Black Ops 3 Viral Teasers 16-18 (Including Analysis and Speculation)

The next lot of viral teasers for Black Ops 3 have surfaced, including what appears to be a new Twitter account related to the viral campaign…

If you’re only just tuning into this campaign, at the beginning of April an official Call of Duty Snapchat profile appeared having been discovered from a QR code found in Black Ops 2. Numerous clips have since appeared which give us plenty of hints as to what the upcoming Black Ops 3 will feature. Featuring a character called Dr. Salim, the clips all revolve around patients being given some sort of treatment and surgery, with the mind and brain a common appearance.

If you’ve not checked out our previous article which spans 8 viral teasers and contains thorough analysis and speculation on what’s contained within, you can do so here. Otherwise, head below to see what Dr. Salim has in store for us in the most recent clips.

Viral Teaser #16

@charlieINTEL late but new snap pic.twitter.com/DkBgOjuP4U

— Element (@Elemxnt) April 16, 2015

If we remember where we left off, the clips were beginning to describe how this ‘project’ was moving onto new trials with new patients (or ‘subjects’) being used. We’ve saw that patients were being operated on, kept in hospitals bed, and looked after by nurses who took blood (?) samples. We know that the purpose of this project is that it’s an experiment and the results of whatever action is being performed are being monitored. The side effects patients have encountered include a loss in senses (lack of taste, impaired hearing), minor seizures, and paranoia, all of which have likely happened from some sort of surgery on the brain or nervous system.

So what do we see in this clip? Most of the clip appears to revolve around one particular scene. We see a patient who appears to be in a hospital bed with his hand connected to a hospital drip which is likely feeding some fluids to his bloodstream (or out of his body). The other clips, which flicker on and off onto the screen, appears to show something that the patient is perhaps dreaming off. Like the earlier clips, we appear to be getting a view of a peaceful location with crows, grass, trees and sky items that we can make out. These locations must have an important role to play in understanding what is going on. Earlier on, we suspected that the doctor was a psychiatrist helping a patient think of a ‘happy place’, but the same items are appearing for what appears to be a different patient and someone who seems to be dreaming rather than acting on a thinking process ordered by the doctor. We know that the doctor is eager to enhance humans in a way that they would remove things like doubt and fear, so maybe implanting these dream sequences into the patient’s mind is a important part of that.

Dr Salim’s quote: “Base fears, phobias and even dreams contribute to a temporary overload of their conscience minds.” Here we’re again treated to the doctor’s interest of how a human’s mind perceives fear and phobias. And again the whole element of whether someone is awake and in control of their mind or not is referred. When we use the whole ‘robotic surgery’ theory, the idea of whether the ‘robot’ is ‘alive’ and in control of their own mind or not is an idea that would need to be explored. Is Dr. Salim perhaps exploring ways in which surgery and treatment would directly affect someone’s mental state, and whether doing so would render them incapable of carrying out their own conscious actions? This quote, and the use of temporary overload in particular, suggests to me that the doctor is talking about how certain parts of a person’s thought process (fears, phobias, dreams), triggers them to carry out actions that would be a direct impulse rather than an intentional and coordinated action.

Viral Teaser #17

@charlieINTEL new snap pic.twitter.com/7YaBdK5w2P

— Element (@Elemxnt) April 17, 2015

Now things are beginning to get really interesting, particularly from this clip’s quote which we will touch on soon. But first, in terms of what we see, it’s clear that a patient is under some serious duress. The patient, lying on a hospital bed, appears to be dreaming while a man monitors his reactions and a nurse/doctor supports him by holding his head in place and applying a cloth to his forehead. Whatever the man is dreaming, it’s clear from his reactions that it’s not something he’s comfortable with. The next few clips come in quick succession and perhaps show a mix of his dreams and the appearance of other patients. We see an eye (similar to previous teasers), a man holding his head as he looks downwards (under stress? trying to gather his thoughts?), a man covering one side of his face (as if dealing with a migraine), a man wearing a mask, and a person’s mouth. Towards the end, the patient appears to wake up and is talking to those around him. Whatever treatment the patient has undergo, it’s clear that those monitoring the trials are interested in his reactions as he dreams and to get an idea of what he dreamed of.

Dr. Salim’s quote: “The duration of these episodes can range anywhere from a few seconds to several hours. Subjects appear unable to distinguish the implanted memories from their own.” With the first sentence, Salim tells us that these dreams (‘episodes’) can last for a few seconds and even several hours. Does the patient go to sleep at a planned time, and the episodes kick in immediately, or is it sporadic? By ‘episodes’ we assume he means the duress encountered by the patient in the above clip (is the patient always in this duress when he sleeps?), but it would be pretty common for someone to wake up very quick when they’re having a nightmare. The most interesting phrase used, however, is ‘implanted memories’. While we have been using the use of ‘robots’ a lot, something like implants would still be seen as very advanced technology that would enhance a person in many ways. In fact, Treyarch have recently directly linked to articles on their Facebook page which specifically mention ‘implants’. Those examples included injecting an implant into someone’s eye to give them night-vision sight and injecting a microchip into someone’s hand which could then be used to open secured doors with a simple wave of the hand. This teaser clip gives us a strong indication that Black Ops 3 will feature implants of some sort and is the first time that ‘implants’ has been directly referred to by Salim. In Black Ops 3, Treyarch would surely be able to come up with many possible types of body implants (eye night-vision is one), but the above clip specifically talks about memory implants. In what way could memory implants enhance someone? Would it remove any doubts or fears they have? Would the person remain alive and human, or would their senses and control be too damaged, making them ‘robotic’ in a sense? All of these ideas would certainly go some way to creating an army of superhumans. As for the rest of the quote, Salim mentions that patients don’t seem to be able to separate their own memories from the implanted ones. Is that intentional or one of the problems of the trial?

Viral Teaser #18

The Incident changed everything.

— TheUnmarkedMan (@TheUnmarkedMan) April 18, 2015

This teaser doesn’t actually come in the form of a Snapchat. Instead, it’s a Twitter account called ‘The Unmarked Man’. We first discovered this profile today when the official Treyarch Twitter followed the account. Given that Treyarch only follow 15 profiles, and all of these are selective accounts directly relevant to Treyarch and Activision, we’re pretty sure that @TheUnmarkedMan is another part of the viral campaign and a new place for teasers to be dispatched.

So far, the above tweet is the only one posted and the account isn’t following anyone, nor does it have a bio description. The tweet is pretty clear and tells us that some sort of ‘incident’ has happened which has caused a massive reaction. Right now, we can only speculate on what the ‘incident’ is and the actions that it’s caused. Perhaps The Unmarked Man is a patient of this project? If so, maybe he ‘escaped’ or parts of the experiment went wrong on him? When we hear of something like ‘the incident’, in this scenario that resolves around human experimentation, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly something that has gone wrong with the experiment which has resulted in the project’s collapse (or expansion?). ‘Unmarked’ is clearly the key description of whoever this character is. Is the the uppercase I in Incident a key hint?

Other than the tweet and username, there’s an interesting profile/cover photo. The character is standing in a darkened room with three panels behind him (Black Ops ‘3’ ?). There might be a lot in this picture to identify that we’re yet to find, but we’re certainly excited to hear more from The Unmarked Man.

As ever, this is all speculation! Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will be revealed a week on Sunday. Stay tuned during the coming week to see how you can witness the reveal as soon as it happens.