Monday, May 7, 2001 [by:SpaceBass]

I saw the first enigmatic mention on a rumour site, regarding a quick whois search and a slew of domain names. Last time I checked, there were over 2,500 members of a group working to find the solution to the mystery...and they are only the dedicated. Countless others are following in their footsteps, curious but not yet consumed.

It's about a movie. It's about hype. But it's also about intrigue, interactivity, and intellect. It's a massively multiplayer, interactive, panmedia, brainteaser extravaganza. The question at hand is, "Who killed Evan Chan?"

It starts with a trailer that shows a strange credit for Jeanine Salla, "Sentient Machine Therapist." Or maybe it starts with a phone call to an automated attendant somewhere in Oregon (503.321.5122). Or perhaps from the circled codes on the backs of the movie posters themselves. However you stumble upon it, soon the sheer magnitude of it begins to overwhelm you.

It's a new era in online gaming and in interactive fiction. It's a Solve-Your-Own-Mystery with thousands of detectives and the entire world as the crime scene. It's--seriously--way too cool.

Evan Chan was killed. We want to know why.