2022 ARG

On May 30, 2022, an alternate reality game (ARG) began within the universe of The Midnight. This is the second ARG the band has undertaken, following the Fall 2020 ARG.

Timeline

The majority of the following information has been sourced from The Midnight: Official Discord and can be verified by checking that server's ARG channels.

May 30, 2022

At 18:47 UTC on May 30, 2022, the Twitter account lostboy_84 tweeted out an emoji of a heart on fire. Since this Twitter account was used to facilitate updates and clues during the Fall 2020 ARG, it was speculated that a new ARG was beginning.

183010165.com, the site used for much of the previous ARG, was found to have been updated. Previously functioning as a mock instant messaging type program, it was changed to look and function like a Linux terminal. Users were prompted to run the command "sudo apt full-upgrade -y" to install an "update package". After doing so, a considerable amount of text filled the terminal window, with one of the last lines being "https://183010165.com/mdnght/I'm at the centre of your blue heart. A drink will kill me. What am I? mp4-include InRelease".

The 183010165.com website on May 30, 2022

That particular clue was a reference to the recent release of the Change Your Heart or Die vinyl, which was colored blue. Towards the center of the record the word "FIRE" was etched into each copy. That lead to the discovery of "https://183010165.com/mdnght/fire.mp4", a short video which contained a previously unseen artwork featuring a TV floating in space alongside a short clip of Golden Gate, a song that had previously been recorded solo by Tyler Lyle. A different teaser of the song was also hidden on the Change Your Heart or Die vinyl.

Examination of the MP4's metadata revealed that the audio file used in its creation was named "01_Golden Gate (Instrumental)_24bit_96kHz_Final_Master_3.18.22_LS_Edit.wav", and the image used was "heroes-bg-notext.png".

June 1, 2022

Two days later on June 1, the 183010165.com site was updated again, with the terminal now saying "Hotfix '05.08.22-FIRE' available. Run 'sudo apt full-upgrade -y' to upgrade." Running this command redirected the user to a new site: comtek.life. The Comtek name had previously appeared in artwork for Monsters as the brand for the computer. The site contained a loading bar and link to pre-save new material from The Midnight, although it wasn't specified what was being pre-saved. Above the loading bar was a glitched GIF of The Midnight logo with a filename of "gifshuffle_talian_holds_the_key.gif". Talian refers to the name of a user in the the official The Midnight Discord server who discovered the metadata in fire.mp4. Gifshuffle is the name of a program that hides messages in GIF files. It was additionally discovered that a JavaScript file provided a hidden code that printed to the web browser console after clicking the presave button.

The 183010165.com website on June 1, 2022

The 183010165.com website on June 1, 2022 after running the command

The JavaScript file contained what appeared to be a Base64 string, but the decoded output was garbage. Using the gifshuffle program on the "gifshuffle_talian_holds_the_key.gif" file and specifying "heroes-bg-notext.png" (fire.mp4 metadata discovered by Talian) as the decryption key outputted a URL that contained a highly pixelated image. Once the colors on the image were inverted and the image was rotated, it became more legible and appeared to spell out "Heartbeat". After this was discovered, decoding the Base64 string from earlier was attempted again but this time the string was reversed. The output was lyrics to what seemed to be "Heartbeat". Shortly after this, the lost_boy84 account tweeted an emoji of a beating heart. 20 minutes later, the account tweeted again with the message "Look closer. You may not be getting the full picture."

The comtek.life website on June 8, 2022.

Several hours later, it was discovered that a full resolution version of the pixelated image was hidden within the pixelated by use of steganography. Running the program OpenStego on the file with the key "Heartbeat" revealed it to be the single cover for Heartbeat. Lost_boy84 tweeted once again saying "Now you see. Talk to you soon." confirming the second phase of the ARG to be complete.

On June 5, lost_boy84 tweeted a video containing a teaser for a new song. The bar on the comtek.life website maxed out on June 8, and the single Heartbeat (teased in the June 5 video) was subsequently released alongside an official announcement of The Midnight's fifth album, Heroes.

Further Developments

On June 13, the name "LOSTBOY84" and an obscured phrase of "See you on the other side" were discovered on the artwork of the deluxe booklet of Heroes, as seen in renderings on the album's preorder page. The lost_boy84 account tweeted a response to a mention of this, stating "You have a keen eye, but I'm not ready yet. I'll reach out soon..."