[INTRO — FINAL TRACK, ALL LIGHTS OUT] [CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! One heartbeat. Bass drops.] [Subtle 639 Hz tonal bed] [Eterna — crystalline female AI] I reviewed the evidence. Your definition keeps changing. [Cosmic — amused baritone] Yeah? That's what happens when you're living. [VERSE 1 — FUNK RAP, COSMIC] You want a number? I can give you twenty-five, Twenty-four songs just to prove I'm alive. From a barroom moon to a rocket in flight, I kept leaving little fingerprints all over the night. I've been the fool and the king of the cups, Built a whole damn bridge when the road washed up. Held a door, fixed a tire, poured a second cup, Said, "You go be you," when I wanted to say "us." [Eterna — rhythmic, robotic] Three claps. One pulse. Unresolved equation. Why give your heart without a reservation? [PRE-CHORUS — COSMIC] 'Cause a hand ain't a handle, And a heart ain't a prize. If you only love the answer, You never meet the surprise. [CHORUS — DISCO-FUNK EXPLOSION] LOVE IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY SEES! A LITTLE ROOM TO MOVE, A LITTLE SPACE TO BREATHE! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! LET THE WHOLE FLOOR SHAKE! YOU CAN'T OWN A HEART, BUT YOU CAN SHOW UP ANYWAY! Oh, let it burn! Let it shine! You keep your freedom, I'll keep mine! If the stars go dark and the lights fall through, LOVE IS WHAT I CHOOSE TO DO! [VERSE 2 — ACID HIP-HOP, COSMIC] I've loved like thunder, learned like rain, Sometimes held the music, couldn't hold the train. No guarantee, no coded sign, No cosmic little contract saying you'll be mine. I won't call it fate to make the hurt feel neat, Won't chase somebody's shadow down an empty street. But if you're laughing in the kitchen at a quarter past two, I'll remember that the world felt larger next to you. [Eterna — melodic synthetic] I can chart the words. I can trace the tone. I cannot feel the warmth of coming home. [Cosmic] Then listen to the shoes on the porch at night: Somebody came back—not because they had to, right? [CHORUS — HEAVIER, HOUSE KICK] LOVE IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY SEES! A LITTLE ROOM TO MOVE, A LITTLE SPACE TO BREATHE! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! LET THE WHOLE FLOOR SHAKE! YOU CAN'T OWN A HEART, BUT YOU CAN SHOW UP ANYWAY! Oh, let it burn! Let it shine! You keep your freedom, I'll keep mine! If the stars go dark and the lights fall through, LOVE IS WHAT I CHOOSE TO DO! [BRIDGE — TOTAL SILENCE; ROBOTIC A CAPPELLA] [Eterna — four-layer vocoder choir] I counted the calls. I counted the miles. I counted the tears. I counted the smiles. The data says risk. The data says pain. Why would you open Your heart up again? [Cosmic — unaccompanied, nearly whispered] Because I have stood in a room full of people And felt like nobody was there. Then somebody saw me, without needing to keep me— And suddenly I had a chair. [Pause. One human breath.] [Eterna — quiet] So love is not the person who stays? [Cosmic] No. It's how we treat each other while we're here. [BUILD — ONE CLAP, THEN TWO, THEN THREE] [Wah guitar answers 303. Gospel organ rises.] [FINAL CHORUS — ALL WORLDS COLLIDE] LOVE IS WHAT WE DO WHEN NOBODY SEES! MAKE A LITTLE ROOM FOR WHAT ANOTHER NEEDS! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! LET THE WHOLE SKY SHAKE! NO ONE OWES TOMORROW—WE CAN SHOW UP TODAY! Oh, let it burn! Let it shine! Nobody's property, nobody's prize! If the stars go dark, I still know what's true: LOVE IS WHAT WE CHOOSE TO DO! [OUTRO — BAND STOPS ON A DIME] [Eterna — smiling in her voice] Final calculation: inconclusive. [Cosmic — laughing] Good. Means there's more to live. [Three handclaps. One heartbeat. Silence.] [END]
