The group crowded into the private karaoke room.
Karaoke
In Japan, Karaoke is often done in private rooms for groups of friends or colleagues. The style of karaoke where one stands up on a stage in front of strangers is available, but not as common.
AE-3803 clapped her hands happily. "What'll we sing?" she asked.
A large sofa placed against the back wall provided a place to sit, while the screen set in the front wall had the karaoke menu. Various tabs advertised different genres: rock, pop, rap, metal, blues, jazz, and more, in multiple languages. The hepatocytes kept the source of their song choices a closely guarded secret, but the rumors that they were songs the body itself heard before from the outside world were bolstered by the section labeled "earworms," filled with annoying, repetitive, and almost always incomplete fragments of songs.
Earworms aside, if these were songs that the body had listened to, then it seemed that the body had an excellent and varied taste in music.
U-1146 tugged on the bill of his cap. Ever since Basophil had walked in on him jamming out to a karaoke tape on a boom box, 1146 avoided singing altogether. Despite the impression his tough, aloof exterior gave off, he actually felt self-conscious about his singing voice.
It didn't help that Basophil started waxing philosophic about the beauty of music, or that Dendritic Cell caught the moment just before 1146 noticed Basophil in a photograph.
"What's wrong, Hakkoko-san?" 2048 asked.
U-1146 thought this nickname joke was wearing very thin. "Nothing," he replied quickly, turning his thoughts away from that memory.
"What should we siiiiiiiing?" asked AE for the second time.
"Oh, I know!" 2626 chimed. "Why don't you and 1146 sing a duet?"
If 1146 could possibly get any paler, he would have. "I, uh, I don't think-"
He was cut off by AE's gasp of wonder. "Hokkenki-san, I loooooove it! Lessee…" She began tapping buttons on the karaoke menu.
U-1146 glared at 2626, who sat down on the couch and grinning triumphantly.
"Ohh, Kankenkyu-san, I found… -hic!- I found a good song! C'mon!"
Music started playing and AE grabbed a microphone. The other microphone sat on the table, and 1146 made no move to take it. He only stared at it, as if daring it to force him to sing.
"Come on, sing!"
"You can do it!"
"I'm sure you have a lovely voice!"
"Don't leave her to sing it alone!"
"Sing, Hakkoko-san!"
At the urging of his friends, he took the microphone and looked at AE. The intro to the song continued to play as the lyrics appeared on the screen. AE bobbed her head from side-to-side.
Four dots appeared above the lyrics to count down to the beginning of the song. Three dots. Two dots. One…
AE looked to the lyrics and began singing.
"Tale as old as time,
True as it could be.
Barely even friends,
Then somebody bends,
Unexpectedly…"
AE had chosen this song for them to sing together. The title on the monitor said the song was called "Beauty and the Beast."
U-1146 let her sing first. Her voice was soft and sweet, and even though she was still slurring her words a little bit, she managed to enunciate nicely. She looked intently at the screen so as not to lose her place.
The lyrics for the next stanza appeared on the screen. U-1146 could hear his friends whisper-shouting at him to sing. Steeling himself, 1146 gulped, lifted the microphone to his mouth, and, wincing, began to sing the next part.
"Just a little change…
Small to say the least."
His voice was deep and smooth as he sang. Suddenly, at the next lyric, AE joined him, her soft, soprano voice complementing his baritone nicely.
"Both a little scared,
Neither one prepared,
Beauty and the Beast."
The others began applauding and whooping loudly for the two. Even NT, who had been sulking in the corner, looked somewhat impressed.
"Damn, 1146, you never told me you had such a good voice!" 2626 called out.
U-1146 didn't have much time to enjoy the praise, as the next verse was coming up. He was still feeling nervous, but he pushed it aside and tried to focus on singing with AE. It was only a short while before he tuned all the background noise out. His voice grew stronger and surer, singing directly to AE, everything else melting away to nothingness.
It was a sweet song, and over much too quickly, 1146 thought. He and AE sang the final words of the song together, softly, as the last notes faded out.
Tale as old as time,
Song as old as rhyme,
Beauty and the Beast.
U-1146 heard uproarious applause as his neutrophil buddies gave him a standing ovation. He blushed, suddenly aware of all the attention on him.
"Hekkyuku-san, that was amaziiiing! You sing super good!" AE said. She staggered over to him, pulled him into a hug, and jumped up to give him a little peck on the cheek.
"Aww, you guys are too adorable!" U-4989 said, squishing his own face.
"Get a room!" called U-2626.
"Alright, who's next?" asked U-1146, eager to sit down.
"Oooh, oooh, I'll go!" 4989 said. He jumped up from the sofa he was sitting on and took the microphone from 1146.
AE and 1146 sat down on the sofa with the others, as U-4989 looked through the different songs available on the machine.
"Oooh, this one looks good!"
0-0-0
The neurons were having problems. The body had consumed a large amount of alcohol, and reports were flooding in from the motor neurons that fine motor control was having major problems, and even gross motor control was beginning to malfunction.
Gross Motor Control
Control of the large muscles needed for large, general movement, such as running or climbing. As opposed to fine motor control, which is the control of smaller muscles for small, precise movement, such as writing or sewing.
Emails and memos were being sent from neuron to neuron, but the network was lagging. Messages did not get delivered as quickly as before.
The sensory neurons had to work harder to piece together information comprised of fewer bits of data. Audio information came in muffled, and it was hard to make any sense out of the information headed to the Touch Division. All that the Vision Division could make out was that the body's head was placed on the table, and looking at a bottle labelled "Red Star Vodka: True Russian." Most of the rest of the image was blurry, and they could only read the words on the bottle because it was close to the body's face and printed in large characters.
The Decision Division barely even discussed what choices to make. Though some dissenters tried to keep things running smoothly, the majority seemed content to act on the first proposed impulse without thinking through the consequences. They sent commands to the motor neurons about what to do without even thinking through most of these decisions.
The Memory Division, meanwhile, noticed that it was becoming difficult to save information. Their computers seemed to lag, and they got nervous. The more the body consumed alcohol from this point on, the greater the possibility of a blackout.
Blackout
Alcohol affects the entire body, including the brain, while it is present in the bloodstream. Drinking too much alcohol in too short an amount of time can lead to blacking out. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not erase memories in a person who has blacked out; it prevents new memories from being stored at all. In other words, the brain is not "recording," even if the person is still awake and doing things.
A number of neurons tried to send warning messages to the Decision Division, but their emails did not go through. Thanks to the Decision Division's impulsive actions, the body lost all inhibition.
The sensory neurons, who were not involved directly in the decision making process, sighed a breath of relief when the sensory data indicated that the body had its most recent drink taken away from its hand. The Vision Division neurons saw that the vodka bottle got taken off the table as well.
Still, the brain was in chaos. With signals being slow to send or not going through at all, unless something was done soon, the body was in trouble. It might already have been too late.
Alcohol Poisoning
When the body consumes a lethal dose of alcohol, it is called alcohol poisoning. It is possible to still be awake and drink a lethal dose, as the alcohol must first go through the stomach into the intestines, then into the bloodstream. Signs of alcohol poisoning include confusion, vomiting, seizures, slow or irregular breathing (even down to eight breaths per minute), blue skin, hypothermia, and loss of consciousness. One does not have to display all these symptoms to have alcohol poisoning, and if someone is suspected to have alcohol poisoning, it is crucial to call for medical help right away, even if the person is still awake.
There wasn't any time to sit around worrying. The neurons had to do as much as they could to keep the body functioning and healthy. The sensory neurons received information that indicated the body was offered food. The Decision Division swiftly approved the motion to accept and eat the food, and the upper motor neurons sent the order to the lower motor neurons for the muscles to commence the necessary actions. Of course, due to the difficulty sending messages, the orders to the muscles were very uncoordinated.
As the body struggled to eat the food that it had been given, it did not notice the tiny invaders on the food. The chef who made it really should have washed his hands after using the bathroom. None of the neurons noticed the tiny invaders either, since the body's sensory organs were not fine-tuned enough to sense the microscopic.
The body took a bite of the food it was offered, chewed sloppily, and swallowed. The invaders entered, unseen and undetected.
Author's Note:
I hope you all enjoy this karaoke scene! I love going to karaoke with friends, it's so much fun. I also hope you enjoy the song choice! :)