I'm Tagging With the Band: Hiring Amy

It wasn't often that Amy Barksdale got an invitation to be interviewed for a publicist job, under most circumstances she would be the one to seek out the job rather than have one fall into her lap.

"Especially one that involves Mystik Spiral." Amy reminded herself as she pulled up into a parking space near a derelict recording studio in her hometown of Boston.

What struck Amy first was how intense the security teams were, she had seen her share of bands over the years and their bodyguards were usually big beefy guys who were designed to intimidate, but usually only had training as basic security guards or cops (at best).

These guys however didn't have the 'steroid binge' look, they were lean and their eyes were taking in everything and analyzing it for threats, and to Amy they reeked of ex-military.

With surprising efficiency Amy was ushered in, and her eye caught that there were some pretty new and sleek security devices installed in a building this disheveled.

She was taken into the first hallway then wanded and scanned with devices she didn't recognize before someone snapped her photo and a couple seconds later was handing her an ID Badge and warned not to lose it.

"Or else." one of the guards said flatly and Amy took him at his word.

Another guard then offered her his hand and stated that he would escort her to 'the Manager.'

"I wonder who that would be." Amy thought as her unnamed escort began leading her through what felt like a maze of doors, stairwells, and corridors.

Mystik Spiral was famous for many things, great music, massive onstage performances, outrageous behavior, rumors of the occult, and the revolving door of Managers.

It was believed that MS had gone through eight managers through their career, and six of them had died in bizarre accidents, one was in a mental asylum, and the other survivor was in a permanent coma somewhere in Columbus, Ohio.

Amy was yanked out of her musing when the escort stopped moving in front of a door and said, "This is the main recording studio, you'll be talking to the Man in here."
The escort then walked away so quickly that she didn't have time to ask him any questions.

So it was with a huff that Amy let herself in, the instant she opened the door the silence was shattered by the blast of a guitar solo booming from the speakers.

Amy walked in and took in the recording room, unlike the ones she had seen before this recording studio was spacious and unlike the rest of the building was well cared for and maintained.

As jaded as she was from years of exposure to celebrity culture, Amy did feel a twinge of excitement at the sights of the members of Mystik Spiral, in the booth working his guitar like his life depended on it was Curtis Stalano, seated at the controls was a tech guy and Tommy Sherman himself, watching with interest.

Slumped in a chair snoozing was Trent Lane, an empty beer bottle on the ground with his fingertips dangling above it. Amy spotted Max Tyler sitting cross-legged on the ground playing with Legos, and Jesse Moreno was at a wet bar, mixing himself some sort of concoction. Plus there were three teenagers in their own corner, they were covered in tattoos and piercings, the guy was in ripped jeans and a leather jacket with no shirt and was restringing a guitar, the girl with black hair was working on a sketchpad, the one with large glasses was writing in a beaten up notebook.

"Ms. Barksdale." A clear, crisp voice emerged from behind her, Amy jumped a little as she turned to find a rather tall black man having appeared from seeming nothingness behind her.

Her first impression was that he was a dead ringer for Dennis Haysbert, but there was something more... real about this man.

"Are you the manager?" Amy asked politely as she could, considering that Curtis had apparently hit his stride and was working his bass guitar into some sort of frenzy.
He nodded, "My name is Kyle Armalin, you can call me Kyle though. Shall we continue this discussion in my office?"

"Uh, sure." Amy answered back while hugging herself a little, since she had a feeling that wasn't a request.

Armalin then gave her a surprisingly warm smile, "Relax Ms. Barksdale, I don't bite."

"Alright then," Amy replied as she began to follow him out of the main studio, "But please call me Amy."

"Of course."


Kyle Armalin's office was a huge surprise to Amy Barksdale, the walls were covered in awards and decorations from what seemed to be every single military organization in the world.

Not to mention the countless photos with more movers and shakers than even Queen Elizabeth II could have met in her entire life.

Everything in the room was in what Amy could guess was it's right and proper place, and even in the dim light she could tell that it was designed to impress more than anything else.

"I don't think this is where he actually works." her instincts whispered to her.

Kyle offered her a drink, which she accepted with grace and took a sip and found it to be a very fine vintage scotch.

After the pleasantries were dealt with, Kyle Armalin began to speak, "Amy Barksdale, I'm sure that you are curious about why you are here."

Amy nodded, "Yes, though the letter said this would be an interview for a press agent job. I am currently employed at the Boston Tribune."

"Yes I know, though you have worked in publicity before that. Trust me when I say that the job that I'm offering you will be much bigger than that."

"Bigger?" Amy asked with a confused look, "What do you mean by 'bigger'?"

Kyle grinned very slightly, "That's complicated, and trust me when I say that I was in your shoes not all that long ago. Hell I laughed when I was offered this assignment..."

"Assignment?!"

Kyle's grin grew, "Yes, you see before I became Mystik Spiral's manager I held a position that I'm not at liberty to discuss. But when I came here and began working with the boys and the little ones, it felt like... That I was home."

Amy's confusion grew, after all what the hell did he mean by 'home'.

Kyle chuckled, "I can see that you are uncertain about all this, so let me show you the bottom line."

He then gave her a very basic outline of what her role would be, and Amy's eyes almost bulged out of her head at the salary she would be paid.

"I could retire in a decade with that kind of cash." Amy thought to herself and found herself asking when she could get started.

Kyle just grinned and handed her a file with a couple contracts for her to look over, Amy began to skim it, but found that this was more than just your standard form of contract.

"In case of accidental death... in the event of pregnancy with member(s) of band... parenthood recognition subject to legal negotiation... absolute silence on the inner workings... lifetime protection from assault..." Amy muttered as her eyes took all of this in.

She took in a deep breath and thought it over as carefully as she could, Kyle simply leaned in his chair and gave her all the time in the world.

After a few more minutes Amy muttered, "Fuck it." and asked for a pen.

A few strokes later her signature was wet on the paper, and Amy could have sworn that she felt something like static charge fill her body for a brief moment before vanishing as quickly as it had come.

"Welcome to the Family." Kyle said as he shook her hand firmly, "Now let me bring you to meet them for the first time."


Amy was surprised to learn that the guys weren't going to hit on her left and right but instead were treating her like a big sister of sorts.

"Though helping Max put away his Legos before hitting the drums was a little weird." Amy thought to herself as she took a seat next to Armalin and watched Max in the booth.

"So what do you think?" A guys voice asked her, Amy glanced up and saw that the male teenager was behind her chair, up close Amy could see his muscular build, though his eyes were hidden by sunglasses and he was chewing on a toothpick, and that his tattooing was even more extensive than she had initially believed.

"Max is good," Amy answered, "Though I don't know what song he's working on."

The guy smirked, "It's one of the new ones, not sure if it'll make the final cut though."

Amy nodded and changed the subject, "Your working on a Body Suit."

The guy nodded, "Every time we're in Japan I go to Akira and he pounds away with that damn stick of his."

Amy chuckled, "Yeah... Though I guess Akira is the guy's pseudonym, right?"

The teen nodded, "Yeah, but fake names are common around here."

Amy raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kyle, he shrugged and glanced at the teen and gestured at him to explain further.

The kid's grin was shark like, "To outsiders I'm Tim Stalano... But my real name is Tom Sloane."

"...You're not joking are you?"

"Nope." Tom said proudly, "Ran off a while ago and I don't regret it a bit."

He then lowered his shades and it was those sea green eyes that had her convinced, for months after vanishing from a fancy prep school without a trace the face of missing person Tom Sloane had been all over the news. No one was sure if he had run off, been murdered, or had been kidnapped.

Amy Barksdale now had an answer, and the contract she had signed ensured that if she breathed a word of this her professional life would be over, forever.

"Why?" Amy found herself asking and Tom grinned and instead of answering looked towards the corner where the two girls were working and yelled, "Daria, Jane, can you come over for a minute?"

"Daria!" Amy hissed and turned to look at the now approaching figures, her brain saying that there was no way that her missing niece was here.

Then she got her first real look at the pair, they were in matching leather jackets, skimpy tops and skinny jeans, combat boots, one girl had short cut black hair with red streaks, the other had her auburn hair with black tips.

Amy took in the girl with auburn hair, her eyes hidden behind large glasses and asked weakly, "Daria?"

"Hi Aunt Amy." Daria said in the voice that Amy would have known anywhere.

The other girl grinned and walked over to Tom and put an arm around him, letting them have their time.

Amy tried to speak but Daria held up a hand.

"I guess you have questions, so I'll try to answer them." Daria said with a shrug of her wild hair, her piercings shining in the light, "Yes, I ran off to become a little sister for Mystik Spiral. No, I have no intention of talking to my old family anytime soon. Yes, I consider the Band and my sibs here to be my real family. And Yes, I was the one who convinced the Manager to hire you."

Amy took in a very deep breath even as Daria joined Tom, taking his other side. Amy watched as Tom first kissed Daria, then Jane.

At that point she wasn't shocked anymore, instead Amy found herself asking, "And am I family to you?"

"Of course Amy." Daria said with the first smile that Amy could ever remember seeing on her niece, "I always felt right when I got to hang out with you. Just like I do with the band."

She then gestured to the booth, and Amy saw Max playing, her ears picked back up on the music and a more powerful static charge filled her body and this one lasted awhile.

"You see?" Daria said to her, "This is what I meant about feeling right."

"I... I can feel it." Amy stammered, "But what am I feeling exactly?"

At her side Kyle Armalin chuckled, "It's time for you to find out."

As he began to explain, Amy started to feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole but instead of wanting the trip to stop, she wanted it to go on and on forever.

By the end, Amy found a swell of courage and said, "I'm in, no matter what."

Kyle nodded with a smirk and asked if she wanted another drink.

"Oh yes," Amy replied a bit more warmly than she had intended.

Tom smirked nearby with Daria and Jane at his side as the Manager led their new family member to the wet bar, Max in the meanwhile stopped playing as Tommy Sherman noted that it was time for lunch.

"We'll pick it up afterward, man." Tommy said with the thought of world class catering on his mind.

Just another recording session with Mystik Spiral.