Bentley sighed, the weight of his scar seeming to lift. “You’re right. Some things are better left unheard.” They sealed the device back in its box, re‑locked the panel, and covered the mural with fresh paint. Frances wrote an article titled “The Better Sound: A Tale of Memory and Morality,” publishing it under a pseudonym. The piece sparked a quiet debate among ethicists about the responsibility of preserving technology that could alter human perception.