interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK IV: COME TOO FAR

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☆TRACK IV: COME TOO FAR

Who: Everyone!
What: Something explodes in the distance. In a figurative sense.
When: November 6th.
Where: Anywhere you are.
Warnings: ???

“Like the legend of the Phoenix,
All ends with beginnings,
What keeps the planets spinning,
The force from the beginning.”

☆COME TOO FAR

On November 6th, the sudden lockdown of Pride Records and Virgo Entertainment finally ends. But not before some unseen actions have their consequences.

Due to the nature of the conflict, none of you can be there to see it, but that doesn't mean it can't be felt. In the morning of the 6th, something cries out to you spiritually - like the voice of a guardian angel, or a haunting ghost. Something, somewhere, is calling on you for aid. Pleading for you to lend it your power.

Whether or not you consciously agree, you'll feel a connection stronger than anything you've felt up till this point, like whatever this creature is is somehow in the room with you, or maybe like you're with it. What happens next depends on your alignment.

► LOVE & HOPE: All at once, characters with these alignments will feel as if they have taken a deep, spiritual blow - much like having someone clasp their hand around your "soul" and attempt to snuff it out. The attack itself will be brutal but brief. It's the after effects that linger, which may be any of the following:

1) Lingering spiritual pain that triggers symptoms akin to a fever in the body. It may also trigger effects such as nosebleeds and other signs of intense stress.

2) Forgetting everything except the memories you've regained.

3) A feeling of being desperately alone. How your character reacts to this feeling can vary, but the most common response will be seeking comfort from anyone nearby, even if you are not usually the sort of person to do that.

These effects will last from anywhere as short at 15 minutes to as long as 5 hours. You can pick more than one of these effects for a character, but try to balance the potency of each if you take more than one, so you aren't completely kicking the shit out of them. Vestiges of these effects can linger throughout the rest of the day, but in a significantly reduced capacity.

► DUTY & PASSION: All at once, characters with these alignments will feel an intense sense of fear and grief, as if they have lost something extremely precious to them. Generally speaking, this will manifest as a sort of panic or desperation to save whatever that thing is - but not being entirely clear on where they have to go or what they have to do to accomplish it. This can very well trigger some brash and irrational actions as they sort out this abrupt feeling of urgency.

1) Soon after the feeling begins, affected characters will feel empathically drawn to the characters suffering from the effects listed for Hope & Love, even if they are not normally the sort to be so concerned for others. This can go as far as having them be aggressively protective to the point that they will conflict with each other over it.

2) Along with that feeling of being drawn to protect them, all characters will feel an intensified kinship with all the other player characters - from both labels. This feeling of kinship won't cause them to know anything more about each other than they did before, but it will cause them to feel like much closer friends than they actually are.

These effects will last from anywhere as short at 15 minutes to as long as 5 hours. After that period has ended, all these empathetic effects will fade off on their own.

Any network posts made in the chaos will be deleted by the execs after the 5 hours period has closed, if not sooner. By the end of the day, Lesedi Santiago and Edward Blanche will announce their return, and bans from leaving HQ will be lifted.

They will not acknowledge the events of the morning unless someone goes to ask them about it.

“We've come too far 
to give up who we are.
So, let's raise the bar 
and our cups to the stars.”

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[Yan drags himself up and takes a second for his head to clear before he hauls himself off the couch to answer the door. When he gets there, he opens it enough to lean on the frame and loom over Ivan, glowering down at him.]

What?

[He doesn't sound particularly thrilled with the visit, but then he doesn't usually sound particularly thrilled about anything.]

[ Ivan looks up at Yan, once he's finished leaving another mound of salt by the door. No doubt the housekeeping staff are going to love cleaning up all the salt he's leaving around. At least it's just salt. ]

I'm trying to put salt by all the doors to help protect us from ghosts, spirits, whatever is happening right now. May I come in for a moment?

[ Of all the strange things to request doing. ]

[Yan doesn't look the slightest bit amused, nor does he open then door any more.]

Are you fucking insane? Clean that up! And don't think you're gonna spill salt all over my floor, either!

[It's bad enough that it's out in the hallway. What the hell is going on in this kid's head? For one thing, there's no such thing as ghosts or spirits. For another thing, just pouring salt all over the place isn't going to do a single damn thing about it if, for some reason, Yan is the crazy one in this situation and there are supernatural beings fucking their lives up right now. There are rituals and blessings involved and they're generally supposed to be done by people with the proper training and background, not weirdo musicians.]

[ Ivan stands, but he doesn't move to clean up the pile. Instead, he tries to muster all the presence he can and stares down Yan. He doesn't care what Yan thinks of him. All Ivan's concerned about is finding a way to do better this situation, to help his bandmates who are not acting normally, whose health are at risk. He may not be under the full duty mentality, but Ivan has felt the guilt of failing to protect the people close to you and the fiery determination to act. His memory or another's, it's a horrible, horrible feeling.

And Juno said that there were ghosts who could harm and that's working on measure to deal with them. Does Juno seem like a lady who would joke about something like that? Does she even have a sense of humor? ]

Do you have any better ideas to solve what's happening? I'll be glad to hear them.

Go get your head checked out. If you're still seeing weird shit, go tell your manager and get a medical consultation arranged. There's no such thing as ghosts or spirits or magic or whatever the fuck else. It's all in your head.

[Though it's really starting to scare him that so many people seem to be affected. As far as he knows, he's the only one who's been treated, but that's a huge problem if it's this widespread. What could even be causing this? He thought maybe it was genetic because he knows Koumei is affected too and they seem to be distant relatives of some sort, but it looks like the whole thing is much bigger than that.]

[ And that is not any help. Luce collapsed. The Doctor and Pao-Lin are suffering now. Is Rei next? He'd sacrifice himself if it would save them. And as soon as he thinks it, he's making a fist because that damn spirit's haunting him! It may feel like the visions are happening to him, but that's not his life. That's some stupid failing ninja ghost. ]

Then try telling Miss. Juno that. I'm more willing to believe her when she says we have a ghost problem that Virgo's trying to get rid of than you. That's why she ... sent me to get a...

[ It's startling how fast that fire goes out when he thinks back to what happened after he talked with Juno. He lowers his head and almost curls in on himself. Something tells him that he shouldn't talk about it. He's already said enough. ]

... I already had one, okay?

Juno...?!

[Yan's eyebrows shoot up and he recoils a little bit in shock. Juno said that? She should know better. Was she actually serious? What the actual fuck?]

She told you there's a ghost problem Virgo is trying to get rid of? And you had what? A medical consultation? What did they tell you?

[As he speaks, he grabs Ivan's arm and starts dragging him into the apartment. Oh, they're having this conversation. They're having it right now.]

She did. What happened in the basement the other day wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to help what's being going on.

[ And things didn't turn out as planned, obviously. The possession was unplanned, and there were probably a lot more that went wrong. ]

Miss Juno didn't give me a lot of details, but they're looking into it.

[Yan shuts the door and locks it, but doesn't move an inch out of Ivan's personal space.]

Who's looking into it? What's been going on? What happened in the basement? What was supposed to happen? What went wrong? Start talking or I'm going to kick your skinny ass.

[He's not messing around.]

Virgo is. The basement playing was to suppose to keep the ghosts away, and I wasn't supposed to be possessed by some angry spirit. My examination was to help work on security measures too.

[ He doesn't know how, but he vaguely remembers Juno mentioning that. Ivan tries to restore some space between them but finds his back hitting something behind him. He tries to straighten up and appear more stead on his feet. Mentioning the examination causes his heart to race more than Yan being in his face. ]

If you're looking for more specifics, you'll have to ask her. She didn't share them with me.

[ And despite it all, Ivan has the random thought that he's skinny because he doesn't eat a whole lot and is likely to offer or bring food to his bandmates. ]

They really told you it was something supernatural? And that came from the company itself? What did they do during your examination?

[He's not letting up. This goes completely counter to everything he was told during his examination. The woman had very carefully and patiently explained that it was all in his head, that he was sick and hallucinating. It was supposedly so serious that it required immediate surgery that's left him fucked up ever since. What the actual fuck is going on here?]

Miss Juno really did. I'm not making that up.

[ If he wanted to lie--which he's not--there would be more believable lies he could try.

A chill goes down his spine as he tries and then subsequently regrets thinking about his examination,. The haze of something and nothing at all. He doesn't need to think too hard on it. Ivan has the feeling he's not supposed to. Why does Yan keep asking? ]

I don't know what happened during my exam. I had to be tranquilized. Maybe they were worried the ghost would possess me again.

[Yan takes a step back and crosses his arms, his face going dark. There's a chance that they were just lying to the kid to...to do what, exactly? It's not like he's 10 or something. He's more than old enough to be given the facts and not coddled. So what does that mean? Is Juno just crazy? That's...unlikely, but not impossible. She may be taking matters into her own hands and giving out bullshit explanations to cover for something. But cover for what? He was led to believe that everything he'd experienced was a side effect of his condition, but he's talked to several people since the surgery who experienced the same things and didn't see a doctor at all. Ivan's the first who seems to have gotten any sort of medical examination and even he doesn't seem like he was sent off for surgery.]

I tell them it seems like they're sticking us in some stupid reality show without our knowledge and I get told I'm hallucinating and paranoid and get rushed off for brain surgery. You get told straight up that we're in the middle of a horror movie made real. That's beyond fucked up.

[ Ivan starts shaking his head, not to disagree but simply a way to react and show that he's listening to Yan. He doesn't know. There is so much Ivan doesn't know, doesn't understand. It does sound like something that'd be part of fiction. ]

Ghosts or spirits explain what happened to my band during our tour. There were lots of unexplained things, more minor things than what's happened recently, but it makes sense to me.

[ He may not have the special training or know all the rituals to deal with ghost and harmful spirits, but Ivan knows he has to do something, with or with out help or thanks. He has a duty to his band to fulfill. That is what's important. ]

I don't believe in any of that crap. It happened to us, too, but I didn't think too hard about it until the hallucinations started. Even then I thought it was some sort of projection or that they were drugging the food. The basement thing got me thinking reality show, but they denied that pretty vehemently.

[He starts to pace restlessly. It doesn't make sense. None of this makes any goddamn sense.]

If they just said that, yeah, it was, I would have accepted it and moved on, but they told me I was sick and sent me off. I figured that it was all in my head, but how can that be if everyone else is going through the same shit? They have to know.

[ Ivan's body starts to relax when Yan begins to pace around rather than being up in Ivan's face. He watches Yan walk for a bit and then just stares off in a random direction. ]

In that basement... I felt controlled by something else, unable to do anything. I would have never damaged my shamisen like that or speak that way.

[ That feeling is a strong reason for why Ivan won't drop the idea of ghosts. There may be a great love of Japanese culture and social awkwardness, but Ivan had been mentally sounds and compliant. That shift in personality the basement wasn't Ivan at all. He's an obedient one, someone Virgo normally doesn't have to worry about causing drama and PR nightmares. ]

Do you think everyone needs to get...?

[ An exam? An exorcism? Ivan can't seems to spit it out, and he brings his arms to his chest like a chill has run through him. ]

... We can't let everyone keep suffering like this.

No, we can't, but making a big fuss about it isn't going to get us anywhere. I started asking questions and got called in. You caused a scene and got their eyes on you. I don't know what Greg did besides be his usual dumbass self, but he got called in on it, too. If we want to find out anything, we have to play along and let them do what they're going to do.

[That's the best solution overall. If nothing's going on then none of them will get themselves in trouble for it. If something is, it gives them more time and space to figure out how to counter it. If everyone keeps quiet, it may well be that everything will quiet down on its own. That's what he hopes, anyway.]

[ Biting his lip, Ivan grips his arms tighter. What is going on? If it was just Ivan having been possessed by the ghosts, then Ivan wouldn't be questioning what Virgo was doing to stop them. But this... the situation seems to be getting worse. Either Virgo needs more help solving the problem, or something else is going on, which Yan thinks. ]

... I'll continue as I have. I'm not entirely sure spirits aren't involved, and well... that's what Miss Juno expects of me anyways.

[ No, that's not enough to say. He can't just leave the rest to other people without contributing. ]

If it'll help protect people, I'll help how I can. Please call on me if I can be of service.

Yeah, pass on anything weird you hear straight to me, especially if it comes from Juno. I don't care about the ghosts you see or whatever. Just what people tell you about or if you see anyone acting sketchy. Got that?

[It's clearly an order. He's not really in the position to be handing those out, but he does it naturally and with the obvious expectation that he's not going to be argued with.]

[ Feeling better about having the start of a plan (more than put salt everywhere), Ivan starts to head toward the door to leave. There's no more he can do here. If there are any answers to find, it'll be outside of this penthouse. ]

Okay. If I find out anything, I'll let you know.

[ However, if it's something personal to someone he cares about, Ivan will stay mum about it. A ninja has his loyalties, after all. ... Even if he's not a real ninja and certainly not that sucky ninja he keeps getting haunted by.

Mostly, he's certain that nothing will be easy. ]

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☆TRACK IV: COME TOO FAR

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