"I Would Buy Addresses ;) , Question About Locations, Help For A Fellow Urban Explorer, Hey I Like Your Website, Location Help, LETCHWORTH!, HELLLPPPP????!!!?!?!"; this string of meaningless text represents subject headlines from just a sample of the handful of more common emails I receive in my website's inbox on a monthly basis. The majority of email I receive is not worthy of a response back, as I believe there is such thing as a stupid question and I'd rather waste my time trespassing than conjure up some drab answer to write back. Occasionally however, I do receive inquiries that spark my interest or questions written eloquently enough with proper grammar that my brain cells can handle deciphering the actual content of the message in order to invoke up some type of proper worded response to write back.

In early February, one such email subject line entitled "Filming In NJ Soon Looking To Explore" entered my inbox. As per most emails, it stooped well beneath my interest radar. A general rule for myself is that I don't often meet up with strangers, primarily because I have little to no interest in new social situations and also because cops sometimes like to think they're clever, so I let them think that via never sending a response. However, a bolt of excitement shot through my body as upon scrolling past onto the next nonsense email, the sender's email address of josh@livetheadventure.club immediately caught my attention. "Exploring With Josh from YouTube! Can it be!?" I exclaimed silently in my mind.

Immediately I scrolled back up to the email and quickly clicked to open the body and read the text. The message was sent from a gentleman named Frank, claiming to be a talent manager representing the Exploring With Josh YouTube channel. The email asked if I would be free anytime in the coming weeks to to meet up with Josh and his crew in New Jersey to do some exploring as-well-as potentially be in an upcoming video that would appear on the official YouTube channel with over three million subscribers. The only stipulation was that Josh and his crew were looking to explore a former industrial area in New Jersey for an upcoming video and the crew felt that I could be of an advantage for suggestions based off of a handful of Google search results that pointed back to my website regarding abandoned places in NJ.

I read the email over and over again, each time I could sense myself becoming more and more stoked with excitement that someone from as big a social media brand as Exploring With Josh would even want to reach out to me in the first place. My fingers squirming with adrenaline, I wrote back in perhaps the fastest I've ever responded to an email, stating that I would absolutely be interested in meeting up. I suggested filming at the old Essex Generating Station, an abandoned switch station and power plant rusting along the banks of the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey. It was a location that I was unaware of the crew ever having filmed at before, yet easy enough to enter and certainly one of the lesser known ruins in NJ, ripe with plenty of filming opportunities.

After a series of email conversations back and fourth with Josh's talent manager spanning the course of a couple of days we were able to nail down a time to meet and finalized the old Essex Generating Station as the location of interest. In return, I had to sign some paper work including nondisclosure agreements, some weird technology confidentiality form, and the typical liability waiver bullshit stating that any trespassing, legal actions, and/or injuries incurred would be assumed the sole responsibility of myself as an individual representing VacantNewJersey.com. Basically it was just fancy verbiage for not being able to sue and not being able to publish any footage related to the adventure until it had been posted to the Exploring With Josh YouTube channel and any associated social media for sixty days first.

Initially it seemed a bit sketchy signing all the paperwork but I understood no one wanting to be liable if we were to get arrested or injured and it wasn't any problem to wait sixty days to post my content, as I rarely post pictures until years after I take them anyway. After the signed paperwork was emailed back I was informed in the coming days by Josh's manager that everything was set in stone in regard to meeting up with Josh and his crew. I exchanged numbers with Frank and we texted for sometime about the Essex Generating Station and the best method of approach. In all, the conversation went well and we agreed to meet up on the last Sunday in February at 9:00 am. The Essex County Riverfront Park in Newark was chosen as the meeting place by Frank, as the lot had ample parking and would allow us to all meet beforehand and finalize any last details before heading out to film the adventure.

All of these details were agreed upon by all parties in early February so it was still a solid two weeks until we'd all be officially meeting up. For the following remaining weeks my adrenaline ran high, as it was definitely a highlight to finally be able to meet up with Josh and be able to explore a new location with his crew. While my excitement obviously was peaking I did begin to realize that not everyone appreciates the Exploring With Josh channel and that perhaps it could lead to some negative publicity surrounding my website; so I was starting to second guess my decision.

It's certainly true that Exploring With Josh tends to receive a lot of flack by many of the more long time established members within the Urban Exploring community and for understandable reasons. Josh's videos are all very much high energy and often lack professional editing and are shot from a very upfront, personal, and loud, non-artistic point-of-view, which I can understand becoming annoying to some. You add in the fact that a good sum of money is being made off advertisements embedded within the videos and outsiders tend to get a little more jealous. Josh also often gets reamed on for his outlandish hair, which I must admit is quite crazy and somewhat Hey Arnold-ish looking but it's best not to judge people on their looks. In my opinion, people often get jealous of others who may be viewed as more successful than them, even if that jealousy stems from something as simple as a shared hobby.

As the days passed I pondered all of these possibilities of potential perception but ultimately I was still excited and confident about the choice I had made to meet up with Josh. The week before that Sunday I watched the weather forecast like a hawk and everything seemed to be panning out well weather wise. No snow and a relatively mild day on tap for Sunday with temperatures into the upper thirties and lower forties, which isn't too horrible for late February in NJ. With the agreeable weather forecast now in my favor, my excitement continued to escalate and the remaining few days leading up to Sunday flew by.

That Sunday morning, I arrived at the Essex County Riverfront Park early and ahead of our scheduled meet time even though Josh's manager Frank texted me the night before to inform me that they may be a little late as they were driving down from Upstate New York. Upon my arrival I was the only car in the lot. As I sat in my vehicle, I pondered over everything and just kept on mulling over the plan to walk along the freight tracks to the edge of the power plant as the opposing freight trains slowly screeched by on the paralleling line, which would make for excellent footage.

My phone buzzed awakening me from my day dreaming thoughts; it was a text from Frank, "Sorry a little late be there around 9:45" the message read. Except for what seemed to be a quick drug deal in the parking lot a few minuets earlier, I was still the only car in the lot too, perfect! Soon a white work van pulled up directly next to me. It was one of those unassuming Ford work vans with windows and sliding doors on either side. The only identifying marking was a logo strewn across the side that kinda looked like a squished globe, inscribed with grey text that read "DARPA". Awkwardly I looked over my shoulder at the driver, he smiled and waved, then rolled down his window. "Hey! It's Frank and you must be Justin?" he asked in a voice that startled me yet sounded shockingly similar to Josh's, "Oh jeez sorry for being so awkward, I didn't think it was you in the van, but yep I'm Justin" I responded trying to sound friendly but probably just seeming more awkward than anything.

Frank apologized for being late, explaining that they had gotten lost in Newark, but I assured them the extra fifteen minuets of waiting was nothing to worry about. Two younger men then walked around the side of the van and I instantly recognized them as Cody and John, two of Josh's exploring crew members. Oddly though, I didn't see Josh but I assumed he was still in the van perhaps getting his video equipment ready. Frank, Cody, John and myself all quickly talked over our plan regarding how to approach and where to park for the abandoned power plant before we would again drive off. I assured everyone that while the area of approach was definitely a little sketchy looking, we'd have no issues leaving our vehicles.

Newark being typical stop-and-go Newark, it took a solid fifteen minutes to drive maybe one mile, but upon arriving we easily found on street parking. I hopped out of my vehicle and had my backpack on and tripod in hand, ready to go. Frank mentioned that he'd stay behind with the van because he didn't feel comfortable leaving all the extra camera equipment unguarded, but he'd be able to see through Josh what we were up too. With that, I assumed Josh would be live streaming the adventure or something, which made me a bit uncomfortable, but I didn't bother to ask further. The van door then slid open with Cory and John coming out. They were stoked and I could tell they were ready for an adventure just as much as I was. "We're good to go" Cody exclaimed with his tripod, dSLR camera, and LED light in hand. "Perfect, but uh... where's Josh?" I asked in a bewildered tone. "Oh duh how can we forget him!" Cody responded in a joking tone, as if he purposely forgot to let Josh out. "John can you open the back van door and grab Josh" Cody asked. "Sure thing, just give me a hand unloading him", John stated.

With a turn of the key the twin rear doors on the van swung open and John proceed to pull out from the van a large black box approximately the size of a roadie case fit for a bass drum. It took the both of them to lift the case out off the back of the van and very carefully place it on the ground. John unlocked the buckles and lifted the front lid of the case open. I stood watching this series of events unfold with my jaw nearly touching the ground in absolute perplexity. The two lifted from the box what appeared to be a humanoid looking robot, neatly folded into a compact square about four feet by four feet in size which fit perfectly into the case. "Grab my iPad" John yelled over to Cory.

With a few buttons taps on the tablet, the robot slowly began to unfold from its cube shape and began to take on a more recognizable human form. Its arms unfolded from its chest and its legs began to stand erect connected to a metal, human-like torso, adorned with skinny jeans. With the sound of gears spinning and small electrical motors buzzing, the robot's head slowly turned around to face me and I was nearly stricken with fear as the robot's facial skin and expressions were completely mastered to look exactly like that of Josh's. It was as if I was staring at a wax figurine replica but with mechanical emotions! "Ah fuck man, his hair fell off during transport! Can you grab me another wig from the van?" Cody asked. Just a few moments later John appeared with a perfect wig replica of Josh's signature flamboyant bleached wave hair and placed it atop "Josh's" metallic bald head. "All right perfect" John exclaimed, after fidgeting with the wig a bit to fit it perfectly atop the robots head. "Looks solid, now just grab me a black Rise Above hoodie to throw over the body, the purple face respirator, skull face bandana, and selfie stick." In just a matter of minuets John transformed the robot to look exactly like Exploring With Josh from the YouTube videos.

I was standing in utter stupor just completely aghast and wordless to what I had witnessed literarily unfold before my eyes. "What did you think, Josh was real!" Cody jokingly laughed while speaking to me. "Nobody can possibly be that fucking annoying in reality, but Hell, his character rakes in the views somehow, which rolls in the money. His movements are actually programmed in advanced by myself and John via an iPad, but it's mostly all learned Artificial Intelligence at this point. Josh's voice is dubbed over by Frank in post production. His eyes also act as cameras which record video footage from the recognizable first person perspective." Cody explained.

"So yea, this is Exploring With Josh, the newest artificial intelligence project by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and let me tell you, the dopes on YouTube really eat him up." Funny thing is, Exploring With Josh was originally developed to be a sex robot and to be introduced into the Japanese adult toy market, deployed as a way to infiltrate and spy on the Japanese government and its citizens. Frank however took the project in a different direction once he was hired by the U.S. Department of Defense. Based off his extensive understanding of artificial intelligence Frank was hired to further program the robot's movements and computer learning skills to be as human-like as possible" Cody told me. "Frank essentially turned the robotics A.I. division into a massive social experiment to see how advanced an artificial intelligence would need to be to fool actual humans on social media."

Frank initially would bring Josh into abandoned buildings as a scenario for disaster recognizance in attempt to test and push the robot's technological limits. For fun Frank started publishing the videos from Josh's eye-cam point-of-view to YouTube. The videos wound up gaining a lot unexpected traction. Thus the hobby basically unfolded into the business model we have now encompassing the Exploring With Josh YouTube channel and brand. However, in turn for being funded by DARPA, The U.S. Government also uses the exploring videos recorded via Josh as data to decipher the gullibility of its own people in regard to how well humans are able to distinguish an A.I. from actual real life humans. Anyway, you signed all those technology confidentiality forms so I'm allowed to tell you all of this." Cody said with a laugh. "Now do you think it'll be easier to fold Josh back up into the crate and walk him to the power plant or just place him on a hand truck dolly and roll him there as is?" Cory asked of me. "Granted, Josh is well advanced enough to just walk beside us, but the battery technology isn't quite up to par unfortunately, which is the main snag with robotics in general."