Something in the Sea: October Discussion (Don't mention Bioshock 2 spoilers here)

[LittleAngels]

Happy October All! Hope this month brings us exciting news!

[LETHAL911]

Dash didn't give Mark the location to the lab, the paper says it was in midtown but Mark found where it was on his own. If the building is owned by Ryan then possibly the lab was actually his lab since he was a engineer.

Ryan was a smart man and had to know building a city under the sea could have it's problems and something could go terribly wrong. So I believe he had to have an escape route in case something did go wrong. Maybe this lab is where this route was and that is where OOL got in and out of Rapture?

I don't think the person who crafted the letter was personally threatening Mark, it came across more like when he finds what he is searching for he will regret it. I don't think they would have signed it a friend if it was a personal threat.

[Andrew_Ryan]

I can't wait to know what they will release next

[Kyburz]

So Mark is going to hit up the Arden Wray building, I can't wait! It should be interesting to see what the former abode of Andrew Ryan looks like. Maybe he can check to see if Mcdonagh's brass fittings still haven't sprung a leak.

It's interesting that Carmady describes the basement as being "not fit for a human" when it is in Ryan's posh, luxorious dwelling. I wonder what Lutwidge did to the place.

[deus]

How about a thread that deals specific on the puzzles and not plot discussions?

[BrettM]

Originally Posted by Kyburz

It's interesting that Carmady describes the basement as being "not fit for a human" when it is in Ryan's posh, luxorious dwelling. I wonder what Lutwidge did to the place.

The report describes it as an office building, with multiple tenants. Why would Ryan live in an office building?

[Bendeguz]

Originally Posted by Kyburz

So Mark is going to hit up the Arden Wray building, I can't wait! It should be interesting to see what the former abode of Andrew Ryan looks like. Maybe he can check to see if Mcdonagh's brass fittings still haven't sprung a leak.

It's interesting that Carmady describes the basement as being "not fit for a human" when it is in Ryan's posh, luxorious dwelling. I wonder what Lutwidge did to the place.

For that matter I wonder what has happened to the rest of Ryan’s building. Lets remember that he was quite the wealthy industrialist (certainly wealthy enough to build an entire city on the oceans floor) and must have had quite a collection of companies/corporations/factories/etc. under his thumb. What happened to all these after his disappearance?
Also (although I fear I may be flogging a dead horse since I have not wadded through all of the hundreds of pages of past posts and conversations - in which case I do apologise): Would Ryan have disappeared as quickly and shockingly as the clippings claim Langford, Steinman, and the others? If so, would that not have caused a stir similar to say… if Donald Trump or Bill Gates went the way of Harold Holt…

Harold Holt…

My goodness…

I never realised this before…

Harold Holt, an Australian Prime Minister, who disappeared off the face of the earth in 1967 whilst swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria. Some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories suggested that he had been kidnapped by a Chinese submarine, or that he had been abducted by a UFO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt#Disappearance

This story fits in amazingly with the world of Bioshock, and from a narrative perspective it is food for thought I say (mind you, if somebody has brought this up before my face is red.)

But before I was derailed during my innocent attempt to forge a metaphor, where was I? Oh yes, Andrew Ryan:

If A) to raise the magnificent scale of funds to build Rapture he had been selling off his assets, would that not have been regarded as suspicious by the rest of the industrial and financial world?

If B) he just disappeared, what would have happened to his sizable empire? Would it have been split up between investors? Would it still exist under the command of some heir?

Additionally c) In either of the above scenarios, would the disappearances of astronomical sums’ not have raised an eyebrow in the I.R.S.?

Any theories out there? I have none as of yet, but I am curious as to the opinions of the vetrans here.

[Kyburz]

Originally Posted by BrettM

The report describes it as an office building, with multiple tenants. Why would Ryan live in an office building?

Ah, maybe you are right. Still, it would be cool if Mark sees some old Ryan Industries logos.

[TurdSandwitch]

Originally Posted by Kyburz

Ah, maybe you are right. Still, it would be cool if Mark sees some old Ryan Industries logos.

Hasn't he already on the metal puzzle box thing?.... I can't remember.

[kea]

Hi guys,

I may be behind the times here but has the 5x5 puzzle been solved yet? If not I have an idea that might be of use to someone.

References to a knight are stacking up, plus one direct mention of a knight's tour. I think someone pointed out earlier that a knights tour is a path across a grid moving like the knight in chess and visiting each square only once. Except they were trying it on the 5x5 grid itself, whereas Lutwidge says that there are 64 steps in the journey, 8x8 the key.

I think we're up against a knights tour cipher. If we can find 64 appropriate letters, write them in an 8x8 grid, then make a knights tour it should spell out what we need to type in. I'm not sure yet what letters to use, but these types of ciphers are hard to make, and very restrictive, so its unlikely to be all the letters in a sentence. Probably it will be selected letters from a text, e.g. all the capitals or the first letter of each word. Also the text we're looking for would probably seem a bit crazy and out of place. I think Lutwidge's book must be the place to look.

I'd keep on at this myself but I've gotta go back to uni work very soon so I'll be busy. Was hoping one of the veterans out there might be helped by this.