Chapter 212 - Post – Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery

(cont'd)

Getting Kim's permission to look around, Tayaw goes to the nearest shelf near him and grabs a record. He however notices that the record cover is b.a.r.e, not even a word written on it. Tayaw looks at the others and they too do not have anything written in them. 'Probably just a representation of the View Point exchange. Just like the roulette.' Tayaw realizes.

As he looks around more however, a strange feeling dawn upon him.

The towering shelves around him, spreading to the distance like buildings, along with remembering the numbers Kim spouted to him earlier, is giving him an overwhelming sense of being very small.

That feeling of insignificance however is fueling a budding sense of responsibility.

"The only bridge between these great works and my world is me. What happens when I die eventually? Will these disappear along with me?" Tayaw cannot help but feel the pressure.

"But I can't possible recreate these all by myself…" Tayaw starts hyperventilating at the task at hand, his limbs starting to tingle, his head starting to feel light. 

A few moments later.

"Nah... Nah, nah, nah. There's no way. Whoever sent me back in time and rewarded me with this, has the power I can barely comprehend. They had the power to make me a slave to reproduce these things, but they didn't. Of course, they could also have a back-up plan in case I did something stupid that killed me…" Tayaw recovers with the help of his own rationalization. 

"Still… F*ck my guilt. F*ck my pride. In case this white void really dies with me someday, I'll have to recreate the ones I want and can…  The movies for starters. Film makers in my world are learning quick like Jouny, Xiao Song, and Gary are. Actors are getting better day by day. It'll take more time for the world to catch up with the films I've released, but when it's all ready, I'll flood the market…

"Maybe there will come a time when the films made in my world can finally match the ones in here. By then, I won't have to reproduce anymore films." Tayaw takes a deep breath, feeling better by his planning. 

"Alright. I've seen enough." As Tayaw wills it, he is transported outside the 'Arts Records Shop'.

"What about you?" Tayaw talks to the record he received from Kim, wondering how to use it. 

"F*ck it." Tayaw simply shakes the record cover vertically and he catches what looks like a white vinyl record that slid out from under it. As soon as the entirety of the disc is out from its cover, Tayaw had no time to examine it as it starts dissipating in his hand into white smoke.

The white smoke then condenses back into a shape of a string and it stabs Tayaw in the head. *sss* Tayaw takes a deep breath, startled and scared by the proceedings. The next moment, a headache came and Tayaw holds his head to endure it. 

"Phew… Thank goodness, it wasn't that bad." Tayaw sighs in relief as the final strand of smoke enters his head.

"But… what the f.u.c.k is Post – Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery?" Tayaw is dumbfounded, finding nothing has changed.

"Come to think of it… If I received the perfect pitch without my knowledge, or even if I was born with it, maybe it'll take me a while to years to realize I have it…" Tayaw tries his hard to think further of the ability he just acquired. 

"Imagery, Imagery… the only thing I can think of is Guided Imagery by those Psychologist wannabes… Hmmm.. Maybe it's like that?" Tayaw guesses as he switches his vision from the direction of where Earl's Guitar and Dolan's Pen is, to an empty portion of the void.

"Let's imagine…" Tayaw closes his eyes.

"Gonzalo…" Tayaw then opens his eyes and is almost shocked at what he is seeing.

Right in front of him, is a transparent featureless shadow of Gonzalo Coniglio, sitting on a high-tech wheelchair, just like how Gonzalo was the last time Tayaw saw him conscious.

"Silhouette… Gonzalo's eyes… nose… lips… hair…" The more Tayaw tries to remember what Gonzalo looked like, Gonzalo's silhouette gains each feature that Tayaw is thinking of.

"That's not right…" Tayaw notices that the Gonzalo in front of him has wrong features.

"No. Eyes were like this… nose like this…" Tayaw tweaks Gonzalo's image more, with his enhanced brain and memory making it easy for him to do so.

"Finally. His gummy smile." Tayaw is finally done, and a clear Gonzalo is in front of him, wearing his grandfatherly gummy smile.

"Hello. Gonzalo." Tayaw greets his own imagination.

"Ciao, bambino." His imagination of Gonzalo replies, weirding Tayaw out.

"… NO." Tayaw says and the image of Gonzalo simply disappears as if it was never there.

"Holy f*ck… Eerie… and Dangerous." Tayaw sighs in relief.

"Post – Congenital Perfect Creative Imagery my b.u.t.t. Why not just name it 'Perfect Imagination'?" Tayaw criticizes the name of the ability to shrug off how eerie it was.

"Thankfully, I need focus to do it. Or else, my stray thoughts will blend into my perception of the real world. Wouldn't that be a shit show…" Tayaw chuckles. And with that, he is kicked out of the white void. 

~~

2 PM – Snail Records, Nashville TN

"Hey… did Isaac really sign with us?" Bart asks the young woman, Angela, standing beside him in front of the receptionist table at Snail Records' lobby.

"Yeah. Cody said so himself." Angela says, her gaze switching between the direction of the main entrance and the corridor leading to the back entrance of the building, obviously watching out for Tayaw.\.

"I don't get why Cody had to call us in though? We didn't hear from him for a month and we got this news. Does he want us to welcome the guy like a king?" Bart says, rolling his eyes.

"Heh. Ain't that true. I don't see why Isaac has anything to do with us. I should be at Percy Priest right now, fishin'." Angela says. 

"Why did he have to sign with us, though?" Bart sighs in frustration.

"What do you mean? We get a share by his popularity at least." Angela says.

"Yeah. But now the label's attention and marketing will all be focused on him, instead of us. We've been here from the start." Bart says in barely suppressed indignation.

"… True… well... It's not like you have anything going on right now, right? I don't. By the time Cody has songs for me, Isaac's probably back to making films again." Angela shrugs.

"That-.. well, whatever. He's already famous. He doesn't need a label." Bart says.

"… That's true. I can't believe Cody pulled him in. Not to mention, he's one of the best I've seen." Angela says.

"Still, if he gets more special treatment than Strawberry Front has, I'm gonna quit." Bart says.

"Psh… are you serious? Will other labels even treat you as well as Cody is doing?" Angela scoffs, shutting Bart up. 

Suddenly, something catches Bart at the corner of his eyes. He spots a tall, handsome man enter through the main door.

Bart would have simply glanced over the man had he not noticed something strange. The man is wearing sports casual outfit; too thick for the hot and humid August weather of Nashville. He also notices the man's fair, but non-Caucasian skin; belonging to an ethnicity that is rarely seen in a Nashville record label.

"… Isaac…" Bart utters in realization.

Having watched the man's performances online more times that he wants to admit, it did not take much for pieces to click in Bart's head that the man who just arrived is Tayaw. 

"What?" Angela hears what Bart just muttered and she perks up.

Before she can find Tayaw, Tayaw is already in front of the two.

"Hi! Bart, right? And, Angela! Nice to meet you two. I've seen both your pictures in this place." Tayaw greets them and offers his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too!" "Hey man." Angela and Bart can only subconsciously greet Tayaw.

"…" The two however soon cannot say anything further; star struck that the man they consider as the best artist of their generation is in front of them.

"Let's go talk to Cody first, he must be waiting for us. Then let's get to know each other." Tayaw says, pulling the two out of their daze. 

~~~

"Isaac! You're back!" Cody welcomes Tayaw to the label's studio.

"Cody. You look happy." Tayaw notes.

"…" Bart and Angela can only exchange glances at each other after being ignored by their own CEO.

"Of course, I am! Let me tell you. So far, we've booked 57 shows! That's enough for twelve weeks!" Cody gladly reports.

"Nice…" Tayaw, despite having an idea at how many people listened to his songs, is still surprised that many venues want him.

"…" Bart and Angela immediately realize that Tayaw is planning a concert tour.

"Kid. Why not extend your tour until January? Or February?" Cody asks.

"Nah. Maybe when I release my next album, I'll tour longer." Tayaw says.

"That's a shame… There are more who are interested after the venues we booked bragged to them. If you want them all, you can tour for a whole year straight." Cody says.

"…" Bart and Angela can only hide their jealousy at the number of shows Tayaw is going to have and could have.

"How about the backing band's practice? Are they going well?" Tayaw asks.

"Heh. You have very strict standards but they're good. They were rather happy that you're doing southern rock and folk rock instead of just country." Cody says.

"Yeah. I find it a waste of their skills for them just to play boring stuff." Tayaw nods. 

Bart cannot listen any further.

"Cody… Why are we here? I'm not sure if we're even allowed to listen to your business with Isaac." Bart says.

"Right… Let's go, Bart." Angela too is feeling disrespected. 

As the two young singers turn around to leave the room, "WAIT. Wait." Cody realizes how ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e he was. Fortunately his words are enough to stop Bart and Angela from leaving.

"*sigh* I'm sorry guys. Isaac. It's better if it comes from you." Cody says. 

"Bart… Angela… I heard you two need new songs. How would you like to listen to the songs I have written for you two?" Tayaw gets to the point immediately.

"…" Bart and Angela are speechless at the offer. "S-sure..." Angela manages to get a word out. 

"Well… that too. But I was talking about the two of joining the line-up for his tour. That's the priority for now." Cody adds.

"…" Bart and Angela were speechless earlier, now they start hyperventilating.