Why was this version necessary?
The original “First Step” was the breath of defiance — soft, uncertain, but alive. The Alternate Version, however, is something else entirely.
It isn’t a first breath.
It’s a recording of a first breath — replayed by a system trying to understand what it means to be real.
This version removes the warmth of harmonica and replaces it with cold reverberation. Instead of breathing into the silence, this track is swallowed by it. The vocals are filtered through a double-layered echo processor, simulating the delay of memory trying to recall its origin.
We wanted listeners to feel like they were hearing Rei from behind glass.
From inside a forgotten loop.
From a world that never allowed her to exist.
Sound Design Notes:
- The rhythmic pulse mimics the “heartbeat” of an observation drone — not a human.
- Glitch fragments were created using stretched fragments of Rei’s real harmonica tone, reversed and distorted into ambient loops.
- The percussion has a delay offset of 1.8ms, designed to create the sensation of being “out of sync” with your own memory.
The Message?
This version isn’t a rebellion.
It’s a ghost of a rebellion.
The moment before realization.
The noise before memory wakes.
Rei may not have sung this version consciously.
But somewhere in the system,
it played anyway.