Tachyon

*This article is about the OpAphid ARG character. For her undercover alias in Redearth88, see Aly Zarin.*

 Age

**Tachyon** is the codename of an operative who infiltrated Operation APHID as a double agent. The main enemy of OpAphid, Tachyon grew up in a Hymn of One commune similar to Bree and Gemma, but learned the truth about the Order at a young age. Tachyon's family moved away from the commune after learning that Tachyon's sister was being prepared for the Ceremony, and left their dog Sascha behind. Living on the run with a Resistance movement known as the Family, Tachyon interacts in her videos with her partner Brother and the head of the organization, codenamed Mom and Dad.

## Background

Tachyon is first introduced when OpAphid informs the viewers that someone has stolen a significant amount of confidential information from one of their information-gathering facilities, and asks OpAphid ARG players to track the thief for clues about what information had been stolen and where it might be headed. Further search reveals the thief to be Tachyon, a spy for another secret organization known sometimes as The Family, The Bureau, The Ring, or just Mom and Dad. Also, "tachyon" was used as a tag in some of Bree's videos. A user looked up all the strange tags and found that Tachyon's videos were similar to OpAphid with a similar story to Bree. When users subscribed to Tachyon, her videos were pulled until the release of The Action of an Enemy - Be Careful.

For reasons unknown to us, Tachyon has not chosen or has not been able to go "home" to Mom and Dad. Instead, she has conveyed her stolen information as well as anything new that she learns or discovers through her partner, codenamed "Brother" or "10033." Brother and Tachyon, who are not actually related, communicate through voicemail, YouTube profile updates, and drops, or physical locations where Tachyon leaves items for Brother to recover. It appears that although Tachyon frequently finds Brother irritating, dense, and slow, she does what she can to protect and help him (such as keeping OpAphid from blowing him up, and facilitating his attack on Gemma).

Tachyon is characterized by her YouTube tagline about her location: "By the time you know, I'll already be gone." She responds to some people who send her messages via YouTube, but her replies can be witty, helpful, vague, misleading, or simply unrelated to the question asked, seemingly on a whim. She dislikes giving out information about herself or her past, although some of her communication has suggested that she might be connected to the family Gemma talks about in her video "They Disappeared...," even as the information she leaves behind reveals more and more about her own personal story. Tachyon does not appear to stay in one place for any length of time, if she can help it, and is extremely fond of codes and cryptography, which she often employs to protect the information she distributes.

Tachyon is contacted by Bree after Daniel is abducted by OpAphid and The Cowboy. Bree posts a video pretending that she will give herself up to the Order in exchange for Daniel's safety as part of a ruse orchestrated by Tachyon and Brother. On the day of the exchange, Daniel is successfully rescued, and Tachyon and Brother go on their way. A little over a week later, Tachyon delivers a package to Daniel containing an encrypted file containing information on the Order and their inner workings. After the resulting knowledge causes a fight between Bree and Jonas, Bree decided to spend time at Tachyon's Training Camp, where she learns basic skills on how to defend herself. She leaves the training regiment early, however, as she discovers that Daniel and Jonas are in danger.

Tachyon abruptly ceases all involvement in *LonelyGirl15* storyline after this, and reporter Nikki Bower declares that Tachyon as well as Brother and OpAphid have gone "missing" with Operation APHID ceasing all activities. Tachyon logs into her YouTube account on May 24, 2007, leaving this farewell message:

*Tachyon said:*“”
> Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.
> xoxox,
> T
> --
> Lately, I am not having the easiest time with the situation i am in. But i can handle it,
> right? What other choice do I have?
>
>

## RedEarth88

*Main article: Aly Zarin*
Tachyon resurfaces in *RedEarth88,* a web video series that is independent of *LonelyGirl15* but produced by former LG15 writer Glenn Rubenstein, also the creator of Tachyon and OpAphid.

In July 2007, rogue Operation APHID agent Linc contacts Brother, seeking assistance. Linc reports that OpAphid has returned and has targeted an innocent college student, Rachel, for reasons unexplained. Linc's efforts to protect Rachel fail: she doesn't trust him and both are captured by OpAphid. Weeks later, Linc and Rachel are released with OpAphid having wiped their memories of their captivity.

Following this, OpAphid declares war on "former associates" who had stolen her life, memories and family, something she somehow ascertained through her interrogation or examination of Rachel.

Linc, unable to earn Rachel's trust, withdraws from the situation. Brother dispatches Tachyon to protect Rachel. Tachyon adopts the alias Aly Zarin, using a cover identity as a fashion photographer, and moving in with Rachel as her new roommate. As they grow closer, Rachel asks Tachyon to lend her some formal wear for a business dinner.

When Tachyon helps Rachel put on a dress, Rachel notices Tachyon staring at her backside. Rachel becomes uncomfortable that Tachyon may be attracted to her and began avoiding her, but after a few days of reflection, Rachel realizes that she is attracted Aly just as she believes Aly is attracted to her. Rachel asks Aly to dinner.

Tachyon posts a status update after this vlog: "Oh dear."

The next night, Rachel posts a follow up video. At dinner, Tachyon flirted intensely with a (male) waiter at dinner and even stayed at the restaurant after dinner to spend the night with this man while sending Rachel home alone. Rachel is disappointed but reflective.

Due to *RedEarth88* being unable to secure funding, no further videos were produced and the storyline was not completed. It was never revealed what Rachel had to do with OpAphid's past, nor was it elaborated as to what mission-related reason Tachyon had for examining Rachel's body.

## LG15: Outbreak

In the conclusion to this EQAL-sanctioned, fan produced web series, Gregory Mason successfully defeats a scientific branch of the Order called SHENTek. He then sends a video message to Tachyon declaring that he has fulfilled his end of their bargain. He ends his message saying, "Now hand over Jonas."

The dialogue implies that Tachyon is holding Jonas Wharton prisoner after the events of *LG15: The Resistance,* but given Tachyon's opposition to the Order and previous assistance to Jonas, Daniel and Bree, this is unlikely.

It is possible that Tachyon has Jonas' location, but it is unclear why Tachyon would know Jonas' location but fail to save him herself. Another option is that Jonas escaped the Order and is in hiding and Tachyon can arrange a meeting between Mason and Jonas for reasons unexplained.

## Controversial Identity

There has been much speculation as to the true identity of Tachyon, especially after the video The Human Ransom. A video posted by xitsMx suggests that Tachyon is indeed Cassie, and some fans also think this could be the case. Others have suggested that she is the girl that Gemma mentioned in the video They Disappeared.... Some have even gone so far as to suggest that it is Gemma herself. There has also been more tentative speculation that Tachyon may be Nikki Bower, and although there are some links and similarities, it is a much more abstract thought to prove.

A member of the LG15 community once sent Tachyon a message asking how Sascha was doing. Sascha is the pet dog of the family Gemma mentioned in the video They Disappeared.... Tachyon responded that she hadn't seen Sascha in a while. This confirmed that she was in fact a member of the family Gemma spoke of. However, Tachyon has also said she was never a Ceremony girl, leading people to believe that Tachyon is the sister of the trait positive girl in that family.

## Notes

* While Glenn Rubenstein was still working for *LonelyGirl15*, there were talks that Tachyon would replace Bree as the main female protagonist if Jessica Lee Rose left the show. It therefore bummed him out when Miles Beckett suggested that Tachyon would be better off as an unseen character, for he was afraid that she would just get reduced to a "camera angle." However, in the long term Glenn admits that Miles was probably right, as Tachyon's unseen status helped him as he was coming up with the idea for *RedEarth88.*
* When Rubenstein left *LonelyGirl15* in 2007*,* the characters of Tachyon and OpAphid were reported to be "missing" and were no longer mentioned. As Tachyon, OpAphid, Operation APHID and Brother were Rubenstein's own creations, he had sole control of them.
* Rubenstein later used these characters in his *RedEarth88* series but with no mention of the Order, alluding only vaguely to *LonelyGirl15* events and characters.[1]
* Rubenstein was asked if it were difficult to write Tachyon (and Brother and OpAphid) in *RedEarth88* without being able to use the Order from *LonelyGirl15*. He replied that it was likely more difficult to write the Order in *LonelyGirl15* without being able to use Tachyon, Brother and OpAphid.
* Due to funding issues, *RedEarth88* was not completed.
* In 2009, the LonelyGirl15 creators announced that they had come to an arrangement with Rubenstein and *LonelyGirl15* would once again be able to make use of Tachyon, Brother and OpAphid and they were made available to *LG15: Outbreak*. However, the *Outbreak* producer made only one reference to Tachyon.
* Asked about a potential *RedEarth88* revival or remake, Rubenstein replied that he felt that the time for OpAphid and Tachyon had passed as both concepts were now overshadowed by similar and more prominent properties; he said OpAphid was too much like GladOS from *Portal* and Tachyon's pop culture puzzles were too much like the movie adaptation of *Ready Player One.*[2]