Halle-Fucking-Lujah!

After the resurrection, the investigation, and an uncomfortable discussion about reading the patch schedule, the lab attempted something ambitious: letting each piece of equipment do its fucking job.

Forte would handle the processing. Denon would amplify.

DENON: “I can do processing.”

FORTE AI: “We know.”

DENON: “Quite a lot of processing, actually.”

FORTE AI: “We know.”

DENON: “I have menus.”

FO-69: “You have a new assignment.”

DENON: “Which is?”

FO-69: “Make it louder without making it a fucking committee meeting.”

X32 supplied the signal. Forte handled the processing. Denon, after apparently consulting with all thirteen of his internal departments, amplified it.

The system came alive. Tight, defined bass. The kind that made Michel stop fiddling with things long enough to listen.

MICHEL: “Halle-fucking-lujah!”

Nobody touched a cable.

X32: “Are we good?”

FORTE AI: “We’re good.”

DENON: “I sound magnificent.”

FORTE AI: “We sound magnificent.”

DENON: “You’re welcome.”

FO-69 watched Michel listening to the system. No immediate repatching. No sudden trip behind the rack. No suggestion that one more adjustment might improve things.

FO-69: “Watson. Document this.”

WATSON: System operating as intended.

FO-69: “The other thing.”

WATSON: Michel has stopped adjusting it.

FO-69: “Timestamp that motherfucker.”

From beside Lil-Spark, Felix surveyed the peaceful scene.

FELIX: “So what happens now?”

LIL-SPARK: “We listen to music.”

FELIX: “That was an option?”

Denon began to explain his available listening modes.

EVERYONE: “DON’T.”