In this case, the is: “You just destroyed them with logic/facts, and the sound is their ego short-circuiting.”
Months later, the signal finally evolved. The "Fzzzz" was followed by a sequence of numbers—coordinates to a small, dusty corner of the lab. Leo walked over and found a forgotten, ancient coffee maker plugged into a faulty outlet. Every time the heating element kicked in, it sent a surge of interference straight into the Omni-Scribe.