Chapter 18 — Music Sent After School

The next morning, the rumor spread faster than any broadcast. A group of students said Duy was favored because the club was related to Ha Audio. Another group said Nhien deliberately played the role of an ordinary person to take the story of the poor. Lam heard it and was about to respond with a live broadcast, but Nhien stopped him.

“If I speak when I'm angry, people will only remember my angry tone,” she said.

They held a short Q&A session in the backyard. No stage, no logo, just a microphone and three boards clearly stating the known, the unknown, and the unanswerable. Duy talks about his scholarship, his job at a radio repair shop and why he wants to keep the rights to his father's recordings. Nhien talked about her family, about the things she inherited but never earned on her own.

Someone asked why we didn't just keep everything quiet. Lam replied that hiding the story would only make others tell it instead. Ms. Mai added that going public does not mean exposing everything. The person submitting the question has the right to withdraw it, and the club will not read names without permission.

After that session, a female student gave Nhien a folded piece of paper. You write that you are also living under a name chosen by someone else, but don't have the courage to change it yet. Nhien does not advise you what to do. She just gave the club's email address and said: "When you want to talk, we will listen."

Late in the afternoon, Duy sent a new song. He abandoned the sound of the train, replacing it with the sound of the classroom door closing after school. The sound sounded so normal that Lam criticized it for not having a climax. Duy Bao climax is sometimes the moment when people realize they have stayed longer than planned. Nhien listened to it three times, then marked the recording as playable.

“After the Last Bell” preparations begin with clearing the field. Khang measured the electrical outlet, Lam marked the path, Nhien placed the listening rights board at each station. Duy brought a box of batteries and asked each person if they wanted to appear in the narration.

Aunt Huong sat at the radio station, showing the students how to turn the knob slowly. She said the old machine didn't like being yanked. Technical statements quickly become reminders about people.

A non-exclusive contract

Ha Audio is the first sponsor to agree to amend the contract according to students' requests, but the school board is still afraid of depending on one company. Ms. Mai proposed dividing the budget: part from fundraising, part from local businesses, the rest from public training programs.

“No one owns the room,” she said.

SoundSeed withdrew from the negotiating table. Ha Audio kept its promise to sponsor the equipment but did not place a logo. A speaker repair shop near the school lent the meter. Aunt Huong repaired radios used in sound mapping for free. For the first time, the club had many adults supporting it and no one stood on the podium to receive credit.

Lam made a public table of money coming in and money going out. Khang established an equipment warehouse. Nhien prepares a short consent form, using language that is easy to understand. Duy checks each recording.

“I wrote the sentence 'allowed to distribute once',” Duy said.

“What if the sender wants to broadcast multiple times?”

“There is a check box.”

“If you want to withdraw?”

“There is a withdrawal button.”

“Real button or paper button?”

"Both."

Lam looked at the board. “You two talk about buttons like you're talking about a date.”

“After the Last Bell” night is open. There is no stage, just listening stations. The school gate station makes a locking sound. The phoenix tree's leaves touch each other. Room station 3C plays authorized voice clips. In the middle is a large map for listeners to use headphones and mark the audio you want to keep.

A 10th grade boy stood in front of the "canteen counter", heard the sound of boiling oil and burst out laughing. “My mother also makes cakes in this language.”

A teacher chose the chalk sound. “I want students to remember class is about more than just grades.”

Duy performs a new guitar part. Nature controls scene transitions. Lam leads guests. Every time someone asks about the mysterious song, she says: "We only play it when the right person agrees."

The event received more revenue than expected. More importantly, it creates a long list of people who want to join the open audio repository.

In the middle of the night, Khang discovered a listening station with strange files plugged into it. The sound emitted is the last part of tape 03, which has not been made public. Duy ran to unplug the power source. Some people heard children crying.

Nhien immediately turned off the station, apologized to the customer and noted the problem. Lam did not explain in detail to avoid making the rumors bigger. Aunt Huong hugged Duy when his hands shook.

“Who plugged in?” Khang asked.

The camera only recorded a silhouette of a person wearing a hat passing by, with a square ring.

Minh Quang called a lawyer. They reported the incident to the school and did not hide it. The principal was worried that the event would be canceled, but Ms. Mai said it was the transparent handling that was the reason the room should exist.

Nhien asked Duy if he wanted to stop. He shook his head.

“I want to know who intentionally broadcast that part.”

“Not for revenge?”

“Because if they do it to us, they can do it to someone else.”

The night ended with the sound of chairs being cleared. Lam counts the fundraising money, Khang backs up the log. Nhien discovered an audio file plugged into the station from the school's memory card. Passes are issued to temporary sound staff during the event.

Employee name: Vu Thanh Dat.

Duy wanted to call the police, but the lawyer suggested collecting evidence first. Camera, log, access list and ring model are saved. Minh Quang realized that the ring in the old photo was the gift he gave Vu Tan, not Dat's.

“There are two people,” Nhien said. “One person transports, one person gives orders.”

“And maybe a third person sent the file,” Duy replied.

Lam turned back. “The third person knows everything, but doesn't want us to hear the last part.”

At that moment, a message appeared in the inbox from the after.school.archive account:

**I'm not the one who played the tape. I just want you to know it exists. If you want to find me, listen to the bell at my old school at 17:16.**

The attached address is a closed elementary school, a few kilometers from Binh Minh. Aunt Huong recognized that place: the old school where Duy studied in his early years. Nhien looked at him.

“I don't remember the bell there.”

“Maybe file wants you to remember who was standing by the gate.”

“I don't like memories being dictated to.”

“We don't need to go right away.”

Duy looked at the fundraising board and the sound store. “But tomorrow the old school will be demolished to build a new area.”

They decided to ask Ms. Mai to come with them. Minh Quang warned that it might be a trap, but promised to send Bao to provide technical support. Lam wanted to go because "if you're trapped, you have to have someone to talk to to ease your fear." Khang brought a meter, three spare batteries and a package of cookies.

Before turning off the lights, Nhien stood in the middle of the room. The old microphone on the table reflects light. She flipped the switch. No squeaking sound.

Only a very small sentence from the speaker:

“Come before they delete the last sound.”

Nhien did not immediately lead the group to his old school. Ms. Mai applied for a permit, Minh Quang checked the address, and Khang tested the tape recorder at Binh yard Minh to make sure the battery is enough. Duy wants to go with him, but he has to work at Aunt Huong's counter.

“I can come later,” he said.

"No need. If it's not safe, we won't go in."

"I know."

They changed their plans and only recorded from outside the old school gate. The bell has been removed, but the hanging rope still vibrates when the wind blows. Ms. Mai said not all messages require immediate action.

At Dawn, Lam prepares the night “After the Last Bell”. She wrote a list of participants, adding a "don't want to appear" section so everyone could just listen. Khang designs a sound station that does not require login. I checked the sponsor's terms one last time.

Ha Audio accepts sponsorship in the form of donations, not branded. Aunt Huong said it was the first time a company donated money without putting a name tag.

Minh Quang smiled sadly. “Dad is studying.”

Nhien replied: "Learning requires a test."

He signed the appendix in front of Ms. Mai.

The night of the event, the sound spread through the yard. One student sent the sound of the gate, another sent the sound of the clock. After listening, someone didn't say anything, just wrote in the notebook: "I've never noticed that the school has so many voices."

Duy came to the end of the show, bringing a new guitar part. He didn't broadcast it right away, just asked the contributor if he agreed to add it. Nhien saw that he had turned the terms into a natural habit.

When they finished cleaning, the mailbox sent file 06. The female voice said thank you because they kept the name of the absent person. There is no threat. Nhien responded with a short letter, saying they would continue to listen but would not trace his identity.

At three o'clock in the morning, the school system warned of a strange login. Khang locked his account, didn't panic. The first time they had a good enough process that an alert didn't turn into a panic.

Nhien wrote down the event in his diary: "A warning is not a conclusion." She adds the recipient, lock time, log copy, and notification. Ms. Mai checked and signed to confirm.

The next day, the group talked about security on the show. Khang explained the password, Lam gave an example with a locked box, and Duy said the access right is like the right to listen: not everyone who knows the address can open it.

Students sent questions about filming friends in class. Ms. Mai replied that permission is needed, even if the video is only posted in a closed group. Nhien gives the example of footsteps, because people often forget that sounds can also be identified.

Minh Quang called to report that he had found an old camera recording at Ha Audio. He did not send via email, only scheduled direct delivery. Duy wants to go with him. Nhien told everyone to go together to avoid one person holding too much information.

The camera couldn't see the face, but recorded the square ring and equipment bag. Bao confirmed that the bag belonged to Moss Records. This is a useful piece of the puzzle, not the final conclusion.

On the way home, Lam bought four ice creams. Khang dropped one tree, Duy divided his share in half. Nhien asked if it was necessary to record. Lam said: "No, this is a secret that has the right to be dissolved."