[No, he had assumed it would be something like that, so he just nods. The scene is weird to him, but not to a mindboggling degree - the computer looks really similar to the one in their rooms.]

I imagine that would make it difficult to follow the conversation.

[The guy popping up at the end at least confirmed that that is what it was.]

So that was the two-way communication that this technology offers, allowing them to communicate in silence. That would have been a nice way to get around the monastic vow....