interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

Entry tags:

☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

Who: Everyone in Pride and Virgo HQ.
What: Ghosts need your help.
When: The evening of January 30th, 2055
Where: Pride and Virgo HQ.
Warnings: Phantasmal violence, possibly some real violence.

“Hold your colours against the wall,
When they take everything away,
Hold your colours against the wall,
With me (soaking through)”

☆IN REACHING OUT

Starting around the 20th of January, the heavy lockdown and supervision of the musicians of both labels will begin to fade. While they still require escorts to be out and about, the guards that have been routinely stalking them around their own homes and HQs will be gradually phased out, until it is just the regular managers and security remaining. Sweet deal, right? Over a month after the hysteria of the ill-fated solstice party, things seem to be finally letting up a little. Whether because you've played nice for long enough, or whether their attentions are being directed elsewhere, it isn't clear.

Either way, this is the also the start of some increasingly familiar paranormal activity. All the way back to the first tour of this generation of musicians, members of both Pride and Virgo have found themselves haunted by strange and inexplicable happenings. Starting on the 23rd, these happenings begin to flare up again - lights switching on and off, TVs starting on their own, and even things falling off of shelves unprovoked. (These minor happenings can be made up by you and don't need to be mod designated - however, they should not be anything that would be threatening or dangerous to the characters.) For some people this will be completely new, and for others it may even be faintly nostalgic.

This will continue until the night of the 30th, when things finally seem to come into swing. The hauntings will become more pointed and explicit. The details are specific to each HQ, and there and you can make yourself open to an NPC haunting down below.

☆PRIDE RECORDS

About halfway through the evening on the 30th, Predator will begin prowling the halls of Pride HQ. At first it won't be clear for what, but after catching a few snippets of conversation (this can be handwaved) characters will have a change to realize that they are looking for the ghosts that have been causing a fuss recently. How crazy this will sound to you will probably depend on how new you are. They will actively shake down random musicians they meet for information about what they've seen the last couple days. As usual, Jenny is leading the pack, with Cass and Donny (nsfw) providing back up muscle.

Provided you lie well or tell them the truth, they will move along fairly quickly. If you start shit with them, they will probably rough you up a little. Any major confrontations with them will be handled on the companion OOC post, and a few top levels may appear over here that can be tagged into in limited amounts.

Beyond those activities, Pride members will feel various effects based on their EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENTS:

► ALL: Their connection and desire to create music will be especially heightened. They will find themselves subconsciously beginning to tap out rhythms, hum, peck at instruments, or straight up sing things even when it would otherwise be totally inappropriate. Strong emotions will cause them to want to sing and play to each other. They may also feel very strongly that they want to dance, to a particularly addictive beat that seems to emanate from the air. It may shift and change as the night goes on, but at any given moment everyone will hear the same rhythm. It sounds like particularly great percussion.

► LOVE & DUTY: They will have no extra special effects, but they will feel this urge to create music even more strongly than the rest, as it seems to be focused on them as they are not being directly targeted by any other sensations. When Hope and Passion musicians hear music made by these characters, they will feel stronger, like energy is being gifted to them.

► HOPE: Characters of this alignment will feel increasingly like they are being drawn somewhere, or like someone is calling for them, but they can't quite make out the direction it's coming from. The aspect of hope will be empowered within them, and they will find themselves unusually trusting towards the other characters, as if they only have the most optimistic outcomes in mind. Beyond this, they may feel dazed or confused by the sensations they are feeling. They may also experience strange visions, or the sensation of being another person they are not (and not just their true self this time, someone else completely).

► PASSION: Characters of passion will be targeted by the 'hauntings' much more directly than the others. More than random acts, the hauntings around them seem like someone is actively trying to communicate with them. Sometimes it will even feel like someone is trying to speak in their heads, though they won't quite be able to make it out. Passion characters who request haunting instances will get the most major effects.

☆VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT

Soon after things start to get extra weird on the 30th, Juno and a couple Virgo veterans (Anansi and a man you recognize as a popular folk artist named Brett Hogan) will start wandering the halls. They will pull individuals aside for questioning in private rooms, asking about the strange occurrences. They will not attempt to rough anyone up, but excessively resistance or attempts at violence towards them may result in characters being locked in their rooms for the rest of the night.

All three of them seem particularly hard to lie to for some reason, tonight. It's possible, but while you make the effort to do so, the words seem to be on the verge of falling out of your mouth. Juno seems to have something very particular in mind as she searches the HQ, like she can see something you can't. There will also be top levels for these guys appearing.

Beyond those activities, Pride members will feel various effects based on their EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENTS:

► ALL: Their connection and desire to create music will be especially heightened. They will find themselves subconsciously beginning to tap out rhythms, hum, peck at instruments, or straight up sing things even when it would otherwise be totally inappropriate. Strong emotions will cause them to want to sing and play to each other. They may also feel very strongly that they want to dance, to a particularly addictive tune that seems to emanate from the air. It may shift and change as the night goes on, but at any given moment everyone will hear the same song. It sounds like someone riffing expertly on a guitar.

► HOPE & PASSION: They will have no extra special effects, but they will feel this urge to create music even more strongly than the rest, as it seems to be focused on them as they are not being directly targeted by any other sensations. When Love and Duty musicians hear music made by these characters, they will feel stronger, like energy is being gifted to them.

► LOVE: Characters of this alignment will feel increasingly like they are being drawn somewhere, or like someone is calling for them, but they can't quite make out the direction it's coming from. The aspect of love will be empowered within them, and they will find themselves unusually loving, connected, and emotionally open to others, even if this would usually be out of character. (This can also mean they are more inclined to get physically intimate, if you want to.) Beyond this, they may feel dazed or confused by the sensations they are feeling. They may also experience strange visions, or the sensation of being another person they are not (and not just their true self this time, someone else completely).

► DUTY: Characters of duty will be targeted by the 'hauntings' much more directly than the others. More than random acts, the hauntings around them seem like someone is actively trying to communicate with them. Sometimes it will even feel like someone is trying to speak in their heads, though they won't quite be able to make it out. Duty characters who request haunting instances will get the most major effects.

☆PLOT NOTE

This will be a two part event, and the second part will be posted in a few days and will only include those that choose to help the spirits. This can be discussed OOC. Any alignment can assist, though the Passions from Pride and the Duties from Virgo will be the most directly pursued because they will be the easiest for the spirits to communicate with. Realize that participating is serious business, though: there are good odds the characters will be caught eventually, and there will be consequences. Do not volunteer your characters for this plot if you don't want them to suffer potential physical or mental trauma.

“Fading gently, soaking through,
And starting not to show at all.
In reaching out and into you, 
nothing else could touch me.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If we go up, someone will probably stop us, right?

[Up is towards Lesedi's office, where they interrogated them that one time, and where she...and he...

He pauses, quivering slightly. That's there the elevator to that medical room was. The one they took him to when he confessed to having memories, and the one that they all appeared in when Naomi Rivers tried to kill them.

It's like a feeling of being lost, and trapped...]

People are going to get in our way.

[Kido bites her lip. She glances around. Then she closes her eyes, takes a breath, and opens them again with a smile.

They're very red. She's been practicing.]

No they won't.

[Tiger stares at her in surprise - not because of the eyes, as he's seen them before, but because of the implication that they'd help. She hadn't gone into much detail about them, and for good reason. Everything had been so tense for the last month or so...]

What do they do?

[She certainly wasn't going to open up about it at a party. But she grins at him.]

Stay close. [She looks around for the nearest person, approaches, and waves her arm in front of his face.]

No one can hear me. Or see me. And if I concentrate, I can hide other people, too.

You can hide me??

[He sounds curious, more than shocked. Excited even. He smiles.]

That's so cool...

We still need to be careful. Lesedi's smart, and so are the people who work for her. And you can't touch anyone or anything, or go too far away from me.

But we can probably get a few places without other people noticing us.

[He considers that for a moment, and then nods his head. He reaches out and takes her hand, with no prompting at all.]

[Oh that's cute. She nods at him.]

So, kid, where do you want to go?

Closer to where the offices are...do you...do you remember when they took us to Lesedi's office?

[He points in the direction he remembers it being.]

Towards the center...and up.

I don't think I could forget. Are you gonna be okay going up that way?

[She worries.]

[His hand tightens around hers a little. Every time he thinks about it it scares him. It makes him feel like he wants to scream, like he should just give up immediately.

But he doesn't this time.]

We have to try...I just...did you really not see or hear anything? The ghosts are back, and...

[He trails off.]

[She goes white.]

... I noticed that part. I hate ghosts. [She's so scared of them, Tiger. So scared.[

I think they're nice. I think they need us.

[He understands her fears, but he feels like that's the truth.]

So long as they don't try to scare us, I'll give them a hand. But if they scare me, they're on their own. [Kido is the most easily frightened iPod in the world.]

[He looks up at her.]

Did they scare you?

... I don't like ghosts. [She's just scared of them in general.]

I'd never met one until I ended up here. I guess I didn't think they were real.

[Now he obviously does of course.]

They haven't scared me yet, so I'll hear them out. Do you know what they need?

No...but maybe someone else will know? I just...have this feeling. If someone could talk to them...we could make a difference together.

[Perhaps the most optimistic thing Kido will have ever heard Tiger say.]

[She uses her free hand to ruffle his hair.]

All right. Maybe we can find a way to talk to them, then.

[He smiles again, and just as he is going to nudge them forward, he sees Predator stomping in their direction. He instinctively pulls back and stands closer to Kido, watching them warily.]

What are they doing here...?

[She just as instinctively pulls him close, putting herself between him and them if they somehow should bump her to see her, or if it doesn't work on them. God, she really half-expects it not to work on them. She tugs her hood down over her eyes.]

Can't be anything good. Let them pass.

[They don't look straight at them as they stand huddled there and waiting, but to Tiger's dread, they do slow down nearby, looking around as if they heard something strange. He doesn't know what it could be. But they linger.]

Maybe...maybe we should just go, before they...

[Find them? Is that even possible?]

[She pulls Tiger closer as they slow down, almost frozen in fear. If they're caught, she's so fucked and Tiger is so fucked probably just from being near her. But then she nods.]

Yeah. Stay close. [She tries to give them a wide berth...]

[Predator lingers in the hallway nearby, Jenny looking like she can practically smell something nearby. They are all quiet, as if their wariness is spoken without the need for words. Eventually Jenny speaks:]

You feel that? It's like mana.

[Cass comes forward, glancing around - her gaze just about settling on Tiger and Kido - before moving on. She nods, and replies:]

Probably someone's left overs. We should keep going.

[Jenny nods, and then slaps Donny's shoulder in way of urging him onward with the group. The head on without another word.]

Edited 2016-01-29 23:14 (UTC)

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