3 - The Audition

Death Grip's tablet flashlight flashes again. "The Lady is ready", person relays.

Obsidian gulps. Every one of the anecdotes hex has been listening to was of a terrifying authoritarian possibly nonhuman woman. Except that they spoke of her in the most admirable doting manner. Death Grip even insisted, to Obsidian's surprise, that many just called her Mom, cast and crew alike. If Obsidian appears nervous whilst led up to the front of house soundboard it is not actually because hex is nervous about what is to happen next. Obsidian is nervous about who is to happen next. Hex knows hex is good at hext job, it's the anticipation that ties knots in hext stomach. And between everything, Obsidian was not expecting what hex sees step out from the backstage door.

Standing before them is a woman in pink platform boots, at least two inches thick, galaxy patterned leggings covered by a long iridescent skirt which, when hex does a double take hex swears has changed color, and a t-shirt adorned with the ATARI logo layered with a plain cardigan. But it isn't just her clothes, The Lady has shimmering blue glitter eye makeup obscured behind small glasses, bright pink and purple hair with silvery grey roots all done up into two space buns and adorned with a large hair bow which without any doubt in the eye was lit up and changing colors in a scene rave worthy cyclic rainbow pattern and to top it off a neon hair band. It is worth mentioning that by neon, she really is wearing actual lit up el-wire. On her wrist are a plethora of bracelets and bangles. Some are just fluorescent or reflective but some ticked little messages around their wrist with a matrix of LEDs and one seems to smear into different colors as her arm rises and falls.

"So. Obsidian Rainn, here to replace Cyc Adelic as our resident front of house board operator and also general sound technician and backstage audio electrician - correct?" The Lady asks in one stretched out question, and smiles, looking hex over.

"Y-yes ma'am"

"Good. I know that's a laundry list of job titles but, we're small," she gestures around, "and we aren't going to be hosting some magazine rockstar or world touring musical."

"You shouuld though~" A voice says from above them, "a touring musical would put us on the tourism guide!"

"Ghostlight!" The Lady puts her hands on her hips and looks up at Ghostlight who is dangling by two incorporeal feet off a beam of stage lights and looking at her upside down. "C'mon, even just an itsy bitsy musical?" He pinches his fingers together.

"You know we don't do that anymore and you know why." The Lady looks back to Obsidian apologetically, "As I was saying, we do as much as we can with who we can get, and we trym and usually succeed, at paying everyone enough. But we'll always have a 'no one turned away for lack of funds' policy," Obsidian nods, "even if it kills the electric bill." she murmurs. "Well! Let's see what you've got." She claps her hands together loudly, then signs something to Death Grip who nods.

"So, here's your board I want you to set it up per the band equipment on stage to the best of your ability, then Death Grip will give you a track, mix it for the house, aand we'll see how royally bad you fuck it up." She laughs and gives hex a punch on the arm.

Obsidian Rain nods sharply but hext eyes go wide. Hex is super out of practice and was hoping to at least play with the board for a minute before hext test but no, it seems like showing up early just means your audition is earlier. Lady Electrode goes and sits behind hex to watch and while her back is turned Death Grip silently flashed per tablet reading "You will do fine!" Obsidian smiles at the encouragement and sweeps the blackout cloth off of the board.

So, it isn't actually a board Obsidian has worked on before but hex can figure this out. Obsidian examines the different little labels next to each input or output socket, written in cramped sharpie on white gaffers tape and in need of some handwriting assistance. After some pacing back and forth from board to stage, and wrangling some cables and snakes, hex has all the signals routed.

"Here's a track queued up" Lady Electrode points to the laptop monitor set just above the board, "mix it for the space."

"Okay." Okay. Okay, this is going to be cool and normal and simple. Hex just settles hexxelf into the swivel chair and looks at the board. Hex breathes in slowly. There are almost 20 different faders, all with gaff tape, only some labeled. There are at least ones for drums, bass, and GTR 1 and 2. Obsidian messes with the sliders one at a time to hear their differences. Hex gets excited when hex finds the subwoofer fader, however is not a fan of how the label is just a little doodle of a puppy.

The song starts up and hex brings up the drums and bass. Hex frantically looks for the vocal fader but luckily this board has indicator lights so hex finds it when the main singer starts screaming out the opening hook. Hex brings up their volume to be highest and flattened out the instrument sliders to be all about the same volume as each other. When the guitar solo starts busting hex squints and looks sidelong at the Lady watching hex intently. Hex slowly messes a bit with the EQ to give the guitars more reverb, moves the bass EQ to bring up the lows, and tweaks a dial to make the vocals sound a bit more open.

Hex gets up and walks around. Hex walks to the very back corner, to the back wall with beat up couches, to the stage right wings, hops up the small staircase and paces the apron to the stage left wing, and hops back down to return to the board. Hex doesn't see Lady Electrode smiling and nodding at this, hex is busy adjusting faders and then doing rounds to the corners once more. The track ends and Obsidian naturally looks to the board's laptop and set it to loop instead. They fade the guitars back down as the song ends for it's second play and only once the blank cassette-like sound is whirring in the empty room does hex notice that hext hands are still shaking. Hext legs are limp and hex doesn't trust hexxself to stand up again.

"Definitely one to keep," Lady Electrode signs just to Death Grip, who nods.

"Well kid." Obsidian is interrupted by a slap on the shoulder from Lady Electrode, "you're in."

"Oh! Thank you?" Hex turns and grins nervously.

"You know the ropes and I can tell you're the type to dot your i's and cross your t's. Now, if you would step into my office." Lady Electrode bows over zealously and then just casually leads Obsidian away, "It's just for all them paperwork stuff- we don't want you not getting paid now do we!"

"Right." Obsidian is brought into a side room and sat in the one chair not behind the desk, probably one of the only two cleared surfaces in the room.

"As for contracts and all," Lady Electrode rummages through the chaotic mess that is her office drawers, "well we'd like you here for the long haul, not union day work, not season length gigs, but the actual core team."

"She really means skeleton crew haha!"

Obsidian shrieks when Ghostlight's head appears sticking out of the ceiling upside down right in front of hext face.

"Ghostlight please, its only hext first day." She shook her head

"But really," Ghostlight floats down into a more upright position, "we're the ones always here."

"There will be help, and roadies, more often bands who are their own roadies, so if you need more hands don't be afraid to ask." Lady Electrode takes over, "But when it comes to who works at The Cat's Cradle, that's us, and that's you."

Obsidian nods, "Thank you" hex ponders over this fondly.

As hex goes through the paperwork hex thinks about all the day-laboring jobs, all the temp gigs, all the one show long positions, all the driving, all the packing and moving, and all the saying good bye to people you didn't really know. An actor, whose name nor face Obsidian recalled, once called the end of the run of a musical "post show depression". Obsidian doesn't know how much hex ever got emotionally attached to crew nor cast, not when upon meeting someone and learning their name you already know that months down the line they will be gone from your life. After working the avant-garde experimental plays scene and moving to the musical theatre scene, Obsidian often knew even less of hex coworkers, when half were behind another face and another name to become their character each night. Being the long haul crew is new, and is going to be different, but Obsidian Rainn is't complaining.