"It's definitely a log from a radio conversation. This system must have been connected to a transcriber." Jax said thoughtfully. "Those were used to capture messages that came through if you weren't available at the moment. Sorta like our imprints do now."
"They mention 'Meridian' again here, see?" Xaiden pointed out. "And that's clearly a book code, disappointingly basic really."
"Think you can crack it?" Jax asked.
"Too easy." Xaiden smiled.
Brrrring! Brrrring! Brrrring! Both Jax and Xaiden jumped. Brrrring! Brrrring! Xaiden turned to locate the sound just in time to see Ewen nervously pressing buttons on a small device. "What on Zenith?" Xaiden asked, confused.
"S-sorry g-guys." Ewen stuttered. "I-I s-set it e-earlier for j-just before s-sunset."
"Oh! That's that timer I fixed last week." Jax laughed, relieved.
"Man, time sure flies when you're having fun!" Xaiden sighed, "I hate to leave right now, but I know you need to get back Ewen."
Ewen just nodded, clearly not happy to leave his work with the maps incomplete either.
"What do you guys think about keeping the bunker from Eliana for now?" Xaiden asked cautiously. He wanted time to really figure this out before Eliana came in and did her own thing. She seemed to make a point of doing the opposite of anything Xaiden asked, making things much more complicated than they needed to be.
"Umm.. why though?" Jax asked sheepishly, running his hand through his hair. "She'd be a big help, you know? And I think she'd feel really hurt if we kept this from her."
"I just feel like she's not a team player, and this is something that we really need to be on the same page about. She doesn't share everything she finds and just does her own thing." Xaiden ranted. "What are we going to do if she finds an important clue and just doesn't tell us about it?"
"Come on, Xai, she's not that bad." Jax soothed, "I think you guys just got started off on the wrong foot and keep adding fuel to the fire. Maybe if you both respected each other a little more, you'd get along better."
"Jax, she's only nice to you because she likes you." Xaiden said exasperatedly, with heavy emphasis on the word, 'likes'.
Jax's face colored a bit, his voice carried a slight warning as he responded. "That's too far, Xai. She's nice to me because I'm nice to her, there's nothing more to it than that."
"Whatever," Xaiden said dismissively. "Ewen, you're the tie breaker here, what's your vote?"
"M-me?" Ewen asked, taken aback. "I-I'm still n-new to the g-group, so I d-don't think I s-should…" he trailed off as he anxiously wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
"Gosh, this is driving me crazy," Xaiden sighed heavily, sliding the palm of his hand from his forehead to the bottom of his face until it covered his mouth while he thought. "I feel like I'm being made out to be the bad guy, when Eliana is the one that keeps picking a fight with me!" The others remained silent, looking down awkwardly.
"Okay, you know what?" Xaiden said finally, "Nevermind. Eliana's part of our group, so we'll keep including her. Everyone happy?"
"Let's just head back for now," Jax said quietly, "it's been a long day."
Ewen was first to the steps, relieved to escape the tense atmosphere. Jax followed more slowly, while Xaiden stayed back counting to 10 and back before leaving the bunker.
The other two had wrapped up the rope and packed up their bags by the time Xaiden made it to above ground. He wordlessly walked out and grabbed his reflective jacket off his bag, cramming it inside. "You guys ready?" He asked coldly.
"After you," Jax said softly. Xaiden walked ahead without a backward glance, reminded of how the roles had been reversed just a few hours ago at school.