The Mailstrom
The Mailstrom is a search engine in the World of Year Zero designed to evesdrop on messages contained in the Consolidated Mail System.
Discovery
The Mailstrom was found on a lithograph given at the listening party to those who pre ordered Year Zero (open the image in the highest resolution possible and look at the top left corner).
Website Content
Following a link in the main page leads to this page which provides the premise that the Mailstrom is a brute force means of evesdropping on communication that goes through Consolidated, the sole system of email service available to Americans in the near future of Year Zero.
On this page, you can log in with various Wreckage/Shards listed below:
wreckage: gallows shard: Y3RG7J
This is a page discussing informants and a possible link to Trinity Episcopalian (http://www.trinitychurch.us/), it is unknown if there is another website hidden in the meaning of this email communication at this time.
At the Minneapolis Listening Party, some buttons were given out. Four buttons have been reported to date, containing another wreckage/shard retrieved from The Mailstrom. The following combination was found on two of them:
wreckage: gasoline shard: UUu891
This is a thread between a mother and representatives at the Bureau of Morality regarding access to her child.
Those who attended the San Diego listening party obtained three more codes. There were two buttons that matched each other:
wreckage: tumbrel shard: AD44Us
This is apparently spam or junk mail. One program advertised is CitizenKing Max, which helps people boost their citizen points, which are needed in order to have an "Administration-approved character." The next program discussed is called ChildAssist, which is approved by the US Bureau of Morality, and it helps parents improve their child-rearing score.
After each program is advertised, something called the NeroMod GX, is discussed. This device can be used to modify any Nerochip of the third, fourth or fifth-C generation. Also it says that the NeroMod GX is the most preferred modification device by most celebrities and heads of state, implying that all citizens have the Nerochip. As a sales pitch, any citizen that purchases one of the programs advertised gets a free NeroMod GX.
Chicago listening party attendees received buttons that contained the following codes:
wreckage: wretched shard: Ypq2QQ
This is a letter of confessional from a soldier to a pastor. The soldier talks about his station in the Middle East and his growing aggravation with his surrounding and himself. Soldiers are given pills to keep them "hopped up." The author goes on to tell of how a boy, apparently working for the enemy, reported their position with a hidden GPS unit on his bike, so the soldier shot him. Yet he didn't shoot him, the pills did. Pills are creating a loss of free-will. The use of these pills by soldiers is also mentioned in the Bio section of Be The Hammer.
Also, this e-mail leads us to believe that other terrorist attacks (or climate phenomena) has caused the abandoning of other US cities like Detroit, New Orleans and St. Louis. Also, Yüksekova is a province in Turkey, and Urmia is a district and city in northern Iran.
Dallas attendees received buttons that matched to the following code:
wreckage: fratricide shard: 774HZx
This is a letter sent out to a group of people. Perhaps most notably is the reference to Stonewall. The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between New York City police officers and groups of gay and transgendered people that began on June 28, 1969, and lasted several days. Also called the Stonewall Rebellion or simply Stonewall, the clash was a watershed for the worldwide gay rights movement, as gay and transgendered people had never before acted together in such large numbers to forcibly resist police. This rebelious and perhaps now illegal community in Year Zero is indicated by abbreviations of names and a note to have the e-mail deleted as soon as it is read. The sender, Dorothy, gives information about a future meeting that will be held at Stonewall. Dorothy then speaks about two members of the organization - C.U., who has just been arrested, and S.K., who's father is in the hospital from dehydration and has had his citizenship account "re-established". Dorothy or "Friends of Dorothy" is also commonly referenced to the gay icon Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," further indicating involvement with the LGBT community. Perhaps Dorothy is also in reference to Dorothy Richardson, the first writer to publish an English-language novel using what was to become known as the stream-of-consciousness technique. This technique was also used by writers of the beat generation such as Jack Kerouac, who had close relations with Allen Ginsberg. Her thirteen novel sequence Pilgrimage is one of the great 20th century works of modernist and feminist literature in English. This is followed by a quote from the Bible, Matthew 5:44. The letter also includes the declaration, "God is the God of all."
Direct quote of Matthew 5:44 (King James Version): But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
(source obtained from here.)
wreckage: wetwork shard: c276e4
This is a response to a question by an unknown individual from an unknown individual. The page lists ways to absorb liquids into the body without ingesting Parepin. Methods included are: collect rainwater, drink milk, avoid ice cubes, and drink only Mexican beer.
wreckage: bitter shard: BGtg57
This is an advertisement to hunt the last black bear from a company or organization called Omega Man, to someone with the name Bob. It is stated in the advertisement that to become an Omega Man you must kill the last remaining animal of a species, so far there have been Omega Men of Lynx, Snow Leopards, and Orangutans.
The film "The Omega Man" stars Charlton Heston who is a member of the national rifle association.
wreckage: slander shard: Yr4893
This is a message from a Mindy Abington to a substitute teacher explaining how students are to write a summary about an incident involving a Chinese child who died from staying awake for 5 days straight at a backdoor cyber cafe. This is possibly a reference to this or many of the other instances of deaths caused by excessive gaming.
wreckage: flense shard: E5PPvv
This is an e-mail between Brent Trunks, BoM, Director Federal District 45 and Kimberley Tellalian, BoM, Assistant Director Federal District. BoM being Bureau of Morality. It entails a series of messages exchanged between Dale Hajdik, BoM, Federal District 45 and Kathleen Novak discussing a fellow student of Kathleen's that is suspected of subversion. The entire event comes to a head when Kathleen sends her fellow student and ex-boyfriend, Heath Duncan Sandleben, to boot camp (as most young subversive citizens are). As a result she attempts suicide at the school they attend.
wreckage: pliers shard: Ji3p09
This is a letter from Blake Bessarion of the Denver Animal Society discussing the mauling of Misha Delmore. Bessarion is discussing that the mauling of a 6-year-old child was caused by the systematic abuse of these animals on a large scale by the government. Dangerous dogs not allowed to be owned by citizens are used frequently by the government, including the dog that mauled Misha (it was let loose by police).
wreckage: corrida shard: MKs742
This is a letter from someone with the moniker: WildSpirit85. It talks about the presence not being a sign of the end of the world, but of a new beginning.
Hindu teachings typically end with the words Om shanti shanti shanti as an invocation of peace, and the mantra is also used to conclude some Buddhist devotional ceremonies. Source
wreckage: atropine shard: gH319x
This is an advertisement for Green Bay. Present-day Green Bay is cold, but in the world of Year Zero, the climate is warm enough to be a viable spring break destination.
wreckage: venom shard: D3i8Na
This entry is an email from someone with the screen name of HarareMedic to Dr. Hunger Lazarini. The message is about what seems to be a shipment of human organs, and what is implied to contain children's organs due to the writer discussing him contacting orphanages that many have provided good products. Also the writer of the email tells Dr. Hunger Lazarini to not contact him by phone ever again unless it is for an extreme emergency, and to be discreet due to the AU investigators. Apparently the price of these 'products' is high.
wreckage: sickle shard: nnqa49
Note: Not work safe images contained within. This appears to be a future-version of a classic ad for penile enlargement, complete with mostly-naked female model to entice the reader, and unlike other mailstrom mails, it contains a return address, [1]. It ends with the cryptic message, "Reply with your interest in the subject line. Safe & discreet." Reading the first letters of each line of the mail reveals the true meaning of this mail: "Nerochip extraction". Putting that as the subject line in a mail to the address gets the following reply:
If this is one of Willie’s friends or clients, Willie is in prison. I guess it was just more important to him to look after you than it was to take care of me & anna-marie. I hope you think it was worth it. I’m still waiting for the Glorious Resistance to send me a box of diapers and some baby food and job that pays more than minimum wage. Oh—right. Those jobs are for people who AREN’T married to dissidents.
If you reply to the email without "nerochip extraction" in the subject line you receive this message: "Sales of PENETRATOR XL have been discontinued pending litigation.".
wreckage: spore shard: pQw2pP
The email comes from an insurance company explaining to a father that his child’s medical condition and necessary surgery is not covered, although the child’s brain condition was the result of negligent arsenic disposal on the part of a now-dissolved company. Because the company is no longer in existence, the Limited Liability Law passed by Congress states that the child’s condition is now considered “An Act of God.” Acts of God are not covered under the insurance program.
wreckage: infarction shard: 6k961g
This email shows an order confirmation for an online bookstore called Safe Choice. According to the store name and the fact that the books are USBM approved, this looks like a government controlled online bookstore.
wreckage: needle shard: jP411R
This email shows an advertisment from the Belize government about how American citizens can have their freedom in Belize. The email is classified as SPAM, but this is probably a result of the government controlled email system.
wreckage: widow shard: vC99iT
This email is sent probably to the government by a news reporter. It's a forward of an email from someone who lives in Syria and it criticizes the USA and how they kill from afar and have occupied countries like Iraq. He also says that if they kill his daughter, he'll become a suicide bomber.
wreckage: belladonna shard: 3Mz3tU
This email contains a conversation between a daughter (Selena) and her father (Kenneth). The father is going to work late and gives his daughter instruction on taking care of her younger brother until he is able to come home.
Selena contacts her father regarding a small emergency concerning her brother missing a prayer vigil at his school because he did not let their father know earlier in the week of the required attire. Kenneth replies in a short message that he will just have to learn the consequences of his actions, and that he is unable to make it home tonight.
Selena attempts to contact her father via cell phone but is only able to leave voice messages. Her father responds that things are very complicated at work and unexpected visitors have shown up. He then warns her to screen phone calls and not to let any strangers in the house.
Selena again attempts to contact her father multiple times on his cell but is unable to do so. Two men in suits appear at the house claiming to work with her father and that he had instructed them to pick up Selena and her brother. She does not let them in as they did know the secret word and fakes a call to 911 which causes them to leave.
From this point on the father's only responses appear to be automated messages stating that he is away from his desk. It is worth noting that even though the conversation takes place over many hours the times listed on Kenneth's responses are always 1:38 PM.
The next message from Selena explains that she has contacted her Aunt Margaret and was instructed not to answer the door for anyone but her. Before Margaret can arrive four people come to the house: two cops, a woman, and a man. Selena lets them in and is told to pack some clothes for her and her brother. Her younger brother believes this is because of his missed prayer vigil, but Selena writes that she knows it's about the "secret stuff" her father has been involved in for years, which is apparently smuggling Americans to New Zealand.
Her aunt then arrives at the house, as well as the two men who originally attempted to get into the house. They follow Margaret to the door.
The last message is sent from the aunt's home, explaining they are on the run and won't be staying long. As Margaret opened the door to the house she saw the policemen and created confusion by shouting "rape" which caused the cops to draw their guns on the men behind her. She then ran Selena and her brother out of the house and into her car where fire was opened upon them but no one was hurt. Selena guesses that her father is not okay, and will probably never read her message.
wreckage: parasite shard: tP366K
This is an email from a teenage girl who has just had a Nerochip implanted as a requisite from her mother before she will be allowed to drive. The teenage girl receives a henna tattoo that frames the Nerochip for her upcoming prom, which her friends do as well.
However her father orders her to wash it off because he doesn't want anything "A-Rab" in his house despite his daughter's explanation that henna originates in India. The e-mail also references "Nerochip earrings" becoming popular after the recent Oscars.
wreckage: necrotic shard: blE34c
Link.
This is an email from someone to his girlfriend, telling her that he has to leave and that she should forget about him. The writer of the email also mentions that two years ago his brother disappeared. The email vaguely implies that the writer is somewhat involved in the resistance.
wreckage: cleaver shard: I682fg
This page, found here, discusses the mass sighting of the Presence which ensued a panic at the Daytona race track. The TV broadcasts were edited, but the author has a picture of the real event.
wreckage: scorpion shard: 4rTL21
This page is an email from a Princeton professor Timothy Eskaran to another professor. He had written a draft paper on the Presence, and didn't want to include his own account. Link on page leads to Brian Tsunoda.
wreckage: hubris shard: 39tpLe
This message is from a soldier to his girlfriend, and explains the way he feels about being a soldier and being "out there".
wreckage: usurp shard: 397W4P
This page is a discussion between a man with affiliations with Anglo-Johnson (introduced on Mining For Life) and a White House staff member. It talks about Anglo-Johnson, discussing the benefits. It also mentions testing Cedocore drugs on people working there, and the man mentions a vaccine that makes his nose bleed orange, which has also come up in U.S. Wiretap
wreckage: pain shard: HTDTNA
This is an exchange of emails between Bianca Sherer and whoever runs AVOTT. She asks for some information to be published. In return, he asks for the file the Bureau of Morality has on him to go away. He then confirms publishing of the information which leads to a new page in AVOTT.
wreckage: flood shard: LHL7P3
This is a message between someone who is possibly an AVOTT member (Miranda-AVT) and someone who is part of the resistence and was present at the first resistance meeting, 15 years before year zero.
Wreckages
At the Year Zero listening parties, buttons have become available that have codes for either the wreckage or the shard. Here is the complete list of wreckages, including pictures of the buttons. New finds are highlighted in grey. Wreckages requiring pairing with another piece of data are highlighted in red.
| Link | Button Detail | Wreckage | Shard |
| [2] | Sample from information page / Sample from information page | gallows | Y3RG7J |
| [3] | Robot Head (wreckage) / Molotov Cocktail held by robot (shard) | gasoline | UUu891 |
| [4] | AIR Flag (white on green) / Bird like figure | sickle | Nnqa49 |
| [5] | Found through brute force / SPEAK TRUTH (red on black) | cleaver | I682fg |
| [6] | YOU HAVE A VOICE (white on green) | spore | pQw2pP |
| [7] | YOU WILL BE HEARD (black on white) / AIR Flag (white on red) | bitter | BGtg57 |
| [8] | ART IS RESISTANCE + AIR flags (black on red) / ART IS RESISTANCE (red on black) | slander | Yr4893 |
| [9] | ART IS RESISTANCE (white on black) / ART IS RESISTANCE (white on red) | flense | E5PPvv |
| [10] | Found through brute force / Police Baton | necrotic | blE34c |
| [11] | Angel's Hand with Sickle (wreckage) / Angel (shard) | wretched | Ypq2QQ |
| [12] | Purple guy in the center of the mural | tumbrel | AD44Us |
| [13] | Found through brute force / Speakergun held by robot (from AIR site background image) | parasite | tP366K |
| [14] | AIR Flag (white on black) | widow | vC99iT |
| [15] | AIR Flag (red on white) / You will be heard. (white on black) | infarction | 6k961G |
| [16] | AIR Flag (red on black) / AIR Flag (white on grey) | fratricide | 774HZx |
| [17] | AIR Flag (grey on white) / AIR Flag (black on red) | wetwork | c276E4 |
| [18] | AIR Flag (white on blue) / AIR Flag (blue on white) | pliers | Ji3p09 |
| [19] | Pig cop (from billboard) / Chip held by crying angel (from billboard) | atropine | gH319x |
| [20] | AIR Flag (black on white) / AIR Flag (white on black) | needle | jP411R |
| [21] | Background from artisresistance.com / Background for artisresistance.com number 2 | venom | D3i8Na |
| [22] | Hand with bottle (from billboard) / AIR Flag on back of dude (from billboard) | corrida | MKs742 |
| [23] | AIR Flags (orange on black) / AIR Flag (grey on yellow) | regret | Ad54S7 |
| Art is Witness (white on red) | cleansing | not seen | |
| [24] | Found through bruteforce / Man in headlock (from billboard) | belladonna | 3Mz3tU |
| [25] | Found in Year Zero CD lyric booklet on gun | scorpion | 4rTL21 |
| [26] | Found in Year Zero CD lyric booklet from red letters | usurp | 397W4P |
| [27] | OSR LA Meetup Button (Image Please?) / AIR Flag (black on desert camo) | hubris | 39tpLe |
| [28] | exhibitA.wav from Exterminal inverted and combined with Capital G produced an audio clip / the capital letters on the [try_again page] | pain | HTDTNA |
| [29] | Found in Year Zero CD lyric booklet as a code on each page | flood | LHL7P3 |
Hidden Numbers
24.1.1 on the main page.
Image File Names
The file names for the images that comprise the body of each e-mail message appear to be random numbers, but are in fact written in "leet-speak" with names appropriate to the subject of the e-mail (for example, the first image in the "fratricide" e-mail is named "fr4_7ri_cid3_01.jpg").
This theory bends in some emails, however, since the filename doesn't match the wreckage name.
bitter - l457814ck834r_04.jpg, read as "lastblackbear".
Hidden Text
A quote from the beginning of 1984 by George Orwell composes the broken text.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him."
- Various pages that are linked through the Wreckage/Shards have background text as well.