Chapter Summary: The final training SIM begins, set in a small town in California.
Chapter Word Count: 5,459
Disclaimer Update: Sunnydale and any Buffy characters or situations? Not mine. I'm just borrowing. They belong to Fox (Or maybe Disney now? Who knows?) Notes: It's only model! This isn't a real place. It's all a virtual reality simulation. Smoke and mirrors!
Fixed: Search and replace error. Oops!
And, finally, Sita, Mika, Yuki, and Yanzy completed completed their initial training with their new suits and equipment. All that remained was a final assessment before they could go on their first real mission. Which brought them to the Consulate early on a Monday morning.
The four young women slipped into seats at the large round table in the conference room they'd been directed to. Lady Shadow, Janice, Joy, and Harriet sat across from them. Large screens covered one of the walls, flipping through different scenes like screen savers.
"You've spent the past two months, in pod time, learning everything we can teach you to succeed in the kinds of missions you will be sent on," Lady Shadow said. "We have one last thing for you to do. Now is the time to take everything you've learned and apply it."
"Your pods have been configured to provide everything you need," Janice said.
Sita nodded. "We are ready," she said.
"What's our mission?" Mika asked. "You've trained us how to work together in small insertion missions, so it must be some small thing."
"It's a training scenario based on a popular television show from the late 90s," Joy said. "The four of you will be a small band traveling from town to town in California."
"Okay," Yuki said. "We can be humble. So, no crew? Just us and some instruments?"
"Yes," Joy said. grinning. "But that's just your cover story. For this exercise's 'reality' you will be a team of demon hunters from a famous clan of demon hunters traveling the world in search of several magical items. Your search has brought you to the small American city of Sunnydale. You will play several nights at a local teen nightclub and search the town for one of these magical items."
"Here is the background information on the town and its residents," Harriet said, handing them tablets. "Your own backstory and that of your band members is contained here. You also have some important information about this world."
"How much time do we have to learn this background?" Sita asked.
"Two hours," Lady Shadow said. "The pods will assist you in playing these characters and remembering everything."
"It's not a feature we've shown you before in previous training scenarios," Janice said. "It's a little like putting on a virtual costume."
"We'll still be us, with all of our memories, correct?" Sita said.
"Yes," Janice said. "This just adds an additional layer to the role playing. You'll know the difference between real and scenario memories but it will add to the realism of the simulation."
"Will we have any help searching for this," Yanzy looked down at the pad, "Gem of Amara?"
"No, but you will have competition. One of the vampires, a self styled 'Big Bad' is also searching for this gem which is on a ring," Harriet said.
"You also must avoid the local demon hunters, if possible."
"When do we start?" Mika said. "And how much time do we have?"
"Once you step out of that door, you'll be on the road to the town," Janice said. "The simulation is set to run for a week. After that, if you don't have possession of the gem it will repeat."
"So keep trying until we get it?" Yuki said, frowning.
"This is not a test, strictly speaking," Lady Shadow said. "It's a training scenario. If it takes multiple runs to complete successfully, it just shows us what other areas we need to focus on before sending you out into the field."
"Okay," Yuki said. "So, we look like ourselves and speak like ourselves."
"These characters are you," Joy said. "Just with a slightly different backstory. Instead of Fox God priestesses in a band, you are members of a Fox Clan demon hunting team, using a band as your cover."
"So, it must be Tuesday," Yanzy said, to strange looks from the others, and laughter from Lady Shadow's crew.
"So, you are familiar with this setting?" Harriet said.
"The Sunnydale Hellmouth? Yes," Yanzy said. "Never expected to actually see it," she said. "You said there are portals everywhere."
"Yes. Riddling this planetary system like Swiss cheese," Janice said, nodding.
"We aren't going to a real Sunnydale, are we?" Yanzy asked cautiously.
"We haven't found a portal to one," Lady Shadow said, "but you never know, there might be one out there. But this, now, is just a simulation. You can interact with all of the characters and you can get hurt, though dying isn't permanent."
"Good to know," Yuki said.
"Read your backgrounders," Joy said. "You have two hours before you have to start." Lady Shadow and her people stood up and left the room.
"Vampires?" Yuki said, reading her pad. "I don't want to get bit."
"They can be killed," Yanzy said. "I'd be more concerned about the demons. It may be from a TV show but it's not a place to do more than visit quickly and run away."
"You can give us some background on this town and its people," Sita said.
"What I can remember," Yanzy said, nodding.
"I'm a drummer?" Yuki said, frowning. "I hope this simulation teaches me how to play. Sita, you, of course, are our lead singer."
"And Yanzy is our roadie, equipment manager and lead guitar," Mika said. "Why am I the bass player?" She frowned down at her pad.
"We have to get pictures of this," Yanzy said. "Not that anyone would ever believe it, if we could tell them."
"I'm sure they are recording everything," Sita said. "I expect us to succeed the first time through the simulation, with no repeats. But a record will prove useful."
"It's right here," Mika said, pointing at her pad. "We can't access the simulation recording while in it but we will have access to it afterword for training purposes."
"Our demon hunter outfits look just like our superhero suits," Yuki said. "And have the same capabilities."
"What about magic?" Yanzy said. "This scenario is set in a world that has magic, and European supernatural creatures."
"Apparently, I am also the team's magic user," Sita said, frowning. "It looks similar to the rituals we already know but with real power behind them."
"I've seen you do some scary things with those rituals," Mika said. "How much more power?"
"I can't say, until we have an opportunity to test it," Sita said.
"You can do magic?" Yanzy said. "Is that something I shouldn't know?"
"It never came up," Yuki said. "Rituals to invoke the power of the Fox God are part of our training. But we rarely have a use for it."
"Lady Shadow must be aware of it," Mika said. "The scenario only gives us abilities we already have. Except possibly a little stronger, since we'll be facing supernatural creatures."
"Who are we likely to meet?" Mika said. "If there are monsters there must be monster hunters in this town, and what is a Hellmouth?"
"A Hellmouth, in this place, is a portal to some other dimension, possibly a western version of Hell," Yanzy said. "It has been a while since I saw this show so my knowledge may be rusty."
"So, not very friendly," Mika said.
"It is closed at this point," Yanzy said. "Unless we need to help stop some demon from opening it we shouldn't have to worry about it, other than it being a magnet that attracts evil to this town."
"Where is it, just so we know what to avoid," Yuki asked.
"In the ruins of the local high school," Yanzy said.
"Ruins?" Yuki said.
"The local heroes blew it up to stop a demon from taking over the world," Yanzy said. "The episode this scenario is based on doesn't have much action, that I can remember. The heroes have just started college and are having the usual reaction to a major change in their lives. If we can get the gem away from the vampires we shouldn't have to worry about much else."
"And Tuesday?" Yuki said.
"The major events in the show always seemed to take place on a Tuesday," Yanzy said.
"Good guys and bad guys?" Sita said.
"Bad guys - a vampire called Spike, looks like punk singer Billy Idol, a female vampire called Harmony. Assorted other minion vampires," Yanzy said.
"The local monster hunters are Buffy, a mystically enhanced demon hunter. Her friend Willow, a witch, and some guy, Xander, who is also a friend. Her monster hunting mentor is also in town. He was their school librarian.," she added.
"Must have been a tough school," Yuki said. "Very much," Yanzy said. "A real school or town like the would have been closed due to the student murder rate. There are others - Buffy's mother, Xander's girlfriend, some guy Buffy sleeps with, and Willow's boyfriend, who is in a bad band. There are other characters who aren't really important."
"So, go to town, check into a hotel, set up our equipment at this club, play a few songs, and search for this gem. Seems simple," Yuki said.
"If it was too simple it wouldn't be a training simulation," Mika said. "And it wouldn't be a challenge."
"Also, Yanzy having some knowledge of this setting isn't likely to help much," Sita said. "The simulation isn't going to follow the story from the show."
"Very unlikely," Yanzy said. "All we get is the town, and the characters, along with the search for this gem which, if I remember correctly, is in an underground tomb."
"So, do we let the vampires find it and then take it from them? Or try to find it first?" Yuki said.
"We don't know what power this gem has," Sita said. "We should try to get it first, or set up a trap to stop the vampires from finding it."
"I just remember something," Yanzy said, groaning. "There's some secret American government organization in the town watching everything, assuming the scenario includes that."
"So we need to be very careful that they don't see us," Mika said. "That would probably be considered a fail if we are caught."
"So our task is to deal with the vampires in some way, find the gem, avoid the local demons and monster hunters, and stay away from this other organization. Anything else?" Sita said.
"Not get killed?" Yanzy said.
"Yeah, that isn't fun," Yuki said, grimacing. "I was killed in that scenario last week. It hurts."
"We told you not to charge the building by yourself," Mika said.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Yuki said. "And we won."
"But we also all died the first time through that one," Mika said.
"But only once," Yuki said.
"This is a lot more complex," Sita said. "It isn't just learning how to infiltrate a mansion. We have multiple tasks to accomplish."
"I'm assuming that all of our equipment is what we've been using," Yanzy said, looking down at her pad, "not just your suits. We're going to need our anti-electronic tools to avoid detection."
"Are we ready?" Yuki said. "This is going to be fun."
"As long as we don't die or get hurt," Mika said.
"And we get to play our own instruments this time," Yuki said. "Well, or sing like we always do."
"We apparently only have ten songs?" Yanzy said, frowning at something on her pad. "Original songs."
"Looks like they can be used as rituals," Sita said. "That should be interesting."
"Such as?" Mika said, looking at Sita's pad.
"This one will put everyone to sleep," Sita said, humming a few notes. "And this one can be used to create a shield."
"Are any of these offensive?" Mika asked. "Or are we going to have to do that the hard way."
"The monster hunter, Buffy, may be able to beat you even using your more advanced forms," Yanzy said, "She's magically enhanced. Learns new forms as soon as she sees them and is as strong as a vampire. Mostly."
"We'll try to avoid encountering her," Sita said. "We aren't doing this to practice our manual combat forms."
"But it could be fun," Yuki said. "The vampires will try to kill us, if I understand them correctly. She'll just try to stop us."
"She tries not to kill humans," Yanzy said, "if I remember my show mythology correctly. Some geas against harming humans."
"That sounds like a fatal flaw," Sita said. "Humans can be very evil."
"This is based on a television show," Yanzy said. "Unless the scenario diverges from that we just want to be non-evil and avoid entanglements with the local monster hunter and her mentor."
"Are we ready?" Yuki asked again. "It's going to be like a big virtual reality game."
"That is because it is," Mika said, "just built with alien tech."
"And we have the cheat codes!" Yuki said, grinning.
They stepped through the door, out onto a dusty road. In the distance they could see a small city. A sign saying, 'Welcome to Sunnydale' hung from a bent pole.
"Looks like someone hit the sign," Mika said.
"How are we getting to the city and our hotel?" Yuki asked.
"In our van," Yanzy said, pointing behind them. Parked on the side of the road, with its sliding door open, was a small black and red van.
"Nice of the sim to provide us with transportation," Yuki said. "What about our gear?"
Mika turned around and poked her head into the van. "It's a bit cramped. We should probably find a safe place to stop and go through it and make sure it matches our inventory."
Yuki looked in the van also. "Where are my drums? Aren't those huge in this era?"
"We're all electric," Yanzy said. "Even your drum kit. Takes up less space than your suitcase."
"Good," Yuki said. "So it should all be here?"
"Everything we need is here," Sita said.
"Who's driving?" Mika said. "Even with the sim helping, I've never driven."
"Looks like I'm the driver," Yanzy said. "Everyone in."
"Hotel, club, or somewhere to eat first?" Yuki said.
"Motel," Sita said. "We still have several hours to get to the club and set up."
"Do we have reservations or is it whatever we find?" Mika said. "Who's our travel agent?"
"Apparently, I've taken care of all arrangements," Sita said. "Strange."
"In a sim and you're still in charge," Yuki said, pouting. "How is that fair?"
"Do you want to be the manager?" Sita said. "Take care of our finances and meetings and such?"
"No, you can have it," Yuki said. "The tall people can do all the hard work."
"Good," Sita said. "So no complaints about the motel or food from anyone."
"I didn't say that," Yuki said. "I'm the drummer. I'm entitled to being crabby and complain about everything."
"What gave you that idea?" Yanzy said.
"That's how our Fox Metal drummer acts," Mika said. "He can be really cranky. She's just following his example."
"That's just him," Yanzy said. "That's not how normal drummers behave. It's usually the bass player who is crazy."
"A perfect fit," Yuki said, laughing at the face Mika made.
"But then you have to behave yourself," Mika said.
"Not a problem," Yuki said. "I'm calm, cool, and collected, at all times."
"Keep believing that," Mika said. "We know the truth."
"Enough chatting," Sita said. "Get in the van."
"Yes, Boss," Yuki said, giving her a lazy salute.
"Where's our motel?" Yanzy said, when they reached the edge of town.
"The Sunnydale Arms is near the airport, and train station," Sita said. "Two lights and a mile. It'll be on the left."
"Is that it?" Yuki said, pointing out of the window. "Doesn't look like much."
"It's the one the club recommended," Sita said. "And this is strange, having memories just popping into my head when I need to know something."
"But it's handy," Yuki said. "Being able to play instruments without learning them."
"Which you'll forget when we leave the sim," Mika said. "So don't get too used to it."
"The memory of doing it will stay," Sita said. "But you won't have the muscle memory unless you can find time to really learn that instrument."
"So we won't be putting the band out of work after we finish the sim," Yuki said. "I guess you will still have to be in the band, Yanzy."
"It'll be s good experience," Yanzy said. "You'll know if you really want to learn to play."
"We'll see," Yuki said. "Still not impressed by this motel."
"The club manager recommended that we not stay anywhere in Sunnydale and drive in from Oxnard. But that isn't going to give us enough time to find the gem," Sita said.
"It should be safe enough," Yanzy said. "Though if any of you have any charms or spells that will keep vampires and other demons out of our rooms, that would be helpful."
"Yes," Sita said. "Wait here while I check us in."
Yuki, Mika, and Yanzy stayed in the van while they waited for Sita to return.
"Why do you think they picked this sim for us to test our training on?" Yuki said.
"Someone is a fan of the show," Yanzy said. "And they probably didn't expect any of us to have any knowledge of how things work here."
"So, is it cheating that you know about Sunnydale?" Mika asked.
"I don't think so," Yanzy said. "How much do you remember about some tv show you watched a decade ago, other than the basics?"
"Main characters, basic setting," Yuki said. "I used to be a big Sailor Moon fan but now I barely remember it other than they kept dying and being reincarnated."
"I was talking with Janice about the portal problems they've been having," Mika said. "They had an actual incursion by something that looked like the Dark Kingdom."
"So, somewhere out there, there's a real Moon Princess?" Yanzy said. "I wouldn't want to be one of the Sailor Senshi. They fought monsters and still went to school. And those costumes are a little too short."
"I think a Senshi costume would look good on you," Yuki said. "You've got the long legs for it."
"It's like permanent cosplay," Mika said. "And not the cute kind. If we dressed like that we'd never go on stage out of embarrassment."
"Well, your stage costumes do have a certain look to them," Yanzy said. "It could easily become a Victorian Lolita look, with a few changes."
"Yuck!" Yuki said. "Let's talk about something else. I saw some of our fan mail. Very cringeworthy. Some of them can't decide if we are cute or something else."
"I do think it's cute," Yanzy said. "But closer to Goth than Victorian."
"We don't have any of our real costumes with us. Do we?" Yuki said. "Or the virtual versions."
"Hmm... I'm drawing a blank on what your look is for tonight's gig," Yanzy said.
"It's our special uniforms," Sita said, sliding into the van. "Slightly modified so they look like costumes, and not uniforms."
"Could be worse," Mika said. "We could all be wearing sailor fukus instead."
"Some school uniforms are classy," Mika said. "Not all of them look like something a magical girl would wear."
"Most of them don't," Sita said. "But we can discuss costume choices when we get home. We're going for protection and comfort, not some otaku magical girl fetish look."
"Saving costume discussion for later," Yuki said. "Yes, Boss."
"Rooms?" Mika said.
"Two adjoining rooms on the end," Sita said. "We have them for the week, prepaid."
"They don't trust us to pay later?" Yanzy said.
"Motel policy," Sita said.
"Right. Sunnydale. Where visitors can easily become permanent residents of one of the many cemeteries," Yanzy said. "Let's get everything put away that we don't need at the club and aren't afraid of losing, and then you can do your magic to project our rooms."
"The door between the two rooms is a nice touch," Yuki said, poking her head into Sita and Mika's room. "Is this intentional? One short and one tall person per room?"
"No, just the way it worked," Sita said. "You got the short straw."
"Ha! Very funny," Yuki said. "Are you done with the room blessing?"
"Yes, it should keep out anything wishing us harm, for the next week," Sita said.
"Will it be strong enough?" Mika asked, joining them.
"It should be," Sita said. "This is a simulation. Having us die because a room protection blessing failed would be a little too much realism."
"And now you've jinxed us," Yuki said, flopping down on one of the beds. "I'm sleeping in the van tonight."
"The room is better," Yanzy said. "If I understand it correctly the blessing made these two rooms our home. Vampires in this setting can't enter without permission from one of us."
"So, don't invite anyone into our rooms?" Yuki said, sitting back up.
"Correct," Yanzy said. "They can't come in if you don't invite them. Other demons and yokai should also be kept out by the room blessing but don't invite them in anyway."
"No plans to," Mika said. "Now what? Something to eat then off to the club?"
"We can find something to eat, and then the club to set up our equipment. There are several fast food places nearby," Sita said.
"Any place except the Double Meat Palace. It has a bad reputation," Yanzy said. "It's not exactly vegetarian like it claims."
"How do you remember this kind of thing?" Yuki said.
"Just a vague memory," Yanzy said. "There's something about the place that isn't good, but then most of Sunnydale has that problem."
"Why would anyone live here if it is that bad?" Mika said. "Maybe someone should stay and clean it out?"
"This is just a sim," Sita said. "Remember why we're here. And they do have someone to deal with the town monsters, that Buffy person."
"That name is too kawai for a monster hunter," Yuki said. "Who names someone Buffy? It's like being called Usagi. How can you take them seriously?"
"Because it isn't real?" Mika said. "And the monsters probably think she's harmless until she sneaks up on them and slits their throats."
"Okay, good point," Yuki said. "But if we run into her, I'm not going to be able to keep a straight face."
"She's in college," Yanzy said. "We probably won't run into her. There must be other clubs college students go to."
"We're here because we have a following among college students," Sita said. "So expect them at the club tonight."
"We do? Do we get a good cut?" Yuki said.
"It's a sim," Sita said, sighing. "We aren't getting paid at all."
"How'd you pay for our rooms and how are we paying for dinner?" Yuki said.
"Sim credit card," Sita said. "With a virtual limit."
"So, we can run off to the big city and have some fun?" Yuki said, grinning.
"What part of 'it's a sim' are you ignoring?" Mika said. "We have just the right amount of money. And we aren't going to starve. We eat because it's part of the sim."
"Doesn't mean we can't have fun," Yuki said. "Nothing says this has to be a boring sim."
"Let's go," Sita said. "We can get something from a drive through."
"Ah, the quintessential American road trip experience. Eating fast food in the car. Can we get tacos?" Yuki said. "I need to have tacos."
They climbed into the van, with Yanzy in the drivers seat. "Tacos?" she said. "I think we passed a taco shack on our way to the motel earlier. It should at least be edible. Just hope it's edible for human consumption."
"Edible for humans?" Mika gulped. "How will we know?"
"Look for the kosher symbol?" Sita said. "Or something similar."
"Okay, the 'safe for humans' symbol looks like this," Yuki said, holding up her pad. "If you don't see that on the menu next to something, don't order it."
"This is the club?" Mika said, when they pulled up around back. "Interesting name, does it mean anything?"
"It's a kind of metal?" Yanzy said. "Otherwise, I don't think it means anything."
"Start unloading the equipment," Sita said. "I need to go talk with the club manager."
"Bossy," Yuki said, under her breath. "See if I save her the last fish taco next time."
"You didn't save it," Mika said. "You would have eaten it if she hadn't grabbed it first."
"It's the principle of the thing," Yuki said.
"Huh," a low voice said, from next to the band "Not Japanese?"
"Why do you say that?" Mika said, turning to the man, approximately her height, with green and blue hair, who was watching them unload the van.
"You're not speaking Japanese, or anything commonly spoken around here," he said, tilting his head to the side.
"Private, family language," Yuki said.
"We aren't speaking Japanese?" Yanzy whispered.
"Nope," Mika said. "We should probably switch to English, just to be polite."
"Apologies," Yanzy said, bowing slightly. "We did not mean to offend."
"Not offended, just curious," he said. "You're tonight's band?"
"Yes," Mika said. "Are you with the club?"
"Nah," he said. "I'm Oz. I'm with the Dingos. We were going to play tomorrow but something came up and we may not be able to."
"That is unfortunate," Yanzy said. "I've heard interesting things about the Dingos."
Oz grimaced slightly. "We can actually play our instruments, now," he said. "But someone stole them out of our van yesterday. If we can't find them we won't be playing."
"Wow, very wordy today, Oz," a short blond woman said, joining them. "Still no instruments?"
"Nope," he said.
"You're avant-garde?" she said, looking at Yuki, Mika, and Yanzy. "What does that mean?"
"Four women from Tokyo?" Sita said, silently joining them. "Playing loud music? Does that make us this avant-garde?"
"Different," Oz said.
"And we're back with the laconic," Buffy said, shaking her head. "You got him to use long sentences for longer than normal. Willow is going to be disappointed she missed it."
Oz shrugged. "They're tonight's band. Have a rep for playing real music."
"How can the Bronze afford you? We usually get the lost bands or bands like the Dingos."
"Our manager booked us here," Sita said. "You're welcome to see us play," she said to Oz. "We'll be taking your gig tomorrow also if you can't make it."
There was a faint buzzing sound, and Buffy glanced at her phone. "Gotta go. Nice to meet you," she said, nodding at them before rushing off, followed by Oz with a small nod to them.
"Interesting person," Mika said. "Finally a town where everyone is a normal height."
"I'm sure not everyone here in Sunnydale is short like you," Yanzy said. "Are we all set?"she asked in Japanese, now that they were alone again.
"Yes," Sita said. "We actually have the stage for the next three days. The club manager doesn't expect that other band to be able to play. Something about lost instruments? And they had an opening the following day."
"Hopefully no one is suspicious that we're sticking around for a couple days," Yanzy said. "Three days should be interesting.
"If we need more time, for our cover, the bar at the university in Sunnydale has an opening," Sita said.
"So, where is the stage?" Yanzy said. "Let's get things set up and do a sound check. We don't have to play until later."
"If we're going to play, a little practice might be good," Yuki said. "Even in a sim we can't just wing it, can we?"
"It's a sim," Mika said. "We'll sound good no matter what we do."
"Let's take this seriously," Sita said. "You wanted to see what it would be like to play with the band and not just sing. This is your chance."
"Yes, Boss," Yuki said, giving her a sloppy salute.
"Not very large," Mika said as they finished arranging their instruments, and Yanzy set up their soundboard.
"The word is 'intimate'," Yanzy said, looking up from the sound panel she was wiring. "If it was any bigger we'd have to bring an actual tech with us to deal with this spaghetti."
"Wrong century to go completely wireless," Mika said. "But we're close."
"Totally wireless would be anachronistic," Sita said, from the corner where she was humming quietly to herself.
"It's a sim," Yuki said. "I'm sure that doesn't actually matter. And this is only our cover."
"Do we have any clues where the thing is?" Yanzy said, sitting down on a stool next to the drum kit.
"Still underground," Sita said. "We don't really want to dig for it if we can help it."
"And we don't know how they find it, do we?" Yuki said.
"No," Sita said. "I suspect they just stumble on it while looking for something else."
"Or someone found a treasure map?" Yuki said. "We aren't going to be that lucky. So how do we find it?"
"We'll start looking in the morning," Sita said. "There are several occult shops in town. Maybe we can find a clue in one of them,"
"Or maybe some kind of magic dowsing rod that points at it?" Mika said. "Do you have anything in your kit that will find it?" She asked Yanzy.
"It's scanning the town right now," Yanzy said. "We should have a map with anything interesting on it."
"But we don't know if the gem will show up on it do we?" Mika asked.
"No," Yanzy said. "It can detect a number of different types of power. But we don't know if the gem is one of them, and if it is we'll still have to pick it out of anything else it finds."
"What are we waiting for?" Yuki said. "Why can't we check it now?"
"Because we have our cover, and it will be another twelve hours before it finishes scanning the town and area. We're supposed to be stealthy, and not attract attention by anyone who would rather they get the gem than us."
"This stealth thing is the pits," Yuki said, sighing.
"Get used to it," Sita said. "I'm not sure why you are complaining. You've done as well as we have with the training we've had so far."
"I'm bored," Yuki said. "Too early to play. And too soon to search for that gem."
"We did meet the town monster hunter," Mika said. "That was unexpected."
"Did we know that one of her friends was in a band?" Yuki said.
"Did I forget to mention it?" Yanzy said, frowning. "I should have."
"Are we all plugged in?" Mika said, picking up her bass.
"Go for it," Yanzy said. "I've turned the sound levels down so we won't disturb the patrons if you want to test your instruments."
"Yes," Yuki said, excitedly. Picking up her drum sticks, she gave light taps to several of the drums. "It doesn't quite have the feel of analog drums," she said, "but it's good." She rolled through a quick rhythm.
"Impressive," Mika said, plucking strings on her bass. She started playing the bass part from one of their more popular songs. Yuki joined in and they improvised for several minutes.
"Do we have a set list for tonight?" Mika said, after they stopped.
"It's all the songs we all know," Sita said.
"Good to know," Yuki said. "Any that we've played recently?"
"Same set list that we played at Caritas in LA two weeks ago," Yanzy said.
"Got it," Mika said. "That show was a bit intense. The audience was very unique."
"No one died, not even in the audience," Sita said. "Might be considered a success."
"The Host seemed a little surprised he wasn't able to read our fortunes," Yuki said. "Was that a sim thing or a plot point?"
"If you'll remember, we wore our new stage costumes, and they block a number of demon mind tricks. He'll get over it. He won't invite us back, if he doesn't like it," Sita said. "We aren't here for some demon's entertainment."
Yanzy looked at her watch. "We have an hour before we go on. The dressing room didn't look too clean, we should probably change in the van."
Sita nodded. "The club manager said it would cost us to clean it."
"Van it is," Mika said.
"In pairs," Yanzy said.
"It's still daylight," Yuki said. "You expect trouble?"
"Just exercising caution," Yanzy said. "Sita, and Mika, you're first."
"Yes, Bossy Lady," Mika said, winking at her, before following Sita out to the van.
"Love you too, Mika," Yanzy said, shaking her head.