Oh, I can remember the very first Genetic Opera like it was yesterday. Everyone was excited for this event. Such an amazing singer was amongst them, the only star in the world. Blind Mag. The gorgeous young woman who was given the gift of sight by Rotti Largo in exchange for her voice. In a way, it was quite a bittersweet story if you think about it hard enough. But nobody else seemed to think so. They were all just hypnotized by the soprano's songs and her gorgeous eyes.
But there was something that came with this opera. Mr. Largo himself was elected into power, which meant organ repossession was finally passed. I sat and watched the opera from the floating screen overhead while everyone else was selling. I didn't know why the rest weren't interested at that time, but they didn't care what I did because of my childish curiosity.
Truth be told, though, it was kind of scary at the beginning. Before Mag came on, Rotti gave a speech for his rise to rule. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he bellowed, "I thank you all so much for allowing me to take over. I promise you now that no matter what illness you might have, GeneCo will be the answer to all of your genetic problems! Say farewell to sickness and disease! Stare death in the face without fear, because I will be able to stop it in its tracks! The time of mass organ failures has come to an end!" The crowd roared with applause as he took a bow. But he seemed to have a sort of gleam in his eye, something that didn't look right. I thought maybe it was just me, but for the next few minutes he was on stage waving to the audience, I felt uncomfortable.
But then all was quiet again, and he introduced Mag. The curtains drew open and she stood there in a lavish ballgown with angel wings. She was gorgeous, and so was her voice. Everyone loved her. I'm sure you would have, too. She was great when she didn't sound so sad...
Every time she performed, everyone just kept loving her more. And she never seemed tired of it, at least at first. She performed every weekend, and by her fifth show, I asked Hen to watch her with me. Apparently that was a mistake, since her response to that was "Piss off, kid. I'm busy." And then she would light up a cigarette and walked away. It was strange, since the only time she was ever that bitter was when we did something really wrong and opera nights. I never asked why, but it was rather weird.
So when the sixth show came around, I decided to go off by myself and watch from a little closer.I managed to sneak into the opera house during the show, staying against the back wall where it was dark. Mag looked a lot different in person, almost like she was glowing. Her voice was a lot better too, although I think it was just her actual voice over the recorded version. There are very few times in my life where I can actually say I have been amazed by something. In fact, I think there were just three. This time was the first.
But when the performance ended, someone completely caught me off-guard and I found myself with a hand over my mouth as I struggled to fight against whatever was dragging me out of the theater. I was thrown into the back alley where Hen and the others awaited me. (Bullet was the one to drag me out.) "What was that for?" I asked the leader, as she gave me a stern look.
"We're goin' selling. The show's over and customers are gonna start searchin' for us, so we don't have time for that bullshit." She lazily pointed to the opera house. "Grab your belt and let's go."
I didn't question her, only for the fact that I didn't want to argue with her in such a mood. So I prepared my Zydrate, stuck my tail between my legs, and followed her to the nearest alley.
