Easy. You’ve already bought into the cultural assumption that this equation will be graphed on a Cartesian plane. Using polar coordinates instead, with an angle of x and a radius of y (a perfectly valid interpretation, even if it’s not what you envisioned), gives us a circle. These outputs have their own cultural associations: the former, music (particularly synthesizers); the latter, radar or sonar indicators. Showing the radius enhances the effect. All else being equal, if a new unexplained technology is said to produce that output, a clever data visualizer can bias the viewer towards viewing it as militant or peaceful. This is strictly a modern cultural bias; a hundred years ago, viewers would not have made either of those connections.