005 ~ Radio

[i_speak_softly]

[Today, anyone who cares to turn on their radio will find the following transmission being broadcast on several frequencies. At the end of the sequence there is a few seconds' pause, followed by the same sequence again. This seems to go on all day.]

002003005 007 011013017019 023 029031037041043 047053059061067071073079083
089097 101103107109113127 131137139149151 157163167

Comments

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

Hmm, its not binary.

[Sonja pulls up a binary translator app all the same to give it a try. Yeah, no dice. Its definitely a code of some kind though. C'mon Sonja put all those cryptography classes to good use.]

Nope, not Hex either. Maybe a substitution? Numbers seem to be divided into groups of 3, so the first group is a three letter word composed of 002, 003 and 005. This is supported by the single letter 023 later on, and the ubiquity of 0s.

Lets see if we can find the highest value number. Hrm, it seems actually, that the numbers continue to grow as the code continues. This seems to throw a wrench into the substitution plan. Perhaps its not a cipher at all, perhaps its a mathematical progression.

Lets map the progression of numbers letter to letter.

212 2 4242 4 62642 466264264 68 4242414 462102 664

Well that wasn't too helpful. We do see a trend break out though - the progression is always in a factor of two (except for that first 3), although we have two outliers that break into double digits. We can simplify that by replacing the double digits with hex numbers.

212 2 4242 4 62642 466264264 68 42424E 462A2 664

Could we be dealing with a cipher there individual digits mean multiple letters?

[She keys in a few substitutions but gives up. She searches around to see if anyone else has thrown some input into the code.]

Prime example.

Prime.

[Sonja you are an idiot. You let the spaces throw you off.]

[i_speak_softly]

Nice attack. Have you gotten anywhere with the original message?

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

Is there a message?

[Sonja looks up a list of prime numbers and confirms that none are missing. 29 prime numbers total, the first 29 in the sequence]

Since we know its just prime numbers in a progression, its the spaces that must have the most significance.

3 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 is the number of primes separated by spaces.

Wait. If a Prime Number represents a ping, and a space represents a blank, could we be dealing with Morse?

***_*_****_*_*****_*********_**_******_*****_***

That's a hell of a ratio of dots to spaces, if so.

*** _*_ *** *_ *_** ***_*********_**_******_*****_***
s k s a l

No, that's a dead end. Without obvious breaks there's too many ways to parse the code. That segment of 9 in particular is a nail in the coffin. I think the dots and spaces is definitely a step in the right direction though. Is the line break significant?

***_*_****_*_*****_*********
**_******_*****_***

3 1 4 1 5 9
2 6 5 3

If it is, I'm not seeing it.

Letter frequency:
1: .2
2: .1
3: .2
4: .1
5: .2
6: .1
9: .1

Not helpful.

I'll put this away for now. Maybe try some more later.

[i_speak_softly]

[Oh but you were so close.]

3 1 4... 1 5 9, 2 6 5 3?

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

Of course! Pi!

But is that the end of the message, or is there more to it than that?

[i_speak_softly]

That's it so far. I'm hoping to establish a common frame of reference with whoever's out there. I was asking if you've had any luck with the other message - my decryption algorithms are getting nowhere.

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

What message? Can you point it out?

[i_speak_softly]

Ah... tune to - [He names a frequency on which the mystery transmission can be heard.] - for a minute.

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

1105181815 1801180919 200805 131520080518 1920091212 1209220519
1915212008 03011204051801 02051405012008 200805 02122105 052505

Well that's interesting.

Just like your code, we can tell that these are cleanly divided into two digit numbers because of the arbitrary positioning of zeroes:

11 05 18 18 15 | 18 01 18 09 19 | 20 08 05 | 13 15 20 08 05 18 | 19 20 09 12 12 | 12 09 22 05 19
19 15 21 20 08 | 03 01 12 04 05 18 01 | 02 05 14 05 01 20 08 | 20 08 05 | 02 12 21 05 | 05 25 05

Just from the way you can see repeated letters, this looks like a simple substitution cipher.

Let's assume 11 05 18 18 15 is HELLO - 11=H 05=E 18=L 15=0

HELLO L*L** THE *OTHEL *T*** ***E*
*O*TH ****EL* *E*E*TH THE ***E E*E

Maybe 20 08 05 is THE? 20=T, 08=H

08 is following 20 a lot, isn't it? I think we're on the right track. Although I'm not convinced now that HELLO was the correct first word.

Actually if 20=T and 08=H and 05=e then its not even a complicated cypher: its just replacing letters along their position in the alphabet.

[We'll just handwave that its in the roman alphabet and its in english]

K E R R O | R A R I S | T H E | M O T H E R | S T I L L | L I V E S
S O U T H | C A L D E R A | B E N E A T H | T H E | B L U E | E Y E

Is that... right?

It seems to be. What the heck is Kerro Raris?

[i_speak_softly]

[Don just sits there, stunned. It's not a mathematical progression, it's a cryptographic substitution.]

[Quietly, he reaches over to the console and kills the cracking programs.]

Once again, I am an idiot...

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

No worries, we obviously each have our own strengths :D

How do you feel about meeting in person and trying to investigate this message further?

[i_speak_softly]

Um... [He casts around. When did he last eat, sleep, or shower? Does he care?] Of course. Where?

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

Midnight Hotel commons. I have a room there. I'll be the awkward girl sitting alone.

[ Can't end a conversation without throwing in a little self-deprecation. Setting the bar low means that he won't be disappointed ]

[sonjaofyellowcomet]

[helpful link]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don considers mentioning that he'll be the giant turtle, but... nah.]

I'll be there in half an hour.

[That will give him time to shower and stuff something in his face. Sleep will have to be foregone for a little longer.]

((To here.))