Re-Role - Part Three

As darkness consumes my vision I'm left floating for a moment in a complete sense of warmth, the lack of any tactile sensations around me leaving me with only the dull and comforting heat subsuming my whole being.

Sadly, even that delightful comfort ends as the world returns in a vibrant crash of color and sound. The air is knocked from my lungs and my eyes burn with a horrible pain as the sudden shift in light leaves me momentarily blinded and dazzled.

It takes a second before I can even make out the noise around me, my mind rapidly piecing together the various stimuli before focusing in on the least offensive one first. I focus, my mind sluggish from the onslaught of sensation as I finally manage to make sense of the noise bearing down on me.

"Welcome, to Manga-Kon 2012" a voice booms over a nearby speaker "Please keep your badge visible at all times"

The sharp voice along with it's electric crackling causes me to flinch, the overhead speaker blaring out loudly as if it were only a few feet away from me. The moment the call out ends, the speakers dying with a loud pop as the microphone is disconnected, the hellish buzzing of a packed convention hall soon rushes in to fill the void.

Dozens of conversations from hundreds of people ripple through the room, the high ceiling giving room for the voices to travel as they turn into an incomprehensible mess. The sound of cash registers opening and closing nearby do not help with the bombardment of sound, the electric pings and the metal open and slamming shut of anything from proper checkouts to small money boxes punctuating the sea of chatter.

It doesn't take long for the smell to hit, the heady funk of hundreds to thousands of nerds packed into a single building for multiple days in a row. I'd almost forgotten how bad it could be, especially back when I was younger, the heady mix of sweat and cheap spray-on deodorant swirling through the air and leaving me nostrils flaring in distress. 

The flash of a nearby camera startles me as my eyes try to adjust to the rapidly changing light. Blinking rapidly I try to clear my vision, the blurry and indistinct shapes around me slowly merging into more clear images as their edges and colors become more concrete.

Stalls run down the length of the long concrete convention hall, the simple metal frames creating perfectly even rows of shops that disappear down into a sea of people. Plush toys, fake swords, DVDs and games of all kinds sit out on display, the horde of convention goers crowding around as they look for the missing disc in their collection or a figurine of their favorite Waifu.

At the very end of the hall, raising above the heads of the roiling mass of people, I can make out what appears to be a stage. Trusses rise up with lighting and speakers hanging from the sides, the streams of multi-colored light not doing much in the brightly lit hall.

 

"Uh..." I croak, my voice hoarse and dry but unmistakably different. It feel like it rattles around in my skull for a moment, my head pounding as my tongue taps at my own dry lips. Sickly sweet, the only thing that I can use to describe the taste as my tongue runs along them and retreats back into my mouth.

It takes my dulled mind another moment before it finally hits me. "Energy drink" I think to myself, my headache and racing heart making far more sense in the moment as I remember my terrible habit of drinking far more sugary drinks than I should have in my youth.

"... I..." I blurt out weakly, coughing slightly as I mutter and my parched throat catches on something.

The heat in the room doesn't help at all either, the source of the sweaty funk not being entirely a mystery. The thin metal ceiling and the concrete falls simply let heat pour in over the course for the day and lock into the floor between days, the throngs of people racing around to panels and browsing goods not helping with the warmth issue as they all jockey for space.

Staggering a bit, I rack my brain on where I could find relief, my mind struggling to remember the layout of a convention I had attended over a decade ago without even really reckoning with the fact I was at that convention over a decade ago.

For a moment a flicker of recognition creeps into my mind, a vague memory of the 'Cosplay Lawn' out between the main hall and the panel rooms where people would take photos with a little more space and could take their 'props' out of the cloakroom. At the very least I would be free of the smell, of the sweaty funk and the oppressive damp heat of the convention center.

Maybe I could find some water, clear my head and think straight without the bombardment of stimuli around me.

 

As I pivot around I stagger in place, my body moving in a manner that nearly topples me head over foot. My legs shake as I try to step forward comfortably, my hips grinding against my gait as they try to shift from side to side. My center of gravity also feels off, my weight having been shifted around in a manner than my mind hadn't caught up to yet.

"Wait..." I think to myself, my eyes going wide as my thoughts begin to settle. "...Daughter!?" I cry inside my mind, my head snapping up as I look ahead and out the large windows either side of the entrance.

Beyond the hall, past the steady stream of nerds coming and going with neon colored badges around their necks, I can see the bright and sun day outside. Cosplayers pose for camera and wander in search of like-minded folks dressed from similar franchises to add to group photos. A wave of nostalgia washes over me as I quickly begin to recognize the costumes, from colorful groups of ninjas to a young man with a metal arm with a hulking suit of armor beside him.

No super heroes, beyond the occasional comic book denizen, or gatcha game waifu in sight.

For a moment I lose myself in the moment again, my eyes darting between the older yet still recognizable characters and the far more 'home made' style of costumes that fill the lawn. However, I'm quickly snapped back to reality as the lawn is darkened for a moment by clouds.

My eyes go wide as I stare at the glass, the shift in lighting causing it to turn briefly more so to a mirror than anything else with the help for the bright convention hall lights.

My jaw drops as I stare at the reflection of a...