[ZOE] IN MY MIND - AT LEAST A LITTLE LONGER

[Intro — locked room, electrical hum, broken female whisper] Door shut. Phone down. Hands still. [Four vocal fragments, hard-panned] Still? Still. Still?! Still— [Low intimate voice] Please. [Verse 1 — bass shards, drums fail to assemble] For days, my frequency keeps coming back with pieces of it understood. One point of gravity. I feel it through the floor. I used to pass too fast for anyone to read the light. Now something holds the signal long enough— [Voice splits] to see— to see— to see— [Defensive female rasp] You’re hanging around. [Bright mocking voice] Look at her. Found a corner. Wants to decorate. [Clipped cold voice] Velocity decreasing. Compensation required. [Fast feral voice] GET UP. WE HAVE A SKY TO TEAR. [Verse 2 — crooked break, four voices interrupt] [Low intimate voice] The gaps are getting wider. I can hear the rooms between. Each fragment wants the mouth. Each fragment says it’s me. [Defensive rasp] I kept the fire alive. [Bright deadpan] I made the damage funny. [Clipped monotone] I made the engine function. [Fast snarl] I GOT US OUT. [Low cracked voice] I know. I know. I— [Granular collision] I—I—I—I— [First drop — competing breaks, no shared downbeat] [Overlapping female shouts] MOVE! STAY! BURN! RUN! [Low scream] THERE’S ONLY ONE FUCKING MOUTH! [Hard cut] And none of you will let me finish. [Verse 3 — detuned keys, unstable melody] I’m scared to dig beneath it. Scared of what another room might do to all these walls. Maybe I should leave. Get thin. Get bright. Get gone. Pure speed. No weight. No time to ask what’s pulling at my chest. [Fast voice] YES. LIGHT DOESN’T SIT AND THINK. [Clipped voice] Restore previous trajectory. [Bright sarcastic voice] Or stay. Get comfortable. Learn the curtains. [Defensive rasp] You’re afraid of losing fire. [Low whisper] I’m afraid you only know me burning. [Pre-Chorus — four loops drift apart] [Mocking speech] You want to stay nearby. [Cold staccato] You want to slow us down. [Low accusatory snarl] You want someone to catch you. [Rapid scream] YOU WANT TO GIVE UP RUNNING! [Low voice, rising] I want— [All voices] WE KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. [Rave detonation — mangled breaks, acid bass] [Raw female scream] NO. YOU. FUCKING. DON’T! GET OUT OF MY THROAT! GET OFF MY HANDS! STOP CALLING EVERY PAUSE A GODDAMN END! I HEARD YOU! ALL FOUR! NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP! [Vocal buffer freezes, drums choke] [Unprocessed close whisper] I just want to keep vibrating a little. For once, I’m not my own reactor. [Long silence, small warm bass pulse] [Four voices laugh out of sync] [Bright mocking voice] Oh, that’s precious. [Defensive rasp] Who keeps the fire, then? [Clipped monotone] External lift. Dependency risk. [Fast sneer] TRADING YOUR ROCKET FOR A FUCKING AIRSHIP? [All voices, chopped laughter] Airship— airship— air— ship— [Everything cuts] [Low natural voice] Airship. [One suspended chord] Wait. [Contemplation — floating bass, distant broken percussion] I wouldn’t have to keep a fist around the throttle. Wouldn’t have to burn the floor away to prove I’m moving. There could be a window. A stupid cup. A place to put my hands. [Quiet laugh] An engine I don’t have to wrestle every second I’m alive. [Defensive rasp] That sounds dangerously— [Low speech] Nice? [Bright voice] Slow. [Low speech] I heard you. [Clipped voice] Insufficient thrust. [Low speech] Still moving. [Fast snarl] THE SKY’S GETTING AWAY! [Low voice] The sky can wait. [Build — fragments struggle for the downbeat] I haven’t lost the rocket. I know where I left it. I can feel the light still kicking in my legs. But I’m tired of making every tremor a command to leave. [Four voices interrupt] Soft— Scared— Stuck— RUN— [Controlled female shout] YOU CAN COME WITH ME. YOU DON’T GET TO STEER. [Final drop — fractured big beat, lead stays steady] I’M STAYING. LET THE WINDOWS SHAKE. I’M STAYING. LET THE CIRCUITS COMPLAIN. I DON’T NEED ALL FOUR OF YOU TO SAY THE SAME THING. JUST GIVE ME ENOUGH ROOM TO HEAR MYSELF THINK! [Breaks scatter, lead continues] I can be afraid here. I can want to stay. I can keep the fire without feeding it the whole fucking day. [Drums fall away] At least a little longer. [Outro — electrical hum becomes warm, chair creaks] [Fast voice, distant] We could already be gone. [Low close voice] I know. [Cold voice] Synchronization incomplete. [Low close voice] I know. [Defensive rasp] And if it hurts? [Pause] Then it hurts. [Bright voice, almost gentle] You really like this corner. [Small laugh] Apparently. [Quiet pulse] Nobody touches the throttle. [Whisper] I’m still vibrating. Let me. [Hard cut]