Tokyo Steel - story preview

This is the unofficial story behind the upcoming Sex With Strangers "Tokyo Steel" full length. Please send all questions to Hatch Benedict over at: www.myspace.com/sexwithstrangers.


The backstory:

In this story, there are two generations of “The Unreals” that walk the streets of Tokyo. The first generation of these beautiful androids were developed to as an offering of sex, submission and tolerance to the rich and lonely who sought an expensive alternative to human companionship.

Unfortunately, word of these she-bots soon reached the all-knowing ears of the New Persuader. Having eradicated dancing and desire from the metropolis of New York, the New Persuader was now setting its sights on the Pacific Rim - a long outstanding haven for those seeking the “Live Forever Lifestyle”. Bowing to new influence and persuasion, the manufacturers of the Unreals struck a deal with “The Requester” (the New Persuader’s dealer) to produce a new army of “super-synthetics”, complete with new and disturbing motivations.

During the construction phase, these 2nd generation Unreals were infused with an elusive and mysterious material know as the “Tokyo Steel”, making them indestructible in the eyes of most. Not only did this silver fabric prove impenetrable, it had the power to influence the minds of anyone that came in contact with it – The perfect, textural extension of the New Persuader’s vision. Only a select few scientists had knowledge of the material, all of whom were dissolved by The Requester. The 2nd generation Unreals possessed all of the beauty and poise of the first generation models, which made them hard to distinguish. With one touch, however, the difference was unmistakable.

With Tokyo quickly falling under the influence of The New Persuader, word of this new army of synthetics soon reached an elite band of rebels known as The Formers. Although victorious against the original Persuader and his army of primitive robots known as the “Dance Police”, they were not prepared for one of their own to sip from The Modern Seduction and turn over as the New Persuader. Reeling from the unforeseen actions of the Traitor, The Formers once again found themselves battling a new enemy and defending the Liver Forever Lifestyle. When word came that the Traitor had set his sight on eradicating Tokyo of all who dare to dance, The Formers would too rise…
The band of rebels, armed with new purpose and vigor made their way to Tokyo with the intent of dissolving (literally) the new army of Unreals. Upon their arrival, they were quickly befriended by a scientist named ________ , who was an original advocate of the Live Forever Lifestyle in Asia. Part of an elite team of chemists known as The Enablers, ________ had unknowingly created a material that would come to be known as “The Tokyo Steel”. Initially unaware that she had created something so far-reaching and dangerous that it would change the world forever, _________ was determine to make things right.

Like every good poison, she had developed an antidote…A synthetic fire that would weaken the “Tokyo Steel”, and thus the Unreal. ________ wasted no time in providing The Formers with what was left of the formula for the repellent (an explosion had burned much of The Enablers lab down). Conversely, The New Persuader wasted no time destroying _________ upon hearing this.

The Battle of Tokyo would rage on for many weeks. Unable to fully realize the formula for the antidote, the Formers were unable to fully match the sheer power of the Tokyo Steel-infused Unreals. In a situation that mirrored the one they had witnessed in the Fall of New York, The Formers scrambled to find another weakness in the army. Fortunately, one would present itself in the form of the one they call Hashimoto.

When the original Unreals were constructed, they were formatted with a special code in their heads that signaled it was time to seek assistance whenever damage was sustained. If an Unreal was damaged in any way (I.e. a “John” attempted to harm them following an encounter), the system with would re-boot and an auto-pilot mechanism would take over, instructing the Synthetic to seek the nearest “Docking Station”. These docking stations were erected in secret locations across Tokyo and contained all of the technology required to repair a damaged unit.

Note - It was at these docking stations where the New Persuader secretly injected the first generation Unreals with the “Tokyo Steel”.

Sharing a similar desire to live free, Hashimoto sent a secret message to The Formers, advising them of this construction quirk - The thought being that they would seek out these “docking stations”, wait for damaged Unreals to arrive, and then destroy them with their nearly realized antidote. Every station would be set ablaze.

It was his hope that he and his original Unreal could remain underground until the 2nd generation units were destroyed. Unfortunately, The Requester was also hunting for answers, specifically the secrets contained in the original Unreal.

Eventually, The Requester and his hench-women “The Seekers” would force Hashimoto and his Unreal from their underground hideaway. Knowing that all of the answers could not be accounted for if they were to separate, the two lovers agreed to flee apart, to a secret hideway just outside the city limits and the influence of the New Persuader.

First Anniversary Party

Boutique Empire is one year old. And to celebrate we've booked The Railway Club on August 8th to hold a party.

The night shall feature our fearless and heroic Sex With Strangers as headlines and have Combine the Victorious opening. Friends in the sketch comedy troupe The Skinny shall make an appearance and then to rock out into the wee hours The Keeper shall come up from Seattle to join us.

There is talk of a video shoot being done as well, but the concept is relatively guerrilla style, so wear your best party clothes, as you may end up on camera!

It should also be noted that Sex With Strangers has been asked to perform as part of the OLIO festival on August 13th here in Vancouver and shall be part of The Big Chill festival (which is headlined by Sam Roberts and Mother Mother among others) over in Cumberland on Saturday August 15th. Combine the Victorious will also be a part of the International Pop Overthrow festival on August 29th (once again held at the Railway Club).

Have a great summer and see you in August.