Secret Codes by Secret Means

Chel Owens

*BEEP* *BOO* *BEEP* *BEEE*

Bridger Serialkillerton (II) hears the annoyance; notes it. His mind refuses to ignore it. Noise without end meant communication of some kind. Morse code? Tap? Now that he’s decided to give the sound his attention, he feels his mind go to work on deciphering. His body tenses for pauses and assigns them a space-between. The duration and intensity of each annoying tone is given emphasis and potential.

*BEEEEE* *BEE-BOO* *BEEP*

It toys at his experience and verges on the edge of revelation. A call for distress? He’s heard this before, hasn’t he?

*BOOP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEE*

It’s a device; yes! His scattered mental search brings this solution. This is no fellow-agent in need. This is a computerized output, set to alert users to the impending completion of its program. At least, he feels it normally operates as such. Whyever it is outputting so erratically sets his mind-gears in motion once again.

*BEEP* *BOO* *BEEP* *BEEE*

The original pattern presents itself again.

*BEEEE* *BEE-BOOP*

He’s heard that sequence as well.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BOOO-*

He feels at the tip of resolution …when Bridger Serialkillerton’s forgotten associate shouts at full volume:

“BRIDGER SERIALKILLERTON THE THIRD! GET YOUR SHOES ON AND STOP PLAYING WITH THAT MICROWAVE THIS INSTANT!”

Photo by Jep Gambardella on Pexels.com

©2022 Chel Owens

11 thoughts on “Secret Codes by Secret Means”

  1. It sent a shiver down my spine. I once stood beside our dishwasher and I could swear it was talking to me. “de gen’ral need a cat, de gen’ral need a cat, de gen’ral need a cat…” Who is this general?! And is it a siamese he wants or will any old tabby do? But the general needs a cat was the only sense it came out with.

    Did you read that news report about that guy who washed his hair in preparation for a night out and thought he could dry it quickly in a microwave oven? Yep, he’s no longer with us unfortunately. ☹️

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      1. I have. Demise of the unfittest, kind of thing.

        I remembered after my comment that we used to have short wave included on our radio sets and, something probably weird to the digital agers, we tuned in by carefully turning a dial – analog stuff! With short wave, you’d hear a lot of white noise, clicks and whirlings, whistles and buzzes, before you found a radio show.

        Well, I learned a lot later I was partly listening to faraway stars in distant galaxies, the actual radio waves these things naturally emit across space, picked up by any radio aerial. If that’s not freaky enough, the waves we heard were emitted billions of years back in time. It’s absolutely true. And they always said, the old shows were the best!

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  3. Couldn’t help but think of The Platters:
    Who put the bomp in the bomp buh bomp buh bomp?
    Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?
    Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop?
    Who put the dip in the dip dee dip dee dip?

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