interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

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☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

Who: Every single one of you.
What: Interstellar's first log, and an awards ceremony for jerks you don't know!
When: October 2nd.
Where: A fancy ballroom in neutral territory.
Warnings: Could be anything.

“Oh, it's been getting so hard,
Living with the things you do to me;
My dreams are getting so strange,
I'd like to tell you everything I see.

I see a man at the back as a matter of fact,
His eyes are as red as the sun.
And the girl in the corner lets no one ignore her,
‘Cause she thinks she's the passionate one.”

☆NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

It’s the seasonal Vista Music Industry Award Gala, and attendance is mandatory. You and your band have been touring non-stop for the last two months, hitting locations all over Americana, performing and doing press appearances. This event is set less than three days after your return home, but it’s been made clear that further rest will have to wait.

Though Halloween technically isn’t until the end of the month, the gathering has a formal masquerade theme - masquerade that is, not costume. Dressing up as a mummy or a clown isn’t going to cut it. Themed formal wear is expected, and your image consultants have been pestering you about your choices for the last 48 hours. Whether or not you listen to them, how you dress feels incredibly important. At least if you let the consultants fuss over you, you can be sure it’ll be something press friendly.

Various awards are being given out, but none of them are for you. The media in attendance are starting to bubble with enthusiasm for the ‘rising stars’ of the industry, however, so this could be a moment to shine. Labels besides Pride and Virgo are also in attendance, but who cares about those guys? They seem to be a mere footnote in comparison to the buzz around the heavy hitters.

There’s food, alcohol, dancing, stage performances by notable musicians of both Pride and Virgo, and then the formal awards ceremony in the evening. Yes, you are expected to sit through them. Do try to look like you’re interested, the media is watching.

☆PRIDE RECORDS

Lesedi Santiago doesn’t always make a big deal about introductions - or at least, that’s the impression you get when she just kind of shows up in your group limousine unannounced on your way over to the party. Deep into pre-drinking a bottle of gin, she doesn’t talk with you so much as talk at you, regaling your band with weird stories about the industry while completely ignoring the fact that her presence is more intimidating than comforting. You’re not sure if it’s intentional, but at least she’s a good story teller - her speech doesn’t seem to be at all affected by the quantity of booze she’s already consumed, which is kind of bizarre if you think about it too deeply. You’re not inclined to.

You’ve all met her before, here and there, in a series of bombastic encounters. Her interest in pontificating at you and the other new label inductees seems to fade immediately upon entering the ballroom, as she quickly becomes distracted with more high profile guests. Her attention fixates on Edward Blanch from time to time, but she declines to address him specifically. If you want to get some of her one on one attention, now could be your chance - just make sure you go in ready. Handling Miss Santiago can be a bit of an...experience.

Veteran Pride members are in attendance as well, but most of them are not very good company. Their reactions vary from ‘frat members greeting a new pledge’ to ‘disinterested shoulder pats’, and ultimately it will seem your attention is better received by the other newbies. Maybe even the Virgo Entertainment stiffs, at that.

Because, of course, that crew is here as well. Lesedi suggested you “show them who’s boss,” but you’re not necessarily sure what that’s supposed to mean.

☆VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT

Tonight's event is one of considerable speculation: it marks Edward Blanche's first public appearance after a considerable period of isolation. He's a private man, a mystery and an enigma to the public, and that just seems to make him all the more intoxicating. The Managers and security staff are out in full force, and if you know what's good for you, you'll be dressed to the nines. Your image consultant will be almost desperate to do the work for you, like they're afraid of what might happen to their careers if you embarass the label on their watch.

Personal style is important, but everything in your gut tells you that your nose has got to be clean this time, or trouble is sure to follow. For many of you, this will be the first time you'll ever have seen your CEO in person, and as such, the first time he'll encounter you one on one. If you're going to brown nose, now's the time - but make sure you choose your words carefully, and don't waste his time. Blanche has little patience for it.

There are veteran musicians of the Virgo label in attendance, ones with dozens of awards to their names, but they seem to have little interest in speaking with you. Some are politely avoidant while others and just rudely dismissive, but none of them really give an answer for why they just aren't interested. It's not totally surprising - Virgo's interior politics are harsh.

Other notable guests include Lesedi Santiago and the rest of the Pride Records entourage. Though you may have acquaintances, or even friends, who have been snatched up by the other side, it's even more likely that you have enemies. Everything about your Virgo upbringing makes you feel like you should hold a certain contempt for their ilk - people in this label think of them as classless at best and crass maniacs at worst.

Did you hear about that disgusting stunt one of their front runners pulled on stage last week? Revolting.

☆THE TWIST

Some of you may remember strange events from the past few weeks. Misplaced objects, malfunctioning technology, nostalgic phantom music - it feels a lot like the last portion of your tour was haunted. Now that you're back home, all of that seems to be flaring up again. You can practically feel the otherworldly presences passing through the room, even if nobody besides your tour group seems to notice. Even though they aren't knocking glasses off tables and flickering lights like last time, their presence is somehow even more apparent.

Your programming makes one thing clear: don't make a public fuss about this. Ignore it, everything's fine. The second part only goes so far. Especially when, at some point or another, you'll be shaken by the feeling that one of these ghosts has walked straight through you. For that moment, you feel like a totally different person. At this point, one of four memory regain effects will occur:

► REMEMBER LOVE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to one of the greatest loves of your past life. Can be either romantic, platonic, or familial. It must be about a person and not a place or activity, though.

► REMEMBER DUTY: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you held a great sense of duty or loyalty to in your past life. It could be a person, a cause, a country, or anything in between.

► REMEMBER PASSION: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you were passionate about to the point of anger or determination in your past life. Not enjoyment of, but something that drove you, or one of the things most likely to make you throw a punch.

► REMEMBER HOPE: You remember a scene, image, or concept related to something you dreamed about making come true, or an important hope you had for the future in your past life. This covers any kind of positive goal or ambition for you or the world around you.

The feeling will quickly fade, leaving you as the person you've been made into once again. Only now you have something new: the first fragment of a life you can't remember having lived. The CEOs and managers will react to this eventually, and you're probably going to get sent home early. This, however, will be covered with a top level further into the log.

“I'm reaching out for something,
Touching nothing's all I ever do.
Oh, I softly call you over;
When you appear there's nothing left of you.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Only if the rest of us can go, too.

[Yan looked like he was enjoying himself just about as much as Ankh was. He would have been fine with making an appearance and sticking around just long enough to be polite, but it seemed like their management was determined to hold them hostage and force them to stick around for the whole goddamn event.]

I'd say that we just walk out right now, but it looks like they got security around the place to make sure we stay.

[He had seen that much about the exits. Ankh tapped his foot, arms crossed and tilting his head in a manner that looked more bratty than the haughty he was attempting.]

This is beyond ridiculous. No one would care if we leave.

[He'd seen the security, but for some reason, it hadn't even occurred to him to think about it that way. He looked surreptitiously back over his shoulder at one of the doors to the ballroom to see just where the guards were positioned.]

You think they're keeping us in and not keeping everyone else out?

[It sounded kind of paranoid, but just because something sounded crazy, that didn't necessarily mean it was.]

They probably have to do both. I doubt that they would let us leave, not after all the hassle they did with us to get us all dressed up for this stupidity.

[He really wanted to bite something, but instead he just just tapped his foot some more, looking around the room at the press of bodies and those people who thought they were that important just because they had an award.]

We'll have to wait until everyone's done, especially since we're the newcomers.

That's how these things work. Corporate galas aren't any different. Same for politics.

[He'd certainly gotten dragged to enough of them as a kid, sitting around bored at big white tables while his parents...did something. He doesn't really remember.]

You might get a pass, though. I came over here because you looked sick.

[Just kind of staring and disoriented. He couldn't just let that go. Well, he could if it had been one of the Pride people, but co-workers from Virgo were a different story.]

I don't care what they're about.

[He would so be giving a hair flip at this moment if it wasn't for the way his hair had been tightly braided back into a controlled crest instead of the loose curls he usually liked.

And at that sick comment, Ankh drew himself up to his full height, an effect that really didn't seem like much thanks to the extra ribbing at the waist of his ridiculous getup.]

I am not!

Then that's fine. You just looked out of it.

[He crosses his arms and looks over his shoulder again.]

And something's going down. I don't know if it's the food or what, but there's something strange going on. I figured it hit you, too.

[It's not that he's afraid of whatever it might be, but he doesn't like being screwed around with.]

[He could deny that as well, but after a moment more of holding his huffy pose, Ankh clicked his tongue against his teeth and looked away, sagging slightly while doing so.]

I thought there was a traffic accident in the middle of the room.

[Clearly it was just the lack of sleep following having too little sleep from the touring. Clearly that was all to it and nothing like whatever it could be.]

I'm just tired.

A traffic accident...

[Well, it was different from what he saw, then. That should discount ghosts if anyone decides to be a stupid and offer that as an explanation.]

I wouldn't eat any more of the food or drink any more of the booze if I were you. I think someone spiked it with something.

[It definitely sounds like hallucinations to him. After all, there's no other explanation for why he would have seen what he saw or why this guy would be seeing a traffic accident in the middle of the room.]

Sounds like you think everything is drugged.

[He just makes a 'tch' sound even as forced himself to not bring his hand to his mouth. That the people of this event would drug anything was annoying though plausible, but it didn't feel right. There should have been a lot more people flipping out and a lot less people acting like they were scared of something.

Not that Ankh was scared. He was just annoyed more so than usual.]

It wasn't a drugged induced hallucination. I know what those are like.

That so? I wouldn't know.

[Yan looked thoughtful and his brow furrowed as he mulled that one over. He barely even drank alcohol, let alone indulged in anything illegal. It was just the most simple explanation for what had happened. Without it, he wasn't sure how he could explain what he saw.]

I know I sleep like a normal person should and the most I've had to drink was a little whiskey, so there's no excuse for me seeing weird shit.

It was... more like I was remembering something.

[He shrugged and stopped himself from biting on his fingers since the leather was not appreciating that habit at all. He had seen some weird stuff during his drug days but he would think that a grasshopper man thing would have stand out a lot more then being a blip of 'oh one of those'. Weird.]

You're seeing things too?

Yeah. Vividly. If I believed in ghosts, that's what I'd say it was, but I don't, so there's got to be a better explanation.

[It was pretty much textbook ghost story bullshit, too. The feeling of a presence preceding the appearance of a figure, a scene really, though he couldn't see much of it. It was like a memory replaying, only it wasn't one of his own. It couldn't be, even though it had felt like it for those few seconds.]

Maybe it's stress or maybe they're experimenting with the levels of oxygen in the room.

[Because he would know if it was drugs. Drugs made things weirder and he would probably have a giggling fit instead of being normal acting. Ankh thought about it and then shrugged.]

Whatever. It's over anyways.

Is it?

[He wasn't so sure. It definitely had felt like the presence within the room had built and built and now that feeling is completely gone, but somehow that only made it seem more suspicious. Oxygen levels were something he hadn't taken into consideration, though. He'll have to look that up later.]

Probably some brilliant Pride idea. I can't see Virgo screwing around with employees that way.

I'm not seeing it any more.

[Maybe someone else was experiencing the weirdness but Ankh's own vision was over and done with so he saw no reason to continue to talk about it.]

Virgo just likes to dictate our bedtimes and practice times and meal times.

It's to keep everything running smoothly. I don't have a problem with it.

[If management didn't do it for him, he'd do it for himself. He also micromanages the band to a certain extent. There's a reason why what's billed as a five man band is really a trio plus whatever poor temps get thrown at them.]

I do have a problem with this bullshit, though. I don't see anything anymore, either, but I did and I don't see shit like that.

Maybe you need to open up your inner eye.

[He was teasing of sorts, raising his right hand and flashing the eye tattooed in the palm of it. The half gloves he wore only covered the top portion of it, giving the eye a sleepy look. Then snorting at his own ridiculousness, Ankh let his hand drop and looked around again.]

I still think it's stress on top of all this crazy atmosphere of this place. All these people and the stuff clinging to them could easily drag in all kinds of residue that got all twisted up and giving these weird flashes of whatever.

"Stress" was the only thing about that that made sense. "Inner eyes" and "residue" and whatever other psychic bullshit you can throw out don't exist. There has to be some sort of physical cause and wasting time with shit like that isn't going to help figure out what that is.

[He's absolutely adamant on that part of it. There's no such thing as ghosts or magic or psychics or any of that crap.]

When I say residue, I mean 'the drugs that they were smoking or snorting before hitting this place', not 'the evil spirits they have'. Sheesh, chill.

[Here, get an eyeroll even with his grumpy grump there. Ankh was only joking about the inner eye stuff anyways. Did he see something really weird to get so touchy about it?]

Have some ice cream or something. Low blood sugar levels can also give people headaches and visions too, you know.

[That seems to really be stretching it. He's pretty sure his blood sugar has been low before, but it never involved seeing some horribly scarred ancient Chinese kid pulling a sword on him. Actually not "some kid." If he wasn't 100% positive that he's an only child and just regular, modern Chinese, he'd say it was his brother. Which makes no sense.]

Ice cream's not going to fix this.

[He doesn't even like ice cream.]

This really isn't bothering you?

[One of the things that Ankh knows from his own past was that you never, ever dwell on the freaky stuff. Having a bad trip and everything looked like it was melting? Freak out while it happens but after, just don't give it power. That was the quickest way to want to crawl into a good trip and not come back out because bad trips - bad visions - just played with the mind.]

I don't see anything that isn't there, I don't hear anything that isn't there, so no, I'm not going to sit here and try to analyze my head. Why should I? All it means is that someone is going to think I may need to go into a nice quiet cell and go over why they think that I have these episodes without me telling them that minds like being little shits and throwing the most random of crap at you.

Nothing's worth going through that again.

I didn't ask for your life story.

[He remembers the question he asked exactly and none of it was "unload your shit on me. This conversation isn't helping him in the slightest.]

You did see something that wasn't there. I saw something that wasn't there and the hardest drug I've ever taken was the Percocet they gave me when got my wisdom teeth out ten years ago. Get over yourself and focus.

[That's not an admission he'd make anywhere but around colleagues, either. It's hard to maintain your bad boy image when you don't do drugs, you don't drink enough to get anything more than buzzed, and you hate parties of all kinds.]

And? Do you think that anyone in charge would want to see any of us flip out and get weird in an event like this?

[Don't dismiss his past like that. He fought hard to get out of it and having someone act like it was not good to bring it up at all was just enough to get him to grow grumpy and so ready to get over this thing.]

Focus on what? That we're stressed out and tired? Sure, I can do that, but I'm not going to focus on thinking I saw a car accident and some stupid bugman.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

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