Here And There Along The Echo is an intermission game released between Acts III and IV. It is the third such intermission released by Cardboard Computer, following Limits and Demonstrations and The Entertainment.
Plot[]
The gameplay consists entirely of an automated telephone conversation between Emily, Ben, and Bob and a guide from the Bureau of Secret Tourism, who provides information about the Echo River.
The guide offers information about a number of locations found in Act IV, including the Rum Colony, the Iron Pariah, the Silo of Late Reflections, Sam & Ida's, and the Mucky Mammoth. The guide also describes a town inhabited by horses that walk the streets, and that has its own roads, but no roads lead to or from the town.
By dialing the extension 7360 at the beginning of the game, the player is prompted to tell the Bureau why they can't sleep. In Act IV, Will checks his answering machine and listens to messages that seem to be responses to this question.
If the player hangs up the phone and waits, eventually they will receive a series of strange phone calls, some of which are merely strings of numbers and one of which appears to be morse code.
Interpretations[]
Some fans have attempted to crack the codes transmitted through the mysterious phone calls. Fans have suggested that the morse code message in the 4th phone call in fact translates to a conversation between an operator and caller that references Dogwood Drive (which may be a road in the previously referenced town), while the number sequence in the 2nd phone call seems to translate into an enigmatic poem.
Trivia[]
You can actually call the number of the hotline in real life, which plays the same messages in game. All extensions work as well. (270) 301-5797 leads you to the hotline, where (270) 216-5556 leads you to part of the hotline.