Songs Across The Seas (A Hatsune Miku Story)

One

10:30 pm. Colorado.

A young man; just turned 18: Alexander Diaz. He sat in his small, rented out home, staring at his laptop. His account was opened up to an email from his agent: Katherine Peterson. It read:

Alex,

We've been working together for a few years now. We've overcome some real obstacles in that time, including the doubts of those who weren't behind us. It's been almost a full year and a half now, and we haven't been making any real efforts to get back on track and making hits again. I don't want to force you back in if you don't want to make music anymore, but you need to let me know. We need to pick up the ball again, Alexander. Call me or email me back as soon as you read this, and let me know where it is you stand.

Kathy.

Alex pulled out his iPhone, and called Kathy. The phone rang a few times, then Kathy answered. "Hello?" She said. "Hey Kathy. It's Alex." "Hey Alex. Did you finally get around to reading the email I sent you this afternoon?" "Yeah. Uh, what do you mean by 'we need to pick up the ball again'?" He heard Kathy sigh over the phone. "I'll be honest with you, Alex, this is a very big dry spell, and it's seriously starting to affect your career. Production values have dropped hard, and people have lost a lot of interest." Alex sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "Alright. So basically, I need a new way to get back into the game?" "That's exactly what needs to happen, or you'll be retired from music."

Kathy sighed a bit, unhappy to have to be the one to deliver this hard hitting message to Alex, who she considered to be a good friend as well as her favorite client. "I'm going to do everything I can to help, but it'll take a lot of effort on your part to make it happen." Alex nodded. "Right." Alex got up and started pacing back and forth. He was silent for a bit. Kathy waited patiently. "Alright alright...I'll work on some...hmm...melodies! Maybe with some time I can get some kind of EP in the works." Alex suggested, a little unsure of himself. Kathy could hear it though, and heard the old, energized Alex that she'd met three years ago when he first started making music.

Kathy nodded. "You do that, Alex. Maybe we can find some opportunities to get people interested again." "Alright. I'll look around too, find some new sounds." Alex suggested, clicking tabs on his computer and clearing his desktop. "Yeah that's a good idea. I'll let you know when I've found something, if I'm able to do so." "Yeah. Thanks Kathy." Alex said quickly. "Just doing my job, Alex." Kathy said with a small smile. "Right. Well, it's late, so I'll let your thing and I'll do mine. I'll try to put in extra time, since it'll just be me on this." "Good." Kathy said. "Bye Alex." "Bye." Alex said, hanging up.

Alex sat on his bed and sighed, rubbing his eyes and uttering a curse under his breath. He opened up his favorite music program on his laptop, and began to build a beat from scratch.

***

7:30 am. Tokyo, Japan.

We leave Alexander now, and change settings to Hatsune Miku's penthouse hotel room. She isn't up yet, however; she's still sleeping peacefully under her sheets. Her phone began to vibrate on the nightstand by her bed, waking her up from her sleep. Miku's eyes opened, and she began to grumble irritably. She rolled over and picked up the phone, sliding her thumb across the screen to answer it. She held it up to the side of her face. "Hello?" She said irritably.

"Morning Miku. It's Hiru." Miku rolled her eyes. Hiru: her agent. The two have been putting up with each other and going back and forth for a number of years now. The only reason Miku kept him around was because he was good at his job, good enough that is. "Why am I getting a call from you right now? You know I sleep in until 10 when I've no other plans." She heard a faint sigh from Hiru on the other end. He took a deep breath. "Right. I've got some bad news. Uh, there's been a slight but growing decrease of interest in your latest releases, from a few months ago."