Cybus Spy (video game)

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Cybus Spy[1] while untitled in its original release, was fifth game and the twenty-fourth release launched on the Defending the Earth! website and across other BBC-produced Doctor Who tie-in websites, on 13 May 2006[source needed] to coincide with the release of Rise of the Cybermen. Cybus Spy — written by Joseph Lidster, produced by Rob Francis and developed by Sequence,[2] — was the first Doctor Who alternate reality game.

The scenario of the game, as revealed in part in the mini-episode Secret Code, involves you playing as an in-universe reader of the website, being sent to communicate — by sending messages in a chatbot — with "ChatGuest1" to take down Cybus Industries; essentially, you have to go on a minor scavenger hunt across various Doctor Who tie-in websites to find a special code to unlock access to the game Airships (as well as some bonus content), which sees you take control of a Cybus Airship to take down the Paris' Cyber-factory in Pete's World. Airships was made accessible to everyone, regardless if they played this game, upon the release of The Age of Steel, a week later.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Having been sent by Ricky Smith in the previous story, the readers of Defending the Earth! are sent to a chatroom to talk to an individual going by the name "ChatGuest1"; ChatGuest1's radio, however, is broken and they don't know how to fix it, so they send the readers to the International Electromatics website to find the solution. Speaking with International Electromatics' Automated Technical Support Service, the readers are told the solution may be that the batteries need replacing, but this isn't the case. As it turns out, the problem is solved by pressing the FM button twice.

Next, ChatGuest1 sends the readers to the Cybus Industries website, to the page advertising Vitex, to find a code that ChatGuest1 can use to tune their radio to a "special frequency or wavelength". After following an advert for the Cybus Fitness website, the code is discovered to be 657. ChatGuest1 goes to tune their radio but has to quickly leave due to a stranger arriving, so the readers are left to use the radio player next to the chatroom to tune into the wavelength themselves; upon listening in, an odd broadcast plays, with a voice questioning what "the secret of Henrik's surprise" is. After ChatGuest1 returns, he instructs the readers to go to www.henriksonline.co.uk, which then leads to the Millingdale website, and after finding their ice cream flavour called Henrik's Surprise which has the secret ingredient Gemini12.

ChatGuest1 determines Gemini12 is a password of some sort to presumably part of the Cybus website, following the advice of one of the reader's friends, although the friend didn't inform ChatGuest1 where, instead cryptically telling them that the password is the "secret to John Lumic's success". ChatGuest1 has an inkling that Lumic's new book, John Lumic: Man of Steel, has something to do with it and so tells the readers to investigate it. The description of the book mentions that Lumic considers the key of his success being "family"; returning to the Cybus website and going to the part of the website that mentions family, the readers launch the Cybus Industries Staff Intranet, and enter the Gemini12 code. Upon inputting the code, a second code is displayed: "binary9". After telling ChatGuest1 the second code, they tell the readers to remember the code as they will be needing it within the week.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Referenced only[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Other messages[[edit] | [edit source]]

If the player sends certain messages, you will receive bonus replies from ChatGuest1.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • While it is not explicit, it seems that the some of the websites have been secretly hijacked or altered by Pete Tyler, as the password "Gemini12" aligns with Pete's alias Gemini, under which he leaked confidential material to the Preachers.
  • It is not explained, in this game or Secret Code, Operation: Paris, or Airships, how the readers of Defending the Earth! can access Pete's World through Mickey's website.
  • This alternate reality game involves interactive elements spread across multiple websites: Cybus, International Electromatics, Cybus Fitness, Henrik & Son, and Millingdale.
  • Due to an archiving error, parts of the game have broken since their upload to the Internet Archive.
  • The webpages Intranet on the Cybus website and Product Support on the International Electromatics website form part of this alternate reality game only, serving no purpose outside of it.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]