Dialogue: The Ballad of Buck Ravers

Johnny

Ey, 'ey, 'ey, V! Wait a sec!

Listen to that guy. How'd you rate his chops?

V

1AUgh. Pathetic. Can barely hold the thing. I ain't a musician, but even I can tell that's sloppy stuff.

Johnny

1ALadies and gentlemen, a critic. Chill, choomba. Ain't half bad.

1AGuy's hurtin', got somethin' he can't take. And it shows.

V

1BTo my untrained ear, sounds all right, I guess. Easy listenin', at least.

Johnny

1BKnow why? Technique's second-rate. But the feeling – that's what counts.

1BGuy's hurtin', got somethin' he can't take. And it shows.

Could stand a little more stage presence, fingering's all wrong, loses the tempo more than he keeps it, but – not bad.

V

Really know how to give a guy a compliment.

That how you got your start? Street busker with big dreams?

Johnny

Don't make me laugh. No time for playin' my way to the top. Was too busy shakin' the world awake.

V

2ABein' at the top can be worth it. Wanna shake the world, y'know... World's gotta feel you first.

Johnny

2AAnd you pay for it. You spend your lyrics layin' waste to the big record corps, who's gonna sign you then?

2ABut give up your ideals, and no amount of eddies can buy 'em back.

V

2BOh-ho-ho. Ooh – isn't that what every failed "artist" says about their work?

Johnny

2BKnow what? You're right – I failed. Corpo-tyrants still run this town, just like fifty years ago.

2BBut if you think in my heart of hearts I wanna be the next teen idol, think again. Don't give half a fuck about that commercial shit!

V

All right, princess. Least you played some gigs. Saw those memories of yours.

Johnny

True. Played where we could. Parks, old factories, underground clubs...

Had an audience from the start. Some recorded our stuff, didn't even know who we were.

V

3ASo you're sayin' some old Samurai bootlegs are still floatin' around town? I smell eds...

Johnny

3ANo idea you were such a materialist. Could almost cry. Almost.

V

3BOoh! Mean to say I could get my hands on some old Samurai bootlegs?

3BI'm 'onna find those tapes, I'm 'onna shriek like a little fangirl any time you open your mouth. Happy?

Johnny

3BJust you fuckin' try.

V

Jokes aside. Think those tapes still exist? After all these years?

Johnny

Hmm... Y'know, Rainbow Cadenza's not far from here. Club we played till the band fell apart.

Great spot. Place for people with their heads on straight. Maybe they'll know somethin'.

Ey, 'ey, 'ey, V! Wait a sec!

V

1AKnow anything about bootlegs from the Rainbow Cadenza days? Like, say, dunno... Samurai stuff?

Waiter

1ASamurai, Samurai... Oh, that ugly red face on black? Yeah, even I know that one.

1AOld guy comes by here sometimes, wearing their shirt. Spends the whole time yakking with his psychofan friends.

V

1AWouldn't happen to know where I could find 'im?

Waiter

1AYou can find him living back in the twenty-twenties, heh. But besides that, he's out there, at the market.

V

2AWhat's he sellin'?

Waiter

2AGanic strawberries 'n' cream. What do you think?

V

2BMeanin' he does his shopping there?

Waiter

2BI mean you can do yours at his spot. Assuming you'd even want to.

1AHe sells ancient, dusty tapes of ancient, dusty indie bands. No one's heard of a single one of them.

V

1APreem. Thanks.

1BHey. "Rainbow Cadenza" mean anything to you?

Waiter

1BOh no, another one. Aren't you too young for this?

V

1BToo what now?

Waiter

1BEvery day, some sad grandpa in his old leather comes in here, asks where is his old rainbow club.

1BAnd I am like a broken record, tell all of them the corp bought them out twenty years ago. Ehh... I should put up a sign.

V

Um... Johnny? Pretty sure they turned your great spot into a slurp shop.

Johnny

Mindless fuckin' consumerism wins the day again.

V

Point for the other team, huh?

Johnny

Huh... This is why you don't bring back fallen warriors.

Sooner or later, they're gonna see everything they fought for's turned to shit.

V

1AHeard I can get some decent tunes here.

Karim

1AWhatcha mean by "decent?" We got Cartesian Duelists, Eurodyne's stuff, Tainted Overlord...

V

1AAny Samurai?

Karim

1AKid, you even gotta ask?! "Never Fade Away," "Dancing with my Ax," "Chippin' In"! You name it, we got it!

1ASilverhand was the one true messiah of rock. I'd hand them records out like candy if I could. But a guy's gotta eat.

1AWait a sec... What's that you're wearin'? Isn't that...?

V

2AJealous? Got it from an old choom o' Johnny's. S'all about the connections.

2BThat's right, an exact replica of Silverhand's jacket. Hey, you look as if I just gave you a half-century-old flashback.

Karim

1AOh-ho-ho-ho. Well, I'll be damned. Last time I saw that I was still basking in the glory of youth.

1AOne time, Johnny hung it on a chair to go beat the living shit out of some Militech apologist.

1AI snuck up and I put it on just for a few seconds. Ahaha, the good ol' days.

V

3AYeah, lookin' for the real deal. Like, say – bootlegs from Samurai's first gigs.

Karim

3AFuck. First, you have got no idea what you're asking for! Not if you're so, so... chilled about it!

3ADunno how you found out about them bootlegs, but forget it. Not gonna give 'em to the first gonk off the street.

V

4AWould the "first gonk off the street" know what they tell new Arasaka suits?

4AThey say if a collar-in-training doesn't make deadline, the ghost of a man split in two will get him. 'Course, nobody remembers the ghost is Johnny.

Karim

4AAll right. I'm impressed. Getting someone from 'Saka to tell you that!

4AYou're not joking? You're really a Silverhand fan?

V

5AWhen the other kids were learning "Chrome Crayons," I already had "Chippin' In" down by heart.

5BHe's with me every step I take, every move I make. Johnny's like my conscience. My eternal, infernal moral compass.

Karim

4AHah! Well said, kid. Gettin' a little misty-eyed. You're all right.

4AEh, anyways. Gotta educate the youth. Maybe you'll find somethin' special under the table... Go on, have at it.

V

4AMuch appreciated.

Karim

4ATake it, spread the good Silverhand word. Death to corpos!

Johnny

4AY'know, they say time is the best teacher. Used to think that was true.

4ABut look at that guy. Sixty at least, but still livin' in 2020.

V

4AGuy's your biggest fan. Not happy to meet him?

Johnny

4ABlew 'Saka Tower to smithereens, and it's still standin' there. Just the same.

4ADon't want people gettin' stuck in a rut, stuck in the past. Want them to change. Them and the world.

V

6ABeen sixty years. Somethin' must've changed.

Johnny

6AKnow what changed? The damn facade. Fresh interface plugs, new high-fructose scop syrup in fun, fruity flavors...

6AA new face of Arasaka. Same old shit, different packaging.

V

6ASomething's changin'. Maybe we can't see it, but – there's change all the same.

Johnny

6ASure. Now, almost nobody remembers when a "person" wasn't just a meatbag full of second-hand implants.

V

6BYou wanna force 'em to change? Can't just blow 'em up like the Tower.

Johnny

6BBut music's the answer? Here's what happens – grandpa knows every damn word, doesn't understand a single one!

V

6BYou'd rather he massacred a bunch of people, then? And the average Janes and Joes?

6BMaybe they don't wanna change. Their choice. You wanna take that away from 'em?

Johnny

6BThey might be bums who play see no evil, might be blind idiots – they need to wake the fuck up. Guess jury's still out on how.

V

4BAh, used to come here back when it was still Rainbow Cadenza. Bootleg sure would make a nice souvenir of the good ol' days.

Karim

4BCut the scop. You're too young to remember the first Samurai gigs. Weren't even a twinkle in your daddy's Kiroshis.

V

4B'Ey, appearances can be deceiving. How d'you know this pretty face ain't an implant?

Karim

4BAll right, punk. Prove it. How'd Samurai's third-ever gig end?

V

8AJohnny, my dear expert, help a choom out. Need a quick run-down of Samurai trivia.

Johnny

8AYep, third gig. Remember it like it was yesterday. Set my axe on fire, then smashed it on the stage. Crowd went wild.

Karim

8AWell? Can't wait all day.

V

8AUgh, easy. Johnny lit up his axe, then smashed it.

Karim

8ANope! Knew it. Who smashes their gear when they're just starting out? I mean, a new one costs eddies!

V

8BEy, Johnny! Get your digital ass out here, feed me my lines.

Johnny

8BHow 'bout this – "Fuck you, V. Ain't your stupid sidekick."

Karim

8BWell? Can't wait all day.

V

9AFucking hell, Johnny! Why the sabotage, why now?

Johnny

9A'Cause it's funny. 'Cause I'm bored. Maybe I don't like the cut of your conformist jib.

V

9BJohnny – please. Can you stop making my life harder? My life that's quickly running out?

Johnny

9BHow'm I s'posed to give a witty response to that pathetic question. It's like kicking a puppy. A blind puppy.

Karim

4BYou always freeze up like this?

Johnny

4BPlayed our third gig at Cadenza. Little fire broke out. Some drunk gonks tried to put it out with beer.

4BDenny's 'fro got singed, wore a wig for a few weeks. Never did get herself any tech hair.

V

10AHoo, lemme think... Uh, there was a fire? Remember those gonks who tried puttin' it out with beer?

10BHang on... Now I remember. Uh, there was a fire. Hh, poor Denny – poor Denny's hair.

Karim

4BHahah! I almost forgot... Heard Johnny started it, actually… tossed a cig that was still glowin'.

Johnny

4BHeh, bullshit. That cig was Kerry's, no doubt. But hey, any trouble's Johnny's fault.

Karim

4BStill don't believe you were there, but what the hell... Only a real fan could know somethin' like that.

4BEh, anyways. Gotta educate the youth. Maybe you'll find somethin' special under the table... Go on, have at it.

V

4CAin't a poser. Know everything there is to know about Silverhand.

Karim

4CGo on. Impress me.

V

4CKnow what he told Kerry the last time they met.

4CCalled him a pussy. Told him to stop bein' one.

Karim

4CYeah. Sure. I could think up a million conversations they had – there were no witnesses.

V

4C"Fuck this band. Not your crowd, not your noise, do your own thing."

Karim

4CYeah. Sure. I could think up a million conversations they had – there were no witnesses.

V

3BSee I found Silverhand's biggest fan.

Karim

3BAnd proud of it. Today's bitty-box "rockers" can't even touch 'im. Silverhand had something they couldn't even dream of.

V

3BA silver hand?

Karim

3BHe had that fire, kid! Fire! Guy shook the foundations of the corpo world! He died for his ideals!

V

3BDoesn't matter he was also kind of a terrorist?

Karim

3B"Blaze way down the rebel path!"

V

1BHey, lookin' for some good tunes. Got any lazrpop? Somethin' from Us Cracks?

Karim

1BDon't sell no scop here! You either want good music, or rainbow-bright shite!

V

1BChill, choom – just a joke.

Karim

1BLazrpop! Fuckin' lazrpop! Here, at my stand?!