Chapter 53
“Gather ‘round crew! Get out here and meet our client.” Jax announced after returning to the dorm, only to find all of the newly chosen teams working in disparate rooms of the apartment. Two by two, as if exiting The Ark, The Challengers wandered out into the living room and greeted the stranger among them. “Shortfin Mako, meet your unofficial PR team,” Jax introduced. For her part, Shortfin Mako was kind, bubbly, gracious, and welcoming. Her energy permeated the group, invigorating them and injecting positivity in each one of the crew. Once the pleasantries were done, they got down to business, and Jax laid out the overall strategy.
“So, where do you need my involvement?” Shortfin asked.
“Well, Ashbury is going to be your liaison for the week. I was thinking after you film your first promo teasing this weekend’s party, the two of you can focus on choosing a charity to partner with and plan your remarks. The Show has offered us a teleportation bay that we can use this week, so we’ve gotta get the event venue figured out. But in the meantime, we can at least see what the partnership options are and who from the preferred organization is available and willing to introduce you on Saturday.”
“Aye, Aye, captain,” Shortfin saluted Jax, who wondered if she meant it as an innocent joke or subtle mockery. Before he could overanalyze, she gave him a little wink and a smile. “Where can I set up?”
“Oh! I didn’t realize you were staying with us here. I know there is an open bedroom upstairs and to the left. UF- Uh, Alf, can show you.”
“No problem, boss,” Ralph jumped in. “Right this way, Shortfin,” he waved her toward the stairs and asked, “Do you have any bags or anything?”
“I believe they will be sent along later tonight by my team back in Hawaii.”
“I’ll keep an eye out and have them delivered to your room when they arrive,” Ralph said, doing his best impression of a personal butler. He was a big fan of Uptown Villa.
Before Shortfin Mako and Ralph could leave the group completely, Ashley cut in, “I’ll be waiting out here when you are ready.
“Triple Z and I may need some time to prepare to film her promotional video. Once we are set up, I will let UFO know.” Ken seemed nervous about getting up to speed on the technical aspects of his task. He clearly wanted to make sure they didn’t show up before he and Joel were ready.
“Good point.” Jax took a beat to think through his options. “Well, we still need a list of potential charity partners for the event. And maybe Hieroglyph… Can you sit with Ashbury and Shortfin Mako and work on a script for the promo so we can let Zs and Samurai work on getting the studio tech up and running?”
“As long as Sky Rocket is okay waiting a bit before we dig in, I’m totally fine with that,” Bailey answered.
“Sure thing,” June nodded, “I can use the time to get started on my part of the celebrity outreach.” By that, June meant giving her mom a call to ask who of her famous friends might be open to a phone call from her newly famous daughter.
“Anything else?” Jax asked the group. When no one spoke up, he said, “Great! You all know what you need to do. Shorty, go ahead and get settled, and we will all meet back up here tonight for family dinner at seven.” He knew the importance of keeping them all bonded and planned to have nightly team dinners to come together and casually debrief at the end of each day.
***
Since Bailey was needed elsewhere, after everyone broke into their groups, June found herself working alone, which was preferable considering her designated task. Any conversation with her mom was difficult these days, but asking for favors from her and her celebrity friends was particularly daunting. First, June texted her mom to see if she was available to talk, but Summerset’s response was to OnyxFaceCall her daughter.
June pressed accept on the video call, and her mom’s visage graced the screen. “Hey, mom. How’s it going?” she opened vaguely.
“Good. Just clocking out at work and heading home,” Summerset answered, leaning into the small talk. “Was there a specific reason for the call?”
“Actually, yeah. You’ll find out when the episode airs, but our current challenge involves a Herald debut. I was wondering if you and any of your Herald or celebrity friends would be willing to film short promos for our client. We also need some star power to attend an event we are throwing on Saturday.” She hated asking her mom for these types of favors. In fact, she had never before asked to make use of her mom’s public profile. But the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“So not only did you disobey your father and myself, but now you want me to get involved in your misguided misadventures?” Misguided Misadventures? Was her mom slowly turning into some old-timey radio actor?
“Yes?” she answered.
Summerset sighed. She had been outspoken against her children joining this circus, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do what she could to ensure their success. “I can make some calls, Junebug. But you know most of my celebrity contacts turned their backs on me long ago. Well, maybe this is an opportunity for me to reconnect now that the dust has settled a bit.”
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“See? I’m basically doing you a favor!” June said lightly.
“Let’s not get carried away, and I can’t promise anything beyond my help. But give me 24 hours, and I’ll make some calls.” Summerset perked up noticeably upon seeing the excitement and appreciation in her daughter's face. There had been so much tension within the Bradley family, and it was nice to be pulling in the same direction again.
“I love you so much, Mom. Thanks a million!” June said. “I gotta get to work, though, so I’ll text later with details.”
“Love you too, Junebug. Good luck, and give our love to your brother.”
“Will do, Moms. bye!” June signed off. She had expected her mom to put up a lot more resistance than she did. Her reaction had been a pleasant surprise. Now, she had to get to work writing some script templates for the promotional videos. This was too important to depend on the improv skills of random Heralds.
***
Austin was just how Bobby remembered it. He had only been away from home for about two months, but his life had moved so quickly since answering The Show’s summons that he sort of expected everything to have changed as dramatically as he had. But it hadn’t. The Show’s teleportation bays were amazing technology. They could open a door through space and time, teleporting anyone and anything to an identical door on the opposite end. The Show had offices in almost every major city in the country, and the destination in Austin was only about two miles from Bobby’s studio apartment above the bar where he worked as the night-time manager and bartender.
Upon his arrival, Bobby sent out a 911 message in the group text he shared with his former bandmates. Even though they had broken up when Bobby left for Eden, he knew that they would all answer the call and turn up at the bar. In fact, they had all arrived before Bobby and greeted him as he stepped through the front door of the grungy establishment.
Nirvana Neverland was a retro 90s dive bar and music venue decorated with memorabilia and vintage concert posters from the decade. From grunge bands like Nirvana, to Ska Punks like No Doubt, to the Cool Britannia acts like Blur and Oasis, Nirvana Neverland represented all the best vibes from its owner’s childhood.
“Hey Bobby!” the lead guitarist, Jerod, was the first to welcome the lead singer home with a big hug. They had known each other from their foster care days.
“Hi, Jer. Brian, Alex,” He greeted each member of the rock quintet, realizing they were missing someone. “Where’s Paul?”
“I’m sure he’ll be here soon. You know how drummers are,” Alex joked.
“Marching to their own beat,” Bobby hit the punchline.
“So, what are you doing back here? Did they finally realize you aren’t Herald material?” Jerod asked.
“Or did you realize they are a bunch of corporate sellout shills?” Brian suggested.
“Neither, actually,” Bobby answered. “I would wait for Paul, but odds are it’ll be a while, so we can just catch him up later. I’ve actually come with an opportunity to get the band back together on a global scale.”
“So you want us all to sell out like you?” Brian asked with a wink, making sure his tone was such that everyone knew he was very willing to do just that.
“Pretty much,” Bobby grabbed Brian, draping his arm over his friend's shoulders. “If we play this right, by next week, Misfit Mimics will be a household name!”
***
Joel toggled the auto-focus on and off, trying to figure out which one to use for these static videos. He had spent the last hour reading up online about how to frame these types of interviews. Meanwhile, Ken was sussing out how to set up the lighting and sound equipment on loan from the Top Seed Production crew.
“I think the lighting and sound are properly configured. I have the Lavalier and Boom microphones routed through the mixer and into the computer to record the audio. So whenever you have the camera sorted, we can start getting people in here to start recording their videos to post to their own OnyxSocial accounts.”
“I think we are just about ready. I can’t promise it's all good, but I’m not sure what else to try. Maybe we should do ours first to troubleshoot?”
“That is a very good idea, Zee Zee Zee.” Many called Joel Zs or Triple Z. Some even called him Snooze. But Ken always spoke Joel’s alias as written, never allowing himself to become too colloquial. “I actually wanted to ask your help and your secrecy with something very important.”
“Yeah, dude. Anything.” Joel was eager to prove himself useful in any way.
Ken thought for a moment about how to frame his current predicament without revealing unnecessary details about his family secrets. “So, as my power works at the moment, I have no way to communicate with Samurai Tortoise after I shift.”
“You can’t hear thoughts or send messages between you? How does your alter ego know what’s going on when you transform?”
“That is a very good question. I do not know what it is like on his end, but for me, I can see through Samurai Tortoise’s eyes. However, I cannot hear anything. There are no voices or thoughts when I am trapped in The Demon’s head.”
“The Demon?” Joel asked.
“Oh! My apologies. It is just how those in my family refer to my shifted form. My cousin, Elizabeth, actually came up with the name Samurai Tortoise when we were kids.”
“That explains a lot. So, what do you need my help with?”
“Oh, yes. I guess I did take us on quite the tangent,” Ken chuckled. “While I have been researching all of this video equipment, I have been thinking that maybe I could leave The Tortoise a video message. I would like to ask him a few questions and see about getting some sort of dialogue going. But I want to make sure he receives the video and understands the intent. Would you mind helping me create, and then delivering, the message?”
“Sure thing. Plus, it would be a nice little test of the equipment. This shit is daunting.” Joel said as he scratched his head and toggled options on the video camera.
“Tell me about it,” Ken agreed. “But I would much rather be doing this than trying to plan the party. That sounds like a nightmare.”
On this, Joel could agree. “Seriously! If being on The Council involves wrangling caterers and choosing the appropriate fashion for a black tie gala, I might as well quit right now!”