The Leak and the Lead

[Intro: A deep, vibrating bass tone that feels like a ship's engine. Unlike the ballroom, this beat is uneven, punctuated by the sound of vibrating glass and distant steam hisses.] [Section: Jacques - Male Vocal: Low-register, Raw Guttural Baritone, Gritty] Look at the shelf, Benny. The bottles are "walking" again. Down here in the Bilge... we don't have the "Gravity-Sling." The Ballroom is steady... the "Tiaras" don't feel a nudge... But down here... the floor is a permanent "sludge." The dampers are dead... and the metal is starting to moan... Like the Dramatica... has a secret... all of her own. [Short Instrumental Interlude: A harsh, metallic scraping sound—like lead shielding shifting] [Section: Benny - Male Vocal: High-register, Jittery Tenor, Fast] It’s the "Phantom Mass," Jacques! I’ve run the numbers ten times! The reactor is heavy... it’s "breaking" the gravity lines! There’s a room next to Engineering... not on the charts, not on the map... A shielded vault... like a massive, lead-lined trap! The sensors are "blurring"... Claudia’s scanners are blind... There is something "Ancient"... hiding behind! [Short Instrumental Interlude: Tense, low-register Cello notes] [Section: Claudia - Female Vocal: Mid-register, Cold Sophisticated Alto, Calculating] I see the "Ghost," Benny. A shadow in the power-grid. Something is eating the "Cosmic-Leak"... something the builders hid. Eighty years of shielding... and the lead is starting to "thin." I can feel the "Chrono-Haze"... soaking through my skin. Section Zero isn't empty... it’s just "Too Heavy" to see. A secret in the belly... of the Dramatica's family tree. [Short Instrumental Interlude: A slow, mournful Saxophone solo] [Verse 1: Trio - Balanced Pitch Separation] The Ballroom is floating on "Inertial Rails" While the Engine Room... is telling us tales! The lead is leaking... the "Blink-Dust" is blue... Soaking into the walls... and soaking into you! Hidden in the bowels... next to the heart of the flame... A drive with no number... and a drive with no name! [Short Instrumental Interlude: Heavy, rhythmic "Thuds" of a failing damper] [Chorus: Trio - Balanced Pitch Separation] [Benny - High-register]: The mass is a lie! [Jacques - Low-register]: The shielding is dry! [Claudia - Mid-register]: The sensors... don't cry. [Together]: We’re living on a "Leaking Ghost," deep in the hull... The lights are bright... but the engine is dull! [Outro: Spoken over the sound of a glass breaking on a hard floor] [Section: Jacques - Male Vocal: Low-register, Heavy Accent] Stone the crows... that was my last "Clean" tumbler. Benny... the wall behind the reactor... is it supposed to be "glowing"? [Section: Benny - Male Vocal: High-register, Panicked] Don't touch it, Jacques! That’s not light... that’s "Yesterday" leaking through! [Sound of: A low, electrical hum that suddenly pitches up into a whistle] [End]