Underworld: Melody (WIP)

I made it! I know she’s been getting pretty popular, but I didn’t expect there to be that much traffic. I hope no one stole my seat… I had better hurry.
Wha- it’s so crowded! When did R.AI.NA’s concerts get this big? This is at least five, no, ten times as many people as the first time I went to a set of hers! She must have sold out the HeXadome, my thoughts are barely audible. I gotta be sure to thank R.AI.NA for this front row ticket and a special signed VIP pass… and apologize for being late. Okay, okay, let’s head down before I miss anymore songs.
Woah, she’s beautiful. She’s gotten much better at dancing since I last saw her. Her rosy peach twin tails flow so smoothly like they have a mind of their own as she glides along the stage. Her antique white skin glows between her geraldine and milk white dress as she sings in the most pleasantly bubbly way possible. Her- Oh! “R.AI.NA!” I yell out as best as I can as I wave back to her upon her muted cream-colored eyes catching mine. It’s a little embarrassing, but I’m glad I could see her again like this. I want to appear apologetic for being late, but I simply can’t help but smile. At least I can enjoy this last half of the concert.
The set seems to be coming to an end. I am overwhelmed. That was such a delightfully rosy concert. The crowd has yet to die out and neither have I as I continue to applaud. Once things calm down a little, R.AI.NA says, “Thank you, thank you!” She makes a heart with her hands and continues, “I know that was the last song, but gosh, you guys have been so lovely! I can’t just leave it on that can I?” The crowd begins to pick up cheering again. “Okay, I do have a couple extra songs prepped, but ah why not? Instead, why don’t I make it special?” Did she just wink at me? “I apologize if it’s a little rough around the edges, but this one is for you!” Me…? No, this song is— I can’t believe she still remembers it! That silly little song I wrote from a time before she ever had dreams of becoming an idol. It’s not quite the same, she’s improved on it for sure. You never forgot huh?
Holding back tears, I begin, “R.AI—”
BOOM!
Ack! My ears! What was that; a pyrotechnic accident?! R.AI!! Is she? I try to get on stage but I am quickly stopped. “Let me up, I-I— Is she okay? Hold on.” I click my tongue at the guards who are keeping the audience at bay while I fumble in a daze through my pockets. The VIP pass has got to be worth something, righ— wait, is that… who’s body is that? An upper body ripped from the rest?! I’m gonna be sick. For Over’s sake, let me up! As they’re carrying someone else off, I begin to feel light. I let out a final “Wait, please!” as I begin to fade out. Just before everything goes black, I hear some shots go off…
•
Mnnnn, I can’t! I let out an exaggerated sigh. This paper is due today, but I really can’t focus. R.AI.… Let me check my P.A.D.D again. I hop into bed and tap my way to the news and read a headline. ‘Young Up and Coming Idol BLOWS Up!’ These tabloids are ridiculous. She came out of the concert okay, well physically at least as far as I’m aware. I don’t know what I expected, guess I’ll continue reading. ‘Five confirmed dead including her producer, Rick Vermeer, who bursted from their synth seams’ That must’ve been who was on the stage. That’s awful. Wait, ‘R.AI.NA to continue tour with her new team’? So soon? Will she be alright? Come on, still no new messages? Did she send me the wrong code? No that can’t be. Besides, she hasn’t replied to the message I sent to her priv either. Maybe she doesn’t want to— No, she seemed so excited to meet up, I mean the special pass and… the song. Our song. I’m sure it’s been unbelievably hectic and I know how much she values her idol career, but I mean a new producer already? She’s so strong, she feels unreachable… Ping!
Huh! Is it? it is! A text! It reads, ‘Alex-A, I’m sry for not respondin until now. I didn’t mean to ignore u; things have just been so chaotic as u can imagine and honestly, I’m scared. I feel like I’m going to echo. Physically, I’m feelin a lot better and I’m sure u have so many questions. I’ve been workin with my new producer and I’ve managed to get some free time next week so we should meet up -xoxo’ A warm fuzzy sensation envelops me as I let out a deep sigh of relief and yet I still can’t help but worry as I type out my response.
‘R.AI I—’ No
‘That’s okay—’ No
‘I’m so glad that you’re—' No… Mn, maybe. A million different lines clack in my head as I stare at my P.A.D.D searching for the right words to say. Finally, I type out, ‘R.AI! I’m so glad to hear you’re doing better. Do not worry about it, I figured things must be so crazy. I can only imagine what it’s like. I’d love to meet up! How’s Tuesday at Caf-3 AVA? Did you know they were still open?’ After a heavy thumb and rereading it over 10 times I hit send. R.AI agrees and the date is set.
I’m so nervous. Was this a good idea? I came all this way and here I am at the front door but I’m not sure I’m ready. It’s early but what if she’s in there already? When’s the last time I went to Caf-3 AVA? It’s just so out of the way now and I have to go through the bad part of the Capital. Well, a bad-er part anyway. There’s been a significant rise of cyberstrays in the West Synth area recently, the mindless husks who got one too many illegal neuro-implants. I’m not against cybernetic augments but some people take it too far.
“Alex-A! That you?” I hear a familiar cheery voice call out.
“R.AI…NA?”
Before I can think, she grabs my hand and says, “Why don’t we head inside?”
It is deathly quiet as we wait for our orders, save for the idle gossip and screeching of high school kids. I’ve been sneaking peeks at R.AI. and her… new look. Her hair, now watermelon pink, still dances beautifully yet they feel artificial and methodical. In between her black top and pink digital skirt, her antique white skin looks more antique and is divided by dark crevices emitting a pink glow (exhibiting that it’s been augmented) with a heart symbol on her chest.
“AVA’s still as popular with the high schoolers as always, huh?” R.AI begins and breaks the quiet as our orders finally arrive and her deep rose-pink glance catches mine.
“Sure is… Straw-growberry synthshake? Like you always use to get.”
“Yuuup! As good as I remember it!” For a moment, she looks at me expectedly with a beaming smile then continues, “It’s funny, this is where we first met.”
“You didn’t think it was still open huh?”
She shakes her head and I awkwardly drink my blue-growberry synthshake in silence for what feels like minutes on end. What do I say? Should I bring up the elephant? Before I can think of anything, R.AI says “I’m glad this is the first place you meet the new me. We can talk about it you know.”
“Ah… well if you want to.”
“It’s okay Alex-A, and I can tell by your side-glances that you want to.”
“Ahaha… Right.”
“What do you think, cute?” She says with her hands framing her face.
“O-Of course! I love your new colors. I’m just shocked. Um, not in a bad way! I just uh— I just remember when you turned eighteen you said you weren’t considering getting augments and this seems like… quite a few.”
“It really is, I’m not sure I wanted them either,” R.AI questioned with a downcast face.
“I’m sorry, was it because of the accident?”
“Well… My new producer— My fans are counting on me, I had to do what I had to do.”
“Your producer? Are they the reason?”
“My new producer has helped expedite the process. I could not have resumed the tour this quickly without them. I’m thankful.”
“I’m sure they’re a great guy, but I just want to know you’re doing okay R.AI. That you’re not making any decisions you regret.”
Now gently clasping my right hand, she says, “And I want to let you know I’m fine. I’m here to reassure you that things are going well. I know how worried you get.” For a moment, with her warm organic-feeling palms wrapped around mine, I feel like I can believe her and yet her synthetic lenses betray her. Noticing my apprehension, R.AI tells me, “I have a neat idea! Why don’t we go back to the studio after this and you can see how we’re operating? I really wanted to spend more time with you anyway.”
There’s something hopeful in that voice of hers but I’m not quite sure why. Before getting too caught in my thoughts again, I smile and reply, “Me too, I’d love to.”
“Hehe, hey check this out.” R.AI says as her eyes, hair, and skirt changes to an almost pearlescent blue.
“Wow, that is really cute.”
•
I open the vola door and I get a shiver down my spine as I am met by a girl with persian pink horns on her head, who seems about our age, and is wearing a red puffer jacket glaring at me. “Uh, hi?” I say.
“Yoshie, this is Alex-A, you know Alex-A riiight? I’m taking them to meet Mx. Dyth. Alex-A, this is Yoshita my bodyguard. Isn’t she a cutie!”
“Eh, a cutie?”
R.AI giggles. “You wanna sit next to her? …Oh!” Yoshita quickly grabs her and places her on the adjacent seat and continues to bore into my code with her orchid eyes.
“R-right, you need to protect her. I’ll just take the seat across.”
R.AI. sticks her tongue out and winks as if to say ‘sorry’ and presses a button to start the vola.
“…Hey, why haven’t we taken off yet?”
“Oh, we’re going the classy route!”
“By classy you mean old and outdated on the ground route? Won’t that take too long?”
“Haha Trust me, the flyway’s overrated. ‘Sides, this way’s much more fun.”
As the vola starts rolling, I look out the LED windows and see the typical Capital street sights: a few schmucks just about echo’d from too many neuro-implants, walking dead in the form of cyberstrays, and the average gon looking for trouble all under the onerous and nauseatingly colorful beams from the murky neon lights. “Sure is a lot of fun.”
“Yeah! So tell me, what do you see?”
“Dead-ends.”
“Well, I see people in need of a certain joy only music from the heart can bring, hope.”
“Heh, I remember hearing something like that a couple years back.”
The moment is cut short as R.AI exclaims, “Oh my Source, is that a paya-cyb?!”
“One of those travelling entertainers?”
“Yoshie, look!” To my surprise, she does. R.AI hasn’t changed one bit. As I lean back into my seat, a gentle and slow song of yearning I wrote years ago starts being sung. R.AI’s smooth and strongly comforting voice evokes a fuzzy sense of happiness, of hope. Even Yoshita seems to loosen up. I close my eyes to soak it all in; once sufficiently full I open my eyes a while after the song’s end to see R.AI smiling at me.
After several more minutes of catching up and bugging Yoshita, R.AI says with a nod, “We’re almost there.”
“That was a quick drive considering we didn’t use the flyway.” I reply.
“It’s quick because everyone uses the flyway nowadays.”
“I don’t kno—"
“We’re here! C’mon let’s go.”
We make our way towards a surprisingly small building that the studio is in; it can hardly be called complex. Yoshita’s been silent and seemingly hating my presence this whole time and I learn towards R.AI and whisper, “Who hired her?”
“Who, Yoshita? She’s sweet! And it was Mx. Dyth”
“Your producer?”
“Yes, why are we whispering?”
Glancing behind us at the girl in the red jacket, I ask R.AI, “So you’re on the top floor you said?”
“Silly. Yeah, the elevator’s just around the corner here.”
The studio floor is a lot fancier than I imagined, even more than the typical poshed chromatic corpo image of faux cleanliness that I was expecting. Yet, it still feels as lifeless as any other office space. “Welcome back Ms. R.AI.NA- oh… and pardon me, this is?” an attendant in semi-formal wear asks.
“Jimmy, this is my best friend Alex-A; we go way back!” R.AI answers and I nod slightly.
“Ah, Mx. Alex-A. My apologies, I simply was not made aware that we would be expecting a visitor today. Excuse me R.AI.NA, if I may, M-Mx. Dyth really does not—”
“Jimmy it’s fine, don’t get rustled!” R.AI chuckles. That’s an ancient one. She continues, “It’s my responsibility anyway, Mx. Dyth won’t do anything to you; you’ll be fine.”
“Very well.” Jimmy says with a bow as he hands me R.AI’s tour pamphlet.
“Is Mx. Dyth busy now? No? Okay let’s go Alex-A!” R.AI says, taking my hand.
“Ah! Ms. R.AI.NA!” Jimmy calls out then groans, visibly resigned.
With a single knock, R.AI opens the automatic sliding door and we, Yoshita included, enter the office. I’m shot immediately by a piercing glare. Mx. Dyth, clearly annoyed, continues talking on the phone as they raise a finger signaling to give them a moment. A very callous and rough one at that, their whole hand is covered in scars and their grim face doesn’t seem to fair much nicer. They’re in a suit but they hardly fit the corpo image, looks more like a low life gon. I look over to R.AI and she simply smiles back at me. We wait not in total silence and yet it feels like I’m in the middle of a wound-up standoff. “—Celaeno, I’ll call you back. I have a visitor.” Mx. Dyth says after they hang up and grab a glass of what I assume is alcohol. Yoshita seemed to jerk as she heard that name, Celaeno. She slightly shakes her head giving a disapproving look to Mx. Dyth. “…Well, to who do I owe the pleasure?” Mx. Dyth asks sarcastically.
“Alex-A’s my name… sir”
“Ahh, the name’s familiar. R.AI.NA’s friend I assume. Come to check on ya girly?”
“We’re not—”
“Well as I’m sure you’s-ahem, you’ve seen she’s just fine. The tour is back on track and the new tickets are already sold out in most of the venues.” New tickets? Did they refund the old ones?
“Well, I don’t doubt you’ve planned everything well and—”
“So, if that’s all I got a few more calls to make and files to sort out. It was nice seeing you.” They say with vitriol as they signal Yoshita to escort us out.
Was that it? Everything is okay? Was I just worrying too much? No, it just doesn’t feel right. Before I exit the office, I look over to R.AI who’s already out and smiles back at me, nervously, and I turn around to say, “I just want to know that R.AI.NA is happy. Happy with all this.”
“Like I said—”
“Were the augments necessary; were they your idea?”
Now with an even darker expression, Mx. Dyth says, “What if they were?” They stand up and clench their hand causing the glass to shatter as R.AI gasps and they continue, “This project is beyond us. Do ya understand the lengths we’s gone through?”
“Do you understand what R.AI.NA’s gone through?” Quiet envelopes the room. The air is heavy, the lifeless studio space now feels more like death, but my shaking is relieved as R.AI grabs my arm.
“Alex-A, let’s go.” She tells me with wet eyes. Yoshita, seemingly giving Mx. Dyth an annoyed look, closes the door behind us as we begin to walk. There are so many things I want to say to reassure R.AI but I feel it better to just move along for now. We silently head towards the exit, I wave goodbye to Jimmy, and with a hug R.AI says “You should head home today. My chauffeur will drop you off.” I tell her I’ll talk to her later before I leave the studio.
•
I put my P.A.D.D down and pull my bloodshot eyes away. The past couple of days have been endless. It is currently the third night after my visit to the studio and I haven’t caught so much as a wink. Once again R.AI hasn’t been responding to my messages. Who is “Calaeno”; who is “us”? I’ve been trying to look into it by asking around but nothing seems to come up. Is it about time I hit the streets, the bad streets, the urbs? I don’t know. I’ve been so busy worrying about R.AI that I haven’t even touched my paper. It’s still open on my PC there. Could they be monitoring who she talks to now? I grab my P.A.D.D and tap my way to my messages with R.AI and, seeing nothing, I close the app. I’ve done this a countless number of times just today alone. I know there’s going to be nothing there, yet I still check it for, what feels like, every other minute. If there were a new message, I’d hear a— Ping! …Huh? Am I going insane? Checking my P.A.D.D to be sure, I see a message from an unknown code that simply reads, ‘Come to the roof.’ I type out, ‘Who—’ but stop myself. There’s likely no use in trying to get a response. If they wanted to be known, they would make it so. What do I do, should I trust this? What’s the worst that could happen? I am desperate, I was just thinking about prowling the urbs; can’t be that much more dangerous. With that settled, I grab a knife and leave my apartment.
I push gently and hear the familiar screeching of the rusted door on the 115th floor to the roof access stairs that echoes through the hall. For a building with so many people, it’s surprising how I’ve rarely ever come across anyone on the roof. Enough stalling, no turning back now. About time to see just who is waiting for me beyond this final door. I pat my chest to confirm that, yup, my knife is still there in my coat pocket and I open the way to the roof. Cautiously and slowly, I step forward looking around and I see a cloaked figure on the furthest edge. The cloak dances furiously in the biting wretched wind yet I can’t make out any discernable features despite the aid of the bright sickly glow from the city lights. Moving closer, I ready my hand to draw but it’s as if I could feel my heart beating profusely through my coat. The figure notices and me and before I can grab the knife, I see strands of flowing watermelon pink hair.
“R.AI.NA!” I call out as I run towards her. We give each other an embrace so warm, so tight, and so overdue that it feels as though my worries would melt away and I could fall asleep in these arms at any moment without warning.
“Alex-A! Oh my Source, are you okay?”
“Hah, do I really look that worse for wear. I should be asking you that!”
“I’m—”
“You’re trembling, badly.”
“I-I’ve just been so scared. I know it’s only a matter of time but so far nothing’s happened to me, but I’m scared. I was scared for you. I was worried they might do something to you and they were monitoring my messages but I’ve been reading yours; the texts have been very comforting to me, thank you.”
“It’s okay R.AI, how’d you slip away? If they were that careful with your messages, I can’t imagine your ‘bodyguard’ would let you out of her sight so easily.”
“You mean Yoshie? She’s how I managed to out actually!”
“That little demon? She has horns!”
“I told you she’s nice! After you left the studio, she told me she had a plan in the works and all I had to do was wait and sure enough she must’ve worked something out with Mx. Dyth because we just went out the front door.”
“We? Where is she now?”
“She’s waiting in the vola down the street.” I sigh and lean on the edge of the roof before she continues, “What are we going to do, Alex-A? And before you say it, I can’t just hide and stop my idol career. You know that.”
“Right, we probably wouldn’t even get that far if we ran.” I throw my head back and look at the ever-oppressing Capital night sky. It’s staggering ugliness and wretched air is so potent one could forget it’s all fake. Under that, here we try to exist where hopes die someplace, quietly.
The quiet is again broken by R.AI as she says, “We’ll make it work.”
That smile of hers is real. I can’t help but agree, “We’ll move somewhere far.”
“We’ll continue my idol career.”
“We’ll make many new fans and apologize to the old.”
“We’ll have enough money to be safe.”
“We’ll—"
CLANG!
A metallic sound echoes through the rooftop, causing us to jump. “Ahhh, how nice. I ‘member dreamin’.” I hear a blatantly gruff call out. Turning around to Mx. Dyth in some form of combat suit, I see they’re clearly no longer trying to hide who they are. I look to their right and see that the metallic clang came from a katana, held by none other than Yoshita, digging into the rooftop.
“Yoshie!” R.AI yells. “Why?”
“Grahaha, did you’se really think you’se could trust this bitch? She’s one of arr most cold-blooded killers.” I try to stealthily reach for my knife but Mx. Dyth simply scoffs. “Try it.”
Knife now in shaky hand, I run forward set on Mx. Dyth. Moments away from them, my hand is shocked and cut causing me to drop the knife as I’m flipped on my back. “Alex-A!” R.AI screams as she heads my way. Yoshita, who just disarmed me, points the katana at her. I immediately swipe at Yoshita’s legs but simply hit air as she, in a single motion, swings her blade cutting R.AI’s neck and grabbing my knife off the floor.
I rush over to grab a now unconscious body and plead “R.AI.NA! Oh fuck, please. No no no no.”
“She’s fine.” Yoshita says.
“You!” I turn and notice the knife embedded squarely into Mx. Dyth’s forehead. “Huh?”
“I tried to stop you but, thanks to R.AI.NA who I hurt in the process, you managed to kill Dyth.” She crouches next to me and tends to her wound. “That’s the story.”
“This was your great plan?”
“They won’t believe it, but they won’t care. I’ll handle her, you go back your room, new producer.”
“What?”
“Welcome to the Tehkimaira.”
•
It’s our first show. It was a lot of trouble learning to be a producer on such short notice, but R.AI honestly could’ve handled it all herself. She never ceases to amaze me. At least I helped a little, and well I guess Jimmy too. I peak out at the packed stage and am overcome with a strong sense of hope. Yoshita comes up next to me to let me know R.AI.NA is ready. Before I go check I say, “Thank you again.”
“Whatever, didn’t do it for you.”
“I know, but I appreciate it all the same. I’ll go see the person you did do it for.”
“Hmph.”
I see R.AI talking to some of the stagehands, so I call her name. She turns with her hand over her new pink jeweled collar augment and smiles gently.
“Let’s begin our melody”