Audio Assault

by Jeff Adams

  “That wasn’t necessary.” I tried to not be annoyed. “Plus, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  Oliver joined us as the car departed behind us.

  “What’s this, Sofia?” I wasn’t skilled at reading Oliver yet, but he didn’t look happy about the idea of a surprise. “This isn’t some game were playing. What Theo and his family are doing is critically important. I’m sure the surprise can wait until a more appropriate time.”

  Since I had a view of the front door, I saw John step into the doorway. Was he staying in the main house since the rest of us were in the guest apartments? It would certainly put him in close proximity to Sofia, although it seemed unlikely that she’d be in danger inside the house.

  Defender, Snowbird, Winger, Shotgun here. Sofia brought Eddie here. He just arrived. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I’m sure she’s down there saying something about this big surprise she’s got.

  It took all the training that I’d ever had about the use of comms—along with a lot of self-control—to not show shock.

  This would get messy quick. I had work to do, and I couldn’t let Eddie distract from that. I could be in the open to a certain degree. It’d be easy to say I was consulting for the Glenwoods.

  But he’s here! Excitement flooded me despite the inconvenience his arrival posed. It mixed with irritation that she’d done this despite our conversation earlier.

  “You really need to take a few hours,” Sofia said, excitement undeterred. “Didn’t you say you had colleagues working with you? That gives you some time, right?”

  “You know this is what I do, right?” My frustration seeped out further. “It doesn’t always follow regular business hours. And I can’t just abandon my team either.”

  “Whatever,” Sofia said dismissively. “Come on.” She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me with her. It was the reverse of when I moved her along at the hotel. I stole a look behind and found Dad and Oliver following.

  “I already knew John was here.” I forced Sofia to stop as we entered the house. “Hey, John.” I held up my fist and he bumped it.

  “He’s not the surprise.” Sofia tugged like a child eager for her parents to come downstairs for Christmas morning. “So smart, but so dense sometimes too.”

  We went upstairs to the living room level. Sofia made a big flourish once we got there so that my gaze would follow.

  “Oh my God, Eddie! What’re you doing here?”

  I ran toward him as he stood up from the couch where he’d been chatting with Marcella. We hugged. Playing out a happy reunion was required—but also so easy. God, I missed him.

  “Who’s this?” Oliver asked as he crossed the room to Eddie and me.

  “Oliver this is my boyfriend, Eddie Cochrane. Eddie this is—”

  “Oliver Glenwood,” Eddie interrupted, sounding reverent. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I’ve loved your music, well, sort of forever.”

  “Good to meet you, Eddie.” Oliver showed none of the annoyance he had when we were downstairs. “You have an amazing man here.”

  I really wasn’t used to so many compliments. It felt good, but man it made me uncomfortable.

  “Yes, sir, I’m well aware of how awesome Theo is.” He took my hand, squeezed and didn’t let go.

  “What are you doing here? How’d you get here?” It was the question of the hour. The answer probably didn’t matter since I’d have to manage him—like I always did. He was totally worth the extra effort. I couldn’t suppress a grin.

  “I got a Facebook message from Sofia. I didn’t think it was really her. You know, why would she message me? Anyway, she invited me to come down to see her shoot a Christmas special this weekend. She said you were working—which by the way is very cool—but that you were okay if I came up.”

  And least he knew about the work. Part of me relaxed. Given the celebrity status of this client, he might even encourage me to work.

  “He can hang with me while you’re working,” Sofia jumped in, “But hopefully you two can find some time to hit the town too and then the taping on Saturday.”

  Dad and Oliver glared at her. No one thought this was a good idea.

  Still. He was here. I made it work in Denver when he showed up and we had an amazing time. I’d find a way to make the most of this visit.

  Chapter Sixteen

  AFTER A night where I worked until two, Eddie and I still stole away around six thirty for a run in Prospect Park.

  Eddie had stayed in the main house last night. Sofia played new music for him and kept him occupied while I worked with the TOS team. We’d made progress on the virus’s capabilities and on a method to clean infected songs. Further traces also found that the data wasn’t staying in Manhattan. It moved multiple times and part of the team worked on enhanced tracking.

  “That was a good run. I can’t believe you skated down that one hill, though,” Eddie said. “I would’ve been terrified.”

  “There was a little bit of scary, but it was way fun. You’d love it. You’re the one who loves roller coasters after all.”

  “I’m all strapped in for a coaster, which is very different from being on some tiny wheels.” Eddie stole glances at me as we jogged along the sidewalk on the park’s perimeter. “I’m glad I’m here, even if we can’t spend all day together.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I should’ve checked with you before I took Sofia up on her offer. I promise I’ll stay out of the way.”

  “And I’ll do my best to get this wrapped up so we can check out the city.”

  We were a block away from the house when my phone repeatedly chirped with text messages from multiple sources—Mom, John, and Lorenzo among them. I ignored the phone since I’d soon have privacy to check them. We found Mom and Dad headed for the Glenwood’s as we arrived.

  “Uh-oh,” Eddie said quietly. “All those chirps weren’t good news, were they?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Good timing.” Dad looked to me as we fell into step next to them. “Oliver’s asked to see us.”

  I nodded, pulling out my phone to silence the alerts.

  “What’s going on?” Eddie asked.

  “Not sure yet.” Dad focused on Eddie. “It’ll probably be best if you give us some privacy when we get in there. I’m not sure if he’ll want to share the news.”

  “Of course.” Eddie didn’t miss a beat. “I should get cleaned up anyway.”

  As we got upstairs we heard a news broadcast.

  “Big trouble this morning at a listening party hosted by a radio station in Atlanta. Multiple fights broke out and the scene turned violent. Police are on the scene of this breaking story, and we’re joining a live broadcast from our Atlanta affiliate.”

  In the living room, John, Oliver, Marcella, Sofia, and Christian watched.

  “We’re here,” Mom said as we joined them.

  Eddie squeezed my hand and smiled before he continued up the next flight of stairs.

  Sofia looked horrified while Oliver was as distressed as I’d ever seen him. Marcella seemed transfixed by the scene as they replayed cell phone footage of the incident while the reporter talked.

  I recognized the song in the background. It was one we’d identified and cleaned yesterday.

  The repetitive beat was unimaginative. It was gonna be an earworm most of the day.

  Why was I tapping my foot to the beat?

  Pain—no, irritation—crawled over my brain.

  I scratched at my left ear and then rubbed my hand across my head.

  If I could’ve scratched my brain directly I would’ve. It was like there was a bug just under my scalp.

  How long were they going to play this song?

  The music wasn’t even that loud, but it was all I could hear.

  “Theo,” Oliver said, “I thought all these songs got cleaned yesterday and redistributed.”

  “What?” I snapped back. “Yeah. This is one we fixed.”

 
“Are you okay?” Mom asked, touching my arm.

  “Get off.” I shrugged, shoved her hand away, and stepped back.

  Why did I do that?

  “What’s gotten into you?” Dad asked.

  Everybody stared.

  “Nothing. Nothing.” I turned to go downstairs. “I need to get to work. Figure out what’s happening.”

  The phone vibrating in my pocket felt like it was trying to burrow into my leg.

  “What the hell?” I struggled to pull it out.

  I threw it hard to the floor, but the vibration continued. The noise was so loud between that and the damned song.

  “Theo!” John grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me to him. “This isn’t like you.”

  I grabbed his wrist and tried to force him to let my arm go. He hung on and grunted as I twisted with a maneuver he’d taught me. He finally let go, and I bolted, even though I wanted to hurt him worse.

  “Leave me alone!” I roared.

  “Everything okay down here? Theo?”

  Eddie’s voice didn’t stop me. Moving too fast, I tripped on the stairs but righted myself before I fell. Several people yelled my name. The song, however, wouldn’t get out of my head. It was like I was still upstairs.

  Outside the song stopped as the door closed behind me. Halfway down the front stairs, I stumbled again and sat down hard.

  What just happened?

  We watched the TV. Something happened in Atlanta.

  “Theo, are you all right?”

  I looked behind me, and Mom was there with everyone else, including Eddie.

  Dizziness made it hard to focus. I wanted to lie down. Sitting wasn’t easy for some reason.

  “What did I do?”

  “We’re hoping you could tell us.” Mom sat next to me and I leaned into her.

  “I feel like I’ve been… I don’t know.” This shouldn’t be such a struggle. “It’s like waking up from surgery.”

  “We should get him upstairs.” John had a quiet urgency in his voice. “Whatever’s going on we shouldn’t deal with it out in the open.”

  That was John. Always practical.

  “Can you stand?” Mom again.

  I didn’t want to move. Leaning against Mom was really nice. But John was right. We needed to go inside and figure this out.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Come on Theo.” Dad was next to me and reached under my shoulder. “I’ve got you.” I’d forgotten how strong he was. He pulled me up and my legs actually cooperated.

  “Take it easy. One step at a time.” Dad’s voice remained calm, collected.

  I didn’t like being out of sorts—that’s one of the things that kept me away from alcohol and drugs. More than a fuzzy brain, though I felt like my energy’d been zapped.

  John came to my other side and made sure I didn’t waver.

  We got back inside. Oliver’s security man stood guard at the door, and Christian kept watch too.

  “Let’s go in here.” Oliver gestured to the first-floor sitting room.

  They sat me down on a couch. I fell back into the cushions, happy I didn’t feel the need to lie down anymore. So many awful sensations rolled through my head. The tingling was like pins and needles.

  “What can you tell us?” Dad sat next to me. I hated being the reason all these people looked so concerned. The room was overcrowded. At least Glenwood’s security stayed in the hallway.

  “I’m not sure. As soon as we were upstairs it felt like something… this is going to sound crazy. There was like an itch on my brain and I couldn’t hold back. I wanted to hurt John and both of you. It stopped when I couldn’t hear the TV anymore.”

  “Is it possible that whatever happened to the people in Atlanta affected you through the TV?” Mom asked. “How much do we know about the music they played?”

  “We played some of those songs yesterday. I didn’t freak out like this.”

  “What about that extra sound that you found?” Mom asked. “Could that have been dormant?”

  “I suppose it’s possible. So far that’s baffled… the people analyzing it. If the master files were used to create new ones, it shouldn’t be there. The scans I did on the clean versions were all clear.”

  “How did the radio station play the wrong ones?” Oliver asked.

  “Maybe they didn’t get the update?” Mom said.

  It seemed impossible that a sound I didn’t know I heard could make me, or anyone, get violent. Although there were many things about sound that I didn’t understand.

  “But why just me? None of you were affected.”

  Nobody spoke for a few moments, but it was Mom who finally broke the silence. “We’ll have to do some research.” She looked between Oliver and Marcella. “If violence can break out when these songs play, we’ve got to make sure it’s not available.”

  “Agreed,” Oliver said. “As much as it pains me from a business standpoint we have no choice but to shut down the distribution system and the preview sites.”

  “What about the music that’s already out?” Dad asked.

  Oliver shook his head. “They have the option to download updates if they’re available, but once they’ve got it, they own it.”

  “We need to get that file from Atlanta.” I tried to stand but was unstable. I fell back to the couch with Mom’s guidance. “Dammit,” I said quietly.

  “I know you want to get back to this, Theo.” Mom left her hand on my arm. “But you’re still recovering from whatever happened. And we have to be sure that you’re not affected again. I’m not sure how you can work on it. You may not be able to have it on mute while you do the analysis.”

  “We’ve got plenty of noise-canceling headphones that will block any outside noise.” Oliver walked over to a small cabinet that held a tiny music system on top. He opened it and pulled out a pair of headphones similar to what I’d seen in the studio.

  “Okay,” Mom said. “We need to keep everyone safe.”

  “I need to make some calls.” Dad stood but before he left he leaned in and squeezed my shoulder. His gaze warmed and calmed me. He was always great at that and even in the midst of all this he managed to do it with that one look.

  “I need to make calls too,” I said. “I need to get some audio experts on the case.”

  “Can we really afford to open this up to still more people?” Oliver asked.

  “Theo consults with authorized, trusted individuals. Victor and I can attest to that.”

  “Okay. I had to ask.”

  “Of course.” I nodded.

  Struggling to keep my balance, I stood.

  “Shouldn’t you rest like your mom said?” Eddie asked. He’d been studying me, behind the adults. He must wonder what he’d gotten himself into. “Maybe at least some breakfast to get your strength back?”

  “There’s no time for that.” I regretted the frustration in my voice, but this was important and he should know that.

  I needed to talk to Lorenzo so we could decide who should be added to the team since the threat proved worse than we’d imagined.

  “Eddie’s right.” What was Mom even saying right now? “Get some breakfast first.” Her expression told me to roll with it. She probably had point given our audience. Honestly, breakfast sounded great but still.

  “We can get some breakfast together very quickly.” Marcella sounded like a mom. “Let’s go and we can strategize the day because there will be a lot of questions, and we need to be ready.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  AFTER A rejuvenating breakfast, Sofia took Eddie to the studio and that gave me time to work. Luckily, Eddie didn’t make a fuss about going. Sofia enticed him by promising to also introduce him to a couple other artists who were recording that day as well.

  Dad and Raptor, the director of TOS, had a lengthy discussion about the morning’s events, and Raptor immediately deployed people to the scene. I’d also updated Lorenzo, and we identified more agents who should be able to help with the audio myst
ery.

  Once we were off our calls, Mom, Dad, and I gathered around the small dining room table in their apartment.

  “Did you feel anything at all before you got hostile?” Dad asked.

  Mom looked up from her laptop, watching me, waiting. I was surprised he hadn’t asked before, but it was good he’d waited because I was still processing the whole experience. At least the memories were filling in more.

  “It’s still hard to explain. As soon as I heard the music, it was like it scratched at my brain. You know how a scab itches or how annoying it feels when your arm’s asleep and tingly? That’s the best I can describe it. But it doesn’t quite do the feeling justice either. The more I heard other noise, the worse it got. Every sound attacked me. If I hadn’t gotten out of there, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I wanted to attack John.” I paused and suddenly couldn’t face them, so I looked at the keyboard in front of me. “I knew it was all wrong, but I couldn’t stop. I had to fight myself to leave because I really wanted to go back and beat up someone, anyone.”

  “That explains why there are so many injuries.” Mom spun her laptop around, and I looked up to see pictures of the scene. “There are people who were best friends who turned on each other. Others were attacked by strangers. From what we know, the tone affected 20 percent of the people, and it cut across all age groups, men and women. We don’t know yet why it’s that 20 percent and not more or less. When the music stopped, people calmed down quickly and reported that they felt weak—just like you.”

  “Are there any similar characteristics of the people who were impacted by the sound?” Dad asked.

  “I’ve got a team looking for the similarities. I’ve also sent information about our group and how it only affected Theo.” Her laptop beeped, and she asked for a moment. “We’ve got our first casualty,” she finally continued. “Seventeen-year-old male had a brain hemorrhage and died at the hospital. It’s unclear if it was caused due to injuries from the melee or the audio itself.”

  “The audio itself?” I asked. That didn’t make sense.

  “There’s a note in the initial examination that reports auditory distress. They’re working to determine actual cause of death.”