So I've been thinking about the story...

[silverhawthorn]

Admittedly, trying to figure out what all the hints and clues mean (or even if they are hints and clues!) is a ton of fun, and I love the idea that they've created this elaborate puzzle to get us psyched up for the album, but what is really engaging my imagination is this world they're creating via their tweets.

I've read what some people are getting out of the tweets, a story about a post-apocalyptic resistance, and that's interesting, but here's my take on the sci-fi scenario.

The story takes place sometime after 2017 -- long enough for a 6000 lb pig carcass to cure fully in the sun (but depending on global warming & the burn-off of the ozone, that might not take long).

The environment is shot all to hell: wide-spread deserts, toxic air, scorched earth & miles of broken glass (from the pig bombs and/or war?), maybe earthquakes or some other comparable disturbances, post-global warming suggested by continual sunny days.

Infrastructure is possibly likewise shot all to hell: electricity is not readily available, and generator power is intermittent.

People sleep in special suits, perhaps disposable, receive some nutrients intraveniously, and some from scavenging wildlife, e.g., lizards (because agriculture is dead, one assumes).

Droids and robots (are the two terms slang for the same thing or different things altogether?) are commonplace, but there seems to be some sort of catastrophe happening to them, as they are dying off en masse.

Nitroglycerin pills are used recreationally, and some form of nitroglycerin is burned for cooking and heat, suggesting it has been made more stable than it is now.

Overall, they are dangerous times, weaponry is required.

The first character: Dr. Death Defying

Lives in Zone 3 (but says 'you'll never find me'), is a broadcaster, perhaps a sort of pirate radio operator, especially as in the most recent tweet he is bugging out because the "spikes in the static" are getting too "hot" (suggesting he's aware he's being monitored and that the authorities are closing in).

He mentions the locales of Battery City, Wolfblood Beach, and the Fuck You House (which is apparently a club of some sort, since there's a show scheduled there.)

He's the one who has listed the most Zones; he lives in 3, quotes a saying about Zone 4 (which suggests it's a desert), and perhaps refers to a Zone 2 in the tweet "down in the 2".

Is the only character to refer to his social circle: he hangs out with friends, attends nighttime "happenings", and mentions his "lady".

May or may not be a leader of an organized group, perhaps an underground movement. He refers to the motor army and motorbabies, but it could just be slang referring to a loose tribe of like-minded individuals.

On Twitter, he doesn't seem to be aware of the others: he makes no references to them nor does he follow their accounts.

The second character: NewsAGoGo

This character's location is unknown, but he or she broadcasts reports on all the Zones, and seems to be a main source of info.

Mentions the Stacks, which could be a central factory of some sort, but also warns of the possible necessity of evacuation, so maybe a large population lives in domes? Or could these be broadcasts from a ship?

Tweets directly to Agent Cherri Cola and refers Tommy Chow Mein with familiarity, so apparently knows them both, and is following their accounts as well as Dr. Death Defying's.

The third character: Agent Cherri Cola

Seems to stay in no one location in particular, spending her time roaming the Zones as a reporter for NewsAGoGo and as a hunter. The only character said to be female.

She mentions a couple of bars: Hyper-Thrusts and Mega Moon's Throttle bar, and seems to have violent altercations with "Wave-Heads" at them. (The term "Wave-Heads" might be slang for some gang, or might be some type of device similar to real-world waveheads, devices that measure the optical power and wavelength of laser sources as well as other broadcast frequencies.)

Mentions an event from the past ("the 2017 Pig Bomb"), giving us a time frame for the story.

Is Agent Cherri a droid? Refers to being "at full power" -- is this slang, or actual?

On Twitter, tweets directly to NewsAGoGo, follows the other 3 accounts, but does not refer to Dr. Death Defying or Tommy Chow Mein.

The fourth character: Tommy Chow Mein

May live in Zone 3, as he's currently selling real estate there (even though it's just barren ground).

From him we know that Zone 3 is also likely a desert, even scorched from some earlier catastrophe, though it also has a park.

Is he also a droid? NewsAGoGo refers to him as "operating on all pistons" and "starting a new cycle" (which could mean an electricial current), but admittedly, this could just be slang.

Follows the other 3 characters, but has not yet mentioned any of them, nor tweeted to any of them.

Additionally, I wonder about the monitor at MCR.com, and its connection to the story. Maybe the channels belong to each of the characters, and there's one more to introduce? But if so, I haven't been able to figure out who belongs to which station. As far as the characters themselves, I'm almost positive that Dr. Death Defying is Gerard (though I have no evidence beyond a gut reaction), and that NewsAGoGo and Agent Cherri Cola might be Frank and Mikey, respectively. I have no idea who Tommy Chow Mein might be, but my immediate thought was the new, as yet unknown, drummer.

That's all I've got so far, but it sounds very sci-fi and cyberpunk, doesn't it? I love all the breezy slang being used, like today's "somewhere a little more milkshake". I've said it before, but I'll say it again: this is so much fun!