A Choral Brainjacker

The Creature:

Perceived only by the faint twangs of sound, a choral brainjacker lurks here restlessly. Composed entirely of waves of dissonance, the brainjacker is perceived only by the faint rustlings of sounds as it zips around without a visible form. On occasion, a SONAR may capture the aura of the brainjacker when in modulates into audible ranges. On SONAR it appears like a restless cloud of ever-shifting energy, its form constantly evolving into ambiguous shapes as it violently reacts to any and all sounds in the environment.

The Tale:

Nobody knows where the brainjacker came from or why. Yet, it is one of the greatest mysteries in modern Shen history. And possibly its worst unexplained tragedy. Some say it was a research project gone wrong. Others speculate they came from a dimensional rift. Yet others dismiss it as pure conspiracy theory and a construct to eliminate political rivals.

It happened on a luxury ship docked on the Diamond Belt. Complete with an anechoic chamber, ‘The Milford Sounds’ was able to host private concerts for over 500 guests. A up and coming artist, K’reune K’reune was performing for high society Shen from Kovalar aboard the opulent ship as it looked down upon the beautiful waters of the Diamond Belt. All onboard were exclusively Shen as K’reune K’reune exclusively performed for Shen audiences. As the concert began, live reports of a mesmerizing performance erupted from the ship, mainly guests who were raving about the dizzying cacophony of symphony. Sponsorship deals began pouring in and some media insiders claimed that she was ushering in the era of aetherscapes. Then, all went dark. The ship went into blackout. Some thought this was part of K’reune K’reune’s vehement opposition to media and record houses. But when no reports emerged from the ship for over one solar cycle, worried family members and Diamond Belt authorities sent in a patrol vessel to investigate the ship.

Captain Lohrar, a veteran Krona of the Diamond Belt space force had seen his share of parties gone wrong. Most involved a drug fueled fights break out or the occasional gang war related shooting. But those days were mostly behind Diamond Belt. Yet nothing could prepare him for what awaited aboard The Milford Sounds.

Onboard, the entire manifest of guests, crew and service staff stayed motionless. Inside the anechoic chamber, the deck and the service area it was all the same. No one batted even an eyelid and a sepulchral silence was all that remained. On closer examination, all guests were brain dead, even if left breathing.

As families were informed and forensic experts were called to investigate the scene, no signs of forced entry, struggle or discomfort were detected. All members were left physically unharmed yet their brain activity was left scant and their INRs fried completely with no hopes of recovery. As experts looked for more clues, nothing seemed amiss, everyone simply stopped doing whatever they were midway. Some eating, some with an eery glaze of musical bliss and one couple even in the act of coitus, frozen in it midway through the act.

Brain scans, advanced imaging techniques showed that brain activity was completely stopped, the memory cortex particularly lacked all activity. All brain functions outside the basic movement of the heart were completely paralyzed and no amount of medical therapies both tried and tested and novel brought back memories.

As months passed by with little headway in the tradegy aboard The Milford Sounds a Shen sound engineer named Linden Respotin was studying some recordings from the tapes aboard the ship. Black marketeers had procured the original recordings and sold it to curious collectors and private investigators.

By studying differential sound pressures in different parts of the anechoic chamber, Linden was able to detect anomalies in sound pressures which seemingly manifested from nowhere. Intrigued by this discovery, he investigated further and found a correlation between differential sound pressures and when guest brain activity subsided. He concluded that this ‘cloud’ of sound was hijacked people’s brain’s and effectively killed them silently. He dubbed the phenomenon a choral brainjacker.

His theories were dismissed as utter nonsense and prominent scientists publicly discredited him. Some called it a publicity stunt, others a feeble attempt to gain favors from distraught families who were left without their loved ones onboard the ill-fated ship.

Undeterred Linden continued his research and attempted to replicate the sound cloud patterns of the brainjacker. Finding no other subjects, he experimented on himself, mostly only suffering minor discomfort in the process. However, exactly two years after the tragedy aboard The Milford Sound, Linden was found brain dead, in his anechoic chamber. His expression was that of triumph and his last words on a hurriedly scribbled note was IT EXIS ....

Aftermath:

K’reune K’reune’s performances were outlawed and all digital records were erased wherever found. It is speculated some of the content might bring back the brainjacker. Leadership in Kovalar have mandated strict guidelines on aetherscape performances including restrictions on attendances. Aetherscape popularity has suffered a decline amongst Shen since the tragedy though an alleged coverup of the incidence leaves little in the trace of material on this subject.