Chapter 12: Two hearts with a one-track mind
They had been travelling through the sewers most of the day, hoping to find a moment when they could emerge free from strangers. The police had been looking for someone; they suspected that someone was them.
Security was being tightened up these days. Tension hung in the air. There were rumours of explosions and infiltrators caught unawares. This was not a good time to be a rebel, but rebels they were.
Finally, they saw their opportunity.
"I think it's clear up there Meat"
"Are you
sure the cops have gone?"
"I'm going up to the surface"
"Be careful! I'm coming up too…"
"No!" the male screamed, but it was too late, she had already emerged alongside him.
"You are so stubborn" he protested
"Yeahhhhhhhh!" she agreed, an air of cheekiness in her voice. "But that's why you love me"
Luckily the coast was clear, so the couple settled down to the business on hand.
"OK, so what we got?" he asked
"Well
not much" she replied, "it's mainly plastic and hydrocarbons.
But there's a sheet of tin that we can wobble"
"Yeah"
"And
some pebbles that make a nice rattle"
"Cool"
"A bottle
to blow across"
"Alright"
"And
this great wire to twang"
"Sweet, sweet, music…."
People had sought out ways to make music ever since musical instruments had been banned back in 2046. It was almost as if some objects lived to make noise. A finger tap, a door opening, anything could be the source of a sound. And then that sound might spread and create a song.
The Bohemians had taken it one step further. They had thought of ways to create their own basic instruments. They had made sound from scrap. Unknown to them, they echoed heroes of the past by making their own unique sounds. Never would exactly the same tones be reproduced from a different manufacture.
"If only we could fins another bit of wood to band against the one we've got" the male continued, eager in his mission.
"Yeah" the woman replied, hugging him passionately. And then, "Oh you naughty boy. It think I've found a big piece of wood right here."
His eyes sparkled, enticed by the moment.
"Yeah…." He started, before breaking off and turning it into a "no! Your job is to take this stuff to the Heartbreak"
"But Brit…." She protested
"No!" he replied sternly, I travel alone, you know that. I can't do the things I have to do if all I'm thinking about is you"
The girl drew back, sadness filling her eyes.
"Sometimes
I wish you didn't care so much" she said. "Sometimes I wish
we'd never ever heard of The Vibe!"
"You don't mean that"
he said, clearly worried.
"No…. I suppose not".
She moved back towards him
"But I miss you so much baby" she continued. "It's tougher every time you go away."
He turned to look at her, keen to persuade her of their cause.
"I'll
be back" he said, "I always come back. And one day I'll bring
The Dreamer with me"
"Sometimes I think it's us that's
dreaming" she cried, "perhaps the music really did die"
"It's
only sleeping, baby. It's in a deep, deep sleep. It won't be me
that wakes it, but maybe one day I'll find the man who can."
Legend told of The Dreamer, a guy who would herald the resurrection of music. At the place of the living rock he would herald the landslide. Britney had been sent to find that man.
He had made it his mission, his lifelong goal. He knew that without The Dreamer music really would die. And so he had studied the fragments, hoping that one day they would lead him to their champion.
Now it seemed that he would need to convince his babe of the mission, reassure her troubled mind.
"If I could just find that lost vibe" he said, "well then we could share our love with the whole world. And you know what we'd get then don't you….. We'd get it all!"
Britney imagined The Dreamer, an adventure seeker on an empty street. He darted from one place to another; a young fighter, light on his feet. He didn't doubt the cause, he simply saw the pain and anger of the world. He asked for a future, a way out.
He wanted it all! A better world! A new life! Peace! Hope! Security! Freedom!
But how would he get it? He would call the people, gather them round. And then he would formulate a game plan which would shake the system to the ground.
And all they had to do to realise this power was to give him what was his. All they had to do was give him the sign! The youth would cry out for the future! They would cry that they too wanted it all!
And as Britney thought of these things, his conviction passed almost telepathically to the girl beside him. It was as if their two hearts had a one-track mind.
There was so little to do in one life time. There was no more time for compromise! They had to give the mission their all. And then the people would hear them. Then the people would see the lie they were living in.
Britney saw that their thoughts were the same and so guided them even closer.
"Imagine it Meat" he said, "the whole world joining in"
"Thousands of people in front of us!" she echoed
"Rows and rows of them!"
"With their hands in the air!"
And in their dreams the world responded. They wanted it all and they wanted it now! They wanted the music! They wanted the Vibe! They wanted The Dreamer!