The courtyard of Central Silex Academy buzzed with anticipation. Banners fluttered in controlled air currents, and a large crowd of students, teachers, and dignitaries lined up before an enormous glass stage. The Bureau of Harmony had announced a public demonstration of their newest technology: an entropy stabilization field said to "harmonize unpredictable anomalies" across the Verdant Expanse.
Luma stood beside Juno in the crowd, arms folded. Her gauntlet clicked softly, recording ambient data without prompt.
"This whole thing smells like burnt circuits," Juno muttered. "Who hosts a science expo in the middle of a city still reeling from field interference last week?"
"Tarn Vesh," Luma said, eyes narrowed. "He wants to control the narrative. To make it seem like the Bureau is solving the problems they helped create."
On the stage, Tarn Vesh raised a hand. Dressed in a silver cloak stitched with hexagonal light patterns, he smiled like a magician before a trick.
"Citizens of Silex! Today, you'll witness harmony in action!" he declared. "With the push of a button, we stabilize what chaos could never tame."
Behind him, a machine activated—a tall spire-like device emitting concentric pulses of blue light.
Luma frowned. Her gauntlet hummed angrily now. "That's not stabilization. That's a distortion amplifier. It's building pressure beneath the street."
"Exactly," Juno said. "We need to disrupt the field before it spikes. But how? The area's shielded. No hacking."
Luma looked around. The crowd swayed slightly with every wave the device emitted. Patterns. Predictable rhythms. An idea flickered.
"We don't need to hack it. We dance."
Juno blinked. "Come again?"
Luma grinned. "Every signal has a frequency. If we sync enough counter-movements—like rhythmic claps or stomps—we could create destructive interference. Cancel out the waves."
Juno's grin slowly spread. "That's either brilliant… or completely bonkers."
"Both," Luma said, leaping onto a bench.
She clapped twice in rhythm and shouted, "Okay, nerds! Time to dance for science!"
Some students laughed. Others hesitated. Then Juno joined in, stomping a syncopated beat. One by one, the crowd picked it up—clapping, stomping, chanting. The plaza became a percussive engine.
Tarn Vesh's machine flickered. His smile faltered. "What is this? Security, silence them—"
Before the guards could move, the device emitted a high-pitched whine. Its light pulses began to stagger. Wave patterns overlapped with the crowd's rhythm and collapsed in on themselves.
Luma kept the beat going, sweat trickling down her brow.
With a final sonic hiccup, the machine sparked and powered down.
Silence.
Then the crowd erupted in cheers.
Tarn Vesh retreated off stage, cloak flaring in frustration.
Luma dropped onto a nearby bench, panting. "See? Physics. With a little flair."
Juno flopped beside her. "You just weaponized a school assembly. I'm both terrified and in awe."
Ion approached, arms crossed and smiling. "You're definitely not in my shadow anymore."
Luma looked up, laughing. "Guess we're all in sync now."
As the crowd began to disperse, whispers started: not just about the Bureau's failure—but about the girl who beat entropy with rhythm.
A spark In the static, indeed.