Chapter 42-3 Chasing Ghosts

[FallingDown]

Firstly, I have to say what an amazing episode. Will really miss the talk and priceless laughs between Puck,Muldoon,Robbins and Carl. I laughed out loud with the comment at the start...hey think thin..lol and Puck and his comments on the non lethal weapons. The emotion between Muldoon and Robbins was amazing and the mixture of fear was outstanding. I think the touches of Puck wanting to leave when they had a man down really showed the severity of the situation. Bravo. Was quite depressing to keep hearing them say that they would leave..but didn't. I have listened to it 3 or 4 times now.

I did think a few things. Since there are 2 buildings, I am guessing they are duplicates, one for men, one for women. Puck mentioned there was 20 something odd rooms. Now I realize not all will produce these special zombies, but it does imply there is a similar number in the women's block. I wonder was Roberts breeding little ones? Was he doing similar tests in the women's block and cross breeding leading to a whole new species. That might account for the little ones, well, being little. Also judging by the speed of change I guess it's fair to assume the typical 9 months cycle would be shortened. So he gets all these types to use by injecting them and deploys them. However like some type of nazi experiment, the super versions are put into a breeding Programme.

As for the colony, they are in deep trouble. With Puck badly injured, the military heroes dead, Saul a potential time bomb, one .50 cal down...only one close range matagun, limited fuel and what looks like increasingly scarce ammo, it is not looking good. I guess they still have the advantage of the chopper and isn't there another .50 cal....

I would like to thank the cast and crew...the acting first class, the writing and story is amazing ..Oscar material...when I think back on everyone who has been killed, it's certainly no Hollywood Ending. It's as bleak as the walking dead.

Also I am going to be lost when this ends.....okay now I am really depressed...

[Gooer]

I think Michael will take Victor with him to kill INK and guess what. Victor is going to kill him! MCUCHO MACHO! oh and I dont think Burt or Riley will leave now. also they might have datu help them since he is already infected. what you guys think?

Na, Michael will kill him... And Burt and Riley will not give up the hunt, they feel Scratch is nearly as bad a problem as Ink is.

[alexcadtek]

Na, Michael will kill him... And Burt and Riley will not give up the hunt, they feel Scratch is nearly as bad a problem as Ink is.

NA! I actually think INK will be killed but it wont be Michael. he will get trapped or Hurt in the battle and then someone will come and save him and kill INK. VICTOR! Burt and Riley, I dont think they will leave and if they do then Michael and I think Victor and Saul will be hunting INK and Burt and Riley hunting Scratch, I think CJ would have a problem with having two teams out hunting other people.
what do you think about Datu? you think he will kill INK. he could sacrafice him self for the group?

[Gooer]

NA! I actually think INK will be killed but it wont be Michael. he will get trapped or Hurt in the battle and then someone will come and save him and kill INK. VICTOR! Burt and Riley, I dont think they will leave and if they do then Michael and I think Victor and Saul will be hunting INK and Burt and Riley hunting Scratch, I think CJ would have a problem with having two teams out hunting other people.
what do you think about Datu? you think he will kill INK. he could sacrafice him self for the group?

Maybe Michael will die before it ends..... And Datu, i think he will do something important, just before he dies, although who knows what....

[7oddisdead]

I see your point, but I just think that there is to much orchestrated for him, how was he so quick to be able to figure out that he can manipulate zombies when he himself was one. Also he had all these tattoo's that clearly mean something, I really see your point, it is more realistic. I like that you made me see this in another way but I just feel that he did have something to do with it. But then again you are correct about the other hotspots, how do we know that there are not many others like INK in other states. But I do want to ask you. why is it that in the city where there are so many people ( LA ) he is the only person that was that smart, seems hard to belive that out of all los Angeles there where no more smart people like him that turned. Why has the group not ran in to more like him, you would think there would be at least a few more z's like that. What do you think?
Thanks!

this makes absolute sense to me. very well said, the only issue with it is, it forces people to think bigger than a hole in the ground.

[Jannit]

this makes absolute sense to me. very well said, the only issue with it is, it forces people to think bigger than a hole in the ground.

We've got to keep it to the size of a hole in the ground size or our won't protect us!

[Red Shirt]

So, I'm all tore up from listening to the episode and then I come in and see the Fort Irwin Kings of Comedy all lined up smiling like that.....

As someone else has already said: best and worst episode so far. I was doing ok until Robbins started trying to get Muldoon. And then someone must have started cutting onions in my truck or something cuz I had eye leaks.

Very well done! Tony Rey, Shaun Lewin, Christian Vieira: it was great hearing your voices on the show. Your characters are at the top of the list for me and a lot of others. Thank you!!!

Yeah... I re-listened to the episode for taking notes on something or other that I can't even recall right now... I listened in Sonic Visualizer, y'know, just in case. Between my note taking and the visuals, I was paying a great deal of attention.

Spoilered for Maudlin & Depressing:

SPOILER 

I mentioned my CLS training and that I have never needed to use it in combat... I have no illusions that anything that I experienced will ever compare to what the boots on ground went through... but I've heard the stories from the guys that came back. The stories that Soldiers only tell other Soldiers.
In Kuwait, the Mortuary Affairs branch had their office next to mine. Occasionally, their casualty reports would get sent to our printer and I would need to bring them over. Often they were scans of hand written reports that were photocopied with the ID card of the soldier. I sat in on the morning logistics brief which included the "Angel Flight" report. The time and number of soldiers that were getting sent home to for the very last time... I probably never met any of them... but from those reports, I remember their faces. This episode brought that back. It really got to me. Still haven't written or posted whatever it was I was taking notes for.

Kc, Tony Rey, Shaun Lewin, Christian Vieira and Brett Newton... Bravo. I've never been there, but I think you got it right.

sad7.jpg

It makes sense to me that he could have intelligence trials too.

Yup. My thinking was that the arena was more that just a playground for his horde, it also served as training and selection for candidates.

[Jannit]

Yup. My thinking was that the arena was more that just a playground for his horde, it also served as training and selection for candidates.

Given that Arrow Head came from the prison wouldn't it make sense for the experiments that Ink was doing there must have coincided with what he was doing at the arena. Perhaps the two sites were just different pieces of the puzzle? One was a canteen (ew!) and the other was the laboratory.

[FunkyDung]

I've been doing a bit of wandering around on the net, and a few ideas keep bumping into each other, but I haven't been able to pull out anything solid. The following are some disconnected bits and pieces that hopefully someone can help me connect. I apologize if this ground has already been covered, but I haven't had time to read all the messages in this lengthy thread.

Foremost among the ideas that frequently occur in my searches is hermeticism. From Wikipedia:

"Much of the importance of Hermeticism arises from its connection with the development of science during the time from 1300 to 1600 A.D. The prominence that it gave to the idea of influencing or controlling nature led many scientists to look to magic and its allied arts (e.g., alchemy, astrology) which, it was thought, could put Nature to the test by means of experiments.Consequently it was the practical aspects of Hermetic writings that attracted the attention of scientists."

If memory serves, the fellas at We're Alive Fancast mentioned Golden Dawn in relation to one of the symbols. Interestingly, Golden Dawn gets a mention in the article on Hermeticism (as does Rosicrucianism). Someone should dig further into this. The cipher manuscripts of the Golden Dawn seem particularly relevant with respect to Ink's writings.

Hermetic teachings refer to three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe: alchemy, astrology, and theurgy.

Other topics that come up are aspects of esotericism and theosophy.

Someone mentioned that Ink may have an image of a benzene molecule. Interestingly, benzene as a tie to occult and alchemical symbolism. The fellow who discovered the ring structure of benzene said that the idea came to him in a daydream of an uroboros, a snake eating its own tail. Snakes and serpents show up in countless mythologies.

Lastly, I think the Borromean rings on Angel's ring should be looked into. I have a sneaky suspicion that the Family has some connection to Ink and his mystery cult.

Well, it's quite late here, so I should hit the hay. I hope this helps someone move the symbol and story investigations along.

[Red Shirt]

wow, awesome find evie! ive been curious about that one! I need to go check the new wiki, but has anything come up on the heart design? I really like that design a lot. like tattoo like.

That would be the Veve for Erzulie, I talk briefly about her HERE.

If there's anything I missed, please let me know (which is probably a lot).

The mini Rosetta Stone that Kc himself provided.

And another molecule: To the left of the sun icon and above the molecule chain. Might be an isomer of Hydrogenated Cyclopentane.
(See the above Erzulie link, there's a highlighted picture in that same post.)

A few things I'd like to throw out there again are:

• Do the positions of the tattoos have meaning? (IE: Chi Meridians, acupuncture/pressure points.)
• Handiness? The Papa Legba tattoo on the right hand, does that have meaning?
• Fading and seemingly overlapping tattoos of the chemical chains. Does that mean something? Is it meant to be representative of complex molecule chains rather than the "simple" Hydrocarbons I think they might be?

Alright, I managed to shake of the funk I was in and I thing I might have nailed something significant to the wall:

Test Subject #2, George Armstrong, 53. Inmate conflict. Doped with Folistatin and Stanozolol.
(You may note that Puck repeated himself, pronouncing it two different ways. Maybe to be sure we got the spelling right?)

Stanozolol is a synthetic anabolic steroid derived from Dihydrotestosterone.
(You'll need to click on the images, black lines on a clear background.)

This is Stanozolol:
301px-Stanozolol.svg.png

This is Dihydrotestosterone:
550px-Androstanolone.svg.png

Look familiar yet? It should, Dihydrotestosterone looks like the tattoo on the back of his hand.

Now, Stanozolol chemistry is a bit vague, but it is said that: "The pyrazole ring in stanozolol can be prepared from oxymetholone by the condensation of a keto-aldehyde with hydrazine."
The Pyrazole ring is the HN/N pentagon on the left side of the Stanozolol. It looks like this:
508px-Pyrazole_2D_numbered.svg.png

Now like I said, I'm not clear on the chemistry, but I think it means that Stanozolol is synthesized from Oxymetholone By building a Pyrazole ring on one end.
Oxymetholone loks like this:
800px-Oxymetholone.svg.png
That looks remarkably like the tattoo on the right side of his skull.... and that Hydrogenated Cyclopentane isomer I mentioned above? It's actually probably a Pyrazole ring. The synthesis of Pyrazoles mention de-hydrogenation. (The removal of that little forked tail.)

The tattoos on his body are describing the synthesizing of one of the chemicals that he is using in his experiments. Stanozolol.


Boom baby. I still got it. Maybe.