Chapter 13: Behind the Sound of Music
IF sat on her bike by the bus stop, having arrived before the rest of her party. She helped herself to a snack wrap she bought from a nearby food truck while browsing the internet on her phone. The day was beautiful, not unlike Planeptune. But upon closer inspection one could note a few fundamental differences, such as drivers sitting on the left side of the car, rather than on the right like back in Planeptune. Besides that, IF couldn't help but notice how much shorter she was than the average civilian.
Before IF could notice anything else, a bus pulled over at the bus stop. She leapt off of her bike and set up the kickstand before turning to greet her party. They got out of the bus one by one and walked over to IF when they spotted her.
"So this is Leanbox", RED said, "I can't wait to see what kind of wifeys I'll find here!"
"I'll pick up some new recipes here!", Compa said, just as overjoyed.
"Hey. Don't tell me you two already forgot we're here on business", IF scolded.
"Sharp as ever, IF! Now, let's head on in to the guild", Nisa responded.
The group turned around and headed into the Leanbox guild. It resembled Planeptune guild's almost perfectly, save for the people inside. The group walked up to one of the receptionists and explained the situation. After waiting a few minutes, they were greeted by the guild's official. The group exchanged confused glances upon seeing who the official was.
"E? What are you doing here?", IF asked.
The handsomely dressed lady bowed before them. "I see you have already met with my… counterpart, in Planeptune. I am the Leanbox guild official, R."
"Wow. I can't tell the difference at all…", Compa muttered.
RED looked like there was a light bulb floating above her head. "Don't tell me. Are the other guild officials related to you?"
"That would make them quadruplets. What are the odds?", Nisa grinned.
R cleared her throat, and IF stepped in to the conversation. "Now's not the time to worry about that stuff!", she said, "Sheesh. How many times do I have to remind you that we're not here on vacation?"
"You would benefit from relaxing a bit everyone once in a while", Nisa replied.
"Yeah, cut loose, Iffy!", RED winked.
IF sighed before turning to face R. "...Anyways. We're here for that special quest."
R fixed her shades and took out a clipboard. "Let's speak about this inside." She turned around and lead the group further into the guild where they could speak more privately. The room they entered was normally used for interrogations. It contained a table and a few seats for everyone to sit down in.
"As you already know, this is an intelligence gathering mission. Nobody must know about this", R explained. A holographic screen appeared behind her. "You will be investigating Athletic Enterprises for any signs of foul play in their merchandise."
"Mind control mods, right?", Nisa asked.
"Precisely", R answered. "Because of the risky nature of this mission, we will not be able to bail you out if you're discovered. Nobody must know that we're investigating private organizations like this."
"Sounds like a pretty risky job for foreigners like us. We don't really know our way around Leanbox at all", IF said.
R turned to face IF. "...Which is why we'll be assigning one of our own agents to assist you."
The door to the room opened, and a young woman with red pigtails stepped in. "Greetings. I am Cave."
Cave walked in and walked up to R before turning around and bowing down before IF's party.
"Cave is part of the RRoD, which is an elite group of Leanbox officers", R explained, "Her expertise should be invaluable for your quest."
"Wow! We're getting a wifey just for this mission? This place rocks!", RED said excitedly.
Compa greeted Cave with a warm smile, while Nisa gave her a thumbs up. IF offered up a smile of her own. "Nice to meet you. The name's IF. And this here's Compa, Nisa, and RED."
"Red?", Cave repeated.
"Nu-uh! R! E! D! RED!", RED butted in.
Cave eyed them all up. "Pleasure to meet you."
R nodded. "Now, for your briefing. Tomorrow, a concert will take place, sponsored by Athletic Enterprises. They will, without a doubt, be selling their merchandise there. You'll be able to blend in with the crowd without drawing attention to yourselves. Use this to try to gain as much info as you can on their products."
Cave looked uneasy at the mention of a concert. IF nodded. "Sounds easy enough."
"Good. Remember… we won't be able to bail you out if you get caught. If the claims against AE are true, then we have a massive problem on our hands", R replied.
"Hold on. What if they mind control everyone there with that equipment?", Nisa butted in.
"Then it would be too obvious that there's something wrong", Cave answered.
R cleared her throat. "Now, unless you have any more questions, I advise you all prepare for your mission."
With the rest of the day to spare, IF's party decided to get to know Cave better over lunch. They made their way over to an outdoor milkshake shop and took their seats.
"Nothing like a milkshake on a hot day to freshen things up!", Nisa said.
"Oh please, it's not that hot", IF shrugged.
"You can't feel it?", Nisa replied, "Hm. Perhaps it's simply my burning passion for Justice overwhelming my senses."
"Are you sure you don't have a fever? Let me check you!", Compa interrupted. She took out her syringe and approached Nisa menacingly. Nisa backed away nervously and gulped.
"N-no thanks! I was, er, joking!", Nisa stuttered.
"No use hiding it from me", Compa's eyes glowed menacingly, and Nisa ran off. Compa then proceed to give chase, giant syringe in tow.
"...I'll just assume this is normal", Cave muttered. IF sighed.
RED leaned forward at the edge of her seat as her eyes inspected Cave. "So… what do you do for fun?", she asked.
"I am a bodyguard", Cave replied.
"Huh? I said for fun, not work!", RED said.
"Fun?", Cave repeated.
RED nodded and took out a yo-yo. "Yeah, like this!", she said, before starting to perform a trick with the yo-yo. She held the toy in her hand and rapidly extended it up into the air. The yo-yo detached itself from the string for a moment. It continued to spin independently for a moment before spinning down into the string and retracting into RED's hand seamlessly.
RED snickered, "Now, watch THIS!" She whipped the yo-yo out once more, this time directly in front of her. However, she underestimated herself and the yo-yo detached from the string just like before. This time, the yo-yo kept spinning forward, directly towards Cave. The pig-tailed redhead instinctively dodged the flying yo-yo without a flinch. The yo-yo continued to fly for a bit before hitting a random stranger. The stranger was upset, and passive aggressively through it back towards Cave, who dodged the projectile again without even looking in the direction from whence it came. The yo-yo flew right back into the string, and RED caught it in her hand after it retracted.
"RED, what are you doing?! You could've hit Cave!", IF scolded.
RED had a nervous look on her face. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Don't worry about it", Cave interjected, "Dodging that was simple for me."
"Dodging, huh? That ought a help us out in this quest", IF said.
RED pouted in disapproval. "That makes you more slippery than everyone else!", she complained.
Cave looked at RED in confusion. "Hm?"
"Don't worry about it", IF said.
At this point, Nisa and Compa returned to the table. Nisa rubbed her butt in pain while Compa had a satisfied look on her face.
"I'd hate to have to face that needle again…", Nisa complained.
"Let's just hope it never comes to that", IF shrugged.
"You could always just dodge", Cave suggested.
"Nisa's too hot-headed for that", IF said before facing Compa. "And not the fever kind."
Compa giggled as she put her syringe away.
"So, about the mission…", Cave began, "... There will be three main singers there. Ai Masujima, Tsunemi, and finally… .5pb."
"Ah yes, more wifey candidates", RED smiled, "I can't wait to have a pop idol in my harem!"
Cave looked at RED with another confused look on her face, but shrugged it off.
IF crossed her arms, deep in thought. "Hm. I wonder… could the singers be working with AE to spread their mind control merch?"
Cave shifted uncomfortably and muttered, "... .5pb."
Everyone turned to look at Cave. The pig-tailed redhead looked up and looked at them all before continuing. "I'm the bodyguard of one of the performers… .5pb."
Everyone was surprised to hear this, and were each taken aback in their own ways. They were quiet for a moment before Nisa spoke up.
"That's a pretty big conflict of interest", Nisa said. Cave remained quiet, like a dog who was ashamed of themselves for tearing up a couch.
"Miss R recommended her to us, so maybe that means we can trust her", Compa said.
"Good point. If anything, we could just have her keep watch of another one of the singers instead of .5pb", IF suggested.
Nisa stepped forward. "Let's just hope none of them are a part of this scheme."
IF spoke up. "Hey, that gives me an idea. If Cave is .5pb's bodyguard, then we have a way backstage."
"I would only be able to sneak one of you in. It would be too suspicious if I brought too many people backstage", Cave answered.
"I'll go", IF replied, "The rest of you could stay in the crowd in case something happens. Look out for anything suspicious going on."
Everyone agreed with the plan. They spent the rest of the evening discussing it at length and agreed to rendezvous the next day.
After spending the night at a hotel, the party regrouped and was ready to head to the concert venue. As they approached it, barricades were set up around the streets leading up to the stage to prevent vehicles from passing through. The crowd grew more and more dense as they approached the stage. Along the way, there were people giving out free merchandise such as shirts, hats and light sticks. All of which the party declined to take.
They spread out to cover more ground, all according to plan. Cave sneaked IF backstage, who then began her search. Behind the stage were several trailers lined up next to each other like bookshelves in a library. IF sneaked around, looking for something, anything that would give her any leads.
She avoided the occasional security guard as she made her way around. She approached one of the trailers and climbed up to see inside the window. Nothing. She heard someone coming and quickly let go and leapt for cover. From within a garbage bin, IF peeked outside to see a brunette with light blue and white top and skirt passing by.
"Alright! This is totally like, my super duper chance to finally come out on top! I need to really psych myself up for this!", the girl said, "La la la, la la~!"
IF squinted her eyes and noticed that this girl was holding a heart-shaped microphone. "That must be one of the idols", IF thought to herself. After the coast was clear, she climbed out of the trash bin and wiped some trash off her jacket. She looked around and sneaked over in the direction where the idol was walking from.
Finally, she found a trailer with a star on the front door, with the name "Tsunemi". IF peaked inside through one of the windows and saw that the trailer was empty. She took her chances and climbed into the trailer through the window.
The inside was tidy, save for the small table and mirror with cosmetics littered about. IF began to search the trailer up and down for something incriminating. She believed that if there was something fishy going on, the singers would surely be aware of it.
She tried not to move anything unless absolutely necessary. IF opened the drawer of the table with the mirror, and found an envelope. It had no address or return address on it. IF took out the letter inside the envelope and skimmed through it.
IF thought to herself. "Huh? Wait, these are lyrics. But why would she be getting lyrics in an envelope? Unless… could this be from AE? I know they're sponsoring all this, but a song too?" She stood quietly for a moment before coming to a realization.
Meanwhile out front, the crowd was cheering with their free light sticks and donning their free hats and shirts. IF's party was spread out, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Cave escorted .5pb onto the stage for the main event. She stood at the side of the stage, keeping an eye on the performance.
.5pb took a deep breath before heading onto the stage. She was joined by the brunette IF saw and another girl with blonde pigtails and a purple dress. The three idols took their places on the stage.
"Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for coming!", .5pb said, "I'm .5pb!"
The brunette followed up, "I'm Ai!"
And the blonde followed up with, "And I am Tsunemi."
"And we're all here to have some fun!", .5pb announced.
"Yeah! This is all thanks to our like, super amazing sponsor!", Ai butted in.
"We dedicate this first song to them…", Tsunemi declared.
The trio began to sing, and the crowd began to go wild. It was like a sea of glow sticks waving to the idols on stage, completely entranced with the lyrics to the song. Nisa felt her phone vibrate and answered it.
"HELLO?", Nisa said.
"Nisa! The song! It's connected somehow!", IF said over the line.
"HUH? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE CROWD!", Nisa replied.
"DAMN IT, NISA! THE SONG IS CONNECTED SOMEHOW!", IF shouted.
"THIS ISN'T GOING TO WORK OUT WHILE THE CONCERT'S GOING ON. CAN'T YOU TEXT ME?", Nisa shouted back.
IF closed the phone and began typing furiously, only to be interrupted by the door to the trailer opening. She stopped what she was doing and leaped into the closet. IF gulped as she finished her text and hit "Send".
Nisa received the message and looked up frantically. The song? How could a song be connected somehow?
The three idols continued to sing. Nisa wondered what was even going on. It was loud and people were cheering everywhere. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts.
"AE rocks! I'm gonna go get me some more stuff!", someone in the crowd said.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna drop my life savings on AE stock!", another person shouted.
Nisa looked around, and started to hear more of the same. For whatever reason, everyone began to praise AE. Coincidentally, they all had free merchandise on. Nisa put two and two together in her head, thanks to IF's message. To Nisa, it became clear that the song was influencing the crowd unnaturally. She clutched her phone tightly and forwarded IF's message to the rest of the party.
After doing that, Nisa wasn't sure what to do next. What she did know, however, was that someone was committing some sort of crime: aggressively advertising towards a multitude of people. The problem she found, was that this wasn't necessarily illegal. Unless of course, there was an underhanded method being used. The problem was finding out what that was for sure.
Nisa looked at the message IF sent her again. The song was behind this. Perhaps then, maybe, if the song changed, the trance that has taken over the audience would vanish. What could she possibly do about this?
After IF sent the text, her phone made a "whoop" sound, indicating her message was sent. She was still in the closet, hiding from the security guard who came to investigate the noise IF made when she shouted over the phone. IF stood perfectly still, hoping that the security guard didn't hear her phone. As soon as she saw the closet door begin to open, IF threw whatever clothing she could get her hands on into the security guard's face and ran for it.
She bolted away from the trailer without even thinking. She only really bought herself a few seconds with that clothes attack. Her desperation lead her to run through the backstage area without a clue where she was headed. She wasn't sure how, but she somehow ended up smack in the middle of the stage.
IF looked down towards the crowd with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights. The trio of idols didn't notice her at first. Nisa and the rest noticed this, and Nisa commanded the rest via text to follow IF onto the stage. After a few moments, Cave threw a microphone over towards IF, and her party crowded up behind her holding instruments.
Everyone on the stage shuffled around, with IF's party opposing the idol trio, who continued to sing their hypnotic tune. IF looked on towards the crowd and gulped. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to sing.
The idol trio stopped for a moment to behold the scene before them. Nisa nudged IF, and she blurted out something random, stumbling through her words to form something resembling a song. She turned around, and her party smiled back at her. Their smiles reminded IF that she should put a smile on her face, and that there wasn't any time to waste.
IF smiled and began singing whatever came out of her mouth. It was time for her to jump up and not be scared. Her cares soared away, and the performance took off.
The idol trio looked at each other in confusion, not having received the memo about this other act. They started to sing louder in an attempt to drown out IF's party.
The result was a one-up contest, with each side getting louder and louder with each turn. It began to be clear that neither side was going to win. This lead IF to step forward and stretch her hand out towards .5pb to join her. Though initially reluctant, the blue haired idol took IF's hand and they both began to sing together.
This left Tsunemi and Ai awkwardly standing around on their side of the stage, continuing to sing. IF's party overpowered Tsunemi and Ai's performance until Tsunemi stopped altogether. Ai stopped out of frustration as she was outshined by the random newcomers.
IF's tune came to an end, and the crowd began to go wild. IF looked around confused, not sure what to do. Nisa placed her hand on IF's back and pushed her downwards so she could bow for the audience.
"Aww, this is super duper lame! This was my chance to shine!", Ai complained, "Who even are you people?"
Cave stepped onto the stage and stood between the two groups. "They're… guest stars", she muttered.
"Strange. I did not receive any notice about this", Tsunemi replied.
"Yeah, this is really random!", .5pb said.
Cave nodded. "I apologize. It was a last minute change."
While Cave sorted out the situation with the idols, Nisa listened in on the crowd.
"Wow, that performance was great!"
"Why do I feel like I was going to waste a bunch of money on sports equipment?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna buy a new game instead!"
Nisa nodded and gave her attention back to the three idols.
.5pb turned towards IF. "Hey, what's your name? Your singing was fantastic!"
IF smiled. "The name's IF. I'm a gust of wind that flows through Gamindustri!"
"Whoa! So you're like, an international singer?", Ai asked.
IF blinked a few times. "Well, actually I-"
"We're from Planeptune!", Nisa interrupted, "Singers... from Planeptune!"
"Nuh uh! I'm just looking for some hot wifeys!", RED interjected. "And I see three candidates right in front of me!"
"Uh… wifeys?", .5pb repeated.
"Don't… don't worry about her", IF sighed. IF remembered the letter she found in Tsunemi's trailer. "Oh, by the way, can you tell us about this concert?"
Ai squinited. "Shouldn't you already like, know that?"
"Well, er…", IF stuttered nervously.
"Oh, let's just tell them", Nisa shrugged. "We're agents investigating a link between AE and mind control. Do you happen to know anything about that?"
"Mind control? No way, all we did was sing!", .5pb answered.
"They did sponsor this event. The song we were performing was also from them", Tsunemi said.
Ai flinched at the question. "I have no idea what you're talking about! They paid for this concert and gave out free stuff and had us sing a song… there's no mind control involved in that!"
IF's party looked at each other. It was true- they couldn't prove for sure that any mind control happened at all.
"Still. Why did you have to sing that specific song they gave you?", IF asked.
.5pb shrugged. "Well, I didn't think much of it when we got it."
"How about we put on one of their shirts and listen to the song?", Compa suggested.
"Y-you don't need to do that! It like, totally won't do anything!", Ai spoke up.
"Doesn't hurt to try", IF shrugged.
Cave walked up to the front of the stage and asked someone to throw up one of the free hats they were handing out. She walked back and placed it on RED's head.
"Hey! I don't wanna be a guinea pig!", RED complained.
"Eh, you'll live", IF smirked. She turned to face .5pb, who started to sing the song they were instructed to sing.
Suddenly RED spoke. "Hm… I could really use an AE fishing net! Who knows how many wifeys I'll catch with that!"
Everyone looked on in surprise. It was like RED's logic curved to fit in AE somehow. Cave pulled the hat off of RED's head, leaving the shorter redhead to look around, confused.
"How do you feel, RED?", Nisa asked.
"Huh. I feel as if the urge to recklessly spend my money just vanished", RED answered.
The group exchanged glances at each other. Bingo.
"Looks like we got what we came for. Let's head back to the guild", IF suggested.
"I don't think it'll be that easy…", Nisa said. She pointed out towards the audience, who were now chanting "Encore".
"Maybe you should get into singing instead, IF", Nisa teased with a grin.
"As if. ...Though, I have to admit, singing is pretty fun", IF smiled.
After giving the people what they wanted, IF's party returned to the guild. The three idols decided to tag along with them to help explain their findings to R.
"Interesting. To use music to hypnotize the audience…", R said.
Tsunemi nodded. "I didn't think the song we were given would have this sort of effect… Well, at least not direct mind control."
"How super duper awful!", Ai cried out.
"Um… is there anyway we can help?", .5pb asked.
R shook her head. "The information you provided us should be sufficient assistance… however vague it may be."
"This evidence isn't conclusive enough to condemn AE. It can easily be brushed off as the power of music doing it's thing", Nisa butted in.
IF sighed. "Figures. Guess we'll have to investigate some more."
.5pb stepped forward. "Um…! Is there anything we can do to help?"
Tsunemi followed suit. "Mind controlling the audience makes me feel guilty, so I want to help too!"
Ai didn't move an inch. "I, er, have to practice, so good luck with your investigation or whatever!" The brunette idol bowed before taking her leave.
R eyed up the two remaining idols. "Don't sing that song they gave you ever again."
IF remembered something, and reached into her pocket. She still had the letter with the song in it from Tsunemi's trailer. IF took it out and handed it over to R. "I snagged this while looking around Tsunemi's trailer", she turned to face Tsunemi, "Sorry about that, by the way."
"I do not mind. As long as you didn't try to steal any of my stuff to sell on some creepy website", Tsunemi replied.
R took the letter and skimmed through it. "So this song compels the listeners wearing AE equipment to buy more of their products… An underhanded tactic, but not exactly illegal on it's own." She turned to face the two remaining idols. "You can help us by drowning out any semblance of this forbidden song with your own music."
"You want us to sing?", .5pb asked, "Um… well… about that…"
IF's party looked on in confusion. Cave spoke up, "She has stage fright."
"Stage fright? But she did a really good job singing out there!", Nisa said.
Tsunemi placed a hand on .5pb's shoulder. "I will be there too. You have nothing to be afraid of."
"Just focus on singing. I know you'll be alright", IF smiled.
"Fear is meaningless against a burning passion!", Nisa said with a thumbs up.
"We're all rooting for you!", Compa said.
"I will be there, too", Cave reassured.
"I'll... ", .5pb muttered, "...I'll do my best!"
Everyone cheered, encouraging .5pb even further. With newfound courage, .5pb and Tsunemi left to do… whatever idols do in their free time. R turned to face IF's party.
"We're going to need more concrete evidence in order to make any accusations against AE", R said to the group, "I believe the wisest decision right now would be to infiltrate their HQ… of course, you won't be marching in there. They give tours of their main building often. Your next mission will be to go on one of their tours and try to find anything incriminating within the building."
"A tour? Hm… I can't say I'm very excited", RED said.
"How many times do I have to remind you that this isn't a vacation?", IF sighed.
Ai walked outside on her own, creating enough distance before making a call on her phone. "Hello? Yeah, it was a big stupid failure! Some other singers showed up and like, stole the show!", she stomped her feet, "It was my chance to finally surpass .5pb and become the top idol in Leanbox! It was going so well, too! ...Hm? Standby? Well, if you say so…"
She closed her phone and looked around before continuing to walk, disappearing into the crowd.
CHAPTER 13… BEHIND THE SOUND OF MUSIC... END.