Welcome to a new series (maybe) here on the blog: the Crazy Atlas9 Theory (C.A.T.)
As I have said in the past, it is much more fun to read the book than peek at the ending (or ask someone who has read it how it ends). Of course I could just ask someone at Atlas9 about, but where’s the fun in that?
Let’s being our journey down the rabbit hole. Warning: there be speculation and spoilers ahead! (Oh, that would be a better name for this series, wouldn’t it? Atlas9 Speculation and Spoilers!)
Telephone Numbers
The Atlas9 attraction in Kansas City has eleven (11) telephones in attraction. One of them does not work, but it is supposed to, and used to work.
You can also find phone numbers on notes, business cards, signs, etc.
Above, that photo shows a notepad next to one of the phones. On it, three phone numbers are listed. These are the phone numbers that ring to three other phones. Right off the bat, we have numbers for three of the eleven telephones:
- 314-101 – payphone in the Containment Zone (first floor, entrance area)
- 314-112 – desk phone in Manager’s Office (first floor)
- 314-212 – desk phone in Projection Room (second floor)
Dialing those numbers from other phones inside Atlas9 should ring the listed phone. As I previously discussed, it appears the prefix 314 is used but “Internal Atlas9 Numbers,” as stated on the payphone:
Until recently, those three numbers where the only ones that I had personally “confirmed.” However, two posters on the REDDIT r/Atlas9 group (u/Pridef-cked and u/Notlok) told me that one of the numbers found in this drawer is the number for the wall phone in the Speakereasy:
You will see the other two numbers go to phones in the first list, with 55-1943 being a new one. It would make sense that all three of these numbers are to telephones, much like the three numbers found elsewhere go to telephones.
I have not been able to verify that number myself, because this phone is broken:
“This means something!”
With apologies to the Close Encounters of the Third Kind parody, Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind, the digits in these numbers might mean something. They could be an intentional way to get folks started in figuring out the missing ones.
Figuring out the missing ones
We will define our terms as follows:
- prefix – the first three digits of the number (314, 030, etc.)
- line number – the rest of the number
First, we “know” that the prefix of 314 means an Atlas9 number, as opposed to 030 which is an “outside” number (like a cleaning service or parts supplier).
If we ignore the Speakereasy 55 number, we do see a potential pattern in the others. The first digit of the line number could indicate the zone the phone is in:
- 314-1xx – first floor (two numbers found)
- 314-2xx – second floor (one number found)
- 314-3xx – “outside” the theater, in Splice Bros. Pizza “next door”
…and at one point, you get a new number with a 4.
- 314-4xx – one number known, and it’s like someone’s cell phone.
That 4 number rings to someone who is part of Atlas9, but not in the building when they answer. (A recording, not a physical phone.)
The second digit may or may not be relevant:
- 314-x0x – containment zone
- 314-x1x – inside the theater
When you put first and second digits in the mix, a pattern becomes clearer:
- 314-10x – first floor, containment zone
- 314-11x – first floor, inside
- 314-21x – second floor, inside
Everything could fit, other than 55-1943 for the Speakereasy. A second 55 number, 55-xxxx, is a movie hotline. Maybe there is some link between Speakereasy and the Movie Line I do not see.
Finding the missing telephone numbers
By my count, there are seven (7) phones on the first floor:
- Agent Room
- Containment Zone (payphone on the “outside” of the movie theater building)
- Manager’s Office
- Prototyzer Room
- Scavengers TV Den
- Splice Bros. Pizza (outside Atlas9)
- VERA (RV)
And there are four (4) phones on the second floor:
- Film Storage
- Power Supply
- Projection Room
- Speakereasy
(On a recent trip I learned that the Splice Bros. Wall phone line number begins with 3. This may be the only line number that starts uses 3xx.)
For the first floor, we know of only one phone that is on the “outside” of the movie theater building – the payphone attached to the wall of the theater. That may be the only one that has a line number ending in 10x.
Once inside the movie theater, on the first floor we only know one number:
- 112
I would want to dial 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 119 to see if any of those ring to the other three phones found on floor one of the theater:
- Agent Room
- Prototyzer Room
- Scavengers TV Den
On the second floor, there are four phones, and we know the number for one of them:
- 212
Isn’t it interesting that the numbers they gave us are 112 (first floor) and 212 (second floor)? Coincidence? Maybe.
I would want to dial 210, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218 and 219 to see if any of those ring to the other two phones found on floor one of the theater (ignoring the Speakereasy, because we supposedly have that number and it does not follow this pattern):
- Film Storage
- Power Supply
But what about VERA?
The phone inside the RV (VERA) in the Containment Zone may be completely different. It is not an Atlas9 telephone, or an outside vendor. VERA belongs to FACADE. We know that FACADE “secure lines” start with 710, so perhaps that is the prefix for the phone inside VERA. The secure lines I have in my list include:
- 710-009 (written on a note on the Polybius arcade game)
- 710-771 (given to you in a computer message)
When I tried to call 710-009, I got no answer – and I let it ring for almost a minute. That is also what happens when I call the Speakereasy number, or other “known” phone numbers if no one answers them.
This does make me suspect 710-009 is going to one of the phones… Perhaps that phone in VERA?
Of course, I could be wrong…
Humans like to see patterns. Look up Pareidolia for examples (I’m lookin’ at you, face on Mars).
This could be nothing.
But I’m sure gonna be dialin’ some numbers my next visit to Atlas9…