[CLOSED] BE PREPARED FOR SENSATIONAL NEWS

[interstellarnpcs]

Who: Lesedi, Jamie, and Terry
What: Lesedi wants to make sure her troops are sufficiently under control and ready for battle.
When: The beginning of Hype Week.
Where: Lesedi's office love den.
Warnings: Lesedi is here.

Lesedi isn't very polite when it comes to summons. No, instead of asking people to come to her office by phone or by messenger, she's gradually drifted to just teleporting whoever she wants present straight in without warning. She's a busy woman and has places to be. Whether or not you do is irrelevant.

That is how they'll be brought in. One minute they are going about their lives, and the next they will be standing in front of Lesedi's desk, with their head honcho resting her chin on her hands, leering at them uncomfortable. Though these are to be two separate meetings, her greetings are exceptionally similar.

"Hi there," she'll say. "I can tell we have a lot to talk about."

She can see it just by looking at them - magical aura swirling off in waves.

Comments

[mildwildchild]

This surprises him for some reason, even though he already knows - or at least suspects - that he has more of that power than a lot of the other Pride musicians, especially the ones that he associates with closely. The newer artists, the ones with all the weird memories and shit. His "batch."

He's not really sure if Santiago is complementing him or just stating a fact, so he responds modestly. "I...didn't even know I was doing anything, most of the time. And then I thought it was something that I could play around with a little, you know, to get the fans more excited..." He's saying more than he really intended to, but he's scared shitless and consequently rambling a little.

[interstellarnpcs]

She smirks again, and it is an inherently unsettling gesture.

"Ah, yes, that's a favourite of ours. You use a bit of your strength to get them really interested...and that emotional impact gives it back to you tenfold. At least with something like Pride Records backing you." Never forget that this is her doing. "I'm sure you've realized where your power comes from..."

Or it's perfectly reasonable that he hasn't, and she's just trolling him.

[mildwildchild]

He pauses to choose his next words carefully. Along with being aware of other people's capacity to manipulate the musical energy surrounding and suffusing them, he has the impression that what remains in him and everyone else is just the dregs of something greater, scraps left over after the bulk has been collected. He guesses that Lesedi is gathering it from them, and if she needs them to produce it for her then it can't be coming from her. He's not sure, though, how smart it is to insinuate that she's taking the energy away from him, as though he feels any sense of propriety toward it.

He shakes his head slowly. "I don't really understand where it's coming from. Ma'am." He's not lying, at least.

[interstellarnpcs]

He leans back as if she is about to enter story time with him, swirling a finger in the air in way of example.

"Magic around here is a thing of emotional connection and consensus. When you play to an eager crowd, it draws out that energy. Your music, the rhythm...it takes that energy and bring it to you. All those souls are moving to your beat, and while that's the case, the power they generate is yours for the taking."

[mildwildchild]

His eyes dart warily to her finger. She could be plotting anything with that finger. Wizards, man.

"O-okay, so...that's been happening all along, right? Since I, um..." He doesn't know at this stage if he needs to keep playing dumb, but it probably wouldn't hurt. "...signed on with Pride.

"So, uh - why haven't I noticed it before now?"

[interstellarnpcs]

She shrugs.

"You weren't skilled enough to pick it out! Not everyone can interact with the music, you know. That's why I'm talking to you right now."

[mildwildchild]

"Really?" There is some genuine surprise and curiosity there now, undercutting the stark terror, but it makes a certain kind of sense.

"That's why everybody...feels kind of different, right?" He makes a vague wavy gesture with the milk carton. "Because they're at different - stages, or something, of being able to do stuff with the music."

[interstellarnpcs]

"Yes," she says, simply. Then she smiles in a way that is a little challenging. "And where would you consider yourself to be on that scale of power?"

[mildwildchild]

"Um." Jamie pauses, considering. "I haven't...really felt many people that seemed stronger than me." He doesn't name names, for several reasons. In particular, he thinks it's probably not a good idea to mention Mr. Universe to her, considering he's under Blanche's control and anything pertaining to Blanche might send her into a frenzy of insane rage.

"...why is that?" he ventures cautiously. "If I have this kind of power, I thought - I dunno, that there might be a lot more people who were at the same level."

[interstellarnpcs]

"How optimistic," she says, glancing at her fingernails, finely manicured to be particularly sharp. She leans back.

"The answer, of course, is that there are many more than you. They simply aren't anybody you'd have the casual privilege of talking to. Both under Pride and Virgo's banners."

[mildwildchild]

"Well, but what about the ones I see around HQ all the time? Like my bandmates and stuff. None of the guys have as much of that energy as I do. Out of the other people that got signed on at the same time I did, there's only a couple of 'em that really stand out that way."

He lifts one shoulder in a careful shrug. "So why do I have it and they don't?"

[interstellarnpcs]

"One of tera's greatest mysteries," Lesedi says boredly, playing with one of the many trinkets on her desk. "If all of you were as competent I'd have accomplished my goals years ago."

"At any rate... why is anyone good at anything? Innate talent, I suppose. A particular quality of your soul."

[mildwildchild]

"I-I dunno, I thought maybe hard work had something to do with it?" Jamie tries for a wan smile that quickly falters.

Anyway, more soul talk. Souls are pretty serious business, Jamie's been learning.

"O-okay, so..." He turns the milk carton around in his hands nervously, never taking his eyes off Lesedi. "What, uh - I mean, was there - y-you called me up here to do more than just...tell me that I had this power stuff. Right?"

Are you going to do something horrible or what, Lesedi? The suspense is killing him.

[interstellarnpcs]

Pch! So nervous, Jamie. What did she ever do to warrant such anxiety? (Lol.)

"Up until now luck is far more important, I think," she says. "But now that you have it...now is when you've gotta work. Which is what I've called you here, for."

Her gaze becomes particularly intent.

"As a member of Pride, you work for me."

[mildwildchild]

Jamie withers visibly under that stare. Being the focus of Lesedi Santiago's attention is never a good thing, as far as he can tell.

"Wh - was there anything, um, in particular you wanted me to do?" His gut is churning with dread; he had entirely different designs on the use of his rad new powers, designs which just happen to be the exact opposite of doing Lesedi's bidding, and he's terrified that she's going to force him to do things against his will.

[interstellarnpcs]

"You'll be training under one of my masters, starting now. This is a big time for Pride, Jamie, and you are an asset that can't be ignored. That is... if you can learn to refine these powers of yours."

Most importantly, she'll be personally keeping an eye on you.

[mildwildchild]

Oh GREAT.

He's relieved, if only marginally, to hear that he's an asset - he guesses he always was, but maybe if he can do things that a lot of other people can't she'll be less inclined to use him for a soul battery or messily kill him or something. Maybe.

And that apparently hinges on learning how to control his abilities. No pressure.

"Okay," he ventures cautiously. "So um - who exactly is gonna be training me?"

[interstellarnpcs]

"Hm," she considers, leaning back and taking a moment to look at her phone. "I think that Cass would be a good choice. Or perhaps Jenny. The leads of Predator, of course. They are the most talented stock I have."

[mildwildchild]

Predatorrrrrr does he have tooooooo?

Jamie is less than thrilled with the prospect of being near either of these two people, but he doesn't think it would be in his best interest to challenge Lesedi on this. The dismay is probably evident in his expression anyway.

"Um. Whatever you think would be best." He fidgets unhappily. "What exactly is the training gonna involve?"

[interstellarnpcs]

"I don't know," Lesedi says dismissively, waving a hand. "Whatever Cass and the others cook up, I suppose. It's certainly not my job to teach you - I can't even imagine how the human mind manages to struggle with such basic concepts."