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The Flame
From Lostpedia
The Arrow • The Staff • The Swan
The Flame • The Pearl • The Orchid
The Hydra • The Tempest
The Looking Glass
The Flame was a DHARMA initiative communications station. Its name and symbol were first seen depicted on the blast door map. According to the DHARMA cabling map, the Flame was northeast of the Barracks.
The station itself existed in three parts. The Flame consisted of a living area, some storage, and a computer room. Underneath a rug was a door to a lower hatch area, which contained the DHARMA manuals of operations and maintenance manuals for the station, plus more storage. Outside the building was a paddock for cows, but it is likely that this was not destroyed in the explosion. ("Enter 77")
The Flame was rigged with C-4 explosive, wired throughout the lower level. The station computer had a special code (77) which, when entered by the operator, would signal that the Hostiles had made an incursion on the station. Locke discovered this by playing and winning a chess game with the computer. Later, he entered the 77 Code before leaving the station. After Locke left the Flame to meet the others in the jungle, the entire station exploded, destroying everything within it. ("Enter 77")
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The Station
Outside area
The outer area of the Flame station, which looked like a farm-house, is where the farm animals are located. Cattle, a horse belonging to Bea Klugh, and a cat named Nadia were visible when Sayid, Locke and Kate discovered the station. On top of the station was a satellite dish used to communicate with the outside world. The communication system is down. Sayid posits that this is due to the destruction of the Swan. ("Enter 77") However, this is later contradicted by the revelation that communications had been down all along due to jamming from the Looking Glass. ("Through the Looking Glass")
Also, a group of loudspeakers with a light are seen outside, and a couple of the wires have been cut. It is unknown why they are there, or if the system is still functioning, though Marvin Candle's recorded message stated that both satellite and sonar are down. ("Enter 77")
Though not seen, above-ground cable termination points going to different locations on the island are described as being at the Flame in a conversation.
Living space
Mikhail Bakunin was the caretaker and apparent sole resident of The Flame upon its discovery by Locke, Kate, Sayid and Danielle. The living space of the Flame had several pieces of furniture. Also of note was a Cyrillic-keyed typewriter on the table containing Mikhail's document. ("Enter 77")
There was a poster of Romanian Olympic gold medalist gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and Mikhail claimed to have named his cat after her. ("Enter 77")
Computer room
The computer room had the chess game computer and other huge computers. It is also the place where Mikhail Bakunin was seen on the Pearl's monitor. ("The Cost of Living") During Locke's visit to this area, he noticed the video camera pointing at the Flame computer operator's seat. ("Enter 77")
Manual access to certain functions of the computer was guarded by a chess game. A victory in the Chess game resulted in a video menu system being displayed. The available options shown included ordering a supply drop, communicating with the outside world (not functional), accessing a sonar buoy system for submarines off the coast of the island (not functional), and reporting that an incursion on the station by the Hostiles had occurred. Mikhail Bakunin claimed that he had never been able to defeat the chess game and that the computer "cheated", presumably either to talk Locke out of playing the game and discovering the computer's hidden functions, or to tempt him into doing precisely that. ("Enter 77")
The computer system in manual mode featured a series of numeric menu codes:
- 24 - Pallet Drop
- 32 - Activate the Station Uplink
- 38 - Access Mainland Communications
- 56 - Access the Sonar System
If an attempt was made to access mainland communications where the dish system was inoperable and then an attempt was made to access the sonar system where the sonar is inoperable, a new menu option was offered:
- 77 - Report an incursion by the hostiles.
The Flame was also equipped with a set of television monitors that were capable of receiving video feeds from the outside world. After the crash, Mikhail brought up video from news stations that were reporting that Oceanic Flight 815 had gone missing. Mikhail switched one of the monitors to show a live feed from Acadia Park in Miami so that Ben could prove to Juliet that her sister Rachel was still alive. However, even when Locke "Searched every nook and cranny in this place", he did not find the monitors. The monitors also looked very new: cool, fresh painted steel, new color TVs, more elaborate consoles, etc. (It may be that these could roll back into the wall.) ("One of Us")
While Mikhail was tied up, Sayid explained his theory that the Others sent someone else to the station because they lost communications when the sky turned purple, later confirmed by Mikhail. ("Enter 77")
The explosion of the station was implied by Locke to Sayid to have been the result of his pressing 77.
Underground area
The underground area was where clothes, DHARMA manuals and other things were stored. Two manuals that Sayid looked at had covers that included "Food Drop Protocol" and "Operations Manual", the latter of which had a communications cabling map which Sayid used to search for the Barracks. ("Enter 77")
It also had C-4 explosives mounted in the ceiling of the basement, which later blew up the Flame station. ("Enter 77")
Name
- The names of the stations seem to be related to Apollo from Greek mythology. Apollo's relation to the flame was that he was a sun god.
- NGC2024 or the FLAME Nebula is near the easternmost star in Orion's Belt, Alnitak. Alnitak, also known as Zeta Orionis, ionizes the nebula and is responsible for its glow. The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.
The Flame on the blast door map
The location of the Flame on the blast door map was next to a place where a river splits or two rivers join. The actual text from the map was "ALLEGED LOCATION OF #4 THE FLAME". It seems unlikely that the location on the map was correct. The map suggested that the flame is closer to the survivor's beach camp than the Staff but the party that found the flame walked for two days before reaching it.
- On the blast door map, there was a station labeled "The Flame" with the Flame logo.
- To the direct left of the station labeled "The Flame", several notes were made.
- "Alleged location of #4 The Flame"
- Under the above quote, "But unlikely due to 'Cerberus' activity".
- Further down the blast door map, yet still directly left to the station, there was "Activity unsuitable for D.I.H.G. (DHARMA Initiative Hanso Group)".
- To the right of the above quote, "Alleged location of aborted #7. Large number of underground springs heavy water tables."
- Below the station, the square roots of 16, 64, and 225 were listed. The square roots are 4, 8, and 15.
Notable Visitors
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture | Name | First visit | Last visit | Reason for Visit | ||||||
 | Mikhail | "Enter 77" | "One of Us" | Was stationed here by the Others to look after the communications systems with the outside world. Mikhail liked living on his own like a lighthouse keeper. | ||||||
 | Ben | "One of Us" | "One of Us" | Was seen viewing news reports of Oceanic Flight 815's disappearance and videos of Juliet's sister, Rachel. | ||||||
 | Juliet | "One of Us" | "One of Us" | Was seen viewing news reports of Oceanic Flight 815's disappearance and videos of her sister, Rachel. | ||||||
 | Bea | "Enter 77" | "Enter 77" | Was sent here by the Others to check on the communication systems after the Discharge. Bea was killed outside the Flame. | ||||||
 | Sayid | "Enter 77" | "Enter 77" | Was the first survivor to discover this station whilst picking fruit. Sayid, with the help of Kate and Locke, managed to overpower the inhabitants of the Flame however it detonated before he could examine it closely. | ||||||
 | Kate | "Enter 77" | "Enter 77" | Was one of the first survivors to discover the station and encounter Mikhail and Bea. | ||||||
 | Locke | "Enter 77" | "Enter 77" | Was one of the first survivors to discover the station and encounter Mikhail and Bea. He also was the one who destroyed it. | ||||||
 | Elliott | "Whatever It Takes" | "Whatever It Takes" | (Non-canon) - Sneaked from underground into the Flame to get past the sonic fence. | ||||||
 | Beady Eyes | "Whatever It Takes" | "Whatever It Takes" | (Non-canon) - Held Mikhail prisoner whilst waiting for Elliott. | ||||||
Trivia
- Coincidentally, Olympic medalist Nadia Comaneci joined a newly formed gym club called "The Flame" in 1967.
- In the non-canon video game Lost: Via Domus, Elliott Maslow explored the inner-depths of the underground section of the Flame. The basement was equipped with numerous storage rooms, various DHARMA manuals, a set of T.V. monitors, and small equipment hangar. The underground section of the Flame was accessed via a metal set of doors located inside the perimeter of the sonar fence. This set of doors had the Swan logo on it, instead of the Flame logo. ("Whatever It Takes")
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Flame/Theories
- If the Flame was the communications station, why was it put in a valley?
- Was there another way to report an incursion by the Hostiles than first beating the computer at a chess game?
- Why was such a critical facility for the Others so poorly guarded?
- Why did the Others leave the C-4 wired up in the station?
- If the Others purged the DHARMA Initiative, why did the source of the supply drops continue to deliver according to their demands?
