week's supply of Cheetos and Mountain Dew.
(See what I did there?)
theGreenGrunt @ Jun 13th 2007 6:53AM
Ahhh Geez, not this sh!t again.
ScreamingSkull @ Jun 13th 2007 7:18AM
Ugh, I can't wait til it's cool to not to do this viral crap. Ooooh, maybe bungie will open some new accounts on another forum!!
Not that I don't like their games, but geez, put a countdown on your website already, bungie.
Kamui @ Jun 13th 2007 7:41AM
Wow I don't know why you guys think its cool to bash absolutely everything. I'm not a halo fan by any means but I think its a neat idea for them to run a viral ad campaign, if you don't like it then.. just don't pay attention to it. Don't whine about it.
synce @ Jun 13th 2007 7:54AM
For the record, I didn't bash the viral ad. I just implied that it only appeals to nerds. It doesn't help us regular people at all.
Rolf Harris @ Jun 13th 2007 7:58AM
Unfortunately, I agree with #6; especially as it's basically rehash. I mean, ilovebees was great because it was just so.. I guess... stealth, you know? This, it'll be in the mainstream media.
Roystik @ Jun 13th 2007 8:02AM
Skynet is alive!!!
Maxi @ Jun 13th 2007 8:27AM
Just beat the number puzzle. Took me bloody ages, but finally my code has been sent off!!
If any of you guys want to have a go you can try here:
http://9894.com/
Rob Accomando @ Jun 13th 2007 8:37AM
you mean it's not really real, for real? haha
shamowfski @ Jun 13th 2007 8:47AM
Hope Boston doesn't catch wind of this. They'll blow up Halo.
fredrik dunder @ Jun 13th 2007 9:04AM
this is a
-= ! VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN ! =-
thank you.
Jonathan Harford @ Jun 13th 2007 9:14AM
As this looks to be a viral ARG marketing campaign, I hope this is the last you'll report on it?
I come to joystiq to read about video games, not marketing (even video game marketing!).
Mitochondria @ Jun 13th 2007 9:21AM
Gee thanks for taking out all the fun. Big freaking deal if it is a viral campaign, it's all apart of the halo fun. You guys ever think about that? I mean seriously, halo is one of the biggest gaming franchises, do they really need all this advertising ? No, it's just something fun and neat for the fans.
Gimbal @ Jun 13th 2007 9:27AM
I bought a Roomba recently. It woke up in the middle of the night when it started cleaning the living room floor. I thought to myself, 'that's cool. Robots cleaning my floor while I sle...wait a minute!'. That's when it dawned on me that my Roomba doesn't have a scheduler unit. It can't be programed to come on at a specific time.
The eirie green lights glowing in the dark living room as it traversed the floor suddenly seemed sinister to me. Had my Roomba become sentient?
I treat it with a little more respect now. I talk to it. Gave it a name. Our robots masters have finally come for us.
So what does this have to do with the topic at hand? Not much I'm afraid. Except to say that viral marketing campaigns are generally more interesting than my story of a rogue Roomba, 343 Guilty Spark.
Daniel @ Jun 13th 2007 9:27AM
"Remember the Cortana Letters that helped introduce the world to the HALO universe? Those were cryptic emails that originated from the Microsoft campus... Viral marketing from 1999."
Except they were bought out by Microsoft in 2000.
Kinsella @ Jun 13th 2007 10:45AM
Awwwww yeah!!! I hate this shit!! Word!
Maxathon @ Jun 13th 2007 11:01AM
Everyone's talking about I Love Bees as a comparison, but Bungie's been doing that stuff since the Cortana Letters. Hell, since the Marathon 1 map quotes really... "Jjaro were at Tau Ceti!"
Aberu @ Jun 13th 2007 11:10AM
I'm just confused, and I think plenty of people are. The only people this will get hyped up, are those that are already going to buy/have already preordered Halo 3.
Gross Greg @ Jun 13th 2007 11:13AM
LMFAO, Gimbal. You rock.
MAtthew M @ Jun 13th 2007 11:15AM
Well, I just don't know why everyone has to go and say bad things about all of this. It's just a little fun, and to some intriguing. And if you find it dumb, skip it?
rodrigo @ Jun 14th 2007 4:16PM
Gimbal does not rock. He is merely poorly paraphrasing a recent story that ran in the Onion relatively recently. That sucks dude, get your own material.
KiraXD @ Jun 13th 2007 12:11PM
i dont understand why people dont like this type of (Viral)marketing.
Its better than some crappy commercial with a 12 yearold sitting next to the tv jumping up and down and screaming with excitement at the camera.
Theres only so many ideas for marketing, that can be innovative... and theyre all used up... and besides the only point of "Viral Marketing" is to make people talk about, and notice it, which is what everyone here is doing.
vidGuy @ Jun 13th 2007 12:24PM
I wouldn't be surprised if someone, someday codes a targeted trojan horse to look like one of these viral ads. On top, it's doing all the same things as this and ilovebees. Beneath it is gathering information about servers, networks, and data.
Then, at the end of the countdown, boom, attack. Ban forum users, destroy data, etc.
The fanboys wouldn't even believe Bungie when they announce that it isn't their viral ad and that they are trying to remove it.
Kizzle @ Jun 13th 2007 12:26PM
Can you 'tards knocking this just ignore it if you don't like it? You're no better than the doofuses on bungie.net saying "WELL THIS IS DUM I'M OUTA HERE" in that thread that is linked.
I'm not into it either, but at least it's somewhat interesting. Go back to playing Call of Duty 3 or Resistance or whatever if marketing beyond "LOOK AT ALL THE LOUD NOISES AND SHINY THINGS" is too deep for you.
Triese @ Jun 13th 2007 1:11PM
What some of you don't realize (no offense intended), is that this is more of a game than a "Viral Ad Campaign" If I remember correctly, ILB (I Love Bees) did not once mention Halo or Halo 2. It was discovered by the vast majority from the Halo 2 trailer, but the actual ARG or Alternate Reality Game never mentioned Halo. It was a new experience that Bungie created with a veteran ARG company that was designed to draw you in and expose more of the Halo Bible. It was a way for us to become part of the game and the Haloverse, and to have an emotional investment into the characters themselves. If you don't like it, thats fine, but don't call it something its not, especially if you didn't experience it in the trenches first hand like some of us did.
Herr Zrbo @ Jun 13th 2007 3:29PM
the Ark = Noah's Ark?
Gimbal @ Jun 13th 2007 4:46PM
@rodrigo
I'm not going to bother trying to prove my Roomba actually started up in the middle of the night to freak my wife and I out. But I looked up your accusation on The Onion and laughed my ass off.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/roomba_violates_all_three_laws_of
Apparently I'm not the only one who had a rogue Roomba, but the writers over there are a billion times funnier than I am in writing about it.
Dragod @ Jun 13th 2007 4:59PM
A guy, Fontez, over at www.Xbox360fanboy.com figured out some stuff:
"
Adjutant = A (Faciltator/Assistant)
Reflex = R (Responsive)
Compound = C (Place/structure)
Intelligence = I (AI/Monitor)
*ARC INTELLIGENCE*
Althouth it's spelt wrong... I don't think it's a coincidence. On top of all that, this "Adjutant Reflex" claims it has been exactly 871,803,909 hours since the last time Halo's system was activated...
Here's what I figured out:
Hours in a year = 8,765.81277
Hours passed since activation as cited by AdjutantReflex =
871,803,909 / 8,765.81277 =
99454.999995396890047880865244627
Rounded, that's exactly 99455 years since activation.
100,000 - 99455 = 545
We're in year 2007. The events in the Halo story arc take place in the year 2552.
2552 - 2007 = 545
Is that some Crazy shit or what?
I'm excited..."
Crazy ;)
See everything else here:
http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/06/13/adjutant-reflex-hints-at-possible-halo-3-arg/
MK84 @ Jun 14th 2007 4:50AM
Received the following in my mailbox a few minutes ago. Clicking the linked image in the email leads to Halo3.com
HISTORY CIRCLING
BACK UPON US.
The gears of the Universe spin further
and further apart.
Ever greater grows the gulf between souls,
And distance gives false hope of safety
But for the grim tidings this messenger bears:
The enemy is almost upon us
Closing in from all sides,
Moving faster than the light
it snuffs with its passage,
Time echoes with the news of destruction.
History winding back upon itself.
Waves of an army march this way in unison, Suffering and corruption are its battle cries.
For I have known this darkness
and felt its embrace once before-
Horror best laid to rest
Yet a Journey must commence
Look for the signs, the keepers of the flame.
They will lead you to war, and perhaps, to victory.
MK84 @ Jun 14th 2007 4:53AM
The Subject of the email : Look for the signs, the keepers of the flame
rodrigo, honest to goodness Mexican @ Jun 14th 2007 4:19PM
For what its worth, I never meant to post the same message twice. Sorry.
TTL Jericho @ Jun 15th 2007 5:39PM
It is not Noah's Ark. The Chief is currently on the Ark, this is the ship that took off from High Charity at the conclusion of Halo 2. The Ark is bound for Fortress World from the end of the last Halo book: The Fortress World is a Dysons' Sphere located in Slip Space to protect the Forerunner Race from the deadly effects of the Halo's firing in response to the Flood. See the Ark reference more clearly?
The message is most likely from the Grave Mind, referring to the catastrophe that happened to the Forerunners. Whatever happened, it would appear that only a few of them made it to the Fortress world that then seeded the human race on earth.
This does not appear to be another ARG, but is building on the mythos incorporated into the ILOVEBEES campaign. Incidentally, that one ended in a nice evening of Mulitplayer in several US cities with some free gifts to those that followed the path and clues laid out by the ARG.
Additionally, the coordinates given out correspond most likely to the Forerunner structure seen in the H3 Announcement.