A great night sky, bleached with light pollution, revealed itself as the limousine drove onto the field of the stadium. It was a titanic arena, filled with fifty-thousand lives who all screamed with the vehicle's entrance. The roar of their collective voices shook the windows like some hideous wind, and Aster could feel the hairs on her arms stand up. There they were, she thought, looking up at the sky high rows of seats. An adoring public, beyond this upholstered door, waiting; a city's worth of lives who thought she was the most important person in the world.
Their cries only grew as a chauffeur opened the door and she was quickly rushed to stage. The platform was a field of nested cables, equipment, and instruments, filled with a retinue of roadies and managers who ran about in last minute panic. She moved toward the microphone, and looked out. The audience was a roiling sea of melting gold, all glittering and twinkling like every star in the sky had been dumped into this stadium. This is what life is about, she thought with an excited burning in her chest. The personal triumph of creativity. She slipped the guitar strap over her neck, stepped forward, and struck a chord—
—She tore her eyes from the poster. There were no fans here, only one sad girl on her bed amongst cables, and pedals, and dusty analog instruments — the remnants of her battle, now in its final stages. She looked back at the poster baring her triumphant face, scrunched and eyes closed, as she struck a power-chord under a flood of stage lights and screaming fans. The Love You Forevers in Concert!