Tonedeaf: Part 3

- - reports of rioting, following mete - - hundreds injured, gunshots being heard from the walls - - citizens are warned to stay in their homes - - do not attempt to - -

++ We are very sorry, but this broadcast has been suspended until further notice. For further information, please contact your Harmonic Broadcast Provider. We apologise for the inconvenience. ++


The Harmony screamed in his ears, pumping out of the helmet speakers like a wounded animal. Neor's hands grasped at the controls, his mind slipping in and out of consciousness, while the lights of the console board flashed at him.

He looked up, he could see the station beyond the glass of the porthole windows. The main solar sail of the Telescope was destroyed, fragments floating like stars around it in a halo. Beyond, was the eclipse. Luna One and Luna Two engaged in an ominous embrace. Only now, he wasn't so sure of what he was seeing.

The meteors had come out of nowhere and had immediately disabled the Shuttle and the Telescope. They'd lost control instantly and were now caught in a fierce battle to control the ship as it lost its orbit.

His teammates were screaming at each other, Neor got on with what he had to do. When he spoke, his voice was calm. They were going to crash, this much was certain; many of them, if not all of them would die, but he didn't feel afraid. His hands worked on auto-pilot, dancing over the panels, readjusting the pitch as they began to accelerate and switching broken components to auxiliary systems.

In his mind, something had been turned on and now it stuck on all his thoughts like a splinter. He couldn't concentrate on his immediate fate because it no longer felt real.

They were only testing the Telescope, lining it up to face the Eclipse. They'd been focusing the lens when they'd noticed something. An imperfection on the surface of Lunar Two. Highlighted by the intensity of the sun's light, it became clear on the printouts of the first test pictures. It didn't so much suggest the radical as it screamed a terrible oversight.

Luna Two wasn't a moon.

Before him the azure curving horizon of Earth surged towards him, the cockpit began to buckle and tongues of flame flickered over the window as they shot into the atmosphere. The Harmony squealed in his ear along with the cries for help from his co-pilots, but he couldn't hear it any more. The Harmony was beginning to sound like bir-

**

- - contact with the Shuttle - - believed lost in the Wi - - riots still breaking out acro - - Harmonic Insanity is said to be cause of th - - hearing reports of gunshots across the perimeter wall as people try to es - -

++ We are very sorry, but this broadcast has been suspended until further notice. For further information, please contact your Harmonic Broadcast Provider. We apologise for the inconvenience. ++

Kay stepped into the glass strewn hallway of Jon's apartment. Outside, dawn was edging her way inbetween the buildings, casting long shadowy fingers in the low light. The Emergency Harmony was ringing soothingly throughout the city and pheromones were being pumped out to control the masses. It wasn't working. Last night had seen the worst violence and public disorder in recorded history. Fortunately, the meteor shower had stopped, but the chaos that had been left in its wake was only just beginning.

Across the city, the best and worst of society had scrambled into the city; looters and rescuers crawling over burning craters and the shattered husks of buildings, toppled and felled by the bombardment. She shuddered, hoping against hope that her brother had had the sense to stay indoors. It was a shallow, lonely hope.

She scaled the stairs as nimbly as she could, her legs were weak with fatigue after the long night at Mission Control. Half an hour ago they'd sent half the staff home with orders to come back after six hours rest.

Using the spare key, she let herself into his apartment. It was clear that he wasn't here and hadn't been for a few days. From his windows she could see the devastation across the city, columns of smoke rising up into the red morning sky. She slumped onto the sofa and felt herself slipping into sleep, when she noticed a note on the coffee table with her name on it. Suddenly wide awake, she dove forward and tore it open, within was a letter from Jon, it read...

**

"Natural History Museum."

Sol turned around, beaming.

"Since when can you read hieroglyphics?" Jon asked, standing up. He was standing with the others in a wide clearing. Around him were the remains of several stone buildings now consumed by the forest. Tentacles of vine and blankets of undergrowth covered what would have once been an incredibly large building, if the broken pillars and staircases were anything to go by.

"What do you think I've been doing for the past months?" Sol asked, gazing up at the columns, stroking the moss-eaten stone. "You're worse than Mother."

Jon didn't reply, before him was evidence of a vast and sophisticated civilisation. Family bickering somehow seemed to pale.

"There's something about these long, wavy symbols. It's strange - to think another people walked here. We think this was the foundation stone." Sol looked down at the stone, clearly excited by what he'd learned. Jon thought for a minute of calling him sweet, but now didn't seem to be the time for that either. "We still don't know what the numbers mean - we have no point of reference to our calender. The whole thing could be a thousand years old or ten thousand. We're pretty certain it's over a thousand, but without access to the city's facilities there's only so much we've been able to find out."

Jon nodded. He looked around at his brother's motley friends. Young, wrapped in simple clothes. Dirty, smelly - very un-Harmonic - and all with an odd glow about them.

He'd survived his brother's driving through the forest to the camp about fifteen miles from the city and hidden deep in the next valley. When they arrived, Jon was fascinated to find the structure of the camp was comparatively recent. They were all living in the shelter of the ancient ruins, but their dwellings were made out of a combination of natural materials and modern camping equipment.

All the people who had ever 'gone missing' were gathered here. Some were researchers who'd been reported lost nearly twenty years ago - most of the camp's people were now Jon's age and younger. They had a second generation - children born totally free of the Harmony.

"We were all lured out with Din and the promise of life beyond the Harmony," Sol explained as they'd entered the camp. "It has taken this much time to break my body's need for it - at first, I fainted and felt weak, but as the weeks went by the dizziness and sickness passed. Now it just sounds like buzzing - like birdsong."

Jon listened to the sound of the birds. Sol was right.

"You're very quiet."

"I'm worried - about Kay and the parents."

Sol looked distant for a moment, "I'd forgotten. How are they?"

"They're fine - as far as I know. Mother never gave up on you. She's still harassing the police about your case. Father concentrated on his work. He's suffered the most, I think. Particularly after the way you and him left things before you disappeared."

"I didn't think he'd care."

Jon gave his younger brother a hard look.

"I know - knew that he cared for us. He just had a funny way of showing it."

"Kay and I had each other. I thought you were dead. I think she did too, in her own way. But she was always the mediator. It's hard to tell what they think."

"Funny how things are easier when you forget - then, when you remember, things don't feel the same." Sol said, kicking his feet. He looked ten years younger all of a sudden. Jon looked away, he wanted his family back. He wanted security and normality and all those boring little things you took for granted.

Sol began to walk off. In the distance, food was being prepared. "I'm not going back there. I can't - I belong here." Sol said. Jon nodded, knowing instinctively that this was the case.

"I have to get back."

"I know." And with that, their agreement was reached. No arguments or squabbles. Just a simple statement of the facts.

Jon looked away and saw dark lines of smoke tracing their way into the sky. Being out of the city was possibly the most exhilarating thing that had ever happened to him. He felt like he should have some connection with the place, but he felt nothing.

"There is something you have to see," Sol said, stepping forward, his voice lowered, "It's not something that Walter and the leaders have shared with the others. But I can persuade them to let you see it."

**

Dear Kay,

Whatever they've told you about where I've gone is probably a lie. I met with Mr Oule after you left the other day and he offered me another job. I've gone beyond the city wall to search for the missing people.

I left letters with the solicitor to be given to you if I don't return, but you deserve a better explanation than the one they're likely to give you. I'm doing this because I think this is the best way of finding out what happened to Sol. For better or worse I believe his fate is connected with Din and the activity they've been trying to hush up in the lower nests. If I return, it wont be without an answer. All those parties he went to, all those 'heretical' books he read - I believe that they are all connected somehow.

I can't express in a letter how much of a friend you've been to me. More than anyone else you have tried to understand my disability and for that I can't thank you enough. All the problems I had with school, finding work, prejudices - all of it - my ability to cope with it has stemmed directly from you. I hope that in my absence your kindness and compassion will enlighten the world.

With love,

Jon

Kay sat back in the chair and shook her head. They were both gone.

A dark, knotted ball of dread swelled inside her and she knew that she would not see him again. Before her she could see her reflection in the window. She saw a rag doll in pinks and reds, smartly attuned to convey sophistication and elegance, but reduced by last night's catastrophe to a shadow of herself. Her make-up was running down her cheeks, her hair dishevelled and she smelled awful. It would have been inconceivable yesterday that she could get to this state - but now, looking beyond her reflection to the devastation outside, it didn't seem to matter.

She stood up, put the letter down and wiped her eyes. Her hands were already dirty, but her make-up marked her hands with black stains. Gathering her things she then departed. Below, she walked out into the morning sunlight, the warmth cutting through the early morning mist.

She looked up, a Police Officer was walking down the street carrying a mobile Harmonic Amplifier. Behind it men, women and children were following, huddled together like a flock.

Someone screamed from down the street - the Officer stopped - she tried giving the Amplifier to one of the crowd but they wouldn't take it, forcing it back on her in fear. Kay stepped forward and took the Amplifier, the Officer smiled briefly before darting off in the direction of the scream.

Kay held the Amplifier high, its diminished song playing out intermittently. Each time the service skipped she saw the crowd flinch. They were shaking from the cold, but more so from the withdrawal from the Harmony. Her mind made up, she started to walk, and the people followed.

**

The off-road beast tore to a halt, tearing up the earth in clods. Walter and Sol leaped out and Jon followed cautiously. They were deeper in the forest; here, the canopy was thicker and the vines were longer.

"This is it," Sol called back to Jon, who was lagging.

Jon scanned the clearing around him. They were out of the valley and in the hills. If it weren't for the dense forest then he was certain they'd be able to see the sea. The forest seemed to end abruptly with a cliff face consumed by vines, blocking the way before them. Sol and Walter led him up to the wall of green and then stopped.

"When the first ones left the city - that is, the researchers looking into forest life, they travelled extensively in these hills." Walter began as he started to pull down the wall of leaves, "They were looking for natural habitats and animal lairs. They thought they'd found a large animal's den here - a bear or wolf pack. When they dared to look closer though-"

He gave the covering one last yank and the loose rock came away, bringing with it the leaves. Underneath, the wall was dark and smooth, with deep bands of different coloured rocks all polished flat. Into it were chipped long and elegant hieroglyphics.

"I recognise these." Jon stepped forward, blinking. They were the same letters he'd found in the cave below the mine. Walter and Sol turned to look at him.

"Where?" Walter asked, sharply.

"In the veins of a mine," Jon explained, Walter looked blank, "I investigate rogue sounds and elements that upset the Harmony. I went down into the mine to sort out an 'Harmonic Discrepancy'."

Jon stroked the surface of the stone. Walter continued to stare at him intently. "Do you mean to say you're a Clash Man? You're Tonedeaf?"

Jon nodded, "Yes. Why?"

"Come with me." Walter said decisively and walked off. Jon looked to Sol, but his brother was watching Walter. They followed.

"When they found this place they immediately started to explore, take notes, pictures - anything to record such an historic discovery." Walter continued as he walked. "No such discovery was ever reported however, because they never returned to the city. They stalled for time and pleaded to stay out longer and longer working on translating the text, desperate to record as much as they could. That's when the accidents started to happen.

"Amplifiers broke, equipment malfunctioned and the whole expedition began to fall apart. they were stranded in the Wilderness, with no way of reaching the City without going out of range of the Harmony. The survivors don't talk about those months much. Suffice it to say they refined a technique for easing people off the Harmony. By this time they'd translated much of the text and, based on their new-found independence and the writings they discovered, they decided to never go back to the City."

Walter led them to a square hole in the wall, a tunnel that led into the darkness. There was a high pitched whine whistling through on the wind, it throbbed like it was alive.

"It sounds like the Harmony." Jon said.

The other two nodded. Walter led them into the tunnel and guided them through the darkness, but it was hardly needed, the sound seemed to guide them. Immediately the Harmonic parody began to give Jon a headache.

"That wall is a record of history. Since the dawn of time until now. Or at least it should be." Walter continued, his voice cutting against the Harmony like flint on steel, "We worked out the time line and it matched our calendar perfectly. It tells of a time when a person who could resist the Great Lullaby would arise from the City and deliver the people unto the Gods. The Gods, according to the wall are great deified birds, which is obviously in keeping with our history and legends. The time of this 'hero' would be marked by the heavens opening with fire and stone - a rain of punishment and chaos, as it is described by the wall - or to give it its full name, The Rain of Fire."

"I've heard that somewhere." Jon muttered.

Sol continued the story, "It was when the Rain began. Arthur let it slip. A theory was formed when the translation was completed, one that wasn't proved right until the Rain actually happened. You see, the time line on the wall matches our calender perfectly - but the ruins near the camp have absolutely no connection to this language or our calender. At first we thought they were two separate civilisations from two different times - but the ruins near the camp predate the wall. Which would make it predate known history and our calendar, which would make a degree of sense. If it weren't for a tiny little detail."

Jon stopped him, "By how much?"

"By at least a thousand years." Sol replied, his voice quiet, "We've tried to establish a connection between them but there simply isn't. We've tried connecting the dots, but they just aren't there - the Wall is younger, far younger than the ruins near the camp. But not only that, the Rain of Fire and the emergence of the 'hero' aren't meant to happen for another hundred years."

The wind picked up, sending a ghastly howl down the dark tunnel. Icicles seemed to form along Jon's spine. A splinter of light appeared at the end of the tunnel and grew until it blinded them. Jon followed the others out into the sunlight.

When his eyes adjusted he blinked - below was the next valley, sweeping out before him. Dotted in amongst the trees were ruins, tall pyramids of stone, crumbling at the sides.

"Wow." Jon muttered.

Sol tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. Behind him, the other side of the wall was apparent - it was another pyramid. They'd emerged in its ruined belly, all the while the wind whistled down through the cross section of passageways.

"What's that?" He asked, squinting upwards. The other two didn't answer.

A metal frame seemed to be running through the pyramid, a skeleton of black iron. It was strange, he felt like he'd seen them before.

He turned around - it was the same on all of the pyramids, they all seemed to look half-finished.

"How old did you say these were?" Jon asked.

"Well according to the writings, a thousand years old. But according to the same device that measured the ruins near the camp, not even a hundred." Walter replied. Jon felt dizzy.

"Why? - I don't understand-"

"A lie?" Sol said, grinding a toe into the dust, "A fiction? How long has our glorious City been around? Five, six generations? Hardly that. What happened before? Why haven't we left the cities? Why is our architecture designed around birds?"

Jon waved his hands - this was too much. "And we were meant to what? Discover it in a hundred years? Then why now?"

Jon looked to Sol, but his brother was looking down at the ground, flushed. Walter however was staring at Jon, his eyes bright and intent.

"Because Din walks among us."

"Pardon?"

"The name of the 'hero', the one who can resist the Great Lullaby, is Din. It implies a someone who is Tonedeaf, don't you think?" Walter replied. "Or so the lying wall tells us."

Jon suddenly remembered to breath and life seemed to come flooding back to him.

A sound came from behind, a movement in the grass. Jon turned and saw a great white Bear standing behind him, a bright shining face, carrying another one close to its chest.

He scrambled back as the thing approached like a demon.

From a distance the bear revealed itself to be an astronaut, the white Bear's giant body transformed into skin and a helmet. The figure struggled with the other astronaut in its arms before falling to its knees. Jon, Walter and Sol rushed forward to catch it, and ended up being pulled down too.

Air was escaping from a crack in the visor of the walker. The other's helmet was already smashed. Within was a woman's face.

Walter reached in and checked her pulse quickly. "Help me move her." He said. Jon and Sol dragged her from the walker's arms and laid her out on the ground. The Amplifiers in the woman's helmet were smashed. All they could hear was static.

"She's probably gone into shock." Walter muttered, removing the helmet. Suddenly the other astronaut surged forwards to stop him. Jon and Sol held the figure back, all the strength expended from it in the struggle.

The visor's reflective mask shimmered and changed revealing a drawn, middle-aged man within. His eyes were wide and vacant, his expression desperate. He was screaming at them. Jon and Sol held him as he shook their arms and pleaded with them, but he was losing consciousness. In a staggered slump he too fell to the ground, dead to the world.

As Walter tore at the fabric of the space suits, Sol scarmbled to his feet and walked backwards.

"Sol - I could use your help - Sol?" Walter spat.

"And the Pilot will appear, dressed in white, and bearing in his arms the mother of humanity's future." Sol muttered, pointing at the comatose astronauts.

Jon, frowned and stared at his brother. "Another pearl of wisdom from the lying wall?"

Sol nodded.

"Come on - help us." Jon barked, his mind racing ahead of him. Sol meekly joined them on the ground and proceeded to lose himself in the work.

While they stretchered the unconscious astronauts back to the beast, Jon bit his tongue and thought. All his worst fears seemed to be coming true. He'd always wondered whether he was truly able, while everyone else was disabled. Looking down at the limp figures between them, it certainly felt that way.

As they tore off back towards the camp, the sun set behind them, beams of light fractured through the fake ruins and highlighting the wiry hieroglyphics. Jon watched as they faded out of sight.