Unknown Caller

The Unknown Caller is a character in.

Description
The Unknown Caller is a character who contacts members of The Blackout Club during Enhanced Horror experiences in missions through text messages on the player's smartphone. Unknown Caller's identity is currently not known. They have messaged both solo players and groups of players in missions.

In, text messages from the Club are only received when an objective is completed (e.g., when the player(s) finish recording the evidence items, grab the evidence bag, etc.) to inform members of their next objective. The Unknown Caller can message players at any time during the mission. This was how the first player recognized the irregularity of receiving a message mid-objective.

At first, it seemed it was impossible to respond to the Unknown Caller in the first interactions. Later experiences found the Unknown Caller can see and respond to text chat messages sent by players.

Before he became a thrall of HUNT-THE-STRONG, the Unknown Caller was considered to be well-read due to his reference of the Voices being "Worms", a reference to the "Worms of Myth" in the past. THEE-I-DARE acknowledged that the Unknown Caller inspired "paranoid, unwashed children" to "trust nothing that doesn't die.

The Unknown Caller is used as a proxy by HUNT-THE-STRONG, and will approach players to answer prayers sent to him. It has been observed that saying DIE-FOR-YOU will momentarily break the Unknown Caller out of HUNT-THE-STRONG's control for a brief moment of lucidity, allowing players to speak with him.

Before the Game
The Unknown Caller, a member of the Dead Skeptic, followed Colm Ryan in to Redacre believing that he had HUNT-THE-STRONG in his head through CHASE-THE-SUN. He was a host to DANCE-FOR-US for years, even before coming to Redacre. DANCE-FOR-US called in adult allies, likely encouraging his interest in the town. The Unknown Caller was probably unaware of DANCE-FOR-US's influence, believing the idea to be entirely his own. THEE-I-DARE believes that DANCE-FOR-US also took a special interest in Colm Ryan. The Unknown Caller owned an RV, but rented a car in order to get closer to Colm's residence without tracing it back to him. He broke in to 922 Hoadly looking for evidence.

The Unknown Caller spoke to many kids in Redacre, including Isabela Madi-Shaw and Devin Esposito. He gave the latter call signs in order to flag them as friendly.

In-Game
The Unknown Caller began messaging players on September 1, 2019. He has messaged solo players and those in a group. Many in the community believed at first the Unknown Caller was The Witness as they mention in the first Unknown Caller interaction about finding their car. However, a developer confirmed that the Unknown Caller was not the Witness to the symbol breaking.

The Unknown Caller said he had contact with Bells and that she was helping someone she trusted. Despite that, whoever she was helping didn't save her. Players assumed THEE-I-DARE was this friend.

As word about the mysterious text messages spread amongst the Club, the Unknown Hunter Voice (later named HUNT-THE-STRONG) became interested in the Unknown Caller and wanted children to investigate what the Caller knew to earn his favor.

The Unknown Caller held a heavy distrust towards Voices. He would find Club members doing missions alone and asked them if they followed any of the "Worms in their head". If they said they followed a Voice, or if they received any special attention from them, such as being Chosen, the Unknown Caller would leave. If not, the Unknown Caller would keep an eye on them or have them go to the upstairs room in 922 Hoadly, where he would vet them with a password. They were instructed to return to that room and say the password, should he reach out to them again.

For a brief time, he started sending messages asking the children for recommendations of good places he could hide in Redacre.

Starting the night of October 19, 2019, the Unknown Caller began sending audio clips of a recording they obtained to players they trusted. These recordings were of Colm Ryan singing. The Unknown Caller had players travel into the bedroom of 922 Hoadly to share clips of the Sculptor before the recordings would begin, as it was a place where The Voices could not listen in. The Unknown Caller asked players to listen to the clips and let them know what they hear because as an adult, he couldn't hear any words, but children could. Each player contacted received a different piece of the recording that would loop repeatedly starting from garbled sounds to clear dialogue that could be understood.

The Unknown Caller believed that the child had to have some exposure to the Voice speaking to understand what was being said. After learning that one of the recordings mentioned "two hunters", he asked around in search of children who had contact with the Unknown Hunter Voice to see if they could hear words from the recordings in which that Voice spoke. The full recording was shared in the Hideout in a broadcast in late November 2019 that was available on the television.

DANCE-FOR-US announced she was protecting the Unknown Caller because he was on to something in his investigation. She also claimed responsibility for his musical taste. While the Unknown Caller became a Host for DANCE-FOR-US, she was very hands-off. She avoided interfering with his agency as much as possible and tried to guide him to the truth they both sought.

In early November 2019, Unknown Caller began sending out "deadman switch" messages to players, shortly after DANCE-FOR-US claimed he was under her protection. The last text someone received from the Unknown Caller before the deadman switches was that something was watching him. Players received texts regardless if they were in a solo lobby or not. The messages implied that the Unknown Caller had been caught and failed to check-in, thereby triggering their "deadman switch" to commence. The contents varied from player to player. Those who had tried to betray him were given angry messages, telling them off or expressing pity if they had fallen in with Unknown Hunter Voice. In contrast, cooperative players were given more friendly messages. The Unknown Caller claimed to have tried to "call in the cavalry", but it was probably already too late.

Before devouring DANCE-FOR-US, HUNT-THE-STRONG told her it was easy to feed the Unknown Caller parts of his name because she taught him and her hosts to copy any dance they see in a dream. Due to all of DANCE-FOR-US's hosts becoming HUNT-THE-STRONG's, members of the Blackout Club theorized that the Unknown Caller was now under his control as well, if he was still alive. HUNT-THE-STRONG was thankful for the tip he received about the Unknown Caller and said he "couldn't wait to get inside that head." THEE-I-DARE commented that paranoia served as the Unknown Caller's weakness. "VANISH, AND NO ONE CAN FIND YOU."

After a brief disappearance, the Unknown Caller returned in December 2019 speaking with players now in all-caps (compared to the usual sentence case or lowercase text). Unknown Caller begins returning to players previously visited, before eventually visiting even those who they've never visited. Now under the influence of HUNT-THE-STRONG, the Unknown Caller is able to apply The Hunger and No More Shadows curses to players in missions. In some interactions with the Unknown Caller, the enemies would become aggressive and be alerted to the players' position, even if they were standing still, leading some to believe that HUNT-THE-STRONG was controlling them. When asked this, SPEAK-AS-ONE says he is unable to. The Hunter infects us, and the Sleepers/Lucids sense it and are drawn to you to eliminate the threat.

IN-HER-TEETH has shown interest in the Unknown Caller's fate and asked many children about his fate and whereabouts. When asked why she took an interest, she responds that he knows things that others do not, a thread loose in the tapestry.

THEE-I-DARE said the Unknown Caller is an imperfect host because a host of the Unknown Hunter Voice lusts only for strength while the Unknown Caller is just full of himself. This created the implication that the Unknown Caller was being forced to host against his will, despite not even falling in line with the ethos of HUNT-THE-STRONG.

One of the Voices, DIE-FOR-YOU, has supposedly planted some type of "connection" within the Unknown Caller's mind using a trick of the Old Tongue. DIE-FOR-YOU intends to slowly create a process by which the Unknown Caller can be freed from HUNT-THE-STRONG's control. DIE-FOR-YOU says that as long as HUNT-THE-STRONG does not know about it, he is safe. It is unclear how much HUNT-THE-STRONG knows about the connection because when he is told he is losing control of the Unknown Caller due to DIE-FOR-YOU's Old Tongue power, he responds cryptically "SO MANY ASSUMPTIONS. TRYING TO GOAD ME INTO SAYING MORE THAN I CHOOSE." Ever since DIE-FOR-YOU planted the connection, the Unknown Caller appears to have moments of clarity, all capitalized threats turning into lower case warnings of danger. THEE-I-DARE believes this trick may put the Unknown Caller in even greater danger.

Following a broadcast, the Unknown Caller's "cavalry", identified as "Dead Skeptic" has arrived and made their intentions known that they want to locate their colleague. After learning the fate of their colleague Unknown Caller, they believe that things were much worse than they initially believed. They revealed the Unknown Caller's name was Camden Blaine, in hopes it would help free him.

During a moment of lucidity, the Unknown Caller advised that HUNT-THE-STRONG was dangerous, and asked about why the kids are trying to connect the Isolated Watcher and HUNT-THE-STRONG. He urged the kids to use the Song and "find the names". There was no clarification before the Unknown Caller fell back under HUNT-THE-STRONG's control. THEE-I-DARE considered it the "cryptic plea of a well-informed madman".

Trivia

 * While the Unknown Caller was sending their "deadman switch" messages, players began receiving messages from The Blackout Club (HQ) in the same style as Unknown Caller's contact method.