One Man Band System

After finishing their individual practice, Eric called Priya and Chloe out and led them up to the stage to join Heidi. They started plugging the guitar and bass into the amplifiers while Eric took his seat behind the drum kit, which was a standard acoustic set rather than an electronic one.

"Alright... let’s try playing this together. Make sure to hold the tempo, okay?" Eric said.

"We got it," Priya, Chloe, and Heidi replied cheerfully.

Meanwhile, off-stage right in front of the band, Emma, Monica, and Laura watched with high anticipation. Emma raised her phone to record, and Laura did the same.

"Click... click... click... click."

Eric clicked his drumsticks together four times, and right on the fourth count, they launched into it. Eric laid down the initial beat, then Heidi came in first, followed closely by Chloe. Finally, Priya joined in on guitar. Their seamless, fast-paced melody instantly filled the venue, the sheer energy nearly throwing Emma, Monica, and Laura off guard as their hearts pounded to the rhythm.

"Whoa... that’s awesome! I had no idea Priya, Chloe, and Heidi could play that well," Monica said in awe.

"Eric coached them," Emma noted.

"Makes sense," Laura replied.

"The track is great, right?" Emma asked proudly.

"Yeah... what’s it called?" Monica asked.

"Hmm... Eric said it’s Strangers Destiny, but I told him it sounds too corny. I think Strangers Road is way better," Emma answered confidently.

"Uh... what even is that? That’s way cornier than Eric’s title. Forget it, let’s just not give it a name at all," Laura complained.

"Ugh... shut up. Fine, whatever, maybe it’s better if we don’t give it a title at all," Emma said, giving up.

They all listened as the full instrumental melody echoed through the room for about three minutes. Once the song wrapped up, Priya, Chloe, and Heidi stared down at the instruments they had just played, then turned their heads to look at Eric as he set down his drumsticks. There was a look of pure awe and disbelief in their eyes, as if the track they had just performed couldn’t possibly have come from their own hands.

"Even during individual practice... I thought this song was amazing. But once we put it all together... wow... I’m completely speechless," Heidi said.

"Yeah, absolutely. Incredible... you’re seriously a genius, Eric," Chloe added.

"Did I... actually just play that well? I... completely can’t believe it. This melody... even though it’s heavy, it’s also so smooth... it’s truly incredible," Priya muttered, staring down at her own hands.

"Hmm... look, let’s try playing it just a fraction slower next time. I was compensating for your timing just now, which is why it sounded like we were all in sync. Let’s run it one more time, and after that, we’ll try a real take for recording," Eric said.

"Don’t worry, I already recorded the whole thing," Emma said, stepping up onto the stage alongside Monica and Laura.

Emma hit play on the recording and ran the song back from start to finish. Heidi, Priya, and Chloe listened intently, and they realized he was right. Their individual rhythms had been rushing and overlapping, and the only thing holding them together into a beautiful, cohesive harmony was Eric’s drumming.

It clicked for the three of them right then and there: if they executed their parts flawlessly and stuck strictly to the sheets Eric had given them, the melody would easily sound twice as good. Fired up with new energy, they scrambled back to their positions and took another close look at their music sheets.

"Let’s go one more time, Eric," Heidi said.

"Yeah... let’s get it right this time," Chloe added enthusiastically.

"Come on, come on... let’s start," Priya chimed in.

"Alright, let’s take it from the top," Eric said, picking his drumsticks back up.

They launched into the song once more, while Emma, Monica, and Laura stepped back down from the stage. This time, before they even reached the end, Eric cut the music to patiently guide the three of them one by one, since they weren’t all making mistakes at the same time. Finally, after running through it about five or six more times, they hit perfect harmony.

This time, Emma and Laura, who were still recording, were completely blown away. The melody the four of them pulled off was on a whole different level—crisp, tight, and seamlessly locked in. It even carved out space for a blazing guitar solo, followed by standout moments for the bass, keyboard, and drums.

Listening and watching them perform, Emma, Monica, and Laura’s hearts were racing, massive grins plastered across their faces.

"Whoa," was the only word running through their heads in absolute awe.

"Crash," "Twaaaang," "Buzz."

The song came to an end. Priya, Chloe, and Heidi were completely out of breath, but they looked incredibly satisfied, massive grins stretching across their sweaty faces. Eric was panting too, looking thoroughly pleased. The melody they just pulled off was exactly what he had imagined in his head, and he was thrilled to have finally brought it to life. But before any of them could say a word,

"Clap... clap... clap,"

They immediately turned to look at Emma, Monica, and Laura. To their surprise, the three girls were looking back toward the entrance as well. Standing behind them was a crowd of about twenty people. They looked like random pedestrians, still wearing long coats, jackets, and hoodies, who happened to be walking by, heard the music, wandered into the venue, and started applauding.

There was no telling how long they had been standing there, though they hadn’t moved into the center of the room and were just gathering by the doorway. Laura immediately snapped her head around to glare at Monica.

"Monica, did you forget to close the rolling door earlier?" Laura asked.

"Oh... um... oops," Monica replied, turning pale and looking guilty.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you? I literally just told you to close it earlier," Laura shot back.

"I’m sorry... please don’t be mad," Monica replied.

"Oh no... what do we do now?" Emma muttered.

Eric, Priya, Heidi, and Chloe immediately set down their instruments and walked to the edge of the stage. They helped each other hop down and rushed over to join Emma, Monica, and Laura, who were standing there completely lost.

Ultimately, Eric walked over to the crowd and talked things through with them politely. Naturally, many of them chatted back with him cheerfully before heading out of the venue one by one, saying their goodbyes to Eric on the way.

Seeing that, Emma, Monica, and Laura immediately felt a wave of relief, while Priya, Chloe, and Heidi shot them sharp glares, crossing their arms over their chests. Eric followed the last person out, and a moment later,

"Clang."

The sound of the rolling door slamming shut echoed from a distance. Eric then walked back over to the six girls, who were now sitting casually on the edge of the stage. Even from a distance, he could hear Emma playing back the recording she had just made. Eric took a look at the video Emma had captured.

"Hmm... this works. I don’t think we need to record it again," Eric said.

Emma, Monica, Laura, Heidi, Priya, and Chloe’s eyes went wide all at once, and the six of them instantly hopped down from the fairly high stage.

"Are you serious? We’re actually going to share this exact one?" Emma asked, pointing to her phone.

"Yep... please send it over to me," Eric answered.

"But... I’m not even wearing any makeup," Chloe said, touching her cheeks.

"Same... I’m not really feeling confident in this outfit," Heidi added, looking down at herself.

"Yeah, true... plus we look like... ugh, I look awful," Priya chimed in, holding both sides of her face.

"Why is that what you’re focusing on? Just look at your expressions when we were all playing together," Eric said.

Eric immediately played the video once more on his own phone, since Emma had just sent it over to him. He held the screen up for Priya, Heidi, and Chloe to see. As they closely watched their own faces, they saw how genuinely happy, free, and completely unburdened they looked.

It was only then that they realized they had been truly lost in the moment, having the absolute time of their lives playing that melody. The three of them immediately turned to look at each other, then looked back at the video and started smiling freely all over again.

"See? If we did a retake, there’s no guarantee you’d capture that same expression, right?" Eric asked.

"Hehe... true. We’d probably be stiff and nervous knowing we were being recorded," Heidi answered.

"Yeah... we might actually mess up because we’d be under so much pressure," Priya added.

"Well... I guess I still look pretty good in the video since I was smiling like that, hehe," Chloe chimed in.

"Yep... don’t worry, all three of you look beautiful," Eric said completely casually, without any hidden meaning.

But the three of them instantly turned as red as ripe tomatoes and snapped around to face away from him, leaving Eric totally bewildered. Meanwhile, off to the side, Monica and Laura quietly edged away from Emma, who looked like a volcano on the absolute brink of eruption.

Eric opened his app and immediately uploaded the video Emma had sent to his profile. He let out a sigh of relief; now, all he had to do was wait for the view count to tick up to finally complete his quest.