JohnNotJohn[spoiler]
There is a long-standing that Niobium was being smuggled in on pizzas and used to build an AI called HALOS. While this would explain the large portion of the budget being spent on pizza, it doesn’t explain why the Niobium was being smuggled in the first place. The use of Niobium in the construction of an AI is established in whiteboard c0a1x_labboard_am1. However, from the same whiteboard, it can be inferred that Dr. Montero, often noted as an administrator, was aware that Dr. Bottomley was in possession of Niobium. Why, then, were measures being taken to smuggle it in?
My theory is that the Niobium was initially being used in the development of the Tau Cannon. After all, the usage of Nb alloys as a superconductor is often linked to its use in particle accelerators. This would explain why Dr. Montero was aware of its presence in the Biodome. However, if Nb can also be used in an AI, and Dr. Horn and Dr. Bottomley were secretly using for this purpose, they would need a way to smuggle in additional Nb so as to avoid detection. This is why they used pizzas. A stockpile of pizzas, while strange, would seem much more innocent than a stockpile–or worse, unexplained disappearances–of an element often used in jet engines (see C-103 alloy) and currently being used in the Tau Cannon, the destructive power of which we are all familiar with.
This theory doesn’t replace the long-standing one, but rather acts to fill on some of the gaps, and make use of the clues which have been provided.
Second, understanding the significance of the pizzas, what is the implication of their theft by Dr. Stone and Dr. Welsh? Whiteboard c2a4x_labboard1 already shows Dr. Horn’s frustration regarding one of the security guards taking and eating the pizzas. This is understandable, because it would mean that more pizzas would have to be ordered to replace the Niobium. But consider what would happen if someone made a concentrated effort to steal and hide as many pizzas as possible. Recall that the events of Half-Life 1 take place in May, while the diary entry from Dr. Welsh mentioning the plan to steal the pizzas is dated in either September or October, depending on what format was used for the date. Since we are still able to find countless pizzas scattered throughout the facility, and the large contribution of pizza orders to the Biodome budget, as well as their continued theft (see whiteboard c2a4x_labboard15). is still being seen as an issue, it would appear that this has been going on for several months–almost a year, in fact.
If something about the previous statement seems strange, that is because it should. According to the evidence presented above, Dr. Horn had been continuing to smuggle in Niobium using pizzas right up to the events of HL1. However, this seems to contradict IRC clues 2 and 3, which points to the recovery of Niobium at Holloman Air Force Base, and the subsequent continuation of project HALOS thereafter. I have several theories regarding this, but they are mostly speculation.
March 15[sup]th[/sup], 2015
https://forums.blackmesasource.com/index.php/Thread/13735-ARG-The-Pizza-Code-Mystery/?postID=603538#post603538
What if the intent of the appearance of test pattern was simply to lead us to reexamine that line from the HALOS file?
In context, it appears after the queries for user activation and passcode. In other words, where someone would logically use the login credentials from IRCs 4 and 5. This would mean somebody reactivated the “site.” Perhaps, the test pattern was a literal “test” of the “pattern,” like testing a program. In other words, it was a test of the HALOS system.
We’ve always thought of HALOS as a mysterious, silent observer, waiting maliciously in the shadows. But we are ignoring the clues regarding the AIs original purpose. The use of Niobium, and the label on the doors to the X01 and X02 labs, “Macroscale Quantum Systems,” suggest HALOS was intended to be a quantum computer.
Within all this emphasis on ciphers, and a test pattern that involved encrypted data, I would suppose HALOS was meant to be a code breaker. Then, the hex code was its final test.
I don’t know what to make of this theory, but maybe we need to start asking questions like who reactivated HALOS and why? More importantly, were they testing HALOS’s functionality, and did it work? Lastly, if it was a test, with a known plaintext, what might the tester use, either for the key or the plaintext?
EDIT: One more thought. If HALOS is indeed a quantum computer, designed to break most modern encryptions in a reasonable amount of time, try combining this with the other portrayal of the AI, that of the observer, the analyzer. Traffic analysis, timing attacks, asymmetric cryptosystems like Benaloh and Paillier, and cascade ciphers. If someone were designing the ultimate code breaker, I would imagine they would test it against the ultimate code. “Tempus Omnia Revelant,” initials TOR. The Onion Router, named for its multilayered encryption, and considered the holy grail of encrypted communication.
March 17[sup]th[/sup], 2015
https://forums.blackmesasource.com/index.php/Thread/13735-ARG-The-Pizza-Code-Mystery/?postID=604805#post604805
I wholeheartedly agree with efforts to clarify the story. Storm keeps suggesting that would help us. And, considering this is the guy who expanded the QE chapter to being on of the highlights of the Black Mesa mod, and showed his work, I’m disinclined to leave gaping plot holes or write off several pieces of the story as just outside references.
J.D. Marcel, for example, may not be just a reference to a 90s BCC show, but also a researcher at Black Mesa who wanted to get in touch with Bottomley, administrator of the Biodome labs, in order to get Niobium for an AI project. I made a post about this a few weeks ago. From this interpretation, I was concluded that Niobium was already in use at the Biodome, probably as a superconductor for use in particle accelerators like the tau cannon. It also has other applications that might make it suit the needs of Lab D Optronics. This was also how I was able to establish a stronger connection between Niobium and a quantum computer, rather than a standard issue sci-fi supercomputer.
I concluded that Horn and Bottomley were smuggling additional Niobium into the Biodome to work on a computer to house the HALOS AI. To avoid questions regarding why they needed so much Niobium, they hid their actions using pizza. Hence, “the pizza is a lie.” Either they bought Niobium and wrote of the expenses as pizza orders, or they literally smuggled the Niobium in with the pizzas. I’m inclined to go with the latter theory, silly as it is. It would help rationalize Horn’s anger over any theft or unauthorized consumption of the pizza. It also matches Welsh’s diary entry with the theft mentioned on the budget whiteboard, which was attributed to Dr. Stone, and the text below the grilled pizza image on Storm’s website.
My remaining questions are about what happened next.
Who are “they” from the grilled pizza text? What exactly did they steal, and where are they hiding? IRC Clue 1 points at it being Welsh, but the message could be interpreted as them asking Horn to not let some other entity find them.
Who was behind the acquisition of Niobium and the continuation of the HALOS project mentioned carried out in the other IRC clues? What was the result of their efforts?
How did Horn go from the vengeful man who wrote the grilled pizza highlight text to the man who wrote the Tempus omnia revelant, with the hidden message that seemed to warn us about an AI that is watching us?
I also can’t shake the feeling that our progress in the ARG is a driving point of the story, since HALOS.txt only appeared after possible login credentials were found inIRC Clue 5, and possibly 4. Also, Clue 4, which came out right after the /thepizzaisalie extension was accessed, mentions an access being detected to a personal site.
Also, on that note, who might have put HALOS.txt there, and possibly reactivated the AI?
Any thoughts?
[/spoiler]
