Raine

The fans say the universe blessed me. I sing like an angel. I have charisma and sex appeal that weakens all people. I am one of the few revered x-gender individuals across the Canis star system. What the fans forget is that I grew up in Shilla where pale skin prevails and I was called dirty because of mine being brown. That I wore scavenged clothes because my darker-skinned Malonian mother could only get the lowest paying jobs. What the fans don’t know is that I still have nightmares about finding my father lying on the couch, foaming at the mouth after overdosing on energy core dust.

Still, the fans somehow know the deepest parts of me. My experiences are vaguely woven into my lyrics and the fans interpret them as they see fit. On social media, they tell me a song of mine helped them get through a rough time or made them smile. They have their theories about my true intentions and part of my charm is never confirming or denying anything.

Even though Leela and DG created Nebula, it feels like the band is mine. We wouldn’t be Nebula without me. At the same time, I know that if I was ever less pretty or my voice began to crack, I’d be washed up and they’d move on, playing their instruments without me. It isn’t like Leela or DG are expendable. The wise, older DG keeps me grounded and Leela is my best friend whom I can tell anything. DG holds my hand before concerts and Leela rocks me back to sleep when I have my nightmares. Even if we wouldn’t be Nebula without me, I’d be nothing without them.

More so, I’d be nothing without my music. I was born to be on the stage. In today’s lucid dream, a buzz courses through my veins with every crescendo of the crowd’s cheers. People from all over Light City have their eyes on me. Behind me, DG pounds at his L-drums and Leela plucks at the strings of her neon pink e-bass, creating a melody that dances with my voice and e-guitar. I don’t know what I’m singing; the words are nonsense I can’t quite decipher. But the power it has on the audience is clear. Naeetuni, Kleps, Shillans, males, females, non-binaries all beaming and swaying, a sea of whites and browns and greens. My voice brings them all together and they’re all looking at me as if I am a god. This is what I live for.

“Raine.”

I slowly blink open my eyes to see the back of the hovercar’s passenger seat headrest. Vont is looking back at me from the driver’s seat with a bushy brow raised in surprise, though I sense a bit of disapproval in his expression.

“I can’t believe you fell asleep on the ride to the office. It’s only 10 muns away from the dorms. Did you get any sleep last night?”

I run my hand through my black hair, momentarily blending my center part. “I was up late writing lyrics.” Though it wasn’t a loaded statement, it does remind me. It’s been six months. Six months of nothing since we signed the contract to join JE Entertainment. No recordings, no single, no debut. We’ve passed the time practicing our instruments to make sure we don’t get rusty, and I’ve been recording demos with my e-guitar that none of the fans can hear.

I better give Vont a head’s up. “You know, I’m going to go in there and explode it, right?”

Vont pinches his nose bridge and lowers his head, a habit he’s picked up since becoming Nebula’s manager. “Just listen to what Jo’lanae has to say first.”

“Is it about our debut?” I press with folded arms.

“Raine,” Vont remarks, shaking his head. “She’s the CEO. Mind what you say.”

Rolling my eyes, I open the car door and step out. We cross the parking garage then enter the building through a secure finger-print scanning door. The elevator shoots us up to the highest floor and I take a deep breath. Logically speaking, I should rein it in. She is the CEO, after all, and I should know my place. Emotionally speaking, I’ve reached my limit and if we can’t record at least one single for release within the next month, I’m decking out. Realistically speaking, okay, no, my contract wouldn’t allow that.

As if she has a sixth sense, Jo’lanae opens her office door as soon as Vont and I step up to it. Without a word, she turns around, gestures to the sleek chairs in the center of the room, and leans her butt against her desk. Folding her arms, she waits for us to sit.

Suddenly, I feel meek. Her pin-striped pants suit is perfectly tailored and heels sharp enough to stab out my eyes if I cause problems. Her dark brown hair is in a neat barrel bun and her beige fingers tap against the desk methodically. I’ll wait until she’s done saying what she has to say to bring up the debut stuff.

Her thin lips curve into a smirk. “You didn’t have to dress up for me,” she says in what must be sarcasm because I’m wearing my standard black skin pants, white sleeveless tunic, and oversized hoodie.

I lean back in my chair casually, face expressionless.

“It’s fine, though, I’ve got a stylist who’ll fix you up for your pre-debut activities.”

At the word debut, my normally slouchy posture straightens up. “Which will start....”

“In two days.”

I widen my eyes.

“Right after Nebula’s fourth member gets here.”

Back still straight, the tendons in my muscles tense. “Sorry, what?” My voice comes out more breathy than what's natural.

“Your fourth member,” Jo'lanae repeats as if challenging me.

I open my mouth to ask her if she's serious, but then close it again, peering at her to determine myself. Her gaze is steady and anticipating my response.

"There's three of us in Nebula."

"There were three. Now there's going to be four."

I can't hold back my emotions anymore. "Since when? You're—you're just going to add a person? Some… stranger? To do what? You didn't even consult us!"

Jo'lanae tilts her head and flattens her mouth. "You signed the contract. Are you saying you didn't properly read it?"

"What do you mean?" I did read it. Was there some fine print I missed?

"The contract you agreed to stated that JE Ent has the right to remove or add band members as we see fit."

I remember that clause. I thought it was just some standard that was in all contracts, not that it'd happen. But I made sure… “You said---”

“You asked about Leela and DG staying in the group." She shakes her head. "So shortsighted, Raine. I guess the other part of the clause didn't cross your mind."

"How was I supposed to know you meant it literally?"

"A legal document?" Her eyes narrow as if I'm an idiot and Vont is looking at me the same way.

"You know what I mean," I say quickly. "Like, literally. I didn't think it was actually in your plans. And you never told us in the past sixth months. Do Leela and DG know?"

"I told them this morning." She pauses. "Raine."

Rising from the edge of her desk, Jo'lanae walks over to take a seat in the chair beside me. It's surprising. She never sits beside the people under her, but always at her desk.

She looks me right in my eyes. "I chose Nebula because you’re going to be the next big thing. Since the importation of Earth instruments, Laeetuni music has broadened. Live instruments have only gotten more popular in the last ten years." A smile stretches her lips. "Your voice is like stardust. Your face puts everyone else to shame. But electronic music is still the prevailing form in the entire star system.”

I'm quite aware. Even with the popularity of bands these days, there's still ten idols groups for every one of them.

“You know, even though this company is new, I’ve been in this business for 25 years.”

I can't argue with that. She knows what she's doing. I should put my trust in her, but it doesn't mean I don't like hearing this huge news out of nowhere.

I purse my lips, conceding. "What's their role?"

"E-guitarist and composer."

"Com...poser?" Nevermind a second guitarist, I've always been the one to compose our songs. Well, the leading melody, anyway. DG and Leela add in their e-bass and L-drums, just going with the flow and what sounds good.

“We’re going to make Nebula into something bigger. We’re going to merge two worlds of music.”

What the zoff? "You're going to change our music?" To that digitally composed qiq?

Jo'lanae stands up and walks back to her desk. “Remember the demo you recorded? Starlight?”

“Of course.” I really thought giving her that song would convince her to debut us, but there wasn't a word after I had Vont deliver it to her.

“Before you say anything else, take a listen.”

She taps a panel on her desk and the speakers embedded in the ceiling start playing a tune. It's my voice. It's the demo of Starlight minus my guitar backing. And there's more than had been in the original recording. Drums have been added backed by an electronic pulsating beat that makes me tremble. The bass is low and blended seamlessly with low water drop-like sounds that must have been made with a computer. And the guitar is astounding, leading the melody. It sounds way better than what I've ever played. It meshes with my voice like moondust dropped into a pond.

The sample is only a minute long, but I can't deny the impression it leaves on me. If the original song had been an energy core, the composer had shaped it into a jewel. The instrumental, live and digital, amplified my voice. This was a real song.

Jo'lanae smiles, knowing she's won and that all my complaints have vanished like a spaceship in a black hole.

"Who is this person?" I don't realize I wasn't breathing until my voice comes out especially breathy again.

Now her smile shows her sharp teeth. "Your new band member is Xen Hannachi."

The name sounds familiar. Hannachi… Ha— My eyes go wide. "Hannachi? As in… the interstellar brand of the first imported Earth instruments?" I think back to the beat up manual guitar I'd bought off the black market when I was fifteen. The way the name Hannachi in faded chrome on the body felt under my callused fingers.

Vont speaks up for the first time. "And as in one of the most musically famous families on planet Earth. The family of opera singers, pianists, and conductors." With the expression on his face, it's clearly the first time he's hearing of who our new band member is too.

"As in…?" Who is he in that famous musical family?

She leans on her desk again. "The only son of the man who changed Laeetuni music. The reason bands like Nebula exist."

I'm speechless. Then I start to wonder why such an elite person would travel the galaxy to be in a band that was only locally popular. I mean, not even everyone in Light City knows our name, just everyone in the live band scene.

With all the confidence she deserves, Jo'lanae explains, "Xen recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in New London. He plays ten different instruments and also knows digital music coding. With his classical upbringing, it’s no wonder. He’s nothing short of a genius.”

"And agreed to be Nebula's composer?"

She shrugs. "I sent out the word that I was looking and he immediately applied. Honestly, I was surprised to see an application come from Earth."

He could have been a top classical composer. Why does he want to be in a Laeetuni band?

Jo'lanae walks around her desk to sit in her gorbil-skin chair. “The day after he arrives, we get right to work. You’ll collaborate with him to enhance all those lyrics you wrote. And while he’s doing the composing that he can only do himself, you’ll be taking lessons.”

"Lessons?"

"Singing and dancing."

I can't process that last word. She can't possibly be saying I'm going to dance like some idol.

"It’s not extreme dancing, just a bit of choreographed movement to add to your visuals.”

"I need my hands to play the e-guitar."

"Xen will take care of the e-guitar." Seeing how astounded I am, she leans forward. "Raine. Isn’t fame what you want most? When we first met, you begged me to make you famous.”

It's true that I want fame. I want people to be touched by my music, to melt into my lyrics; but most of all, I want to make enough money to send back home to my mom so she won’t have to ever work in that qiqy tourist hotel again. So she and my sister can get out of Shilla.

I force a smile. "You're the boss for a reason," I say to flatter her and communicate that I'm waving my white flag. But not at all do I think this will be smooth flying.

Xen Hannachi. Let's see what you can do.