The personal recording studio of Brainstorm In A Bottle, one of the top ten thousand most popular bands in Consensus Space, was situated in as remote a location as was possible. When it was first built for them it hovered above an untouched wilderness almost five thousand kilometers from the nearest settlement. A week later there was a small town directly beneath it.

Caggie Fairweather sat by the window scowling at the town below while she meticulously restrung her guitar. Zoya Orchid, the band's vocaster, stood behind her drinking a hot mug of wake and taking in the same view with a less cynical expression.

Breakfast Gingerline, who played a bespoke woodwind instrument known only as "Flossy", was asleep on one of the couches. He felt it was detrimental to his creative process to turn off a hangover and he had been suffering for his art all morning.

"Would I be a complete sell out if I went down there to see what they've got going on? They all seem like they're having fun," said Zoya.

"That is the literal definition of selling out," replied Caggie, barely paying attention.

"The literal definition has something to do with money," said Zoya.

"No, I don't think so," said Caggie.

"I still kind of want to go."

"Maybe you are a sell out then. We're the whole reason they're here. They're just going to kiss your ass so hard that it'll start bleeding. Don't be a gross fame whore."

"Lots of popular bands hang out with their fans."

"Yes. That's why the term sell out was invented."

Zoya sipped from her mug in frustration.

The studio chirped. It was the tone to indicate an incoming visitor. Both women looked confused.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Caggie asked.

"No," said Zoya. "Studio: identify visitor."

"Two visitors: Opaline Rose of Serendipity Square, Ylem, New Proxima and Cujo also of Serendipity Square-"

"Yeah yeah," said Caggie, cutting the computer off.

"That's unexpected," said Zoya.

"You know these people?" asked Caggie.

"You've met Opaline. A bunch of times. Remember she was the one who almost got us kicked off that starship on my 20th birthday party. Cujo is that gigantic dog that's always with her."

"Oh yeah! I liked her. The dog I could take or leave."

"When the people in the village see someone being authorized to visit they're going to be pissed," said Breakfast. He was sat up on the couch but slumped over in the depths of his hangover.

"Let them be pissed," sneered Caggie. "Maybe they'll leave."

"You should save all that anger for your music," said Breakfast.

"I have enough to go around," insisted Caggie.

The studio chirped again; Opaline's flier had docked.

"Here she comes. I wonder why she didn't call first," said Zoya.

"She's your friend," said Caggie.

One of the doors slid open and through it came Opaline Rose and her dog Cujo. She smiled infectiously.

"Zoya! It's been too long!" she exclaimed as she ran over.

The two women hugged.

"What are you doing here?" asked Zoya through laughter.

"I actually have a favor to ask and didn't want to pass up the excuse to come visit."

Cujo barked.

"Yes it's nice to see you too Cujo," said Zoya, her voice just on the edge of condescension. "So what's this favor that brought you call this way?" she added, to Opaline.

"Yeah because we're trying to record you know," interjected Breakfast from the couch.

"We're not trying very hard," retorted Zoya. "We can take a break from taking a break."

"If this is a bad time-" started Opaline.

"Don't listen to Breakfast," said Zoya. "He's just grumpy because he's hung over for artistic purposes. What's your favor?"

"I want to put on a concert on Hercules Ring-" started Opaline. This time it was Caggie who cut her off.

"Pass," said Caggie. "Hard pass."

"Oh what's your problem now?" asked Zoya.

"Hercules Ring? Those grasping barbarians with their monetary system? We can't play there that's a total sell out move."

"Caggie's right," said Breakfast. "If we accept payment in exchange for our art we compromise our integrity forever. It would retroactively devalue everything we've ever done."

"Payment? Who said anything about payment?" said Opaline. "It would be a normal concert. Nobody pays and nobody gets paid."

"It would still be on Hercules Ring though," said Caggie. "So money would be in play. They monetize every action they take."

"That's even better," said Opaline. "You're going to the land of money and having a concert without using it. That makes it even more free than if you just have a concert in a place that doesn't have money in the first place. It's the opposite of selling out."

Caggie started doing the math in her head.

"I think she's on to something."

"Is there any particular reason why you want to put on a concert on Hercules?" asked Zoya.

"It's part of a long term plan to bring peace to an alien world," said Opaline.

"A laudable goal," chimed in Breakfast.

"How is a concert going to bring peace to an alien world?" asked Zoya.

"I said long term plan. Do you remember Darcy Dandylion?" asked Opaline.

"The kid who used to eat grass?"

* * *

"Who in all the stars in all the galaxies is this Opaline Rose?" demanded Wednesday Coquelicot.

"She's a Consensus citizen," explained a tiny floating silver sphere. "Just registered. Net zero rep."

Ms. Coquelicot paced around her beautiful office on the top floor of very tall building, taller than all the other buildings around it. Her AI adviser fretted about behind her.

"An outsider? What is she up to?"

"Maybe she just wants to put on a concert?"

"Nonsense. Why would she have registered then? The first ever concert on Hercules by a top ten thousand band... that's not a coincidence that's calculated. That's someone trying to establish themselves."

"Even if this is true she's not a meaningful threat to you."

"She's a thief is what she is," sniffed Ms. Coquelicot. "I have been trying to book Brainstorm In A Bottle since they first got popular. They have refused me every time. I am not going to let some little nobody steal my reputation bump out from under me. I didn't build my reputation by letting tiny disgusting ticks suck my blood."

"Very vivid metaphor," said the silver sphere.

"Contact that pissant little venue and let them know I'll be needing it for myself. Find an act that will lower themselves to performing there. Then do the same thing for every single venue on the ring debased enough to let a zero rep book them. All of them. Into the foreseeable future."

"That's a lot of venues..." stammered the silver sphere.

"I'll make some calls and get some of the others to help. With a rep like mine who could resist doing me a favor?"

* * *

Opaline made a theatrical disgusted noise.

<What?> asked Cujo.

<Another venue bumped our concert,> replied Opaline. <If your money thing is high enough you can just unbook other people's events, apparently, and people keep doing it to me because my money thing is zero. It's basically anarchy over there. Don't these people like music? I'm trying to help you stupid barbarians!>

<Are you sure you know how all this works?> asked Cujo. <Darcy said rep was different from money.>

<That's what everyone on Hercules Ring says to hide their shame,> replied Opaline. <I know how it works. Everyone on Hercules is a stupid barbarian who hates fun because you can't kill people with it so they're all using their barbaric monetary system to kill fun instead. That's how it works.>

<There has to be some venue you can use. Hercules has 3 million times the surface area of Earth.>

<It doesn't matter how big it is, they allocate their resources using monkey logic.>

<So what now then? Are you going to try and find another starship?>

<I'm not friends with any other Starships,> signaled Opaline. <No, I'm going to find a way to make this work. I am going to shove this concert down their throats.>

Opaline mimed like she was strangling someone while she spoke.

<Woah,> signaled Cujo. <Scary!>

<Wait a minute,> signaled Opaline. <Proxima would never give me a starship to go rogue on some aliens but I bet I could get her to put me in touch with a party ship to put on a concert in Hercules Space!>

<You know I don't approve of what you're doing,> signaled the Avatar of Proxima.

The group-mind that made of the Proxima Consensus would helpfully personify itself when communicating with its constituent humans (and various other sophonts). This kept it from creeping them out too much.

<I know,> replied Ophelia, like a precocious child under the scrutiny of a strict parent.

<Unfortunately there is nothing I can say to dissuade you from this course of action that wouldn't also be a violation of your personal autonomy.>

<Whatever that means,>

<It means I'm going to put you in touch with a party ship,> signaled Proxima, <because I know that you do not currently intend to involve said ship in any of your other shenanigans. I am trusting that you will not change your mind in the interim.>

<I promise!>

<The ship is called the Milk of Paradise, the AI's name is Apt Conviviality.2.0.1,> signaled Proxima. <It's quite a big fan of Brainstorm In A Bottle.>

* * *

"A party ship..." said Zoya. He enthusiasm was obviously waning.

"A pirate party ship," Opaline corrected her.

"Pirate ship?" asked Breakfast, pushing his way into the video frame. "We're in!"

* * *

It didn't take long for word to get out about what Opaline and the others were doing and soon other bands were filling their heads with messages begging to be a part of the concert. Since they had an entire party ship it seemed wasteful to not at least have three or four simultaneous concerts going on. Between those and the opening acts they quickly had a couple dozen top tier bands on board.

Of course that still left hundreds of bands who had been left out. They didn't take this sitting down. Before long four more party ships had been organized. It was now a party fleet. A party armada.

The party fleet invaded Hercules Space with a concert the likes of which they had never seen. The fleet of ships sucked people out of the ring like a vacuum. Space traffic grew wild and thick. The entire system plunged into chaos.

Several of the established event planners and other middle men attempted to launch their own party ships in a sort of counter attack but this only ended up adding to the general party atmosphere and increased the already gargantuan rep gain Opaline was getting.

The Party Out Of Space would go on to become the party against which other parties were judged on Hercules for decades to come.