"What a set! You already know this duo; still going strong after 5 years in the scene! These two put their heart and soul into the best hour of your lives! Thank you, truly! Everyone, give it up for DJ lumii and MC Luna-C!"
As the lights fixate to the center of the stage, a resounding cheer from the partygoers echo throughout the venue. The main monitors display a close-up perspective of the two at the DJ booth. They flash a pose with their hands that resemble a lightning bolt and moon respectively before one of the two grabs a microphone from one of the nearby stands; it was the MC. Adorned the top of their neon green-dyed hair was an orange crescent headpiece. In addition, they wore an aggressive mix of punk and tech-wear, complete with reflective tape, metallic cone spikes, and baggy cargo pants. Two ring piercings shined in the darkness above one of their eye-brows.
"Hell yeah! Now this is a crowd! Thank you so, so much for having us and I hope you dudes enjoyed every second of it 'cause we'll be back next year; and that's a fact! Never let this movement die out because this is one of the only places we can still be ourselves…used to be just a handful of people when it started out. I'd know 'cause this person over here introduced me to it! Lumii, get over here!"
The other person standing in the booth looked hesitant while Luna beckoned them over. The DJ relinquished after increasingly louder cheers from the crowd. In contrast to Luna, they were a head shorter and wore all-black clothing. Their platform boots had aquamarine light installations as well as various glow-stick rings around their arms. Tinged with pink hair extensions, their hair was a deep-hued blue which was completed by two lightning bolts protruding from their head.
"You probably already know Stella, or should I say DJ lumii but she prefers her stage name though! Oh, she’s getting mad. Oops! Well, anyways, tune in next year and we'll see you there! Byeee!"
After a majority of the crowd filters out of the venue, Stella begins packing up her music equipment. This was always the part that Stella dreaded, especially after finishing a power hour set. Most of the hardware and wiring were lightweight, but the turntables were particularly heavy due to all the bulky modules. Each of these were connected to the venue spotlights, monitors, and central sound system. Furthermore, the widgets couldn't be disconnected from the turntables which was a very frustrating process for Stella. The organizers operated in abandoned districts which reduced the risk of getting caught by authorities since raves were an easy smoke-screen for distributing confidential information and drugs within the black-market systems. Connecting to the main power lines would easily pinpoint that something was consuming a large amount of electricity. As Stella continued to dismantle her equipment, the venue lulled to a near-silence. Even then, it gave Stella some comfort that she wasn't completely alone. However, much to Stella's annoyance, Luna was preoccupied with her virtual news feeds. This was Luna’s way of relaxing and resting her vocal cords. The MC had a recurring pattern of tuning out her surroundings whenever it didn't directly involve her. This was often the case in between shows and down-time.
"Luna! Get your lazy ass over here and help me put this away!"
No response. As much as Stella wanted to smack Luna upside her head, the DJ had more important priorities. The next venue started in a few hours so every minute wasted now would further delay their tour, especially as they were one of the first to perform. While Stella was preoccupied in her thoughts, Luna had already carried the other sound system equipment to the loading bay.
"Finally decided to help me, huh?" Stella jabbed.
Undeterred by Stella’s sarcasm, Luna interjected, "Yo, you were all over the media! Some corpo at one of the talent agencies wants to sign you on to a label! I think they’re like, one of the most influential, too. It’ll be our big break!”
This was not what Stella wanted to hear right now. Being an independent free-lance artist was tiring but it eased her paranoia knowing she's not being constantly monitored. There was a general distrust of corporatizing music among Stella’s peers as the general audience preferred artificially simulated soundscapes over an individual’s expression. Mechanical musicians outperformed humans by wide margins in categories like dexterity and virtuosity leading to a vast increase in accessing emerging sub-genres through displays of technical ingenuity. Underground movements that have led the creative and humanizing experience of expression have created a small, but prevailing niche to counteract this trend.
Stella could feel a migraine incoming. “Ugh, more problems, more headaches. We’ll talk about this later. Luna, get those containers loaded up before I lose it.”
Within a few minutes, all of the electronics were bolted down and ready to be transported. Stella wiped the sweat from her forehead. If there's one thing that she depended on Luna for, it was that she was much more suited to carrying things.
"Sis, we got fans waitin'! Hurry up!" Luna calls out from the back-stage.
Even though they were running late, Stella habitually thanks her fans at the end of each show. She spends most of her days in a studio working up her next track and rarely exits the confines of her room. It was the least she could do as a sign of appreciation. Comparatively, Luna could care less so long as they didn't threaten Stella.
"Yeah, yeah. Just let me get a few more things before we go." Stella answers back, regardless if Luna was listening.
Stella's lightning bolt headpiece laid at one of the desks near the DJ booth. Holding the bolts in her hands, she was reminded of a particular interview where a music reporter asked Stella what the bolts symbolized. If Stella had answered honestly, she could have mentioned that the bolts were her affiliation to her former gang: the Rivulets. Instead, Stella answered conservatively; it was part of her vision to brighten the vast darkness throughout the megacity and instill some idea of hope back into people’s lives. Even as the interviewer was satisfied with that answer, Stella was constantly haunted by its actual origins.
The Rivulets grew as a relatively niche group of delinquents that employed small-time crimes such as shoplifting and pick-pocketing in order to expand and initiate new members. Only as a last resort did they consider physical acts such as harassment and extortion if their target didn't immediately comply. In a city where underhanded tactics were common, cheating the system was preferable, especially when one had little to lose. In such situations, it was better to live in the slums than in an apartment complex where the cost of living exceeded the cost of surviving. Similarly, the Rivulet’s founder backstory was just as bleak. He was a no-name kid whose parents abandoned him to be judged by the streets. His first memory was floating down a sewer tunnel in a box, miraculously unharmed. A homeless couple found and raised him on discarded scraps and bartered goods. Despite their good nature, they were murdered in a heated argument with other homeless vagrants over a can of rotten meat, leaving the kid to fend for himself. Or, so the story goes.
From then on, the leader promised on behalf of his temporary surrogate parents to redistribute among the less unfortunate. While his initial intentions seemed peaceful, his true actions were not. What he defined as 'less fortunate' extended only to his gang and jurisdiction. His behavior grew bolder as more eyes turned sympathetic towards his cause. He crushed those not aligned with his vision and silenced any opposition within the gang. Even then, Luna and I were at the forefront acting as the logistics, only because we worked effectively together. In hindsight, our knowledge of the dredge districts was our greatest strength. We won over a majority of the support from the gang by creating an underground supply system in the sewers. We were codenamed Raze and Alia respectively. Our positions as lieutenants summed up to carrying out small-scale operations such as disrupting food supply trucks, covert marketing, and settling territorial disputes with neighboring gangs. It was relatively bloodless until a rival gang showed up at one of the Rivulet’s hide-outs and shot up the place, leaving no one alive. Scared of further repercussions, Luna and I devised a way to leave using some of our pocketed funds and arms-length connections to replace our positions. By framing our own murder scene, we were able to erase ourselves from the game and run to a far-away district. However, we heard on the news that two informants, Bolt and Fray, who we worked closely with were killed by the Rivulets for aiding in our escape. Now, there's an ongoing search for the both of us.
"Stella! What's holding ya' up?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Stella haphazardly picks up the rest of her belongings and runs to the back-stage.
"There you are! Hey, everyone, your fav' DJ is here!"
A small, but sizable crowd cheered. As Stella readjusted her lightning bolt headpiece, she began her ritual of thanking each of her fans one-by-one. It wasn't long until a particularly shady figure began cutting the line, much to many’s annoyance. As the stranger stood right in front of Stella, he spoke up in a hoarse voice.
"Hiding from us, Stella? I gotta' say, it wasn't easy tracking you both down. Luna, how ya' been? The gang ain't the same without you as well but the Rivulets send their regards!"
Aiming a large phasgun at Stella's head, the stranger readies the trigger. Paralyzed in the moment, Stella stares back into the barrel of the gun. Luna instinctually springs up and quickly disarms the gang member. Unloading the entire magazine at him, she shoots at his knees and shoulders to incapacitate him. The stranger crumples to the floor wailing in pain while the crowd screams in disbelief before fleeing the scene, frantically pushing each other at the exits. Luna’s gaze relaxes as she drops the firearm.
Luna shakes at Stella to snap her out of her trance.
"Stella! Get your shit together! We need to go! Now! I gotta' call for backup. The Rivulets definitely know we're here and we gotta’ lay low."
Leading her by the hand, Luna escapes with Stella towards one of the exits. She kicks the door open and stumbles out to the nearest road junction.
"Over here, I know a place we can cut through. They haven't seen us yet and probably thought we were going out the other exit."
At the moment, all Stella could muster was a nod.
After climbing to the top of a run-down construction site, Luna carefully sets Stella down near a ledge with enough cover from the nearby lights so that Luna can pull out a disposable phone from one of her pockets.
A few voices can be heard on the other line.
"Hey, yeah, it's me. Code Red. Yeah, I know. We're fine. Alright, update me by the hour. Bye."
Luna sits down near an adjacent ledge next to Stella to catch her breath. She noticed that Stella was staring blankly at the city skyline. For now they were safe, but the aftermath of this incident could get messy. Even with her entourage on look-out, it wasn’t fool-proof that the Rivulets could still triangulate their escape.
Appearing much worse for wear, Stella brought her hands to her face and began to close her eyes. A million thoughts raced through her head, mostly about their crumbling future as their music career was put on indefinite hiatus. Stella wearily focused her attention on the city. Even in the night, the different colors draped the background in colorful lights, unlike the streets below.