interdimanagers: (Default)
Interdimensional Managers ([personal profile] interdimanagers) wrote in [community profile] interstellar55552015-10-21 07:23 pm

☆TRACK III: THE STREETS ARE EMPTY

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.”
giglio_madonna: (sassybird) (This sky where we live is no place)

Luce - Duty

[personal profile] giglio_madonna 2015-10-22 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
A - Won't you bring all the flowers you find out in the garden?

Luce starts out things optimistically enough. Sure, she's been brought down to a downright eerie basement with her standing bass and for some reason FoB has been split up, but she won't worry about it too much. The entertainment industry is a strange place sometimes. Maybe this is some sort of odd reality show. You never know.

So she waves over to Doctor and mouths her best wishes to Ivan and Kise before she stands up straight in front of the large group she's with.

"Alright then, let's waste no time, shall we? Organization helps in times like these, so why don't we quickly introduce ourselves and our skills? Then we can figure out how to go about this. In case we haven't met-" The grin on Luce's face says she's met basically everyone here. "My name is Luce, and I'm a lead who also does bass."

B - Stop playin' games

Even with all her optimism, however, even Luce can't really do much in the face of such strange instructions.

You can find her doing one of two things as time passes. One, of course, is frowning down at the sheet music she's been given with her bass propped up against her. She seems to be murmuring to herself, trying to make up some music in her own head that will work. Perhaps someone else struggling can help her out.

Or... In a contrast to her generally pleasant demeanor, she can be occasionally seen glancing up a Juno with her lips twisting slightly. It's a complicated expression that she makes sure to keep hidden from the other woman in question, just as much as her very soft murmurs of "Is she entirely sure she's fit to work right now...?"
Edited 2015-10-22 00:37 (UTC)
panspermia: (★ Get my head around it)

Greg - Love

[personal profile] panspermia 2015-10-22 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
Greg tears his eyes away from the sheet music to check on where Juno is in the room, but his fingers never stop picking away at the guitar strings. Logically, going off his past experiences, there's nothing a jam session can't fix. So long as he keeps the notes coming, things will surely improve. And yet, the heavy air in the basement persists. If anything the thrum of music hanging around them only seems to worsen the feeling as time goes on.

It's just his imagination, Greg keeps telling himself. The room's a little dark, he's tired, it's making him jumpy. Just a matter of distracting himself from whatever trick of the mind has him spooked. He looks to the other folks in the mismatched group, and gives a small grin.

"So, what do you think?" he whispers. "Secret show? One-time event? Cool, right?"
Edited 2015-10-22 01:34 (UTC)
nibelungvalesti: (this will not stand)

Lenneth Valkyrie | Duty

[personal profile] nibelungvalesti 2015-10-22 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
Beneath the icy cool of Meril's usual mien, a distant fire of irritation raged. After all she was being put through, trying to improve herself, trying to write lyrics, trying to play better -- now she was being asked to compose? Was everything merely setting her up for failure?

In the grips of such thoughts, the woman was proving surprisingly difficult to work with. Her music was uninspired, her playing routine, and throughout the composition she barely seemed to be paying attention. No one could blame her fellow groupmates for turning a sharp word on her.
deusexmechina: (eight)

Gaige | Duty

[personal profile] deusexmechina 2015-10-22 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's hard to transport a full mixboard, and so luckily gaige has a "mini" that she's able to bring along down to the basement. she "oohs" and "ahhs" at the atompshere, mostly unphased as she follows along.

once she's split up into her group, she squints at the music, her face screwing up into a frown.
]

Kiiiinda weird. Thoughts?
sponsorigami: icon of Ivan looking upwards (折紙 Didn't know Blue Rose could do that)

Ivan - Passion

[personal profile] sponsorigami 2015-10-22 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Truthfully, Ivan has no problem collaborating with others in Virgo. He's loyal to his band most of all, but they are all part of the same label. The other bands feel less like rivals than bands from Pride. One of the people he's with is Hidari. Hidari entered the Bass Off with a bass banjo. Ivan plays shamisen among a music scene with more mainstream instruments, so he has to admire him for his performance and guts. (He still would have voted for Luce, however.)

He's also partly intrigued by Juno approaching him and bringing him along with the rest of his band to this sterile room below ground. This isn't the most inspiring place to compose and practice in, but maybe they're working on a Halloween themed piece. That said, something sits very uneasy within Ivan that grows when Juno leaves.

As he stands in his corner, Ivan assembles his shamisen.

[[ OOC: I'm writing this as a plural in case there is someone who signs up late and also chose Passion. ]]
nibelungvalesti: (angry look)

[personal profile] nibelungvalesti 2015-10-22 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)
We are being set up to fail.

[That thought comes up more and more as time passes, and Meril is so frustrated at this point that her commentary has an unusual bitter bite to it.]
yuruse: (breaking)

[personal profile] yuruse 2015-10-22 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm... not sure I understand my instructions." Weasel might not have been assigned to this group, but then it didn't seem as if he'd been assigned to any group at all. Whatever it is he's supposed to be doing, he's to do it alone.

Is this because of his poor showing at the bass off? It might have been an unofficial competition, but it had still brought in news, and the report had let everyone know of his failure. What if he messes up here too?

Is he even allowed to associate with Greg right now? Hopefully he's not getting himself in further trouble.
giglio_madonna: (snappleicons) (Fanfic: the orgasm ripped through her)

[personal profile] giglio_madonna 2015-10-22 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The force of something tearing out of her knocks Luce's breath out from her chest, and she crumples against her bass clutching at her shirt. Something is missing, gone, and there's a sensation that crawls through her skin telling her its important. At the same time, somehow.... It doesn't feel noticeable. It's a strange contradicting thing that isn't important in the face of Ivan's yelling.

That's what she focuses on, staring up in confusion to him. "Ivan!" She doesn't know what else to say.
giglio_madonna: (sassybird) (I'll just add 'ha ha' at the end so I)

Luce

[personal profile] giglio_madonna 2015-10-22 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
A - So you should just quit

The strange thing for Luce is that when Ivan is left out of sight, she seems to... stop being worried about him. Immediately, she's airy and unconcerned and-

Immediately getting up to leave? "Well, whatever it is we were called here to do, obviously it's done with. Those higher ups really do like wasting our time, so I think I'll be done with it." Feel free to follow her.

However, even if you don't, she comes back fairly soon. Luce is frowning and clearly annoyed. "Hmph. She locked us in. How annoying."

B - And nobody sees what we do

Eventually, Luce's attention wanders to the strange wisps that are about. You can find her interest waning with apparently no real pattern, sometimes even looking like she's debating on touching one.

Is it your memory? Or maybe you're nearby when hers flutters through you...

C - I will not rest until I learn

When she's not investigating the unusual wisps, Luce can be found almost bored as she investigates the basement and trying to see what doors are unlocked. "I imagine it would be too much to ask for that anyone brought a flash light?"
giglio_madonna: (snappleicons) (Bisexual girls are great)

[personal profile] giglio_madonna 2015-10-22 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright, this isn't going to do at all.

Instead of a sharp word, however, Luce goes to sit down besides Lenneth and sends her a practically trademarked smile. "So, what's giving you trouble?"
giglio_madonna: (snappleicons) (Daily reminder to stay hydrated)

[personal profile] giglio_madonna 2015-10-22 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Well it's obviously top secret... Although a bit strange we wouldn't sign anything off on this.

[But honestly, Luce can't say she has a clue here.]
nibelungvalesti: If any of these icons need credit, tell me! (wings of a goddess)

[personal profile] nibelungvalesti 2015-10-22 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Meril drifted through the halls like a ghost -- indeed, with her clear skin and pale hair, she very much looked the part. One hand trailed slow lines down the walls, fingers touching it as a point of contact to keep her grounded.

Silent, thoughtless, almost not there. The woman seemed lost, and heedless of what lay before her or behind.
deusexmechina: (two)

[personal profile] deusexmechina 2015-10-23 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
There's not any good reason for that. I mean, viable guess, sure, but...

[ gaige rests her hand on her mixboard, brow furrowed. ]
deusexmechina: (five)

[personal profile] deusexmechina 2015-10-23 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Spoooky.

[ gaige uses her mixboard to make an "eerie" sound and wiggles the fingers of her free hand. ]

Wonder if it's some kinda test. Silly for it to be in a locked-off basement either way.
panspermia: (★ Kidding myself)

Greg

[personal profile] panspermia 2015-10-23 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
When the energy pulls away from them, it nearly pulls Greg along with it; he staggers to keep his feet. Startled, he stares at the floor, evidently trying to process what's happened.

For a long, long time, he simply stares at the ground, expression hard to place, as he struggles to process anything. His mouth twitches, brow furrows, eyes darting as he searches, internally, for something, anything.

Slowly, one shaking hand cups over his mouth, covering his uneven breath. He raises his gaze, just enough to glance around the room, at the people and dispersing wisps of light, before recoiling from--from their presence, the mere idea of existing near anyone. Suddenly, he pulls his guitar off from around his neck and throws it on the floor, grimacing at it, before running down the hall.

He can't do this. He doesn't know what this is, but he can't do it.

He's going to find someplace dark, someplace quiet, someplace away from everything, and try and figure out what he has left.
pecsonpecs: (SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP)

[personal profile] pecsonpecs 2015-10-23 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Krieg's of the same mindset that Greg is; the enthusiasm for this bizarre project was abundant earlier but is quickly disappearing. This piece is...grating, to say the least, having to keep up with the constant change of time; now would be a good time to suggest working on something else for a while, but it's not an option. Not down here.

When all else fails, try to be positive.

"I just think..." he says, turning to look at Juno. "...if they wanted us to make something different they could've just asked, instead of bringing us down here."

Try being the key word.
Edited 2015-10-23 01:57 (UTC)
faithfulflame: (Rei Evil? Where?)

[personal profile] faithfulflame 2015-10-23 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
When one of those strange lights drifts towards Rei, she's in no state to really move. Her whole thought process is so out of whack, so...off guard...that it hits her like a physical blow. She stumbles backwards, bumbling awkwardly into the wall and rebounding, right into the memory's owner.

"G-God!"
faithfulflame: (Rei Collecting Herself)

[personal profile] faithfulflame 2015-10-23 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Extremely so.

[Rei shakes her head at Gaige, but there's a worried frown on her face.]

It must be a prank.
faithfulflame: Color by <user name=Messala> (Rei Dumbstruck)

Rei

[personal profile] faithfulflame 2015-10-23 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
Suddenly extremely frustrated, Rei's only real course of action is to stalk around the room like an angry alleycat. She's practically bristling, mumbling to herself in quiet apprehension. These strange lights are...unnerving, but not quite as unsettling as Ivan's outburst. That just seemed so out of place on the normally quiet young man.

There's something off about her, too, though. Ordinarily when upset she might be sitting quietly, or fidgeting in a corner, but now she seems just on the edge of a rage. Rei's shaking, her fists clenched hard, knuckles white as she continually paces back and forth, trying to avoid these lights.

The pain in her chest in immense, a shattering sensation wracking her whole frame periodically. Her violin is abandoned as she wanders, left like some unwanted trinket as she continues her pacing, gradually moving further and further out before returning, seemingly devoid of any real direction...
pecsonpecs: (GAY DEMONS)

Krieg, cw for graphic descriptions of violence

[personal profile] pecsonpecs 2015-10-23 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
If you looked at Krieg now, you'd think that he was out of his mind. He isn't responsive in the least, trained his unfocused eyes in the direction that Ivan was dragged in. It's not until the shamisen player is returned to the fold that Krieg stands slowly, cackling to himself lowly as he pries the bass drum off of his set and drags it to the elevator doors.

His mind is full of bloodlust, fleeting fantasies of all the awful things he would do to Juno if he got his hands around her; all he has to do is to get to her and then he could feel the thrill of the kill once again. Krieg slams the bass drum against the elevator doors, denting the drum body and it rolls away ineffectively. Undeterred, he tries to pry his fingers between the crack of the doors, attempting to pry them apart with strength alone. It's fruitless, even though the muscles in his back visibly strain against the doors as he roars loudly enough to reverberate through the whole basement.

Eventually he goes back to repeatedly slamming the bass drum against the doors before angrily throwing it aside--hopefully you're not standing in the way when it flies by. Krieg presses his forehead against the door, undeterred, screaming, as if Juno was standing directly on the other side.

"I'LL TEAR YOUR RIBCAGE OPEN AND MAKE YOU WATCH AS I SUCK THE BLOOD THROUGH YOUR PULMONARY ARTERY! SQUEEZE YOUR LUNGS WITH MY FINGERS, YOUR TRACHEA WILL MAKE THE MOST DELIGHTFUL WHISTLE!"
sponsorigami: Ivan with Origami's helmet (漫画 To worry about which is correct)

[personal profile] sponsorigami 2015-10-23 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Playing dutifully and to the best of his ability, Ivan strums the strings of his shamisen. The music flows from each musician, and Ivan swears that he can start to see. He wants to stop playing and touch those blue lights. Could this be like the legends of people chasing after fox fire into the dark? Did they feel just as mesmerized by their beauty and presence? However, he doesn't stop playing. This is what Juno wants him to do, and he won't cross her.

Then...

Then Ivan's not sure what happened, but it happened all at once. His body stops on its own accord, a sensation taking over. He feels crowded, like there's something with him, and that grips his shamisen with fury and hits the speaker. Ivan hears his voice yell, but the words are not his. It's different than the yelled words of protection toward Edward. He doesn't feel like this is him at all.

It doesn't last. Like a rubber band snapping, Ivan feels like his insides are yanked out to somewhere above. His head is still tilted toward the ceiling, but the rage has disappeared. Completely. Where he felt crowded is now empty.

Ivan collapses to his knees with the damaged instrument in his hands. His eyes move from the speaker "he" hit and back to his shamisen as he tries to make sense of what had happened.
interstellarnpcs: (juno)

[personal profile] interstellarnpcs 2015-10-23 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Juno is not pleased.

Having been acting as a sort of distant 'conductor' to this whole thing, it's only now that she steps back into sight. She was close enough that she saw what Ivan just didn't, but there hasn't been enough time for her to draw any conclusions past that of betrayal.

She storms over to Ivan's side the moment that the energy of the spell dissipates, grabbing him by the shoulder and hauling him to his feet. She is quite strong for someone of her size - which is only a few inches past five feet.

"What have you done?" she demands.

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