Session Date: 04/03/2026
Monday, October 9th, 2045
Net
Net has found temporary employment as drummer of the night and his first job is to go tell Ri that he’s relieved of his duties for the night. Seo has a very good idea of where Ri is. It’s also entirely possible to just get some drugs and call him and offer him the drugs and tell him he has the night off. Net decides to try and talk to Ri without the drugs by sending him a text message saying they need to talk. There’s no response, so Net tries again in ten minutes, and still gets no response. Ri’s left Net on read. Net says “hey you left your read notifications on. wanna talk”
Ri finally responds no, not particularly, especially if it’s without drugs if he’s still performing. Net replies that they can talk then. Ri asks what’s up then, and Net requests they talk in person. Ri asks where to meet, and Net asks Ri where would be best for him. Ri gives Net an address and it’s a worse part of town, like one step above the combat zone (disruption zone, frustration nation, heated argument area). He lets the band know that he’s going to go talk to Ri and gets ready to go, not telling them where he’s going.
Seo asks if he can go with - he goes to ask, starts to speak, then immediately stops and disengages from the conversation. Net comments that it might be helpful to have someone who knows him help Net on the way there. Seo says he’ll come, he wants to actually help Ri, which Net is glad to hear. The two of them head out.
The location is where Ri smokes his crack. When Net and Seo pull up, they see Ri outside the property. He sees Seo and immediately starts to get angry and starts saying that he doesn’t want to get clean, he’s not going back, nope. Net says they’re not trying to get him clean. Ri asks what he wants.
Net says a couple of things:
- Ri’s sitting just tonight out to avoid tempers flaring and people getting worked up. Ri can take the night off and get back to speed when heads have cooled off. (Ri agrees.)
- While not going to try and get him clean, his drug problem is causing issues, and everyone’s worried.
Ri isn’t sure why anyone’s worried - he hasn’t done anything that’s caused anyone any pain, sorrow, stress, until today when they came up and tried to get him clean in the first place. He continues to say that if we’re here to talk about who can’t do their drugs properly, talk to Charley who abuses alcohol. Ri immediately digs into Charley and Net says we’re not blaming him and nobody is blaming Ri’s attitude, and Net admits he wants Charley clean just like Ri, but liquor doesn’t have the same stigma as synthcoke. Net also says that it’ll help Charley kick the liquor if he sees someone else get clean first.
Ri chuckles and asks if Net really believes that, if seeing Ri get clean will help Charley. He chuckles and says that he doesn’t know anything about any of the band members and turns to walk inside. Net puts a hand on Ri’s shoulder to stop him and Ri tries to wrap his arm around Net’s but Net pulls back and grabs his other shoulder to subdue him that way. Ri said he’s done talking, and Ri tells Net to go and die for trying to continue to piss him off. Net asks why he’s pissed and Ri tries to punch Net. It hits his armor and does nothing. Net tells him he doesn’t want to do this either, and what Ri wants is coke, and Net isn’t—
Ri interrupts to say he wants Net to leave him alone. Ri says he has coke, plenty inside, he can get his own, so fuck everyone for trying to get him clean. He doesn’t want his freedom taken away, and his hobby isn’t hurting anything. He wants them to name one time his hobby hurt anyone.
Seo comments that the drugs are killing him and he’s willingly killing himself faster rather than be with everyone for another two decades. So Ri’s choice, Ri’s freedom, does come at the detriment of everyone. They have to live with the knowledge of Ri throwing his life down the toilet because the high is more thrilling than pursuing a life they can share together.
Ri looks at everyone and says that he has nothing more to say. The band has a drummer for the night. They said they’er not trying to get him clean, which was a lie, so they can fuck off, or the next thing that happens won’t be a punch.
Net says he’s got it and he goes off about how he’s seen these drugs ruin an entire community and if Ri truly wants to ruin those around him and kill himself, he can go on ahead, that’s fine by him. Ri leaves and closes the door.
Net looks at Seo and says he thinks it went really well. Seo looks at Net and says that no. Net says that Seo’s the one that wanted to be here and the conversation was likely going to go like that. Seo asks if Net’s really this pessimistic with the world? That he had to tell Ri to go throw his life away and he won’t help Ri come down from the ledge? Net says yes, either Ri will come around or he will die. Seo asks if he’s putting Ri’s life on a 50/50 coin flip, and Net says that Seo’s putting his life in Net’s coin flip, and that says more about Seo than Net. Seo says that his boss gave him an order and he’s not going to piss off the new boss, and if Net does perform tonight? He doesn’t want to see or talk to Net. Seo storms off.
Net texts Emerick to warn him that things went poorly and that Seo is in a bad mood. Emerick responds with an alright, thanks for the heads up.
Net goes home.
Sulfur, Leviathan, Phoenix
Sulfur tries to find a source for the Technitronika LMG, but cannot find one. He then decides to go looking for 80 fragmentation grenades, a grenade launcher, or a shotgun. He realizes that he doesn’t have enough pull for anyone to help him place any of these things. He sighs as he sits in the parking lot for the store and Leviathan asks if he can go in and get something. Sulfur, Leviathan, and Phoenix all go inside.
Sulfur gets a shotgun and 20 rounds of armor piercing slugs.
Leviathan gets a flaregun (which he pays for) and then goes with Phoenix to another store and steals some clothes (he doesn’t pay for) and then gets into Sulfur’s car. Sulfur puts his shotgun and ammunition into the back of the car.
The Warehouse
Alice has made it back to the warehouse by the time Seo makes it back. Everyone’s come together and Charley begins, saying that it’s been a rather shitty start to this new arrangement. They can’t say that things were supposed to be better by now, but the fact they can have this conversation does mean it’s better than it was.
Alice says that she isn’t sure how she feels about Kade - he’s an entertainment biz guy - are they really going to work with a corpo? Isn’t that against everything they do? It all started because of Nuclear Chrome, right? They are a corporate band, do we want to be like them?
Seo speaks up to say that for now, at least, this is infinitely better than they had with Juice. They have freedom, they can breathe, and they don’t have to worry about Juice killing anyone - fuck, Charley’s been shot enough by it. Alice agrees it is better at least in that sense.
Charley speaks up and says that they play ball for now. They see how things go - if this underground venue for real, then perhaps Kade genuinely does have an appreciation for the art. Deep pockets can go a long way, and he can settle for someone who owns a biz as long as it’s not a Megacorp. Fuck ‘Saka, fuck Militech - they can fuck off and die, but a small biz? He can appreciate that because they’re here for the people. A guy owning a biz? He can play ball with that. At the end of the day, though, he’s doing it for everyone - including Ri - rather than for himself. He knows that things are going to be tough and they want to get into the best version of themselves right now, but things are likely gonna be rocky for a little bit. They have each other, and, for what it’s worth, at the end of this? Charley’s going to go see Ri and talk to him himself. Ri shouldn’t have to be out because of a disagreement. As much as there is this heated animosity? Kicking each other out is the last thing he wants. They got here by working together to work against the last person to hold them down. So now, if they are going to enjoy this, they enjoy it together. Easier said than done, he knows, with some people already having differing views.
Charley asks how long Seo would give Ri to turn around and come back. Seo suggests a week? He could be gone for a month? Ri’s never really done anything super bad that he’s aware of, when it comes to these. Every time he goes through one, it does get a little worse - if he doesn’t get clean now, the next time will be even worse than this one. He feels like he ruined a good chance they could have had at a later time, but… A week or so before he comes back ready to perform. Ri does care about the band a great deal and he doesn’t like giving him the drugs, but if they can’t keep him and keep him alive… Seo guesses him being on the drug is okay enough, as much as everyone here hates it.
Charley acknowledges it’s difficult, but they’re doing their best. They’re going to the show with their best. Everyone here knows what they’re doing, but they need to get Net caught up with what they’re doing.
Charley calls Net and tells him that he needs to get to the venue early for band practice. Net agrees and then they turn to Emerick and he agrees that he’s ready to go. They pile into the van and go to pick Net up.
The Band, Emerick, Net
We pull up to the venue around 3 or so. The van gets parked at the venue and then we get out and the Blue Jay takes all of our information in on an internal agent and they make sure we aren’t blacklisted. We make our way around the corner and down the block and see an avian exotic that looks like a bluejay. Alice glances back to see how we react to her and Emerick comments that we did have Garf, after all. She says she knows, but an actual bird woman, wow. She and Emerick talk a little back and forth about it.
Charley checks in with the Blue Jay and she sends us on in. We get in there and the venue fits maybe 100 people - a lot for an underground venue, for sure. Super hype! It’ll be a nice, small, packed event. The manager greets us and Charley introduces everyone. The manager says he got off the phone with Kade a little bit ago and the final payment will be a 20k split amongst the band however they see fit. Not the big bucks that they are probably used to, but it’s a good start. Charley looks at Net and says he gets 5k if he’s as good as Ri, and Net says he’ll get 2.5k because the rest will go to Ri. Charley warns about the shortchange if he’s not good, and Net says that we can talk about this later, we need to focus on the being good part.
They go with Net to talk about if he’s ever played before the spontaneous showing, and Net says nope. Charley says okay, play for him. Net takes a moment to look over his sticks then tries to play and totally butchers it. Charley tells him to try again, and Net is adequate enough on his second attempt. They start playing a song together and Net, finally feeling things out, plays his drumline and does an awesome job - Emerick does his job recording.
Sulfur, Saint, Phoenix, Leviathan
Sulfur picks Saint up on the way to the show. They make it to the Blue Jay and Sulfur is surprised to see her. She says it’s 30 grand, and Sulfur says that he’s not interested, no thank you, oh god, and she says that she meant the surgery to make her an exotic. Sulfur chokes and says he’s with the band and she gives him and everyone else the paper slip to get into the venue.
The Entire Group
Notably, Ri, Crack Pipe, and Powder aren’t here yet. Ri likely won’t show up, but the others should be around eventually.
Phoenix approaches Net and asks how he did, if he got the job. Net says yeah, 401k and everything! Phoenix says he has more benefits than her, and Net says that she should talk to her boss about that! She turns around and talks to herself for a moment then turns back around and says she has to work overtime to report on a new band that’s coming up - called Pavement Smashing Vocab Spiel? Something like that. Phoenix teases and says that they sound a little bit too pretentious sounding, too on the nose for what they are, and people love the over the top stuff so she figured she’d do a report and help spread the word.
Phoenix offers to get some drinks and asks if Net wants anything, and he says he’s alright. Phoenix assures him he won’t be the only thing with something in his system and Net says he knows - he was there when this fucker was at his worst. Phoenix admits we’re all probably a bit worried about what’s happening tonight, but at least have a little faith in the guy that he won’t go overboard because of what tonight is? If he really is the “band dad” and it means this much to him, then he shouldn’t go overboard? Phoenix thinks that the last time - when he got shot - was a protest. Net says she might be right.
Phoenix goes to get her drinks and Net goes to work on some finishing touches with the lights.
Employees mill about with the final touches before the venues open and everyone begins getting everything together. The employees and the band and band help all should get ear pieces from the back so that they can speak to each other and coordinate during the show.
Phoenix grabs her drinks and grabs Emerick a beer and an ear piece and she meets up with him. They chat and Emerick says he’s excited - the job’s the same whether it’s Kade or Juice, but it’s nice not having Juice’s temperament here. He offers to give her some extra footage that he doesn’t use and she agrees. She’s going to be putting something together as a surprise for everyone, and she’s going to publish articles over the band to help pay it forward for as much as we’ve helped her out.
Kade meets up with Emerick and admits that he’s not here to breathe down Emerick’s neck and asks how Em’s doing. Emerick admits he’s doing what he loves and he talks about a post that’s already stirring up some dust and getting things going - which Kade is happy to see. He says he may not see Emerick later, so if he doesn’t hear anything later? It’s a good thing.
Phoenix approaches Sulfur and asks him how it feels to be the scariest security for the band? He gives her his quote and then leans into her and asks to keep his face a secret because he wants to be an enigma. She lets him in on the secret - she’s making a little video to commemorate this night and it should not get out if we all do our jobs - and then he leans back and says this band is the easiest to roadie for, they’ve only killed 10 people. Well, 11, but he was drunk - did it to himself, really. Phoenix comments that she’s heard he has the top of the line assassins and the strongest tech wizards available. Sulfur admits he’s gathered the best killers he could (this is less confident). Phoenix asks how it will go and Sulfur says he thinks tonight will go swimmingly.
Phoenix then goes to Saint to interview. In response to a question, Saint says that his job is pretty thankless and he doesn’t expect anything. She calls him truly humble and then asks if Saint looks to expand the medical capacity of the medical repertoire at the warehouse now that they have corpo backing. Perhaps have some chrome for the band? Where does he see himself in five months? He says he hopes to stay alive, and he doesn’t feel the need to chip in. She says it’s not a bad thing in moderation, and you should stick around people. He’s always thought about it, but it’s an internal thought - he doesn’t want to share it. Phoenix loves her job because she gets to work with people. Saint comments he likes his job because he helps people achieve their better selves. She asks how he thinks tonight will go - will the night go crazy? Will he stem the flow of blood if it is drawn? Saint hopes blood is drawn he means uh he hopes that everyone has fun.
She interviews Kade, then moves her way back to Emerick.
To Emerick she says the myth, the righteous killer of the group - the streets tremble before the legendary Emerick the Media. She asks how he’s presenting himself tonight. He says he’s gracing everyone with his presence by doing his job: recording the band. She asks that with everything going on lately with the adventures and shake ups, she asks what has to be one of his more fond memories - something he looks back on or miss. Emerick says he enjoys the nights where everyone can get together and have a good time without worrying about the troublesome things that have happened more recently. She says that ah, yes, it’s good to make memories of the future. She words it weirdly and Emerick squints a little as he tries to determine her intent, and she notices this.
Phoenix says that this is all for a fun little project, it won’t go anywhere amongst friends.
He relaxes and they both chat a little bit more. Phoenix definitely seems like she’s happy to see the family together and doing things together rather than necessarily the concert itself. They part and Emerick gets ready for the show as Phoenix goes back into the crowd.
The Show
The lights go down and the show begins. The first song is pretty mid, but not bad. After the first song people go and mingle, Phoenix interviews some people in the crowd. We are all doing all of our own things during the show -
- Leviathan is accepting what compliments he gets, but is mostly people watching
- Sulfur is sitting in a booth reminiscing about a time in Germany when he was supposed to meet up with Molly but she cancelled the moment and he had been in a bar with some form of rock playing and he finds himself missing Molly and any form of companionship, especially as he knows his wife is out there and she’s not doing okay and he’s at a bar at a concert while she’s out there living in hell
- In moments like these, Sulfur starts hating himself more - he starts hating the failures that he’s reminded of. It’s very visible as he holds two photos - one of his team behind the picture he has of his wife. Both of them are really digging into him.
Emerick approaches Sulfur and sits down to talk to him about this.