Broadcast warning. Classified liturgical material.
Audit level Gamma 4. Issued under the joint authority
of Departmento Vox Communicatus and the Office
of Internal Reverence. The following material,
the testimony of Halix Dreve, has been cleared
for supervised devotional review. Playback authorization
was granted after 27 revisions, 6 confessions,
and 1 regrettable explosion. All listeners are
reminded that statements made by the speaker
are historically accurate within approved margins
of error. Listeners are not to interpret the
subject's tone, word choice or screams as criticism
of the Emperor's plan. Any mention of things
beneath is to be understood metaphorically unless
otherwise instructed by a ranking cleric. Emotional
contagion during playback such as curiosity,
nausea or empathy constitutes a breach of contained
composure, please report yourself immediately.
Citizens are encouraged to maintain posture,
recite the oath of listening, and avoid making
eye contact with the vox emitter during transmission.
Remember, faithful ears hear only what they're
meant to. This has been a devotional compliance
reminder from the Office of Clarity. Remain calm.
Remain upright. Remain useful. I was assigned
to review complaints regarding auditory anomalies
in the lower habitation clusters. Specifically,
reports of vent -based hymnals, unlicensed residence
cults, and communal breathing events. The forms
were improperly cross -referenced, naturally.
Half of them arrive sealed to each other with
a substance that appears to be wax, though it
pulses faintly under heat. Upon arrival at Habcluster
Epsilon -17, I was greeted by Rustician Var,
a bright -eyed individual with excellent penmanship.
He insisted that the sounds in question were
the results of mechanical sympathy. I asked him
to define the term. He smiled and said, the city's
just learning to pray back. The vents were indeed
resonating. A low, consistent tone measured at
approximately 74 Hz. I observed minor vibrations
in nearby ferrocrete, consistent with harmonic
feedback. The air carried a faint odour of warm
copper and ozone, which the locals described as
sweet. During an inspection of the primary ventilation
conduit, I discovered a fibrous growth interwoven
with the metal supports. It appeared almost organic,
pale, corded, lightly pulsing. When touched,
it was warm. My vox recorder captured the following
anomaly. Hallux, it said. Just that. My name.
Spoken not as speech, but as a vibration in the
steel. I deleted the recording, of course. Improper
data sanctity. But the resonance persists. I
can feel it now, even here, in my quarters. A
faint humming under the desk, through the chair
legs, in the papers. I filed requisition forms
for maintenance, but the system refuses them.
Each time the terminal responds, already processed.
I don't recall processing them. My reflection
in the data slate looks strange. The eyes seem
clearer, brighter. I sleep less, but I don't
feel tired. The hum is here under my breath when
I speak, between the words when I pray. I think
I understand now why the Rustician was smiling.
The Emperor's voice was never meant to be confined
to voxel scripture. It needs mouths. So many
mouths. Halix Dreve was played by Phillip Roy.
Vox Sanctum Gloriana is an Evil Lighthouse production.