Conversation · Soona, the Programmer

You really should look into this totalled MC when you have a chance. Seems important...

"Ah, well as long as it works, I don't need to know the details."

"In that case, let's move on."

An 'abandoned power source'? What could she be referring to?

Whatever it is, it was abandoned for good reason. Best to leave some stones unturned...

"What kind of stuff should I 'get in order'?"

"That's up to you. At a minimum, I would make sure you are physically and mentally prepared for an intense and difficult process. Once we begin, there can be no interruptions."

At the very least, you should make sure you're wearing a good pair of gloves.

"Radio-engineers typically carry over-priced solvent sprays to clean the antenna connections, but in a pinch some common ammonia works just fine..."

Pssst, it's the alcohol in the ammonia doing the real work, kinda like with you.

"Finally, there's the question of stimulants. Some people prefer to keep illegal amphetamines on-hand to help with their work. I am not one of them, but they do exist."

"Isn't it a little ironic that you're recommending amphetamines after what happened with the speedfreaks?"

"I'm not interested in irony. I leave that to more conceptual types."

"I try to avoid drugs. Abusing stimulants is highly irresponsible."

"I don't take them because they make me nauseous, but everyone has their reasons. I don't judge."

"So this isn't the first time you've hung around speedfreaks, is it?"

"It is possible that technical fields attract a certain kind of personality. I haven't given it much thought."

"I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Hang on, I need some time to prepare."

"That's fine. Return to me when you are ready to go."

"I got this beauty down at the pawnshop." (Use the highly expensive transceiver.)

"Is this... a Kristallsprach?" She looks up at you as she gently opens the case. "The Model 9 is an excellent piece of equipment. I don't know what you had to pay for it, but it should work very nicely."

It's not often that she allows herself to be awed, but the way she holds the Kristallsprach reminds you of someone receiving a precious gift.

"I found this in an office by the harbour." (Use the perfectly adequate transceiver.)

"Not the most advanced model." She turns a few dials and then sets the transceiver aside. "But at least everything appears to be in order. Yes, this should serve our purposes."

No further comment necessary.

"I do have one mystery that still needs solving... the radio ghost in the Doomed Commercial Area's electronic doorbell."

"The creepy woman!" She slaps her forehead. "We were wondering about that when we worked there... but I had completely forgotten about it ever since!"

"It must be entroponetic crosstalk. The one you get in radios and long-distance calls... Now it makes sense, with the pale right on the doorstep."

"Incredible..." the lieutenant murmurs. "This would also explain why we get it on the police radio all the time."

"Entroponetic crosstalk?"

"It's quite common actually. When the signal gets routed through pale, all kinds of irregularities take place. You may hear snippets of someone else's conversation, or the voice of your former lover, or an echo of an event that took place 100 years ago."

"Pale is a shroud of memories and it doesn't really distinguish to whom those memories belong to. You could hear anything."

"That makes sense. Thanks for explaining that to me."

"Anytime." She smiles.

"It's not a paying job, but could you help me contact Coalition Warship Archer?"

"I moved the water bowls to the right position, just like you asked. What's next?"

"Great, everything should be aligned now..." She stops, biting into her chapped lip.

Miss Know-It-All is hesitating.

"Okay, let's get this party started!"

"Yeah," she snaps out of the lull. "Let's do it. Now the only thing left to do is to unmute the headphones."

"If we've got the location right, we should then be able to hear whatever sound this anomaly makes."

"Isn't it going to be just silence and nothing else?"

"I don't know." She stares at the heart of her computer. "That's what I'm scared of: I don't know. It could be anything."

"I mean, what sound does the nothing make? How can you even listen to something that doesn't exist?" She turns to face you, the mainframe throwing shadows on her chin.

"What if silence is only what surrounds it, but the swallow itself is..." She grows silent, her face very pale in the cold light of electricity.

"You're right, we should be cautious -- we don't know what we're dealing with here."

"Maybe." She rubs her face. "Maybe I'm just tired."

Let's think about this -- logically. Why would nothing be terrifying if it's, well, nothing?

"It's scary, but we just have to face it."

"Yeah..." She breathes in. "You're right, let's do it." She puts on her oversized headphones, ready to press UNMUTE on the keyboard...

The lieutenant takes a step back...

And then nothing.

Nothing happens as Soona Luukanen-Kilde presses unmute on her keyboard. Nothing but silence.

You can hear some small animal cross the floor in the chancel -- it's that quiet in the sanctuary.

(Say nothing.)

She doesn't talk, her eyes closed and brows knitted together in a state of deep focus, one hand cupping the headphone.

"Well?"

"Damnit." She lets out a loud sigh, before tearing off her headphones; she's still avoiding your gaze.

"Well, at least the world seems to be still alright." (Look around.)