The room inside Old Tower 17 was cold, the walls lined with dust and timeworn equipment from another era. Maeve followed Lily deeper into the structure, their footsteps echoing off the concrete floors. The farther they walked, the more unsettling it became. Maeve could feel the weight of the sirens' influence lifting as they descended into the belly of the tower, but her nerves were frayed.
"Down here, the sirens don’t reach," Lily said over her shoulder. “We’ve learned to block the frequencies.”
“How?” Maeve asked, her voice low, tense.
Lily stopped in front of a large metal door at the end of the hallway. She placed her hand on an old-fashioned scanner, and the door creaked open, revealing a hidden room filled with an array of old-world technology. Generators hummed in the background, and holographic maps flickered across the walls.
“We found a way,” Lily answered cryptically, walking to the center of the room where a group of people stood around a large table. They were all focused, their faces shadowed, studying something on the surface. Maeve's eyes followed, landing on a blueprint of the city’s siren system.
Maeve’s breath caught. “That’s… how did you get this?”
The man standing at the head of the table lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Maeve. His face was scarred, one eye pale and sightless. Despite his worn appearance, there was something commanding about him. “We hacked into the mainframe,” he said. “A task made easier thanks to your work.”
Maeve froze. “My work?”
Lily crossed her arms, standing beside the man. “You’ve been maintaining the sirens, helping the Council keep their control over the districts. Your skills made you valuable, but it also made you a perfect target for us. You know more about the system than anyone else.”
Maeve clenched her fists, anger boiling beneath her skin. “I didn’t know—”
“We don’t blame you,” the man said. “None of us knew at first. The Council keeps its secrets well hidden. But once you understand how they manipulate the system, there’s no turning back.”
Maeve stared at the blueprint, her mind racing. The sirens were a complex network of audio relays, each one designed to emit specific frequencies. It was more than just sound. It was control. Control over the city, over people's movements, their thoughts, their emotions.
“What are they doing?” Maeve asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The man leaned forward, his scarred face hardened with resolve. “They’re using the sirens to alter people’s memories. The frequencies disrupt the brain, making people forget. Forget the past, forget what life was like before the Fog.”
Maeve’s heart pounded. “You’re saying the Fog isn’t real?”
Lily shook her head. “Oh, it’s real. But not in the way they want you to believe. The Fog isn’t some natural disaster. It’s manufactured, released in waves by the Council to keep everyone terrified, compliant. And the sirens? They keep the lie alive.”
Maeve felt dizzy, the room spinning around her. The world she thought she knew was unraveling, revealing cracks she had never seen before. “Why?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Why would they do this?”
The man’s gaze darkened. “Power. Control. The Council has been manipulating the population for generations, erasing history, keeping the people in a constant state of fear. If you control fear, you control everything.”
Maeve took a step back, her mind reeling. “So, what do you want from me?”
Lily stepped forward, her eyes sharp with determination. “We need your help to bring down the system. You’re the key to dismantling the sirens, to breaking their hold on the city. You know how they work better than anyone. With your knowledge, we can cut the frequencies, destroy their network.”
Maeve’s heart pounded in her chest. She had spent years believing in the system, in the necessity of the sirens, in the danger of the Fog. Now, standing in the dim light of the underground bunker, she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
“I don’t know if I can,” she whispered.
“You don’t have a choice,” Lily said firmly. “The Council won’t stop. They’ll keep tightening their grip until there’s nothing left of the people’s minds. You’ve seen the signs. You’ve felt it. The way the sirens never stop. The way they’re always in the background, controlling every aspect of your life.”
Maeve felt a lump rise in her throat. She had felt it—the unease, the constant hum of the sirens in the air, the way it dulled her thoughts, her emotions. But she had pushed it aside, convinced it was necessary for survival.
“I’ll need time,” she said, her voice shaking.
“You don’t have much,” the man said. “The Council is planning something big. We’ve intercepted some of their communications. There’s a new wave coming. A final phase. If we don’t act soon, it’ll be too late.”
Maeve swallowed hard. “What do I need to do?”
---
YOU ARE READING
OVER THE SIRENS🌸
Science FictionIn the distant future, society is ruled by a powerful global alliance that governs the last remaining cities on Earth. The world is recovering from decades of war, climate collapse, and disease outbreaks that devastated the population. Survival is n...
