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

Distantly, he can sense her presence nearby, but he's too caught up in the melody to look and see. He can get it, just right, if he really focuses...

A thin mist swirls around them, building with the song. With each pluck of the strings, Greg's weaving himself a miniature galaxy out of the air.

Perhaps befitting her personality, Luce isn't much of a swearing person. It's just never something that's really stuck. Right now, however?

Now might be a time to swear in plain surprise.

She freezes in her place, mouth dropping open in shock as the tiny little galaxy begins to form. A moment is needed for her to regain her composure, and she fumbles out her phone to take a quick picture. Later, she need to make sure this is a thing that actually exists. Is real. Up until this point, magic- ghosts, whatever, it had all seemed like something out of any of their control. Sure, there was the Doctor's telepathy and Rei's bouts of fire, but they'd seemed so... small. Mundane. Psychic, Rei had suggested, and that had seemed right.

As much as Luce knows about the subject, this isn't psychic anything. And, more importantly, it's Greg Universe.

Phone still in one hand, she finally gets close enough to reach out with her free hand to tap his shoulder. "Greg!" It's a hasty whisper.

The touch finally pulls him out to the present, at least enough for him to look over as he plays. The first thing he registers at all is the plain, clear shock on Luce's face, more evident than anything he's seen from her before.

"Wh--Luce, what happened?"

His miniature universe tints blue with his sudden hushed concern, still playing without a second thought to breaking the beat. The distress of a friend pushes away the sight of anything else around him.

There's a calm way to put this. She knows there is. It just takes her a minute and a deep breath to get it together.

"Keep playing," she says quietly, "but look around."

After a blink, Greg's eyes widen, and stars ripple with his visible shudder of panic.

"I--uh, this is, uhh--" Glancing around, the pit of dread sinks deeper in his gut. This is the biggest it's ever gotten before he's noticed. So long as he keeps playing, his personal solar system keeps spinning, now a tad faster in keeping with his anxiety. He wants to stop, but he truly doesn't.

"I can explain... no, I... I can't."

"Focus on breathing," is her immediate answer as her mind races. Somehow, this seems so much more beautiful and impressive than what Naomi had done. And that just makes her worried.

What would Juno do if she saw Greg doing something like this?

"We'll figure this out together," Luce promises, looking out onto the amazing image that's spread out before them. "But for now, just breathe, alright, dear?"

"A-alright." Somehow, Greg manages to look very small while at the center of a universe. This power he's unlocked is bigger than he ever wanted to be.

He glances around at the magical glitter drifting about him. "I uh, this is... I've done it before, but this is the biggest it's ever gotten. Usually just messing with the lights, or something..." He bites hard inside his cheek. "I don't know how to get it to stop."

"I think I have an idea." It's just a theory, just a guess based on all the strange things that have happened, but what better time to try it?

Very carefully and very gently, she reaches down and takes his hand away from the strings.

A number of tiny lights wink out and fog begins to disperse, but the scene still lingers around them, the cosmic spinning slowing down without its melodic fuel.

Greg looks around at it again, then at Luce. It's an answer he suspected, but didn't want. "I can't be a musician who doesn't play."

"It's just like Naomi," Luce murmurs softly to herself, remembering the woman who she had let cry on her shoulder. That just makes her remember the party, and she whirls on Greg with a finger pointing right at his face.

"Do not let Edward Blanche find out about this!" An uncharacteristic pleading is in her voice. "I can't let you end up like Naomi, Greg. I don't know what we'll do, but I can't."

Greg flinches with her finger thrust in his face. For a moment, he just looks at her, helpless, before looking away.

"He's already got his eyes on me."

Haplessly, her hand falls down, trembling before she clasps it with the other to still her movements. Luce's mind is racing on overtime. She wants to protect everyone close to her, but it feels like that's becoming harder to do as time goes on.

"...Does he know? That you can do this?"

"I don't know." He has trouble believing there's anything about them Blanche doesn't already know, better even than they do. "He's got something on me. He tried to use it to..." He shakes his head. The man's still a scumbag, and that hasn't changed. He won't allow Tiger near him.

Deep breaths. Calm. Luce knows that sometimes, she's the only one who has it in a room. "What was it...? Can I know?" The more she knows, maybe the more she can do and help. That's what she wants to believe.

Logically, Greg knows he ought to refuse her request. It's dangerous to spread this information around, he's already told too many people.

But it's Luce. He trusts her, and she trusts him. He doesn't want to be the sort of person who hides things from his friends. This is easily the most worked up Greg's gotten to see Luce; even after Naomi's murder, she'd pulled herself together fairly well by the time they'd gotten to talk. He's already made her worry, and denying her will make things worse.

"...We've already talked about it." It feels like forever ago. "You... heard it."

...Oh. Oh dear.

The look in Luce's eyes softens. "Tiger," she murmurs, just to get confirmation from him. Of course it would be Tiger. Somehow, knowing that there are children tangled in this game between adults leaves a sour taste on her tongue. It shouldn't be how things are done. Yet here they are, and they all have to work with what they've been given.

"You know you can't trust him no matter what he says, don't you?"

Greg's skin prickles. There's a couple people he's mentioned it to, but he's never gone so far as giving the name, yet Luce had practically figured it out before he did. He inclines his head with just the faintest nod.

"I hate leaving him over there. They've done terrible things to him over at Pride, you know that?" His thumb rubs along the length of one string. "At first I thought it might be better here, but. So long as that guy's in charge, I can't trust anything."

It's a dilemma Luce is quite familiar with. Thoughts like this haven't been uncommon for her ever since the Solstice Incident. Trying to leave Virgo, she knows, will mean more than just having lost an amazing job and potentially struggling to find work. She saw a woman die that night. There's no telling what could happen.

"There's no premade safe space for any of us," she says slowly, shifting and with her arms loosely wrapped about her. "Pride is openly a questionable place, but Virgo isn't much better, I suspect. If there's anywhere we could be safe... It's something we'd have to make ourselves."

Her final comment makes his face screw up, the words getting stuck as he attempts to process the meaning. "There's nothing we can make that isn't his." The idea of an alternative is more baffling than anything.

"Of course there is!" She doesn't notice it- isn't even aware of what she's doing- but the hope and confidence in her carries out through her voice then. Luce is certain there must be a way. There has to be. After all...

"He's not omniscient, he's not all powerful. There's plenty he doesn't know yet. We simply don't know enough yet."

Greg stares, still bewildered by the idea. He isn't? There is? At some point Greg had accepted the idea there was nothing they could keep from Edward Blanche, nothing that went on in their lives he didn't have a camera or crony watching, or even whatever terrifying magic he has on his side. Her affirmation is slow to process in his mind.

"How are we supposed to learn any more, though...?" It only ever seems like details come forward at their expense.

And there's the pause.

The man in the suit, the one from her memories, is a person she's only talked about to the rest of her band. Doctor knows she's met him. Rei and Ivan know she's had dreams about him. Talking to someone clearly about something like that is...

No. It's Greg. She can talk to him.

"Can you keep a secret? A proper one, one you won't tell anyone else." No lightness is in her voice as she asks the question. It's weighed down by a certain somberness.

The change in his expression is small; still confused, still concerned, but a step towards certainty on this topic. He may be lost, frightened, and out of his depth, but he doesn't take secrets lightly.

"Of course."

That's all she needs for now. Leaning in, she confesses with bright hopeful eyes, "At the charity concert, I ran into a man from some of my visions!"

Excitedly, Luce forges on. "It's not like you and Tiger, he's not a musician- he's not a part of Pride Records or Virgo Entertainment. He knew exactly who I was, and he said he's here to rescue me. If it were anyone else, well, pull the other finger, right? But with what happened to Naomi, all the mystery, and the visions... I know I can trust him. He's important to me."

That last part is said not just with conviction, but a great deal of love. Soft and bright, like a candle flame, but still flickering passionately.

His eyes go wider. The kid at the concert... he had no memory of them, but they had spoken in a way like they did. It had to be the same sort of thing.

"You think... he can do it...?" His caution is too great to be excited, but... he would sure like to believe.

☆TRACK VII: IN REACHING OUT PT. 1

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