From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Static Bloom
The radio/radar igloo emerges from the red desert like a half-buried skull made of corrugated metal and circuitry. Inside, instruments line every wall—dials, receivers, antennae that seem to listen to frequencies beyond the human ear. Katita leads Leif to the frequency dial and places his hand upon it.
Katita: Raise it. As high as it will go.
Leif: Why?
Katita: The robots can't hear in the ultraviolet. Neither can your eyes.
He turns the dial. The frequency climbs: 100, 200, 300 megahertz. The pitch rises to a note that exists at the absolute edge of human hearing—pure, crystalline, almost painful. And in that moment, Leif's doubled vision collapses entirely. The ten layered versions of the world resolve into one. For the first time in chapters, he sees clearly: the igloo's interior, the instruments, Katita's face—her red hair catching the emergency light, her watermelon-green eyes, the scar on her cheek.
Leif: I can see you.
Katita: Good. You're going to need to.
Outside, the data-harvesters freeze, unable to process the frequency. Beneath his skin, white wings press against bone. The sound of the earth rubbing against space has resolved into exactly this high note. The pressure is unbearable now.