INTERMISSION: The Howling Towers and Singing Towers
The Howling Tower
The Howling tower initiative came about after concerns about the virulence of the fungal lifeform hereafter refered to as "Mycus," became too great to ignore. In the lab, the Mycus proved to be not just virulent, but effective as well. Plans to weaponize the fungal agent we're scrapped at a very early stage when the Mycus proved impossible to control. Simply containing it, should a problem arise, became the primary concern of all labs associated with Mycus research. For the purpose of dealing with the problems associated with handling the Mycus, there were suggested many solutions. Incineration has always proved an effective way to eliminate said fungal infestation of areas, while certain antifungal agents could be administered to persons infected by Mycus spores. At some point though, individual Mycus life forms develop a resistance or outright immunity to high temperature while subjects who are infected for long periods of time become resistant to antifungal agents or become one with the infection themselves. It was discovered though, through testing, that the Mycus suffers from a sensitivity to sound. The mechanism behind this sensitivity isn't understood in the least, except that said sensitivity can be exploited to hinder Mycus cohesion. By no means will it remove or totally stop infection/infestation, but it will make finding the effected easier and slow the spread of Mycus dramatically.
There was a great deal of testing and trial and error involved in finding the optimal harmonic waveform for the purpose of suppression of Mycus lifeforms and in the end we had to resort to a facility which, in layman's terms, consists of an upscaled expensive weathervane. More precisely though, the Howling Tower is a facility consisting of offices, a small lab and barracks facilities for military staff, storage for [REDACTED] as well as [REDACTED] for operating the facility independently of the local power grid. The facility is also outfitted with a rudimentary but sophisticated "F&F" security matrix. The tower itself is a specially designed structure attached to the main facility consisting of a large [REDACTED] generator connected to a super alloy axle seated in an egg shaped rotunda. Above this, attached to the axle at the top is a secondary [REDACTED] supported by a tower of steel girders supplemented by an alloy superstructure. The parabolic dishes affixed to [REDACTED] are fashioned from an alloy of super alloy heavily supplemented with [REDACTED] supplied at great cost by [REDACTED].
The facilities construction ensures that it can remain functional indefinitely off grid, but is outfitted with numerous fail-safes should the worst occur. Electrical subsystems can be easily rerouted in the event of a short or swapped out entirely in the event of major damage due to [REDACTED]. The axles composition means that while it may suffer surface deformation over time, it will not wear away or lose it's main shape so much as to compromise it's function. Each dish is perforated at mathematically determined points in such a way as to allow air to pass through them as they spin. The material and design, as well as the device providing rotation, ensures that a sound is produced at the exact harmonic wavelength for optimal disruption of Mycus cohesion.
See handbook CC11X2, fungal/floral containment procedures, for details concerning operation of the Howling Tower and for instructions on remote activation procedures in case Howling Tower installation suffers heavy damage or Mycus infestation.
The Singing Tower
Construction of a Singing Tower is functionally identical to that of a Howling Tower, except that the dishes are fabricated from [REDACTED] and perforation is more regularized between them. This leads to a sound which is more sonorous and pleasing to the ear. The sound also happens to resonate much more violently with the environment. As such, Singing Towers are much less stable. To understand how Singing Towers effect Mycus, one must understand the relationship between the Mycus and the Triffids.
The Triffids are a species of plant life forms spanning genus many and varied. These plant like life forms are one of a very small number of creatures capable not only of resisting the Mycus, but also of preying upon it. For this reason it was decided that rather than relying heavily on Howling Tower installations, the much more disposable Singing Tower. These installations, rather than suppress Mycus growth, promote plant growth. Much like more terrestrial plants, Triffids are effected by the vibrations caused by sound waves, jostling their cells and promoting further growth. The melodic resonance from a Singing Tower has been tuned for just this purpose.
By promoting Triffid colonies, the hope is that Triffid life will spread further and faster than the Mycus, which will be slowed by the Howling Towers. There is of course the chance that the Triffids will prove too sedentary to grow too far from the towers once they are active. Another worry is that Triffids could grow out of control and overtake the local environment much as the Mycus would. Use of the Singing Tower may also lead to the cultivation of Triffid “gardens.” Such Gardens would be an easily renewable source of food, building material, and Triffid toxin used to make antifungal agents and defoliants.
See handbook CC11X2, fungal/floral containment procedures, for details concerning operation of the Singing Tower and for instructions on remote activation procedures in case Howling Tower installation suffers heavy damage or Mycus infestation. Damage to tower is likely to occur as Triffid growth takes place.
The Screaming Tower and Operation Windchime
[REDACTED]
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