Here And There Along The Echo

2020-04-17T17:30:33Z

2A00:1370:811A:35CD:BC9F:7CF3:D3A3:8383: /* Extensions */

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Here And There Along The Echo''}}
{{Acts}}
[[File:EchoRiverPostcard.jpg|thumb|right|''Here And There Along The Echo'' [[postcards|postcard]].]]
{{title}} is the third {{KRZ}} interlude, released on October 30, 2014 between Acts [[Act III|III]] and [[Act IV|IV]]. The game, described as "dialing software," consists of a phone that can only dial the following number:
:{{Code|+1 (270) 301-5797}}
Calling this number allows players, as [[Emily, Ben, and Bob]], to have an automated conversation with [[Will]], a guide at the [[Bureau of Secret Tourism]] who provides information about the [[Echo River]].

''Here And There Along The Echo'' is available for download [http://kentuckyroutezero.com/here-and-there-along-the-echo/ here]. Players may also access the interactive voice response system by calling the phone number on the postcard.

== Overview ==

The guide offers information about a number of locations seen in [[Act IV]], including the [[Rum Colony]], the [[Iron Pariah]], the [[Silo of Late Reflections]], [[Sam & Ida's]], and the [[Mucky Mammoth]]. The guide also describes a town inhabited by horses that walk the streets, and that has its own roads, but no roads leading to or from it. [[Dogwood Drive]] is one of the streets in this town.<ref name="morse">[https://steamcommunity.com/app/231200/discussions/0/617336568075739789/ <nowiki>[SOLVED]</nowiki> Mysterious morse-like code in 'Here and There along the Echo']</ref>

== Extensions ==

Dialing the extension {{Code|7360}} at the beginning of the game leads to dialogue from Will requesting players to tell the Bureau why they can't sleep.

The extension {{Code|1618}} will lead Will to ask about the last thing players remember before holding a snake.

The extension {{Code|7864}} will lead Will to prompt the player for their earliest memory.

The extension {{Code|1928}} will lead Will to ask for white noise/TV static.

The extension {{Code|0464}} will lead Will to catalogue a new type of weird water.

In Act IV, Will checks his answering machine and listens to messages that seem to be responses to these prompts.

== Encoded messages ==

If the player lets the phone sit for a while without picking up the receiver, they will begin to receive a series of strange phone calls.

=== Numbers stations ===

One call features a female voice reciting a long string of numbers, similar to a [[wikipedia:Numbers station|numbers station]] broadcast. The entire broadcast is just over 40 minutes long and can be listened to below ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msar8tdc4zs mirror]):
[[File:Phone4_802.ogg]]

This broadcast is an encoding of the following message:<ref name="numbers">[https://steamcommunity.com/app/231200/discussions/0/620695877410574318/ <nowiki>[solved!]</nowiki> Strange mystery "numbers" on phone in Here and There Along the Echo (spoilers)]</ref>

<poem>
By night we suffer, wandering, night frees the imprisoned spirits, and his cage abandoned Cerberus himself strays. At dawn the law demands return to the pools of Lethe: we are borne across, and the ferryman counts the load he’s carried.
</poem>

This is a direct quote from [[wikipedia:Propertius|Propertius]]' book of elegies, ''Elegiae''.

=== Morse code-like cipher ===

Another call consists of fax machine noises which sound similar to morse code. This call encodes the following message:<ref name="morse" />

[[File:Fax audio.ogg]]
<div style="height: 0.75em;"></div>

<poem>
Echo River Central Exchange Fax 270- 3 -81 2
Monday 03:25:17 cc Loretta, Archival for training purposes only
<< Transcript begins >>
Operator: Operator speaking.
Caller: Yes, hello. Hi. Is this Gwen?
Operator: Oh, hello Joe. How can I help you.
Caller: How are you, Gwen?
Operator: Bless your heart, Joe, I’m at work.
Caller: Me too.
Operator: What can I do for you?
Caller: Well, Slim’s got three or four shelves just about full of canned carrots and they’re not moving, you know.
Operator: Ok.
Caller: And he says “Joe, get these out of here!”
Operator: Joe, I don’t mean to …
Caller: I was going to make a few calls and see who wants them.
Operator: I can connect you.
Caller: Got anyone in mind?
Operator: Who were you thinking of calling?
Caller: Well … I don’t remember …
Operator: You don’t remember who you were calling?
Caller: I had a couple ideas, but I don’t remember the numbers.
Operator: I can look them up -- with whom should I connect you, Joe?
Caller: Well I was thinking about this town -- I mean the folks in this town I used to know about.
Operator: Which town?
Caller: When I was a boy, Gwen. I don’t remember the name of it.
Operator: What’s the listing? I can try it by name.
Caller: You’d know it if you heard about it. There’s no roads in or out. But it has its own little roads.
Operator: Joe, I need a name to look up.
Caller: Yeah, I’m trying to remember one. There was a man like a preacher. There was a school, teachers. Garbage trucks. Mail. A young lady who fixed boots …
Operator: You said you had some carrots?
Caller: Canned carrots. For the horses!
Operator: The horses.
Caller: They have horses.
Operator: How about I look up a few horse farms for you, Joe?
Caller: They weren’t farm horses. They didn’t live in a stable -- They just walked on the streets! Like people, you know?
Operator: Ok, Joe. I need a street or something, though.
Caller: There was a … Dogwood Drive!
Operator: Dogwood Drive. Alright, Joe, I’ll see what I can find.
<< Transcript ends >>
Echo River Central Exchange Fax 270- 3 -81 2
Monday 03:25:17
</poem>

== Phone models ==

Five different phone models are available in-game. The model shown is dependent on actions players have taken in the first three acts. The model of phone can be forcibly changed by following the instructions [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=336101991 here].

<gallery>
File:HATATE Phone 1.png
File:HATATE Phone 2.png
File:HATATE Phone 3.png
File:HATATE Phone 4.png
File:HATATE Phone 5.png
</gallery>

Due to the fact the TV Edition comes as a standalone game (without the ability for players to easily access the image of the postcard), Cardboard Computer updated the interlude in January 2020 to include a scrap of paper with the phone number written on it, placed on the table next to the phones:

<gallery>
File:HATATE Phone 1b.png
File:HATATE Phone 2b.png
File:HATATE Phone 3b.png
File:HATATE Phone 4b.png
File:HATATE Phone 5b.png
</gallery>

The phone model displayed differs from player to player, based on certain criteria:

* If there is no save data found, or none of the below conditions are met, the classic pink phone will be present.
* If a player has followed the bureaucracy loop in the [[Bureau of Reclaimed Spaces]] more than three times, the yellow office-style phone will be present.
* If a player has seen most or all of the overworld sights, and has talked to all of the [[Hard Times Distillery|distillery]] skeletons, the modern-style tan phone will be present.
* If a player has not met any of the above conditions, but has named their dog Homer, the vintage-style black phone will be present.
* If a player has not met any of the above conditions, but has named their dog Blue, the white classic phone will be present.

== Weird Telephones ==

Between 2014 and 2015, [[Cardboard Computer]] auctioned off three real-life telephones. These phones were modified by [[Tamas Kemenczy]] so that they were only able to dial the singular phone number.

* '''[https://www.ebay.com/itm/Weird-Telephone-only-dials-one-number-SOLD-AS-IS-FOR-CURIOSITY-ONLY-/331361758516 "Weird Telephone, only dials one number. SOLD AS-IS, FOR CURIOSITY ONLY"]'''
** This phone was purchasable on eBay between October 29 and November 8, 2014, and was sold by [[Dot]].
** A video showing off the phone can be watched [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITlhHRe0n4 here].

* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDF4cwAghAc "1986 RadioShack Office Phone"]'''
** This phone was purchasable between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. PST on December 20, 2014 by dialing (855) 515-FONE. A live stream was viewable at http://<nowiki />now.kentuckyroutezero.com/.
** An unboxing video of this phone can be watched [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yy-p2O50TY here].

* Phone from live auction at '''"Weird Telephone, Only Dials One Number"''' event in Chicago
** This phone was purchasable in-person at a March 21, 2015 event hosted at the Nightingale cinema in Chicago, and organized by the [https://www.videogameartgallery.com/ VGA Gallery]. Remote bidding was also available via the number (712) 775-7031 / Meeting ID 783617705. A live stream was viewable at http://<nowiki />now.kentuckyroutezero.com/.
** Photos from this event are viewable [https://www.flickr.com/photos/90404769@N05/sets/72157649171972394/ here].

<gallery>
File:Weird Telephone 1.jpg|Weird Telephone #1
File:Weird Telephone 2.jpg|Weird Telephone #2
File:Weird Telephone 2b.jpg|Another view of Weird Telephone #2
File:Weird Telephone 3.jpg|Weird Telephone #3
</gallery>

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Here And There Along The Echo|*]]
[[Category:Real world]]

Highway 0 - User contributions [en]

Here And There Along The Echo