☆TRACK III: THE STREETS ARE EMPTY

[interdimanagers]

Who: Drafted Virgo Members
What: Juno makes everyone do a seance.
When: October 21st-22nd.
Where: The basement of the Virgo residential tower.
Warnings: Ghosts, apparently.

“You can't shake the feeling. Be quiet not one sound. But the wind seems to speak, Something's here in the room with me.” ☆THE STREETS ARE EMPTY Juno arrives without notice. In fact, you can’t even really remember seeing her approach. One moment you’re doing your business, and the next she is telling you that you have to come down to the basement with her, in order to complete a “task” you’ve been assigned. This sort of thing would seem preposterous to a normal person, but even if you don’t realize it, you aren’t one. As Mr Blanche’s personal assistant and sometimes second in command, her word seems to carry almost as much weight as his does. You don’t really have any choice but to agree. “Bring whatever instrument you know best,” she says. “You’ll need it.” She snaps up every one of you that she sees in her initial sweep, and soon she has a whole pack of Virgo newbies following her down to the lowest floors of the residential tower. It feels weird, but it’s like you can’t quite articulate why. No one else seems to be able to either. Most of the lights are turned off on those lower floors, but it’s easy to tell it’s a place you’ve never been before. It’s strangely...hospital like, down there, in both aesthetic and a sense of sterility. Maybe some kind of laboratory setting? Which seems like a super weird thing to be in the basement of an apartment building, but this is yet another thing you can’t quite bring yourself to ask about. Juno leave most of the lights off, except for a few central features. The ambience is dim and cold. She tells you not to stray, and you don’t. The thought of going against her becomes somehow repulsive, like you don’t even want to think about it too long. You try not to think about your surrounding too hard, either. She lines you all up, and then after some strangely intense eyeballing, she starts breaking you up into some incredibly lopsided groups that seem to have nothing to do with your actual bands. In the end, she looks disappointed with resulting teams, but carries on regardless. Each “group” is given some complexly timed sheet music and a funny looking mobile speaker. She says that you have a half hour to compose a group piece to play alongside the sheet music , and that it needs to be good. Then, she wanders off to start pacing the basement in a strangely arcane series of movements, and leaves you all to it. Only among your peers do you start feeling like you can voice any of your previously stowed concerns, but make sure Juno doesn’t overhear you – occasionally she’ll come by to bluntly critique anyone who is performing inadequately. You feel lucky that she doesn’t have a whip with her, because you’re almost certain that she’d use it without much remorse. ☆THE SEANCE The performance is about as awkward as you’d expect, given the set up. The four groups are set up so that they’re facing each other, as if standing at the corner of a square. Each speaker is set up in the center of its group, and the precisely timed electronic beat that plays from them is what you’re supposed to perform along to. Odds are that you do your level best, but, outside of your control...something goes wrong. “Have you ever felt... Something evil, Lurking around? The moon is full, The streets are empty. Shadows cover the town.”

Comments

The Doctor

[trustme]

A Exploring and Observing

Once the strange sensation from the performance dissipates, Doctor puts his cello back in its case. For some time he sits near the corner silently watching as others seem to explode or implode. Such dramatic reactions to being locked in the basement? Childish. Ridiculous.

If one doesn't interrupt him while he's watching this unfold, they might find him hauling his cello down the hall and taking a close look at the security panels on doors. Was he seriously the only one trying to logically find a way out?

B The Wisps

Eventually Doctor finds where the memory wisps are floating in the air. Clearly this isn't natural and it's enough of a distraction to draw him away from his attempts to unlock the closed doors.

When he tries to touch one it disappears. It's when he stops trying to reach out towards them that he turns around and walks right into one. The sensation of it entering him leaves him stumbling and grabbing at the wall for support.

Is it his memory? Or is it yours?

B

[faithfulflame]

This time, it's Rei's memory. A perfectly clear vision of a palace and a gleaming city and a phrase repeated over and over again. Dreams of silver and visions of crystal. There's something raw in that sense, something powerful in it, a passionate flame burning deep inside the memory.

And the owner of said memory is now reaching for her stumbling 'father' with concern.

"Doctor?! Doctor what's wrong?"

[trustme]

His lost memory had left him feeling cold and uncaring but as Rei caught him it felt like the wisp had just lit a emotional fire in his chest. It occurred to him how unnatural his state of mind was a moment ago. He was happy with his band and he wanted to write for them and be inspired by them.

"Ah I- I'm sorry Rei," he says, his smile returning to him again. "I'm feeling a bit faint. The performance and these lights are..." His voice faded away as a vision faded into his view. For a moment he could swear they weren't in the basement but in a large bright white building, some type of palace or shrine.

[faithfulflame]

"You can't faint..." Rei steps in close, taking him by the biceps and squeezing them hard, her eyes focusing on his as he stood there dumbstruck. It was frightening, worrisome, and she couldn't help but shake him a bit.

"Hey! Don't just...don't stand there hazing out on me!"

[trustme]

"Rei... I think I can see your castle. Remember the one you spoke about at the gala? The large domed roofs with crescent moons at their peaks. The Silver Millennium. This is what you were talking about? It's beautiful!" He grins, delighted by the memory's vision.

[faithfulflame]

Confused, Rei blinks at Doctor, her eyes darting too and fro...but the confusion only lasts an instant. The wisp that'd brushed him...touches her as it lazily floats by and memories come flooding back, like it'd never left. She seizes up, her whole body going rigid. The contact with Doctor is all that keeps her from falling to her knees, her hands gripping him tightly now.

"You saw it? When...when that thing touched you? Really?!"

[trustme]

"Y-Yes that must have been it," he says, nodding. "These lights have visions in them, perhaps? Like our conversation at the gala about... Well I don't entirely remember all of it actually."

He pats her shoulder; it seemed it was his turn to help her keep her wits. "Do you feel all right?"

[faithfulflame]

Rei teeters for an instant, the hand on her shoulder a little jarring. Not because it was him, but because it was interrupting something. The feel of a hand, that touch...it makes her shake slightly, surprise taking hold as another vision floods through her. She starts tensing, eyes going wide in that instant.

That same castle, the one he'd seen, all white marble and gleaming spires. Only something was different this time. There was no soft light, no gentle glow, only the harsh reds and oranges of fire and death. Bodies lined the floor, the perspective swooping through shattered gates to an interior room, and standing at the center of it all was a grim looking young woman, holding a deadly looking spear. When she speaks there's a hint of command there, the voice of someone ancient, powerful, and terrifying.

"I am the Harbinger of Death. I am the Endbringer, the Herald of Silence, the Guardian of Saturn. And I have come to put a stop to this."

And then, all she does? Is simply drops that spear. The weapon falls to the tile floor, and there's not a single sound as it impacts. Absolute, perfect, silence. And then the world seems to come apart at the seams, the palace and surroundings crumbling away to dust. There are screams then, the sounds of death and dying, a furious bellow from somewhere deep inside that palace. And then it was all gone. Everything. Gone. Ashes to Ashes...and Dust to Dust.

And then it was over. Rei jerks and whirls, grabbing tightly onto Doctor and squeezing him into a hug.

"I...god...what...what was that? I...I don't know!"

[trustme]

Doctor wraps his arms around her and holds on firmly. "It's all right. It's just the vision. We're safe," he reminds her. "What's frightening you?" It couldn't have been the peaceful scene he had glimpsed. He stared up at the sprites floating near the ceiling above. Virgo owed them a long explanation for multiple reasons now.

[faithfulflame]

"I saw something. Like...more of that palace. Only...something was wrong. It was..." she swallows, staring up at him. "It was on fire. And there was this woman. She was in a strange costume, and she had some sort of...I don't know, spear? Scythe? And she said she was Death."

Her eyes close, and she takes another breath, still shaking, though that's lessening.

"She did something. And then it all came apart. Everything just...turned into dust..."

[trustme]

"A vision of the same place twice," Doctor murmurs to himself. "There must be more to it. We- why we are in a room of lights that act as if they're alive! None of this makes sense."

His attention returns to Rei. "I'm so sorry. What a terrible thing to see. And it was such a beautiful vision when I saw it. What a tragedy for that place to disappear."

"Perhaps," he suggests, "We can see more if we touch another one of the lights."

[faithfulflame]

"R-Right..." there had to be more to it than that. The woman's expression, that chillingly cold feeling she'd gotten as the weapon dropped, and the awful silence that followed would linger on for a while. She knew there would be nightmares, but...he was right. A tragedy. But just what was that place?

"Maybe so. We might...learn more about your police box?"

And she'll focus on other things, looking around hesitantly for more lights.

"Which do you think would be good? Just any one?"

[trustme]

Doctor takes a moment to reply. His expression goes blank at the mention of a police box. What was she talking about? Had they really had that conversation?

"Well!" he starts, forcing a smile, "I can tell you one thing about that light I touched. Something inside of me felt better instantly. I've- We've all been in a terrible mood since the performance but when I was near the light I felt a sense of... Compassion and duty. -Qualities that I admire in you, actually. Just being in this room with the sprites feels better, like a welcoming party, if that makes any sense?"

Sometime after B

[giglio_madonna]

"Doctor!"

Luce has been busy since this whole mess has happened. Whether fluttering around aimlessly without anything to tie her or getting her nose in apparently everyone's business, she hasn't particularly stayed still. Perhaps that's why they've seemed to miss each other a lot.

Right now, however? Well, now that she's finally run into him, Luce seems determined to make sure they don't miss each other this time as she hustles over.

[trustme]

"Oh Luce! Have you seen the strange little lights? Rei and I were just chasing after them a moment ago," Doctor greets her smiling. His mouth twists into a point when he remembers the other thing he just discovered. "Did you know she's been dating?"

[giglio_madonna]

A fond exasperation passes over Luce's face. "Dear, I was the one to encourage her. It started at the Gala. We really must keep you in the loop better."

Wait, no, that's not what she meant to start on. Luce shakes her head, gesturing for him to follow her. "There's something just as strange as those balls of light that I need to show you."

[trustme]

"You- what- no- you know what I shouldn't be surprised," he stammers, shaking a finger in the air. He clears his throat. Better to follow that subject change. "All right, lead the way. I'd think it'd be hard to beat those lights though."

[giglio_madonna]

"In how unreal it all is? No... But they're something." Losing her usual teasing, Luce doesn't waste any time in guiding Doctor throughout the basement. Hopefully he can keep up, because she doesn't plan on wasting any time.

The end goal is a line of strange screens against the walls, and Luce points to one. "Tap it, won't you? And see what comes up."

[trustme]

"All right! Never could resist tapping a touch screen," he jokes as he reaches out and gives the nearest screen a quick tap with his forefinger. He's half expecting a funny screensaver or files on their band's earnings or popularity polls.

[giglio_madonna]

It takes a moment to boot up. As it does so, Luce goes to tap over at another screen and waits patiently herself. She already knows what she'll see.

For doctor, however, it might be a slight surprise.

[trustme]

"Oh. What was-" Doctor begins to wonder at the screens out loud when the light of the scanner reads his eye. Then the screen pulls up his image and number, asking for Authorization.

He bursts into laughter and points at his mugshot. "Oh that's horrible! I look like I was run over by the paparazzi and left to sleep in a dumpster. When did this happen? It must have been early in the morning after I was writing all night. I don't remember getting a company camera stuck in my face before I was tidied up better."

"Command Authorization."

"It was authorization. Have you tried that yet?" he asks her. He looks back at the screen. Curious as he always is he makes something up. "Uh yes. You are authorized! Uh. Show me more photographs!"

[giglio_madonna]

"I don't think it works like that..." Even with the situation, she can't help smiling as she shakes her head. He's an optimist. That's what's made him so fun to work with before.

"I don't remember getting my picture taken, either." She glances up to the strange mugshot on display to her.

"And neither does Rei. Or Kouen."

[trustme]

"Well it's not like everyone ever ended up wasted on the exact same night. Rei is a good girl and I only drink what I can handle-" he stops short speaking his thoughts and squints up at the screens. All the different mugshots, everyone so tired but all of them so nicely organized and numbered. He points a finger at the screens and turns to Luce again. "This. Makes. No. Sense. It's creepy actually. -Said item number 56 00 11."

[giglio_madonna]

"It gets the stranger the more you look it over, right?"

She should be panicking. Should be terrified. That's the rational response. Yet, still fresh in Luce's mind, she can remember standing serenely and tall amidst that group of people with a knowledge that they were dangerous but she wasn't scared. That sense of stability is with her right then as she crosses her arms.

[trustme]

"This isn't the number on any of my identification papers. This is something very different. All of us photographed at an unknown time and assigned numbers. Like... Test subjects," he spits out the words with a growing frown.