The Sound of Freedom

The Sound of Freedom
Alex's POV

The group of people with blue eyes walked toward us like robots in a scary movie.
I grabbed the mic that was closest and pulled it toward the sound control box. It was so hard for me to hold still because my hands were shaking so badly.
"What are you doing?" Agent Williams yelled above the yelling crowd.
"Something crazy," I said as I flipped every sound board switch I could find. "My dad took me to see his band practice when I was a kid." When the cameras got too close to the speakers, their gear always made this awful screeching sound.
Ethan's eyes got really big. "Feedback loops!"
"Exactly." I cranked every volume setting to maximum. "If Reed's nanobots use some kind of radio signal to control people, maybe we can mess with that signal."
The first group of managed people was only twenty feet away now. They all moved at exactly the same speed, like they were moving in a parade. It was the creepiest thing I'd ever seen.
I held the microphone right up to the biggest speaker I could find.
The sound that came out was like nails on a chalkboard mixed with a fire warning. It was so loud and awful that I had to cover my ears. The whole stadium shook.
And then something amazing happened.
The people with sparkling blue eyes suddenly stopped walking. They grabbed their heads and started screaming. Some of them fell to their knees.
"It's working!" Ethan yelled.
But Reed's words boomed over the stadium speakers again. "Nice try, Alex. But I have backup methods."
The controlled people started moving toward us again, but now they were running.
"We need more feedback!" I shouted. I grabbed two more mics and shoved them against different speakers.
The noise got even worse. It sounded like the world was dying. But more calm people stopped and fell down, holding their heads.
That's when I noticed something weird. Some people in the crowd didn't have blue eyes anymore. They looked around confused, like they had just woken up from a dream.
"The sound is breaking Reed's control!" Agent Williams said. "Keep going!"
I grabbed every microphone I could find. The response was so loud now that windows in the stadium started cracking. My ears were ringing like crazy, but I didn't stop.
Then Reed appears on the stage behind us.
He moved so fast it was like he teleported. One second he wasn't there, and the next second he was grabbing me by the shirt and pulling me off the ground.
"You little pest," he snarled. His eyes were glowing so bright blue they looked like tiny suns. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
I tried to answer, but I couldn't breathe. Reed was holding me up in the air with one hand like I weighed nothing.
"Alex!" Ethan ran toward us, but Reed held up his other hand. Some kind of unseen force threw Ethan backward into the wall.
"The nanobots were supposed to make humanity perfect," Reed said to me. "No more war. No more hate. No more pain. Everyone thinking the same thoughts, wanting the same things."
"That's not perfect," I gasped, trying to get air into my lungs. "That's just boring."
Reed's grip got tighter. "You think chaos is better? You think letting people make their own mistakes is better?"
Around us, more and more people were breaking free from nanobot control because of the input. They were helping other people stand up and trying to figure out what had happened to them.
"Yeah," I said. "I do think that's better."
Reed raised his other hand toward me. I could see energy sparking between his fingers. "Then you can die thinking that."
But before Reed could zap me, something incredible happened.
All the people who had broken free from nanobot control started making noise. They were clapping, yelling, whistling, and banging on the metal bleachers. The sound got louder and louder until it was almost as loud as the echo from the speakers.
Reed dropped me and covered his ears. "What is this?"
"It's people being people," I said, getting back to my feet. "Messy and loud and wonderful."
That's when I saw Jasmine and Liam running toward the stage. Behind them were dozens of other students I recognized from school.
"Alex!" Jasmine shouted. "We figured out how to make more comments! Liam's dad sent us some military tools!"
Liam was carrying what looked like a really big radio. "It's a signal amplifier," he said, breathing hard from running. "If we connect it to the sound system, we can broadcast the feedback across the whole city!"
Reed heard this and his face turned white. "No. I won't let you ruin everything I've built."
He raised both hands toward us, and I could see energy rising up around him like he was about to shoot lightning bolts.
But Agent Williams appeared behind Reed with something that looked like a taser. She shot him in the back, and Reed fell forward onto the stage.
"Is he down?" Ethan asked, getting back up from where Reed had thrown him.
Reed's body was moving on the ground, but his eyes were still glowing blue. Then he started laughing.
"You think one little shock can stop me?" Reed pushed himself up to his hands and knees. "I've been updating myself with nanobots for three years. I'm more machine than person now."
Reed stood up slowly. The taser lines were still sticking out of his back, but they didn't seem to bother him anymore.
"And now," Reed said, pulling out what looked like a cell phone, "I'm going to activate every nanobot dispenser in every big city in America. If I can't have this venue, I'll have the whole country."
He held his thumb over a big red button on the phone.
"Stop!" I yelled.
But Reed smiled the most evil smile I'd ever seen. "Too late."
He pressed the button.
Somewhere in the distance, air raid sirens started going off.