Add Violence Back Cover...ARG?

[Toadflax]

It looks like a manual. Imagine if the physical component is a manual showing how to operate this Add Violence machine amd what it does.

Yup! We were talking about whether the black envelope from the NTAE PC was next to it, but it definitely seems like the AV PC could be a booklet with some revealing info. Now we just need it to ship before 2022!

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

Amazing thing is hardcore NIN fans are obv into major NIN geekdom....yet Trent is even more into geekdom...

[Toadflax]

Okay, so I inverted the picture in Gimp to see if anything becomes clearer, and not really. The Null Corporation tag, though, seems the most intriguing part to this, and would probably, in my opinion, lead to something more than any of the other numbers or words on this thing. It looks sort of like CAYS 24 0 0 to me, but I can't make it any clearer. I've attached the picture in case anyone else can make out that tag better (direct link in case the picture doesn't work: https://ibb.co/dR1BfF)

Yeah, I see ?CAYS?? 24 0 0, though I'm not 100% on the Y.

[paul_guyet]

Same.

Yup, now I'm not sure either. Fuck you Trent.

Also, because I have a lot of time on my hands, I called LCW and spoke to a gentleman named Robert. I asked him if they did custom builds and he said it depended. I then told him I was looking to commission a build of a kind of military looking sci-fi control panel thing with custom labels and whatnot (i.e. the AV engine), using some of the stuff @AnaTorpedo found and if they'd ever done anything like that...he said they had not, but that they could and that, if I sent some reference photos, that would help. At the end of the conversation, I told him I was recommended this place by an art director named John Crawford and I asked if they'd ever done a build for him, and he told me he couldn't remember working with anyone by that name. Guys, either he's a FANTASTIC liar or something else is going to happen at those coordinates.

You're welcome.

[ekrekel]

^^^I'm guessing they've been getting phone calls non-stop for the last week.

[Toadflax]

Yup, now I'm not sure either. Fuck you Trent.

Also, because I have a lot of time on my hands, I called LCW and spoke to a gentleman named Robert. I asked him if they did custom builds and he said it depended. I then told him I was looking to commission a build of a kind of military looking sci-fi control panel thing with custom labels and whatnot (i.e. the AV engine), using some of the stuff @AnaTorpedo found and if they'd ever done anything like that...he said they had not, but that they could and that, if I sent some reference photos, that would help. At the end of the conversation, I told him I was recommended this place by an art director named John Crawford and I asked if they'd ever done a build for him, and he told me he couldn't remember working with anyone by that name. Guys, either he's a FANTASTIC liar or something else is going to happen at those coordinates.

You're welcome.

Haha, brilliant. Now I want to go tomorrow morning and pose as a government agent who needs to track down a machine being used to foment insurrection.

[paul_guyet]

And, just to throw this into the mix...www.nullco.com is DOWN.

[Ruined]

Allow me my feels moment: I'm just happy to see this community working together and putting this puzzle together. Not sure if this will approach the massive ARG of YZ, but, it's fun reading all the cool stuff you guys find, as well as your theories.

[EndlessLoveless]

The more I look the more I feel the machine is just filled with cool little easter eggs but the point of the picture is the users manual/physical component in corner.

[|mando|]

Allow me my feels moment: I'm just happy to see this community working together and putting this puzzle together. Not sure if this will approach the massive ARG of YZ, but, it's fun reading all the cool stuff you guys find, as well as your theories.

[Malashaan]

A somewhat disorganized collection of thoughts follows.

Very provisional theory: In Zero Sum the world ends, but it appears it is a simulated world (all we ever were, just zeros and ones, etc.). However, the simulation is set up based on a prediction or knowledge of those events actually happening and the real world ending. That could just be a prediction based on other simulations or, I think more likely, some of Year Zero's events were not within the simulation. In particular, the solutions backwards initiative really did send warning of the future catastrophe in the real world back in time. The machine from the cover is being used by some group in (approximately) the present day to run simulations trying to find a way to avoid the catastrophic event. The dial in the bottom center shows the est(imated) date of the termination event (i.e., when the world "ends"), and the deviation count right by it measures either: difference from what actually occurred (or an initial prediction of what will occur) or difference from a desired outcome that avoids the disaster.

Other thoughts: the presence dial is visually connected to four jack sockets. They could be outputs but I think they're more likely to be inputs. Under that construction, The Presence in the simulated world is the manifestation of external inputs by the controllers of the simulation. This could be a mechanism by which the controllers provide more specific direction to/control over the simulation than the broad, general parameters provided by the other controls.

D.O.F.: I concur with the suggestion that this is degrees of freedom. It spatially coincides with other controls about the complexity of the simulation, and the number of degrees of freedom is a key factor in the complexity of any simulation. The more interesting question is what are those degrees of freedom in this context.

KDSV: I'm fairly confident DRanged hit this one on the head - it refers to the measure of societal development.

Button Marked "advanced self-awareness": Interesting concept - the obvious interpretation is that it makes at least some of the simulated subjects aware that they are a simulation. This fits with the lyrics of Zero Sum (the simulants realize at the end what they are).

S.A.S.C.: This is very interesting. It appears to be the label for the 7.516M number. I agree that the number is probably the current population within the simulation, but none of the proposed meanings of SASC fit well with that. What is the connection between the population and S.A.S.C.? Or does the number mean something else and we're being distracted by the fact it matches world population well?

Missing Portion: What are we not seeing? Based on the size of the lower unit and the apparent modular construction, it seems likely the top unit is the same size. Based on that assumption, we can only see about half of it. What else is on that unit? In particular, what is shown on the (what appears to be a) dial above "bias" and "tolerance"? Those two buttons appear to relate to whatever that is.

Monitoring World Active: What does this mean? It could just mean whether the simulated world is currently being monitored, but a more natural grammatical construction for that would be something like "world monitor" with idle and cycle options available. "Monitoring World Active" more naturally implies that there is a separate monitoring world that can be idle or cycling.

The Big K: It is very prominent and stands out in that it doesn't serve any obvious function, unlike the other components. It could be a manufacturer's logo (which in itself could be relevant), but it is in a somewhat odd location for that. It could also be a label added by the controller indicating it is unit K, suggesting there at least 10 other units. These could be modules for the simulation (e.g., the block above of which we can see half is module J), or could indicate several distinct simulation systems running simultaneously. In the latter case, does that mean there is something special about K (a rogue simulation?) or is it just one example of a wider scheme?

The tape: I feel like I can see something in the shape of the tape (it's not flush) that might be brought out with processing, but I don't have any photo processing software on hand or the time to play around with it.

[acidpits]

Yup! We were talking about whether the black envelope from the NTAE PC was next to it, but it definitely seems like the AV PC could be a booklet with some revealing info. Now we just need it to ship before 2022!

Yeah, looks like it. I wouldn't be surprised if a site or app popped up with an interactive version of that machine and the manual is the key to making something cool happen there.

[NIN64]

Was I the first to point THIS out?!? Did I ARG? Is this how to ARG? Seriously though, I really hope that there is something relevant there and it's not just an oversight. I was never able to participate in the YZ ARG. . . I'd go scope it out myself, but it's not like it's just down the block for me.

[AnaTorpedo]

A somewhat disorganized collection of thoughts follows.

Very provisional theory: In Zero Sum the world ends, but it appears it is a simulated world (all we ever were, just zeros and ones, etc.). However, the simulation is set up based on a prediction or knowledge of those events actually happening and the real world ending. That could just be a prediction based on other simulations or, I think more likely, some of Year Zero's events were not within the simulation. In particular, the solutions backwards initiative really did send warning of the future catastrophe in the real world back in time. The machine from the cover is being used by some group in (approximately) the present day to run simulations trying to find a way to avoid the catastrophic event. The dial in the bottom center shows the est(imated) date of the termination event (i.e., when the world "ends"), and the deviation count right by it measures either: difference from what actually occurred (or an initial prediction of what will occur) or difference from a desired outcome that avoids the disaster.

Other thoughts: the presence dial is visually connected to four jack sockets. They could be outputs but I think they're more likely to be inputs. Under that construction, The Presence in the simulated world is the manifestation of external inputs by the controllers of the simulation. This could be a mechanism by which the controllers provide more specific direction to/control over the simulation than the broad, general parameters provided by the other controls.

D.O.F.: I concur with the suggestion that this is degrees of freedom. It spatially coincides with other controls about the complexity of the simulation, and the number of degrees of freedom is a key factor in the complexity of any simulation. The more interesting question is what are those degrees of freedom in this context.

KDSV: I'm fairly confident DRanged hit this one on the head - it refers to the measure of societal development.

Button Marked "advanced self-awareness": Interesting concept - the obvious interpretation is that it makes at least some of the simulated subjects aware that they are a simulation. This fits with the lyrics of Zero Sum (the simulants realize at the end what they are).

S.A.S.C.: This is very interesting. It appears to be the label for the 7.516M number. I agree that the number is probably the current population within the simulation, but none of the proposed meanings of SASC fit well with that. What is the connection between the population and S.A.S.C.? Or does the number mean something else and we're being distracted by the fact it matches world population well?

Missing Portion: What are we not seeing? Based on the size of the lower unit and the apparent modular construction, it seems likely the top unit is the same size. Based on that assumption, we can only see about half of it. What else is on that unit? In particular, what is shown on the (what appears to be a) dial above "bias" and "tolerance"? Those two buttons appear to relate to whatever that is.

Monitoring World Active: What does this mean? It could just mean whether the simulated world is currently being monitored, but a more natural grammatical construction for that would be something like "world monitor" with idle and cycle options available. "Monitoring World Active" more naturally implies that there is a separate monitoring world that can be idle or cycling.

The Big K: It is very prominent and stands out in that it doesn't serve any obvious function, unlike the other components. It could be a manufacturer's logo (which in itself could be relevant), but it is in a somewhat odd location for that. It could also be a label added by the controller indicating it is unit K, suggesting there at least 10 other units. These could be modules for the simulation (e.g., the block above of which we can see half is module J), or could indicate several distinct simulation systems running simultaneously. In the latter case, does that mean there is something special about K (a rogue simulation?) or is it just one example of a wider scheme?

The tape: I feel like I can see something in the shape of the tape (it's not flush) that might be brought out with processing, but I don't have any photo processing software on hand or the time to play around with it.

Apologies if this has already been pointed out but there is also something missing under the "abort" button.... its a bit smaller than all the gauges and whatnot so it could be any number of things...

[Toadflax]

The Big K: It is very prominent and stands out in that it doesn't serve any obvious function, unlike the other components. It could be a manufacturer's logo (which in itself could be relevant), but it is in a somewhat odd location for that. It could also be a label added by the controller indicating it is unit K, suggesting there at least 10 other units. These could be modules for the simulation (e.g., the block above of which we can see half is module J), or could indicate several distinct simulation systems running simultaneously. In the latter case, does that mean there is something special about K (a rogue simulation?) or is it just one example of a wider scheme?

That whole post is a really nice write-up! As for the K, it looks like the NullCo label says something like "PART NO | PANEL J - K," but I can't tell if that's quite it.

[AnaTorpedo]

Yup, now I'm not sure either. Fuck you Trent.

Also, because I have a lot of time on my hands, I called LCW and spoke to a gentleman named Robert. I asked him if they did custom builds and he said it depended. I then told him I was looking to commission a build of a kind of military looking sci-fi control panel thing with custom labels and whatnot (i.e. the AV engine), using some of the stuff @AnaTorpedo found and if they'd ever done anything like that...he said they had not, but that they could and that, if I sent some reference photos, that would help. At the end of the conversation, I told him I was recommended this place by an art director named John Crawford and I asked if they'd ever done a build for him, and he told me he couldn't remember working with anyone by that name. Guys, either he's a FANTASTIC liar or something else is going to happen at those coordinates.

You're welcome.

Somebody else called....
https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comment...ith_lcw_props/

[acidpits]

I want to know what is hidden under the black tape with a little '2' just about sticking out from behind it.

[Malashaan]

That whole post is a really nice write-up! As for the K, it looks like the NullCo label says something like "PART NO | PANEL J - K," but I can't tell if that's quite it.

Assuming that's correct (and it makes sense that it is), it begs the question "what are parts A through I?"

[Toadflax]

I want to know what is hidden under the black tape with a little '2' just about sticking out from behind it.

I tried peeling it off, but I guess computers don't work that way.

[Toadflax]

Assuming that's correct (and it makes sense that it is), it begs the question "what are parts A through I?"

I had a thought which is probably nothing. Someone pointed out that K=11 and that AV is the 11th NIN album. By that logic, what if the J panel actually relates to NTAE, and the K panel relates to AV? It would make sense that we all of K and part of J- but also that they're adjacent. It's a nice idea, but I'm not seeing anything in the NTAE lyrics or on panel J that correlates in a convenient way.

[AnaTorpedo]

I want to know what is hidden under the black tape with a little '2' just about sticking out from behind it.

See, I can't decide if its tape or if its a hole... there is definitely a black circle in it...

Edit: I have no clue how to attach an image in here apparently but... if you max the brightness and the contrast in photoshop you can see what I mean

[define]

Okay, so it seems that MI is really "negative" and PL is "zero or positive", cause i googled that combination like crazy, but it appears only here:
https://community.arm.com/processors...ion-in-thumb-2
It's kind of over my head, i am not into this programming stuff. But it looks like this machine works under assembler or CC (whatever it is).

I am actually dissapointed. I thought that there's something more then just plus-minus thing...

[paul_guyet]

I want to know what is hidden under the black tape with a little '2' just about sticking out from behind it.

Pretty sure the 2 refers to the jack below it. But...where's jack 1?

[define]

By the way the design of this unit K is killing me. Whatever reptiloids they are, they don't think much of usability. I mean, the picture is good and all, but in the terms of actually using this thing, it's just... meeh

[Toadflax]

Okay, so it seems that MI is really "negative" and PL is "zero or positive", cause i googled that combination like crazy, but it appears only here:
https://community.arm.com/processors...ion-in-thumb-2
It's kind of over my head, i am not into this programming stuff. But it looks like this machine works under assembler or CC (whatever it is).

I am actually dissapointed. I thought that there's something more then just plus-minus thing...

Interesting that the heading under the chart is "Branches."

[Toadflax]

See, I can't decide if its tape or if its a hole... there is definitely a black circle in it...

It's definitely tape. The circle looks to be the same screw-looking thing to the right and above of BIAS on panel K.

[AnaTorpedo]

Pretty sure the 2 refers to the jack below it. But...where's jack 1?

I don't think its actually a jack underneath it, it doesn't have the little polygon under the port... HOWEVER.... the screw that is in the hole opposite is the kind of think that sometimes holds wires in place, so possibly something else was once connected there via wire and has since been removed

[AnaTorpedo]

Also... oddly enough the only two non phillips head screws in the whole thing are the one under the black tape, and the big silver one just to the left of it. But the one under the tape is a specific type of set screw and its brass and its killing me right now that I cannot for the life of me remember where I encounter those because its something I work with on occasion...
I wish I could laugh about analyzing screw heads on a NIN album pic but like... people went NUTS when the Star Wars poster of Rey came out and her damn staff had a phillips head screw sooooooo DETAILS MATTER PEOPLE!!!

[EndlessLoveless]

Part number looked like PANIC dash something to me.

[nick2k]

And, just to throw this into the mix...www.nullco.com is DOWN.

^^^ legal representation for musicians