Chapter 43-2 The Darkness Ahead

[Osiris]

At first, you made me write an epic rant about your prediction, because nobody kills Osiris' taphophilic love interest. But on the other side, you also made me laugh hard. Your proposed conclusion to the Pegs-Scratch-situation would be a wonderful hommage to Monty Python's The Holy Grail movie:

What an interesting use of taphophilia...

[Witch_Doctor]

Perhaps the symbols are arranged like a puzzle or riddle. That's what Datu means when he says that you can't 'read' the address. You have to decipher it. When he says 'you can't read it.' he is nor referring to any particular person or persons, but he means that the address isn't 'spelled' like a word. Think of Pictionary.

[Osiris]

Perhaps the symbols are arranged like a puzzle or riddle. That's what Datu means when he says that you can't 'read' the address. You have to decipher it. When he says 'you can't read it.' he is nor referring to any particular person or persons, but he means that the address isn't 'spelled' like a word. Think of Pictionary.

Solved it:







BUTTSEX!!!!!!!!!!!!


Never mind. I was channeling Nurse Britt.

[zack1925]

I think what he means is that Michael can't see it because he's not turning

[Zombie Yeti]

Perhaps the symbols are arranged like a puzzle or riddle. That's what Datu means when he says that you can't 'read' the address. You have to decipher it. When he says 'you can't read it.' he is nor referring to any particular person or persons, but he means that the address isn't 'spelled' like a word. Think of Pictionary.

I think your on to something my thought is randy bit datu to be a cipher. That's why he told him to go he was there with micheal at the water works. He must no micheal had the paper I think datu will be able to read inks tattoos. I hope this wasn't said already.

[Eviebae]

What happens to make the zombie spoken language understandable? Is all zombie-speak the same no matter the original spoken language? It all reminds me of the Tower of Bable story...except they left out the part about the zombies.

[7oddisdead]

perception.

that's perhaps the thing that has me so certain of the language thing. -what if- the perception of the very reality we live in, changes? what if the mind fundamentally shifts to a "different" way of seeing the world? datu says that theres another address on the note, what if even randy did not see it as an address? what if ink did not write it as an address? what if datus perception of the symbols changed it in that moment of "zombie mind awakening" and he saw an address where ink actually wrote a chemical? that we have to wait to find out...but all this is a possibility that while very much on the fringes of science...still have some basis in the logical, scientific world. we accept everything we know around us because our perceptions of the world are so similar. what I call an apple, you call an apple, I write the word apple and we all naturally see...an apple. what if your perception of an "apple" changes? you still know what an apple is...you still see the apple, you still right the word "apple" but now the apple is a bloody human heart, ripped from the tree it grows in...

am I right with all this? fuck I hope not. but its an option, better - its my "perception" of the story so far-.

todd-0

[Red Shirt]

I think more people should research how this sort of thing could be possible before judging if its supernatural or not. Also, while this story 90% science based and does a good job at keeping to that...at some point we have to go off those rails.

#becausezombies

the beauty if neurological science is in a way it is like magic. The general public (certainly including myself here) cannot even begin to wrap their brains around how the brain works. So who amongst us wants to get ahold of Steve novella?? He'll set this shit straight. *darn tootin'

I really, REALLY hope that they are fans... they have discussed the science of zombies on occasion in the past, even debating the zombies in The Walking Dead. There's about a month and a half between 46 3/3 and the finale event... if any of them are fans, maybe The WA Fan Cast could have them on as a guest during that extended break. Bob made an appearance on the Nerd List... so it might not be out of the question... though TAM is July 10-13 this year, could be busy with preparations.

---

So, here's my take. I don't think it has anything to do with magic at all... What it is, I have no idea, not yet... but here's the vibe that I'm taking away from this. I'm still thinking science, but a whole lot deeper into the fringe.

I had to seriously dig for it, but I found it, way back in the thread for WND #55:

You want Crazy? TOWTM speaks softly, but it is a pretty standard. The others that we understand are more foreign. We can speculate that they are learning to speak English to communicate with eachother, which seems odd because they clearly can communicate without it

So, spin it around. Maybe the survivors are beginning to understand "zombie". Granted this is more complicated, but the contagion, infection, narcotic, alters behavior, physiology and perspective. Why not language?

It seems that it was already hinted at back in Chapter 37... Which lead me to the astounding realization as to why. That we might all already be infected.

The juicy bit, if you don't click through, even tough you really should:

Then it struck me. We're not already "infected." We are already latent "Zombies." Of the entirety of the Human Genome, 98% of it is Non-Coding. The Hydrocarbon laden haze attacks the DNA directly like a carcinogen and unlocks the non-coding DNA and forces it to code. (Again?) Now, some of this Non-Coding DNA does actually have function, it's just not part of the blueprint that makes us Human. It is likely though, that like the ancient viruses, some of the code are genetic fossils of pieces what we used to be. Different people of distinct genetic histories and/or different parts get unlocked and get expressed resulting in the menagerie of zombies: biters, runners, jumpers, behemoths and so on.

Couple that with one of the articles that I linked in that post, it is been discovered that there are 100,000 pieces of retroviral DNA in OUR genes, making up about 8% of the human genome... and that HIV has been show to activate latent virus code. The zombie virus and haze might be activating latent DNA... now it might be activating more than that...

If I may, I'd like to take it a step further over the line and into the fringe. I'll try to retain some level of coherency here, but I'm just spit balling here. I'm not even sure myself if this may be the case because this is so far out there, foil hat just doesn't cover it:

Let's say that throughout all of human history, more importantly, recorded history there were small precursor outbreaks. Small and isolated, but they were noticed at the time and recorded through various means. The scholars of the time learned a tidbit here, a tiny detail there. Perhaps the insane ravings of a slow turner documented by a physician. Even more chillingly, the insane scribbling of a historian as they succumbed to slow turning. A character here, a sigil there. All written down as a means to attempt to document what they had discovered. Pieces of it leaked into the subconscious and the lexicon of those parent cultures and unknowingly passed it forward.

Each of these ancient scholars, historians and physicians however might have only had one piece (if that) of a much, much larger puzzle. They were also separated not only by thousands of miles but also thousands of years. Now however, the collected works of man can be perused by a visit to a museum or surfing the internet. A smart person, a very clever person, might be able to see through it and piece it together. Singular symbols from vastly disparate cultures and languages are actually representative of parts of a much deeper and older language.

What if zombification isn't just regression to what we used to be physically, but also bits and pieces of memories from eons ago? A genetic memory somehow preserved and now reactivated, are giving the infected the ability to read/understand an ancient proto/precursor language? Maybe the eye of Horus isn't that at all... it is merely a bastardized letter of an entirely different language.

The brilliance of Dr. William Roberts allowed him to cut through the chaff and to the heart of the matter... but what did he see? Prophecy? Instructions? Is this what spurred him to take on schooling in the fields he chose? Was he taking actions to get ready?

I think what happened to Datu was merely a burst of, or an acceleration of the turning, granting him the ability to see the symbols for what they truly are. I don't think that the writing did it to him.

its not a matter of a "zombie language" so to speak, just a different way of communicating. everyone is WAY overthinking this.

I am absolutely guilty of this, but as Han would say, "Hey, it's me."
I did after all, start writing before I read all the way through the thread.

But, after an excessive amount of time trying to pen this post... looking at all the symbols, lines and squiggles that comprise the letters in it is now giving me a headache. Time to hit send and bed.

[skankyfish]

@skankyfish & @7oddisdead

I do not think 7id meant this solves the mystery as much as it was an example of how complicated the brain really is. Some people report similar experiences with LSD. Me, I have no experience with the hard drugs. I have enough fun with the classic alcohol and caffeine .

Ah, ok, I can get down with that ;-)

If I go crackpot, I could envision a fungus as a contributor to the outbreak. It could provide a cognitive dysfunction and psychedelic experience. The wild card is that it might drive the infected to a warm, dark, moist environment to provide a better place for the corpse to be consumed and converted to fungus. We do not see 5 million dead in the streets. They had to go somewhere. LA is very dry, and the sun and air would dedicate the corpse and the one universal constant of life we know is water. I am not saying this is it, I am just pointing out there is still a lot of fertile soil for the zombie mythos rather than the same ol same ol and this is the behavior that the fungus which creates zombie ants. It highjacks their brains and sends them to a better place to die.
@scbubba

I actually really like this theory. There are fungi in nature that infect a host and change its behaviour (I believe Cordyceps is one - infects spiders and similar), so this is a totally plausible mechanism in my mind...

[skankyfish]

in no way was I saying it was a solution. only an example of how the brain is a strange animal.

jeez, I really don't get whats so hard to understand....

Sorry man, I misinterpreted your meaning. Wasn't trying to be a douche!

perception.

that's perhaps the thing that has me so certain of the language thing. -what if- the perception of the very reality we live in, changes? what if the mind fundamentally shifts to a "different" way of seeing the world? datu says that theres another address on the note, what if even randy did not see it as an address? what if ink did not write it as an address? what if datus perception of the symbols changed it in that moment of "zombie mind awakening" and he saw an address where ink actually wrote a chemical? that we have to wait to find out...but all this is a possibility that while very much on the fringes of science...still have some basis in the logical, scientific world. we accept everything we know around us because our perceptions of the world are so similar. what I call an apple, you call an apple, I write the word apple and we all naturally see...an apple. what if your perception of an "apple" changes? you still know what an apple is...you still see the apple, you still right the word "apple" but now the apple is a bloody human heart, ripped from the tree it grows in...

am I right with all this? fuck I hope not. but its an option, better - its my "perception" of the story so far-.

todd-0

This instantly made me think of aphasia (which I think might have been mentioned in the forums before?). Generally it's the loss of ability to use language, but in one subtype people associate concepts with *different* words than the rest of us. Not sure where I'm going with that, other than it's not too much of a stretch to associate different symbols/letters/words with new meaning either, albeit different meaning for each individual.