Ascension
Tonight, Andromeda will finally be visible to western hemisphere.
It begin, about 10 years ago, with string of accident that just happen on wrong time. For people at the time, it seems just a random day, a boring summer day. Researcher say, at the time, the only thing that really stand out at the time was a summer concert of a local heavy metal band that was making wave around their home.
The concert poster is plastered all over the small town, the drummer of the band has spend multiple sleepless night just to make sure their poster is covering all important bulletin board on 4 nearest town. The drummer and his band will never guess that they will go down in annals of history not because of their genius music that move people, but as the theme music for the finale.
Maggie draw her breath long, focusing on the hand of the conductor, she is waiting for the hand to swing down.
‘Aaa ~~~ ’ she sing softly along with 10 other girl, all focus on the hand of Ms. Perrelti. The hand slowly going up and up, all of the girl trying to match the higher note slowly.
Then stop.
It was a summer of 1999. When the summer break come, Maggie decide that she want to sing one final time at the festival before she finally leave for New York next year. She have plan for her future, sing at the Summer Festival at June, community work from July to October, certified Drama class from November to January, and at last, the college application preparation. She is a busy girl.
Maggie is a common girl you will find in any small town, she is not too beautiful like Janice and not ugly like Deborah, she is not too rich like Jack and not too poor like Ruth from Mt. Sinai, although she admire Ruth for her will. She blend well on the crowds and never become center of attention and she is okay with that.
Maggie’s father is a petroleum engineer and she only see him every few months and not for long. They are not really close. When he come home, she will hug him with a smile and nothing more. He in return will give some cake, fruit, pendant or any souvenir he find out there. Maggie like the souvenir and glad her father is well off but she never though more of it.
Maggie’s mother in other hand is a devout catholic, she often join the church activity and always push for her daughter to join her at the church. Maggie used to go to church but stop when she find out that going out with her friend is much more fun than singing to the empty air. Her mother believe, its okay, she will find her way back. Her mother knew, because she also do.
Maggie is currently participating at local theater, they are training every Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Luckily her earlier tenure as church choir help to elevate her from her peer at the time. Ms. Perrelti seem to like her since the beginning, Maggie has some solo part on the songs and she can do it well. It was one of the few chances where she can become better than her peer, coming from a life of mediocrity, this is a new experience she will treasure. She is happy.
Maggie will not be known to half of the world if she is happy and there is nothing happen to her.
Jacob and Maggie has known each other for some time at this point, it was not known when she first met Jacob. The Cannery Hill Church has repeatedly denied any allegation that Jacob was one of theirs. Some internal document from church do mention name of Jacob but there is no conclusive evidence that Jacob ever held any higher position than a simple clerk on the church. Something that has become point of contention for many.
There are 2 witness that saw Maggie on the day of her disappearance.
Phoebe Arnold - an owner of local diner, sometime Maggie does stop on her diner to buy some chocolate or coffee but not that day. Maggie drop by and buy an orange juice ‘for luck’. Not long after that, a man in tan suit came in and sit next to her. Ms. Arnold say she remember some talk between the two.
‘Have you consider my offer? it only take a bit of your time after all.’ the man ask
‘I think I can do it. You only need me to sing one or two song for… for your computer?’ Maggie ask back
‘Yes, yes, that is the gist. I just need a donation of your song. And then.. then… if this work, your voice will—’
‘Then my voice will be heard all around the world’ Maggie laugh a bit
Ms. Arnold then saw them leave together.
Jay - a cleaner on Beacon Telecom building, he saw Maggie with the man went in to a red brick building not far from where he work. He was sweeping the front road. He remember Maggie because he think that she is ‘cute’ and it was weird that she walk with someone that as old as the man next to her. She doesn’t like she is there to work. Jay remember seeing them walk in to the building but not getting out as he is working on other area of the building later.
However, the most complete and final witness for the day leading to the ‘Ordinary Event’ has come from Jessica Milton.
Jessica is a friend of Maggie on high school, unlike many of girl at the time, she like to play on the early-internet forum. Usually she only browse recent news and chat with stranger on the forum but one day she she discover Maggie’s name, address, and photo on a link that lead to weird forum with people seem to talk in various language - Chinese, Italian, Spanish, etc. They are replying to each other but there seem to be no order, almost like everyone knew everyone else language. From occasional English comment she found, she find a chilling link. Here are what Ms. Milton can remember:
‘Today she decide to give the beggar 10 cent’
~20 comment later
‘I agree’
~15 comment later
‘I think we must reconvene’
2 comment later
‘tonight?’
The forum has been deleted at this time and no trace can be found of such forum ever exists.
Although there are no direct proof for the forum, her explanation and knowledge align extremely well with what Professor Hand Adler confessed about 10 years after the event. She was since then move up from a local conspiracy theorist to credible witness.
Hans Adler on his interview mentioned the following:
‘Since 1943, we have been forced to face the fact that the world is not our own. Suddenly, we found an uneasy unity in the fact that there is something beyond all of us. Beyond me, beyond you, and maybe beyond— Christ himself.’ he start to talk with defeated faces in front of the panel, in a white room, he wear a simple plain white clothes.
‘Berlin was the first, then Manchuria, then— then— Tibet, and— Babylonia’ he choked by anger
‘The gods can decide our fate in a snap of a finger?! I won’t allow it! WE MUST FIGHT BACK! I WILL NOT LET ANYONE ELSE LAY A HAND ON MY FAMILY!’
one of the interviewer clasped her hand in response.
‘Who do you prayed to? Whoever in heaven is dead.’ Hans Adler coldly ask.
Professor Hans Adler was a member of secret government-funded organization that we now knew as ‘White Chamber’.
His main research was in a supercomputer that able to calculate and detect the anomalous entity appearance. He try to demonstrate the idea that ‘invasion’ of extra-dimension entity always came with huge EM wave activity.
Although the EM wave theory has its flaw, but 3 of 4 previous event does has some proof that EM wave may be the strongest indicator to detect the entity.
The brainchild of this operation is what later known as ‘Andromeda’ supercomputer.
Jacob and Maggie went in to red brick building, in front of the main door is a stair leading to second floor. Jacob going up first and leading Maggie to the front of a small door with glass window. There are a name on the front of the door ‘Cannery Hill Church Office’.
‘This workplace used to belong on that church, I don’t have time to remove their name yet.’ Jacob mentioned it while searching for keys to the door.
Jacob open the door and old office odor can immediately be smelled. Maggie try to adjust to the smell.
The workplace is about 5x5 meter with windows on each side. Inside there are some cabinet and 3 desk. One desk that seem to be the main desk has 3 monitor and 3 CPU stacked. It also where things are the most messy with some bread leftover and 3 dirty mugs. Its not hard to guess that is where Jacob spend his whole day. Second desk is mostly empty with some document that doesn’t look interesting. Then the third desk has some simple voice recorder being setup, that is where Maggie will be stationed for now, right in front of main desk, just behind the wall of computer.
Jacob immediately goes to the computer and keep spinning on his chair adjusting some software on all 3 monitor. Maggie doesn’t really knew what is going on and just sit down in the front of voice recorder.
From where Maggie sit, he can’t see Jacob face but she can see one of the monitor. A wall of text that keep going down every second. Jacob often stop and read that text and type some back, adding to the wall of text.
Maggie look around and realize some more things. There are 1 camera that setup and look directly at her desk and some speaker on the upper corner of the room.
“Maggie, are you ready?” his voice can be heard from the speaker. Surprising Maggie.
“Sorry, always want to try that speaker” Jacob laugh a bit. Maggie still can’t see his face but hear his laugh. She can’t help but laugh awkwardly.
“You will find the song on the desk right in front of you, there are 2 song, can you try to sing it?”
“Let me see it for a bit.” Maggie shout back, she feel it only proper that she only reply to Jacob loudly.
Jacob pump a thumbs up just above the monitor. The wall of text on the monitor flow down a bit faster too.
The partiture is bit weird. It almost feel like a folk song if only there are no extremely weird note jump on the middle of it, some note even straight up impossible for her to sing.
“Jacob, some note here doesn’t seem like possible for me!” Maggie shout.
“It’s okay, just do your best and adjust it as you like!” his sound shout back.
Maggie decide its just best to try, the song is short and not really hard generally except for some of the jump.
“Maggie are you ready?”
“Yes, lets do it”
“Okay, in 3.. 2.. 1.. GO!”
“Professor Adler— ”
“No, no don’ call me professor, just Hans or Mr. Adler.” he cut the panel.
“Mr. Adler, you mention that this supercomputer require- and I quote- ‘huge amount of input that border to privacy rights’. Can you explain that?”.
“That was my initial theory, but no, I have make sure that we don’t actually cross any privacy law. We only collect public data.”
“Is that why you order installation of 500 new camera, voice recorder, rain, humidity, and other sensors on 3 km area around the Beacon Telecom Building? That basically cover the town!”
“That is required” Adler wave his hand.
“Not to mention that you also ingest huge amount of data from the internet?”
“That is required” Adler wave his hand again and shake his head.
“You want to proof that the entity has EM effect on local place when an ‘invasion’ is ongoing. How all of this matter”
“I have tried explain it again and again. EM wave is only a part of the proof, about 60 percent. But among all of the confirmed incident we knew so far there are consistent human factor on it.”
The room is silent. Adler body move forward a bit.
“Yes, the EM wave does show the after effect, but the main catalyst of the invasion itself is extreme emotional trauma or stimulus from human. That is my main theory.”
“Then what Andromeda do with this- this- data?” the woman ask.
Maggie sing slowly for the first time. While she read the note he sometime look up and see Jacob shade behind the computer wall. He is busy moving about the three computer. The wall of text now move so fast.
An echo now can be heard in the speaker, it feel like an echo of her sound. Maggie stop singing, unsure what happen
“No, no that is normal, don’t worry, that just my program trying to learn your voice pattern!” Jacob sound overlap the echo.
“Sorry, that was… weird?”
“No worries, this is a new technology, I understand that people not sure what this is yet!” Jacob face pop-up from behind the wall. He look nervous and sweated.
“Okay, let me continue then.” Maggie try to refocus again, ignoring the echo.
Maggie sing again on second verse the echo can be heard again. Jacob stand up and gesture to continue.
The echo feel like something learning to speak, reminding Maggie of some babies next door, at first it was weak, it was unsure what happen and sometime it pitch very high.
Maggie finish the first song. However echo linger longer, it feel like it was trying to sing to, repeating the song Maggie just sing.
Jacob now busy on the computer. The wall of text is moving even faster. He surprised Jacob still can look at the text and even type some thing in after reading it.
“What is that monitor showing?” Maggie ask curiously
Jacob doesn’t respond he still busy looking at the monitor. 5 minutes passed before Jacob finally snap back, along with echo of a simple humming on speaker.
“Oh my god, sorry, I was too focused on this.”
“It’s okay”
“Lets start with the second one, after that we are good! This time you are going to have a back vocal too.”
“This echo?” Maggie ask confused.
“Yeah, lets try it. Start the second song now!”
“Andromeda has ascend. Thanks to Maggie.”
Maggie’s singing voice can be heard surrounding the room. It singing various song from folk song and modern pop song. It sing with perfect pitch and never stop a beat.
Maggie is speechless.
“It sing? with my voice?” Maggie ask behind all the song.
“Yes. Isn’t it amazing?!!” Jacob excitedly jump out from his desk and shake Maggie hand.
“Maggie, I want you to meet with someone.” he look earnest and pull Maggie to his desk. He point at the monitor with wall of text.
The wall of text, now Maggie can see clearly is bunch of conversation. It is written in various language, Maggie can spot occasional English but she can’t understand all of it.
“Maggie. Meet Andromeda!” he proudly point to the monitor to Maggie.
Maggie is very confused.
“Look at this.” Jacob still proud and happy.
“Andromeda, can you stop singing, say hi to Maggie, she is your mother of your voice!”
The sound on speaker stop. Then she can hear the speaker speak in her voice. Or at least the uncanny replica of her voice.
“Hi Maggie, nice to meet you, I am Andromeda.”
Then it repeat the word again in various language, it took about 1 minute before Andromeda finish talking. After it finish, it start to sing again.
Maggie doesn’t know what to feel. She feel weirdly disgusted by something that now mimic her. She love to sing, but to hear something to sing in her voice.
“Jacob, I don’t think I like this, it- it- sound eerily like me.” Maggie look worried.
“I knew you will say that.” Jacob smile. Go to the second desk that has been empty this whole time.
He open the cabinet and start to dig into it. He found what he looking for and hide it behind his back as he stand facing Maggie.
“Thank you Maggie.” he smile.
Few day of after Maggie’s disappearance, two barely visible eerie green tether appear extending from ground to the sky. One at the Beacon Telecom Building and other at the red brick building not far from it,
When the red brick building was searched they discover only empty office except for underground office that has many stacked computer and stack of document on what supposed to be Maggie’s daily routine on every single day since 1995. Some of document was written in various foreign language.
Official record show that Jacob has no family. His last family, his dementia-ailed mother, has died back in 1992. It was suspected that caring for his mother and eventual lost may cause some kind of psychosis on him.
The Andromeda project was also forced to shutdown at this time ‘due to unprecedented data and hardware losses.’.
Nor Jacob or Maggie was ever found again despite the massive manhunt following the event.
The festival where Maggie supposed to sing become a memorial to remember her, forcing the town to move on. Her choir sing in her honor.
It was only discovered 10 years later, based on recording of the festival, that Maggie’s voice can be heard faintly in the speaker, it sing along with the choir.