Crypto Challenge

[Hooman]

Ok, I'll start off with an easy one. There is lots of ciphertext for whatever analysis you'd like to do. It's also not even a formal cipher, so you can still use punctuation and spacing to help. Reply with the solution, or partial solution if you're stuck.

If people are interested, but are having problems, I can start giving hints, but for now, here's the ciphertext.




XIA: JXIUKQSBJP

FXWV HVAAGU XN WVA UJXXWAS GANW WVA RSXZIE BU BLAI UBQGAE XDAS WVA GQK XN WVA EXHI SBMK BIE QIWX WVA WZIIAG WVBW JXIIAJWAE WVA VXW GBF HQWV WVA SAUW XN AEAI JXGXIP.  VA WXZJVAE EXHI B WVQSE XN WVA HBP BGXIR WVA SBMK, WVA WQSAU GBIEQIR HQWV B UBWQUNPQIR JVQSK WVBW AJVXAE XNN WVA MAWBG-GQIAE HBGGU, MXWXSU HVQIQIR QI KSXWAUW.  VA HBU FSABCQIR VBGN B EXTAI UBNAWP SARZGBWQXIU, ESQDQIR GQCA B WAAIBRAS B WVQSE VQU FQXGXRQJBG BRA XN NXSWP-NQDA.

VA EQEI'W JBSA.  NQSUW XN BGG, VA HBU MBE, EBMI QW, BIE QW NAGW RXXE WX FSABC B NAH SARU, BIE UAJXIE XN BGG, IXFXEP HBU BSXZIE WX JXMKGBQI.  WVA WZIIAGU HASA BGMXUW EAUASWAE.  ADASP BEZGW HVX HBUI'W AIRBRAE QI B UASDQJA DQWBG WX WVA MBQIWAIBIJA XN WVA JXGXIP HBU QI IRZPAI'U "WXHI MAAWQIR," WVA MAAWQIR BLAI MXXI VBE YZUW HBGCAE XZW XI.

VA NGAH KBUW B VZRA UAW XN KSAUUZSA EXXSU, UWBSWGQIR B HXSCMBI HVX HBU QIUKAJWQIR WVA ZWQGQWP JXIEZQWU WVBW GQIAE WVA HBGG GQCA SXHU XN NBW UBZUBRAU. VA UOZABGAE WVA UJXXWAS BSXZIE B SQRVW BIRGA WZSI BIE ZK WVA WZIIAG WXHBSE VQU SAUQEAIJA ZIQW.  VA UGXHAE UGQRVWGP BU VA KBUUAE B RSXZK XN JVQGESAI BIE WVAQS WABJVAS-FXW UWSXGGQIR EXHI WVA SBMK NSXM WVA IZSUASP, WVAI WHQUWAE WVA WVSXWWGA VBSE XDAS WX UJSABM ZK WVA GBUW FQW XN WZIIAG.  VA VQW WVA FBUA XN WVA SBMK HQWV B FZMK, UWBSWAE FSBCQIR VBGNHBP ZK, BIE UGQE WX B UWXK YZUW UVXSW XN WVA XKAI BQSGXJC EXXSU.

VA IXUAE WVA UJXXWAS QIWX WVA JVBSRQIR UWBWQXI IALW WX B SXH XN QEAIWQJBG DAVQJGAU, BIE KGZJCAE VQU CAPJBSE, HQWV QWU VBJCAE UBNAWP XDASSQEAU, NSXM WVA UGXW QI WVA VBIEGAFBS.  VA KBGMAE WVA JBSE BIE RGBIJAE XZW WVSXZRV WVA WSBI-UWBWQXI'U XFUASDBWQXI KXSW.  WVA UZI HBU UAWWQIR XZWUQEA, ALBRRASBWQIR WVA VBSE SAEEQUV WXIAU XN IAH WASSB'U GBIEUJBKA.  WVA FZQGEQIRU XN AEAI UKSABE XZW FANXSA VQM GQCA B JGZUWAS XN UQGDAS WXBEUWXXGU.  QI WVA EQUWBIJA VA JXZGE UAA WVA NBSWVAUW XN WVA GBF UWSZJWZSAU, IQJCIBMAE WVA "VXW GBF," HVASA WVA MAAWQIR HXZGE UWQGG FA RXQIR XI.

IRZPAI HBU B NXXG.  VA'E CIXHI WVBW; VA UQMKGP VBEI'W CIXHI VXH MZJV XN B NXXG ZIWQG IXH.  VA SZFFAE WVA CAPJBSE FAWHAAI VQU NQIRASU.  WVA MBQI GXJC QIWX WVA VXW GBF HBU WVA XIA EXXS QI AEAI QW HXZGEI'W XKAI.  BLAI MXXI HBUI'W B MBI HVX GQCAE BIPWVQIR JGXUAE WX VQM.  VA HBUI'W B MBI HVX HBU ZUAE WX QW.

VA UWSXGGAE WVSXZRV WVA UBNAWP GXJC, QWU XKAI EXXSU SABEP WX UKSQIR UVZW BW BIP UQRI XN BI AMASRAIJP.  IAH WASSB'U WVQI BWMXUKVASA HXZGE CQGG B VZMBI QI GAUU WVBI WHX MQIZWAU.  QW HBU UXMAWVQIR PXZ HASA AQWVAS AWASIBGGP BHBSA XN, XS PXZ HASA EABE.  WVA JXMMXI BSAB, HQWV QWU GXZIRQIR JVBQSU, KGBIWAS QUGBIEU, BIE MZGWQWBQIMAIW JXIUXGAU, HBU EAUASWAE, BU VA'E VXKAE.  VA HBU BFXZW WX FSABC B GBH MZJV MXSA UADASA WVBI B UJXXWAS UKAAE-GQMQW, WVA XIA GBH WVBW JBSSQAE B EABWV KAIBGWP, BIE VA EQEI'W HBIW BIP KXWAIWQBG HQWIAUUAU BSXZIE.  VA HBDAE WVA CAP QI NSXIW XN WVA EXXS WX VQU KSQDBWA OZBSWASU BIE UWAKKAE OZQJCGP QIUQEA.

"RXXE ADAIQIR, BLAI."  WVA DXQJA HBU JXXG, NAMBGA, HQWV WVA UGQRVW BJJAIW WVBW BGG UBDBIW UASQAU JXMKZWASU UVBSAE.  WVA JXMKZWAS QWUAGN, B RGXUUP FGBJC JZFA B GQWWGA GAUU WVBI B MAWAS XI B UQEA, HBU SAJAUUAE QIWX B JXIUXGA XI WVA QIUQEA JXSIAS XN WVA SXXM.

B HQIEXH XI WVA JXMKZWAS'U XWVASHQUA NABWZSAGAUU UZSNBJA EQUKGBPAE B MXDQIR, WSBIUKBSAIW RABS-HXSCU, GQCA B JGXJC MBEA XN RGBUU.  WVQU HBU CSBNW'U QEAIWQWP QJXI, QWU NBJA QI B HBP, BU NBMQGQBS WX BLAI BU VQU XHI.  QW HBU BU MZJV B SXXMMBWA BU BI BKKGQBIJA.  WVA UBDBIWU HASA WVA MXUW UXKVQUWQJBWAE JXMKZWASU ADAS MBEA, BGMXUW VZMBI QI MBIP HBPU, ZIEXZFWAEGP UZKASQXS QI XWVASU.

"RXXE ADAIQIR, CSBNW.  DASQNP UAJZSQWP?"

"HA BSA UAJZSA, JXEA-HXSE 'JXGGZUQXI.' "

VA IXEEAE, WVA RAUWZSA EXZFWGAUU EAWAJWAE FP XIA XN WVA UBDBIW'U MBIP APAU VQEEAI BSXZIE WVA SXXM.  VA UBW EXHI XI XIA XN WVA SXXM'U WHX JVBQSU.  VA VBE HVBW HASA JXIUQEASAE GZLZSP OZBSWASU FP AEAI UWBIEBSEU, FZW WVA SXXM HBU XIGP WHX MAWASU FP WVSAA, BIE HXZGE VBDA FAAI UMBGGAS PAW QN VA VBEI'W FAAI BGGXHAE B GQWWGA ALWSB UKBJA NXS UBDBIW CSBNW.

ALJAKW NXS B NAH XN WVA MXUW BEDBIJAE SAUABSJVASU QI WVA GBFU, XIGP WVA VBIENZG XN UZSDQDQIR AGEASU, UZJV BU VQMUAGN, HASA BGGXHAE WVAQS XHI UBDBIWU.  VA BIE CSBNW VBE FAAI WXRAWVAS UQIJA VA'E AMASRAE NSXM JXGE UGAAK XI WVA UWBSUVQK WAI PABSU XZW NSXM IAH WASSB.  VA'E FAAI YZUW B JVQGE WVAI, HQWV XIGP EQM MAMXSQAU XN ABSWV, XKAI UCQAU, BIE KGBIWU WVBW EQEI'W RSXH QI B VPESXKXIQJU DBW.  VA UXMAWQMAU HQUVAE WVXUA MAMXSQAU MABIW MXSA WX VQM.  AEAI HBU VXMA IXH, NXS FAWWAS XS HXSUA.  ABSWV HBU EABE BIE IABSGP NXSRXWWAI.

VA UQRVAE.  "CSBNW, XKAI B UWABGWV FBJCJVBIIAG WX UBDBIW NSXUW.  Q IAAE WX WBGC HQWV AMMB."  WVASA.  VA'E EXIA QW, QIQWQBWAE B JGBIEAUWQIA JXMMZIQJBWQXI HQWV WVA SXRZA KGPMXZWV JXGXIP, BI BJW XN WSABUXI WVBW JXZGE RAW VQM CQJCAE XZW XN WVA IABSAUW BQSGXJC.

"XIA MXMAIW.  AMMB QU QI VAS OZBSWASU.  NSXUW JXINQSMU WVBW UVA QU UAJZSA.  XKAIQIR DXQJA."

"XKAI DQUZBG."

"JXINQSM?"  CSBNW UXZIEAE QIJSAEZGXZU, QN WVBW HASA KXUUQFGA NXS B JXMKZWAS.  UBDBIWU HASAI'W UZKKXUAE WX VBDA AMXWQXIU, FZW WVASA HASA WVXUA HVX VBE WVAQS EXZFWU.  JASWBQIGP CSBNW VBE WVA YZUWQNQJBWQXI.  DQUZBG JXMMZIQJBWQXIU HXZGE WBCA B VZIESAE WQMAU WVA FBIEHQEWV XN DXQJA-XIGP, HQWV B JXSSAUKXIEQIRGP QIJSABUAE JVBIJA WVBW WVAQS GQIC, FXXWGARRAE XI WVA UZFJBSSQAS XN B UBWAGGQWA JXIWSXG UQRIBG, HXZGE FA EAWAJWAE.

"JXINQSMAE.  Q HBIW KQJWZSA."

XIA NBJA XN WVA UBDBIW'U JZFA FSQRVWAIAE QIWX B EQUKGBP.  SXZWQIR QW WVSXZRV WVA QIWASIBG IAWHXSC WX WVA SXXM'U AIWASJXM UJSAAI HXZGE VBDA FAAI GAUU UAJZSA.  AMMB'U WVQI, VQRV-JVAACFXIAE NBJA WZSIAE WXHBSE VQM.  VAS FGXIE VBQS, UWSABCAE HQWV RSBP, HBU KQGAE XI WXK XN VAS VABE BIE VAGE QI KGBJA HQWV B JXZKGA XN HSQWQIR UWPGZUAU KXCAE QIWX WVA FZI.  QW VBE FAAI PABSU UQIJA VA'E UAAI VAS NBJA.  UXMAWQMAU VA UWQGG MQUUAE VAS.  WVQU HBU XIA XN WVXUA WQMAU.

UVA GXXCAE QIWX WVA JBMASB, VAS APAU HQEA HQWV UZSKSQUA.  "BLAI, BSA PXZ JSBTP?"

"PXZ IAAE WX UAA MP NBJA, AMMB, WX CIXH Q'M UASQXZU.  WVQU QU HXSWV WVA SQUC."

VAS FSXH HSQICGAE HQWV JXIJASI, BIE UVA UBW EXHI.  FAVQIE VAS VA JXZGE UAA VAS OZBSWASU, QN BIPWVQIR, UMBGGAS WVBI VQU XHI, BIE BU BGHBPU, B EQUXSEASGP VABK XN JGXWVQIR, SXJC UBMKGAU, BIE UJQAIWQNQJ AOZQKMAIW.  "HVBW'U HSXIR?  PXZ'SA IXW WVA YXCQIR CQIE, BLAI."

"QW'U IRZPAI.  Q WXGE PXZ VA'E UGBMMAE WVA GQE EXHI XI XIA XN WVA GBFU WVSAA PABSU BRX.  HA'E BUUZMAE VA HBU HXSCQIR XI FQXWAJV NXS WASSBNXSMQIR.  VA'U SAUQUWAE BGG MP ANNXSWU, GARQWQMBWA BIE JGBIEAUWQIA, WX RAW QIUQEA.  VQU UJQAIWQUWU BSA BGG VBIEKQJCAE, BIE IXW BFXZW WX WBGC."

"BIE?..."

"WXEBP VA WVSAH WVA GQE XKAI, VAGE B WXHI MAAWQIR WX UVXH XNN VQU UAJSAWU.  VA HBU HXSCQIR XI WASSBNXSMQIR, FZW WVBW'U XIGP B UMBGG KBSW XN QW.  VA'U BGUX FAAI MQIQIR WVA AIJSPKWAE EBWB NQGAU NSXM WVA UWBSUVQK, WVA XIAU XI MQGQWBSP WAJVIXGXRP."

VA VABSE BI BGMXUW QMKASJAKWQFGA RBUK NSXM AMMB.  WVA NXZIEASU XI ABSWV VBE FAAI SAGZJWBIW WX WVSXH BHBP BIP UJQAIJA, FZW WVAP'E BGUX VXKAE WVBW WVA IAH HXSGE JXZGE BDXQE UXMA XN ABSWV'U HXSUW MQUWBCAU.  WVZU, JASWBQI QINXSMBWQXI VBE FAAI AIJSPKWAE HQWV WVA EAUQSA WVBW QW SAMBQI WVBW HBP ZIWQG WVA IAH JQDQGQTBWQXI HBU SABEP NXS QW.  "VXH FBE QU QW?"

"VA VBU VQRV-AIASRP HABKXIU, GBUASU XN UXMA CQIE, Q WVQIC.  VA HBU VBSEGP NXSWVJXMQIR HQWV WAJVIQJBG EAWBQGU, WVXZRV VA HBU BGG WXX VBKKP WX FGBUW B VXGA WVSXZRV B KQAJA XN VZGG-MAWBG BU B EAMXIUWSBWQXI.  WVASA MBP BGSABEP FA NQLAE QIUWBGGBWQXIU XI WVA IAH UAJZSQWP KXUWU, BIE VA'U HXSCQIR XI BEBKWQIR WVAM WX B WZSSAW XI XIA XN WVA MXFQGA ZIQWU.  MBPFA VA VBU WVAM XKASBWQXIBG BGSABEP.  Q HXZGEI'W KZW QW KBUW IRZPAI WX NAAE ZU MQUQINXSMBWQXI."

UVA UMQGAE UGQRVWGP.  "BU WVXZRV PXZ BIE Q EXI'W CIXH B WVQIR XS WHX BFXZW MQUQINXSMBWQXI.  HVASA EQE HA RX HSXIR, BLAI?"

VA GABIAE VQU VABE EXHI BIE SZFFAE VQU FSXH, ZIBFGA WX NBJA VAS.  WVQU VBE FAAI VQU QEAB QIQWQBGGP.  "PXZ UBH WVA JXMKZWAS KSXYAJWQXIU.  BGG WVA AGEASU EQE.  WHX QIEAKAIEAIW JXGXIQAU VBE B MZJV RSABWAS KSXFBFQGQWP XN UZSDQDBG WVBI XIA."

"HA JXZGE VBDA WXGE WVA KAXKGA..."

"IXW BIE VBDA WVA JXGXIQAU FA WSZGP QIEAKAIEAIW.  JSABWQIR B KXGQWQJBG SQNW UAAMAE GQCA WVA FAUW HBP."

UVA IXEEAE.  "BIE IXH PXZ UAA HVASA QW'U FSXZRVW ZU?"

VA UQRVAE BIE GABIAE FBJC QI VQU JVBQS.  "PXZ JBI UAA NXS PXZSUAGN WVA EQNNASAIW KBWVU AEAI BIE KGPMXZWV VBDA NXGGXHAE.  WVA UKGQW MQRVW VBDA VBKKAIAE BIPHBP, RQDAI AIXZRV WQMA.  QW'U VZMBI IBWZSA WX JGZUWAS QIWX GQCA RSXZKU."

"QW'U VZMBI IBWZSA NXS RSXZKU WX RX WX HBS, WXX.  HA UVXZGE VBDA UAAI QW JXMQIR."

"WVASA QUI'W B HBS PAW, AMMB. KGPMXZWV EXAUI'W ADAI VBDA HABKXIU."

"WVAP HQGG, HVAI WVAP NQIE XZW.  WVAP'GG FA NXSJAE QIWX QW."

"VXH HQGG WVAP NQIE XZW?"

UVA NSXHIAE, BIE B FQW XN WVA XGE NQSA NGBUVAE QI VAS APAU.  "Q'GG WAGG WVAM, BLAI - QN Q VBDA WX.  XN JXZSUA WVASA BSA KSXFBFGP GAUU EQSAJW HBPU.  WVASA BGHBPU BSA."

VA EQEI'W BRSAA, FZW VA JXZGEI'W BSRZA.  VA'E EX WVA UBMA WVQIR QN VA HASA QI VAS KGBJA.  HVP AGUA VBE VA JXIWBJWAE VAS?

"FAUQEAU," UVA JXIWQIZAE, "QN WVAP UWBSW XI WASSBNXSMQIR HQWVXZW XZS JXIUAIW, WVASA'E VBDA WX FA B SABJWQXI XN UXMA CQIE.  QW RXAU BRBQIUW WVA KSQIJQKGAU WVBW KGPMXZWV HBU NXZIEAE XI, XN GQDQIR QI VBSMXIP HQWV IAH WASSB SBWVAS WVBI WSPQIR WX MBCA QW QIWX UXMA CQIE XN ASUBWT ABSWV..."

VA JGABSAE VQU WVSXBW BIE UOZQSMAE QI VQU UABW.  "AMMB, NSXM HVBW Q UBH WVQU BNWASIXXI, Q'M KSAWWP UZSA WVAP'DA BGSABEP UWBSWAE, UXMA CQIE XN BWMXUKVASA FZQGEQIR MQJSXXSRBIQUM QIYAJWAE QIWX WVA FAESXJC.  YZUW WAUW HAGGU UX NBS, FZW..."

"HVBW!  HVBW WVA NSBR EX PXZ KAXKGA WVQIC PXZ'SA EXQIR?"

VA UQRIAE.  "WVAP VBSEGP JXIUZGWAE MA, AMMB.  PXZ CIXH WVBW Q WVQIC BIP UZJV ESBUWQJ UWAK VBU WX FA FP JXIUAIUZU."

"HVQJV QU B GQWWGA VBSE WX EX HVAI WVA JXGXIQAU BSAI'W ADAI WBGCQIR WX ABJV XWVAS."

VA JXZGE NAAG XGE HXZIEU XKAIQIR, NAAG WVAM NBGGQIR QIWX WVA KQW XN WVAQS XHI EQNNASAIJAU, BU KXHASNZG BU WVA BWWSBJWQXI WVBW VBE XIJA FSXZRVW WVAM WXRAWVAS.  "QW HBU PXZS KAXKGA HVX UVZW EXHI WVA JXMMZIQJBWQXIU UBWAGGQWA. HA EXI'W VBDA WVA WAJVIXGXRP WX WBGC ADAI QN HA HBIWAE WX."

"QW HBU BI BJJQEAIW, BLAI.  WVA JXZIJQG YZUW HBIWAE WX MBCA B ESBMBWQJ RAUWZSA.  WVAP VBE IX QEAB WVBW WVA UBWAGGQWA JXZGEI'W FA WZSIAE FBJC XI.  FAUQEAU WVASA'U UWQGG XZS FBJCJVBIIAG WVSXZRV WVA HABWVAS UBWAGGQWA WAGAMAWSP GQICU.  QW'U AIXZRV WX XKAI UXMA EQBGXRZA FAWHAAI XZS GABEASU."

"QW'U WXX GBWA NXS WVBW.  Q'DA FAAI WSPQIR WX WBGC UAIUA QIWX IRZPAI NXS PABSU, NBJA WX NBJA.  HVBW JVBIJA EXAU UXMA DXQJA XZW XN B FXL VBDA?"

VAS GXXC WZSIAE EABEGP UASQXZU.  "WVAI QW MQRVW FA WQMA WX WBCA IRZPAI XZW XN WVA KQJWZSA, BLAI."

VA NAGW WVA VBQSU UWBIE ZK XI WVA FBJC XN VQU IAJC.  AMMB VBE B SZWVGAUU UQEA WVBW VA UXMAWQMAU NXSRXW.  "HVBW BSA PXZ UZRRAUWQIR?"

"EXQIR HVBW HA'DA BGHBPU EXIA, BLAI, HVBW'U IAJAUUBSP NXS WVA UZSDQDBG XN WVA VZMBI SBJA."

VA UVXXC VQU VABE.  "IX, Q JBI'W EX WVBW, AMMB."

"HA'SA WVA GBUW XN WVA AGEASU, BLAI, WVA GBUW JXGXIQUWU FXSI XI XGE ABSWV.  QW'U B EBIRASXZU HXSGE, ADAI BU KSXWAJWAE BU HA BSA.  HA JBI'W SQUC XIA XN ZU EPQIR HQWV WVA KSXRSBM XZW XN JXIWSXG."

VA HBU JXIUQEASQIR HVBW UVA UBQE, HVQJV QU HVP VA VBKKAIAE WX FA GXXCQIR XZW WVA HQIEXH BU WVA NQSAFBGG ASZKWAE.  WVA UXZIE JBMA B NSBJWQXI XN B UAJXIE GBWAS, MXUWGP BU B SZMFGA QI WVA NGXXS, WVA BQS WXX WVQI WX JXIEZJW MZJV IXQUA.  UXMAVXH, HQWVXZW SABGQTQIR QW, VA HBU XI VQU NAAW BIE UWBIEQIR QI NSXIW XN WVA HQIEXH.  "MBCAS'U IBMA..."

"HVBW," KGABEAE AMMB'U DXQJA, "Q'DA GXUW DQUZBG.  BLAI!"

"MBGNZIJWQXI," UBQE NSXUW, "MBYXS MBGNZIJWQXI.  Q VBDA GXUW JXIWBJW HQWV BGG JXMKZWASU QI GBF UWSZJWZSA NXZS.  WHAIWP UAJXIEU KSQXS WX WVQU, B MBYXS JBUJBEA NBQGZSA MXDAE WVSXZRV BGG WVA UWSZJWZSAU' AGAJWSXIQJ UPUWAMU."

"AMMB, WVA VXW GBF ALKGXEAE.  Q JBI UAA NGBMAU, UX WVASA'U B MBYXS XLPRAI GABC.  QW GXXCU GQCA WVA HVXGA KSAUUZSA DAUUAG MZUW FA SQKKAE XKAI.  NSBR, VBGN WVA WXHI HBU QI WVASA!"

WVA UQGAIJA UZEEAIGP UWZJC VQM.  "WVA BGBSMU!  CSBNW, HVASA BSA WVA BGBSMU?"

"BGG BZWXMBWQJ BGBSMU BWWBJVAE WX GBF NXZS VBDA FAAI EQUBFGAE, KAS JVBQSMBI IRZPAI'U XSEASU."

"UXZIE EQUBUWAS BGBSMU.  EQUKBWJV EQUBUWAS SAUKXIUA WABMU.  ZUA MP XDASSQEA JXEAU."  ADAI BU VA HBU NQIQUVQIR WVA UAIWAIJA, VA JXZGE VABS WVA CGBLXIU UXZIEQIR NSXM ADASP QIWASJXM UKABCAS.

"BLAI!" AMMB JBGGAE.  "HVBW'U VBKKAIQIR?  Q JBI'W VABS PXZ.  WVA UQRIBG'U FSABCQIR ZK."

BLAI QRIXSAE VAS UX VA JXZGE GQUWAI WX CSBNW.

"EQUBUWAS WABMU HQGG FA ZIBFGA WX SAUKXIE," UBQE CSBNW.  "AMASRAIJP WZIIAG FZGCVABEU BIE BQSGXJCU HASA JGXUAE FANXSA WVA ALKGXUQXI."

"XKAI WVAM."

"Q EX IXW VBDA WVXUA XDASSQEA JXEAU, BIE WVA EXXSU VBDA FAAI GXJCAE."

"FP HVXM?"

"WVA EXXSU BSA GXJCAE NSXM QIUQEA."

"BLAI, HVBW?..."  AMMB'U DXQJA HBU JZW XNN.

"HA VBDA GXUW WVA GQIC WX KGPMXZWV.  WVASA QU BI QIJXMQIR JXMMZIQJBWQXI.  QW'U XSQRQI QU WVA GBF NXZS ABUW UBNAWP BQSGXJC."

QW HBU WVA UBMA GXJC BLAI VBE HBGCAE WVSXZRV XIGP WAI MQIZWAU ABSGQAS.  KASVBKU UXMAXIA VBE RXWWAI QIUQEA BIE UABGAE QW FANXSA WVA FZQGEQIR VBE JXMKGAWAGP EAKSAUUZSQTAE.  "XI UJSAAI."

WVA FQR AIWASJXM UJSAAI XI WVA NBS HBGG JBMA WX GQNA.  VA SAJXRIQTAE GQG CXMXU, XIA XN IRZPAI'U UJQAIWQUWU, FZW XIA XN WVXUA MXUW NSQAIEGP WX BLAI'U DQAHKXQIWU.  WVASA HASA UADASBG WQMAU VA VBE WVXZRVW UVA MQRVW BRSAA WX FA B MXGA QIUQEA IRZPAI'U XKASBWQXI, FZW QW VBE IADAS VBKKAIAE.  VA JXZGE WAGG FANXSA UVA UKXCA WVBW UVA HBU WASSQNQAE, BIE UXMAWVQIR AGUA.  UVA EQEI'W GXXC HAGG.  "AGEAS, Q EXI'W VBDA MZJV WQMA.  Q'M UAWWQIR WVQU MAUUBRA WX SAJXSE BIE SAKABW.  UXMAWVQIR HAIW HSXIR HQWV WVA WAUW HAGG.  Q WXGE WVAM WVA XSRBIQUMU HA HASA ZUQIR HASA WXX EBIRASXZU."

"GQG, BSA PXZ...? "

UVA JXIWQIZAE, AQWVAS ZIBFGA WX VABS VQM, XS ZIHQGGQIR WX UWXK WBGCQIR.  "QW RSXHU WXX NBUW, FZW IRZPAI HBUI'W HQGGQIR WX HBQW.  'BI BWMXUKVASA QI XZS GQNAWQMA,' VA UBQE."  UVA UVXXC VAS VABE BU WVXZRV WX JGABS QW.  UVA FSZUVAE VAS VBQS XZW XN VAS NBJA, BIE VA JXZGE UAA WVBW UVA HBU WSAMFGQIR.  "IXW AIXZRV WQMA WX ALKGBQI.  BWWBJCU XSRBIQJU, ADAI KSXWAQI ZIQWU QI FXKWSXIQJ JXMKZWASU, ADAI WVA KGBUWQJU QI XZS AIDQSXIMAIWBG UABGU."

QI WVA FBJCRSXZIE, VA IXWQJAE NXS WVA NQSUW WQMA B UGQRVW VQUUQIR IXQUA.

"ADBJZBWA, IXH.  RAW ADASPXIA PXZ JBI QI WVA ADBJ WSBIUKXSWU.  UBGDBRA HVBW PXZ JBI, FZW BDXQE WVA BNNAJWAE BSABU, BIE EXI'W GAW BIPXIA XZW.  RAW BHBP BIE EXI'W JXMA FBJC."  UVA JXZRVAE.  VAS NBJA HBU HVQWA BIE HBLP GXXCQIR, SAE DAQIU JGABSGP UWBIEQIR XZW QI VAS JVAACU.  "EXI'W WSP WX SAUJZA ZU, XS QIDAUWQRBWA.  RAW XZW HVQGA PXZ JBI.  XIGP PXZ VBDA WVA QINGZAIJA WX MBCA QW VBKKAI, AGEAS, PXZ BIE IRZPAI, BIE IRZPAI QU EABE.  HA'SA BGG EABE.  EXI'W..."  VAS APAU HAIW HQEA.  VAS VBIEU JBMA ZK BU WVXZRV WX JXDAS VAS NBJA, WVAI UWXKKAE VBGNHBP, UVBCQIR.

UVA NAGG FBJC BRBQIUW WVA NBS HBGG XN WVA BQSGXJC, VAS FXEP UVZEEASQIR JXIDZGUQDAGP.  WVA JBMASB GQIRASAE XI VAS NXS BGMXUW B MQIZWA FANXSA WVASA HBU B JGQJC, BIE WVA MAUUBRA SAKABWAE.  BLAI JZW XNN WVA KQJWZSA HQWV B RAUWZSA FANXSA VA JXZGE VABS VAS DXQJA BRBQI.

VA GABIAE BRBQIUW B JVBQS WX UWABEP VQMUAGN.  VA VBE WX EX HVBW UVA'E UBQE.  WVASA HBU IX JVXQJA.  VA'E UAAI HVBW HBU VBKKAIQIR WX VAS FANXSA WVA MAUUBRA JZW XNN.

UVA HBU MAGWQIR.
 

[zanco]

Nice Crypto  (thumbsup) , Hooman. It took me like 1 and 1/2 hour to decipher it, but I'm too lazy  :yawn: and tired to write the whole text in one post  :lol:



one: conspiracy

Both wheels of the scooter left the ground as Axen sailed over the lip of the down ramp and into the tunnel that connected the hot lab with the rest of Eden colony. He touched down a third of the way along the ramp, the tires landing with a satisfying chirp that echoed off the metal-lied walls, motors whining in protest. He was breaking half a dozen safety regulation, driving like a teenager a third his biological age of forty-five.

He didn't care. First of all, he was mad, damn it it, and felt good to break a few regs(?), and second of all, nobody was around it to complain. The tunnels were almost deserted. Every adult who wasn't engaged in a service vital to the maintenance of the colony was in Nguyen's "town meeting," the meeting Axen Moon had walked out on.

... To be continued.

[Hooman]

Yep. I took s_e01.rtf from Story.vol and encrypted it.

Care to give us any details about how you solved it? Any details you'd like to know about how it was encrypted? Or should I post another one, perhaps a little harder?

Btw, for the curious, the encryption/decryption key I used was "EDEN MISSION ONE". (Or at least the keyword used to generate the key).
 

[zanco]

Care to give us any details about how you solved it?

Well, since you insist   . The first time I saw the crypto, it was really, really ,really daunting, but I gave it a shot. The trick is to look for the shortest words because they are the easier to decode; I saw words like "B", "N" ... standing alone. Those could only be "I" or "A" . You were kind enough not to alter the punctuation marks, so I looked for the apostrophes "'"; I saw stuff like "QUI'W" "QW'S" ... it looks like the letter that comes right after the "'" can only be "S" (like he's) or "T" (like can't) or "D" (it'd). It also helped to know that "'s" is most of the time preceded with pronouns or "isn" "aren"... Well, that's enough as of how I solved it. Once you get two or three letters decrypted, the other ones come by themselves.
I had a good time  

Any details you'd like to know about how it was encrypted? Or should I post another one, perhaps a little harder?

I'm trying to write one, and I have to admit that it's really tedious. You have to make sure that you don't make any mistakes or don't skip any words, so I think you wrote a program that can do it for you, aren't I right? I was thinking about writing a program in C++ that could help me to do mine, but it's gonna take some time; untill I'm done, I think it would be really nice of you if you put another crypto challenge (harder).
Thx.  

[Hooman]

Alright. I'll begin work on a harder challenge. This one I think will be a formal cipher. (All spaces and punctuation removed, and the text is broken into blocks of 5. If the text length isn't a multiple of 5, extra padding (random charaters) are added to the end to make it a multiple of 5).

And yes, I do have a program written to decipher these. Enciphering is similar, I just sorted and inverted my key by hand and used the deciphering algorithm on it. I shouldn't be so lazy and actually start writing a proper program. Maybe even release it for people attempting the challenge.

I'll be back shortly.

Oh, and btw, nice analysis. That wasn't quite what I was expecting but still very effective. And yes, there definately is a lot more info you can gain from the punctuation. That's partly why I didn't start off with a formal cipher. I figured an easier start would be more fun.

 

[Mez]

i tried to look for the most common letter (e) i knew that the letters with the highest count would be the vowels. but i gave u p in the end cos it was late

[Hooman]

Hmm, now that sounds a little closer to the kind of thing I was expecting. (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, for challenge #2).

Perhaps I should post some software to help out a bit? Or should I just leave people to their own devices?
 

[Mez]

just leave ppl 2 get on with it
for now

if you get no solutions then you start hinting. remeber some ppl visit the forum evry few days
and it may take time to work out