"The Virgin Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and when we die."

The choral singers sang a complex hymn of alto, mezzo-soprano and baritone, followed by a short hymn, and the entire theater reverberated with the voices of the six men, as well as the faint morning breeze organ (which had been recorded in the Cathedral of Our Lady four months earlier), and the live mix blended them together like a silk thread – to which the discerning audience reacted mediocrely – they were beautiful but distinctly lacking in character and **, Some listened absentmindedly and waited patiently for the end of the foreshadowing, while many more restlessly restless in the dark, patiently refraining from whispering, and at the same time fiddling with their hair, ornaments, and lighters given to them upon entry.

The center of the stage suddenly turned, it opened, a round and straight cavern, about six feet wide, with rippling blue water in the middle, the lights slowly concentrated in the center, the piano and the chorus were drawn into the darkness, the whole concert hall was only bright, the white light was perpendicular to the water like icicles, the sensitive collector began to work with a gentle "click", people heard and saw the sound and image of the water churning, gurgling, something was diving up from under the water— A large, dazzling fish jumped out of it—long silver hair curled into an almost frozen semicircle in the air, pearl-like droplets of water splashed everywhere, and she burst out of the water, her eyes closed, her face facing the air, the crystal water flowing down her forehead, flowing over her sunken cheeks and sharp jaw, rouge staining the corners of her eyes, and then from her temples to the corners of her lips, forming a triangular scarlet area.

The sound of water droplets falling on a metal platform could be heard from Sasha's headphones, and he watched in the darkness as the mechanical platform lifted Siren high. She stood on the pillar that swirled and rose, her arms outstretched, her clothes adorned with transparent feathers, real feathers, plucked from hundreds of white pigeons, parrots, and peacocks, degreased, embalmed, waterproofed, and sewn on transparent metallic yarn, on which the water droplets jumped and could not hold - the audience shouted, they called Xiren's name, and all the affectionate names they had chosen for her, and the lighter was lit. Fifty thousand flames swayed against a dark background, illuminating a fanatical and excited face.

Xiren opened his mouth—there was a sudden silence in the field, and the difference in that moment would make one think that he had suddenly become deaf—there was no sound at all. Everyone listened with bated breath.

"I said," said Senek and Glegri. Coso sat at the top of the inverted pyramid, ten feet from the last row of seats, with a protective panel made of clear tempered glass in between, and he quietly turned sideways. Keep your voice to a minimum: "You've really decided?" Is this really the last time? He said, "Look at these...... The show could have been put five years later. ”

"It's a pity," said Glegri, "but what do you want me to do." He gently swirled the diamond ring on his little finger, frowning slightly, he was a handsome man, and he was particularly attractive when he made such small movements. I can't help it, dear Senek," he said coldly, "she has changed. A nasty and uncontrollable change, I swear I've ever tried, but ...... In the end, I realized that everything I had done was in vain. He turned to look at Seneke, his eyes focused and sad: "There is nothing I can do about it—the bird's wings have grown stiff, and she doesn't need me anymore." This warm nest is no longer needed. ”

"Have you talked to her?"

"Talk?" Glegri smiled: "What to talk about? Seneke, poor boy boy. You don't know women, yes, even women like Siren, they're all the same, they just need you to answer 'yes' or 'no', they don't compromise or tolerate in their dictionary, they certainly don't give in or endure because of that, they're vicious, mean, fickle, and forgetful—very forgetful, no matter how much you've done for them, if you're not happy at the slightest, they'll want to pounce on you and cut your throat. ”

Seneke looked at the arena with a strange expression, and the young woman standing at the top of the pillar was making her first sound—like a wounded bird, like a broken ivory whistle, like a dolphin that had lost its cub chirping in the sea, in short, not like a person, "It's hard to imagine." He said, the thin body was like a glowing shadow, the voice was sad and crisp, and Seneke's eyes unconsciously carried a trace of pity: "Really, it's too hard to imagine......"

"That's normal," Glegri chuckled briefly, "and you'll never know how much effort I've put into her." A goddess, an artificial goddess, he murmured, curling the corners of his mouth, "No one knows better than me what is in there." ”

The venue is open, but in order to make the audience feel comfortable, there are vents under the seats, thousands of thick air ducts are constantly pouring cold wind and fresh air from the sea into it, 3D stereoscopic 360-degree projection has been formed above people's heads, the black velvety sky is its background, Xiren towers into the clouds, and his body is dotted with stars, Glegri looks up, but what he thinks about is the early morning - the feeling of sharp reed leaves whipping on his face, he has to half-close his eyes, Deep and shallow, he ran along the voice—the voice was like a great magnet drawing his dull piece of iron—it grew higher and higher, and the intervals became shorter and shorter, and his mouth was full of sweetness, like a fish hooked in the lips, quick! Faster! He rushed out of the reeds and sparse trees, and with a heavy, solid double-barreled shotgun in his hand, he loaded it, tilted his head calmly, and raised the muzzle of the gun at the man who was busy cutting off the girl's feet.

The bullet of the counterattacker cut through his forehead, but he was fearless, the blood was surging in his body, and they fled—the sound was gone, and at first he thought she was dead, but no, the sun rose, and she lived, covered in dirt, scabies, calluses, and thick skin...... With the exception of both feet and ankles, the hunters washed them with corrosive water at the behest of the witch doctor. A circle of skin took on a pale color, blood contaminated them, bones were visible in the mouth, pink muscles and white meridians bloomed like flowers.

He carried her up, she was very light, light like a dummy filled with air, and he took her back to the Western Continent, where she had been treated in the hospital for nearly two years before she could barely be considered a person.

Xiren used to cry about her love, and she thought he didn't love her. How could it be, the first person to fall in love with her was him, he was her agent. It was he who saved her, discovered her, created her.

Glegri. Corso had never felt guilty about those growth hormone inhibitors, and in his mind, those things were like chisels carved into marble. They may cause pain, but they are essential, and in order to make Siren and maintain her voice, it is necessary, embarrassing menstruation and huge breasts and buttocks. Neither marriage nor children are what she needs, they are dross, crumbs. It's something that will make her fall into the mortal world—like the adolescent teenager in the nineteenth-century Vienna Choir who castrated himself to keep her pure and immaculate voice—for this, you have to give up that, you want that, you can't keep this—you can't have everything.

If only Xiren could understand this. But she didn't understand. Glegri couldn't make her understand, so he had to give up.

Birds don't just have wings. With a sharp beak and claws, he couldn't catch her, even if his hands were bloody.

***

Because of the special design of the stage, its backstage was just below the water's surface, and the ventilation and air conditioning were humming, but the cylindrical area, about a hundred feet in diameter and about seven feet in height, was still sweltering, and sound engineers, electrical engineers, stage installers, and a group of assistants drilled between groups of large, sophisticated machines, wires and network cables like rainforest vines, crisscrossing the ground tightly, a make-up artist tripping over, and cosmetics scattered all over the floorThe dancers quickly pass through the middle, the general stage supervisor, the supervisor, together with the live recording, the chorus and other related personnel sit in front of a curved monitor screen, each with a headset equipped with a microphone in their ears, and the fingers of the modulator are busy on the keyboard and regulator, and they are not at peace for a while.

The image on the screen moved at a constant speed, and the superintendent stared at it with full concentration, a large camera suspended above the auditorium with a boom, and it was able to directly parallel to Xiren's face," a close-up. The chief superintendent said loudly, and the controller on one side immediately flicked the handle, and the camera taxied for a while, stopped, and the camera stopped on Xiren's face, her eyes were open, and the light on the stage was not strong, but her eye sockets were still full of tears, and her iris was ruby red.

A staff member opened a bottle of frozen Coke, and he asked the man standing next to him to take a sip, but the man refused.

He didn't mind taking the bottle and pouring most of it down in one go, "How did you do that?" Buddy. He looked at the guy who was still neatly dressed in this situation, he didn't even roll up his sleeves, and his expression was solemn, like a priest: "Don't tell me you hid an electric fan in your clothes. ”

Anthony. Hopkins looked around, everyone was busy with their own business, he raised his hand, pinched the guy's neck from an angle that no one else could see, and seconds later, the first guest was welcomed in the special ambulance cabin for some overexcited spectator - a staff member.

Of course, the doctor could have dealt with this verbose idiot in other ways, but a large part of his mind and senses were spent on the stage, and that belonged to Sasha. In the corner of Hopkins.

He didn't wear headphones, but the delays and noises caused by the speakers and transmission lines didn't pose a decent threat to him, he could hear what he wanted to hear, and he compared the plucked clairpiano to the sound of the siren - an extremely subtle sense of dissonance between the two, which no one else could hear, and the computer could not analyze, but he could feel it.

He stood there silently, unobtrusive to anyone, like part of a metal wall panel, and he didn't open the door.

(To be continued)

PS: Thank you for the pink ticket of Lord Summoning Misfortune TOHFRS-sama's evaluation vote, Yuyu bows!