interstellar5555 | You laugh until you cry; you cry until you laugh

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You laugh until you cry; you cry until you laugh

Who: Virgo musicians - Ghost Quest people and their friends
What: When eight musicians go missing, what happens to those left behind? What happens when those eight come back far worse for the wear?
When: Feb 1st-3rd and after
Where: Virgo HQ
Warnings: Talk of torture, violence, brainwashing, etc. It's ugly in here, folks.

The past three days have not been kind. The hauntings were odd, yes, but when your friends went missing without warning or a trace - well.

How have you been coping? Have you been coping?

And then they came back just as suddenly, and...it looks like your worries were not unfounded.

This isn't good, is it.

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[ Doctor hears the others talking out in the common room and he scrambles from his room and his desk where he had been writing to go see who had arrived. He heard Ivan's voice. When he enters he smiles, relieved. ]

Ivan! Good to see you out of your room.

[ He says it that way because Luce gave him an idea of what was going on before it all started. He looks around for signs of her but soon realizes she's missing. His smile fades. He stares back at Ivan, into his eyes and mentally reaches out to him with one question. ]

They caught Luce?

[ Ivan gratefully takes a sip of tea and a bite of cookie, and he's relieved when the rest of the band comes. Everyone except Luce... ]

Sorry to worry you.

[ Can he pretend he was in his room the whole time? He needs to come up with some kind of story to use. However, Ivan's attempt to piece together a cover story is interrupted by Doctor's telepathic words. When before there was always a hesitation to this telepathic talk, Ivan relaxes and opens his mind. ]

Luce and the others couldn't make it out. I escaped through a vent with her cell phone. ... Before I go on, how much does everyone know about what's going on?

[She nods and busies herself with the kitchen, pulling out some cheese, crackers, and a few other little things to presumably make a snack.]

Next to nothing. Where did you go? Where is Luce and who took her?

[ Ivan takes notice of Rei going to make some more snacks. It feels like if Angel were to walk in on them, she wouldn't see anything too strange from the other musicians. ]

We went to the basement where we had that strange concert and where I got possessed. We were... freeing a ghost. These ghosts, the spirits we've been hearing, they're the reason we're remembering our real lives and regaining our powers. They're trying to help us.

... They were like us once but were murdered.

[ Ivan doesn't pull his punches. He gets out the world flipping, important info out first. ]

Luce and the others are still in the basement with the guards as far as I know. I could escape because of my power and using the vents.

Edited (let's not forget Luce now) 2016-02-06 21:38 (UTC)

[Rei's mind reels in consternation and surprise, a blaring sense of shock that nobody can miss.]

Like us. But murdered. Those...shit. So it is true?!

[What Reborn had said...fuck.]

They need our help!

Rei!

[ He doesn't know Reborn, but he knows that Rei is raring to go hold my flower. ]

Rei... why do you think I'm here and not fighting alongside them? I wouldn't leave Luce without a good reason. I wouldn't.

[Okay, point taken. But she doesn't have to like it.]

What's happening down there then? Like, are they being killed?

Wait, I don't understand! Why did you even go down there in the first place?

[She has so many more questions, but...]

I don't think they're being killed. The guards had gas and batons and tasers. They're alive.

[ If they were going to kill them, then they could have brought a gun. Ivan knows how a single bullet can end a life. It doesn't even have to be properly aimed. He almost focuses on that too much but reminds himself that there are more important things to recall first.

Ivan takes another nibble of his cookie, more forcing himself to eat than actually enjoying it. And giving the appearance that he's doing something other than silently talking to the rest of the band. ]

When all the haunting like things started happening, I went to take a nap. You helped me there, Rei. Well, after I rested a bit, Arpegius was able to talk to me, possess me--he asked permission first. He's really nice, actually, and the salt does nothing...

[ He didn't mean to "think" about the salt. It just sorta followed along when he thought back to the time. ]

He said that they've been trying to help us. They're the reason we're remembering ourselves. Our real selves. But his sister, Stella, got captured again and was being held in the basement. He needed our help. There was another ghost who was also captured, but I don't know where they are or if there's going to be an attempt to rescue them too.

[ Little did he know that Baryl, the ghost who first possessed Ivan, took care of that. ]

Arpegius got in contact with Luce and the others too. He told me he had a few people willing to help.

[Silently, both mentally and verbally, Rei listens, taking that in. Batons and tasers and oh...oh no. If Luce came back at all...

Rei slams the door shut on those thoughts before anyone can hear them. Or see the mental images in her head, rather. Pao-Lin especially.

Only?]

You agreed to help the ghosts. And it's our memories? You're sure they're memories now?

[ Doctor looks towards Rei. He can sense her anger burning but he doesn't press her about it. She seems to have pushed it aside any way. ]

Memories. Hold on. ALL of those visions we've seen were memories? Rei's women, my police box. All of it? Have we been reborn and those are memories of our previous lives?

[ Rei mentioning Reborn might have thrown in that thought. ]

I mean it's nice that those ghosts wanted to give us back powers that we can use to protect ourselves from Blanche or Santiago. They deserved help in return! It's just- Well clearly Blanche had a reason he didn't want the ghosts free, giving us back old powers and memories.

Yeah. Between this, what Silver said, and me gaining this power... I think they are... as much as I wish some weren't.

[ Ivan has some pretty bad stuff in his real self's history, and he'll need to come to terms with them better. Please, please have him remember something else about Edward, so he knows he's okay. ]

If the ghosts are helping us remember... would more make it easier? Arpegius did say that Blanche and his people did this to us, so maybe....

[ The train of thought that Ivan isn't quite reaching is "Won't it be easier for Blanche to control us if they stayed captured?" ]

More than just this. I met some people, out in the city. At...the charity concert. They definitely led me to believe that Blanche and his people did something. One man. Reborn. Specifically said brainwashing.

[Among other things.]

And I didn't get a chance to say it, but that girl from the other day. The one from the flower shop. She seemed to know me. She's either a spy, or she's someone like Reborn and these ghosts.

Ivan and I saw -- remembered -- the same thing back in December. On his birthday. It looks like we know the same person.

[Which must mean that she and Ivan knew each other before all of this went down.]

Brainwashing! That would explain it- We were all there in the basement before, I'm sure we all saw the gurneys lining the halls. And Luce discovered a computer with photographs of us that we didn't recall being taken- each of us numbered like experiment subjects.

This is-

[ Doctor makes a point of stopping to slow his thoughts before his mind starts zooming and overwhelming the others with telepathic feedback. ]

Virgo must have brainwashed us all from the beginning. Those aren't memories from another life, they're memories from who we were before Virgo brainwashed us and suppressed our powers. They took Pao-Lin and Ivan from their friends, Rei from her space ladies, Luce from that Reborn fellow...

Why would Blanche do this?

[ He rubs his face for an entire minute straight, then grabs himself a mug. He needs some tea pronto. ]

Ivan, did you happen to see any machines downstairs that looked like they'd be used for brainwashing- just to help prove it's all true?

There are other people trying to rescue us besides Gold, Silver, and the ghosts?

[ That is news to him, and it helps him feel better about leaving the others behind to relay this information. They're putting all the facts together. If they're to do anything to help anyone, they need to stop being in the dark. ]

Yes. There was.

[ Ivan thinks back to the machines that he saw down in the basement. They were definitely the kind that looked they could do brainwashing. Maybe everyone can see the place for themselves using Doctor's power. ]

I don't know. I don't know their aims or goals, but they...they said not to trust management. They also didn't seem to have a clue how bad things were, with Naomi and Lesedi's rampage...

[And it gets her thinking a little more about what Lesedi had said. "They're mine!" has a lot more implications now that they've guessed Virgo's MO.

She shivers at the sight of the machines, rubbing the back of her neck to cover up a lot.]

With how insane they've been, and how they took you away, I'm definitely inclined to believe that we were brainwashed. They'd have to have...stolen us, I guess. I don't know why though. It seems like a lot of effort to get some new musicians. Why wouldn't they have just asked? I mean, all of us would be happy to play, right? That's...sort of what we do.

[Even if it was part time around other duties...]

But what if we weren't musicians in our...in our old lives?

[Once upon a time, the thought that she might not have been a musician would be unthinkable to Pao-Lin. But in light of the bigger truth coming out...

HeroTV...]

With all the dangerous stuff I remember, I doubt I was a musician. I hear the word "hero" thrown around, but I don't exactly know what that means in relation to me. ... Or Edward.

[ Luce tried to help him figure it out... well, Ivan dreamed that she did, but he didn't get anywhere with that. ]

[Frowning, Rei looks down at the crackers in her hands and finally brings them to the table, slowly and deliberately slicing up cheese.]

I'm just a little...lost then. I mean, I've seen a concert. But I've seen those horrible creatures too, and those women. They keep talking about a mission, but then there's an ordinary day scene too.

Maybe it's a day job? Like Clark Kent is a reporter?

[ Doctor takes a while to reply, listening as he starts sipping tea. ]

We've all seen things that have never been spoken of happening on Terra. And I keep seeing the stars and other planets in my dreams.

If Blanche and Santiago have such amazing powers who says they're limited to creating musicians from people found on Terra. They could have abducted us all from different planets. Nobody from Terra would recognize a kidnapped friend if this isn't even their hunting ground.

[Pao-Lin is curled up in her seat, feet on the cushion of the chair and arms hugging her knees to her chest. She wonders, vaguely, if she and Ivan are from Terra, and from Vista City in particular. Is that why she's been getting those waves of deja vu here? ...no. No, that doesn't feel right.]

That seems like a lot to go through just to find a bunch of musicians. What would they need to do all that for? ...are they covering something up?

[For some reason, that feels like a very, very familiar scenario to her.]

[Sitting, Rei pushes the plate out in front of everyone, taking a cracker and nibbling. Pointedly, she looks at Pao-Lin, and then the plate. Eat, dear. You'll look suspicious if you don't.]

You mean like...aliens? That...I mean, that almost seems outlandish. Pao-Lin's right. That's extreme.

... I'm... I don't think I'm from here. I've remembered the name Stern Bild City, which is like Vista City but also... not.

And I don't know why they'd want me. I mean, I keep having the feeling like I'm at the bottom rank of something, and I've ruined Edward's life, so it's not like I'm anyone important.

[ It feels like such a stretch and waste of energy and time to kidnap him. What could he do that would be so important to Blanche?

And why would they not want him to keep his shapeshifting? Couldn't he do a fancy on-stage change for ratings? ]

[It's a bad situation when Pao-Lin has to be reminded to eat. She reaches for a cracker and a slice of cheese and munches on it.]

Yeah, I don't think I was that important, either... [The memory of the fancy ceremony and the rankings pops up in her memory then, but she still hasn't been able to make sense of it.] What could Mr. Blanche and Ms. Santiago have wanted from us and everyone else they've taken? We all seem like we come from different places. Well, except for me and Ivan, I mean. But even that's weird, isn't it? Shouldn't they have put us in different bands so that we wouldn't remember each other...?

[Brainwashing explains some of the oddities that've been happening the past few months, but it introduces others. This is bewildering to Pao-Lin.]

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