(no subject)
"At least most of them are taking it well," says Value.
Tone twirls a drumstick. "Yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised not to see any rioting in the school over this."
"Or outside it, so none of the faculty have spilled."
"Probably a good thing," puts in Amy.
"Probably?"
"Joe was talking about whipping something up for crowd control. That wouldn't have been pretty."
"Oof. That's scarier than the riots."
Enzo noodles on his guitar. "Yeah, I've been... lucky." Not by accident, either. Thank code for Cubefall. "I wish there was an easier way to run this program, though. I think I've set myself up to spend the rest of my runtime writing reports. How do I explain a whole reality?"
"Show, don't tell."
The others turn to look at Caret. The consensus is: "Huh?"
Caret shrugs. "Things are easier to input when you really experience them, not just read about them."
"Okay, so... how do we do that?"
SHORT BUS in CONCERT
at timestamp 871543800
in front of Dumont Hall
performing ALL-NEW SONGS!!
The crowd of cadets milling on the Hub is larger than their usual audience, but given that Short Bus is a juvenile hobby band, that's not saying a great deal. There's definitely an air of anticipation, though. Plenty of kids reckon that 'all-new songs' can't be a coincidence.
"Niiiice crowd," Tone croons into her microphone. "Good crowd, who's a good little crowd tonight, yes you arrrre..."
"What ever happened to 'testing, testing, 1, 10, 11'?" demands Enzo.
"Overdone."
Value steps forward, adjusting her bass. "Right, well, now that that rather special sound check is done with, we'd like to thank you all for joining us here. We've got a brand new set list, which we think you'll find pretty interesting. I'd also like to welcome Amy, who's joining us on rhythm guitar, it's her first concert, so a hand please." The audience applauds dutifully.
"Now, If Tone will stop cackling for a nano, she wanted to open this one, that's right, the drummer is going to sing lead. Stranger things have happened, and those are usually our fault too. Take it away."
Tone taps out the beat and they launch into their first number. "What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me..."
The audience listen curiously, many nodding along. It's a very pleasant song, not too complicated, played competently enough, but there's nothing in any way unusual about it, aside from it being a bit more mellow than the group's standard fare. The conversational structure of the verses is interesting, too.
"...yes, I get by with a little help from my friends, with a little help from my friends!" The song winds up with a final round of "ahhhh"s from the backup, and the audience applaud. Enzo leans into his mike.
"That was With a Little Help from My Friends, but you probably figured that out. It's by a group called the Beatles-with an a, like 'beat'-from a city called Liverpool in the Earth country England."
Excited whispers rise from the audience. The phrase "knew it!" can be heard from multiple sources, as can a few comments along the lines of "totally normal!" Vidwindows pop open throughout the audience; within nanoseconds, other cadets start emerging from the dorm and crossing the lawn.
"Now, this one's way different for us, it's classical, but we've rocked it up a little. It's by a guy named Johann Sebastian Bach, who lived hundreds of years before cyberspace even existed." Which is amazing, Enzo reflects as Caret begins with the theremin; from the sound of it, the man was practically a sprite. His music certainly appeals to them; the cheers are enormous.
After that, they play Start Me Up, which mostly makes sense to sprites, and Keep the Faith, which partly doesn't and mentions rain a lot. Then they do It's the End of the World as We Know It, which doesn't even make sense to Users but they decided they had to after Caret memorized the words.
The entire Academy is out on the Hub by now, even the Admin. The old man's expression is hard to read, but it's not actually disapproving.
They might actually pull this off.
[Thanks to Fuzzy and Jackie for their help!]
Tone twirls a drumstick. "Yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised not to see any rioting in the school over this."
"Or outside it, so none of the faculty have spilled."
"Probably a good thing," puts in Amy.
"Probably?"
"Joe was talking about whipping something up for crowd control. That wouldn't have been pretty."
"Oof. That's scarier than the riots."
Enzo noodles on his guitar. "Yeah, I've been... lucky." Not by accident, either. Thank code for Cubefall. "I wish there was an easier way to run this program, though. I think I've set myself up to spend the rest of my runtime writing reports. How do I explain a whole reality?"
"Show, don't tell."
The others turn to look at Caret. The consensus is: "Huh?"
Caret shrugs. "Things are easier to input when you really experience them, not just read about them."
"Okay, so... how do we do that?"
SHORT BUS in CONCERT
at timestamp 871543800
in front of Dumont Hall
performing ALL-NEW SONGS!!
The crowd of cadets milling on the Hub is larger than their usual audience, but given that Short Bus is a juvenile hobby band, that's not saying a great deal. There's definitely an air of anticipation, though. Plenty of kids reckon that 'all-new songs' can't be a coincidence.
"Niiiice crowd," Tone croons into her microphone. "Good crowd, who's a good little crowd tonight, yes you arrrre..."
"What ever happened to 'testing, testing, 1, 10, 11'?" demands Enzo.
"Overdone."
Value steps forward, adjusting her bass. "Right, well, now that that rather special sound check is done with, we'd like to thank you all for joining us here. We've got a brand new set list, which we think you'll find pretty interesting. I'd also like to welcome Amy, who's joining us on rhythm guitar, it's her first concert, so a hand please." The audience applauds dutifully.
"Now, If Tone will stop cackling for a nano, she wanted to open this one, that's right, the drummer is going to sing lead. Stranger things have happened, and those are usually our fault too. Take it away."
Tone taps out the beat and they launch into their first number. "What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me..."
The audience listen curiously, many nodding along. It's a very pleasant song, not too complicated, played competently enough, but there's nothing in any way unusual about it, aside from it being a bit more mellow than the group's standard fare. The conversational structure of the verses is interesting, too.
"...yes, I get by with a little help from my friends, with a little help from my friends!" The song winds up with a final round of "ahhhh"s from the backup, and the audience applaud. Enzo leans into his mike.
"That was With a Little Help from My Friends, but you probably figured that out. It's by a group called the Beatles-with an a, like 'beat'-from a city called Liverpool in the Earth country England."
Excited whispers rise from the audience. The phrase "knew it!" can be heard from multiple sources, as can a few comments along the lines of "totally normal!" Vidwindows pop open throughout the audience; within nanoseconds, other cadets start emerging from the dorm and crossing the lawn.
"Now, this one's way different for us, it's classical, but we've rocked it up a little. It's by a guy named Johann Sebastian Bach, who lived hundreds of years before cyberspace even existed." Which is amazing, Enzo reflects as Caret begins with the theremin; from the sound of it, the man was practically a sprite. His music certainly appeals to them; the cheers are enormous.
After that, they play Start Me Up, which mostly makes sense to sprites, and Keep the Faith, which partly doesn't and mentions rain a lot. Then they do It's the End of the World as We Know It, which doesn't even make sense to Users but they decided they had to after Caret memorized the words.
The entire Academy is out on the Hub by now, even the Admin. The old man's expression is hard to read, but it's not actually disapproving.
They might actually pull this off.
[Thanks to Fuzzy and Jackie for their help!]