Idol hackers

As soon as the performance was over, I looked around to notice there were now a lot more people in sand scooters. I even noticed some filled with alien races, but before I could ask about them, the scooter began moving.

"We thank you for enjoying the Gobi's famous throat singing death worms. Now onto the oasis and the main event," Irina grinned.

An oasis she says? Rather than ask, I decided to just sit silently as I figured I'd find out soon enough. Noticing that the other sand scooters were following us did make ask about some of the alien races present on them. Selena was more than happy to explain and went over all the ones present, and even gave me some more insight on Lyn's race, the Elflen race.

Before I knew it, we arrived at our destination... which was just more sand?

I turned to Irina and Selena, but both were all smiles, telling me that something crazy like the neon death worms was about to happen. Sure enough, I was right.

Water-jets suddenly burst forth from the sand, forming a path of sorts to neon-lit stage that suddenly appeared from nowhere. A large screen appeared above it, showing a close up view of two girls onstage. One had long green hair and was manning a DJ turntable while the other had red and orange multicolored hair styled in drilltails.

"Wazzup, y'all! You ready for some action!?" the girl with drilltails grinned.

The crowd responded enthusiastically, chanting, "Suzie-chan, Suzie-chan!"

I assume that girl's name is Suzie then, but what about the other?

"That's Suzie Sunset, a top idol in the area. Her partner's Delina Dubov, the musical genius behind the band," Selena stated.

Then before I knew it, Suzie began singing and performing. It really was like watching an idol concert in Japan. And just like an idol show, glow-sticks were present, though now they were more akin to you literally holding beams of light. Weirdly enough, the light solidified when I grabbed it, and it didn't hurt at all to touch.

"So can ya do any crazy dances with these?" Irina asked as she began clumsily waving the light around.

"No. I've seen some crazy scenes of people dancing with these things, both live and online, but I'm not one of them. I can wave the sticks around, sure, but I'm not like a... ...!?"

My thoughts were interrupted as I took notice of Serena doing exactly what Irina was hoping I could do. Even Irina seemed shocked at this sight. Is Selena a mega music fan?

...

I bet those two are surprised to see a more relaxed and serious person like me suddenly rock out like crazy, both here and back at the death worms. Well, I'm actually really into "vibing" as they say at live music venues.

I'm unable to explain why, but the atmosphere just pumps me up and makes me want to let loose. Perhaps it could be viewed as stress relief? Unwinding? Though stress isn't exactly a factor in my life, aside from Irina's occasional antics. I'm quite satisfied with my status quo life, but Irina might be a different story.

Often times I've seen her with a depressed look on her face, as if life bores her. One of the superiors even informed me that she was asking about if it was possible to put people in stasis in this era.

This is the era many of the past dreamed of, which is why we chose this time to release all from amberstasis. The fact that Irina seemingly wants to go into stasis herself, tells me she must be bored with this world. But seeing her smiling genuinely so much after showing Hana around, gives me hope. Though to think she'd drop her jaw so much by me showing off my dance moves. Perhaps maybe, I too can help show her the joys of this utopian era.

...

Once the concert ended, the other spectators began to head off, though we went the opposite direction, heading for the stage. Ah! The hacker! I completely forgot about them! I guess maybe they work on the stage, or could that Delina girl be the hacker? I could certainly see it, considering she was mixing that music like mad.

"You might be queuing in on the fact, but I'll tell you just in case. The hacker we're seeking is here," Selena nodded.

"Figured."

"But can ya guess who the hacker is before the reveal?" Irina grinned.

"Hmm... Delina."

"Final answer?"

Hmm, could it not be Delina? Don't tell me it's Suzie herself.

"It might be a little unfair to spring the question on her when she doesn't even know those two well. Though I guess this counts as a hint to narrow things down," Selena chuckled.

So the hacker's either Suzie or Delina. At a glance, Delina certainly looks like the hacker type, but my gut is screaming that Suzie's actually the hacker. With that confident personality of hers I could see her being the type that's actually good at everything.

"Ugh, they both could be the hacker! I'm not good at things like this!"

"OK, no further questioning then," Irina grinned as the scooter docked.

We made our ways inward before stopping at what was presumably Suzie and Delina's dressing room. Irina quickly waved and the door suddenly opened.

"Irina? The hell are you doing here?" Delina scowled as she answered.

Whoa, she's got more attitude than I thought.

"Sorry to bother ya, but we're in need of a big hack. Think you can get tech from 2024 compatible with Viewtube?"

"This one of your pet projects? Buzz off."

"It's for Miss Hana Hangetsu here who we just revived from amberstasis," Selena stated.

Delina's whole demeanor appeared to change as she laid eyes on me. If I could describe the look on her face, it appeared to be... fear? But why? Why would she be afraid of me.

"Wh- What year are you from?" Delina trembled.

"2024."

And as soon as I said that, she let out a noticeable sigh of relief.

"All good. Come on in. Oi Suzie! We got guests!"

I began to get a bit nervous at the prospect of meeting Suzie. I had never gotten a backstage pass to meet a major idol before, so my body began trembling with anticipation... but Suzie didn't appear.

"OI! Get your ass over here!" Delina fumed as she stormed over to the couch and dragged what appeared to be a timid and nervous Suzie over.

"H- H- H- Hi! I- I'm S- S- Suzie..."

No way, she was exuding confidence just a short while ago on stage. Is this her true personality.

"Sorry about this dolt. She's actually a nervous wreck behind the scenes. Though she is capable of being confident when a crowd forms. Name's Delina Dubov. She's Suzie Sunset. In addition to being musicians, we're also coders at Viewtube, though Irina probably referred to us as hackers. I get we technically do hack, but I prefer to be called a coder."

"And there you have it. You got it right, Hana," Irina clapped.

"Huh what do you mean?"

"You said 'they both could be the hacker' and that was right! Both Delina and Suzie are hackers, though Suzie's the more skilled of the two. Nice job seeing through the trick question."

"...HUH!?"