"Ari!" Samza yells the moment we walk out the back door. "It's about time you woke your ass up."
Everyone else turns to me once Samza mentioned my entrance. I see The Hoon Squad hanging out together while standing outside their cars. The same with The Revelers near their Civic hatchbacks.
"Hey guys," I greet. "How goes things?"
Samza answers, "While my bro and Cithara were watching your dreams for seven whole-ass days, we were getting ready for the Samhain Fire Festival. They'll be festivities, games, food, a cosplaying contest, fire dancing, a concert, and — of course — a tall-ass burning wooden statue. It's gonna be dope."
"Awesome," I say.
Mathilde turns her head to me and asks, "Will the concert be like the one Cithara brought me to before?"
"I don't know," I say, shrugging.
Cithara says, shaking her head, "Most certainly not. The concert we went to was an orchestral composition by the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra. The upcoming concert is much louder with screaming fans and lots of noise."
Rowynn, standing around with The Hoon Squad with her Ala~de~Edan hyper-bike next to her, lets out a wide grin. "Mornin'. Nice day for racing, ain't it."
"It sure is a nice day," I say with a smile.
"Ha-ha! If it isn't my 'sister from another mother' — I think that's what my organic friends would say, yes? Ain't that right, lads?"
Charles laugh. "I think you're catching on, Rowynn."
Sounds like something Cleo would say to me, I think to myself. I want to cry, but I hold back my tears. Instead, I smile back at Rowynn. "Yeah, you're right."
"Hey, sugar," Ellie says while holding a cake. "I heard today's your birthday today, so I made you something." She places it on a metal table displaying the pastel green frosting and the message Happy 18th Birthday, Ari!
Is it really my birthday today? Now that I'm thinking about it, I recall Hikaru saying that my birthday landed on Samhain, so I guess it makes sense. Also, I suppose my birthday isn't much of a secret. If WarGames fans want to know it, they can always find it on my WarGamesPedia wiki page.
Ellie lights the candles and the crowd begins to sing Happy Birthday only to have a loud record scratch sound effect blaring from Samza's car speaker system interrupt the song.
"Yo, hold up," Samza interjects. "Ari's a hero. She needs a baller track for her birthday and I got the perfect one from an old school collection." A heavy beat plays from her car.
That beat sounds familiar. The instrumental version of that song plays at a lot of sporting events. Though this is the first time I've heard the lyrics, and I think it's obvious why the original version doesn't play in public settings much. The song is In da Club by 50 Cent, a rap song written over fifty years ago. Even Librascope knows I'm right. I'm not surprised Samza would pick a song like this.
Charles laughs. "Oh dang, Sam. This beat's older than old school, yo."
Samza chuckles back. "Yup, a timeless classic."
Ellie says to me, "Make a wish, sugar."
Ever since I joined the Neon City Valkyries, my one birthday wish has always been to find out the truth about my real parents. After knowing about Gunhild and her twisted ways, perhaps I shouldn't have wished for that. Still, at least I have closure about it, but I wonder about dad. Do I even have a father? Or rather, if the Valkyr race comprises of only women, then who or what sires the children? I don't want to think about this too hard. No more wishes turning crazy. So I suggest, "How about a toast instead? You know — with drinks all around."
Folks around me murmur and nod in approval.
Ellie pulls out an icebox full of bottled drinks from the back of her food truck. "Drinks on the house, guys. Go ahead and take one." A few soldiers grab some bottles and tosses them to other Revelers and Hoon Squad members.
I grab a bottle of flavored electrolyte water and so do Mathilde, Cithara, and Mezos. Then I let out a cheer: "To our big and crazy family. Let us all be well and have a kick-ass future. Cheers for The Remnants!"
Everyone cheers, pops open their bottles, and starts chugging. I start drinking mine — it tastes like coconut with a hint of berries. Not bad.
For the next hour, we stuff our faces with cake, slider burgers, deli meats with cheese, and — of course — Ellie's signature buffalo wings with an assortment of glazes and dry rubs. I find the sweet and sour pineapple glaze to be new favorite flavor. Sweet with not too much heat. It reminds me of how Dr. Williams made her wings when I was growing up. Even Mathilde likes them.
Samza also provides the music for our little party with a mix of old hits, new beats, and an album of original tracks with the bunny girl herself spitting on the mic. Not gonna lie, Samza's freestyling lyrics and rhymes are hotter than the burning Nevada desert.
Later that afternoon, Cithara, Mathilde, and I attend the Samhain concert near The Playa. According to the fliers, a multitude of bands will perform in front of thousands of fans, including the heavy metal hip-hop duo, Samzanonymous Mezospotamia — that's Samza and Mezos. According to the elderly residents of Black Rock City, they compare this event to Woodstock's final festival except almost all the bands are not signed to big record labels.
This is also the first time I witness Samza without a long sleeve shirt and, to my surprise, she reveals sleeves of tattoos on both arms. It's hard to make out the details from where I'm standing in the mosh pit but the sleeve's centerpiece on the right arm resembles a giant black iron robot with feathered wings. I take a squint and spot on the upper left arm a pale skin woman with white hair styled liked devil horns. She's wearing a red ball gown as she watches ominously with her demonic clawed hands open. While a shorter woman on Samza's left bicep appears with black hair, purple streaks, and a similar hair style, standing in front of the older woman. This one wears a demented smile while raising a bagged leg, waiting for the right time to strike with her bare foot.
Librascope could not identify the robot on the right arm, but identifies the women on the left arm as Ultimecia from Final Fantasy VIII on top and Juri Han from Street Fighter IV on the bottom. Seeing that Librascope could identify the women, I'm assuming Samza got this tattoo some time after her arrival on this world, possibly after discovering an interest in video games.
Samza appears in a black sports bra, white baggy pants, a long black belt around her waist, and black sneakers. All adorned with purple accents. She also has a gold chain around her neck. Mezos, on the other hand, is wearing a black, unbuttoned, sleeveless vest with a white buttoned dress shirt underneath, a blue loose neck tie, black dress pants, and white shoes. The boy also has a pair of circular-rimmed sunglasses over his eyes, and a black top hat on his head. Unlike Samza, Mezos doesn't have any noticeable tattoos.
I stand in the crowd, about thirty meters away from the front row with Mathilde standing between Cithara and me. Samza and Mezos are next, scheduled to perform a few of their songs. Samza strums her electric guitar while Mezos begins singing, starting calm like an opera singer, then shifting to a classical tune. Meanwhile, Samza supports him with either a guitar solo or a rapping session. Even The Revelers' resident bro, Dax, plays along with the drums. As for the choir and orchestra? Alexander blasts the composition through his speaker-like hands.
After they finished their first three adrenaline-fueled heavy metal orchestral numbers, I come to realize that Samza and Mezos likes to sing about fighting for justice, rising against oppression, expressing freedom, and speaking out for what's right. Quite a fresh take as opposed to most mainstream rappers who talk about how big their house is or how many Lambos sit in their garage.
I ask Mathilde while bobbing my head to the drums' steady beat, "Do you like the music?"
Mathilde covers her ears and whines, "It's so loud."
Cithara hands Mathilde a set of foam earplugs. "Put these in your ears."
"Wow," I say, "it's amazing how high Mezos's voice can go. Male sopranos are amazing."
Cithara scratches her chin. "Indeed. Though with him being a transgender male, he does have an advantage at reaching those higher vocal ranges. That's not say it's impossible for a cisgender male though. In fact, the musical world has a small share of famous cisgender male countertenors. It's quite a contrast to Samza, who possesses the singing voice of an R&B singer."
"Interesting?" I say, pretending to understand what Cithara is talking about even though I'm legit confused.
Cithara chuckles. "I took some music history courses at the academy. I should know this. I also learned I have the same name as a Greek musical string instrument."
"That's weird," I mutter. "Not gonna lie, your name almost sounds like the word guitar."
Cithara nods. "That is correct."
"Yo, yo, yo!" Samza yells on the mic as the next song's background track begins. "We dedicate this next number to my friend. It's a bit on the mellow side. She just turned 18 today. Lots of crazy shit happen to her, but she's here, and it's all good."
Holograms appear depicting constellations that shift forms from animals, mundane things, abstract objects, and members of the duo's band.
Librascope identifies the song as Waiting for the End, a cover of the song of the same name by Linkin Park as performed by Samza and Mezos.
Samza begins rapping the first two verses and the audience raises their fists up, grabbing on to something invisible. Her pace is at a slower beat compared to their previous numbers.
Mezos starts singing the next verse with his classical voice and the girls on the front row are already swooning for him. Meanwhile, I start to resonate with the lyrics, finding meaning with it and, already, I can recall some of the good times I've spend with Cleo and Lucia, in and out of the WarGames. Those two — they were the same age as me and they had a future to explore after their WarGames career. Yet, everything goes by so fast like a flash of light. Leaving them in that strange world — whatever that world is. I'll admit, it was hard.
Samza begins to hum, "Oh!" as Mezos continues singing.
Now I envision myself in a room with nothing in it. The layout of the room resembles my old dorm room at the CrystalCorp campus but there's no bed, no furniture, no decor — nothing. Still, Cleo and Lucia had a future past our WarGames careers. I want to feel fine, but after what happened to them, I don't know how I'm supposed to feel okay.
Mezos sings the chorus, and then Samza raps the next verse. Alexander also plays a choir from his speakers. All I can envision is chaos — fire and storm. Gunhild and her minions destroying everything and transforming all my friends into nightmares. Then I'm trying to figure out how to start over again when the dust finally settles.
The orchestra escalates with the choir backup as Samza begins rapping the next verse. Then the end where I trade my old life for something new. I guess I'm no longer part of the Neon City Valkyries WarGames team. Instead, I'm now a member of this wacky organization called The Remnants of The Four Crystals. Yet, I feel something deeper from this verse. Is starting over the hardest part? I don't know, but I do know this: I now have Mathilde at my side and I'll never let her go this time. And with the help of my new friends, I'll make sure Gunhild doesn't lay her twisted hand at her ever again.
Samza and Mezos rap and sing the final verse and the song ends. Samza points at someone, not at me, but an old Asian man off to my side. He sports a gray well-groomed beard and mustache on his face, short hair, and he's wearing a plain white t-shirt, beige cargo shorts, and brown Crocs.
The old man notices Samza and smiles. Then he turns to me as I notice him. Librascope begins identifying the person. Then my jaw drops. "No way," I whisper to no one in particular.
Cithara turns to me. "What's wrong?"
"That's—" I stutter, my mind going dead.
The old man confronts me, places his hand on my shoulder, and says, "Hey, kiddo. Happy birthday." Then he makes his way to the stage.
Samza announces, "Make way, everyone! A legend is coming through."
The old man enters the stage and Mezos hands him his mic. He takes the mic and starts rapping freestyle alongside Samza, introducing himself as the legendary Mike Shinoda. At 79 years old, he still has it, spitting rhymes like it's a regular day on the job.
Cithara laughs.
"What is it?" I ask.
"The more I look at Mezos, the more I think about how he'd fit in a K-Pop boy band. His face, his voice, that sense of fashion — he would blend in."
"And Samza?"
"Are Japanese Visual Kei bands still a thing? I know they were popular many decades ago. If so, Samza would fit well with their wild, glamorous looks. Though the gold chain would scream 'rapper' from kilometers away."
I may not keep up with popular musical trends but I have enjoyed the rock, metal, and rap bands thus far. Heavy stuff. Though I do wonder if their status of being unsigned is by choice; or have they yet to be discovered by an agent from a record label?
Hours later, the night comes and the music ends. Samza and Mezos accompany us and all standing before us now is The Burning Man, waiting for the fire to ignite.