sirenspull | 010 [video] [Back-dated to 4/24]

[Picture it: the grimy interior of an international pancake house, where all good culinary choices go to die in a semi-hygienic grave. One might ask themselves who in their right mind would hang out in such a place on a Tuesday afternoon by choice, aside from stoners and people on dates that they're trying to hide from their friends and the rest of respectable society.

Once the NV is propped up against something (presumably a napkin dispenser) that question is answered in the form of Pickles the Drummer, sitting alone in one of the faded blue and yellow booths. There's a pint of coffee and a giant stack of pancakes in front of him, slathered in butter and maple syrup. He lifts his eyebrows at the camera in response to well...everything.]

Guess this means I'm back for a while. If yer surprised, that makes two of us--I was out there tryin' to destroy that stupid piece of shit, an' it still puts me back in this place? I thought machines were supposed to be smarter than us. I've been here nine months, an' it's shaped up to have less IQ points than a fuckin' vibrator. I dunno.

Anyway, I'm glad that bein' killed was actually pretty brutal. Death, an' people gettin' murdered, that's the kinda shit my band always talked about. It's in all of our fuckin' songs. I mean, I'm a death metal musician, for fuck's sake, that's my bread an' butter right there, y'know? So it wasn't a huge let-down, that's all I'm sayin'. An' that's good: I don't wanna make no more job changes. It sucks.

But apparently the news came out an' said that I was some kinda menace, a while back. Now there's a strip club ten minutes away from my pal's apartment that won't let me back in 'cause they think I'm gonna set the girls on fire, or some bullshit like that. An' that's the fuckin' lamest part. [He rolls his eyes while delivering this hyperbole and takes a bite of pancake. And yes, being banned from a boobie bar is clearly the most inconvenient part about being gunned down by a group of Canadian robocops.]

So what else did I miss?

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[That slight widening of Pickles's eyes? That's him processing the very tanned, very hot lady on his NV screen.]

Believe me, I'm just as shocked as you are.

...I thought I only had the one. Wait--does the Core give us extra lives or somethin'? Is that why people keep comin' back?

Well from my understanding a User can have anywhere between one to several lives. You got lucky.

I'm not sure if the Core has anything to do with it... Maybe.

[She decides to move the conversation elsewhere... no use making her sound more of an outsider than she already is]

I've ever heard of death metal. Is it weird of me to ask what that is?

Well most people only get one, where I come from. 'Cept this one guy named Jesus. An' our manager came back from the dead, once.

Not really. Not here, anyway. [He's already been asked to explain many other things, from heavy metal to douche bags to forks.] Do you know what rock n' roll music is?

Sure. So death metal is similar?

Kinda. If you wanna get real simple 'bout it. I mean, you look like yer really not from around here, but if you know rock n' roll, an' you know 'bout the guitars an' the drums an' all that, metal's just a thicker, heavier sound than yer average run-of-the-mill rock music.

Then you got death metal, which is even more fast an' brutal than some of the others. S' usually on the distorted side. Lotta blast beats, complicated riffs, an' tempo changes--all that fun stuff.

...Or it's a bunch of loud noises with some dude growlin' at you 'bout fuckin' a rottin' corpse in a pool of blood, if you wanna go by the dildo definition of it.

[That gets a laugh out of her]

That sounds pretty awesome. I'd love to hear it sometime... but it sounds like you're the only one from your band here?

[An unreadable emotion darts behind his eyes, making his expression appear darker for a second. Just a second.]

Yeah. I'm the only one here. [Again.] But once I take care of somethin' else, I'm gonna try to put some songs together.

[She sees the strange look on his face]

Oh.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-

[He moved on in conversation, and so she will do the same.]

What do you play?

[Damn right he's going to change the subject and not go through his feelings about Murderface vanishing.

Music was just easier to talk about.]

Drums, mostly. I've dabbled in some other things, but that's what I played in my other band.

Well that's good- it keeps your options open, and a good beat is the core of a good band, right?

[She realizes something and she laughs.]

It looks like I got carried away and forgot to introduce myself again. I'm AndrAIa.

Fuck yeah. See? You know a lot 'bout music.

[He's noticed the pattern of drummers often being overlooked on stage by the fans--which was only natural when they were set up behind the other members of the band, and Pickles didn't mind this that much. He doesn't need the spotlight, but he also doesn't mind getting a little recognition from a nice-looking lady every once in a while, either.]

S' nice to meet you. I'm Pickles.

010 [video] [Back-dated to 4/24]

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