When I first got
Missing, I wanted to do whatever I could to help find Jack Lorski and Karen Gijman (the missing people). I was horror-struck to find a video of a frightened Karen when I first started The Phoenix's black disk. The story of
Missing is this: reporter Jack Lorski goes on assignment to find a serial killer called "The Phoenix." Jack is accompanied by his friend Karen, although it's not long before both people disappear; apparently, they were getting too close. Soon after SKL Network lost contact with the two of them, a disk arrived from The Phoenix. After a lot of work, the people at SKL realized they needed help. They asked the families of the missing people to solicit the help of the general public for this case, and once they were given permission, SKL released
Missing.
Thankfully, the people at SKL were able to hack into The Phoenix's disk and provide a tool bar that would allow you to access your default web browser and mail client, without having to leave the killer's game. As I worked my way through many of the puzzles and riddles found throughout the disk, I was helped by emails from SKL and associates of the publication company. If it wasn't for their help, I would never have gotten as far as I did. I was always surprised and grateful to find a new email in my account from one of the many contacts I had made during my efforts in finding Jack and Karen, and I hope they continue to help as I (and many others) progress deeper into the disk.
The first task ahead of me was actually getting into the disk itself. The Phoenix forced me to examine pictures on his website in order to find several passwords. One time, he outright gave me the password -- but then remapped my keyboard controls so that when I pressed one character, it would actually type another. This was obviously so that he could show how much control he had over the entire situation.
Each puzzle led me closer and closer to the location of Jack and Karen. The Phoenix also allowed me to view video footage from Jack's documentary. It wasn't hard to believe that the serial-killer was just playing with me. The puzzles had me scouring the web in an Internet scavenger hunt in order to find clues that would take me further into the disk, and deeper into the mystery that was Missing. I found that there were many times when I couldn't stop going through the twisted puzzles. I kept wanting to see the next video - are Karen and Jack still alive? Can they actually be saved? It's those questions that kept me in the game and searching the net.
