I’m completely amazed. It took a little while, but a handful of you figured out how to access the information that Wheezer encoded into his last message to me. A reader named MrToasty sent me the following deciphered version, and just as I suspected, the implications of this message are pretty significant:

To be sure that this wasn’t a faked message, I asked MrToasty to explain how he decoded it, and he provided the following explanation:

It’s fairly easy to get rid of the overlying noise using [an open source program called] Audacity.

6. Select the menu item Effect->Amplify as many times as needed to hear it.

 
I tried to do all of that myself, and couldn’t quite figure it out, but at least four other readers sent messages or comments that verified the translation, so I’m confident that it’s what Wheezer intended for me to hear.

So that’s that, then. We’ve got confirmation that Scott approved Stone’s plan, that the team of scientists have gathered in their hidden underground lab to combat a threat called “Andromeda,” and that the entire operation is being referred to as the “Wildfire Protocol.” The next step is to access the “Wildfire intranet,” where Wheezer said I’d find answers.

Now we just have to figure out where and how.

Still no word on Wheezer’s whereabouts, but I got another message from Frohz3n this morning with what could be one last clue from him — an audio file he sent to Frohz3n on a flash drive, through regular mail. According to Frohz3n, the drive arrived late last week, along with a set of instructions:

z3n:

Wh33z

Once Wheezer had been missing for three days, Frohz3n went ahead and checked the contents of the drive, and then passed it on to me. This is what he found:

(or download it)

Problem is, I’m not sure what he wants me to listen to. From that first part, and his note, it sounds like he already knew that something might happen to him. But what am I supposed to get from this? He tells me to listen carefully, but the second half of his message just sounds like noise. If there’s something important hidden in there, I have no idea how the hell I’m supposed to get to it.

I managed to set up a blog, but I’m not exactly a computer genius, so… what now?

It’s been several days now since I heard directly from Wheezer, but I’ve been assuming he’s fine, because several of you claim to have received information from him. But I received a message this morning from another regular contact named Frohz3n, who Wheezer introduced me to about a week ago, with an audio file attached. Frohz3n claims it’s a recording picked up from Wheezer’s cell phone about 48 hours ago.

According to Frohz3n, this is the last call that was made from Wheezer’s phone, and he hasn’t heard from him since then either. Hopefully I’m just over-reacting, but since Wheezer believed that he was putting himself in danger by giving me information, I’m incredibly worried that something has happened to him.

If you have details on his whereabouts, or if you’ve heard from him, please tell me. And Wheezer, if you’re reading this, please find a way to let me know.

A lot of you have been asking how Wheezer has been able to intercept the stuff he has been sending me, and whether I should trust him at all.

While I can’t share any specifics, the fact is that I do trust Wheezer 100%. He’s proven himself and his motives to me, but to provide more details would put him in even greater danger than he is already in. You’ll have to take my word on this.

Unfortunately, I don’t know how much more he’ll be able to help. His last message indicated that it is becoming too dangerous for him to continue sending me what he finds. He says he’s looking into safer options.