Tuning the Static

At the end of a secluded gravel road, just outside a small Washington town, the Wohler siblings rolled to a stop in an old, hand-me-down, Ford SUV. Katherine peered over her steering wheel toward a cluster of tall, stately Douglas firs that marked the end of their drive; well, that and the dead-end sign staring back at them. Then, as expected, the cloud of dust trailing them for the last few miles overtook them, obscuring their surroundings.

Katherine threw a glance toward her brother sitting in the passenger seat. He was staring blankly into the growing dust cloud. “Hello, Earth to Tommy,” prodded Katherine, “Tommy, do you read me?”

No response.

Slowly, she extended her hand into the foreground of her brother’s fixed gaze, snapping her fingers three times in quick succession; nothing again. Moving her hand gently to his shoulder, she delivered a squeeze, quick and reassuring.

“Hey bud, are you ok?” a note of worry in her voice.

“Yeah, sorry, I zoned out there for a second,” Tommy said, adding a weak, unconvincing chuckle as punctuation, “Are we here?” he asked, failing to recognize anything through the dusty veil hanging just outside.

Assuming her best professorial impersonation, “How can anyone truly answer that question? What does it even mean to be here? We must first define the basic meaning of existence, and only then may we…”

“Okay, miss 'I took Intro to Philosophy last semester,' you know what I meant,” interjected Tommy with life returning to his face and the start of a faint smirk, “Now, can we please get moving?”

She did know what he meant, but she also knew that something was off with her little brother. She would gladly do anything she could do to help get him back to his normal self, or at least as normal as any fifteen-year-old boy could be.

“Yes, absolutely, but before that, Tommy, can we take a second to go over this one more time?”

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed on, “Because you haven’t been yourself lately. First, you came home on Friday afternoon completely out of it, complaining of a headache. Yesterday morning, you begged me to chauffeur you all over town, no questions asked, I might add, and the only reason you gave was that it was for a school project.”

Exasperated, she said, “Your school has been out for a week! And that whole time while we were driving around, you acted like you, but not you. Like a familiar stranger of sorts.”

Katherine paused to breathe, “Sorry, that last part sounded pretentious. I guess I’m fully embracing my college phase now.”

To this, Tommy genuinely laughed, though still not himself, “Kat, I…”

Katherine shifted in the driver’s seat to better face her brother, “One second, my monologue is almost over.”

“Now, instead of taking you home after your bizarre errands, you asked me to drop you and your bike here in these woods. I did it, but I’ll tell you right now, I didn’t like it. Fast forward to this morning, and out of nowhere, you’re acting like an amnesiac. You tell me the last thing you remember is being here, yes, but late Friday afternoon, not Saturday. You tell me you have no memory of Saturday, and I’m supposed to just believe that? I mean, come on, Tommy, I’m worried about you, and the only reason we are sitting here and not talking to Mom and Dad is that you are persistent and annoying, and I must be an idiot! Now, why are we here, really? And if this has anything to do with drugs, Tommy, I promise I will fucking kill you, tell Mom and Dad, and then get you help, in that order.”

 “Okay, now I’m done,” concluded Katherine, an exhale helping to deliver these last words.

Now smiling instead of smirking, Tommy said, “Yes, you are an idiot, but thanks for caring. Oh, and I guess in addition to pretentious, you’re edgy now, too?”

With visibility returning to the world outside, Katherine shifted her gaze to the woods in front of the SUV.

“Ha, seems like. But seriously, Tommy, what are we doing here?”

Tommy sat silent for a moment, half of his brain trying desperately to remember the previous day's events and the other half worrying about what happened to him on Friday.

“Okay, you remember I caught a matinee with some friends on Friday, right? It doesn’t matter what movie; it was awful, and I give it zero stars.”

Tommy collected himself, trying hard to focus, “Anyway, I headed home on my bike, taking the shortcut through the forest trails like normal.” Restlessly, he gestured toward the forest, “Hey, can we move outside? I could really use some fresh air to tell the rest of this story.”

Agreeing, Katherine killed the engine, and they walked the short distance to the trailhead, which is either humorously or ominously marked by the foreboding words dead and end. Katherine leaned more toward humorous on the matter, while in contrast, Tommy simply leaned on the sign and continued the story, “Okay, so I was riding the trails, and suddenly my head started spinning, and I nearly went 'Tommy over handlebars' on a rock. I recovered just enough to pull off the trail, stumble to a fallen tree near the creek, and sit down. The next thing I knew, the spinning was replaced by a piercing static.”

The frightening memory washed over him. “Static that sounded like someone trying to tune a radio in my head but finding no stations.”

He drew a hand subconsciously through the side of his hair, lost in thought, the hand coming to rest at his temple.

“Suddenly, I don’t know, I…,” he trailed off, “I think it tuned in, Kat, 'cause I swear I could hear a voice. I was alone, but I heard a voice. It wasn’t mine, but it was in my head.”

Feeling helpless and confused, Tommy stared blankly into the woods toward the creek.

“And that’s it. That’s all I remember. I don’t remember getting home. I don’t remember driving around with you yesterday. I don’t remember any of it. And that’s why we’re here. Maybe this place will jog some memories, or maybe it won’t; I don’t know, but either way, I gotta try something.”

Then he added, “Oh yeah. No drugs.”

Without missing a beat, Katherine subtly pulled down and glanced over a pair of non-existent sunglasses while looking at a non-existent camera, “Well then, why are we standing here? It’s time to roll.”

Tommy snapped out of his trance-like mood with a laugh.

Returning her gaze to Tommy, she said, “If you’re keeping count, that’s pretentious, edgy, and clichéd. The trifecta! Now let’s get moving.”

“Thanks for keeping me sane, Kat.”

“Anytime, bro.”

With that, the pair set off down the winding trails toward the creek where they spent so much of their early years playing and dreaming. Back then, they pretended to be pirates, dug up buried treasures, and made poorly constructed, short-lived dams. Today, the only thing they wanted to dig up was Tommy’s missing memories.

At first, they walked in silence, taking in the beautiful peacefulness of the looming trees and green landscape. Tommy was the first to speak.

“Kat, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

After a slight hesitation, “What the hell happened yesterday?”

In addition to dodging tree limbs, rocks, and decaying logs on the trail, Katherine desperately wanted to dodge this question, “Well, it's hard to say exactly. After you voluntold me to drive you around town for a school project,” fingers turned air quotes on the last two words, “I grudgingly agreed, but was thoroughly confused. When we got to the car, you went straight for the back seat, hence the chauffeur comment earlier. Then we went all over town looking for what you described as, and I quote, A large and capable device needed to excavate myself.”

Katherine slowed to a stop as if someone had pulled her batteries. With a desperate look on her face, she pointed a warning finger at her brother, “I never want to know what it means to excavate oneself. Do you understand me?” after a short pause, she reiterated, “Never ever.”

The two resumed walking and again found silence preferable, only this time due to awkwardness and not peacefulness. A short time later, they reached their destination. Katherine scanned the area, taking in the scene, noting muddy terrain and sparse grass coverage with the babbling creek lying just beyond.

Moving alongside Katherine, Tommy summoned the courage to ask the question he’d been putting off all day, “Will you promise me that if we don’t find anything here or if my memories don’t magically come back, you’ll help me explain all of this to Mom and Dad?”

He could see Katherine’s lips moving but didn’t hear a single word. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, a familiar, frightening spin initiated and started to worsen. Swaying on his feet, Tommy lunged for the same felled tree that rescued him the first time this happened.

As he clung to the newly designated anchor, Tommy could sense Katherine’s alarm and felt her jump to his side. Glancing up, he could see she was still trying to talk to him, but again, no words could be heard as a new, old sensation replaced the spinning in his head. The static was back, only this time, the tuning sensation felt more deliberate and controlled. Without warning, the knife-like static mercifully ceased, and a wholly new sound emerged. 

“What’s wrong?” Katherine cried, standing before him, grasping her brother’s shoulders, “Are you okay? Earth to Tommy…”

When the tuning locked into place and the static fell away, Tommy felt a great sense of relief; he could start to hear the words coming from his sister’s mouth, though faint.

“Hello.”

“Tommy, do you read me?”

Confusion, terror, acceptance, and terror again. These are the emotions that routed any semblance of relief that Tommy felt. The words he now heard so clearly did not match the cadence of his sister’s moving lips and the voice was not Her’s. It was deep and monotone... and inside his head.

Tommy, I have fixed my connection. Can you confirm receipt? Said Tommy’s mental breakdown.          

“What? What connection?” he said out loud, his mind twisting in knots.

“Did you hear that?!” he snapped, looking at Kathrine, terror replacing confusion as he saw the answer on her face.

“Hear what, Tommy?! Are you okay?! What’s wrong?!” The words flew out of her mouth, mashed together, mostly unintelligible.

Tommy’s Mental Breakdown: Unit Tommy, you do not have to respond verbally. You are frightening your familial unit. Please calm down.

Tommy: Okay, that’s it. I’m crazy. I’ve lost it… yep, I’ve lost it. I snapped. Doctor. I need a doctor.

Tommy’s Mental Breakdown: Unit Tommy, you are not in danger. I have finally perfected our communications lock. Please calm yourself.

Tommy darted to his feet, pacing back and forth, to-and-fro, along the creek, unaware that he was walking through mud and about an inch of water.

Walking to, “Why is my mental breakdown talking to me?”

Walking fro, “It heard what I was thinking.”

Walking to, “Kat, I think you need to get me home!”

Walking fro, “Maybe it stopped, yes, maybe it stopped.”

Tommy’s Mental Breakdown: I am still here, Tommy.

“Aah!” With that, his body’s fear response abruptly terminated the to-fro pacing, but his body’s momentum had other plans. Shoes caked with mud; Tommy’s feet shot out from under him.

Lying on his back, he stared up at the sky. Katherine’s face quickly filled his view.

“Just breathe, Tommy. Don’t move.”

“I’m not. This is fine. I’m fine.”

Tommy’s Mental Breakdown: Unit Tommy, do you not remember me? My name is Captain Hyshim, or at least, I am what your world would call a Captain.

“On my world? Great, my mental breakdown has a name, and it isn’t from Earth.”

“Tommy, you’re scaring me, and you aren’t making any sense right now! You have ten seconds, and then I will slap the sense back into you!”

Hyshim: I am sorry, Unit Tommy. I have caused you distress. My device was not tuned for your species. We did not plan to be here, but my crew and I need your help.

Tommy started laughing, but not in a healthy way. More in a last-resort kind of way.

Hyshim: I will now tune in to Unit Katherine as well. One moment please, Unit Tommy.

Katherine raised her open hand, fully intending to slap Tommy if only to stop the maniacal laughter, but in a cruel twist of fate, it was her that got struck. Only instead of a slap, she was hit by a wave of nausea that turned to static, that turned to silence, that turned to a strange, deep, monotone voice. When she could focus her thoughts once more, she noticed a cool, uncomfortable sensation greeting her lower extremities. She had collapsed, her backside now planted firmly in the mud.

Hyshim: Unit Katherine, Unit Tommy, please come in. Confirm receipt of message.

Multiple things were going in Katherine’s favor right now, giving her a better handle on the current situation, far better than Tommy's.

First, she had the fortune of seeing her brother’s unusual reaction to something that deeply scared him, which he implied was otherworldly. Because of this, she was much more receptive to the concept that she, too, was being contacted.

Second, and more importantly, Hyshim had perfected the communication process and avoided the unexpected side effects that Tommy had suffered since Friday, resulting in a more natural link for Katherine.

“Message received,” said Katherine wanting so much to see how this absurd science non-fiction encounter played out.

Relief once again flooded Tommy’s face when he realized that Katherine heard the voice too. He wasn’t going crazy after all… probably.

Hyshim: We must hurry. There is little time. It is not safe to keep this communication open for long. It could be harmful to your species. My people come from many of what you call lightyears away. I am connecting with you through a telepathic communication system. This is normal for my species but obviously untested for yours, until now, that is. From this connection, I have absorbed your language and limited knowledge from Unit Tommy.

“So, you tried to connect with Tommy two days ago? Is that why he’s been acting so weird lately?”

Hyshim: Yes, Unit Katherine. I apologize for any trouble we may have caused. Please know we were desperate to get assistance. My crew and I crash-landed on your planet five turns ago. Our sensors indicate our ship is functional. However, we are fully submerged below your surface and cannot free ourselves. We need help to excavate our spacecraft from your world. We must resume our long journey.

Putting the clues together, Katherine inquired, “Wait, did you force Tommy to search the town for excavating tools?”

Hyshim: Not precisely, Unit Katherine. As I said, the telepathic communication was not perfect when I initiated contact with Unit Tommy. Therefore, my consciousness somehow imprinted alongside Unit Tommy’s. Effectively, you were helping me and Unit Tommy yesterday. Unit Tommy should regain his memories in a few turns. When he does, he may find that some of my knowledge has seeped into his consciousness. Consider this our gift. Now, please help us.

“Okay, so first, that’s awesome, Tommy. Second, you’re telling me that when we were driving around town looking for devices to excavate, like a backhoe or a tractor. That was to rescue your ship?”

Hyshim: Correct, Unit Katherine.

“Seriously?”

Hyshim: Yes, Unit Katherine.

Katherine’s eyes lit up with the knowledge that she understood something they did not. Her clean connection with Hyshim offered her better insight into their dilemma, while Hyshim and Tommy’s merged consciousness created a big problem for them. Correction, it created an extremely small problem.

“Tommy, what do you think we are looking for out here?”

“Hyshim’s ship. It is carrying Hyshim and his crew, so it must be down deep if we don’t see it, right?”

“Okay now, Hyshim, how tall do you think we are?”

Hyshim: What do you mean, Unit Katherine?

“Please convert your height into our dimensional units, Hyshim.”

Katherine and Tommy could feel Hyshim’s confusion.

Hyshim: I do not understand, Unit Katherine.

Katherine began laughing uncontrollably. Unlike Tommy’s maniacal laughter minutes earlier, her laughter was due to the sheer absurdity of it all. She pitched back, lying flat on the ground in the mud. Her laughter continued as a confused Tommy looked on.

Sensing the location of Hyshim’s craft and the solution to their shared madness, Katherine rolled over to the edge of the creek, ambivalent to the mud now covering her body. Lying on her stomach, she began to dig a small hole precisely where her mind somehow knew to direct her.

Seconds later, her digging revealed a small metallic object. She grasped the soda-can-sized spacecraft and pulled gently. Once freed, she submersed the object in the creek to remove as much mud as possible, then rolled back from the water, placing what she understood to be Hyshim’s spacecraft down on a small patch of grass nearby.

The two watched as lights blinked into view all over the ship, and then Hyshim sent one last message.

Hyshim: We are forever in your debt, brave beings. Farewell.

Without warning, the spacecraft shot into the air, emitted a brief but blinding light, and vanished. Katherine and Tommy looked to the sky, stunned and silent, as they lay in the mud.

A long minute passed.

“Tommy?”

“Yeah, Kat?”

“What. The actual. Fu...”