Who are Rachel Blake's Parents?

I have no idea ...but she sure shares some similarities with Alex Rousseau...Alex is supposed to be 16 and looks, what? > than 20? Rachel is supposed to be 24, and looks, I don't know, 12?

Retrievers of Truthiness...and friends

The Lost Experience Clues asked: What is your opinion of the Retrievers of Truth? Here's mine:

Could these images be ROT calling cards, signals that they were hot on Persephone's trail. The first one actually says, "Persephone if you can read this we know who you are." I think they've been around, and hacking, since Act 1--I can't figure out on whose behalf they're working. Mr. Werner Middelwerk as opposed to Dr. Thomas Middelwerk?

It's interesting they’ve recently left the scene.

Departed--Vincent “Wally” Bole wrote that he is now on his way to Australia and Korea

Missing/presumed dead: Interestingly, mathematician Vigi Benoffski was on his way to Perth and should have been there for the mathematical symposium…unless he was extinguished in the Vik Foundation fire. The common initials seems more than coincidence.

Departed: BBB has also recently packed up and departed for destinations unknown

And does Mandrake Wig fit into this group? MW…Middelwerk?

Here's more on that...question and others

What is your opinion of Mittlewerk?

I think there are two: Werner and Thomas. Twins? So far we’ve seen Middelwerk the pony-tailed and Middelwerk the Younger. Are they the same? He’s taking good drugs if that’s the case. Then again, in Bad Twin, Zander was the nickname for one of the Twins of the title. Maybe the now missing Dr. Armand Zander of the Vik Institute could explain the coincidence of his name? One of them apparently hopped on the phantom Helgus Antonius with two other men and hasn’t been seen since.

What is your opinion of Hugh/Darla/Gidgetgirl?

Why did they have to die? Or did they? Hugh and Darla are also MIA/Presumed dead in a car wreck. I don’t know if I believe that Darla is/was Gidgetgirl. Where’s Hugh’s wife? The one he’s supposedly been cheating on with Darla? She could be GidgetGirl...I can't remember or find the wedding picture: did she look like Sally Fields perhaps?

What is your opinion of DJDan & Tanya?
I don’t believe DJDan & Ta/onya are who they say they are. I believe their “shuttin’down the man” act is a cover. I think his show and website act as a conduit of information but I’m not sure if he works for Mittelwerk and his confederates or Rachel-Persephone (and I’m not convinced they are the same woman). Since the only characters named in the original phone call who haven’t come into play are P. Thompson and Irene…maybe they’re the conspiraspys.

What is your opinion of Ironman?
He knows who Rachel really is, which is more than I know. I think it’s possible he’s the private investigator hired by Dr. Perez to track down Alvar Hanso. He infiltrated Mittelwerk's posse...

Dutch Hieroglyphs

When Rachel received the hieroglyphs from Zander and commenters determined that they meant "cause to die" she didn't seem convinced. She asked what else they could mean? Should they be switched around? I think they might provide an important insight into Valenzetti and perhaps others whereabouts.

This is why I think maybe Alvar, Valenzetti even Mittelwerk might be in Leiden, The Netherlands…or somewhere in the Netherlands.

1) First there was DJDan’s remark about Hanso swinging through the jungle on some mountain in the Netherlands…

2) Then I found this http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:Hieroglyphs.jpg posted in by Matt the Pale.

As the text beneath the glyph explains: "This is an image from Raymond O. Faulkner's A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian published in 1976 by the Griffith Insitute, page 218. The word is causative, so a likely translation might be "to kill." Faulkner cites A. H. Gardiner's commentary on Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage (abbreviated GAS in this entry). Specifically, these particular symbols apparently come from column 16, line one of that work. Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage is also known as the Ipuwer Papyrus.

The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All is an ancient Egyptian poem written on papyrus[1]. The official name of this document is Leiden Papyrus I 344, after the town in The Netherlands where the papyrus is held (in the National Archeological Museum)."

Matt the Pale was interested in the meaning…he but didn’t say much about the surprising fact that those glyphs are an actual “quote” from an real-life document…housed at the University in Leiden (where Einstein tarried and where cyrogenics were developed. Plus there’s a Viking museum there, too. Rachel said she liked the Vikings. Scandinavian ones, at least.)

There are other Dutch references in TLE--DeGroot, for instance, but most imporant, if those glyphs are pertinent to the Numbers and most likely the Valenzetti code, then perhaps Valenzetti wrote the code at that university where he found the ominous Admonitions and the glyphs. If he is alive, but missing, perhaps he's returned to the site of his greatest accomplishment.

3) Then I saw that the Helgus in Helgus Antonius was likely to stand for holy or Saint and I found the St. Antonius Hospital http://www.antonius.net/rood/english.php specializing in cardiology…something Alvar might have a need for .. Maybe Mittlewerk was visiting Alvar there. Maybe Mittlewerk needs hospitalization there himself…

But I don't believe that part about the hospital so much after learning about St. Anthony's Fire.

Geronimo Jackson -- Side A and Side B

Geronimo! That's what kids yell when they take a flying leap. The postings in this blog are observations, theories and screwball notions that I have not seen posted on the main The Lost Experience sites and that are too long-winded and half-assed to even think of inflicting on those blogs.

Anyway, here they are...starting with...

What is the significance of Geronimo Jackson? Unclear. However, now that we're more than half way through the Experience, I now realize that very first phone message from the Hanso Foundation used the album to provide an organizing structure for TLE. It might remind us to, as Vincent "Wally" Bole says, "keep who's eye on the prize?" Number, please?

There were five touch-tone options for the voicemail and each option does describe a storyline or act of TLE .
A few of the many questions I can't answer are 1) where is Middelwerk's "constantly updated" employee line? Could it be DJDan? And when will we meet Irene? Or is she already in play?

Option 1--the big picture
(transcript thanks to The Lost Experience Clues and the Alternative Reality Lost Game site and the incredible administrators and commenters who do all the heavy Hanso lifting for lurkers like me!)

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH
Translation: That's all for me tonight. And stay tuned for some news followed by Classic rock from the 60s and 70s including an exclusive recording by Geronimo Jackson's first complete album Magna Carta. Right after some words from our sponsor.

WOMAN’S VOICE: The Hanso foundation is located at 544 Persand Klingbai (?) DK 1604…

STATIC

WOMAN’S VOICE: If you can hear me don’t listen to their lies. This is Persephone. I haven’t got much time, none us do. If you want to know the truth about the Hanso foundation, the real story is in the number. A lie (line) pulled tight enough will always snap under the breaking strain. Use this password on their site… BREAKING STRAIN! They’re coming!


Option 2 -- storyline 1

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH:
Translation: If you stay for a little while longer we'll be right back with side A from Geronimo Jackson's Magna Carta right after these words from our sponsor.

WOMAN’S VOICE: You’ve reached the Offices of Alvar Hanso President and CEO of Hanso Foundantion

STATIC

WOMAN’S VOICE (ECHOING): Where is Alvar Hanso? What have they done with him? Who is in charge here…

Option 3 – storyline 2

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH:
Translation: You just heard side A of Geronimo Jackson's classical album Magna Carta. We will be right back with side B after these messages.

MALE VOICE: You’ve reached the office of Dr. Thomas Vernon Mittelwerk, Sr. VP, COO, and Chief Technologist of the Hanso Foundation. I will be unreachable for the next three weeks. However, for those employees Paik-Heavey Industries, and Widmore Corp. engaged in active projects, I will be continuously updating the confidential information line. Please refer to your project manual for hotline access instructions. Thank You and Namaste.

Option 4--storyline 3

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH:
Translation: If you stay a little while longer you'll get some more uninterrupted music after these words from our sponsor.

MAN’S VOICE, US ACCENT: Hi this is Hugh Macintyre, VP of Communication and director of the Hanso foundation, I will return to the office in two weeks. If you are calling about the inquiry into our Korean offshore project please hang up and contact our legal department. To hear more info about Joop, the world’s oldest orangutan, please refer to our web site at www.thehansofoundation.org. Thank you and Namaste

STATIC

MESSAGE 1: MALE VOICE NORTHERN EUROPEAN ACCENT: Hugh. Thomas. Just got the changes. Good work… we should go ahead and rename the accelerated remote viewing training facilities as well. We should try to put a public face on all this. Call me

MESSAGE 2: WOMAN’S VOICE, SCOTTISH ACCENT: Hugh its Darla. I need to talk to you about Sri Lanka. This just isn’t right.


Option 5 – storyline 4

MALE VOICE SPEAKING IN DANISH:
Translation: ... news and the weather forecast after these messages.

WOMANS VOICE, US ACCENT: "Hello. You have reached the office of Peter Thompson, VP General Council and Secretary of the Hanso foundation. Mr. Thompson is not available to take your calls. If this is regarding the inquiry into Korean offshore project we must regretfully decline to comment....."

ANGRY MAN, US ACCENT: "Give me the phone Irene. Give me it. This is Peter Thompson. As chief legal officer, I would like to remind you that to make threats against me and my colleagues, or any representative of the Widmore Corp. or Paik-Heavy Industries then these acts are criminal. Make no mistake - we will locate and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law! That’s a promise. Namaste"