Electrowave

Die Funkhausgruppe

The streets of the city were beginning to look more and more like a warzone every day. In a way this was a warzone. There was a war going on... somewhere, we figured. We just couldn't see it from here. And so we avoided looking outside, drew the curtains, retreated to our little corner where we had our radio. I dread to think what was happening in Niedersachsen. But we never found out.

---

The days carried on much the same. Eventually we got a knock on the door, the first time that had happened since the war started.

There was a huge debate over whether we should answer it or not but in the end we decided to see who it was. It was the members of Die Perlen. They had been looking for us, and they wanted the whole of Die Funkhausgruppe to come and stay in the studio with us. Apparently they were quite worried that we would say no, but of course we said yes. And so, there we were, Welle: Erdball, Sonnenbrandt, Die Perlen and Hertzinfarkt. Just like in the good old days. But not quite.

---

It was better having more people to talk to. Sometimes the silence had been never ending when there was just the four of us. But sometimes silence speaks a lot more than words.

---

The others settled in well, and they seemed pretty happy. Perhaps too happy sometimes.

"This is great!" MiniMono smiled as we all sat there in the studio.

"Great?" Henne said, "You know there's a bloody war on, don't you?"

Sonnenbrandt just shifted uneasily. As they did every time the war or the Electrowave was brought up. Almost as if they felt responsible for it. Which was ridiculous. An electronic band couldn't bring about the end of the world... could it?

---

Of course, what we didn't realise was that Sonnenbrandt were hiding a big secret from the rest of us. A secret that would rip Die Funkhausgruppe apart and leave us all searching for answers.

---

"Hey, Honey," Katja said to me one day, "You hear about the machine Sonnenbrandt made?"

"Hmmm? No, why?"

"Frau Sonne and Herr Brandt have been working on a machine, or so they say," Katja said, "I heard them talking about it the other day, but when I came closer they stopped. Almost like it's a secret or something."

But, they knew we were talking about them, and Sonnenbrandt came walking over to us.

"Oh Katja, let's not talk about that old thing again," Brandt brushed her off, "Besides, I'm not even sure if this new version works."

"It worked before," Sonne said, "You know, we've tested it."

"Sorry, what are you two talking about?" Alf interrupted them.

"Some machine, they won't tell us about it though," Katja sighed, "And don't bother asking them what it does because they won't tell you. They'll only talk about it in riddles."

"Well, that's because it's not ready yet," Brandt said, "We had to leave it behind in the Sonnenbrandt studio. We will tell you all when it's time."

---

And Katja was right. They wouldn't answer any more questions about the machine, no matter how many times we asked. It was a mystery that we couldn't quite solve. But it wasn't that important, we were more worried about the Electrowave, and whether or not it would be used again.

And so things continued here quite the same, now as Die Funkhausgruppe, rather than Welle: Erdball. Every day we took that crystal set radio out and listened for any news that could come in. But one day, the broadcasts stopped completely. We worried that America had attacked another nearby European country, possibly Switzerland or France. We sat around that radio for hours hoping we could at least find one more broadcast, but there was nothing. It never came back.

---

One day, Herr Brandt from Sonnenbrandt took me to one side. He looked very concerned about something.

"Honey," Brandt said, "I've got something to say, and I'm not sure whether I should say this to the rest of the group or not."

"Yes, what is it? Oh, the machine?"

"No, not the machine."

"Then... what?"

"Well, a different machine. You might not believe this, Honey, but for a while, me and my assistant Sonne... we... we used to be scientists, and quite good at it, if we do say so ourselves. Well, we were working for the American government. Paid quite a lot for it too. Not that we were working by choice. It was forced upon us by the US. You have to remember that."

"Hmm? What kind of project?"

"A project..." he repeated, looking at me as if it should be obvious, "For the American government..."

"Uh..." But I quickly understood. No, he couldn't possibly mean... they didn't...

There had only been one recent project built on the orders of the American government. Only one...

"The Electrowave?!" I yelled, so loudly that everyone else in the studio must have heard it too, "The Electrowave? YOU BUILT THE ELECTROWAVE!?"

Herr Brandt and Frau Sonne just looked down at the floor.

"Yes," Brandt said, "We built the Electrowave. We're sorry. We didn't know what it would do... but we did. We built it."

"My involvement in the project was minimal," Korg said, "But it is true. I can tell you that."

I just stood there in shock as everyone else rushed to the room. They had all heard it. They had heard everything.