"It has to be morse code, right?" Xaiden continued, "What a day for Jax not to be here." Xaiden knew quite a bit of morse code, so that wasn't the problem. It was more that he didn't understand radio shorthand and Jax would. "R, AR?[1] What's that supposed to mean? Is the radio malfunctioning?" Xaiden wondered. He had no idea how to work the machine, despite Jax showing it to him countless times. He knew where the push to talk button was on the microphone and where the little button was to tap in the morse code, that was about all he retained because he figured that was all he'd ever need to know.
Xaiden sat at the desk in the bunker and tried to figure out what all the buttons and lights on this complicated device were for. He couldn't find a volume dial for the life of him. Xaiden had asked Jax to turn the radio sound off when he was done tinkering because the static feedback got annoying after a while, so Xaiden hardly noticed the thing was even running most days. "The one time that useless information turns out to be useful!" Xaiden lamented with a sigh.
He decided to try to look for a note either from Jax or that old writer guy that may contain radio morse code abbreviations. Just then, another crisp white sheet of paper slipped to the floor, this time with a longer message.
.- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / - .... . .-. . ..--.. / .- .-.[2]
"Wait, is someone really sending a message?" Xaiden exclaimed as he stared at the dots, "What are the odds?!" He grabbed a pencil and translated the code underneath.
Are you there? AR
Opting to respond in kind and just ignore the shorthand for now, Xaiden planned out his response on clean sheet paper, then carefully tapped it into the machine. As long as he entered it correctly now, it would translate to, "I read you, loud and clear, over."
.-- .... --- / .. ... / - .... .. ... ..--.. / .- .-. (Who is this? AR)
Xaiden paused for a minute, debating on giving his name. Ultimately, he tapped in, "This is Writer, who is this? Over"
-. .. .-. ...- .- .-.-.- / .-- .-. .. - . .-. / .. ... / -.. . .- -.. --..-- / .-- .... --- / .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.-- ..--.. / .- .-. (Nirva. Writer is dead, who are you really? AR)
"Hi Nirva, nice to meet you. How do you know Writer is dead? Over." Xaiden tapped his response, then waited with his knee bouncing for 2 painstaking minutes, wondering, Did I scare them off? But sure enough, another paper started to print.
.... --- .-- / -.. --- / -.-- --- ..- / -.- -. --- .-- / .- -... --- ..- - / .-- .-. .. - . .-. ..--.. / .- .-. (How do you know about Writer? AR)
Xaiden thought for a while and wrote and rewrote his response a few times. He settled for the coded form of "Let's just say, inheritance. Over"
... --- / -.-- --- ..- / .... .- ...- . / - .... . / -... --- --- -.- / - .... . -. ..--.. / .- .-. (So you have the book then? AR)
"Gosh this is getting annoying," Xaiden sighed as he mapped out his reply on the quickly filling paper before tapping it into the machine. "I have many books, which one do you mean? Over"
.. .----. ...- . / --. .. ...- . -. / -.-- --- ..- / ..-. .- .-. / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / -.-- --- ..- .----. ...- . / --. .. ...- . -. / -- . / .- - / - .... .. ... / .--. --- .. -. - .-.-.- / .. / -.. --- -. .----. - / - .... .. -. -.- / - .... .. ... / .. ... / --. --- .. -. --. / .- -. -.-- .-- .... . .-. . .-.-.- / .- .-. (I've given you far more than you've given me at this point. I don't think this is going anywhere. AR)
"Such a long response! I'm starting to get cross eyed with all this" Xaiden complained as he translated the message and drafted his own before tapping it in. "Can we talk again in 4 hours? Let's use mics then. Over"
.-- .... -.-- / -. --- - / -. --- .-- ..--.. / .. / -.. .. -.. -. .----. - / - .... .. -. -.- / -.-- --- ..- / .... .- -.. / --- -. . .-.-.- / .- .-. (Why not now? I didn't think you had one. AR)
"I do, I just need to get it working, give me a few hours and let's answer each other's questions then. Over.
.- ... / .- .-. (AS AR)
"Does that mean you agree? Over"
-.-- . ... / .- .-. (Yes AR)
[1] I don't know much about radios either, but according to Google, this means something like, "Received, End" or something like that.
[2] I used a morse code translator, so hopefully this translates correctly! I wish I knew morse code by heart, but I've always thought it was really cool and have used it in some scavenger hunt clues before!