The Origin of the Cosmonaut Zombie in Moon Finally Revealed?

[RadZakpak]

I've been combing through the Classified radios and ciphers trying to find any subtle hints or details that may have been missed. And I have not seen anyone mention the significance of this radio:

Quote

Schuster: Log entry 97. August 3rd, 1963. The Matter Transference Device has been realigned... again in order to accommodate additional temporal variables. This is test number 11. Human subject 5: Private Hastings. If the transference facts are correct, Private Hastings will arrive at Griffin Station on August 3rd, 1963. If he arrives at this date, a communication link will be successfully established and we would have confirmed that the teleporters temporal anomalies have been compensated for.

Schuster: Are you ready, Private Hastings?

Hastings: Yes, sir.

Schuster: I can't understand a word of what he's saying with that ridiculous space suit. A simple thumbs-up will suffice Private Hastings. Good! Initiate the transference matrix.

(The teleporter is activated)

Schuster: Doctor Richards, did it work? Do we have a stable connection?

Richards: No sir, nothing. We've lost him.

Schuster: That's the fifth man we've lost! This base is rapidly running out of privates! I suppose they're all just dancing around on the moon somewhere in the far future having a grand old time!

(Machines begin to make sounds)

Schuster: Wait. Wait. What-What's happening? Richards? What did you do?

Richards: Nothing sir. Something's coming through.

Schuster: Hit the alarm! Get me Pernell! We need soldiers here immediately!

(The teleporter is activated)

Schuster: Who the hell are you? Where did you come... Wait. No. no. no. It's not possible.

Something of note about how this radio fits with the others in context: firstly, it is meant to be roughly two weeks after one of the reels in Classified in which Schuster and George Sawyer are arguing about building a teleporter to Griffin Station like the one previously used by Richtofen. Sawyer is rushing Schuster's work, demanding they must complete the teleporter, while Schuster says that it takes time due to the fact that if calibrations are not correct, the subject may be teleported through time rather than space. In the audio reel I've posted above, Schuster believes he has sent Private Hastings, along with four other men before him, through not only space but time as well.

 

I firmly believe Treyarch is meaning to imply that the subjects Schuster is testing with are being sent to the Moon in October 13th, 2025, when the map Moon actually takes place, and that they are the Cosmonaut zombies we face in the map. This assumption is based on three key points from the radio:

 

1. Dr. Schuster seems to be confident that the subjects are being sent to Griffin Station, but that WHEN they are being sent is uncertain.

2. The reel makes it a point to include the detail that Schuster can't understand the Private in his space suit, as it sounds muffled. Much like the cosmonaut in Moon with his muffled radio chatter you hear when you get close.

3. Schuster jokes that Private Hastings and the others are, "just dancing around on the Moon somewhere in the far future having a grand old time!" Who else do we know who does that?

 

Now, I obviously don't mean to imply that Dr. Schuster knows about the glitch in Black Ops that causes astronaut zombies to do a dance-like animation in place. However, that sentence is very specific and I would not put it past Treyarch to write specific lines like that as a nod to the player and a nudge to let us know the implications. It just seems like a very odd line considering how relevant it is to this theory. 

 

Also let's not forget the unique way that the cosmonaut spawns in, in a flash of light like it was just teleported, and its suit is in pristine condition, meant to trick players into thinking they are another player. Now, why is it a zombie when Private Hastings was alive before going into the teleporter? Simple, we already know a miscalibrated teleporter can turn a living creature into a zombie. Think of the initial testing on the MTD that created the first zombies. Or think of Fluffy who transformed into a zombie when she went through the teleporter.

 

So, simply put, the cosmonaut zombies that spawn in the map Moon are freshly teleported Privates from 1963 being tested on by Dr. Schuster. This radio was a great, subtle way to give us the origin of this strange enemy that has never been explained.

[Schrödinger]

It maybe also those of the Moon loading screen.

 

Spoiler

Schuster : Are you ready, Private Kenny ?

Kenny : Hm, hm.

Schuster : I can't understand a word of what he's saying with that ridiculous orange parka.

 

[Electric Jesus]

Damn, good find. I think you’re absolutely right. 

 

IIRC in Chronicles, the astronauts had radio transmissions coming out of their suit, like numbers in reverse. Might grant some insight now we know where they came from / who might be transmitting. Gotta find transcripts. 

[InfestLithium]

 

Alan Shepard in silver pressure suit, 1963 

 

Looks almost identical the Cosmonaut suit, and certainly fits the year. Private Hastings is American, just likes these suits are. I could definitely see iterations of Cosmonauts being the test subjects for the teleporter, forever trapped on the Moon in this weird undead-limbo state with unreal 115 abilities (teleporting a person by headbutting them).

Good catch, friendo!