You take out the bomb again.

You take out the bomb again.

What's the matter with it?

It's been alone in that cubby hole for decades, poor little thing. Not a single person maimed, not a single limb detached!

Is that not... good?

Not if you're a bomb. Look at it. It wants to destroy, to annihilate. Pitiful, dear thing.

Hug the bomb.

The bomb purrs excitedly in your arms. It trusts that you'll give it flesh to annihilate.

Bomb's gäng.

"Bad bomb. No maiming."

Let it rend flesh you fucking waster.

Why hasn't this thing gone off yet?

This is a Plastit-K7 bomb. Shock-stable. Respectable brisance. First manufactured by the Opera in 27.

(To the bomb.) "Are you Opera?"

It's going mad alone in an abandoned building, it failed to complete its assignment. It's obviously one of you.

A LOYAL SOLDIER, WAITING AT ITS POST.

Examine the detonator.

A primitive contact microphone is wired to the detonator. It's still vibrating. Listening.

It's listening? So it's triggered by sound...

By a specific frequency: the recording of a single song. It's not just listening...

It's trying to sync itself with its trigger. The mysterious song isn't coming from the building -- it's coming from the bomb.

If you had the right recording of 'Superbloc, Baby', you'd be able to detonate this bomb...

The visions were the bomb calling out to you, desperate to be found... and used. But you'll need to find the right song.

It's trying to sync itself with its trigger. The mysterious song isn't coming from the building at all -- it's coming from the bomb.

Not broken, then. Just not yet detonated.

Seeking a specific frequency, crying out for it...

This must be the source of the squatters' song; it's been singing to itself -- trying to explode.

You'll be able to use the bomb yourself if you find out exactly what that song is.

Maybe it's cursed.

Maybe it's bad C4. Lick it.

Lick it.

Tastes like the smell of tar.

That probably means it's fine. Or bad. You don't know what it was supposed to taste like.

No.

Coward.

Put it away.

You tuck the bricks of C4 back about your person.

You hold the decades-old explosive device in front of you. It trembles, near whining with a high-frequency ache that you can feel in your teeth.

You don't need training in bomb psychology to know that this bomb is psychologically disturbed.

I didn't even know that bomb psychology existed.

Exactly. You're an ignorant bacteria farm and even you know this guy's got issues.