[SOLVED] Mysterious morse-like code in 'Here and There along the Echo'

[roomer8]

So, in this thread:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/231200/discussions/0/620695877410574318/

we talked about a numeric code present in the intermission episode in the thread title.

I'll copy-paste what I wrote 6 months ago:

Originally posted by Suigetsushin:

I was analyzing the calls you can receive, and i'm quite sure that the waiting time between one and another is fixed.

Everytime after you hang up the receiver, you have to wait in order:

1 - 8 minutes for the first call. It is typically a tune, codified by files 801 and 801b if you extract the files from the package.

2 - 4 minutes for the second call. This is the call with the voice reciting numbers we already solved. Its file's name is 802.

3 - 12 minutes for the third call. It's odd, you only hear another receiver hang up. ts file's name is 803.

4 - 20 minutes for the fourth call. This is some kind of radio transmission similar to morse I can't understand. ts file's name is 804.

I waited more the 30 minutes after the fourth one, but I didn't receive any call after that one.

So, if there are other info hidden in these calls let's analyze them.

1 looks like a normal song, I don't know if there could be some musical code inside, but it's unlikely:

2 is already solved.

We don't have anything for 3, it's like 2-seconds long.

I would concentrate on 4 next.

I uploaded the file I extracted on audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ , and this is the spectrum analysis I obtained:

http://i.imgur.com/GpFONLv.png

When you observe the track you can see that it has some rhythm, as if was like morse code.

I noticed that at the very beginning and end of the track there are three double repetitions of a fast chirp, as to denote the beginning and end of the message. In-between there is a long sequence of 'digits' that I still have to understand, if it has a meaning, obviously.

I'll post some screenshot to better show what I mean, if anyone is interested, it would be very much appreciated!

beginning

http://i.imgur.com/R2gO6FB.png

random part in the 'message'

http://i.imgur.com/rjSGZi0.png

end

http://i.imgur.com/i01haXq.png

The track is almost 15 minutes long, so it would take a while to codify it.

Ok, I completely analysed the track and I found this:

- In the first minute of the track, there is the first appearance of 36 different symbols;
- In the second minute, 4 new symbols appear;
- In the third minute, 2 new symbols appear;
- In the fourth minute, 4 new symbols appear.

After the fourth minute, no new symbol is added, so in total there are 46 different symbols.

It is important to know that I categorized any slight difference beetwen symbols, so when I say that two symbols are the same throughout the sequence, they are the same in every aspect, from the length to the inner pauses in beetwen the symbol itself; I am well aware that there are very similar symbols who can be considered the same 'value', but for now I didn't want to take any assumption in order to preserve any possible information, so I kept them apart.

This is the possible 'alphabet' i found:

http://i.imgur.com/oYDnA42.png

It is highly possible that every symbol corresponds to a single letter, so it's necessary to bring down this 46 symbols at least to 26 symbols, so that there is a correspondence with the 26 letters of the alphabet.

So, some assumptions I made:

- I'm confident the symbol '00' matches a dot; there are three consecutive symbols like that at the beginning, and there are no words in english (I suppose) that have the same letter repeated three times in a row. It would happen to be ... xxxxx etc etc.. It would look like an excerpt of some kind, you know, when you quote some poem and it starts at the middle of the composition, so you have to put three consecutive dots to mean that the poem doesn't start there.

-There are some major pauses between groups of symbols, they aren't of constant length, but I will skip this detail, because it would become too hard to consider it. I would assume these greater blank parts are spaces between words;

-Analysing the length of the words in the first 40 seconds, this is it:

(3) 4 5 7 8 3 4 1 3 1 6 8 2 8 8 3 8


The average length of these words is 4.9, which is very close to the average length of the whole english dictionary, 5.1 (Source: Wolfram-alpha). It seems to really be a message.

Now, these are the first 40 seconds of the message, written with my coding:

00 00 00 /
01 02 03 04 /
05 06 07 01 05 /
02 01 08 09 05 10 11 /
01 12 02 03 10 08 13 01 /
14 10 12 /
15 16 17 18 /
19 /
18 20 21 /
15 /
22 04 08 23 10 24 /
17 19 25 15 26 25 21 16 /
02 02 /
11 04 05 27 09 09 29 28 /
10 05 02 03 06 07 29 11 /
14 04 05 /
09 05 29 06 08 06 08 13 /


I don't know if this is a real sentence, but I think that this small sequence is enough to know if there is a hidden message in it, and which of these symbols represent the same letters (e.g. 03=08=F)

Inside this sequence, there is a two-letter 'word' made with the same letter (02 02).

Are there any words with this structure?

The only one I can think of is the abbreviation of WILL, 'LL.

Is there any riddle lover like me who wants to solve this mess?

What do you think of my theory? I accept any suggestion!!


I know I can count you in, VShadow. :D

DECODED MESSAGE

… Echo River Central Exchange Fax [phone]
Monday 03:25:17 cc Loretta, Archival for training purposes only
<< Transcript begins >>
Operator: Operator speaking.
Caller: Yes, hello. Hi. Is this Gwen?
Operator: Oh, hello Joe. How can I help you.
Caller: How are you, Gwen?
Operator: Bless your heart, Joe, I’m at work.
Caller: Me too.
Operator: What can I do for you?
Caller: Well, Slim’s got three or four shelves just about full of canned carrots and they’re not moving, you know.
Operator: Ok.
Caller: And he says “Joe, get these out of here!”
Operator: Joe, I don’t mean to …
Caller: I was going to make a few calls and see who wants them.
Operator: I can connect you.
Caller: Got anyone in mind?
Operator: Who were you thinking of calling?
Caller: Well … I don’t remember …
Operator: You don’t remember who you were calling?
Caller: I had a couple ideas, but I don’t remember the numbers.
Operator: I can look them up -- with whom should I connect you, Joe?
Caller: Well I was thinking about this town -- I mean the folks in this town I used to know about.
Operator: Which town?
Caller: When I was a boy, Gwen. I don’t remember the name of it.
Operator: What’s the listing? I can try it by name.
Caller: You’d know it if you heard about it. There’s no roads in or out. But it has its own little roads.
Operator: Joe, I need a name to look up.
Caller: Yeah, I’m trying to remember one. There was a man like a preacher. There was a school, teachers. Garbage trucks. Mail. A young lady who fixed boots …
Operator: You said you had some carrots?
Caller: Canned carrots. For the horses!
Operator: The horses.
Caller: They have horses.
Operator: How about I look up a few horse farms for you, Joe?
Caller: They weren’t farm horses. They didn’t live in a stable -- They just walked on the streets! Like people, you know?
Operator: Ok, Joe. I need a street or something, though.
Caller: There was a … Dogwood Drive!
Operator: Dogwood Drive. Alright, Joe, I’ll see what I can find.
<< Transcript ends >>
Echo River Central Exchange Fax [phone]
Monday 03:25:17
…


POST-DECODING CONSIDERATIONS:

So Dogwood Drive is located in the city with no streets we heard about in Here and There along the Echo! Awesome!

This is an inner reference in Here and There, when you talk to the operator:

Operator services are
currently suspended,
pending automation.
The Echo River
Central Exchange
is being phased out,
and replaced with
the new Consolidated
Auxiliary Switch
Number 30.

This is a recording.
You may hang up
at any time,
or stay on the line
for more information.

Service surcharges formerly
negotiated by Loretta
will now be reflected
on your electric bill.

[VShadow]

I was hoping you were still looking into this one haha. I haven't had much time to delve into it, so this is a great start. Assuming that those numbers each represent a letter, it shouldn't be too hard to decode from there. I'm convinced there's something hidden in there, for sure.

I think you're on the right track, and that's how I would approach it (each sound symbol = a different letter). What I wonder, however, is if there's "junk" data in there, like there was on the last puzzle (the numbers). We figured out that some of the data was just padding and needed to be ignored, so I'm wondering if this message might have that same kind of extra noise that's not important.

It's possible the the "pauses" in the signal don't actually represent spaces (word breaks), which could make it a bit harder, too.

[VShadow]

This site might be helpful http://quipqiup.com/index.php

If you convert each number to a letter

ex: (01 02 03 04 / 05 06 07 01 05 / 02 01 08 09 05 10 11)
becomes
(ABCD / EFGAE / BAHIEJK)

then you can throw the letters into the decoder and it will attempt to decode it based on words in the english language.

Here are the first 10 results it gives after inputting just those first three "words":


MING SHAMS IMPOSED

ARMY LOCAL RANKLES

INLY TRAIT NIGHTED

MING SLUMS IMPOSED

IMPS TRAIT MINUTED

MING SHAMS IMPOSER

ARMY LOCAL RANKLED

MIND SHAMS IMPOSER

MING SCUMS IMPOSED

MILK SHAMS IMPOSED

None of those seem to make much sense, however.

If you ignore the spaces, here are the first 10 potential results:


E COUNDRENCES IN TH

E COUNDRENCE WIN TH

E HIM TOGETHER STAK

AND HIS PAIN AT LIKE

FOR BE LIFE OF THE SK

ADOWNER AND AVINGL

ADOWNER AND AVING H

ADOWNER AND A LING H

TSARE BUTES TIME NO

TSARE BUTES TIME ON

[roomer8]

Holy sh*t I might be have found the solution, or part of it...I will post it shortly!

[roomer8]

Ok, using the usfeul website you linked, a word appeared, matching perfectly the structure of the second word (05 06 07 01 05) as matching perfectly the theme of HATATE:

RIVER

If you keep the spaces beetwen words and using this partial decoding, with the aid of this incredibly useful tool http://www.quinapalus.com/cgi-bin/match?pat=..tt.&misp=0&minl=1&maxl=31&sps=abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz&sbs=&outp=0&dict=0&ent=Search

05 = R
06 = I
07 = V
01 = E
02 = C
03 = H
04 = O
08 = N
09 = T
10 = 29 = A
11 = L
12 = X
13 = G
14 = F



The message looks like this:

. . . E C H O R I V E R C E N T R A L E X C H A N G E F A X 15 16 17 18 19 18 20 21 15 22 O N 23 A 24 17 19 25 15 26 25 21 16 C C L O R 27 T T 29 28 A R C H I V A L F O R T R A I N I N G







I will post the complete decoding once I'll have enough time to do it, these are only the first 40 seconds and the transmission lasts for almost 14 minutes!

[VShadow]

That's fantastic! Great work. Can't wait to see the full message.

Echo River Central Exchange Fax?

Archival for training?

[VShadow]

Originally posted by Suigetsushin:

10 = 29 = A

If you look at your charted sound file image (http://i.imgur.com/oYDnA42.png) you can see that "10" and "29" are nearly identical. In other words, it's a duplicate. You can "safely" replace all your 29s with 10s. I'm going to try and go through your chart and see if there are any other near-duplicates, which would make decoding easier.

[roomer8]

Now I get it! It's a FAX, I need a tool to decrypt it!

EDIT: well, I don't know the cryptation used T_T, it looks like I will decrypt it by hand

[roomer8]

Originally posted by VShadow:

Originally posted by Suigetsushin:

10 = 29 = A

If you look at your charted sound file image (http://i.imgur.com/oYDnA42.png) you can see that "10" and "29" are nearly identical. In other words, it's a duplicate. You can "safely" replace all your 29s with 10s. I'm going to try and go through your chart and see if there are any other near-duplicates, which would make decoding easier.

Well I noticed it, but this rule isn't necessarily true for every symbol: If you look at 04, it's similar to10 and 29 but it represents the letter O, not A...

[VShadow]

I think 22 04 08 23 10 24 = MONDAY

[VShadow]

Ok so we need a fax decoder software.

[roomer8]

Updated message to 1:39,40

05 = R
06 = I
07 = V
01 = 27 = E
02 = C
03 = H
04 = O
08 = N
09 = T
10 = 29 = A
11 = L
12 = X
13 = G
14 = F
24 = Y
30 = P
32 = S
31 = U
34 = B
36 = K










. . . E C H O R I V E R C E N T R A L E X C H A N G E F A X 15 16 17 18 19 18 20 21 15
22 O N 23 A Y 17 19 25 15 26 25 21 16 C C L O R E T T A 28 A R C H I V A L F O R T R A I N I N G
P U R P O S E S O N L Y 33 33 T R A N S C R I P T B E G I N S 35 35 O P E R A T O R 25 O P E R A T O R S P E A K I N G . C A L L E R 25 Y E S 28 H E L L O. H I. I S T H I S G 37 E N 38 O P E R A T O R 25 O H 28 H E L L O 39 O E. H O 37 C A N I H E L P Y O U .


Yeah, I too think that word is Monday, but it could also be Conway (ok, it was tempting, I know Monday is more realistic). It seems to be a dialogue between an operator of the echo river central exchange and someone else called Gwen, or Joe, or..?

I think there is also punctuation, if 00 is a dot, 25 may be a colon, and 28 a comma :/

[VShadow]

Great work!!! " 21 16 C C L O R E T T A 28 A R " ... Loretta?

[VShadow]

Yes, looks like 37 might be a W:

"G 37 E N" = Gwen
"H O 37 C A N I H E L P Y O U" = How can I help you

[roomer8]

2:08,70 Maybe it is a reference to loretta lynn, Junebug real life counterpart country singer?

UPDATE

. . . E C H O R I V E R C E N T R A L E X C H A N G E F A X 15 16 17 18 19 18 20 21 15 M O N D A Y 17 19 : 15 26 : 21 16
C C L O R E T T A , A R C H I V A L F O R T R A I N I N G P U R P O S E S O N L Y
33 33 T R A N S C R I P T B E G I N S 35 35
O P E R A T O R : O P E R A T O R S P E A K I N G .
C A L L E R : Y E S , H E L L O. H I. I S T H I S G W E N ?
O P E R A T O R : O H , H E L L O 39 O E . H O W C A N I H E L P Y O U .
C A L L E R : H O W A R E Y O U, G W E N ?
O P E R A T O R : B L E S S Y O U R H E A R T , 39 O E , I ‘ M A T W O R K .

2:08,70

[VShadow]

39 = J

Seems the operator's name is Gwen. She's speaking with Joe.