It is suspected (By me) that those who are currently receiving an, 'Extra Physical Mystery Puzzle', AKA anyone who purchased the Special Ops package from the store or nikel, who won one during the launch stream, are going to be receiving a similar package to the one I did. The package was a small brown vial with an unknown liquid with the label 'Substance ID #855', accompanied by a bag with a note in it. The bag itself stated not to ingest the liquid, have it come in contact with skin or eyes, or heat it/light it on fire. The note inside was different. It is as follows. Spoiler: Instructions Greetings Agent, Thank you for volunteering to become the newest participant in experiment EDF-342. Written below you will find the step-by-step process you must follow when conduction your experiment. An ability to identify the scent will indicate the successful synchronization of the experimental substance with the brain. Please adhere to these steps to endure accurate evaluation of your results. Step 1: Have a pen and paper ready. Clear off a work surface. Step 2: Remove the vial containing experimental substance from protective bag. Step 3: Open vial and slowly bring it to your nose, take note of scent. Step 4: Write your hypothesis as to the scent of the substance. Step 5: When a potential scent has been identified and decided upon, email it to [email protected] and wait for a response. Be sure to include the substance ID# in your correspondence. Step 6: Store vial in a cool, dry place. Step 7: Record all effects of substance on your performance; mental, physical, and otherwise. WARNING: Do not drink, touch, or set substance inside the vial alight. All will result in failure of the experiment and possible death of test subject. This thread is here for people who receive similar packages to discuss the meaning of them, as well as help identify the substances using what they already know about their own.
I know I won't be receiving one of these, but do you think you could upload some pictures? It would be cool to see!
Yes please document for those agents that do not receive these, but spoiler tag the hell out of it for those that do.
I'll post some pictures as soon as I stop moving around, which will be in about...4-5 hours of me posting this.
Damn. I didn't even know there was a store. I wish we were able to buy this special ops package. Can any staff members answer if this will still be available to buy? I would love to buy this, I just didn't know there was this package. And hate that I missed it.
if it helps support the future of this game and more involvement/immersion. I would gladly support the Team/GAME/Company to continue this great project. I am talking with staff now in Conversation on how I can donate to help out.
Well, I sent in a guess as to the scent. Here's hoping. Side note: Pictures incoming...sometime. Sorry for the wait. EDIT: Apparently I don't have that good of a nose. Gotta keep trying.
If anyone wants help with finding possible scent profiles/ would like to describe the scents to me for help in identifying them, let me know! I've worked with aromatherapy and fragrances on and off for years and as a hobby. That's the best I can do without smelling the actual item. Alternatively, you can create 'sniffies' of the substance by saturating a q-tip with the substance and enclosing it in a small plastic baggie and giving it to someone/mail it to someone for second opinions. I feel like the name of the mission starting as "EDF" is possibly a nudge to the abbreviations used to differing concentrations of perfumes, like Eau de Parfum is and EDP, and eau de toilette is EDT.
Well since I'm so far the only one who seems to have received this, I might as well talk about it a bit. Spoiler Various scents that were tossed around by me and other who smelled it - Orange, Lemon, General Citrus, Pine, Eucalyptus, Menthol, Lavender. It has a heavy artificial/chemical scent to it but does still retain a tinge of something natural. When a drop was placed on a plate, it was clear, with a very light yellow tinge. Did give me a bit of a headache.
Spoiler Other options worth a smell are lemongrass, grapefruit oil, bergamot, tea tree oil, clary sage oil. Any thoughts on viscosity? Does it coat/ leave a filmy residue like an oil? Thin and watery? Evaporates like something alcohol based?
Well, it's definitely thin and watery, but I didn't try to dump it out or anything, seeing as it warns against contact with skin. There's a chance that it's some kind of essential oil or other substance with a similar viscosity mixed in with water to mute the scent.
If you feel like it would be helpful to have a basis of comparison, I'd hit up your local Whole Foods or other natural grocery store/ place that has single note essential oils for sniffing. Sniff the lid, not directly from the bottle, as that would be a super concentrated version of the oil. Spoiler Other options- citronella oil, lemon balm oil, lemon verbena oil Is it a familiar scent? From the description you gave, citronella seems like a REALLY good contender.
Spoiler I received my puzzle and I'll add pictures to this post. It has a very mild scent and, at first sniff, no citrus to us at all. Aloe or eucalyptus were mentioned. At first, the chemical smell was over-whelming for me when opened the bag. Reminds me of the smell off a xerox. Agent Paxarbolis says the chemical edge reminds him of the smell from the spirit duplicator The solution is yellow and oily. When placed on a paper towel, the towel as more scent than the oil. To give a frame of reference, I can tell you the difference between 3 types of cinnamon by scent. Agent Pax is more scentsitive (I made up a word!) to herbs.
Spoiler Maybe some sort of invisible ink? I had tossed around the idea that it was a cleaner, maybe what they had used to clean the Rosenburg clinic?
I've received my own vial. the lid loosened in the mail, resulting in my retaining some of the substance on my skin. Washed off immediately with soap and water to avoid cross-contamination. Will advise dispatch to put the recruitment initiative into place should putting trances of the substance in the waste system lead to a generation of super babies. Spoiler The substance itself is yellow tinged, has a fibrous suspension, and is quite pungent. My immediate thought was of licorice/anise, but there is a tinge of chemically-sweet in it. I. Hate. Licorice. I may need to remove substance from the premises, lest I upset agent Mom, or give myself a migraine. Pictures will come when I find a way to upload them. Imgur's not workin for some reason.
Mine is licorice-y too, ID# 276...and was leaking as well. We'll probably die now. Spoiler Could EDF be the Environmental Defense Fund? I know citronella is used with Naphthalene, and didn't they have some chemical-in-water debacle that was only discovered because of the licorice smell? MCHM or something?
Well, I've talked to several people, and so far they've tossed out Citronella, Eucalyptus, Licorice, and Menthol for various smells. Another actually mentioned that it seems to change scents with almost every smell. As for what 'EDF' means, I don't think it's the name of the lab that's doing it, that's ED-103. EDF might either be an acronym continuation of ED, or neither could mean anything.
