Sync Raves
Overview
A new phenomenon growing in popularity among the disaffected younger generations in GATA and abroad: all-night parties where a blossoming art and music scene grows in the shadows.
Sync Raves (or simply, "syncs") are led by sync jockeys, skilled conduits who connect to, and influence a crowd's minds' as a form of communal entertainment. Syncing is made possible by links and illegally modified sync hubs, which were originally designed for one-on-one empatherapy. While synced, the mind of the conduit dramatically influences the experience.
Syncs create a shared mental and sensory experience for those connected; a communal waking dream where ravers sink into transforming experiences enhanced by music, light, color, touch, and of course, illicit substances. For someone in the sync, they feel their sense of self blending with the hallucinatory phantasms of someone else’s sensations.
Attending syncs is inherently risky, as they primarily take place in Gray Zones, outside of the jurisdiction of GATA's local authorities. They typically are set in abandoned warehouses, or willing arcades; popular venues for a wide range of entertainment across GATA. In general, if a sync is taking place, organizers are sharing a cut of profits to local gangs and controlling syndicates.
While most sync raves are very DIY in their scope, some underground sensations have emerged in different sync scenes around the world, earning them the attention and resources to put on more elaborate syncs. At these higher profile syncs, you can find vivid holograms puppeted by conduits dancing in tandem with the music, the finest fashions shimmering in the haze, and local gangs and Gray Zone VIPs in attendance.
Origins
Sync raves originated in an arcade called Arcadia in LA, stemming from an experimental art and music scene that was far from the heart of GATA, where regulations restricting uncontrolled tech often went unenforced. One of its formative artists was a performer named Willow who was controversially apprehended and ultimately exiled from the LA district, along with many of the early pioneers of the scene.
Sync Rave Culture
Sync raves, or simply "syncs", are a response to GATA's tight control and regulation. These underground raves offer an escape, an illicit world where the youth especially can feel free for the first time. The raves are a blend of old and new - the rediscovered music and entertainment of the past, reinterpreted with modern technologies and tastes, unleashed on a voracious scene.
For young citizens of districts venturing into the sync scene and Gray Zones, it is often their first exposure to illegal legacy technologies and Old World culture.
Politics of Sync Raves
However, these raves are not just about entertainment or debauchery. They're a form of silent rebellion, a place where ideas that cut against the System are shared and disseminated. Though not explicitly political, they represent a fomenting expression of a generation's discontent with their lives under tightening, stifling control.
In GATA, these raves are absolutely taboo. Being caught participating in such an event would leave your fate at the discretion of local authorities. However, in the Free Territories and other regions, while they might not appreciated, they’re freely permitted and widely tolerated, often because local authorities might be partaking themselves.
Sync Jockeys
Sync jockeys are highly skilled link users known as conduits, allowing them to connect a large number of people at once with the aid of illegally modified sync hubs. While linked, the mind of the conduit can dramatically influence the experience of the other participants.
Sync jockeys typically use performance to help them synchronize such a large number of minds, with music and dance being the most common, however many different jockeys exist, offering a wide range of experiences.
From musicians and dancers, to skilled meditators, and people with exceptional niche talents, being a sync jockey is all about the feeling the you can convey, maintain, and resolve in the minds of others. In that sense, it is a very general form of performance entertainment defined more by its set and setting than a particular artistic form.
Notable Venues
Arcadia
The Hollow
Hypercastle
The Warehouse
Palaizir Underground
Location: Greater Toronto district, Uptown
Owner: Jian
Vibe: Upscale, state of the art facility, with low lights where patrons can drift like shadows through its reflective halls, and no one asks questions.
Located below Palaizir, a well-known pleasure house on the edge of Greater Toronto's most affluent neighborhood. While officially above-board, hosting legal parties and shows, its management has all the right connections, allowing them to bend the rules to host sync raves for their rich and powerful clientele while the local authority looks the other way.
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