Perhaps it’s a love letter encrypted for safety. Perhaps it’s a prayer. Perhaps it’s nothing — just fingers stumbling across a keyboard in the dark.

But listen closely. Sound it out:

Mrbrbt – a stutter, or a name. Msryt – like “misery” without the vowels, or “Mystery” misspelled by a tired hand. Byda jmylt – could be “Byda” (a place? a woman?) and “jmylt” (gemstone? camel? gentle?). Sks m shyqh – the closest to English: “sucks me shy” or “sick as my sheikh.”

Some say it was the last transmission of a ship’s radio operator before the static swallowed everything. Others claim it’s a child’s nonsense rhyme, passed down through a family that forgot its own mother tongue.