According to discussion over at Unfiction forums, it appears that the Iris ARG has now run its course. With all five of the "servers" having been unlocked (Server 05 just unlocked last week on 8/16) apparently the mystery and story of this ARG has been fully revealed for all those who were following it.

Fortunately, several Podtacular members were able to get in on the action and score some exclusive Halo 3 goodies, including Klutch27, Unr3alChi3f, ClownX, Kiaffex, Face Head, QualityJeverage, iNoob, t3hreaper, crashMMVII and, thanks to these guys, yours truly.

For those who didn't manage to get so lucky, your time and efforts were definitely appreciated. And even though this looks like Iris has now all come to a close, don't be surprised if other exclusive events or promotions start to pop up from Microsoft around the Halo 3 launch.

Over the weekend, I thought maybe I was just too busy to keep up and would come back to a whole new wealth of info on Iris, but after some checking... has nothing really happened in the last five days? Did I miss something? After all the excitement of the last couple of weeks, it seems like the game really has come to a full stop.

Is there something we're waiting for? Are we expected to find new clues and get the game going again?

At around Midnight Eastern Time, the site 206.16.223.65 had an update. What it was is that people recieved a "key" instead of that countdown timer. They had to take that key up to www.unlock.msgamestudios.com and be one of the first 100 to help unlock "Server 5" (Of which we would see server 1 on www.halo3.com). Once unlocked, the "Server" starts to show up on 206.16.223.65 and you were able to download 4 things, and watch a video of which seems to be AR's final transmission before being completely compromised.

Screenshots and a whole lot more after the jump!

In today's biggest developments, Adjutant Reflex (widely presumed to be a Forerunner AI) has ceased to exist as we know it.

After some communication with a bungie.net user named x Foman123 x, Adjutant Reflex indicated another "presence" and the inability to combat its actions. Now it seems to have been taken over or consumed entirely. A look at its user profile shows the following message: "This entity has been terminated, its matrix comandeered."

While the Adjutant Reflex bungie.net profile still exists (with a new avatar) and continues to post messages, they are decidedly more sinister and forewarn of events that will be occurring very soon.

from http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=11393329

Even the countdown timer at the Transmission Log has stopped and now shows the following:

It was believed that the countdown would end on June 21st, the first day of summer, and provide some new information about Adjutant Reflex and its mission, but now, things have come to a full stop. It's not clear if this new presence is friendly or hostile, but it's clear that something has gone wrong.

Looks like something big could happen at any moment now, so stay tuned. The ARG Watch continues!

Yesterday, the site http://206.16.223.65, which was found by interacting with the last frame of the Halo 3 Comic found in Best Buy and Circuit City Ads, had three updates yesterday! At around midnight, the site read...

Then around noon time PST, the text read...

In addition to the text change, the countdown clock is now going insanely fast! The second clock is counting down, but is skipping 9,8,7 going to six. The timer is also skipping the 90s, 80s, and 70s. And when it hit 000, it starts again at 113. Example 113,112...,106,105...,101,100,66,65,64...

Then during the night, the site has been changed again to read...

The clock is still going what it was around noon.

The timer runs out Tonight (6/19) @ Midnight EST! What do you think what will happen?

Link to proof that the clock ends @ midnight tonight