The Device was a data storage unit and solar powered recording Mechanism that was planted inside the home of Noah Maxwell for an unknown duration of time, presumably by Observer or another member of the Collective, and was capable of recording Noah's conversations as well as playing audio recording made by the Observer himself.
It's origins are not entirely known, but according to Noah's friend Edward O'Conner, it was made up of various pieces of other bits of technology.
The Device was also proven to be capable of holding computer files.
Noah Finds ' The Device '
In The Device (Video), Noah finally finds the mechanism after awaking from a nightmare that he claimed 'felt real'.
Edward and Analysis
Noah, after finding the Device, asks his old friend Edward, who is visiting his family in Florida, to take a look at the Device. Edward is impressed by the Device's intricate design and asks Noah if he can meet the person who made it and shake their hand. This suggests that the Observer is very knowledgeable about electronics, as the device he made impressed someone who repairs electronics for a living. Noah later talks to Edward about safely plugging the Device into his computer without crashing it. Edward tells Noah to cut the green and white wires (which supply data) and leave the Black, Red and Copper wires (which supply power to the speakers and device) as to not infect his laptop with a virus.
At the start of Device Findings, Noah plugs the Device into his laptop, and the following message transmits from The Device .
The Message
AUDIO OF MESSAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE
TRANSCRIPT: Hello, my child. I see you’ve found my little toy. Took you long enough. About 4 months? (makes clicking sound with tongue) I was beginning to think you’d never find it. Good thing you’re not as deaf as you are stupid. You shouldn’t have cut those wires, there is more to be found. But I’m being unfair. Perhaps, you just need another little... ah... lesson, like the one you got at the Nature Trail. Shh... shh... *chuckle* But we will teach you so much. Who all those eyes belong to.... We shall teach you their names. About that forest... yes... that forest you were in. Under it's branches the rain runs red... *another laugh* Would you like to know where you went? Would you like to know why? Perhaps you’d like to know why Milo committed suicide? Or rather, how I helped him do so. *clicks his tongue again* Language, Mr. Maxwell. The walls have such sensitive ears. *long sigh* We want only to remove those festering sutures from your eyes... Are you so afraid of sight? A brief lesson, from your own world. You, and everyone you’ve ever known, are prisoners... bound in a cave and facing a blank wall on which you can only perceive shadows. A brain connected to eyes and nothing more. We have seen what casts those shadows, Noah Maxwell. Why won’t you let us untie you? You are quite deserving, after all. *inhale* The Boardwalk. Bring the journal. That is your homework. However, if you come empty handed, we shall be forced to take... disciplinary actions. Perhaps another detention? *lip smacking sounds* Until then, I will continue my... observations. Pleasant dreams, Noah. *laugh* [4:25] As the device's audio ends, a buzzing noise is heard.
Components and Capabilities
The Device was powered by a 9 volt battery and a solar panel that was attached to the blinds of Noah's room. The 9v battery was cooled by a computer fan on the bottom of the Device. On the top of the device is a small speaker that can play audio messages. It also contained a pager that emitted beeps from the Device, a small microphone, and a USB jack that contained text files, a jpg image, and various audio recordings.
The Device was able to record and send 24 hour audio recordings, as well as store data, play a pre-recorded message from the Observer, emit sounds from the built in phone pager, and run for very long periods of time on solar power, if not indefinitely.
Files
The following are the confirmed files that Noah Maxwell found on the Device:
Y2FlY2kgc3VyZGlzIG11dGlz
OCULUS.txt
Unfiction forum members Drer'Ahv, icy780 and Slendery helped decode the codes hidden in the text and posted them in the Tribe Twelve thread. Due to formatting issues, lines 4-10 may not show up correctly; The code's translation forms a heart.
SEVMTE9ZRVRBR0FJTkSPQUg = HELLOYETAGAINDNOAH
V0VMSVZFV0lUSElOR1RIRVdBTExT = WELIVEWITHINGTHEWALLS
SU5GSU5JVEVFWUVT = INFINITEEYES
IC46OjouIC AgLjo6Oi4N= .:::. .:::.
Cjo6Ojo6Oj ouOjo6Ojo6=:::::::.:::::::
Og0kOjo6Oj o6Ojo6Ojo6=$:::::::::::::::
Ojo6DQonOj o6Ojo6Ojo6=':::::::::::::'
Ojo6OicNCi AgJzo6Ojo6= ':::::::::'
Ojo6OicNCi AgICAnOjo6= ':::::'
OjonDQogIC AgICAnOicNCg= ':'
TE9PSw = LOOK
QkVISU5EWU9V = BEHIND YOU
WU9VUkxJRkU = YOURLIFE
TUlMT0tORVc = MILOKNEW
SU5USEVFTkRZT1VXSUxMVU5ERVJTVEFORA = INTHEENDYOUWILLUNDERSTAND
V0VTRUVLVEhFSk9VUk5BTA = WESEEKTHEJOURNAL
SUFNQUxXQVlTUklHSFRCRUhJTkRZT1U = IAMALWAYSRIGHTBEHINDYOU
VEhFSk9VUk5BTEhPTERTVEhFU0VDUkVU = THEJOURNALHOLDSTHESECRET
RVZFTklOWU9VUkRSRUFNUw = EVENINYOURDREAMS
V0VMSVZFV0lUSElOR1RIRVdBTExT = WELIVEWITHINGTHEWALLS
V0VXQVRDSFlPVUFTWU9VREVDSVBIRVJUSElT = WEWATCHYOUASYOUDECIPHERTHIS
V0VPQlNFUlZFRk9SRVZFUg = WEOBSERVEFOREVER
SPECIAL MESSAGE
The message that played when Noah plugged the device into his laptop in 'Device Findings'. It was created 3/13/11 at 11:11pm, is a Wave File, and is an audio recording made by the Observer (see "The Message" section above for transcript). After discovering the date that the file was created in "Device Findings", Noah states that he is perplexed by the fact that the Observer apparently predicted the future, since he somehow knew about Noah cutting the data wires four months before it actually happened. Additionally, Noah is unable to figure out how the recording played without the data wires.
8-1-11
Another Wave file. It is a 24 hour recording of Noah's room that began recording at 12:00 am on August 1st and recorded until 11:59 pm. The Device then began recording the next day in another audio file.
8-2-11
Wave file. A recording of Noah's room from 12:00 am on August 2nd up to around 3 am when Noah found The Device
Supposed Destruction
Near the end of the video Device Findings, Noah says that he was going to destroy The Device. It is currently not known with certainty if he did so, but at the current time it is presumed that Noah Maxwell followed through with his statement and destroyed it.
Trivia
- "Who all those eyes belong to" refers to this drawing that Noah made and posted on Twitpic after having a nightmare.
- "AURIS" is Latin for "ear", which fits with the fact that the device was monitoring Noah. "CASSIUM" is Latin for "metal helmet", which may suggest that this folder was meant to protect the files from being seen by deleting them. "OCULUS" is Latin for "eye".
- The image file name, "Y2FlY2kgc3VyZGlzIG11dGlz", when decoded, reads as "caeci surdis mutis", which is Latin for "blind, deaf and dumb".
- "prisoners... bound in a cave and facing a blank wall on which you can only perceive shadows" is a direct reference to "The Allegory of the Cave" which was written by the Greek philosopher Plato.
- For people who don't know the story written by Plato, it is about reality. The prisoners only see the shadows of whats going on outside of the cave on the wall and only know that as their reality. Thinking that this is the truth and that the world must look like this, because they have never seen outside of their cave. It probably means that most of the things Noah sees around him are not the reality the Observer sees, because the Observer lives outside of the cave while Noah is inside, only seeing the shadows.