interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

Entry tags:

☆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

Jamie's grin falters. "Whaddya mean? Like food-poisoning weird or..." He makes a brief, fluttery gesture with one hand. "...stuff that was happening on the tour bus weird?" he finishes in an undertone.

He hesitates a moment before responding, leaning in a little. "Second one, for sure. It was kinda messed up - like I was hallucinating or something."

Jamie closes the distance, glancing around worriedly. "So - what were you hallucinating?"

His expression is unreadable; he's not letting on just yet whether or not he's experienced anything weird tonight.

"...Uh." Okay this is the hard part. Hard to say without sounding completely insane, that is.

He looks around as well, just to be sure nobody else is listening. "It... kinda looked like a robot? I dunno, it was hard to tell. It was huge, though." He lifted his hands a little, as if trying to indicate just how huge said robot was - though the movement is a little more subdued than B's usual, expansive gestures. He doesn't want to attract too much attention here.

At the mention of robots Jamie's eyes widen to the size of dinnerplates and the color drains from his face. He stares completely flabbergasted at his bandmate before giving himself a shake and breaking eye contact.

"Yeah, uh. That's - pretty crazy sounding. Y'know, maybe it was food poisoning after all, who knows? Or did you get into any fights tonight? Maybe you hit your head."

Yes, Jamie, B will obviously be convinced that he's losing his mind immediately after your expression all but screamed "I, too, had a hallucination involving some kind of robot."

That was... a little stronger of a reaction than B had been expecting. He frowns, already getting ready to get defensive - even though he does realize it sounds pretty ridiculous.

"I didn't hit my head! I don't know what the deal is, but I know I--"

Wait.

Jamie's expression finally sinks in, and B's frown deepens further. He points accusingly at his bandmate. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"No!" Jamie says immediately, because that is super convincing. He tries to cover by saying, in an undertone, "It's just that that's some - fucked-up sci-fi shit, why would you be hallucinating about fucking robots, man..."

He can see that B's not buying it, though. He trails off, rakes a hand through his hair, and glances back up at his bandmate. "Fine. Yeah, I saw...something. Look, can we find someplace a little more...private, to talk about this?" He gestures meaningfully at the throngs of people around them.

"Yeah." B nods eagerly and looks around for an exit - this will really be much easier to figure out when they're not surrounded by people. He points out the nearest way out and starts heading over, gesturing for Jamie to follow.

Jamie is happy to oblige, though he tries to look casual about it so as not to arouse suspicion, and once they're outside he takes a few deep breaths, grateful for the fresh air. He hadn't been aware of just how stifling it'd been inside until he's away from the crush of human bodies.

"Okay," he says, looking B in the eye. "So what...exactly did you see, back there? You were kinda vague."

B glances around again, as if to be TOTALLY SURE that nobody's around before turning back to Jamie. Now that they're out of the way of the crowd, his hands start waving around as enthusiastically as ever as he explains.

"Okay, so like I said, there was this HUGE robot - it looked like it was red and blue, but the paint was all scratched up... and I think it had blue eyes? It was looking right at me, which I guess should've been scary given that it was... you know, a huge robot. But it... it wasn't. At all."

Jamie chews on a corner of his lip, brow furrowed as he takes this in. "A red and blue robot...with blue eyes." He glances up at B. "You've got blue eyes," he adds contemplatively, and then in a more teasing tone: "Maybe it was your robot dad."

He can't help being a little irreverent - this is weird shit and he's not really comfortable with it. Besides, B's unusual coloration has been brought up a few times in the press; the fact that the machine in B's hallucination also had blue eyes seems like it should be relevant, somehow.

"So was that it? Did it do anything, or say anything to you?"

He snorts, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, right." There isn't much conviction behind the dismissal, though. He doesn't really know what to think about any of this.

"No, that was it. It just... stood there. And then it was gone." B frowns, glancing upward for a moment. He supposes there's a little more to it than that, but... well, Jamie had asked if the robot had done anything, and it hadn't.

Jamie nods awkwardly, thinking, comparing the description of B's hallucination with his own. What had shaken Jamie the most wasn't what he'd seen in the vision, but the feelings that had come with it.

"You got a - a feeling from yours, right? You said, like, you thought you should be afraid, but you weren't." He frowns intently at B, silently urging him to elaborate.

"...Yeah." His mouth twists into a thoughtful frown. "But I... I mean, at the time, it didn't seem like there was even any reason I should. When I think about it now, yeah, it would've made sense, but at the time... there was no way he ever would've hurt me. I felt like I could trust him."

The moment the words are out of his mouth, it strikes him how ridiculous that sounds. He snaps his mouth shut, hunching his shoulders a little.

"'Him'?" Jamie peers at B. "You make it sound like it's someone you know. Like a person."

And that, surely, is impossible, because if crappy direct-to-SyFy movies have taught him anything it's that robots are soulless killing machines.

"Was that all you felt?" Not that what B had described hadn't been significant, but Jamie wants to be thorough in cataloging the details of B's little episode so he can compare it with his own.

"I--" B hesitates. He hadn't even realized he had switched pronouns, but now that he thought about it... "...I guess so. I mean, it... felt like it was."

He hesitates, then shakes his head. "That was it."

He doesn't really want to try to explain the overwhelming feeling that he would do whatever he could to gain this imaginary hallucination robot's approval.

"That's...that's interesting. That you felt like it was a...guy robot."

With the details of B's hallucination apparently covered, Jamie supposes it's his turn to share, much as he doesn't want to. He stares at the ground and digs the toe of one polished shoe into a divot in the pavement, stalling, before he looks up.

"Mine was...different. Way different." And he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yeah? Different how?" There's no hiding the curiosity on his face; all this is definitely a little worrying, but he can't say he's not wondering what Jamie saw.

Jamie hesitates, reluctant to spill the details - but B shared his, so it's only fair.

"It was a desert," he begins, slowly. "Just sand and rocks everywhere. Big blue sky. Off in the distance there's...something, I can't really tell what, but I think it's - some kind of machine? Huge. And then a little closer is another one, moving around like it's - this sounds dumb, but like it's alive. Like some kind of animal. White, with big glowing gold claws."

His voice has gotten soft and kind of distant as he recalls what he saw, his eyes unfocussed, almost as though trying to see again the strange images he's trying to describe to his bandmate.

B stands there in silence for a good few seconds after Jamie describes what he saw, as if trying to come up with some kind of explanation for his bandmate. Then he gives an uncertain hum, shifting his weight a little.

"...So that's what you meant about seeing a robot, huh. That's... weird. I mean, all of this is, I guess."

"'chyeah. Told you it wasn't like yours." Jamie's back to staring at the ground, feeling as though he's told B something intensely personal that he shouldn't have shared. Eventually he looks up.

"D'you think we're the only ones that this happened to?"

He chews on his lip a little, shifting uncomfortably where he stands and wondering if they should have talked about this after all.

"...Probably not. Maybe." B gives a resigned sigh. "I don't know. I mean, I don't see why we would be, but... how often does something like this even happen, y'know?"

Jamie leans dispiritedly back against the wall, crossing one ankle over the other. "Have any of the other guys mentioned anything like this to you?" he asks, glancing up again.

"I mean, at first I thought all that stuff on the tour bus was just, y'know. Stress from traveling all over the country. Jet lag, or whatever. The bus being haunted." He shrugs. "I thought it'd stop once we got home, not get worse."

"Nah. Nothing." Was it just them? Or were the others just keeping quiet? He sighs, following Jamie's lead and slouching against the wall.

"Right? I mean, what is the deal here? Is it just..." He trails off for a moment, staring at the ground with a slight frown. Is it just them?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

☆TRACK I: NOTHING LEFT OF YOU

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject