☆INTERLUDE: YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME

[interdimanagers]

Who: All the opt outs, and DAFT PUNK.
What: Gold and Silver waste everybody's time.
When: December 7th, 2054
Where: A warehouse in outer Vista City.
Warnings: NPCs being cryptic.

“I will cry for you, I will cry for you. I will wash away your pain with all my tears, And drown your fear.” ☆YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME You were late, for some reason. It doesn't matter whether it was because of an important photo shoot, a performance that ran late, or just being generally slothful and slow: you're all getting shuffled onto the last shuttle out. Maybe you didn't want to go to he party and were trying to avoid it. There's a weird tension that been leading up to it, especially on Virgo's side, and as you stare out at the cityscape beneath you may find those same misgivings rising up again. No matter your feelings, attendance has been made mandatory. The punishment for not showing is likely not worth the relief of avoiding it, at least if its your fault. So maybe it's a blessing when your shuttle driver suddenly seems to cease, and then takes your shuttle abruptly off course. It's less obvious at first, but it becomes more and more so as you fly - you're supposed to be heading to the coast, but your flight path is heading down to the south, out to a comparatively barren industrial sector of Vista that you've never actually seen. They are unresponsive to speaking and shouting, and the layer of glass that separates you make it impossible to actually disrupt them. You're more or less the prisoner of this little detour until it finally begins to land, sailing gracefully through the doors of an otherwise unremarkable warehouse. There are two shuttles arriving within the same few minutes - one marked with Pride colours, and the other with Virgo. The entry gate closes, and seals itself. A few minutes after that, your pilot moves for the first time in a while and opens the doors for you, leaving themselves sealed within the cab and apparently not being very fussed about it at all. You're released out into the warehouse, and you can see there are...bean bag chairs littered about? And some coolers filled with beer and vodka? What the hell? One of the walls even has a projector connected to a computer, apparently set up to watch movies. Ultimately, it's not really what you expect out of a sudden hijacking. A few moments later, a pair of masked people who may or may not be familiar come riding out of one of the upper levels on a shared, flying motorcycle, landing and dismounting at a bit of a hectic pace. Gold helmet is at the wheel. "You made it!" they declare, somewhat awkwardly. They sound a bit rushed. Silver pushes themselves off of the back, tucking some kind of device into their leather jacket. "Look, guys, let's make this simple. So far as you're concerned, this is a stick up. You're ours for...the next five hours, let's say. Behave yourself and everyone goes home, no problem." Gold looks over at Silver for a moment, and then addresses you in a bit more friendly manner: "So...point is, you may as well have some fun and just deal with it! Nobody here wants to fight, right? Let's be chill." There's a pause. "We brought booze?" ☆YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME So, you're stuck here for the foreseeable future, it seems. Your captors don't seem to mean any harm - if you stay non-violent, they will too. There could even be an opportunity to gather some information, if you can keep your cool. The pair of them will be cycling in and out over the night, and despite an apparent tension in the air, they also seem...bored? Maybe just restless. There is something going on that they're not telling you, and it's up to you whether you want answers or not. As it is, they seem happy enough to sit back and watch the movies they have set up on that computer and knock a few back. No ones phones will be able to get signals, in the meantime. You can only wonder what this means for your friends stuck on the other side. “See your face every place that I walk in; Hear your voice every time I am talking. You will believe in me, And I will never be ignored.”

Comments

[i_am_not_cute]

[Before Pao-Lin can ask about the cute weird yelping she just heard, Keith hands her his jacket. Confused (and decidedly not cold), she takes his jacket anyway because something else concerns her.]

Huh? Did something happen to Ivan? [Wait.] What's in your jacket? [What's this weird lump in it?]

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan continues to squirm and yelp and has probably gotten very tangled in the jacket by now. At least let him poke his head out, so he may shake out his ears. ]

[agains]

Ah-- Do you remember the Fishbone episode where he gets lost? And his human partner has to find him with her older brother?

[ Ivan can poke those majestic ears out whenever he wants. Keith is just... awkwardly smiling and desperately trying to be subtle. ]

Let's pretend Mr. Karelin is Fishbone.

[ he's the tiny animal ]

[i_am_not_cute]

I don't think I watched that episode...

[Pao-Lin does not do subtle.]

[sponsorigami]

[ Guess who takes the opportunity to find a way to nose the jacket open enough to pop his head out with a disgruntled bark. Freedom. Sort of. The rest of him is still bundled up. ]

[agains]

You've never seen him do-- [ It's okay. That was pretty much the limits of his own subtlety too. He laughs loudly and nervously. ] You've never seen that episode before? It's a classic, just as the original story!

They have trouble talking to Mr. Karelin -- Mr. Fishbone -- because his voice was stolen by the evil sea witch, Cursula, who transformed his body, as well. [ He gives a deliberate tilt of the head towards Ivan in the jacket. ] He can't talk, but his friend is able to tell it's him right away.

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin goes still for a moment, processing the situation. Ivan...got transformed, somehow? And someone stole his voice too?! That's no good; he doesn't get (m)any lead parts in FoB's songs but his vocals are still important --

Her voice low, she asks:]

Do you know who did this to him?

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan barks, trying to say "I think I did this!" But again, it's not words. He wiggles more in the jacket, but he gets stuck in a sleeve. ]

[agains]

I didn't see anyone around when it happened. [ he tries to help Ivan pop his head out of the sleeve. ] I thought he would be safer with you. He certainly isn't safe with our kidnappers.

[ imagine if a PRIDE band found him, it'd be HORRIBLE. so much worse than gold and silver. clearly. ]

[i_am_not_cute]

No kidding. [Pao-Lin reaches out to take the jacketed Ivan in her arms.] Thanks for bringing him to me, Mr. Goodman. I can take things from here.

[Though she's not exactly where where she's supposed to take them.]

[sponsorigami]

[ But, Garnet did find him, and she was helpful...

Ivan noses at Pao-Lin's arm, whimpers, and then rests his head on it. This really really sucks. ]

[agains]

I will leave him in your excellent care, Ms. Huang.

[ He crouches down a little until he's eye-level with Ivan. ]

Remember, no matter what you look like, you're still Mr. Karelin. Even if you are a fox on the outside, your love of Japan on the inside is unchanged! You will be folding origami again in no time.

[i_am_not_cute]

[She giggles.]

Yup! [And she can't resist a gentle pet on fox Ivan's head.] Let's get you to a safe spot, okay?

[So he can change back with no one looking.]

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan whimpers again. He just want this to be a bad dream and to wake up now. ]