Skynet’s calming efforts had quite the opposite effect as visitors flooded both sites, discovering that the audio interference was no interference at all, but rather a distorted message. Upon slowing down the audio, players made a startling discovery: — the audio was, in fact, a message from a military unit named Recon Unit Strider Three reporting in and requesting extraction after coming under fire during a recon mission on Skynet “Tech Com Units.”

Audio interference indeed.

As if this was not bad enough for poor Skynet Research, over on ResistOrBeTerminated (ROBT) a mysterious blogger was debating the altruistic nature of Skynet Research. Pointing out a wide spread conspiracy, the intrepid blogger explained that Skynet had some very strange business practices. A unique robotics technology firm, Skynet stands alone in the fact that it has no listed numbers that direct callers to a human operator, no listed CEO’s, or even a listed address for a corporate facility or robotics factory.

Within the past two days the blogger has continued probing the secrets of Skynet, revealing the truth of the audio interference as well as screen captures taken from a Skynet security camera installed in Bre Pettis‘ NYC Resistor office. As disturbing as the audio interference, the screen captures showed a large group of people being herded through a grim prison setting by unseen captors. What relation these screen captures have with the audio interference and with Skynet at large remain to be seen.

Skynet has continued to reassure visitors that the audio interference will be resolved shortly and that ROBT should be ignored, but the damage has been done. A resistance movement seems to be growing if the comments on ROBT are any indication and the mysterious blogger shows no signs of giving up his quest.

A wise man once said, “The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” For those of you interested in Skynet’s fate, swing over to skynetresearch.com or resistorbeterminated.com before it is too late and, as always, keep an eye on ARGNet for updates on this and other projects.

Previous coverage:
Skynet Research Wants You!
Skynet Research’s Glowing Gift

Tucked inside the box was the Enhancement Module in all its glory. While in all actuality it is just a piece of flickering plastic, I still found myself upset I didn’t have a robot to attach it to. The paperwork seemed to hint at the fact that Skynet would take over any robot that was “enhanced” and I dearly wanted to see the carnage that would follow from such a hostile takeover.

All Enhancement Modules aside, the accompanying paperwork included proof without a doubt that Skynet Research is an ARG for the Terminator: Salvation film that will hit theaters on May 22nd, a date the installation sheet reiterated for its readers. While the puppetmasters acknowledged that the module was a “Thank you” for playing along, they still encouraged players to take part in the ARG and submit user-created videos detailing their newly enhanced robots.

Since the modules began arriving, Skynet Research has been updated to include loads of content previously unavailable. Several comic shops throughout the country are now listed as under Skynet’s surveillance (literally), a catalog of robotic products is available for perusal, and there is a community section that showcases user-submitted videos and robot designs.

While players can no longer request an Enhancement Module, there is still the mystery of the “P” on the Product page that, when hovered over with a mouse pointer, uncovers a hidden password prompt*. Whether this prompt is the key to the next part of the ARG or not, the Enhancement Module instructions ended with a word of encouragement for players who missed out on the flashing plastic glory.

“Please continue to visit the Skynet Research website for updates and new developments as our campaign progresses toward the May 22nd, 2009 U.S. release of Terminator Salvation.”

The next step in the game remains to be seen, but in the meantime players are encouraged to dig into the site for themselves and, as always, check ARGNet for the latest news on all things ARG. Now, I’m off to find a robot to “enhance”…

*A special thanks to our reader Mike for pointing this out to me.

A recent trailhead discovery could prove very exciting for Terminator fans as it appears to be the beginning of a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Terminator: Salvation film. Skynet Research has little more than a message claiming that “Skynet Research is Coming,” and registration for e-mail updates but the legitimacy of the site as more than a fan creation is helped by the privacy policy, which links to the website of non other than Warner Bros., the production company behind the Terminator films. There are still three months before Terminator: Salvation hits the big screen on May 22nd, which is plenty of time to give fans a chance to take part in John Connor’s resistance.

Hopefully, more comes of this web site, and when it does, ARGNet will provide updates, so keep watching this site for details.

Also of note is researcher Frank Bentley’s former employer, CyberDyne Systems. You may recognize this name as the company behind SkyNet in the Terminator series of movies. Frank has started a Facebook group for former CyberDyne employees, asking them to post what they’ve been up to in the last sixteen years since the “tragic attack”.

Another site called to our attention is Take Back the Future, which has a countdown clock for, yep, 1193 days. TBTF currently has an animated graphic that shows human vs. cyborg world populations, with an alarming shift in numbers after what looks like targeted nuclear or other tactical strikes.

Details like these have lead Unfiction players to connect these sites to the new FOX TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which premieres this Sunday night. (Check your local listings.) What is not known, however, is how EniTech and TBTF will change once the show starts, but we think it will be fun to find out.

Join the Unfiction discussion for more details.