Chapter 42-3 Chasing Ghosts

[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.

[7oddisdead]

And look at that...red wins the internet again.

that also reminds me. Everyone keeps calling it the eye of horus, when in fact its reversed. Making it the eye of thoth. I think I said that in this thread but it slipped down the cracks

[LiamKerrington]

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!

Hey!

Those are very, very good questions. Here are my takes on them:

As for how Ink realizes his Alpha Status: We know that zombs do not attack each other in general. According to Skittles there are exceptions which include special zombs, but this does not change the general rule. Especially because we know it: most of the times zombs hunt in packs or appear in huge numbers attacking survivors; and except for #7 attacking a regular at ground zero we don't have a single eye report speaking of zombs attacking zombs. When Ink became one of them and got out of the van, the zombs did not attack him either. And they also seemed to acknowledge his alpha-status. So I would say that that might be the earliest moment at which he has realized his power ober other zeehs, if it has not been the moment when them regulars stopped damahing the van he was in.

As for other intelligent zombs: cunning we had right from the beginning even with regulars. Was it in the garage of the Tower, when one zomb played hide and seek with Angel and Saul in order to avoid being shot? Or was this on their first scavenge run? Then Burt has mentioned the Smart Ones and has told Saul and Angel what makes them more dangerous. This gets validatet or verified by Skittles, who has spoken about them being around book stores, who have been the nearly worst nightmares. Then we have Randy, whi seems to be a very smart one as well. Ink is outstanding. Already in life he was outstanding as a scientist; and his exceptional brainsszzZZ still makes the difference.

As for why the survivors have not met more smart zombs: This is actually the same number-issue as with normal zeehs: at the time of the zombocalypse
LA had roughly 3 to 3.5 million inhabitants and employees in town. But there were no more then a couple of thousands of zombs right from the beginning, because mostly them zeehs did kill their victims, and only few made it to become zeehs. Also it is safe to assume that police and military services might have killed at least some of them zeehs in the beginning. Just remember how deserted the streets were already when Michael, Angel, and Saul left the base in order to get to the Tower. That was like hours after zombocalypse struck; and in a place with hundreds of thousands up to millions of potential zeehs this should be striking. And the deserted streets and random encounters with zeehs was and is pretty much the rule in the WA Story; this would only change, when the survivors have come very close to certain spots - the Arena and the Hospital, that's it. Considering these rough estimates I tend to assume that the fraction of smart ones within the number of all zombs might be similar low as with the number of really smart people in the average human society.

So still: these are simplifying assessments mostly based in what we actually know from the show. That's why I still lean towards Ink and his zombs adapting towards a major change in the ecology rather than having started it all. I may be wrong, though.

And all this with the tiny iPhone display ...

Best wishes!
Liam

edit:
P.S.: I remember Kc having mentioned something along this line on the WA Fancast - it all started at Ground Zero, and because none survived at what happened there it will remain a mystery how exactly it all started. I think this leaves some room for speculations whether Ink has started the Ground Zero situation, or someone/-thing else. Against Ink is to be mentioned: at the time Ground Zero happened Ink was in custody already for some time - at least enough time for having received the tatoos in jail; so whatever happened there at Ground Zero, Ink must have had some people assisting him doing so. So - is he kind of a a leader terrorist, a cultist, or a solitary madman?

[YetAnotherBloodyCheek]

...
P.S.: I remember Kc having mentioned something along this line on the WA Fancast - it all started at Ground Zero, and because none survived at what happened there it will remain a mystery how exactly it all started. I think this leaves some room for speculations whether Ink has started the Ground Zero situation, or someone/-thing else. Against Ink is to be mentioned: at the time Ground Zero happened Ink was in custody already for some time - at least enough time for having received the tatoos in jail; so whatever happened there at Ground Zero, Ink must have had some people assisting him doing so. So - is he kind of a a leader terrorist, a cultist, or a solitary madman?

Nowadays, if We're alive were a Hollywood product, the ideal solution would be to solve this myth in a prequel series (of movies). By the way, why would somebody zombify the whole world when there is not admiration, recognition, fear to receive from rapidly diminishing mankind? But well, on the other hand, creating chaos can be a motivation...

[Gooer]

And look at that...red wins the internet again.

that also reminds me. Everyone keeps calling it the eye of horus, when in fact its reversed. Making it the eye of thoth. I think I said that in this thread but it slipped down the cracks

When i type in either Eye of Thoth or Eye of Horus, they both come up with the same image of the Wedjat.

Unrelated, i found a fairly interesting image that shows that each piece of the Wedjat relates to the senses of the human body....

3726Eye-Horus-1510652.jpg

[7oddisdead]

Well shit now I'm confused....

maybe this'll help. I need sleep, but I skimmed it. No NSA material here.

http://www.eyeofthemagi.com/read_more.html

[tonyhind86]

All these symbols. Where's Professor Robert Langdon when we need him?

[Grognaurd]

Ugh, the problem is that relatively simple designs can be used by many different cultures to mean different things. Take 14 for example. The birds foot. Could be a song birds foot. Three toes in front and one behind. This facilitates their ability to perch on a branch and sing. So, a peaceful songbird. Raptors (hawk, owl, eagle,eyc) have talons and are built to grab prey. So, they look different. But, maybe it is not a pretty songbird singing about love. Maybe it is a carrion crow...

But, forget birds, maybe it is a rune, simple straight lines, easy to cut. Oh, wait, it is also an alchemical symbol for brimstone. Violence and war and hell. To further exploit that, some groups also consider it a broken cross and emphasize the satanic. Oh, but wait, in the 60s people drew a circle around it and called it a peace symbol.

So, what the heck does it mean to ink?

Now we get to some of the more complicated ones. That three ring chemical is not in the testosterone family. Testosterone has five rings. Unless it is supposed to be??? Are the symbols correct? There has been some liberty taken with previous artwork. The tricyclics are a class of drugs that can be old school anti-depresents and anti-psychotics. Also, anti-histamine. The photo is not awesome, so it is hard to go after the excruciating detail. Worse, we also have to get into the "handedness" of the molecule. Like scissors. A right hand drug might do great things and the left handed version sucks...