The Stimulator Gig (Short Story)

I used this one as a chance to describe a music artist that I've had an idea of, for a while now. I can imagine what the music is like, and I'm actually going to get with a couple of friends over the next few weeks and hopefully create a song or two using these ideas.

This is written from the perspective of someone at one of this artist's gigs, and I wanted to use it as a chance to explore the tone of these events and the problems people who go to them might encounter.

Source

The bass drum boomed; repetitively trudging along, as if there was no end to the song. Every so often a long-lost instrument from some off-world would be added to the mix, and slowly that pounding chest beat morphed into something new. Goosebumps came and went multiple times.

Jacca didn't know how to dance, but the mass of people from a plethora of different worlds amalgamated and formed a new creature. Rhythm incarnate. They moved, swayed, and couldn't stop. The endurance of some individuals in this entity would wain, and they would slink away from the pit, only to be replaced by someone else.

A million arms, legs, backs, and bobbing heads; made for a never-ending array of dancers. Most of the eyes of this magnificent beast were shut. But, Jacca's eyes were open; all he could do was stare in amazement and laugh at how the light painted the room every colour known to civilization.

He was a part of this; of course, he had no idea what this was, it felt amazing though. The heat of the room filled his chest and became more than the temperature; it was acceptance, loyalty, compassion, and mindless love. There was no need to say anything because it made sense without words. All of this was vocalised by movement alone.

We're all messed up in our own way and nobody cares. He thought to himself. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was actually repeatedly screaming it at the ceiling of the venue. The cheers he heard after the thought said it all. They can hear what I'm thinking.

The room started to spin, and the previous feelings of love and compassion were replaced by fear and paranoia. Jacca staggered away from the hideous maw and aimed to find a quiet place. Somewhere that could stop the endless thoughts and unspoken expressions.

As he got away from them, the music started to wind down, only to be replaced by the voice of a man. Jacca couldn't make immediate sense of his words, but the general feeling he got from the speech was that this person was speaking down to them, in patronising glee; It was obvious that he loved the sound of his own voice enough to savor every word of his sentence.

"Do not resist; make no attempt to interfere with patrols and you will not be harmed. The Jex government has surrendered to The Confederation; you are all now citizens of The Confederation, and anyone who does not comply will be executed." On that last word, that repetitive beat came back in, stronger than ever. Only to stop abruptly once more. "Comply; executed." Again the music came back, and the host in the form of individuals moved with much more fervour than before.

Source

Outside, the air was still, clean, and had the slightest hint of moisture. Jacca swiped his hand down his face, it was slick with sweat and slid so easily across his skin.

There were as many people gathered here, and their talking sounded as much like music as what was playing inside. He could still feel the light thud of the bass, resonating from within; it traveled up his foot and got lost somewhere between his calf and knee, but it remained there, solid and with purpose.

"Stimulator. Legend." Jacca heard someone say, above the noise of everyone else.

He turned, and as his eyes drifted past the crowd in front of him to the voice, he watched still images form; each second was a frame, and each frame showed a different portion of his surrounding. It made no sense, disjointed and separated, like seeing individual squares of a picture, rather than looking at it as a whole.

"Yeah." was all he could say, feeling as though he could swing his head back and forth all night just to make sense of it.

Finally focusing on the speaker; a Tescani woman. Her eyes were dilated, accentuating their size, and making them look bigger than they already were. She had an orange tinge to her skin under the dim light outside, and the growths on the sides of her face seemed to hold back her black hair. Wearing what looked to be an old Confederation jacket, worn, torn, and drawn on.

She blew out a plume of smoke and reached into her pocket, pulling out a pack of Mist-Sticks. "Want one?" She asked before taking another drag. Jacca took one without question; he didn't typically smoke them, but he didn't want to be rude.

After putting it in his mouth, he stared at her without making any effort to look for a light. She flashed a brief smile. "No light?" The Tescani asked, to which Jacca shook his head.

"Here." She whispered. Leaning in, touching the tip of hers to the end of his; he took a drag that seemed to carry the spark over. His throat stung a bit from his initial inhale, but as he exhaled, it felt amazing. Gritting his teeth afterward, allowing the last of the smoke to drift out between them.

"First Stimulator gig?" Jacca nodded to that. "Yeah, I came along with a few friends, but I have no idea where they got off to." "What do you think of it?" Jacca started to smile. "Amazing. I didn't know what to expect, but I spent the whole night moving; feels good to get some air though, I think I needed it."

"Humans are lightweights when it comes to those kind of events. On my home world the natural temperture is a few degrees hotter than in there." She smiled and took another drag, which prompted Jacca to do the same. "I'm Annen Ashis by the way." She said, putting out her free hand. "Jacca Hite." He replied, following through with a shake.

"What's with the clothes? Are they Confederation?" "Yeah, it's a souvenir from back when. My dad got it for himself, but he was killed in a bar fight right after the war; probably the only thing he left me and my mum." "I'm sorry to hear that." Annen nodded lightly. "It's okay, I've done my grieving. Still hurts sometimes though; when something good happens to me he's one of the first people I want to tell, then I remember."

Jacca could only nod and take another drag. "It's tough." "Imagine fighting in the resistance against The Confederation, only to die after the war to some thug. Made me think, maybe a bit too much."

"My parents are still around, we moved here from Kah-Vita shortly after the war ended and bounced around from place to place until there were enough houses." "Ahh, refuges. You don't look much like your typical Kah-Vitan."

Jacca had to look down at himself for a moment, taken off guard. "No, I'm a human, but grew up there. There are humans on every world." He stated.

"I know." She said lightly, almost looking like she was trying to hold back laughter. "You're a pretty parasitic race if I'm honest. Adaptable. You can pretty much live on every known world, and after a few generations you even start to take on the look of the worlds you find yourself on." Jacca wasn't compos mentis enough to truly feel offended. "Suppose we are." He replied. An uncontrollable scene played out in his mind as he closed his eyes. A horde washing over every planet in the known galaxy. Descending on each and multiplying, until there was nothing left. These images came on fast and played on the back of his eyelids like a holo-vid. "I can see it." He opened his eyes. "See what?"Jacca shook off the feeling and was left confused.

"Can't you get in trouble for wearing Confederation gear?" He asked, in a breathless voice. "Here? Nah, nobody cares around here. Stimulator splices in old voice clips from Confederation leaders anyway, so it comes with the territory I suppose." "Do you go to many of his gigs?" Annen nodded to that, taking another drag. "Yeah, every one I can, anyway. You see the same people at each show. The crowd that he attracts is more or less the Stimulator too, you're not here for the music, you're here to be a part of it, because you and me, and they, and everyone here is it. You know?" Jacca nodded to that and could understand the appeal.

A spark of panic erupted in the midst of the crowd; the wave washed over to Jacca and Annen. "What's going on?" Jacca asked, in a slightly panicked tone. "I don't know," Annen replied.

"Peacekeepers!" Jacca heard someone call out, and with that everyone started to disperse. "Shit!" Jacca shouted, looking at Annen, who seemed a bit shaken, but she maintained her composure better than he did. "Every time there's an event outside of The Dead Zone this happens, I thought the West would have been safe. Funny, they do nothing about Big Bima and his ilk but watch them charge in when there's a party going on. Pricks." She said, as she threw her Mist-Stick to the ground and turned. Pausing for a moment to look back around at Jacca, who by this stage felt lost. "Come on!" She shouted, grabbing his hand to lead him away.

Source

The hum of engines above them overpowered the sound from inside, and the previously noisy people gathered outside.

Spotlights from above shun down, scanning through the now mostly dispersed crowd. "Leave the area immediately. You are now violating curfew. Anyone who remains in the area will be prosecuted as a trespasser." An automated message played out from above.

"My friends, I think they're inside!" Jacca said. "I'm sure they'll be gone soon, they're going to pull the plug on the event and everyone will be storming out of that place!" Jacca stopped running to look back at the door.

"You'll get trampled if you try to go inside there," Annen said, now with a slight bit of panic in her voice. Jacca looked back at her, with no idea what to do.

"I'm going. If you want to stay, be my guest, but I'm not getting detained again." She continued.

Jacca let out a sigh, and glanced back at the door, now seeing people spill out of it and onto the streets. He looked back at Annen, and took off running with her once more.

Now, they were both away from the area. But, they could still hear the noise of people fleeing. Coupled with the distinct sound of gunfire, which led to screams and wailing.