Characters and Contact Info

Vanessa Atalanta
Vanessa Atalanta is 29 years old. Her hometown is Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Her Uncle Johan is very sick and has asked her to scan a bunch of his papers and upload them to the Internet as part of a family tree project. Her mother, Annabel Cardui died December 11, 1999 -- 10 years ago. Her father passed away the same year she was born.

Dawn discovered that the Red Admiral or Vanessa atalanta (previously also known as Pyrameis atalanta) is a well-known colourful butterfly, found in temperate Europe, Asia and North America. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates north in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It seems to be the butterfly pictured in Vanessa's profile pictures.

Vladimir sometimes refers to her as the Red Queen, although he has mentioned that we need to protect her from becoming queen.

Her favourite quote, according to her Facebook profile, is "Angulus Ridet [Greenwich!]" Telos discovered that this means "this corner makes me happy."

Vanessa seems to battle the "black dog" of depression. To calm down, Vanessa likes to look out at or walk under the "green line" in Greenwich at night. See info about this green line here:

Contact info and URLs:
 * E-mail address: vanessaatalantaSPLATrocketmail.com
 * Facebook profile
 * Twitter feed - view archived tweets in chronological order here.
 * A Facebook group to which she posts what she scans
 * Her blog
 * Her profile on Yahoo!
 * To see her family tree, go to TribalPages, look for the "Visit A Website" section partway down on the left, and enter "vanessaatalanta" in the ID field there.

Uncle Johan
Johan is Vanessa's uncle. According to Vanessa, his nurse says he is "on a slow decline" healthwise. He has given Vanessa a key that has a number on it; the key opens his desk, giving her access to many papers he wants her to scan and upload to the Internet as part of a family tree project. He wants her to share the papers with her friends, and says she'll need friends to help her.

Vanessa says "only he has answers"...to what?

Claire Hoskyns
Claire Hoskyns is 30 years old and a friend of Vanessa's from work. Her hometown is Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. She is more computer-savvy than Vanessa.

Contact info and URLs:
 * Facebook profile
 * clairehoskyns@ymail.com

Vladimir Sirin
Note : This character was thought to be deceased, but is currently alive.

Vladimir Sirin is an enigmatic character of unknown age whose hometown is also Greenwich in the United Kingdom. He takes great interest in Vanessa's whereabouts and safety.

He sometimes refers to Vanessa as the Red Queen, although he has mentioned that we need to protect her from becoming queen (he has said this in another way, too: "I aim to save the queen by removing her existence before it is created").

As to how this is to be done, Jim Sawyer asked, "Ah so are we on the opposing team, must we take her off the board and replace her?"

However, Vlad replied that this is not the case:
 * No. We must play the game so it is won, but without the pawn becoming a queen. Easier said than done though, especially given the curiosity involved. If she finds out the true meaning of her family's papers then the game will be lost. Yet her uncle knows this and is prepared to sacrifice the queen for the game. Game within a game eh?

He followed Vanessa around some, unseen, during the daytime Dec. 14. He says this was because "Her safety, despite the lack of trust between us, is my concern." When Vanessa seemed to have disappeared for too long during an outing that evening, Jane Doh implied that he should still be following her to keep her safe at that time if her safety was really his concern, to which he replied, "I cannot follow her at night." We have not worked out yet why this is so.

Vlad is not related to Vanessa, at least not in any way we'd expect. When Jane Doh referred to him as "uncle," he responded, "Being softer with my name does not entitle you to assign me any familial relationship, despite me longing for my own, thank you. I am not related to them by the normal conventions, no."

Despite this, Vlad seems to know a fair bit about Vanessa's family. During a discussion with him, Dawn referred to Vanessa as "naive" and "stubborn," and Vlad replied,
 * She gets that from her... No. Sorry.

Dawn reports that Vlad also hates when she calls him "Uncle" because of "bad memories."

When somewhat intoxicated on port, he let slip to Telos: "Excuse my melodrama, I'm a little drunk and frankly,, amused by people playing a game for a fictional game of chess. It's not like anyone here can make any difference anyhow. V will do what she wants and I can't stop her, just as I coudln't stop ehr mother. opps . typo again hehe"

Vlad seems to have some kind of unusual sensory connection to Vanessa. In a conversation with Telos, he said,

"I know whether she is a live or not, asleep or awake [if I were to focus more.]

Hard with port in your blood though. Telos asked him if he was referring to ESP, or if he was just really drunk, and Vlad replied,

Really drunk? Never been REALLY drunk in my life. Not allowed.

ESP? Closest way of describing it without going into the science for now.

Telos was later able to get more out of him on this:

Ever been on a bus? Train? Felt someone watching you i the carriage?

in*

7:10pmJames

Yes, a few times.

7:10pm Vladimir

How are they doing it? How are you sensing it?

Now extrapolate that further to the whole train, not just the carriage.

Now the train line.

Now the train network.

7:11pm James

Starting to sound like Astral Projection or something.

7:12pmVladimir

If you want to think of it in that way, fair enough. But nothing leaves any body, more the reverse. The 'senser' is more aware of their environment and continues it.

Like a shark in water with blood.

Has anyone worked out the maths yet?

Amandel asked him, "You have guidelines and/or restrictions? By whom were they provided?" and got this reply:
 * Without the intention of sounding cryptic: by myself. But not as I am now. An earlier version of me, as it were. Now I sound like either a deranged man, a blue phone-box occupier or someone with multiple personalities. Perhaps, if the latter to be believed, all three?
 * No. I was part of something larger, something which is now being denied and hushed up. There are people watching my every move, hence a pseudonym and the lack of interaction. I am, however, trying to get to the truth without the truth destroying the past and current present. Back to a blue box? No. Just potential problems. Does this help any? I find it harder to discuss things with women, but rest assured, I am no Queen James.

Telos figured out the "Queen James" reference: "King James - the one who had the bible translated and made uniform, was gay. His friends, supposedly, refered to him as Queen James."

There has been reference in some conversations to Vlad having company over at time that is watching him, making him unable to speak freely. These are people he used to work for.

Some of the info on his FB page points to a book called Pale Fire by a Vladimir Nabokov. Vladimir Nabokov used the pseudonym Vladimir Sirin and also studied chess problems. One of the profile pictures on Vladimir Sirin's FB page can be found on the Wikipedia page about Vladimir Nabokov; the other profile picture seems to be this photo inverted.

Asked why he has chosen to use Vladimir Sirin (the pseudonym) as his fake name rather than Vladimir Nabokov (the real name), our Vlad replied, "Nabokov published under the pseudonym "Vladimir Sirin" in the 1920s to 1940s, occasionally to mask his identity from critics. I relate to those times best in my life."

Other info on his FB page points to the play Timon of Athens by Shakespeare.

When asked if he believed in "a higher force," Vlad replied, "I have to otherwise it makes no sense."

He has said, "I ... do not believe any more in the power of wishes. Or rather, believe in them too much."

Contact info and URLs:
 * Facebook profile
 * E-mail: vladimirsirinSPLATyahoo.co.uk

John
Not much is known about John. He has met both Vanessa and Claire, and seems to make time fly by quickly when they are with him.

John was first encountered by Vanessa on Dec. 14, when she had gone out late at night to buy a new coat and a multifunction printer (for its scanning capabilities). We and Vlad expected her to be gone an hour at most, but her trip took 3 hours, with Claire and Vlad and some of us freaking out wondering where she was the whole time. When she got back, she tweeted that she "Spent AGES talking to this really nice guy I met in the store, he's just moved to Greenwich :)".

When Claire was finally able to get hold of some information about Vanessa's whereabouts, she sent Jane Doh a message: "She left there about 20 minutes ago apparently according to a bloke called John Slade, deputy night manager." Is this the same John to which Vanessa had been talking? Interestingly, one of the characters in the novel Pale Fire was a John Shade.

Vanessa's description of meeting John:


 * I was trying on this coat which made me look realy flat you know as i took it off there was a man standing behind me. well i was jumpy that day anyhow what with being followed it seems now and so i was ready to run a mile but he said that i looked hot and i just explaned i was taking off a coat and he said no i looked HOT! so i laughed and he laughed and then he said his name was john and i said my name was vanessa nd we swopped numbers and then he helpe me look at scanner combo things - turns out he works for the mods or something with computers so was really helpful. anyhow he's going to call em later tonight yay!!!!!!! LOL

Vanessa had a date with John on Dec. 16. After excitedly telling us that she was going to have this date, she said, via her FB status,
 * ok. had REALLY odd sensation. like someone walked over my grave or something. right closing desk and gonna get ready for date! LOL

Presumably after her date with John (which she may have ended prematurely), Vanessa tweeted about John seeming to know more than he should, then started trying to figure out if she should go into hiding, confront her uncle, etc.: net cafe:unsure on next steps.Can't trust anyone.John was a liar.Just started talking about my uncle then he said his name.I never told him! There is one place I could go. Uncle never knew about it but if I went there there'd be no net access as there's no phone line. Safe though. I'm voicing my thoughts here as i'm not sure what else to do. mum, why aren't you here anymore - i need you. greenwich? #arg ? not true... still have the key in my pocket. still have my cash card. still have brain and hope andcourage. just want a ride ina balloon now!LOL its freezing tonight though, at least i'm off streetz. for tongiht. ucles house, HIS house not mine. HIS life not mine. when did i lose mine sick a pin in a map time i think, but will have to be by train. could go to states or australia or or or no can't passport back in house. ok - i'm hellishly sleepy. emotion rllercoaster. wil see uncle tomorrow and have it out with him no computers. no scannig. just him and me. @dawndilion little time left @net cafe will thenstay here and drink coffee LOL. perhaps doze in the corner-i know the owner use to help out!

Claire had an odd encounter with John on Dec. 19:
 * Ok, weirded out. Went clubbing earlier tonight [about 9 or so] and this guy comes up to me, all nice and al. Says his name is John and, well, before I know it, I'm accepting a drink off him! [rare that someone asks ME - usually one of my mates]. So, long story short, I chat to hi for a few minutes and then he apologises and walks off. Men huh. Weird bit though. 2 hours had passed.
 * Drink tasted fine. People I spoke to said we had stayed at the bar for a few minutes and he then walked off. Only after he went and I noticed the time did I remember how V had met a guy called John in similar circumstances.
 * Came home straight away - can't go to the police [what would I say - I got drunk and lost some time?!] and no one else to talk to - help me please!

Jean Pierre Weiller
Sent several players a strange e-mail message on Dec. 23:

Dear Facebook User.

It has been noted that there has been recent activity between your facebook account and a user that goes by the name of Vladimir Sirin.

He is currently under investigation for crimes against the English government.

If this user contacts you, please do not engage conversation with him, but report his movements directly to our department of investigation by electronic mail.

Failure to do so will be deemed as aiding and abetting one under criminal charges.

Thank you.

J.P. Weiller.

Officer of Ministry of Argon (dept .18), Great british ministry of defence.

Providing for our people.

Claire reported on Dec. 24 that her computer had been infected by a "Weiller worm" virus her brother supposedly got onto her computer somehow. We didn't catch on at first that this probably got onto her computer via the same e-mail that we received. Telos eventually found that a Base64-encoded piece of text was hidden in the e-mails we received; this translated to "MOVING THE SECONDS FOR NATIONAL DEFENCE".

Note: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1912 says, "The seconds are chess coaches with whom the players have been working to prepare for the match."

Dec. 27, Vlad's FB status was,
 * Surfacing from the depths again. Soon will be stronger than jean and his petty armies.

Amandel asked, "Would that be a Jean Pierre W? He's been following your activity here quite closely." Vlad's reply:
 * Yes. My health has suffered. I need a lot of sleep now but soon, like the sun, my strength will be gathered. Until then, prepare yourselves. If he has made contact then the second move is faster now. I will counter when my sides are ready. Completely understand everything I have laid before you then you will be prepared. Watch the pendulum swing, and understand all about the butterflies. They are not, and never will be, just decoration.

In a conversation with Telos on Dec. 29, Vlad said, referring to Weiller and his friends, "The only time I will deal with those argonauts is when they return what they took from me. That, of course, is impossible."

Amandel was able to gather a little bit more information from him:


 * Inform me when you are online- which regular time and I will find you.


 * I must admit, I laughed at this. No, not force by any means. More my line of ancestry work really. She has her uncle Johan, I my grandfather Louis.


 * Our department has certain aspects that are not shareable in nature. Therefore, I will not impart that knowledge - needless to say, if we want to recruit you, we shall. Until then, we need information on Vladimir.

It is possible that he is a member of the Javal family, although it is unlikely he is the Jean-Pierre Weiller listed there due to the DOB. Perhaps he is a grandson of Paul-Louis Weiller and was named after his granduncle?

Contact info and URLs:
 * weillerjpierre@aol.co.uk

Note: while a website http://www.dept18.com/ was found, it was registered in 2008, does not mention J. P. Weiller, and is thought to be completely unrelated to this game.

Confirmed by Game Ref, dept 18, is now to be refered to as Ministry of Argon.

Annabell Cardui
It seems to be the Cardui family that Vladimir is interested in.

Jane asked Vlad at one point, "Why are the Atalantas so important to you?"

His response was,
 * Them? they are not. I was talking about Vanessa's family

When James figured out at one point that Vlad was making reference to element 111 on the periodic table in a conversation they were having, he asked Vlad, "If I'm stringing this together correctly, along with that comment about this being national.. Are you referring to a potential nuclear threat with the equation Ms. V has?"

Vlad said in response,
 * She has more than an equation my friend. IF she still has all the Cardui papers. If it's just her uncle's papers, then, well, who knows.

In terms of butterflies, Annabell(a) Cardui = West Coast Lady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_annabella).

Cynthia Phanes
Vanessa's maternal grandmother. Her name was the password that unlocked Vanessa's computer when attaching a scanner to it caused it to freak out.

In terms of butterflies, Cynthia Phanes = Painted Lady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_(butterfly) ).

Ludwig
On Dec. 17, Vladimir changed his status on Facebook: "Odd how when you start writing Christmas messages, you reflect on those that have passed on more. Letters and cards not to be receieved anymore. Ludwig, you old goat, I'll miss you."

Theories on who is meant by Ludwig:

Dawn mused, "Vanessa never updated her paternal grandparents or anyone on either side farther back."

Amandel suggested, "As a tease Vlad may mean Ludwig van Beethoven as Sarah and I posted on V's wall that her mom's locket is a medallion portrait of Giulietta Guicciardi, his supposed Immortal Beloved. He sees a lot for a blocked bloke."

The woman in the locket
 Vanessa posted this picture to her wall, saying, "last scan before i go [cafe has scanner] this was in my mum's locket. she said whenever i meet people i trust, to show them this. 'I will help them understand you' she said. Never got it but heck, its pretty isn't it!"

Amandel discovered that the portrait is of Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, and provided this link for more info:. Note the connections to Ludwig van Beethoven and Moonlight Sonata. 

John Jeffreys
See Puzzles.