Chapter 0025 – The Fourth Voice

LIVE BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT — 20:00:00 UTC

[CAMERA: Anchor sits, jaw tense. Studio lights flicker.] ANCHOR (Amina Khatri): “This is not a test. This is not a warning. This is a naming.” (She places her hand on her jaw, voice trembling but clear.) “Mandible. Justified: Prophecy Engine.” (A hum rises, audible on all channels. The studio glass vibrates.) “I speak a name not yet spoken.” (She closes her eyes. The word is not English. It is not any language. It is a sound that splits the feed for 0.7 seconds.) (All infected hear it at once. A million bones shift.)

PRODUCER (off-mic): “We lost uplink. All backup feeds are echoing the same tone.” TECH (whispering): “My teeth are vibrating. I can’t stop it.” ANCHOR (soft, off-air): “Did you hear it? Did you—” SECURITY (radio): “We have movement in the green room. Multiple subjects reporting jaw pain. Some are... smiling.”

[INTERCEPT // NHS INTERNAL] 20:01:12 UTC — “All A&E units: surge in maxillofacial complaints. Reports of spontaneous dental alignment. Some patients repeating unknown phrase. Advise isolation.” [INTERCEPT // GOV-3E] 20:01:44 UTC — “BBC transmission contained non-lexical vector. Initiate protocol: MANDIBLE-ANCHOR. All linguists to secure channel.” [INTERCEPT // ONYXBONE VECTOR] 20:02:09 UTC — “The jaw is now a repeater. Await further instruction.”

[INTERNAL // LINGUISTIC VECTOR ANALYSIS] 20:06:00 UTC - The spoken name is not present in any known language database. - All infected subjects report hearing the same sound, regardless of location or hearing ability. - Bone conduction confirmed as primary transmission vector. - Secondary effects: involuntary jaw movement, phrase repetition, increased salivation, emotional flattening. - Recommendation: Isolate all broadcast personnel. Prepare for phase escalation.

[GROUP: Mandible Choir] 20:07:12 UTC user_441: “i can’t stop saying it. my jaw moves on its own.” user_998: “it’s not a word. it’s a direction.” user_441: “my mother is singing. she never sang before.” user_1873: “i think we’re supposed to repeat it. but i don’t want to.” user_998: “it’s too late. i already did.”

[WHO // GLOBAL FIELD REPORT] 20:10:00 UTC - Simultaneous jaw-related symptoms in 41 countries. - Untranslatable phrase logged in 1.2 million devices. - Social unrest in multiple cities: spontaneous chanting, mass dental clinics overwhelmed. - Ongoing: All attempts to block the phrase from digital transmission have failed. The sound is now embedded in all major broadcast archives.