Radio Kill

RADIO KILL

CHAPTER 2: WIND IN THE RIGGING

I don't know if they sympathize with me, or if they just didn't want me shouting all the time, but they did actually send me home, I have a note and everything. It's like I'm in high school again.

Truth be told, my hearing starting coming back about an hour or so after I left the base. It was still fuzzy, but I could actually hear again now. Must've just been the initial shock of it, I guess. That leaves me here, at my home, with nothing to do. I've read all the books I have many times, and I can't listen to music for obvious reasons. I don't even have a TV, so that's out of the question. I guess I could just go to sleep, but then I'd feel like I'm wasting this free time. It's only early afternoon now anyway.

Hmm.

I wouldn't be able to get away with going out and getting drunk, and all my friends are at work. I literally have nothing better to do. I sigh and eye up the couch, it does look pretty welcoming. Nap time it is, then. I climb up and lay myself down on the cushions, curling up and closing my eyes, consciousness fading away to a dull ringing in my ears.

I'm awake, but my eyes aren't open. It's dark, I can tell that already. I know I had a dream, but I couldn't remember it at all. Something else of note is that the ringing in my ears has been reduced to a low level hum, which is nice, my hearing should be back to normal soon. I crack open an eye, but it's no easier to see than if I'd kept it closed anyway. Begrudgingly, I sit up. It's dark outside, and the moon is pretty low, letting a little light in through the windows. I glace at the wall clock, the light levels just high enough to make it readable.

"Damn..."

It's 3:10, I've been asleep for over 12 hours! I lay back down and think about what to do next. I'd be getting up for work in a few hours anyway, so going back to sleep would be pointless, plus I wasn't even tired now anyway. I could probably listen to music or something now, but the neighbors would probably complain about that. To be fair, I probably would, too.

So I sit, in the dark, just staring out the window. It's relaxing, nice, even, with the stars in the sky, and the glow of the lights in town, and the fact that there's nopony out on the streets this early.

Yeah...

I get up and head up into my bedroom. I grab my little portable radio off the shelf, a warm jacket, and my keys. Stuffing the two items into my pockets, I head downstairs and out the front door, the cool, breezy air eliminating any leftover drowsiness from my overtly long nap. I spread my wings and head north, towards the river. The river is only about a five minute flight away as the crow flies. I quickly reach it and turn to follow the waterway as it heads deeper into the town.

Eventually I reach my destination, the Spurlin Commercial Dock. I used to love coming here and watching the boats come in and out as a little colt coming to visit town with his parents on holiday. It's been so long. I guess this is the place where I learned to love this city, where I first arrived.

I land on a small hill in a public park, a little way aways from the dock itself, but offering a nice view of it. This was 'my spot', as it where, or used to be at least, all those years ago. I pull the little radio out of my pocket and sit down. I turn the volume way down, and tune it to one of my favourite stations. Equestria Free Broadcasting is a little station, and it doesn't broadcast this late into the night. Rather, they simply play a tune on loop from whenever the last show ends, to 6 AM when the breakfast show starts. It's always the same tune, and over the year's I've grown to love it, almost like a companion through long, sleepless nights.

I turn the volume up a little, and set the radio down next to me, that familiar tune coming to life once again. I look out over the docks, lit up brightly in the night sky with flood lights. A large freighter sits by a crane, and a single tug boat is sluggishly making it's way across the harbor. Way out along the river, I can see the lights of another boat heading this way, it'd probably be here by dawn.

I let out a content sigh, nostalgic. I'm happy, sat here in the cold night, watching the boats, the reflections of the lights shimmering and dancing on the ripples in the water, the distant but not unnoticeable sounds of industrial activity and ponies working the night shift. The sky is a lovely shade of royal blue tonight, not entirely dissimilar to my own coat (narcissism!), and the stars are as bright as ever.

"If only I'd brought some coffee..."

I sit and watch, tune looping away, and the sky gradually becoming a lighter shade of blue, and the ship of in the distance got closer and closer. A little private yacht sails past, catching the wind. The freighter at the dock cast off, some time around 4, slugging it's way up-stream, against the current to an unknown destination.

Well, unknown to me anyway.

Eventually a swathe of orange graces the horizon. A quick glance down at my watch reveals the time to be 5:30. I pick up my radio, but keep it switched on, and thrust myself into the air, heading back home for a shower before work. I fly slowly, I'm in no rush.

Back to business, then. I sit down at my station, mug of coffee stowed in my left wing, and paperwork in the other. It's basically just a list of frequencies to check out. I plan on doing that as quickly as possible, so I can get back to trying to find those stations from yesterday again.

What can I say, I'm a curious stallion.

Standard fare, really. I flip the switch on, put my headset on and tune away. Frequency #1 is some kind of missile testing range, based on what this intelligence says. This is pretty important sounding, so I should probably actually spend some time on this one, probably a few hours, maybe the entire day. So much for my plans.

So, then, radio one, headset on, tune it to commercial radio to see if it's working (it is), and then straight onto frequency #1. Time to find out what's going on, then.

...

Oh, this is big. This is a proper missile testing range, not those piddly little anti-tank things, proper entire-city-gone missiles. And they're about to test one, today. I take of my headset and gallop to Superior Officer's (yes, he is actually called that) office. I knock, and the door opens with a white glow, and I enter.

"Operator Hooves." He greets with a nod.

"Sir, one of the frequencies I was assigned, 59.9 MHz, it's a missile range for weapons capable of mass destruction, and they're testing some kind of longer range missile in the next few hours."

His eyes went wide for a second, and he then scribbled something down on some paper, before sending it away with a flash of magic.

"Thank you, Hooves. Dismissed."

I turn and leave to head back to my station, the door closing behind me. See, told you I'd be making it so that you could sleep easy at night! We're on this missile thing.

I get back into the room and slip my headset on, transmissions still going. I bring out a blank sheet of paper and start taking note, I personally want to know what we're facing today. Whatever this thing is, I want to know just how far I should run if it ever gets used...

Wow.

So they tested it. Let's just say it's a good thing they started building fallout shelters in all the cities across Equestria. If what they say is to be believed (and I think it is, considering it was supposed to be a secure broadcast from a research base) this thing could easily level a city the size of Manehattan, in a little over 20 minutes after it's launched. And the magical backlash after the thing is detonated means that dangerous chaotic magic would be spread far and wide afterwards, too.

But now we know that, and can start our own work against it.

All thanks to me.

Well, okay, I can't take all the credit. But it was mostly me.

I guess by now I should be moving onto the other frequencies. I recommend that this one should be frequently monitored before turning the dial up to the next one, frequency #2. It's silent.

Hmm, brief said it was some sort of information leaking spy-thing. Maybe I should wait a while, I'll give it five minutes.

It's still silent.

Maybe this one will need to be monitored throughout the whole day before we hear anything. I'm not here the whole day, so it can't be me. I'll give it a while, and I guess I'll pass it onto somepony I don't like, so they get to sit in silence for hours.

Probably Swirls, because she's a dick.

But until then, I have to deal with this, I'll just have to grin and bear it. Hell, I have the paper out already, I could probably just draw for a while, at least until something happens radio-wise. Or until I get caught. I've already been caught drawing and nopony was best pleased about it then, so I have reason to doubt that they would be now.

Eh, that's future Dipole's problem.

I think I will draw...

Birds.

Yeah, birds are neat.

So it's been an two hours now, and still nothing. I've checked my receiver, it's all working fine, this frequency is just dead. No, not just dead, it's so dead it's rotted away and become nutrients for other radio stations to grow from.

Eh, that was terrible. It's silent, is what I'm getting at.

I can't even push it onto somepony else, for whatever reason, it's specifically me who has to listen. I have no idea why. This is literally my whole day now. What's left of it, at least.  I'm also super hungry, but I'm not allowed to leave my station. I'll have to hijack somepony else's trip to the canteen. We're not allowed to eat in here, but there is no way in hell I'm going to starve because I was forced to listen to dead air.

Unfortunately for me, pretty much everypony who is on break has already gone, recording anything they might miss in their absence. Again, I don't see why I can't just do that like normal, but apparently this is too high priority or something. Bullshit, if you ask me.

The only pony left in here that I might be able to requisition for food transport purposes is...Swirls. I don't think I'm willing to risk what ever sieve-minded prank she'll probably try to pull regarding my food, though.

I really do detest her.

I think I'll stick to my guns and wait it out. Maybe I can badger Circuits or Dot Dash into getting me something from the vending machine before they leave for the day. My stomach rumbles in protest, but I've made up my mind. Besides, it's not like the cardboard they serve in the canteen is worth lamenting over, anyway. No, I'll settle back into my silence and bird drawings, thank you very much! With renewed vigor I settle back down into my chair proper and keep on drawing the finch I saw out of the window. It's not so bad, I guess.

Oh Celestia, I am actually genuinely dying. Ponykind was not made to sit in perfect silence for hours on end with no food. I can do nothing but groan as the intense hunger pains eat at my very being, my lack of energy leaving me slumped on my desk, unable to hold myself up. Oh cruel fate, how is it that one who loves food such as I will die here from a lack of it?

Suddenly, my earphones are lifted from my head in a magical aura. A savior, perhaps? Some kind soul who has taken pity on a starving stallion?

"Shut up Dickpole, you've only been there half an hour."

Apparently not.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Circuits. I must've been here, at least, like, three hours."

I don't have time for liars. Unless it's me.

"Look at the clock."

"It's 12:45, I've been here almost six hours!" I retort, clearly in the right.

"Yes, but you've only been on your current assignment for half an hour. You had 3 hours to get food."

"Oh yeah? Well..."

Shit, he's right.

"Well? I'm waiting." Augh, why does he have such a shit-eating smile.

I swiftly plant my face on the desk, from the sheer levels of stupidity in the room. Yes, it may be my stupidity, but does he have to be so much of a smug prick about it?

"I hate you." I try to shout, but it comes out more as a muffled yelp.

"Love you too, Poley." With that, he trots off.

I pull my earphones back on and groan again, my morale pretty much at zero now, and it's all Circuit's fault. Well, it's my fault, but it's his fault, y'know? I literally cannot deal with this, something better happen soon on this damn frequency, or I'll...have to continue listening without question until I can go home because those are my orders.

But I sure wont be happy about it! Fight the power!

Oh Celestia, I am actually pathetic.

With a sigh, I sit back up, resting my face in my hooves. It's times like this I really resent being here. I guess I'm just tired, but it's put me in a real downer mood. I need something sugary to put me in a better mood, but I can't leave to get it. This is a vicious circle and I'm stuck right in-wait a second, somepony is going to the break room!

"Dot Dash! Over here!" I pull my earphones half off as she comes over. Her head is tilted slightly, quizzically. It's really cute. "Hey Dot, can you get me something from the machine? Pleeeeeeease?"

"... ..- .-. .  - .... .. -. --.   .-- .... .- -  -.. ---  -.-- --- ..-  .-- .- -. - " She clip-clops in response.

"Anything with chocolate, I'm literally dying." I hoof her a few bits. "Thanks, Dot!"

She smiles and leaves. I like Dot, she's one of the nicest ponies I know, and I think it's inspiring that she is still working despite getting injured that badly. Pretty smart getting a job where you know is full of ponies guaranteed to understand what you're saying, too.

Plus she's really pretty, too.

Geez, I sound like a schoolcolt with a crush.

See, Dot Dash isn't her real name, she just prefers it to Magpie now, I guess. Anyway, she used to be a special forces radio operator, but she transferred here after she got shot in the throat during a hostage situation, which I can only imagine is absolutely horrific. They managed to save her, but her voice was just gone. So she came here because she knew that we'd be able to translate what she was saying pretty much instantly, making the language barrier nigh-on non-existent.

Clever girl.

So anyway, now half of the problem is gone! Now it's only sitting in silence for hours by itself!

That sounded really really cynical. Guess I'm moping again.

Well, I would be if not for the avalanche of various chocolate goods and snacks pouring off of my head. There's now a pool of them on my desk. Good times.

"-.-- --- ..-  -- --- .--. .  .-- .- -.--  - --- ---  -- ..- -.-. ....   .. -  -.-. .- -.  -  -... .  --. --- --- -..  ..-. --- .-.  -.-- --- ..- " Dot looks rather concerned. It seems I've been called out.

"Tell me about it...Thank you Dot, although I know this is way more than I gave you money for."

"-.-- --- ..-  .-.. --- --- -.- . -..  .-.. .. -.- .  -.-- --- ..-  -.-. --- ..- .-.. -..  ..- ... .  -.-. .... . . .-. .. -. --.  ..- .--. " She replies, looking oddly sad.

"Well, it worked very well. Thanks Dot, I owe you one!"

She leaves with a smile. She's happy, I'm happy. I can't say the day isn't improving. I break open one of the chocolates and hunker down. At least now I'll have energy to carry on.

Sweet merciful mother of Fluttershy, something is actually happening on the airwaves! It's super quiet, but it's there. From what I can hear, it is literally just a list of city and town names across Equestria.

Here's the thing, I've had to make it quiet myself. Why? Because most of the time, the list is read off normally, but once every so often, and I'm pretty sure randomly, it will say the name really fucking loud. Like, painfully loud. Normally I'd just switch stations, but I have  job to do so I gotta use what I have to work with.

What it with the Crystals and loudness, anyway?

I have no idea if it's important or not, but I've made a note of which ones were loud, which at the moment are : Manehattan, Hoofington, Maretania, Dodge Junction, and 'Identified Wreckage Site #4'. Yeah, I have no idea, either. A lot of the quieter ones I didn't recognize, and there were even a few from the crystal side of the wall. There's been nothing else so far, just a very oddly dynamic list of places.

Oh, now it's just a constant, droning tone.

Still droning.

And it's stopped. And it's silent again. I waited in silence for 5 hours for 20 minutes worth of seemingly random meaningless audio. Those were my orders.

Defeated and tired, a square off my paperwork and notes and trudge back towards Superior's office with my findings. I knock on the door and await permission. I don't get a reply, so I assume he's not in. I can't be bothered to wait, so I slide my papers under the door for him to find later. With that, I turn and go back the way I came, back to my desk. I still have 45 minutes left on my shift, at least. What a crap day this turned out to be.

I sit down and continue what I'd been doing for the whole day anyway, head in my hooves, not so much lethargic, as so much uninterested. I would like to have a go at finding a couple of those stations from the other day, though. Good thing I wrote them down. Now, let's see....

6758.0 KHz. We have...nothing. Must be off air. Off to a great start. Moving on, 5339.0 appears to have the letters C, I, O, S and E just repeated over and over again. Mysterious, if not a bit boring. Next up (or should I say down) is 4625 kHz, where I'm treated to-

Uh, from the sounds of it, breathing? I think? I literally have no clue as to what is-

"HEY! YOU! ARMY PONY! WHAT DID I SAY LAST TIME?!"

Oh shit. She sounds piiiiiisssssed! I pull my earphones off just in time, and I can hear the cacophony of noise being produced very clearly still. I win this time, though.

See, I learn!

And it's time to go home!

Well, close enough to it, anyway.