WEBVTT 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:08.640 Broadcast warning. Class, internal resonance 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.679 hazard. Issued under the authority of the Departamento 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:15.560 Vox Communicatus Subsector Delta 9 and the Departamento 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:19.820 Recreatio Quietas. Clearance level, civilian. 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:24.719 Supervised listening only. Recovered from auditory 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:29.510 log 12B, purge zone theta. The following testimony 00:00:29.510 --> 00:00:33.490 of Kalen Kzar has been designated Routine Maintenance 00:00:33.490 --> 00:00:37.090 Debrief, Auditory Containment Required. It has 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:39.329 been approved for devotional broadcast under 00:00:39.329 --> 00:00:41.909 limited frequencies following multiple purity 00:00:41.909 --> 00:00:44.590 recalibrations and one regrettable absorption 00:00:44.590 --> 00:00:49.509 incident. Listeners are reminded that any personal 00:00:49.509 --> 00:00:52.670 vibrations, echoes or synchronised heartbeats 00:00:52.670 --> 00:00:55.270 experienced during playback are to be considered 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:59.340 a sign of faith, not infection. Should walls, 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.520 vents or fellow citizens begin to hum in unison, 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.780 do not attempt to harmonise. Unauthorised duets 00:01:05.780 --> 00:01:08.920 are a form of heresy. Bleeding from the ears 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:11.599 indicates excessive devotion and should be reported 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:16.159 only if it continues after confession. If the 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:18.939 hive hums back, recite the Liturgy of Routine, 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:24.900 verse 9. "I am a cog. I am content. I rotate at 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:29.170 regulation speed." Remember, citizens, routine 00:01:29.170 --> 00:01:33.549 is sanctity. Deviation is song. Song invites 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:37.030 inspection. Please keep all thoughts within regulation 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:45.469 frequencies. Do you want to know what routine 00:01:45.469 --> 00:01:51.329 sounds like? It sounds like teeth grinding through 00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:55.939 hymnals, like breathing. In a room that's forgotten 00:01:55.939 --> 00:02:02.500 how to echo. Like silence. Trying to remember 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:06.439 the words. They sent me down after the broadcast. 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:12.280 Routine inspection, they said. The hive had stopped 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.159 humming. And apparently that was worse than when 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:21.139 it sang. I'd been on hum duty before. Back then, 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:25.210 you could at least tap your foot to it. The lift 00:02:25.210 --> 00:02:28.909 took us halfway down before it changed its mind. 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:35.969 The doors opened onto nothing but mist and something 00:02:35.969 --> 00:02:38.229 that sighed when you stepped too hard on it. 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:43.650 It's the sort of place where your own pulse starts 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:48.830 sounding like someone else knocking. We found 00:02:48.830 --> 00:02:53.699 the first crew at sub-level 9. They had formed 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:56.340 a neat line along the wall, like they were waiting 00:02:56.340 --> 00:03:00.120 for instructions. Helmets on, tools in hand, 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:03.560 perfectly routine, except for the part where 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:07.840 the wall had grown around them. You could still 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.060 see their boots sticking out, twitching a little, 00:03:10.139 --> 00:03:13.759 like the hive was trying to digest them. Magos 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.740 Errant started taking purity readings near the 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:19.819 wall for the devotional administrative forms. 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:23.909 His cranium-mech pinged, then... Short-circuited. 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:28.110 Errant said the readings were within acceptable 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:33.650 variance, right before his eyes liquefied. I 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:36.169 think that's when we decided to skip the administrative 00:03:36.169 --> 00:03:43.969 forms. By sublevel 117, the walls were sweating 00:03:43.969 --> 00:03:50.009 again. Not water this time, thicker, with streaks 00:03:50.009 --> 00:03:54.710 of something, almost solid. It smelled like incense 00:03:54.710 --> 00:04:01.729 and burnt paperwork. My vox clicked every time 00:04:01.729 --> 00:04:04.750 I tried to speak, like something on the other 00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:09.370 end was finishing my sentences ahead of me. We 00:04:09.370 --> 00:04:16.370 found a pipe that was humming. Just one. The 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:20.410 only sound in the whole level. Technician Maro 00:04:20.410 --> 00:04:23.810 tried to tighten the valve. The hum stopped, 00:04:24.189 --> 00:04:31.069 and so did Maro. Not dead, just still. The air 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:33.670 around him vibrated like it was embarrassed, 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:38.269 and next time the hum started, it came from inside 00:04:38.269 --> 00:04:46.490 his suit. When I got back topside, the purity 00:04:46.490 --> 00:04:50.470 clerk asked if I'd filled out a Form 9A for workplace 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:54.180 shrieking. I told her there hadn't been any shrieking. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:57.740 She said, that's good, means it's still routine. 00:04:58.819 --> 00:05:02.920 Then she stamped my file with a smile that didn't 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:08.600 quite line up with her eyes. That night I dreamed 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:12.959 I was back in the hive. Not walking this time. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:20.560 Being walked through. You ever feel a city breathe? 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:25.339 Under your ribs. You ever hear silence harmonize 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:28.959 with your thoughts? You get the sense that you're 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.980 just one more moving part. And someone, somewhere, 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:38.480 is very proud of how efficiently you're spinning. 00:05:41.699 --> 00:05:46.319 They say that hum's gone now. I can still hear 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:52.639 it. It's quieter. More. Personal.