Baingan Bharta and Sing Now! at Night Train HQ

"This is bullshit!"

Night Train was one of the biggest media labels on the continent. Everything from bands to blockbusters came under their production and purview; the company was the kind of multimedia in Rakin City. This was in no small part due to the media acumen and genius of the company's founder and CEO, Sing Now!. The man sat at the end of a huge desk, expensively made, sitting on a luxurious seat that cost just as much as he scribbled down on some paperwork with an ink pen. He was an older man, somewhat unshaven and with luxuriously treated, slightly curly hair. He had a large eyepatch over his right eye, with गाना ("Sing" in Hindi) emblazoned upon it. This was his personal office at the top floor of Night Train HQ.

He wasn't the only one in the room, however. Sitting at the other end of the desk was a woman of dark fashion and hefty make- one of Night Train's more recent artists to sign up with the label. Her name was Baingan Bharta- she was big, tough, and could spit bars just as deep as her ebon-black makeup. She glowered over at Sing Now! as she protested, her particular gothic style of fashion mixed with her wide build giving her an imposing air.

"Look, Ms. Bharta..." Sing Now! slithered out with a tired silver tongue. "This is just how the industry works. All the equipment you need doesn't come out of thin air..." he put down his pen. "And that doesn't even account for the costs of tours, international shipping of albums, paying the media to make sure you get choice interviews..."

"But an eighty-twenty split of profits? That's a total ripoff!" Baingan protested. She didn't know much about the music industry, she admitted, but this didn't seem to pass the smell test. "S-Surely all that stuff can't be that expensive, right...?"

"Oh, but it is. Besides, you're getting a better contract then Red-Gold Darling did, and they're one of the best chart-toppers in all of India. De La Soul didn't complain when he got signed on with Tommy Boy Records, did he?" Sing Now! replied. Although his face was stoic and his eyes looked right into hers, he was lying through his teeth and he knew it. She was the perfect star-young, inexperienced, an amazing artist and naive. Once she was under his thumb, she would make the company big bucks. He just had to push.

"I understand it's hard to swallow, but when you think of a rap superstar in a mansion with six yachts, you're thinking of the top zero-point-zero-one percent. It takes a real "once in a generation" artist to have the power to negotiate those real good record deals, and you aren't that. Yet."

The performer looked up, taken a bit off guard. her surprise seemed to make her deflate slightly.

"Sign the contract, and I'll see what I can do to make you that "once in a generation" artist. Trust me."

She looked down at the papers on the desk...

And signed.