#volumeupdate

[volumehq]

THE PLOT THICKENS?

when sera, wes, and lilah get to work on the morning of saturday, may 21, they notice something is wrong. papers have been blown about, records strewn across the floor. the register hasn’t been touched – but everything was in the safe anyway. a quick walk into the back room finds it much worse than the store itself. cushions strewn over the floor, lockers emptied onto the ground. jennifer’s office is open and has clearly been searched through, but the safe is there, unmoved. the security cameras are smashed. 

they call jennifer, who calls the police to report the incident, and the store will be closed for the next week. which is just as well, considering half the employees will be out of work for half the week in order to attend the trial. so, it’s perfect timing for a vacation. jennifer takes inventory, and asks employees to come in and check their things.

here is what is missing : a corkboard, formerly kept behind a set of cabinets. kc’s house key. marty’s nerf gun. sloane’s jacket. the work schedule for the next week. a stack of punch timecards.

one thing that is strange is that there’s no forced entry. it seems as if whoever got in had a key, implying that the robbery was an inside job . . . this also means that the police are less likely to take it seriously, telling jennifer to keep a closer eye on her employees and maybe be more selective about her hiring process. a quick look around her own office gives jennifer a few ideas of her own, ones that she’ll keep to herself for now. but she’s not an idiot – between the boat crash, james escape, and this, she can put a few puzzle pieces together.

jennifer sends out an email to all employees with the details, so they have a sense of what is going on and that the store will be closed – she’ll send an updated schedule in the next week for when the store is able to re-open. she assures everyone that nothing valuable has been lost, and investing in newer/improved security was on her list anyway, so it’s just being bumped up. the new alarms she’s purchasing are more advanced, and will make everything much more secure, and she apologizes for the incident ( she will replace sloane and marty’s things, and assist kc in getting new locks/keys for his home ! ) 

[volumehq]

SHIPWRECKED!

While the evening hasn’t been uneventful, there hasn’t been any cause for alarm. James is nowhere to be seen, which means it’s hard to feel guilty about opting for drinking, dancing, and gambling. Honestly, it’s a pretty good tribute to Jerry, who would have much rather done those things over hard work anyway.

A loudspeaker rings out, announcing the boat will be docking shortly, and it’s easy to believe that that will be the end.

The announcement is a dull echo for Kem and Max, who stand on the boat's top deck, soaking up the last few moments of the open sky and stars before they're asked to head out and go back to shore. 

Crowds gather near the exits, and Christian wants nothing to do with that, so he heads up the stairs – and turns to go right back down again the moment he sees Kem and Max.

“Chris, wait!” Kem calls out. “Can’t we talk?” While typically too fucking stubborn for his own good, Kem’s words make him stop in his tracks. There was a point in time where they would’ve spent most of this night together, drinking, talking. Kem would’ve been the first person Christian would’ve told about what happened with Jamie – whose hat he happens to be wearing right now like they’re some kind of besties.

He sighs and turns around, taking a few steps across the upper deck, fully prepared to say something snide and cutting – if it shuts Kem down and gets him to stop trying, then so be it. Instead, he notices Kem's expression pale ( which is a bit dramatic, all Christian plans to do is say something rude ), and then he hears a click.

“Yeah, keep walking,” says a voice. “You’re in for it now.”

Christian takes a few steps forward until he’s standing closer to Kem and Max.

“Turn around.”

The face he turns to see isn’t James, but it’s two men – both are recognizable from the gang, guys that used to come around and harass Jerry while he still ran the store.

“Yeah, you,” the shorter, stockier of the two guys still has the gun pointed directly at Christian. “We know what you did. Snooping around Jerry’s house after the fire, breaking into the station, and telling the cops fucking everything. That shit’s changed everything for us.”

Realization dawns on Max, and she whispers, “He thinks you’re Jamie.”

Christian looks offended, first and foremost. Then, he touches the hat on his head and rolls his eyes.

“Well, this is fucking stupid,” he sighs.

“SHUT UP!” the man with the gun yells, firing a warning shot.

Kem quickly shields Max with his body, but there’s no cause for concern yet, just a knee-jerk reaction to protect the person he cares most about. Max glances over the boat's railing, and she meets eyes with Eric below, whose attention has been drawn by the sound of the shot. There's not much time other than to mouth "help."

Eyes widen, and he mouths back, “Do what?”

“Something,” is all she can get out.

He beckons his partner over. “Search ‘em.”

The taller, skinnier figure starts to pat them down while the shorter gang member holds them at gunpoint and starts talking.

“Listen, all James wants from you is for you to tell the truth. What really happened to Jerry and the part you played in it. We know you broke into his house; we’ve got proof. And we’re not afraid to use it. But just tell the pigs the truth, and nobody’s gotta get hurt,” he says, giving a pitch that sounds a lot like he wants High Volume to lie on the stand or face certain consequences.

“We figure one of you should come with us, you know, so when the rest of you go back and tell your friends what we said, they know you aren’t joking. And it’s not that we don’t trust you, but…we don’t trust you.”

The skinner partner starts to pat down Christian’s pocket when Christian knees the guy in the nose.

This time, the short guy shoots again with less of a warning, but he's got the aim of a stormtrooper, and glass shatters as a window breaks loudly.

Max screams.

The shots are probably meant to scare Christian, they must want to bring him to James, but Christian just doubles down and punches the skinny guy in the face. Kem sees a flash of silver and acts on instinct. He joins the fray, pushing Christian aside quickly. The last thing he sees before he’s stabbed in the abdomen is a panicked look on Christian’s face.

Then everything goes black.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

When Eric gets Max’s warning, he doesn’t know what the fuck to do. As he wasn’t around for last season’s hijinks, it’s hard for Eric to really take this ambiguous gang pretty seriously. He’s spent the entire night getting piss drunk and starting fights with and about his ex-girlfriend. And now they expect him to do something?

He turns to Chase, a few feet behind him.

“I think…Max is in trouble. We gotta do something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. She said something. They were up on the top deck with some guys; I saw them.”

After a few moments of deliberation, they conclude that creating a diversion is the best bet. After all, it keeps them away from the guys with the guns and potential certain death, AND it will provide a way for Max, Kem, and Christian to get away.

Chase flicks his lighter.

You can never go wrong with a good fire.

“What are you two doing? The exit is on the other side of the boat.”

They freeze, realizing they’ve been caught. As Chase and Eric turn slowly to face the person accosting them, they’re able to breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, they smile. It’s just Sloane.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Jamie’s one of the last people exiting the boat when he catches the eye of a familiar face. “Fuck,” he whispers, locking eyes with Jerry’s killer – James Coughlan. The second James sees him, he breaks from the crowd and starts running.

“Hey, dickhead! You should be locked up!” And he takes off after him.

Jude, watching the altercation, starts to follow, “Jamie, you shouldn’t –”

“Shut up and run,” he says. “We gotta catch this asshole.”

And the two of them run after James in hot pursuit, back off the dock and onto the boat.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– “Uh, some of the gang’s in trouble,” Eric’s able to get this out before they hear another gunshot and Max’s scream. He pales. “We’re going to create a distraction. So, they can get away.”

Sloane has a pretty good assumption as to what this is about. There are two sides to her, one wants to allow James to carry out his plan, but another heard the way Max just screamed. She’s made friends at High Volume and doesn’t want them to get hurt.

“Okay, then you’re going about this all wrong,” she says. “When everyone’s off the boat, they’re going to shoot off some fireworks. We could probably just…start the show a little early.”

Eric mentions that he was totally thinking that, he just didn’t say it.

“Sure,” Chase chides sarcastically. And then they follow Sloane in quick pursuit through the lower deck to the storage room. Sloane picks the lock faster than either of them could have on their own.

“Woah. Where’d you learn that?” asks Eric.

Sloane says there’s no time for that story. Ironic that James taught her how to do that so quickly.

When Chase tosses his lighter onto the stack of fireworks, there are only a few moments to run, feet pounding on the deck as they hear them go off behind them in an ear-shattering explosion, powerful booms, and loud whines. And then the fire, which starts small, but starts quickly growing on the wooden structure.

“We gotta get out!”

Chase leads the way as they make it to the boarding area, only able to breathe easily when their feet are planted firmly back on the shore. They cross paths with Jamie, who is running in the other direction, back toward the flames.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The explosion goes off in the nick of time, sending everyone on the upper deck stumbling backward. One of the two men slips over the side of the railing, emitting a Wilhelm-esque scream. The shorter one is flung backward and doesn’t get back up.

Christian catches Kem, who is soaked in blood. There’s little time to process, but Max and Christian have known each other long enough that they can communicate without words.

They’ve got to get out of here.

“Shirt,” she says, holding out her hand. Christian quickly strips his off, and so does Max, and she ties the two shirts together and uses a shattered table leg to create a makeshift tourniquet for Kem. She saw that in a movie once and has no idea if it will work but figures it’s better than letting him bleed everywhere.

While Christian does most of the hoisting, Max does her part in helping him get Kem down the steps. Then, flames in their wake, they speed walk out toward the dock, meeting up with Chase, Eric, and Sloane, who are waiting for them near the water.

They’ve got to get Kem to a hospital. Now.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The boat itself is starting to sink. It’s crumbling in place, flames rising as the structure descends lower into the water. It'd be suicide to charge back onto it, but nothing feels more important to Jamie than taking care of unfinished business between death or life. The unfinished business hangs in the air and haunts every High Volume employee, but it's even more personal for Jamie.

That was his father.

Granted, they weren't super close when Jamie was growing up. But during the years Jamie worked for him at High Volume, they had another chance. Jerry wasn’t just the vague idea of a father any more, but someone Jamie could admire, someone that he looked up to. Someone that he was able to consider family. But they never had much time – there was so much that Jamie never got to ask him.

Though, to be fair, it’s more blind hatred than regret that drives Jamie’s legs forward as he runs after James on the boat.

“This is going down!” shouts Jude, who can barely feel any part of himself now that he’s so hot and sweaty. He’s definitely not getting paid enough for this.

Jamie can’t see anything other than red; he just keeps running. The floor beneath him has started to crumble, and before he can take his next step, the boards in front of him fall into the waves. He’s prepared to take the leap to follow James, but as he jumps, he’s jerked backward onto the ground, hitting it hard. He doesn’t even feel the burning sensation taking over his leg, only able to look forward as the boat beyond them collapses, James disappearing into the flames.

He doesn’t note anything but a burning sensation in his leg, and when he looks down, he can see Jude whacking it with his jacket, putting out the flames.  

“Jeez, you’re welcome,” Jude says.

“I could’ve caught him,” Jamie wheezes, looking out into the smoke rising over the water. He’s sure he could have. A few more steps and he would’ve been holding James by the neck – if Jude hadn’t held him back.

“You could’ve died, that’s what,” Jude retorts, holding out his hand. “I hope you can walk. We gotta go.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The accident is written about in the paper the next morning, April 10. The explosion is attributed to the gang, and it’s even mentioned that James Coughlan was rumored to be on board. However, the body that was found was not his.

There is only one casualty.

The burned body recovered by police belonged to another gang member, ironically one that Marty will recognize in the paper as the man they threw a coffee cup at before the fire started in High Volume last year. Christian will recognize him as the guy that held him at gunpoint.

All of the High Volume employees gather at the hospital that morning to see Kem. While they’re not all allowed in the room at once, they’re told by nurses that no vital organs were punctured, however it nicked his spleen and he’s been receiving blood transfusions. He’ll experience cramping and difficulty getting around for the next few months, but is expected to make a full recovery. He will be in the hospital for the next week for surgery and stitches. But he will recover.

He’s lucky. They all are.

But the court hearing has been rescheduled for mid-May.

This isn’t over.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

ADMIN NOTES:

the break-in that the gang keeps referring to was our first season one plot drop. jamie is the only still-present character that took part in it, and honestly, it’s the most illegal/suspicious activity that could cause them trouble in court. 

the fire that the deceased gang member started is written about in this plot drop. kc, josie, and marty were all present. 

the fire/explosion, the death of the gang member, and kem’s injury and the general cause (stabbed by a gang member) are all common knowledge. anything else is more hearsay and can be passed around via rumor mill. this is a good time to use our group instant messenger discord chat. 

i understand there are a number of plotted threads still ongoing. you’re welcome to keep those up and finish them out, but i encourage you to drop threads that are less vital to plot/relationship development and start new ones. i’d love to see new starters going, and of course, any new threads must take place AFTER the event.

if you would like to give your character any minor injuries following the wreck, i think bruises or skinned knees or other 'every day’ easily treatable sort of wounds would be totally realistic in a frantic escape from a sinking boat. if you want your character to sustain anything more serious than that, please message me to check in on it so that we don’t have twenty sprained wrists or whatever. 

feel free to utilize the character-updates channel on discord to update us on how your character ended the night. 

[volumehq]

TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD.

the re-opening party is surprisingly a huge success. pretty much the entire town comes out to support high volume, despite jerry’s reputation about town. after all, the main reason that a town like woodstock can sustain businesses like this is because the townspeople are supportive of the community. and, okay, perhaps there was some gossip about town – everyone wanted to get a good look at jennifer and her daughters, some of the older people in town able to remember when she vanished twenty-four years ago. now, there’s a logical explanation for it all, and just like a town like woodstock supports the community, they’re also very nosy about what’s going on in it. jennifer actually puts up with this graciously – it’s good for business, after all, and there are a handful of people from her past that it’s nice to catch up with. 

including the owner of the mean-eyed cat bar, aaron masterson. jennifer went to high school with him and they wind up catching up in the back for nearly an hour – prime time for those workers that like slacking off. it’s probably just a coincidence, but it’s no secret that the mean-eyed cat has seen a huge dip in business after what happened to jerry. there’s no clear ulterior motive behind the two’s rekindled friendship, but it’s hard not to recognize the connection. the high volume employees will start to notice aaron around the store a lot more. 

well, the ones that aren’t hyperfocused on saving their own skin. just a few days later, on march 3, 2000, those who were employed under jerry receive a court summons for march 18, literally just two weeks away. they’ll be represented by a public defender. insight from marty’s father is that with the evidence they’ve provided to the courts about jerry in the past, it’ll likely be a quick trial resulting in a fine. worst case scenario is, yeah, a few years in prison – but he says that’s highly unlikely. 

jude kimura wishes it was a little more likely, though. after all, it’s not just loyalty to james that he’s carrying around, but pressure from the rest of the gang – he and sloane could end up just like jerry if this doesn’t go well, and they’re starting to get in pretty deep, invited to staff parties and after-shift drinks with the rest of the crew, they’re fitting in seamlessly undercover. after a closing shift with just sloane, jude takes a collect call outside from james. 

james: “ listen, aaron said last year that they all showed up to the bar in these funky costumes asking about jerry. they weren’t just sitting pretty waiting for him to come back. ”

jude: “ okay, so what ? ”

james: “ so, they’re probably connected to the break-in at his place, too, which we’re being charged for. if we can tie them to that, they’re gonna have to re-open the investigation. ” 

jude: “ i've got a shift with singh tomorrow - we've got some history, so i think he trusts me enough to talk. ”

james: “ be careful. ”

jude: “ i will. bye. ” 

jude hangs up the phone and glances around the empty alley before heading out to discuss this with sloane, predominantly telling her to try and find out more about the break-in. he doesn’t know that around the next corner, eric green, who forgot his walkman, is standing, listening in. granted, it all didn’t make much sense to him, and now he’s just bummed that he showed up five minutes after the alarms activated and he’s stuck without his walkman for the night. super bummer. 

TLDR !

feel free to continue old threads, but anything new that you start should take place after this plot drop. 

the store is doing great . . . and so is jennifer’s social life ? she’s rekindled a friendship with old friend aaron masterson of the mean-eyed cat, and not only is he hanging around the store, but his daughters start to see him around the house. ( @sleevcdhearts & @beeancas )

all characters involved in season 1 have received their court summons for the identity theft charges associated with jerry. 

jude is informed of the undercover operation from last season, and possible connection to the break-in at jerry’s. he talks to sloane about it. ( @kimurahh & @sloanefm )

eric overhears all of this. ( @stonerisms ) 

[volumehq]

THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE TURN SLOW.

that’s what they say, anyway, so should anyone really be surprised when their court summons is postponed ? those who don’t check their mail show up to court only to be turned away and told that they’ll receive an updated notice shortly. it all seems quick and short noticed, and the clerk at the desk seems oddly nervous about something, like there’s a piece of information that they haven’t been told. there’s a certain amount of relief in the air that takes the stress off, of course, the longer that it takes for them to solidify a court date, the longer it will take for a fine to be set, or a decision to be made on counts of identity theft against the deceased. 

“ figures, ” jennifer says to max during her shift  “ i just sent them a few documents a couple days ago – stuff that might help you guys out, proof he’d had other people sign for things before, you know ? ” and she means it, genuinely. she’s heard certain versions of the story from the employees, and she’s pretty certain none of them had anything to gain apart from keeping their jobs. she doesn’t get along well with all the employees, but some of them : max, josie, kem, ethan, kc . . . she can tell they’re good kids. but she tries not to play favorites. 

and that should provide enough explanation. after all, the introduction of new evidence, new anything, can easily put off a court date a few weeks. 

the paper comes out three days later : ESCAPE AT COOK COUNTY JAIL.

turns out cook county department of corrections in chicago suffered a huge security breach over the previous weekend, with three escapees. among them ? james coughlan. terry carter, the other person involved in jerry’s death, is not listed. the mugshots are displayed, and police are encouraging anyone with information about these individuals to come forward – $1,500 reward. 

this changes things for the employees of high volume, whether they knew jerry or they didn’t. obviously this guy was dangerous, connected to arson within the store, and they’re all on high alert. doesn’t help that the cops seem to be routinely driving by the store now either, in fact, it’s more annoying than anything else, surely. but supposedly, this sort of thing is easy to track and will be dealt with quickly. and those who aren’t scared, well . . . maybe it’s time for volume to launch an investigation of their own. they’ve already proved that they work quicker than the cops. 

jude and sloane ? didn’t see this coming, received no heads up. jude only gets a call from aaron masterson at the mean-eyed cat, telling him to meet him next week, and sloane gets a note, a messy piece of paper with scribbled handwriting in her mailbox when she gets home from work : hang tight, it says. whatever that means. see you soon. 

[volumehq]

WECOME TO THE YEAR 2000. ( volumehq season 2 world premiere ) 

The members of Runaway Yesterday stand before a meager crowd, instruments in hand. They’re stuck within that brief moment where your ears fill with white noise, you can feel your heart in your throat, and everything else is a blur. After all, this is their first real gig – and it’s at the fucking Battle of the Bands. 

“One, two, and a one, two, three, four!” 

The countdown rings out, KC’s drumsticks tapping together in a quick count of the beat and then the rest is all noise. There’s nothing left to rely on except the practice sessions and hard work they’ve poured into the last couple of weeks, hoping that autopilot will override the nerves. It’s a short set, considering they only have so much material pulled together, but when Ethan looks up after the first song, the crowd looks . . . bigger, somehow. And no one is booing or throwing tomatoes, they’re actually cheering. He beams. 

“Do you want another one?” Nisa calls into the mic, and the response isn’t booming or anything, it’s still the smallest stage at the venue, but there are actual cheers. Audible sounds of enjoyment, and the energy is good. The members of Runaway Yesterday can feel this in their veins, the palatable roar of the crowd, the excitement of connecting with the crowd over music that they’re playing. When they finish their set, they can hear people chanting their band’s name. 

“What’re they doing?” Josie asks, peering out from backstage. 

“Guys…” KC’s eyes widen, a slow smile spreading across his features. “I think they’re calling for an encore.”

With a slough of talented bands in the lineup, no one’s surprised when Runaway Yesterday doesn’t clinch first, second, or even third. No placement at all, actually, but spirits aren’t low when they’re packing up their stuff. Why? They weren’t bad. Sure, they weren’t fine-tuned perfection, but the crowd had liked them. They’d done an encore. And they’d had fun. Not bad for a first gig, especially with such stakes involved. Not bad at all.

“Hello? I’m looking for the manager of Runaway Yesterday?” He’s a tall, thin man with a bolo tie and spiked hair, like Billy Idol meets Bob Dylan. It’s a weird clash of aesthetics, but this guy makes it work in an eccentric sort of way. Trip lives up to his name by stumbling over Nisa’s bass on his way to greet them, “Yeah, that’s me!”

He holds out his hand to shake, which the man takes, introducing himself, “John Corrigan,” he states, getting a good look at all of the members with his sweeping gaze. “I’m a producer, used to work alongside Butch Vig on a few projects, but…I’m starting my own label.” Ethan’s eyebrows arch in surprise, leaning in to make sure he heard that right. The Butch Vig? Of Nirvana? He stands up a little straighter, quits slouching. 

“You guys are good. A little rough, maybe, but it’s the sound I’ve been looking for. I think you’ve got potential,” he says, an encouraging grin spreading across his features. He passes Trip a business card from his wallet. “Keep me updated on what you’re working on, give me a call when you’ve got a few more singles, send me a demo when you’ve got one . . . I’m thinking maybe we can work together.” 

His offer is conditional, of course, requires that they keep up the momentum of what they’ve started and really blow him out of the water with their next singles and a badass demo, but it’s an open door. They just can’t drop the ball now. 

In high spirits, the crew returns back to Woodstock late in the night. High Volume isn’t directly on the way back to Ethan’s house, but they cut through the center of town to get a good look at it anyway. The van stops short in front of the door. 

“Holy shit, is that – does that say ‘RE-OPENING SOON’?” 

PORTLAND, OREGON.

( DEPRESSION TW )

Jennifer Gordon left town when she was eighteen years old, pregnant and on her own, she kept her secrets and moved to Portland, Oregon to start anew. She didn’t keep in contact with anyone, even her younger brother Jerry. A Woodstock loser and pariah, she rebuilt her life, met and married a man and started living with a white picket fence, went to PTA meetings and pilates classes, living the perfect suburban life that she had always dreamed about. When she heard of Jerry’s passing, she was sad, but she hadn’t spoken to her brother in many years. He was young, though, and apparently not the most responsible of people. She shouldn’t have been too surprised that he didn’t keep a proper will.

As his only surviving relative on legal record, she inherited pretty much everything he had. Jenny didn’t really have time for all of that – she had a good life in Portland, a husband and two beautiful children, why would she ever go back to Woodstock? She just put Jerry’s house and store up for sale and tried to make it as easy for herself as possible. Until, over Christmas, she was blindsided by the fact that her husband had been cheating on her for years with a coworker and was finally leaving her. First, she fell into a deep depression, and didn't leave bed for weeks on end until her children convinced her otherwise. They were worried. Jenny had almost forgotten about all of Jerry’s property until one of her children pulled the paperwork out of a drawer while helping her clean the house. And so, in the midst of what one could call a midlife crisis, Jenny packed her things – and decided to move her life back to Woodstock for a fresh start all over again. Her children came with her, obligated to at least help their mother get on her feet after they saw her nearly starve herself to death out of sadness. 

Jerry didn’t keep great books, but Jenny made an attempt to contact his old employees, asking if they’d like to be interviewed again for their jobs. Jenny never knew the record store when Jerry started it, but there’s something about it that feels very much like home to her. She plays Joni Mitchell loudly on the stereo and dances around the back room, feeling like a kid again. Woodstock still holds this soft, nostalgic quality for her, reminds her of her childhood and all of that possibility. When everything felt dark, cleaning house in the back of the record store made Jenny feel alive again.

Jennifer Gordon will run a tighter ship than Jerry did, but in some ways, that could be a positive thing. The crumbling record store could probably benefit from some real management. However, Jennifer knows little about the mess that Jerry left behind. She’s wholly unprepared for the drug operation that will start to launder money under her nose, or the way former enemies of Jerry’s might come out of the woodwork to apply for positions at the store, hell bent on getting revenge for the gang members that were sent to jail. 

Is she really prepared to clean up the mess that her brother left behind?

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Woodstock itself doesn’t have any holding cells for serious prisons. It’s too small – so, let’s take a moment to visit the Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago, where some of the state’s biggest offenders are awaiting their court dates. Terry Carter and James Coughlan are among these, two men from Woodstock who used to operate a gambling ring outside of the Mean-Eyed Cat. Until Jerry Gordon racked up a little too much money and things got out of hand. Yeah, way out of hand. Terry’s wracked with guilt – after all, to him, they just meant to scare the guy. He feels terrible. James is trying to keep him together, because he lives on the other end of the spectrum : he’s PISSED. 

After all, he’s fairly certain they never would’ve been caught at all if it wasn’t for all of those meddling employees over at High Volume, the ones who couldn’t keep their mouths shut or their noses out of the investigation. And James wants revenge. So, when his best friend and former gang member comes to visit, they hatch a plan. If he can’t exonerate himself, he’ll bring others down with him.

“What if I can’t find anything that connects them to the case?” 

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to make something that does.”  

Yep, that’s right, High Volume is reopening under new management!

Muses can reapply for their jobs, pretty much, and I will be posting a task for you to fill out that allows for your muse to meet Jennifer – it’s basically a revamp of the original application, so a refresh. It’ll be fun to look back at your muse then and now.

Please let me know if you have any questions! I feel like the first season centered very much around Jerry missing, but this plot has a few moving parts, think of it as having a few different pieces that are connected by a thread. I’m always here to help clarify where you might need it, or even bounce around some ideas. 

[volumehq]

THE MORGUE.

Jamie ( @jcmiesingh ) watched Marty break into the police station a few weeks ago, kept his eye on how they picked the locks, so now he thinks he can do pretty much anything. At least, that’s what he tells Mack ( @mackfm​ ) when the idea of breaking into the morgue comes up. Alright, and maybe he’s been drinking a little, and there’s nothing like a little liquid courage to make you feel like you’re invincible if you take matters into your own hands.

On the logical front, Mack knows that she pretty much has no choice but to agree to Jamie’s plan, because if she doesn’t, then Jamie will go through with it himself anyway, and anyone can see that he’s definitely not okay. However, there is a bit of gnawing curiosity too, her illogical side, that just wants to know the truth to the mystery that’s been eating away at her free time the past few months. Of course she’s going to go.

Granted, this isn’t without texting Max ( @mvxsinc ) about it, because she needs to tell someone in case something goes wrong and Mack trusts Max can keep her mouth shut. What she doesn’t count on is Max being concerned and curious enough to ask if she can come too. When they stop home to get a few things – Jamie’s camera, a crowbar (you never know), and his phone, they run into another familiar face, posted up on the couch with his guitar.

“Woah, it’s a party. Where are you guys going?”

“Uh . . . the mo - nastary. The monastery,” Mack can’t lie fast enough.

“We have one of those in Woodstock?” Trip ( @tripfm ) tries to remember if he’s ever seen a monk around town, or one of those cool sand mandala things.

“No,” Max interjects. After the meeting this morning where they found out about the gunshot, she’s tired of the lies. “We’re going to the morgue. To see if the body they found is really...you know.”

“Holy shit.”

“Jesus. Is this fucker coming too?” Jamie asks when he emerges from his room with a backpack. Trip was going to say no, but when Jamie asks, sounding all annoyed like that, he insists on going just to be difficult. And that’s how they find themselves going to the morgue that afternoon, piecing together what little knowledge they have of the layout of Woodstock’s police station. Luckily, it’s not difficult, considering the small town station isn’t too large, and they find a backdoor that they’re able to jimmy open with some degree of difficulty. They’re moving fast, but there's a sense of dread that comes over them quickly – they’re minutes away from knowing the truth, and regardless of the outcome, it won’t be satisfying.

The sheriff has had what’s possibly the busiest day of his life. Things like this don’t really happen in Woodstock – they chase down robberies, arrest some drunk on the street, fund the police department by ticketing people for going seven over on Main Street and monitoring public parking like hawks. Dead bodies aren’t really his wheelhouse, especially suspicious ones, and when he looks up from his desk to see Marty Tsui ( @martytsui ) and KC Medina ( @kcmedinas ) walking in the front door of the station, he can’t help but sigh, heart sinking into his stomach. This long day is about to get a lot longer, he can feel it.

Before he has time to address them, his radio goes off, letting him know that the silent alarm is going off in the back. Fucking hell.

“I’ll be with you guys in a minute,” he says, turning away and heading toward the back. He breaks into a sprint, when he comes into contact with Max Sinclair. She looks dumbfounded when she sees him, because she was supposed to be keeping watch, but she’s not actually sure what to do now that someone’s actually making a beeline toward the morgue.

“Uh – sir? I was just looking for the –” Max starts her haphazard cover story/distraction, but the sheriff keeps walking, which she hadn’t planned for.  

“What the hell are you kids up . . .” the words die on the sheriff's lips as he rounds the corner. His eyes fall on the door handle of the morgue, which is unscrewed half-off the door, and Jamie Singh with a screwdriver in his hand. Mack’s holding his backpack, and Trip stands still with his back turned, oblivious to what’s going on as he keeps watch out the back door.

“All of you with me. NOW,” he orders, “or this is going to get real ugly.” The sheriff already knew that this was going to be bad the second he locked eyes with Jamie Singh, someone already on his call list for the day. The remainder of the force arrives to help him cart Jamie, Max, Mack, and Trip off to separate rooms within the station, where the story comes together. It’s not too hard to figure out from there – they wanted to see for themselves whether that body in the river might be Jerry Gordon, and they took matters into their own hands instead of calling the police. There’s a clear negativity towards authority there, which the sheriff already gleaned from their neglect to report their boss missing in the case that it is him.

It’s all a bit complicated, but the guys seem to agree that the first priority is identifying the body. Around this time, the staties arrive at the station and say that they’ll take things from here, which pisses the sheriff the hell off, but he says nothing and goes to the front to talk to Marty and KC, letting them know that they’re aware of Jerry’s disappearance. The staties hold Mack, Jamie, Trip, and Max at the station for the rest of the day to collect their statements. They ask Jamie if he’d be willing to take a look at the body, to see if he can identify it as his father.

Jamie agrees.

The body is confirmed to be Jerry Gordon.

At half past midnight, they let Jamie, Mack, Trip, and Max go. The police will call the rest of the employees of High Volume to the station early the next morning to conduct individual interviews and take statements.

The next morning, High Volume is marked off with caution tape, and a large closed sign hangs in the window, lights off. As it’s part of an official investigation, it will remain closed and locked to the public with all deliveries halted. It feels like the beginning of an end.

Summary: Jamie, Mack, Trip, and Max attempt to break into the morgue. When they’re caught, they’re held at the station. Jamie is asked to identify the body, and confirms that it is Jerry.

Coming Soon: Interview task! Your character’s police interview will be our next task, posted later this week. While the characters complicit in the break-in have their interviews on the day they’re caught, all other characters will have their interviews the following day. The task post will have details including the general questions your character will be asked, so stay tuned.

[volumehq]

THE WINTER BLUES.

Days pass like a blur as the employees from High Volume deliver their statements, trying to process what’s happened. The store itself is completely locked up, surrounded by yellow tape as it becomes part of an ongoing investigation into what happened with Jerry Gordon. The months they spent pretending he was alive were enjoyed with a sort of ignorant bliss, little care for the looming anxiety that clouded overhead – after all, that’s when they still had a sort of hope. And now he’s gone. Jerry Gordon was a man held captive by his own devices for most of his life, things that kept him from settling down, from having a family, but the one thing he always was able to hold steady was his old record store. Once his devices killed him, that didn’t really matter so much any more.

So, time passes. November fades into December, and the employees of High Volume have to find other ways to pass the time. After the funeral and memorial service, questions still hang in the air regarding Jerry Gordon’s death. It’s on the morning of Friday, December 10th, that it all seems to come together. An anonymous phone call tips the police off to the Mean-Eyed Cat, and when they start questioning and comparing with the data on Jerry’s phone, the truth starts to slowly unravel.

The paper the next morning reads:

Two Apprehended For the Murder of Local Record Store Owner

It details Jerry’s exorbitant gambling debt, racked up over the years, and reveals documents that the store itself was also going under, hanging on by a thread. Before he disappeared, Jerry had actually been in talks to sell the place – despite vehemently denying that he would never do so, that he wasn’t a sell out. All this would tell anyone that knew him was that the guy was getting desperate.

The perpetrators themselves are calling the incident an accident – that they just meant to scare the guy, to get him to take them seriously. They hadn’t meant for him to actually get hurt. Perhaps that explains the messiness of the job, a body dumped in the river with no alibis, the case itself is pretty open and shut. After all, these sorts of things don’t typically happen in idyllic Woodstock. The perpetrators themselves will sit in jail a couple towns away, awaiting trial, where they’ll inevitably end up in a state prison.

As for the High Volume crew? Well, as if losing your job around the holidays wasn’t enough hardship, they’re served a court date notice on account of certain forgeries. Granted, it doesn’t look terrible – the most they’re looking at is a hefty fine, which could be considerably lessened by the fact that Jerry approved them to sign things for him all the time. Maybe it’ll amount to nothing, but either way, they’ll be showing up to court on an early February morning to see exactly how much debt they’ll rack up as a result. Seems about fitting regarding the circumstances.

Stores all around Main St have started decorating for Christmas, bright lights in all the shops, and life in Woodstock seems to return to a sort of normal cadence. Or, as best as it can. After all, for most of the town, this was just an interesting bit of gossip, something to whisper about when an employee of High Volume entered the room. But for the employees of High Volume, their eyes will linger on the only store that isn’t decorated for the holidays, the first year in their entire lives that they haven’t seen the colorful lights in the window, the sound of classic Christmas songs lilting from the sound system indoors. Instead, it’s dark, unchanged.

Well, except for the next Friday morning. A week later, on December 17th, a sign shows up in front of the store. ‘FOR SALE’ is all it says, along with the details of a real estate company in town.

But who’s selling it ? Where is the money going ? And what’s going to become of the old record store that they poured everything into these last few months ? 

Hi, everyone! This generally ends the ‘Season One’ plot arc here, so huge shout out to all of you for getting through it with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it because I’ve had a lot of fun and I think the gang grew together in so many ways trying to cover up the mystery, but there was a point where it would have extended it’s due. So, we’ll have a bit of off time from plot drops and in the new year, we’ll come back with some new shenanigans and unfold the ‘Season Two’ arc . . . I don’t think they’ll be out of a job for too long :)

So, for the rest of December, I just have some fun things planned. A little holiday task and Discord event that we’ll use to pay our respects to Jerry Gordon, and then we’ll of course have a New Year’s event for maximum chaos leading into the new year! Hope you’re all as excited about these things as I am. As usual, we will take a little activity check hiatus over the holidays, so all of these things will be completely optional. And, of course, I welcome all of y’alls feedback, so definitely approach me if you have ideas or things you’d like for me to include. I’ll also be posting a little anonymous survey just to get a pulse on how things have been going for you here and provide a space for me to get some feedback as I plan for future stuff!

Thank you guys for keeping Volume going this long AND this strong, I feel like this is one of the most successful, if not the most successful roleplay that I’ve ever had the chance to admin, and that’s hugely in part because of you guys and your continued activity/enthusiasm. So, thank you all so much!

[volumehq]

BODY FOUND SOUTH OF WOODSTOCK.

that’s what all the headlines read on monday morning, november 8th, 1999. every newspaper is running the story – unidentified white male, in his 30s, pulled out of the kishwaukee river, just south of woodstock, IL. marty tsui’s stepfather was at the station all night, dealing with staties. state troopers don’t come to play when there’s no foul play involved : in fact, usually the papers will state so clearly when that is the case. there’s no word of that this time, just an apparently unidentified body with no known suspects. 

the first snow of the year has begun to fall, but no one’s talking about the weather. 

word travels fast, especially in a town like woodstock. people talk when someone’s born or when someone dies, and not a lot happens in between. sure, there’s some petty crime, drug-related scandal, all the things that you’d expect in a small town with nothing better to do, but rarely is there a murder with a supposed john doe on the line. everyone’s mother’s been on the phone all day, town gossip spreading like wildfire. the only comfort is that police have stated that they believe it is an isolated incident, and there’s no reason to fear. georgie whitcomb of the PTA is already drafting a petition for enforced curfew anyway, but more people are caught up in the mystery than the fear-mongering to pay her any mind. 

the vibe in high volume is different. anyone with their head screwed on has a sinking feeling – after all, jerry’s been missing for months, and he certainly fits the profile of this body that everyone in town won’t shut up about. you’d have to be an idiot to look the other way – the employees of high volume have already been doing so for months. they’re well past the stage of denial. but what does that mean ? should they go and confirm if it’s jerry ? but wouldn’t that mean reporting him missing ? and how do they explain who’s been signing his books ? 

perhaps it was a sort of insurance that the mayor’s daughter is so entrenched in this, that nellie duvall herself has been signing their paychecks. but it’s still probably not enough to drag them out of this mess, and everyone knows that.

they’re not exactly a team, but they’ve stuck together this long, and now that it’s come to this, it’s time that everyone got together and came clean about what they know and what they’ve seen. it’s gotten to a point that the only way out of this is through, and when you’re about to become potential suspects in a murder case . . . well, the most important thing you can do is get your story fucking straight. they’re on a race against the clock, time ticking fast, and the group will have to meet before the cops themselves come knocking.

tl;dr – a body was found in the river south of town, and state police have arrived. woodstock is buzzing with gossip and rumors.

the employees of high volume probably know a little more than the average citizen of woodstock, but they’re in some big trouble. time to get stories straight.

how so ? GROUP MEETING. we’ll do this via discord event. this one will be dialogue only to keep things moving and to make it easy to participate on mobile as well. otherwise, it’ll work similarly to past events.

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