“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Sloane says, frantic.
“I was about to,” I grit out, annoyed. Her mouth snaps shut, and I continue. “What you’re about to hear is going to be a lot. So,please, can you hold it together?” I ask, running my hand over my cloak that’s covering my hair. Even though she’s about to get all the information she needs for her little story, I can’t keep this part a secret. I have to do this.
“Yes, tell me,” she spits out.
I sigh, looking over at the guys. I’m second-guessing everything I’m about to do when Callum nods, reassuring me to continue.
“Sabel is the leader of a biotech company parading as a record label called Sonus Corp. She’s the CEO, but we think she’s working closely with someone else. Maybe a COO, or maybe even a group of people.” I pause. “These people are very powerful, and they have been running a social experiment for the last several years, using us.” I assess her to gauge her reaction to everything I’ve said so far. She looks worried, but otherwise seems fine. I continue.
“They’ve been manipulating our music, using certain frequencies to see if it would be possible to shift the mental states, emotions, and behaviors of listeners. The guys and I figured out recently that this was only phase one of the experiment. And now that Sonus knows the frequencies are working in their favor, we think they are progressing to phase two. Though we aren’t sure what that entails yet.” I pause. Sloane looks like she’s now given up on breathing.Great.
“Sloane,” I warn.
She nods her head up and down and whispers, “I’m okay, keep going,” without meeting my eyes. She finally sucks in a longbreath and lets it out slowly, likely coming to terms with how right her music theory was.
“Today was a test for the outliers,” I say, continuing.
“The …outliers?” she asks, tilting her head. The fire that I’ve come to love is extinguished from her eyes, exchanged for a pale green of worry and panic.
“Yes. The bracelets that were given to you at the concert, and again today, were monitoring your vital signs. Heart rate and blood pressure readings.” She looks down, rubbing her fingers over the empty place on her wrist. “They provide readings that coincide with brain waves found in specific mental states. It allows Sonus to determine if the experiment is working, and to what extent,” I finish.
“And mine didn’t coincide,” she says in understanding.
I nod. “That’s what I need to figure out. I could tell that you weren’t as affected as the rest of the crowd, both at the concert and today. So, I need to test you myself to determine the extent of it.”
She stares at me for a few seconds. “Okay, do it. Do whatever you have to do,” she says.
I move away from her chair to grab an electrode cap from the cabinets above the monitors. I attach the outlet wire to the monitor that will record her brain waves and bring the cap over to her. I motion for Cal to come over and adjust the frequencies on the monitor for me. He stands and walks my way.
“Okay. I’m gonna put this over your head. It won’t hurt. It’s going to monitor your brain waves while we play different frequencies for you. Understand?”
She nods, looking a little nervous.
I measure to make sure the cap is the right fit, and then apply it over her hair, brushing the loose strands out of the way with my fingers. I watch as goosebumps erupt across her neck andchest, and immediately pocket the image for another time. Once the cap is on and secure, I grab the gel.
Her eyes shoot to my hand. “What’s that?” she asks.
“Calm down. It’s a gel. I’m going to inject it into the holes, and it’s going to help enhance the readings. Kind of like an ultrasound would,” I say, hoping to ease her tension.
She nods her head, relaxing back against the chair.
Callum plays a series of frequencies consisting of alpha, beta, and theta waves at my command, and Raithe and Kai record the readings.
“Hmmm,” I say, leaning back against the wall. My head rests between my thumb and forefinger while the other arm is crossed over my chest.
“What?” Sloane asks, sitting forward.
“Your recordings show that your brain waves aren’t synchronized with the sound frequencies. You aren’t affected by them. Even with the more powerful approach, the result was the same,” I answer, both fascinated and terrified.
“I want to try one more thing. Graf, grab the headphones for me,” I say.
Callum grabs them from an overhead cabinet and walks over to hand them to me.
“What are you doing now?” she asks, twisting her left earring between her fingers.
“I want to try another type of frequency using headphones. It’s going to play two slightly different frequencies, one into each ear. The idea is that your brain will hear them and create a third tone which can have the capacity to influence brain wave activity.” I hand the headphones to her, and she nods, placing them over her head and onto her ears. Callum plays the frequencies, and as I’m studying the waves, I notice a change. Her brain waves are now aligning with the sound of the frequencies.Interesting.
“There,” I say, turning the monitor toward her and pointing to it. “Your brain waves are moving in sync with the sound.”
