Cursed with knowledge
–Sometime in the future–
The club me and my chooms pulled up to is a departure from our usual after gig party locations.
For starters it's a lot fancier and deep in the corporate district. Another is presentation, while most of our usual haunts aren't exactly trying to hide they don't advertise their existence very loudly. This place by contrast is essentially screaming its existence to the world with massive holographic signs and a small but noticeable crowd of people hanging out outside the building.
On one of the more prominent signs they are advertising a singer named CV01.
That name sounds familiar, weird.
Clubs in general aren't my thing and this club isn't normal for any of us. But Vic recommended it last time we talked and no one couldn't agree on anywhere else.
From how slow everyone was on the walk over it seems like they are all regretting not choosing my karaoke party plan.
Still we drove for like 20 minutes so we're locked in now.
Hiromi takes point and starts doing that corpo-fixer schmoozing to get past the waiting crowd which is very cool but is also the last thing stopping us from having to actually enter the club.
The bouncer sends a ping into the building and accesses some sort of database, probably a whitelist.
Looking closer it seems the security here is pretty good and I think there is even a dedicated netrunner guarding the building. Fancy.
The return ping causes the bouncer to pause and look like he is reassessing us before stepping aside.
Hiromi looks at us with a grin only to stagger as my arm is suddenly around her shoulders.
"So cool! How'd you convince him?" I shout over the wave of noise on the way through the door and Hiromi flushes with pride at her accomplishment.
"W-Well, this place is financed mostly by Arasaka's wave 8 nightlife subsidy and my Mom just got control of the oversight committee for the wave 8 funding appropriations board so I…"
I continued to smile and nod as if I understood the rest of what she said while we entered the club proper.
The inside is just as neon and holographic as expected with one exception.
On the far wall is a large stage where a DJ is blasting the dance version of hold music. The stage is actually the selling point for this place.
Instead of just having a DJ they also have an in-house live band and contract outside talent to keep things fresh.
Honestly now that we are inside, it looks less like a club and more like a bar on steroids.
The stage is why Vic recommended the bar to me after she got ahold of some recordings of me singing. Apparently this club is "the place that is least likely to try and kidnap and coerce new talent, once you build up enough rep."
A truly glowing endorsement in night city.
Despite the worries getting in and the truly absurd prices at the bar, the club is actually pretty nice.
There are more adverts for CV01 to be playing in an hour. Whoever they are, this place is pretty happy to have them.
The crew hangs out in a booth and eat a very good simulacra of guacamole with chips and some very expensive drinks. I swear one had an actual orange twist on it, I can't remember when I last saw an orange.
Man I never thought I would miss fruit but I would kill a lot of people for some grapes right now.
I am interrupted from my homicide based fruit acquisition plans when the music stops, the house lights dim, and the DJ leaves the stage for a new band to walk on.
Our own group hushes at the end of the constant noise. At the same time most of the dancers on the floor move off to the bar or to mingle.
It seems like we are going to see our first independent singer.
A hologram flickers to life holding a microphone.
I get up as the band continues setting up and walk over to the bar to get some more water.
"Thank you, loyal patrons, for your patience. Now please give it up for the new rising star, CV01, the first sound of the future!"
The crowd cheers as the lights dim ever further.
The song starts and again it sounds familiar, bright, poppy, but with a night city twist. I feel like I should know this but it's just different enough that even with perfect musical memory I would need to think abou-
The vocals kick in.
I drop my glass.
On stage the band now has its final member, the center the whole band rotates around.
The teal green hair, the headset microphone, even the detached sleeves.
The voice.
It's Hatsune Miku.
I take a step back.
In the past I was very. Very. Very into Miku.
Like embarrassingly into Miku.
Like cannot think back to the years of 2008-2009 without cringing into Miku.
Hiromi is looking at me from across the room, concerned.
And now across the unfathomable distance across realities and death itself I see a Miku has come back to haunt me with a cosplayer singing covers in a high end nightclub.
To a cheering crowd.
Of business executives and killers for hire.
I have no other choice.
Hiromi stands up.
I run to the nearest window, leap through the glass, and out into the open air.