‘Westworld’ Website Easter Eggs Warn Visitors About ‘Accidental Death,’ Reveal Employee Secrets
UPDATED: We’re still a few weeks away from the premiere of HBO‘s intriguing new drama “Westworld,” but if you want more insight beyond what the released photos and trailers have teased, there’s a surprisingly dense collection of sites to explore.
READ MORE: HBO’s ‘Westworld’: Do You Need Rape to Examine Humanity (With Robots)?
While the series developed by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy is set at some undefined point in the future, DiscoverWestworld.com is a modern-looking vacation portal promising “freedom, bliss, thrills and escape” for the traveler in search of a unique experience at Westworld, an exotic park owned by Delos Destinations
However, any fan of J.J. Abrams’ work shouldn’t be surprised that the Bad Robot-produced series has some layers to it — what might look fairly pedestrian contains plenty of secrets. Just for starters, while on DiscoverWestworld.com, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and see what happens.
And if you use your browser to look at the HTML source code for the site, you’ll find at the bottom the full Terms of Service for visiting a Delos Destinations location. We’ve printed the full rules at the bottom of this piece, as for the first time in history it’s a TOS document that entertains. Your standard iTunes agreement, after all, doesn’t often contain stipulations like this:
Statistically speaking, you are more likely to die from lightning strike than to die while in a Delos park. However, the following causes of accidental death have occurred within the Delos Destinations compound: buffalo stampede, self- cannibalism, accidental hanging, drowning, 3rd-degree burns, autoerotic asphyxiation, blunt force trauma, allergic reaction to non-native plant life, falling from great heights, common manslaughter, tumbleweeds. You absolve Delos, Inc. of any wrongdoing if you or anyone in your party suffers bodily harm while using The Service, and you agree to not sue or prosecute Delos, Inc. or any of the smaller entities falling under the Delos Corporation.
In addition, you’re invited to submit your email address and “register to begin your journey.”
While you wait to find out what that means, go to the top right of the page, where it says “Employee Login.” If you type “BLACKHATWHITEHAT” or “WHITEHATBLACKHAT,” you’ll discover a new welcome video, followed by a 20-question “evaluation.”
Once you’ve completed the quiz, go back to the main page and type “VIOLENTDELIGHTS” into that Employee Login field, hit enter…
…And you’ll find yourself on DelosIncorporated.com, which gives you a sneak peek at some of the emails sent by the men and women working behind-the-scenes at Westworld (which have been flagged by Delos security for various reasons). This includes messages sent by the characters played on screen by Jeffrey Wright, Shannon Woodward, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Luke Hemsworth.
READ MORE: ‘Westworld’: New Images Reveal More Secrets Behind HBO’s Sci-Fi Dystopian Western
Many of the conversations should awfully familiar to anyone who’s ever had a corporate email address — they might not make sense out of context, but a few stand out as particularly amusing.
There’s another admin login opportunity on DelosIncorporated.com, though we weren’t able to crack it immediately, and there’s also one section of the site — Corp Resources — that we weren’t able to visit. So there’s clearly a lot more to explore here, just playing further into the mysteries built up around this reality-bending robot drama, and keeping us busy until the show premieres Oct. 2 at 9pm on HBO.
The full terms of service for Delos Destinations are below:
TERMS OF DELOS DESTINATIONS
IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE ENTERING THE DELOS DESTINATIONS COMPOUND (THE “SERVICE”), AS THEY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS IN RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.
1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS: Upon entering the Delos Destinations Port of Entry, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions as laid out in this document.
2. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Upon use of The Service, you agree that Delos, Inc. is not responsible for any injuries that are the result of gameplay. Recreational activity within the Delos Destinations compound does contain risks, and every effort will be made to ensure the safety of every guest. However, Delos, Inc. gives you license to experience the parks as you see fit, and certain injuries may occur.
(a) You dissolve Delos, Inc. of any responsibility financial or criminal that would result from dismemberment, broken bones, heart failure, loss or loss of use of hand and foot digits, shock, marital and relational strife, child endangerment, psychological trauma, delusions or hallucinations resulting from the realistic nature of the park experience, and/or any other physical, emotional, and psychological effects resulting from strenuous park activities.
(b) Statistically speaking, you are more likely to die from lightning strike than to die while in a Delos park. However, the following causes of accidental death have occurred within the Delos Destinations compound: buffalo stampede, self- cannibalism, accidental hanging, drowning, 3rd-degree burns, autoerotic asphyxiation, blunt force trauma, allergic reaction to non-native plant life, falling from great heights, common manslaughter, tumbleweeds. You absolve Delos, Inc. of any wrongdoing if you or anyone in your party suffers bodily harm while using The Service, and you agree to not sue or prosecute Delos, Inc. or any of the smaller entities falling under the Delos Corporation.
(c) All weapons and equipment used within Delos parks are the exclusive property of Delos, Inc. Gun ammunition contains proprietary safeguards related to bullet velocity, and tampering with gun safety features or ammunition automatically transfers liability to you and absolves Delos, Inc. of any injury or death that may occur as a result.
(d) All livestock within the Delos parks are Hosts, with the notable exception of flies. All humanoid and animal Hosts within Delos parks work to keep guests safe, even when the narrative calls for them to appear to endanger guests. Please note, the appearance of danger is not the same as true danger, and all Hosts utilize the Good SamaritanTM reflex to prevent bodily harm. However:
(e) Delos, Inc. shall not have a liability to you by reason of any delay or failure to perform if the delay or failure to perform is occasioned by circumstance beyond our control, which shall refer to any act of God, storm, fire, casualty, unanticipated work stoppage, power outage, satellite failure, strike, lockout, labor dispute, civil disturbance, riot, war, national emergency, Governmental action, Host malfunction, or other circumstance beyond our reasonable control.
3. RULES OF CONDUCT: All guest activity within the parks of the Delos Destinations compound is unrestricted and without limitations. However:
(a) Upon entering the Delos Destinations compound, you agree to voluntarily divest yourself of all cameras, cellular devices, and electronic technology capable of recording your park experience, including virtual reality recorders and devices, and holographic recreation devices. There is no video recording, audio recording, or written recording allowed within the park. You are allowed to utilize the in-park Host character PHOTOGRAPHERS, whose narratives allow for you to take Delos- approved photographs. These photographs will reflect the time period and location of the park narratives you are playing. No other photography is allowed.
(b) You agree that you will leave the Delos Destinations compound on your appointed leave date, and you will make no attempt to hide within the parks and avoid your leave date. A maximum of twenty-eight (28) days is allowed for being within the parks before guests must proceed to the Mesa Gold area for decompression. Any attempts to use the parks to avoid local, federal, or international court dates, jail or prison sentences, prosecution, or payments agreed upon in civil court or arbitration will not be supported by Delos, Inc.
(c) Please act responsibly while a guest at the Mesa Gold resort and while utilizing the Mesa Bar. Please be mindful of other guests, families, and children. Please note that while utilizing the Mesa Bar, you may interact with Delos, Inc. employees; any ideas pitched to Delos, Inc. employees automatically become the property of Delos, Inc., in perpetuity. Also, any mention of human-on-human crime admitted to a Delos, Inc. employee must be brought to the attention of Delos, Inc., and if falling within the laws of the Territory, may have to be reported to local authorities.
4. COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS: The Service and all materials included are protected by copyrights, patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights under the respective laws of the Territory and are the exclusive property of Delos, Inc. These materials include, but are not limited to: the intellectual property of all Delos Destinations parks, the Host characters, Hosts’ programming code, the names of locations within the parks, the narratives within the parks, the recipes for specialized food and beverage items within the parks and featured at the Mesa Gold resort, text, photographs, graphics, video and audio content.
(a) As such, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any part of The Service.
(b) Using The Service is a privilege, and by doing so, you agree that you will make no attempt to remove anything belonging to Delos Destinations from the compound. You will not remove any food or beverage items, any Hosts, any clothing, any weapons or equipment, any signage, or any Host body parts from the compound. The only items you may remove from the compound are in-world photographs taken by designated Hosts. All other items are strictly forbidden.
5. INVESTIGATIONS/VIOLATIONS: If Delos, Inc. or any Delos Entity believes, in its sole discretion, that a violation of these Terms has occurred, it may take any and all corrective action it deems appropriate without notice, including contacting local authorities on the mainland. All human-on-human crimes taking place within the Delos Destinations compound will first be investigated by Delos, Inc.; Delos, Inc. has successfully avoided providing personal data in response to a legal process involving outside court entities for its entire history of existence. However, Delos, Inc. reserves the right to disclose personal information requested by a law enforcement agency, and shall have no liability to you for such disclosure.
6. PRIVACY: You are guaranteed absolute privacy while using The Service as outlined in this document, and all guest activities connected with use of The Service remain strictly private and confidential.
(a) You agree that while in the parks, you will respect the privacy rights of other guests, and you will not endeavor to record for the purposes of sharing the activities of other guests in the parks. You will not at any time, directly or indirectly, disclose, disseminate, or duplicate park activity pertaining to your or other guests’ gameplay.
(b) By entering the Delos Destinations Port of Entry, you acknowledge that Delos, Inc. controls the rights to and remains the sole owner of, in perpetuity: all skin cells, bodily fluids, secretions, excretions, hair samples, saliva, sweat, blood, and any other bodily functions not listed here. Delos, Inc. reserves the right to use this property in any way, shape, or form in which the entity sees fit.
7. MISCELLANEOUS: These Terms cannot be changed or terminated orally. Any failure of Delos, Inc. to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. No waiver by Delos, Inc. of any provision of these Terms will be of any force or effect unless made in writing and signed by a duly authorized officer of Delos, Inc. Delos, Inc. may assign its rights and obligations under these Terms, in whole or in part, to any party at any time without any notice. Delos, Inc. reserves the right to deny access to all or part of the Service to you or any person in its sole discretion without notice or liability of any kind.
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