Frequencies

Chapter #3 

'Frequencies;

The time was just before noon and despite the seasonal temperament of local weather the day was a pleasant one.
I had spent the best part of the day working on the latest batch of calculations in the comfort of the Main Library, occasionally gazing out of the glass window to the park that surrounded it.  As I did I saw a familiar body hurrying across my view and towards the entrance, she was carrying what appeared to be a wicker picnic basket.

I lay down my pen and brushed aside the papers I was working on.

"HAS equations eh?  Looks like fun." Quipped Delia, before placing the basket in front of me.

"Clearly you have some more important work for me" I replied, packing away my notes.

"I don't know about that, but we don't get many days like this this time of year.. And I thought you would enjoy some company." She was right, I did enjoy the company. As I finished putting away my things she continued.  "I took the liberty of bringing a bottle of something or other...  So, what are you working on?"

"HAS equations, nothing important, nothing interesting.  ...Just acoustic theory.  I'm not sure what it is for, the amplification array I presume.  Either that or they just gave me it to keep me occupied.  I have no idea how this will be of any practical use, I just do the numbers." I replied, whilst attempting to catch a glimpse of what lay inside the wicker basket.


"That's what makes you a specialist!  I wouldn't worry about it, we all feel a left a little in the dark from time to time.  ..Now, lets enjoy that sunshine while it lasts!  Are you coming?" she chirped before rushing outside in to the sun.
I picked up my satchel and followed as best I could.

It wasn't long until we reached our destination, a small wooden picnic table situated on the grass bank of the Library Garden by a collection of young trees.  Delia laid out the picnic spread she had brought and began pouring out two classes.
Surprisingly the pleasant weather maintained its self, despite the greying clouds that began to form on the horizon.

"I may have cheated a little,  I took the liberty of ordering lunch from the restaurant before I arrived.  I couldn't decide what to get so I ordered us a selection.. It might take a while." She said, assuring me it would be worth the wait. - Which I did not doubt.

Some ten minutes later a team of waiters arrived carrying an assortment of trays, dishes and a portable barbecue.  The barbecue was lit and we were left to prepare our mid day meal.


"So tell me, what exactly do these equations of yours do?" She enquired, tossing a selection of marinated meats on to the flaming grill top.

"They are not my equations, They belong to Mr. Has.  And, well.. I suppose they don't do anything.  They are just a method of calculating how sound behaves under certain circumstances.  For instance, If I were to clap my hands together you would hear a single sound even though the entire clap sound consists of multiple sounds.  And when we hear the single clap sound we are really hearing what is called the HAS Effect, the point at which multiple sounds join to create the illusion of a single sound."

"What other sounds are there?" She predictably asked.

"The echos.  the sounds of the initial clap bouncing off of whatever surfaces are near.  In this case it would be the sound reflecting off of the grass, those trees, this table and our bodies." I elaborated, before my attention was drawn once more to the contents of the grill.  The air now filled with the hunger stimulating scent of cooked meat.

"I'm not sure, but I think our lunch is ready." -  And with that we began the tasting.
From that point on the conversation shifted from mathematics and food to facility life and our common interest, Operational Building #1.


While I had been busy tending the calculations of the day Delia had been busying herself in the archives. She had been searching through the logs and facility memos for more information on the 'Station Ghost',  Looking for more detailed information than what had been uncovered so far.
Her journey had led her to some files that had until recently been classified.
The files contained once-sensitive information regarding early transmissions and surprisingly among the files were a number of papers outlining early attempts to identify the cause of the interference.
Another document recorded proposed and then eliminated possible causes of the fault.

"There isn't much more information than what I already had, but I did uncover a few things of interest..." She began, breaking in to a grin.  As she did so, she pulled out a short-list she had collated from the recently discovered papers in the archive. She quickly scanned through it with her eyes before handing it to me, prompting me to "Look!".
Not knowing what I was expected to find I lay down my glass and glanced over the bullet pointed summary. "Am I missing something?  I don't see anything.  It's just the same as the Engineer's list... But we already knew they had checked the whole array over?"

"And they didn't find a thing... Yes, but look at the additional information" She continued, drawing my attention to the column running vertically down the right side of the paper.  The column featured some numbers that could have signified anything, each number was associated with a particular log and she had arranged them by date - but I wasn't to know that.

"I'm not a code breaker Delia, the Numbers look random... except--."

"Except on first glance there appears to be some kind of pattern." She interjected, transforming her grin in to a full-blown smile.  "...You see, the number is decreasing each time isn't it?"

A child could have answered that, I hesitated.

"And do you know what this number is?" She asked, peering over my shoulder and running her finger slowly down the column.  I had no answer to give.

"No? Well ..these numbers denote the frequency.  And there is a... trend."  She added, hesitating as if expecting some kind of recognition. "Don't you see?"

All I could see was a list of numbers, and a long list at that. Numbers with no mathematical significance I could see, just a series of numbers slowly rising.  "So the frequency has increased... I thought we already knew the frequency had changed?" I asked.

"Your missing something.  I have taken the time to put these numbers in order, chronological order.  The numbers you are looking at occurred over a period of months." She said, and as she did I began to realise why she was so excited.

"So the interference has been slowly increasing in frequency since it was first detected until now? ..the present?" I asked, attempting to clarify my understanding.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, before adding. "And now its up to us to figure out what it means!"

"And what makes you so sure we will figure it out where all those people failed?" - The question presented its self.

"Well, we have something they never had... Free time to continue the investigation.  And until now no one even noticed that frequency had anything to do with it... but look, its a continual increase.  It can't be unrelated." And she was right, it was related. -

She handed over her notes and some documents she had acquired from the archives and I went about verifying her proposition.
As I immersed myself in the data I made my own discovery.  From what I could tell (from the early engineers' and personnel's notes) both the frequency of the interference and the bandwidth it was occurring on were linked. As the frequency increased through the passing of time so too did the bandwidth on which the noise could be heard.

"So what do you think? ...Should I fetch John?"


"I understand your excitement. You've definitely discovered something here, but I think John can wait another day for this information.  Leave it with me, I'd like to take a closer look at the numbers tonight"

We  continued with our picnic in excited silence as I gathered my thoughts, which had began drifting from matters of the 'station ghost' and on to my companion Delia.
On her lap lay the small silver timepiece I had noticed on our first encounter, In a place like the facility a timepiece would come in handy but somehow I got the feeling it was more of a sentimental item than one of practical value.