A Recent Dream

Chapter Six, Disc Five

"I was expecting an improvised room made of wood and wool, lit by lanterns," I said. "Nope. Welcome to the presentation room." A lantern was placed by the record player. The oxidized copper lights were turned off. Nairb said it was to add to the spooky vibe. He placed the disc on the record player. It's size was half that of the original. We tweaked it a bit, and reverse engineered it. Despite the previously said, the room had acoustic treatment. Our audio engineer took out a black disc with blue edging, situated on its center and tips. He slid it in the player. I was no tipster but I whispered to the others that we sure wouldn't be juking. Nairb had said that the record was put together with shards, having been found broken and scattered throughout the ancient city. The record played, and something immediately seemed off. No, it wasn't staticky, or maybe a little. An over amplified crackle took ambiance. It seemed like someone was tapping the recorder. The speed began to ramp up, but with brevity. Then we heard someone walking, like in discs eleven and thirteen. Maybe the same forerunner recorded this. This one walked on drip stone, one of the ones who came before us. Then something whooshed, like the sound of a car passing fast on the road. Yet something more then that. Like a chorus of otherworldly tummy growls in sync, all echoing in who knows where. Then suddenly the gasping flush of snarling stopped, not a squeal heard. Then the sound of air gushing in an enclosure and a snap, and then fire being lighted and crackling a little more. Perhaps a flint and steel. We were only a few seconds into the recording at this point. Suddenly we heard bats chirping. The air continued, and footsteps were heard reverberating underground, like the scrunch of walking on snow, but no. It was a more solid surface. The steps turned to marching in unison. The clank of heavy armor came in sync. Then something like a trumpet, perhaps a modified goats horn, which sounded so well recorded that it seemed far off. Like somewhere deep in a labyrinth. The alarm came in with a few intervals, and the marching went on. Something like a high grade metallic lever was pulled. Something creaked and air rushed. Maybe something like a siege gate had been opened. There were chiming sounds distorting the audio, and we could only think that these were some unknown song which plays as your deep underground and holding your breath. The sounds got nearer. Then they stopped marching. I heard the supposed record bearer breathe like he had just ran. Then came more air breezing through, and more chiming, and more sighing. Then sounds as if a drain tried unclogging and a shredder mixed with a growl all together. It must've changed to another shard of the disc. The speed it was recorded changing. It changed to music that I can only describe as that of a clown box, yet soothing and smooth. It was a beautiful piano song. I could almost hear the cranking. Then the speed ramped again, almost total harmonic distortion. Static again. It became apparent that this was not in chronological order. We heard steps again. Then lava bubbling and the sound of amethyst being mined followed by the dim sound of something like a cars engine being started. Perhaps a cave in. Something like the growls of a beast and a wet towel being squeezed. Then from far off again, the sounds of phantoms. The phantoms shriek the cries of a child. Then we hear the clank of tools, his coughs and breathing. We hear blocks placed and broke. Background music plays, the type that haunts us too. Dirt and stone broke and placed perhaps a dozen times. The distorted sound of a hydraulic press machine lift. The recording changes again. He clearly saw a monster and fled, yet that we will figure out later. Audible, but hard to tell their cause. Distant explosions underground. Scraping. More, and the sounds of walkie-talkie crackle and like the quiet takeoff of aircraft. A sound like a pipe being tapped. Again we hear him walking speedily. The sounds reminded me of ender men. Rock being scrapped by a tool. Then fire set alight. Perhaps he used the flint and steel for visibility. For certain this one was gathering resources from the caves and had been by the surface. It sounded as if the monster the hidden city feared had broken into the cavern. The reverse sound of glass being broke came and then a gush of shrieking souls. A warping hum is heard in the background. A portal had been cast. Perhaps this was their last ditch effort in escaping the wither, for they had most likely been adjusting to the combat update. The screech of souls. Similar sounds to that of the soul sand valley. A contraption. He seemed to have placed dirt to help him reach the portal. We hear the transference. A skulk sensor burped. A warden shrieked mixed with the slowed down death sound of a wither. Lava gurgled. Thuds are heard. Maybe the thump and high pitch was the ramping up between shards. Time slowed, and the noise transfixed.