Won't ask for what you cannot meet.
We want to learn, not take
We want to build, not break.
The synesthesia hit me hard. Waves of deep, resonant indigo and jagged, bright silver lines. His voice wasn't accusing. It wasn't angry. It was a surrender.
You’re the ghost in the machine
The clearest sound I’ve ever seen.
Run if you need, run if it saves
I’ll stand still while you brave the waves.
The track ended with a sudden cut, breathy and unpolished.
I sat there, silence rushing back into the headphones, feeling like I’d been physically struck in the chest.
He wasn't chasing. He was staying put. He was broadcasting a signal that saidyou are safe to run.
I looked at the description box below the track.
To the anonymous engineer who fixed the Showbox meltdown,
Your lungs saved my voice. We want to learn, not take. You’re credited, fox-tail and all.
He credited me. He didn't name me, didn't doxx me, didn't drop a link to my socials. He referenced the fox-tail, the watermark in my audio, the tattoo on my wrist, signaling to the industry that I existed, that I was real, that I had value, without exposing my throat.
My phone buzzed again. A text from Callie.
Bitch.
BITCH.
Are you seeing this? Did Alfie Riot just drop a consent anthem about you ghosting him?
I blocked them.
Well unblock them and look at Instagram. Look at Cal’s post. Right now.
I hesitated. My thumb hovered over the apps. Opening the door felt dangerous. But the song... the indigo and silver of his voice was still rattling in my ribcage.We want to learn, not take.
I opened Instagram on my laptop, using a burner account I used to monitor trends.
The official Riot Theory account stood at the top of the feed.
It wasn't a picture of Alfie looking sad and hot. It wasn't a picture of the band looking cool.
It was a grainy Polaroid of a door. A backstage door. Tape across it.
@RiotCal: Backstage isn't for afterparties tonight. It's for boundaries. Respect the quiet zones. Also, the new track is strictly for listening, not for hunting. Anyone requesting personal info on our collaborators gets blocked. Cheers. #BoundariesArePunk
I read the caption twice. Three times.
Strictly for listening, not for hunting.
They were actively telling their fanbase, millions of rabid, obsessive fans, to back off. They were using their platform to build a wall around me, even after I’d slammed the door in their faces.
