interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

Entry tags:

☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

Who: Everyone!
What: The tour hits Europa, and Edward Blanche plans a trap.
When: May 25th - June 17th, 2055
Where: Any of the potential tour stops, but mostly MOSCOW.
Warnings: Probably violence.

“Oh, will you break my fall
When I climb too high?
I always lose my nerve,
It happens every time.”

☆LOVE AND TRUST

After the disaster that was the beginning of the World Tour, things from there have proceeded innocently enough in comparison. Virgo ended up being able to pull its act into some semblance of order before the festival finished, and so the magic on their side was not entirely lost. Things are tense, however, for anybody who has an idea of the stuff going on upstairs. Whatever is going on, Pride is in the lead by a landslide, and the desperation is present in the managers and the execs alike.

Lesedi, however, couldn’t be happier. In fact, she is getting cockier by the day. Her plans with Lapis went wonderfully, and wherever the gem is now is irrelevant. Barring any major disasters, she is increasingly certain of her defeat of Virgo, and is encouraging her elite members of take potshots at them any chance they get. (This includes her beginner music mages.)

The beginning of the month is spent with both labels visiting a lot of very familiar locations across Americana - most of which are places they will have visited in the past. The routes are very similar to the ones the first bands took during their opening tours last summer.

As for the rescuers, now is the time to regroup. It’s not practical to follow the musicians to ever stop they make, but Shep has apparently enabled his spaceship with a cloaking device, and will be taking all the rescuers and free musicians to the major tour centers of each continental tour - the headline festivals, each lasting for days, and each carrying an important role in the ongoing ritual.

That’s what Silver thinks, at least. As some of the rescuers may now know, Gold has apparently gone solo.

☆EUROPA TOUR

As the Americana portion of the tour comes to a close around the 25th of May, both labels will be finishing up in Britain and heading on into the conglomerate of Europa. All of these cities are basically what they are like IRL except about 50 years more future-like, and you have full creative liberty to make up some developments to the local culture and worldbuild because this is the last time these places will ever be mentioned meaningfully!

THE OFFICIAL STOPS: Paris (May 30th - 31st), Berlin (June 1st - 2nd), Madrid (June 3rd - 6th), Istanbul (June 7th - 8th), Rome (June 9th - 10th), Vienna (June 11th - 12th)
THE HEADLINER: Moscow (June 12th - 17th)

The festival in Moscow is much like the festival in Vista City - a musical blowout to end all blow outs. The two labels festival grounds are practically blending together at this point, almost as if fighting for physical territory along with fighting for the attention of the crowds. The thick energy of magic follows the tour like a comet’s tail.

► RESCUER PROMPT: Instead of cutting through all of the earlier stops, Shep loads all the rescuers up into the now-cloaked spaceship and will bring them to Moscow, the last step in the Europa tour path and the place they’ll be stopping the longest. Silver has been saying that the lot of them should start working on freeing captives at all costs, especially now that the labels are on the road and increasingly disorganized. Shep has gotten together a bunch of new material for disguises as well as more holo projectors - a lot of them have been spotted at this point, but if they can get close to the musicians and catch the labels off guard it could be their best hope of bunging up the rituals for both of them.

Meanwhile, Gold is obviously absent from the team, and some may have seen their former leader essentially announce their intent to leave during their fight with Lapis. Silver and Shep seem to have been avoiding talking about it, but occasionally it will be referenced in public places and the conversation will turn rapidly tense.

► MUSICIAN PROMPT: Everything is more or less business as normal, except for the pressure of the tour seems to be causing all the authority figures to lose their minds, especially in Virgo. Beyond that, though, it’s all deceptively the same. Both labels stop in the various cities and put on their best show, only stopping briefly to enjoy the local culture. Everyone is under very careful watch, however, no matter where they are. No one leaves the performance areas without an escort - it’s clear that both labels are desperate to hang on to musicians at this point. The gravity of the situation is increasingly obvious.

Both labels have been booked into the same hotel this time, which is essentially a castle in Moscow. It’s every bit as lavish as you would expect, and it’s easy to get distracted from the stress with the luxuries that are offered at every turn. The consistent sense of desperation that Virgo has running through it at the moment is totally absent in Pride - Lesedi seems like she’s in an absolutely fantastic mood.

► FESTIVAL PROMPT: The festivals crowds are bigger than anything you’ve ever seen. Rescuers will easily be lost in a crowd, and musicians will be followed by a detour of body guards that honestly feel needed for reasons besides imprisonment. The stages are colourful and elaborate in set up. The musical event goes on for three full days, and most of everyone’s time will be spent backstage or in their hotels. Rescuers will have to do their best to keep up.

☆BLANCHE MAKES A MOVE

In the wake of Virgo falling behind, Edward Blanche has come up with a magical scheme of his own. Using the soul crystal of pure love from Greg Universe and pure duty from Meril, he has been devising a ritual - and with any luck, it take out two birds with one stone.

Greg and Meril, having mostly lost their real personalities after having parts of their souls torn out and crystalized, will be set up in a central location in the hotel, after the performances on the last night in Moscow. They’ll be set up to play music, and while that music is playing it will be reaching out to all of the rescuers, whether they can hear it or not. This music is going to trigger the love and duty within their own souls, and direct it to a particular cause - a sudden and desperate need to save their friends, family, or other sympathetic souls from the labels. And the need to do it tonight. This will hit them particularly hard if they are naturally of a love or duty alignment, but it will have an effect regardless. How much it gets them exactly is up to you.

Virgo’s musicians will be protected very heavily during the ritual, as Blanche is expecting the attack. His hope is to lure rescuers in and kill or capture them, having the advantage of foresight. He’s also hoping that the rescuers will go after the less protected musicians of Pride and steal them away from Lesedi, who isn’t aware that this is happening. If things go well for Blanche, both the rescuers and Pride will take a major hit, all in one go. Why not let your enemies destroy each other?

Player participation in this can go two ways: one is that your character can simply go after any of the musicians you choose, and you can work out between the players and the mod how well it goes. Alternatively, you can have your character go to the heart of the matter and try to take on Greg and Meril. The tricky part? Blanche is going to be overseeing the ritual as well. However, without the focuses of Greg and Meril’s soul crystals, the ritual will fail. Also, there will absolutely be a few opportunistic ghosts looking for the opportunity to give everyone a hand.

Communication with the mod is key for this event! Please run by plans to have any musicians successfully escape by me before going through with it, and also do let me know if you’d like the ghosts to help out! This can absolutely be combined with other player plots, such as the Pride break out initiative that’s been floating around.

The night of the ritual is June 17th, so take some time to plan things out, and then get threading. Let me know if you need help setting any scenes!

“Oh will you bring me home
When I'm barely alive?
It's the state of love and trust,
And this is for you,
And this is for us.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ivan points to a spot on the stage near a cherry picker. There are large fiberglass rods standing upright and extending high above the stage. It looks like there are some rope mechanism that'll help them hang the banners, but someone else will have to do that. Ivan isn't qualified enough for it.

"Be careful of the wires everywhere. The sound techs are still working on it." Ivan doesn't want B to trip over anything.

B nods and hauls the first box over with a grin. "Yeah, I'll watch out! Wouldn't say much about me as a dancer if I couldn't avoid a few wires, huh."

"I guess it wouldn't." Ivan takes a box of his own over and starts opening the boxes with a key. A knife or box cutter could cut the banners inside.

"... How has the band been holding up since Sora got fired?" Then his face shows a flash of regret. Ivan mentally berates himself. Just because he's worried about the band in general doesn't mean he can sound so friendly when he's supposed to be a stranger and an underling. "S-Sorry. Lesedi, I mean, Miss Lesedi probably doesn't want you to talk about things she doesn't okay talking about. Or... maybe she wouldn't care given Virgo's state of affairs."

It comes as a surprise, just for a moment. But B glances over his shoulder at the guards waiting nearby, then gives a shake of his head. "It's no problem. Not like it's some huge secret, right?"

And, if Santiago thinks it should be, maybe - just maybe - B doesn't care at this point. A few months ago he wouldn't think of spilling potentially sensitive information, but a lot has changed lately.

He gives a slight shrug as he sets about moving another box. "We've been doing alright. As much as can be expected, anyway... Sora was a pretty major part of the group, y'know? And that's, uh-- not just part of the whole boy band all-best-friends brand thing." He snorts quietly. "So, yeah. It really sucks. But we're managing."

Ivan exhales when B doesn't sound too offended and doesn't seem like he's siding with Pride. Or is at least wary of Pride and the bodyguards. That's encouraging. In a sad sort of way when he thinks about it. Okay, maybe he can risk it.

"... I miss him... He wrote that song about traveling the world with friends, and he was so close to doing so. Even if the circumstances aren't that good for the musicians involved, and we both left. In different ways."

Drawing closer, acting like he's helping to adjusting a box and then says low to B's ears only, "... Do you... understand what I'm saying?"

His voice is decidedly male and Ivan's then. It doesn't belong to the middle aged woman he appears as at all. There's more than meets the eye.

The mention of missing Sora doesn't stick out too much to B; he's seen plenty of fans online talking about how strange it's been, seeing Flashstep's lineup without Sora or, for that matter, Yosuke. With that in mind, the comment doesn't stick out too much.

Then things get a little stranger.

As Ivan leans over, B reflexively turns his head to try and make sure his robotic eyes aren't visible. Then he becomes very still.

He may not have been exceptionally familiar with Ivan, personally or professionally, but he can still definitely recognize that voice. No way.

"I... I might. Sort of." He sounds a little thrown off, but mostly because he's trying to process what, exactly, is happening here.

"There's no need to place flowers over the bones of those who aren't dead, right?" Ivan coughs awkwardly, though the cough is in the woman's voice. He doesn't want to risk the bodyguards or someone else overhearing him, so he sticks with the woman's voice and straightens up like he's stretching a sore back.

"Ah, but the though is nice... I guess. I feel bad for the fans though. It's not fair to them. Or the musicians." He scrunches his face in thought, waiting to see if what he said sinks into B's understanding. Ivan likes to think he's getting a little better at this doublespeak thing, but... he's still a bad actor. His words and actions don't come naturally.

Some part of him insists that this can't be possible, but then, it wouldn't be the first 'impossible' thing to happen recently. He nods, slowly, his attention staying locked on Ivan like he's searching for more evidence.

"...Yeah. It really sucks, that's for sure." He hesitates, struggling to think of a response. Really, B isn't all that good at this sort of thing himself. "Guess things really have been kind of off lately, huh. Might leave some wanting to just bow out entirely, though I... don't know what they'd do from there."

It may be a little clunky, but Ivan's got his attention now; disguises aside, B is pretty curious as to what he's been up to since he vanished from Virgo's ranks.

"You wouldn't have to go solo. There are even people who aren't apart of the performance hanging around to get a chance to see you musicians. You could just take a... a vacation and be safe. Or you can help out too."

Ah... that's sounding too reveal, having said that they are with other people. Not that the label doesn't already know the rescuers are present. Ivan chews his lip a little as he kneels down to open up the boxes.

"All until it's time to go home for good, but I'm not sure when that is. I guess it depends on the schedule and the manpower."

"Helping out, huh..." He hums thoughtfully. He doesn't think he could stand just staying out of the way with all this going on; in fact, the more he remembers, the more sure of that he is.

B kneels down to help, or at least look like he is so he can still hear Ivan. "Yeah? So there is, uh... transportation available?"

"Ah, thanks. When we're done with these boxes, we can move onto the next set," Ivan says with a bit a gratitude. Cover role or not, he still has work to do. If he gets fired, then that's one less way to get close to the musicians at Pride.

"There's talk about a van. Or... if you're meaning more long distance.... We got here, didn't we? And the biggest fans will do anything to continue along the tour."

"No problem." If he's here, he might as well actually help out as planned.

"...Yeah. Makes sense." He frowns thoughtfully for a moment, tapping his fingers against the edge of the box. "Hopefully we'll... they'll work something out. Lots of places to be and all that."

And things to do, and enemy robots to fight apparently.

"So, um... the 17th is when we're supposed to pack everything up and then move."

No, technically it would be the 18th because the last performance is the 17th, but Ivan hopes that B will get the hint.

B nods thoughtfully, but his mouth is still twisted into a frown, his brow furrowed. "...Comin' up pretty fast then, huh...?"

It suddenly occurs to him that he hasn't even really talked to his bandmates about this sort of thing. He doesn't know what they would think, whether they'd go along with it... he can't be sure.

"Very fast, but we've been preparing while you've been touring in the other places, so it'll be a good show." It's a short explanation as to why the rescuers weren't present at the other shows.

Another Pride employee looks Ivan's way. He's been talking to B for a longer time than he intended, and he's drawing attention for it. He pulls at a box flap with a renewed interest.

"... Think about it, and take a break during the big event... okay?"

"...Yeah. I will." He casts a glance at the other employee, then speaks up a little louder. "I should probably get going; thanks for letting me help out."

B takes a step back then turns to walk back toward the guards, only allowing himself one glance over his shoulder as he leaves.

Ivan can't hide a small sigh of relief when the other employee seems to lose interest. That was too close.

"No problem. Thanks for the help."

And then Ivan returns to his work in full, hoping to further protect B from scrutiny and keep his true identity a secret a little longer.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/couldn't resist that phrasing

i'm so glad

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject