Wade Watts (Parzival) from the novel Ready Player One finds the golden Easter egg.

Current prize for discovering the golden Easter egg = $205,873 U.S. dollars

If The Song of Kiri turns out to be wildly successful, and I am finally able to purchase a large beachside Hawai’ian estate, you won’t hear me complaining. That said, my prime motivation in writing the novel was to allow readers across the globe to consider new paradigms that might possibly nudge humanity away from the tribalism, territoriality, and tool-use convergent neural pathways tread since at least A. anamensis. Even if several of the proposed paradigms are later shown to be wrong (and as a firm believer in the scientific method, I have no doubt some will), the very act of others manipulating them in the mind might lead to even better modes of thought that result in positive change, … and a better world for my little guy to grow up in.

After all, … all that we are, … is that which we give away to others.

I’ve always enjoyed works that require more than one reading, where no one, … no matter how intelligent, … gets everything in the first pass. I am fond of books containing puzzles or in-jokes buried within them. Mingled within The Song of Kiri at levels both superficial and deep are more than 400 jokes, smaller Easter eggs, and references to other famous works of literature, TV, and film (mainly works of science fiction). Buried below these nuggets are some unusual discoveries and scientific results which may surprise many.

Buried below all these jokes, clues, names, and revelations is a golden Easter egg that will change the world. Something wonderful, unique, and unknown to mankind. The first person to discover it will know it clearly for it is not ambiguous. The first person to discover the golden Easter egg and submit their discovery on the digital form below will win $205,873 U.S. dollars (a curious total this, … and for a reason). (It is my hope that if no one claims the egg in the first few years that this reward will eventually rise to one million dollars, the same prize offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute for solving one of the remaining six Millennium Problems.)

A forewarning though, … the golden Easter egg is not something that can be uncovered by running the text of this work through statistical analysis programs that search for patterns. The same applies to using artificial intelligence to uncover various trends throughout the work. Discovery of the golden Easter egg will require something that A.I. cannot currently emulate. I did this to preempt all the software engineers in Palo Alto, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Austin, and London. A clever and kind housewife in Iowa has just as much chance as a U.C. Berkeley professor of artificial intelligence or a senior NSA cryptography analyst. The deeper revelations and the golden Easter egg are not cryptographic in nature and number theory techniques used to solve such problems will not work here.

Also, with no disrespect intended, if you send in an answer to the golden Easter egg and it is incorrect, then I will probably not be able to get back to you (simply because of time constraints). Once the correct answer has been submitted, the discoverer will be identified (if he/she wishes it) and the response posted here. It is my hope that readers find as much enjoyment searching for the golden Easter egg as I had embedding it.

Good luck with the challenge I have laid before you!

Due to the fact that my work is published in the United States and because there are idiotic people in my country who order hot coffee from a restaurant, spill it on themselves, and then feel entitled to sue for millions of dollars, I recommend you read the legal disclaimers below:

The Song of Kiri – Golden Easter Egg Prize

The novel, The Song of Kiri by author Jay Hall contains within its pages a golden Easter egg. The first person to uncover that egg and complete their submission will win (as of November 24th, 2024):

$205,873 United States dollars

The following legal rules will apply though to anyone who wishes to claim the prize :

1 – Each Entrant will unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and any and all decisions of Jay Hall, henceforth named as the “Sponsor.” All decisions of the Sponsor shall be final and binding in all respects. All submissions will be to the Sponsor and the administration of the Golden Easter Egg Prize will be entirely at the Sponor’s personal discretion. Entrants should email (jaytheskepticalengineer.contact@gmail.com) the Sponsor with any questions or problems related to the Prize or their attending submissions. The Sponsor (author, Jay Hall) may be reached at jaytheskepticalengineer.contact@gmail.com

2 – Submissions will be considered valid beginning on July 1st, 2024 until the winning Entrant discovers the golden Easter egg, at which time the contest will be concluded. One and only one monetary prize will be awarded. The contest is open to all legal citizens aged 18 (eighteen) or older from any country in the world.

3 – No purchase of the novel, The Song of Kiri is required to win.

4 – The Entrant may make a submission by completing the digital form below or by sending an email to jaytheskepticalengineer.contact@gmail.com. If the Entrant chooses to send an email, the header line must include the words, “Submission for the The Song of Kiri Golden Easter Egg Prize.” All Entrant emails must include a return email address at which the Entrant can be reached. Regardless of whether the digital form below is used or an email is sent, all submissions must include a statement explaining how the Entrant discovered the golden Easter egg. Any submission lacking the required explanation will be rejected.

5 – All submissions and explanations must be written using the English language. Any submissions written in another language will likely be rejected at the Sponsor’s personal discretion. Any written or spoken dialogue between the Sponsor and the Entrant shall take place using the English language.

6 – Unsolicited submissions by any method other than those specified above will be rejected.

7 – A single individual is allowed one submission per month. Group submissions are not allowed and will be ignored.

8 – Submissions do not need to include any identifying information. If an Entrant’s submission is identified as a the winner, the Sponsor will verify the winning submission by contacting the email address listed for the submission.

9 – Winner Selection – Selection of the winner is at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. If a submission has correctly identified the Golden Easter Egg along with a valid explanation of how the discovery was conducted, the Sponsor will reply to the email address that was listed with the submission. The Entrant will be asked to provide their real name, their address, their home country, and a telephone number they can be reached at. The Sponsor will then speak with the Entrant over the phone. Failure to respond to a reply email, phone call, or attempt to verify identifying information within 7 (seven) days will render the winning submission null and void.

10 – Winner Payment – Once the winning Entrant has provided proof of identity and explained how the golden Easter egg was discovered to the Sponsor’s satisfaction, the prize payment (listed above) will be forwarded according to the Entrant’s country of residence. Some countries and locations may facilitate special payment methods which will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. Any and all country specific, VAT, federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the winning Entrant.

11 – The Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for (a) any incorrect or inaccurate entry information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (b) any unauthorized access to, or theft, destruction, or alteration of entries at any point during the before or after the golden Easter egg is claimed; (c) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, computer networks, or providers utilized in any aspect of the operation entailing submissions or communications; (d) inaccessibility or unavailability of any network or wireless service, the Internet, or website or any combination thereof; (e) suspended or discontinued Internet, wireless or landline phone service; or (f) any injury or damage to Entrant’s or any other person’s computer or mobile device which may be related to or resulting from any submission communication.

12 – If and only if the Entrant agrees to the rules above may they make a digital submission below.

In order to send in your submission, please include your name (real name not needed), a valid email address you can be reached at, and in the “Message” box, please include the header line, “Submission for The Song of Kiri Golden Easter Egg Prize.” Then name/describe the golden Easter egg and provide a few paragraphs of detail explaining how you discovered it. Best of luck!