1, 2, 3, 4: Tabula Rosa

A generation was about to start a new.

At the start of his first colorful creation, Nikolai Judicaël's plan was to destroy modern music.

No longer would people have to listen to special subliminal songs that would manipulate their minds to be a certain way- skinny, fat, social, introverted. This new wave of "retro music", sounds from a hundred years ago, would cleanse the mental pallets of Chicago and show them what real music used to be like-- never specifically government issued to keep a cultural balance in the population. No; these beautiful and raw notes and chords would throw them on a loop of musical revolt!

People from all over Nikolai's city had gathered in the old-simulated theater for a presentation of The Musical Arts School of Chicago, renowned for it's graduate students going into the Subliminal Music biz to help people stay balanced.

Inside, a girl had just finished playing a famous song from a Car advertisement on the Violin, which was rigged to a special amplifier that sent a message out to the audience to check it out after the show. In fact, most of the students in the presentation had been commissioned from all over the state to play specific subliminal songs.

However, it had been about fifteen minutes since the girl had left the stage, and this was making some people restless- "That song- I have to check out that Car online when I get home." Unbeknownst to this audience, the sterile doors they had entered through were now being clicked shut by some of Nikolai's allies in music.

As the jittering crowd in the packed theater started clamoring around in a worried way, from behind his half- circle mixing station upon stage, Nikolai typed in the necessary keys into the ancient laptop to start up his music program. There, Nikolai had stored all of the dirt he had mixed using various sounds he, Irene, and her father recorded in Irene's basement, using everything from instruments to pots and pans. This collection of noises and tweaked sounds were used to put together songs of a genre the American population thought was extinct- House music.

It was the only genre banned when the "Subliminal Frequency" Act was finalized

by Congress and the Senate. It was only House music that was "completely forbidden" because of how electronically filtered it was. The awesome mixing process used to produce it's tunes crippled the subliminal messages of "self-discovery and image" from actually having an effect on anyone. "All it does," said one representative, "is cause you to want to dance against one another inappropriately and give urges to procreate. Some of the songs, in fact, have moaning women- such music like this cannot, and will not be tolerated. Rap will be the only thing distributed specifically to the masses that has anything even remotely provocative and purposeless." And that was the end of that, since no one had any objectives- the subliminal songs the government had give specific families and radio stations had already eased into their minds, keeping them full and happy without them ever having to personally think about trying to shape and mold their personalities or bodies. The music did that for you.

So when the first Bass Drum line started the four on the floor beat, Nikolai licked his lips with longing excitement for his unadulterated creations. His Synesthesia blared neon green as he began to thread upon his keyboard, the beautiful swirling sounds and images causing the audience to come to a halting silence. The stage lights prevented Nikolai from viewing his audience's blank stares as they waited for this strange new sound to affect their minds with new thoughts. However, nothing changed in their minds- no synapses fired that they were listening to pop music, so they had to go for an hour long jog to keep in shape. All that was there was a frightening and carnal urge to move and sway to the beat. At which, one by one, they all did. Slowly, the chains unraveled from their minds and a giant epiphany hit most of the people now jumping up and down.

They were actually beginning to think about the music they were hearing and how it made them feel. Some were trying to flee from the foreign noises, keep the strange and uncontrollable feelings they had deep inside their mind's storage. These desires to run were dowsed, however, when they found the doors locked.

"1, 2, 3, 4,-" Nikolai thought, watching his rainbow noises finally sink in to the now buzzing crowd. "Tabula Rosa."

And then- all of a sudden, people stopped. Nikolai stood frozen- his music continuing to loop- watching people through the glare of amber lights drop like flies to seize and foam at the mouth. And then it realization hit him.

House music did not put thoughts into their heads- it forced them to think, and since modern minds were bred to let music do that for them- their minds, simply, blanked.