Going back to test five, the Numeric Projection Evaluation, the e-mail announcing the test contained a phone number buried in the email source code. The number, which belongs to Hans Van Eeghen, is 1-323-743-8573. Call it and you’ll hear the following message:

“Namaste. You have reached the voicemail of Hans Van Eeghen, the Dharma Initiative’s Head of Recruiting. Unfortunately I am unable to take your call right now, but I do hope you leave a message so that I may address your inquiry at a later time. Thank you and Namaste.”

I didn’t really get into the source code messages in the e-mails during Dharma Wants You, I could never find them. Guess I should have looked them up…

I called this number and listened to the voicemail. I think that you can actually leave a message at the end, it does beep. Someone should call and leave their number in the message, see if anyone calls back. Maybe I will! Dunno. What would be the point of hiding the phone number in the email source code, then creating the voicemail if it didn’t serve a purpose…?

I didn’t think the voice sounded anything like Hans Van Eeghen. Someone pretending to be him? Is Hans Van Eeghan really the Black Swan? Call it, listen to it, then comment back and let me know if you think it’s him or not.

In the airy (slightly annoying) background music on Dharma Wants You, there are voices, that when played backwards, say words.

Go to DarkUFO and view the post, Backwards Audio on Dharma Wants You, to hear the audio clip.

The words in the clip are separated by a small amount of time but all of the words are:

she, resembles, more, a, right, man, nothing, click, then, bend(?), honest, see

This is probably based on a French Proverb “Nothing resembles an honest man more than a cheat.“

Dharma Wants You test 7 was released tonight. I failed.
The test was simply a video from Hans Van Eeghan. Here’s what he says (yeah, I typed this. Thank me.) -

Namaste, my recruits, I trust you are well.

I’m sure many of you were expecting to undertake the seventh and final test of the volunteer recruitment program. Well, I take great pleasure in revealing that you have already completed this most challenging exam. I realize this may be a surprise to some, so let me share with you the title of the test. Perhaps it will help explain this unexpected turn of events. The Integrity, Honor, and Honesty Assessment. Throughout the volunteer recruitment program, the recruits were covertly supplied with cheat codes, which, if utilized, provided an unfair advantage in the testing procedure. These codes were distributed by the ever persistent Black Swan. Despite repeated warnings to ignore Black Swan’s communications, a significant proportion of recruits exploited these codes. However, what these recruits did not understand was that the Black Swan’s codes were also a test. A test I have been orchestrating since the very beginning of recruitment. A test of their integrity. I, of course, am Black Swan. This deception was always part of my design for the recruitment process. It is not in my nature to behave this way but in this situation, it was necessary. The Dharma Initiative has been betrayed by those close to it before. We had to take seriously the possibility it could happen again. I must admit, however, that I never anticipated how many talented recruits could be so easily tempted. How many would be without integrity, honor, or honesty. As a result, these recruits have failed the seventh test. Furthermore, their future in the Dharma Initiative is also under review. For those of you who did not resort to using the code, you have naturally passed the integrity test. You are to be commended for your honesty. The officials reviewing your results will look very favorably on this outcome. Congratulations.

This document (he’s holding in the video) contains the raw data collected from all recruits during the testing procedures. Individual test scores, cumulative scores, averages, groups, dharma points, cheat codes utilized, it is all here and there are a number of observations I could make from just a preliminary examination of the test data. But that would be improper. As stipulated from official procedure, your test results will now go to the Dharma Initiative’s Recruit Evaluation Panel for review. The outcome of which, will determine your role within the Dharma Initiative’s current project.

On behalf of the Dharma Initiative, I would like to thank you all for your efforts over the last seven weeks. The final decision regarding your position within upcoming research activities will now be left in the hands of my superiors. Results will be released after December 15.

Good luck to you all, and as the great French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau argued, “Patience is bitter but it’s fruit is sweet”. Namaste.

The Groups for this Test

After watching the video, I looked at the My Progress area and I was put into the Black Swan group. This is the first group that had nothing to do with Greek mythology. The non-cheaters were put into the group White Swan.

Well, I hope that something else happens with this ARG between now and December 15. Otherwise, I’m going to have to go back into radio-blog silence. I don’t want to do that :(