Anna Shea was a communications officer at Fort Milner during World War II. She helped Maggie Adler, her closest friend, decode the transmissions from the crew of the sunken USS Kanaloa. Although she does not make an appearance in either game, she is mentioned in both Oxenfree and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.
Biography[]
Anna grew up in Maine with her childhood friend Maggie, with whom she was very close.[2] She had worked in broadcasting, before being brought to Edwards Island to assist Maggie as a communications officer, at the latter's behest.[3]
During their time working together, the tragic sinking of the USS Kanaloa took place, killing 97 people who were aboard. Shortly after, transmissions began to be heard from what appeared to be the sunken crew. These were dismissed as pranks or faulty equipment, but Maggie decoded one of them as a mayday from one crewman, which led her to investigate this mystery thoroughly alongside her closest friend, Anna.[4]
Together, they found out that the crew and passengers had not died, as was thought, but instead had been separated from their dimensional existence by the implosion of the submarine's nuclear reactor. Anna and Maggie continued their tests through the winter of 1951.[1][5]
On April 4, 1952, Maggie and Anna attempted to reverse the manifest breakdown in the hopes that they could free the soldiers from their parallel dimension. They were able to tune into the temporal tear inside the cave at Beacon Beach and speak with Sgt. Henry Griffin briefly. However, the Sunken overpowered Anna during their attempt to free themselves, resulting in her being absorbed into the rift and trapped alongside them. Maggie fled the scene in terror which later added to her immense feeling of guilt.[6]
Appearance[]
Anna was a blonde woman with fair skin and a slim figure. She used to put her hair in a bun.
Communication Attempts[]
In Oxenfree, Alex can find what appears to be traces of Anna attempting to contact Maggie in Morse code. These transmissions can be picked up by the WAL radio around Edwards Island. Like the sunken crew, Anna can only use snippets of news and military broadcasts to communicate, since she is trapped in another dimensional existence.[7]
Most messages are preceded by the opening snippet of The Entertainer by Scott Joplin, which varies in pitch across messages. The messages seem to be arranged chronologically based on the descending pitch of the tune. Initially, Anna's messages are clear and coherent; however, as time passes and Anna – much like the casualties of the USS Kanaloa – begins to lose her identity, the messages become less and less legible.[8]
- Beacon Beach, 9 PM
It can be heard by tuning the radio to 98.3.
.-.. . - ..- ... .--. .-. .- -.-- - .... .- - .--. . .- -.-. . -... . -. --- .-- .-. . ... - --- .-. . -.. - --- - .... . .-- --- .-. .-.. -..
LETUSPRAYTHATPEACEBENOWRESTOREDTOTHEWORLD
- Harden Tower, 11 PM
This transmission can be heard by tuning to 99 around Harden Tower.
-... . ... ..- .-. . -.-- --- ..- .... .- ...- . -.-. --- .-. .-. . -.-. - - .. -- . .-.-.-
BESUREYOUHAVECORRECTTIME.
- ?, ?
... --- .-. .-. -.-- - .... .- - .. .-- . -. - .- .... . .- -.. .-.-.- -. --- - -.-- --- ..- .-. ..-. .- ..- .-.. - .-.-.- .-.. --- ...- . .- -. -. .- .-.-.-
SORRYTHATIWENTAHEAD.NOTYOURFAULT.LOVEANNA.
- Towhee Woods, ?
It can be heard by tuning to 62.
... - .. .-.. .-.. .... . .-. . .-.-.- -.-. .- -. -. --- - -- --- ...- . .-.-.- ...- . .-. -.-- -.-. --- .-.. -.. .-.-.- .-.. --- ...- . .- -. -. .- .-.-.-
STILLHERE.CANNOTMOVE.VERYCOLD.LOVEANNA.
- Facilities, ?
This code can be heard by tuning to 57.8 in Fort Milner's Facilities.
.... .- .-. -.. - --- - .... .. -. -.- .-.-.- .- .-. . -.-- --- ..- - .... . .-. . ..--.. .-.. --- ...- . .- -. -. .- .-.-.-
HARDTOTHINK.AREYOUTHERE?LOVEANNA.
- US Army RCS, ?
This can be heard by tuning to 133 inside the US Army RCS.
--. . - - .. -. --. ... -.-. .- .-. . -.. .-.-.- .-.. --- ... .. -. --. - .... .. -. --. ... .-.-.- .-.. --- ...- . .-.-.-
GETTINGSCARED.LOSINGTHINGS.LOVE.
- Epiphany Fields, 3
- 20 AM
This code can be heard by tuning to 60.1 in Epiphany Fields. It might mean "losing but laughing."
.-.. --- ... .. -. --. .-.-.- -... ..- - .-.-.- .-.. ..- --. .... .- -. -.. .-.-.-
LOSING.BUT.LUGHAND.
- Beacon Beach, ?
It can be heard by tuning to 146.8.
.-.. --- ...- . .-.-.- .- -. -.. .-.-.-
LOVE.AND.
- End Game Scene, ?
This can be heard by tuning to 99.9 at the end of the game when Alex is in a plain black place.
-.. --- -.-- --- ..- .-- .- -. - - --- .--. .-.. .- -.-- ..--.. -... .- -. .- -. .- .-.-.-
DOYOUWANTTOPLAY?BANANA.
- End Credits
.- / .... / .-. / ----- / -.-. / .... / -- / -.... / .-.. / -.-- / ----. / --.- / -.-. / .... / -. / ----- / .-.. / -- / .-.. / ----- / .-.. / ----- / .-.. / . / -.. / -.. / -.-- / -...-A H R 0 C H M 6 L Y 9 Q C H N 0 L M L 0 L 0 L E D D Y =
Capitalizing the letters like so: aHR0cHM6Ly9qcHN0Lml0L0lEdDY becomes a Base64 string, decoding to https://jpst.it/IDt6 which contains another string of Morse code:
.---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- .---- .----0100 0001 0111 0011 0110 1011 0010 0000 0110 0001 0010 0000 0110 1101 0110 0001 0110 1110 0010 0000 0110 0001 0110 0010 0110 1111 0111 0101 0111 0100 0010 0000 0110 0001 0010 0000 0110 0100 0110 1111 0110 0111
This binary code translates into "Ask a man about a dog," which resembles a phrase written inside Beacon Beach's cave walls.[9]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "My belief - bolstered by Anna’s and my research [...] - is that the men and women of the USS Kanaloa were separated from our dimensional existence by the implosion of the submarine’s nuclear reactor." –Adler Letter #8
- ↑ "There’s a similar statue of a soldier in Maine, where I grew up. My memory of it is I think part of the reason why I said yes when the army recruited me out of college, despite my family’s protestations. Anna, my closest friend from childhood, was of course thrilled at the possibility of my escape." –Adler Letter #1.
- ↑ "When people in the Comms Dept. begin transferring off, I was able to convince my higher ups [...] to bring Anna onboard as a replacement. Anna had been working in broadcasting, so it made enough sense to the upper ranks." –Adler Note #7.
- ↑ "The first transmissions from the lost soldiers were [...] usually dismissed as an ongoing prank, faulty equipment, or AM stations bouncing off the midland. However, after I successfully decoded one as a mayday from Calvin Gilbert, an electrician who perished on the USS Kanaloa, I knew it had to be something more." –Adler Note #5.
- ↑ "Anna and I frequently conducted tests at what was once the East Barracks here during the brutal winter of ’51." –Adler Letter #9
- ↑ "Anna and I entered the cave just before dawn to try and communicate directly with the crew of the USS Kanaloa. We successfully tuned in to the source of the temporal ”tear,” and spoke, albeit briefly, to Henry Griffin, an SOC Sergeant who died on the sub, but the power overwhelmed my dear Anna, and she was absorbed into its ridge; all that remains there now is the flickering hue of a partially open gate, a window to a perpendicular space that seems to have ”augmented” the subarine’s call. But, of all my regrets, perhaps the deepest is knowing Anna’s last vision was of me fleeing from her in terror." –Adler Letter #10
- ↑ Night School Studio (June 11, 2016). We are the creators of the supernatural thriller game OXENFREE. AMA!. Reddit. Retrieved on January 15, 2023.
- ↑ "Their emotional states (if not mental states) had been reduced to that of children… a thought I cling to when I envision Anna’s demise." –Adler Letter #8
- ↑ ALEX: “See A Man About A Dog...” Sure. Will do. [...] “...Saw the Man, Not the Dog.”