Baltimore
AQUA02 - No. 35
One of the most common code words throughout all incarnations of the Cafe and Diner is Baltimore. To say something is Baltimore is to say that it is “publicly known.” To say something will go Baltimore means that it is in imminent danger of becoming public knowledge. When customers are seen in or around Baltimore, their publicly known names will be needed.
For example, one could say: “Mr. Perez was last seen in Baltimore.” This would mean “Chupacabra.”
Another possible usage would be “We decided to take the Cafe Baltimore.” Meaning “the Cafe and Diner can be found or accessed easily on the surface web.”
Baltimore is not necessarily the same as Diner Knowledge which might still err on the side of esoteric to the average tourist. When something is Baltimore, it’s something that can be easily found online.
For example, “Mr. Cold’s Baltimore Trip” would be “Indrid Cold” however, recontextualized into Diner-Speak, “Mr. Cold by another name” would be asking for something more along the lines of “Zeuzitxum” Indrid Cold’s true name. And, of course, Cafe Speak would be looking for Indrid Cold’s truer name. And anything Diner Diner/AND would be his truest name. But for the purpose of Baltimore, it’ll be something that can be found via a quick trip to your library or internet search engine. Of course, extrapolating a customer’s name into a searchable query will take other contextual clues.
History
The term Baltimore was coined by none other than the original Owner himself. The original Owner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1967. It’s unclear why the original Owner used Baltimore to mean “Public Knowledge.” However, some have speculated that the original Owner felt it was where his own Baltimore Name went to die. It could also be that Baltimore encases the word “alt” short for “alternate.” Though, it is similar to other code words coined by the original Owner as it is a real Flipside location like Ottawa, Quebec, or Detroit.
Alternate Forms
Baltimore, Balt, Balts, Baltz, B’more, Alt