33 Floors- Part 2
As soon as Serra and Barnette opened the door, the lion and fox were greeted by the raucous shouts of people gathered to watch a band perform in the lobby. Based on what was shown on the drumheads, the name of the band was "Murphy's Law". This band was amde of a human, an eagle, a lion, and a bull and they played music with a decidedly Irish bent to it, concerning the use of fiddles and the harp. Mathieu had never specified a band to perform on the day when this would be open to the public so this caught him a bit off guard.
"You never told me there would be a band inside the first floor, Hiram. Hiram!" Amidst the crowds of fans some of whom were dressed in suits and ties, others dressed in leather jackets and blue jeans, Mathieu Barnette had lost sight of the lion architect who had created this building. He saw a trace of the lion going up an elevator, presumably up to the top floor.
And that's when Mathieu wanted this whole meeting to be done- he knew there was something, something very important that he architect he had hired to finsih the project had kept hidden from him and this fox was determined to find it out, one way or the other. But for now, the most important task was finding out what exactly was going on in the first floor.
"Who organized this? Are you under Hiram's employ? Why didn't I, the mayor of Bien Faisant get an explanation as to this or any other forewarning?" And the only resposne this very confused got from the revelers or from the band members themselves was the typical 'I don't know'. They all directed him to talk to Hiram who was no doubt at the top of the building right now waiting for the fox mayor to come and talk to him, about the purpose for building this monstrosity. And the band told Barnette that they would begin to play another song very shortly Already, Barnette had regrets about this skyscraper and for once, it had nothing to do with the astounding cost of the project. But in the midst of all this confusion, Mathieu decided it would be best to just roll with the punches and soon he found himself listening to the song that Murphy's Law started playing as the human (humans shared the world with the anthropomorphic creatures of Bien Faisant) member of the band named Matt began to sing.
"I would be saved, and I would save
I would be let loose and I would let loose.
I am wounded yet I also wound
I am born yet I also bear
I eat and I am eaten
I hear and I am heard
I would be thought, being wholly thought
I am washed and I wash"
"I am a mirror to you who know me,
I am a door to you who knock on me,
I am a way to you, the wayfarer,
I am a lamp those who see me".
"I will pipe, dance all of you!" And at that, the whole crowd, a mixture of many species and walks of life began dancing feverishly on the lobby floor, even Mathieu himself.
"I will mourn, lament all of you!" And Jonathan, the eagle violinist began playing this most touching and tragic violin solo which moved the people in attendance to tears.
"The whole universe takes part in the dancing." This was a reality to Mathieu Barnette flailing wildly with the others, who had stretched their arms up and waved wildly to the music.
"The number 8 joins in the song. The number 12 is dancing above." This particular lyric was a challenge to accurately decipher for Mathieu Barnette or any one there to decipher and yet the enraptured singing and dancing did not stop at all, as the song carried to the audience due to the virtuosity of the performers.
"He who does not dance, does not know what is being done."
"I will flee and I will stay."
"I would be united and unite"
"I am homeless yet I have many homes."
The lyrics were something that Mathieu just simply could not understand and he tried very hard. The first and last stanzas contained logical absurdities and what possessed the singers to write songs about numbers that sang and danced. And is spite of all the esoteric lyrics, they seemed so... familiar as though Mathieu had heard them once ebfore. It seemed obscure and mysterious to the fox yet in spite of his upper-class upbringing and general confusion as to his surroundings, he found himself dancing with all the others. There was some indescribable feeling of ecstasy ashe danced to "Murphy's Law" and could hear the Celtic reels of Johnathan's violin, Matt's beautiful voice, Marcus the lion shredding on the guitar and Lucas, the untamed and wild bull on the drums. It was all so uplifting and in truth, he almost forgot about the 33rd floor where Mr. Serra awaited him.
"Now I want you to go forth in song to all the world and show them our message of joy", Matt began to exclaim "North... south... east... west. The entire world must hear our message. When people see us singing and dancing in ecstasy over these songs, they might ridicule us but it is out of jealousy for we know what they do not."
Mathieu was not quite sure what Matt meant by that comment. Did he really learn anything from that disjointed and irrational song? Or was it something that some people knew and others would have no way of knowing? Either way, Mathieu's mind would not be set at ease as the fox began his way up the Chrysler buildign to the top where he would meet Hiram Serra, the one lion who would make sense of this insanity. And that trickled through his mind as the elevator began its ascent. "1, 2, 3..." And then it stopped suddenly. As if things couldn't get any worse...