Talia slowly awoke and got up to get a drink of water. As she filled the glass she hummed a tune and then stopped when she became aware of what she was doing. It was the same tune she had in her head when she went to bed. It wasn't a horrible tune, but she didn't know the song and it seemed only certain parts kept repeating themselves in her head, unconnected.
She tried several mental exercises she had learned in the Psi Corp to clear her mind. It would work for a short time, but if she relaxed her guard the snippets of song returned as they crept back into her consciousness.
She tried replacing it with a modern tune she had just heard a week before. That didn't help either as it morphed back into the previous music. Giving up after seeing it was only one more hour before her alarm went off, she went about preparing for the day and the early meeting she had.
After leaving her apartment, she walked down a corridor and entered the lift; just as the doors were closing she heard a passing resident humming the same tune.
"Was it the same tune?" she asked herself. "It couldn't be."
The doors opened, but before she could step out Garibaldi stood aside from where he had been waiting to enter. He seemed to have a special knack for doing that. "Good morning Talia."
"Good morning Mr. Garibaldi" she acknowledged briefly as she moved past. She heard the doors close between them as she walked away, shutting out the security man's beginning whistle of what was now becoming a familiar tune. She almost stumbled as she walked, trying to push it out of her head; she didn't need that stuck in her head now.
She entered the conference room to find Delenn present and seated. "Good morning. Lennier hasn't made it back to the station yet, so it will be just us two. Have a seat while I organize these papers." Talia sat while the ambassador examined and reordered a few sheets. She distractedly hummed that tune. Talia let out a little shriek and bolted up out of her chair.
"Miss Winters, what's wrong?" Delenn asked with great concern after stopping mid-song.
"I'm sorry, I just...I...oh, WHAT IS THAT SONG YOU'RE HUMMING!"
"Song? What song are you...oh...was I humming? I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know some people found it offensive. I'll stop immediately."
"I didn't find it offensive, but I have to know what it is please!" Talia sat down again, but she was almost trembling. "I've never heard it before, but little bits of it have been in my head since yesterday and I can't get them out! It's more than just distracting, it's...crazy making, that's what it is."
"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I had Lennier initiate some holiday celebrations based on Earth customs, and part of the ritual apparently involves eleven musicians playing some type of instrument called a pipebag. So Lennier arranged for these musicians to give a performance and they performed several songs; I believe the one I was humming was named after a King called Wenceslas."
"Can you play a recording of it now? Please?"
"Let me see" she said as she pulled up a digital pad. "Here it is, from the concert yesterday." Bagpipe music swelled from the speaker and a rendition of "Good King Wenceslas" filled the room. Talia listened intently, the worry melting from her face as the song progressed. When it ended Delenn shut off the player. "Did that help?"
"Immensely. I kept getting little bits of it stuck in my head; I must have picked it up from people's thoughts as they broadcast it accidentally. Then when I heard several people humming or whistling it I started to become a little unglued. Now I've got the whole song together I can end it mentally in my head and get back to clear thinking."
"Catchy, isn't it? Delenn grinned.