Year Zero Research

Summary

Discovery

On the back of a new NIN tour shirt, fans noticed that certain letters were highlighted. These highlighted letters form the phrase "I AM TRYING TO BELIEVE." Assuming that this was not mere coincidence, fans found that www.iamtryingtobelieve.com is an actual website.

After analyzing the page, certain keywords and phrases piqued fan's interest and more websites relating to the World of Year Zero were uncovered. The information on these websites illustrated a dystopic world of the future, in which a totalitarian government has assumed control of the United States.

Year Zero Calendar

In Year Zero, the calendar has altered from the traditional BCE-AD structure. The years following Year Zero are denotated as "0000". When referring to the past, the years are subtracted from the date of the calendrical reconstruction. Example: Thirteen years prior to 0000 is listed as "-13 BA," or "Born Again". It is now proven that Year Zero itself is actually the year 2022, as indicated by the image located here Thus the year 2007 is actually -15 BA.

Year Zero Timeline

Year Zero: The Story

The websites suggest that in Year Zero, there is no longer a distinct separation of Church and State. Perhaps due to an onslaught of bioterrorism attacks, the government has assumed totalitarian control and used the threat of future terrorist attacks to justify their absolute power.

Church of Plano

The Church of Plano is a sola scriptura organization that uses the threat "Whoever Resists the Authority Resists God" to legitimize and support the current Administration. Not much is known about the Church, but it has taken a special interest in the Presence and is sponsoring a "Neighborhood Cleansing Program" so members can "put their faith into action".

105th Airborne Crusaders

Alongside the Church, the 105th Airborne Crusaders, a unit of soldiers whose purpose is to protect and police "God's green Earth" is further propagating the government's political and religious control of the nation. This faith-based squadron was created in -13 BA as a response to the bioterrorist attacks in Los Angeles. The 105th was formed by "those men and women who kept a personal relationship with our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and allowed the Holy Ghost to guide their rifles true."

Drugs

Parepin

In order to ostensibly protect the public from future bioterrorist attacks, the government developed a drug called Parepin . Parepin, found on the first discovered site I Am Trying To Believe, is a drug added to the water system and drinking supply of the general public. Its initial purpose allegedly is to combat all disease, though there is no scientific proof to justify this claim. The Year Zero Administration added it to the drinking supply to both combat disease and reduce the populace's susceptibility to bioterrorist attacks, however, many citizens are reluctant to believe this. Discontinued use of the drug has provided citizens with an increase in their clarity of thought, which the government claims is mere paranoia.

Opal

Opal is a new drug distributed commonly in liquid form. It is supposedly "the new cocaine" as it is cheaper to distribute and more widely available. The Opal trade has replaced much of the Columbian cocaine trade, and according to many underground news sources, this drug's main distribution source is America itself. Opal is said to mimic a religious experience for many people. It has been suggested that Opal is either chemically related to Parepin, or is Parepin in its "street" form.

The Presence

The Presence is represented as a ghostly arm reaching down from the sky. It was initially thought to be an Opal or Parepin-related hallucination, but this was debunked by people who claim to have seen or been affected by The Presence, but who are not under the effects of Opal or Parepin. It has been suggested, however, that use of Opal or Parepin may intensify or increase the frequency of these encounters. People who have been affected by The Presence have described feelings of intense fear, insignificance, astonishment, and forgetfulness. Whether the Presence is government related or not is disputed. A key note to the information regarding the presence is that there are pictures documenting the image of the presence. This lends credence to the theory that the Presence is a corporeal entity.

Resistance

There is a significant resistance faction within society [1], seemingly split between those who would promote violent resistance to provoke radical change, and those who would use peaceful means. Members of the resistance fear that the Parepin has rendered society complacent and hence unable to affect change. Their mission is to awaken society to the dangerous atmosphere of Year Zero, in which basic freedoms are repressed and objection to the Administration's control is not tolerated.

Just a general suggestion for pursuing the Year Zero websites; when reading the text, highlight it with your cursor and you can then read it clearly without any of the distortions or discolorations.

Also try pressing your 'Tab' key on the keyboard to reveal any hidden links within the webpage.

Key Information

Puzzles

Theories

ZeroTheories

Year Zero Bible References

Baseball in February

Related Phone Numbers

Proven Related Web Sites

Tracker

Hippygeek from the Echoing the Sound (ETS) forums has created a tracker.
To use it, add shatter36@gmail.com to your Jabber/gTalk account roster. On being approved, message him addme. He will send periodic updates if content on proven web sites has been updated.