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That
night, the sky was unusually dark, the storm more violent than anything
seen in years. All over the Bay, electrical storms were being reported
by concerned citizens, traffic accidents were in abundance. At the
ArnoCorps headquarters, however, it was rehearsal as usual. Toten
and Gellend argued over using one another's razors to shave certain
body parts, while Holzfeuer and twin brother Schlagbolzen played
the Austrian board game Schicksal. All the while, guitarist Inzo
kept to his usual quiet self, trying to compose a new melody.
Outside,
a series of lightning flashes caught the band's attention. Schlagbolzen
described it as, "...the windows brightened up like...., like
a piece of glass with a big light behind it that was bright....,
you could see it through the glass."
The
storm seemed concentrated around the secret locale as wind, rain
and viciousness increased. Outside the headquarters, transformers
blew up under the power of the lightning. Then, something most unexpected
happened. Holzfeuer explained, "I was playing my turn in Schicksal.
I had just rolled my dices and landed my piece on the family spot
and drew the card. It said my fertile wife had three at once kids.
As Schlagbolzen laughed, someone pounded on the door."
Inzo
unbolted the door to find a man, soaking wet and without clothes.
Turning to the others, Inzo grunted, "Naked."
The
man was brought inside to warm up. Immediately, the stranger fell
to his knees before the ArnoCorps flag that hung on the wall. "Its
true, its true," he muttered.
Tearing
the flag from off the wall, Toten Adler threw at the stranger to
cover himself with. "This ain't no Austrian bath house, you
freak!"
"Who
are you?" they again asked.
"My
name is Vielmehr Klampfe, I'm from the future. No, its true. Please,
listen to me. I've come back to warn you."
After
an uncomfortable silence, Gellend Adler summoned the courage to
ask the one question they were all wondering, but afraid to voice. "Does--does our muscles get soft like marshmallow?"
"No." and a great relief passed through the room.
The
man stood, still draped in the symbol of ArnoCorps, and began to
pace the room. "Years from now," he began hesitantly,
"the government makes it illegal to download music unless through
a watchdog corporation. Two men of influence emerge with what they
call DeciTech, the only way to legally download music. Soon, DeciTech
begins to dictate what can and cannot be downloaded, nothing with
profanity, nothing with violent undertones. Then, it happens. The
DeciTech main computer takes over, soon machines inherit the earth.
The first thing prohibited is music."
"Do
we become slaves an' shit?" Toten wondered. "'Cause I
ain't diggin' no ditches. Fuck that."
"No.
Actually, man is revered by the machines. Their main function is
to create a Utopia for man. A Utopia without music." A lightning
flash illuminates the man's face, his terror-stricken face. "Believing
that music was the root of all evil, the machines only allow Elevatoris
Musicai to be heard. Its boring, its calming, there's no message
behind it. Don't you see?! The power of Arno, what is best in life,
the legends, all of it gone. Its all destroyed by the machines."
Holzfeuer
grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook him. "What the hell
can we do?!"
"Perform.
Perform. Perform or die. Inspire the masses with music, reach their
souls. Tell them to download freely. That way, there never will
be a DeciTech."
"Where's
the DeciTech?" Schlagbolzen screamed.
"Yeah,
let's go kick their ass!" the brothers Adler roared.
Vielmehr
calmed the band. "It doesn't exist, yet. The creators themselves
are two 13-year old boys, right now, downloading music and softcore
porn. As long as they can trade music freely, they will not create
DeciTech. The future is still unwritten."
"Why
the hell should we believe you?" Holzfeuer asked the stranger.
"Can you prove you are from no now?"
Walking
past Inzo, the man picked up the guitar and began playing a tune.
One never heard, yet somehow familiar to the ears of the band. Afterwards,
the stranger claimed it to be his favorite ArnoCorps song, not yet
recorded. Turning to Inzo, the stranger asked, "Is that the
melody you were looking for?"
"Mmmm."
The
following day, Schlagbolzen brought to the HQ one of hundreds of
flyers he'd seen around town. It featured a photo of Vielmehr Klampfe
and said that he was an escapee from the Lakeview Asylum and considered
very unstable. Hearing the flyer read, Holzfeuer paused in the middle
of his 72nd pushup and said, "Or maybe that is what they just
want us to think."
"Who?" Schlagbolzen asked.
"Yes,
that's right."
Fearing
the possible outcomes if they sent the man away (a musicless future
realized or his just going nuts and busting their windows), the
band thought it safest to keep him on as additional guitarist. That
way, they could keep a closer look on him....or he could keep a
close look on them.
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