michael: does he get infected?

[orik0n]

We see Mike talking to "Walt" via the swan computer in this episode, which inspires him to run off into the jungle to where he's led by the communication with "Walt". I'm not convinced that this really is Walt though.

We've been told numerous times that pushing the button is to save the world (from what?) We also know from season 6 that: Spoiler: If the Man in Black leaves the island, the world would become "hell". We are also lead to believe in season 5 and 6 that: Spoiler: contact with the smoke monster can cause the infection that affected Danielle's crew . We also see in season 6 that: Spoiler: Widmore is particularly interested in the locations of the electromagnetic pockets on the island. In Season 5: Spoiler: when the frozen donkey wheel is turned, we see an identical burst of electromagnetic energy.

When the hatch is destroyed at the end of season 2, we see an enormous discharge of electromagnetic energy. We also know that the smoke monster cannot cross the sonic fence (whether its sonic or another form of electromagnetic energy, I can't remember if it was specified in the show). Its possible that the smoke monster is an electromagnetic manifestation of the man in black, and he was mostly contained in the electromagnetic pockets under the swan station (and possibly elsewhere on the island).

Back on topic: When next we see Mike, he appears at the swan and proceeds to shoot Anna Lucia and Libby without provocation or remorse which I find odd and highly suspect. I conclude that Mike may have been infected between him running off and returning to the hatch, possibly being promised the return of Walt in exchange for helping to capture some of the candidates. I cannot remember when Sun, Jin, and Sayid went sailing around the island, but Mike returned to the others with Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate Spoiler: (all of which are confirmed to be candidates, except for Kate which I suspect actually is a candidate and the man in black doesn't know it).

This theory is also based on the idea that the others were not working for Jacob while Ben was leading them (perhaps MIB masqueraded as Jacob and tricked Ben into following them). I think this is the case because of Ben contracting cancer on his spine, and that Jacob never actually asked Ben to visit with him.

Sorry for the incomplete thoughts, just had to get it out there. What do you guys think? And sorry if I revealed too much info from future seasons (from season 2 that is).

I forgot to include my thoughts as to why I do not think that Mike was actually communicating with Walt through the swan computer...

We know that the swan was built above a massive pocket of energy with strange and unusual electromagnetic properties. We also know that Dr. Cheng tells us in the orientation film to not use the computer for anything other than entering the numbers.

As stated in my previous post, I think that the black smoke monster is an electromagnetic manifestation of the Man in Black and that I believe the pocket of electromagnetic energy trapped under the swan may be a part of the smoke monster.

Perhaps the pocket of electromagnetic energy under the swan that I suspect may be part of the smoke monster may infact be the Man in Black's consciousness, or a part of it. Maybe in order to get control of Mike, the Man in Black used the kidnapping of Walt to tempt and lure Mike to his side with promisses of getting Walt back.