Chapter Text
NSR had gotten better since… the fiasco that happened with Bunkbed Junction. While still in control of Vinyl City, the company had become far more open and understanding to fans of all types of music. Smaller bands were busking and performing on side streets, open venues were accepting anyone who signed up to play, and collabs between musicians were massively on the rise. NSR themselves were even more accepting of alternative ideas for improving the city, especially since even with more groups playing, the power levels had barely moved an inch. The quantity of power cuts had decreased, but the fact they were still happening wasn’t good on anyone’s behalf.
“May, hurry up, we’re gonna be late again.”
“I am! I am! Just give me a second!”
Zuke rolled his eyes as he stood leaning against the wall in the Burger Shack starring at Mayday who she herself was starring at the overhead screen waiting for her order number. Her eyes were darting back and forth between her receipt and the slowly appearing numbers. They were late, and May knew that; they should have been at the meeting around 5 minutes ago, and last time Tatiana wasn’t thrilled with them showing up part way through.
Bunkbed Junction still wasn’t part of NSR; Zuke and Mayday both agreed they could never properly sign on to the company after what happened, especially when they had no idea how to really help or how to take care of a district should they get one. But they did agree that supporting NSR by keeping up with things that were happening within the company and giving the general public a voice was the best option. After all, within all the artists in the meeting, they were the smallest.
“Oh Oh! It’s me! It’s me!” Mayday pounced forward towards the counter to grab her food.
“Finally, Now let’s get going! We’re 6 districts away from the tower, and I don’t plan on driving through traffic”.
Zuke hastily strolled out of the shack with Mayday devouring a cheese-drenched burger in tow. They were currently in Festival Plaza, and with the NSR Tower in the distance, Zuke could already feel the frustration from Tatiana all the way over.
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“Tatiana, I don’t think we should wait any longer. We are only delaying time that we can discuss our next actions” Eve starkly said as she closed the 23rd Magazine that she had featured on the cover of.
Tatiana sighed. “I do appreciate some other input, but if this keeps happening I-”
The doors to the office flung open, the rock duo bounding in. “We’re here! Sorry we’re late, we had some…” Zuke looked at May with a mouth full of fries. “hunger issues”.
DJ Subatomic Supernova chuckled, eyeing the food May was struggling to cram into her mouth. “Imagine having to purchase such… inferior food. Only the finest in quality food for myself, and I can tell you-” He pointed a finger at the food bag. “That certainly isn’t it”.
May glared back at him, though hardly looking serious or threatening in anyway towards the DJ with stuffed chipmunk cheeks.
Tatiana shook her head. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again, we’re wasting precious time that could be spent creating ideas to help the city. Now sit, and we shall begin”.
Mayday and Zuke took their seats at the rounded table where the other artists sat. Almost all of them were present, with only Sayu or her creators not making it. Mayday and Zuke had only been in the office twice before, but the sheer size of it was something to behold. Towering walls adorned with gold records and vinyls from the many artists associated with NSR, a pale grey carpet sprawled beneath their feet to match Tatiana’s serious and stern attire, and an equally stern and sophisticated oak desk at which Tatiana took her seat ready to discuss with the group.
The projector on the table flashed to light, displaying some charts and bars and graphs on a nearby empty wall. “Now that everyone is here, we can discuss the matter at hand, as well as-” She paused. “A small development in NSR’s leadership and running”. This raised the eyebrows of everyone in the room, but Tatiana continued none the less. “With the recent increase of music being produced and played, we have seen a slight increase in power”. She pulled out a laser pointer and indicated to a bar chart. “However, the word ‘increase’ seems redundant. We have only seen a 2% increase from when we changed our policies. While the blackouts are happening less, the fact they’re still happening is not good for both the NSR name and the public”. She touched her fingers to her temple. “Along with that, the new district that we’re building for smaller artists will help with that issue, but we have been informed that the project is both delayed and lacking funding now, so we have moved one step forward, and two steps back”.
“Could we not have more concerts?” Yinu spoke, her mother holding her daughter on her lap. “If we need more power, surely we just need to play more.”
Neon J tutted. “If it was that easy, we wouldn’t be in this issue”. He sighed. “I’ve had my boys doing multiple concerts at once around Vinyl City, and even that isn’t helping. Not to mention their constant use is causing them to break more, and it gets to a point where it becomes expensive.” He turned to Supernova. “Didn’t you think of the Satellite idea? Can’t you do something like that again?”
Supernova chuckled. “You couldn’t comprehend the work and knowledge that went into that satellite. To conjure my brilliance again when I’m already so busy with other projects will be nothing short of a miracle”. He leant forwards towards Neon J. “And my miracles. Take. Time.”
“I would not rely on a buffoon like yourself to do another satellite again anyway.” Eve retorted, looking up from examining her nails. “You sent the thing up, then lost your district. And the satellite barely did anything to help. And yet you claim it to be brilliance.”
Supernova stood up from his seat with a sharp stand, clearly irritated. “Now listen here you prissy Madonna, I-”. Tatiana raised her hands. “Enough. Causing discourse between us will not help our situation. Besides-” She stood from her desk, arms folded behind her back, and took a deep sigh. “We might have a sort of solution to our issue. But sacrifices must be made.”
Zuke glared. Sacrifices didn’t sound good for the indie and smaller side of music, and it wasn’t like NSR hadn’t abandoned them before for the sake of their bigger artists. Putting people other than themselves first wasn’t common for the company. “What kind of sacrifices?” He chimed.
Tatiana looked at Zuke, then pressed a button on a controller to change what was being projected. The picture changed to a logo, one Zuke hadn’t seen before. The logo was fancy, with swirls and small crystals at the ends of letters. A teal blue illuminated the lettering, fading into a navy blue towards the end. It read ‘Estallia Corporation’. It certainly didn’t ring a bell to him. Looking around the table, it was clear he wasn’t alone in not knowing what this was.
“This here is the Estallia Corporation” Tatiana elaborated. “While lesser known here, Eastern way they are one of the largest music enterprises to produce power. There certainly isn’t any blackouts where they are in charge.” She flicked to another screen, this one displaying the silhouettes of various artists; and in the centre stood a broad-shouldered man with pale blue skin and perfectly styled hair. He wore a white shirt, with black trousers and a black waistcoat to match, with a dark blue tie completing his look in the centre of his chest. Tatiana continued. “and this is Luthor Bajingan. He’s the head of the corporation, having married into the Tsukiyama family to create such an establishment. A businessman at heart. He has taken the company further than ever before”. She chuckled. “And certainly further than NSR has ever accomplished”.
Mayday swallowed her last bite of food. “What does this have to do with NSR?”.
Neon J nodded. “While this is exciting to learn about, I hardly see how comparing ourselves to another power company will solve our problems”.
Tatiana took a deep breathe in, then released. “Comparing ourselves, no, that will not do anything. However, I have been in contact recently about the issue we seem to be in, and what will help is this”. She pulled out a piece of paper from a draw in her desk and showed the paper to the musicians at the table.
“OOOOO, what’s that?” Mayday questioned. “
“This is a contract from the Estallia Corporation. This will solve a lot of our problems, if not all of them.” She said, her face falling to a frown.
Eve stood up. “Hold on now, you mentioned sacrifices. Just what exactly does that contract say? If they were just going to fix our problems, surely it would not require anything to be scrapped or thrown away”.
Tatiana looked at her, then back at the contract. “It is true, I said there will be sacrifices. But to secure our districts and save our city, I believe that-” She choked up slightly, taking a deep breathe. “I believe that taking this offer will be the best for NSR, the people and the music”.
The artists were on the edge of their seats now. She was clearly darting around the question Eve posed. Mayday was concerned. “Tatiana. What does the contract say.”
Tatiana turned to the artists. She raised her head high and squared her shoulders, the businesswoman more apparent in her appearance than ever before. She readied herself for what was to come.
“The terms of this contract are that we will have full support from the corporation and all its resources and inventory at our disposal. The contract states that they almost guarantee that we will have at minimum a 20% increase in power to all districts, meaning no more blackouts and no lack of power to concerts anywhere in Vinyl city. But…” she trailed off.
Zuke stood up from his chair, preparing for the worst news for the littler performers of Vinyl City. “But what.”
Tatiana sighed. “But in order to get this support, we must sell NSR to the Estallia corporation, and with it, our control over the districts and everything NSR owns”
Naturally, everyone was gobsmacked.
“WWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!”