Deadly Weapons - 09/Jun/2012
Eastercon, 2008, UK.
He'd survived his encounter with Maureen and Dave. After Dave talked to him for a while the 'wheelchair invisibility' didn't seem to affect him any more. He wasn't sure why Maureen immediately saw him - maybe it was because she was sort of an AI? Uran and Brainless had no trouble, after all.
The talk by the "British Interplanetary Society"[1] had been revealing. He'd expected more talk of handwavium, here at the con. There'd been some minor chat, and he'd heard some discussion of it being mass hysteria, or a minor blip in the laws of reality that would soon correct itself. Or, just the world's biggest hoax. The enthusiasts seemed to be keeping their heads down. Con security had made it quite clear that carrying functional non-peace-bonded weapons, of any sort, outside the Masquerade, would result in them being safety tested on the carrier.
So, they were now the "British Interstellar Society"[2]. The slide show of the planets, zooming-in from orbit to ground level, had been quite fun. The gas giants obviously didn't have a 'ground level', so various moons had been substituted. And, Pluto was included. Showing Earth all the way from orbit down to the North Pole, then the South Pole had been a bit novel.
"Look out, she's got a ray gun!" Not the normal sort of shout he'd expect in the hotel car park. He'd been out getting Brainless some more supplies for their table. People had been buying pre-painted figures and taken all the leaflets, and it looked like he'd some really nice orders.
There was a flash of light, and a "Ka-zap!", as he wheeled out from behind the van. As he looked around he realised something was different. He hadn't been a lightly-built female before, in a white plug suit. Yes, that was blue hair. But, he was still sitting in his wheelchair. Ah! That must have been a "Rei Gun".
A woman in a tight silver costume, showing a lot of skin, lumbered up to him. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't see you there!" 'It would be Kei', he thought, 'I expect Yuri is around somewhere'. He noticed she was wearing a fluorescent green headband, which clashed with her red hair. The voice sounded pretty accurate. 'Classic Dirty Pair', he thought.
Another woman popped-up from behind a car, further down the car park. "In The Name Of The Moon..." She stopped, and looked at Brains. "What's a Rei doing in a wheelchair? She's not wearing bandages." Sailor Moon was wearing a florescent red headband over her blonde hair, tucked underneath her pigtails. 'Odongos I think I'm supposed to call them', he thought.
'Hmm', thought Brains, 'she moves a bit better'. "Time out!" called a third woman, and they were joined by a number of more-or-less magical girls. Including more than one plug-suited Rei. Brains recognised the Leona costume, he was pretty sure he'd made it for someone to cos-play. All were wearing either red or green headbands (except for Rei). The shock was beginning to wear-off, now, and Brains found it interesting that they could all obviously see him (he didn't care if he looked like a Rei, he was still 'him'!).
"We caught a bystander in the cross-fire." Brains didn't recognise the speaker, probably one of the more recent manga or anime. While they all looked and sounded pretty authentic, some moved in ways that suggested they weighed quite a bit more than their character. 'I wonder if we have any Sailor Bubba here?', he thought.
The older woman, presumably one of the organisers, turned and looked at him. "We're sorry. The con security implied they'd have no problems with our game of 'Killer'[3] as long as we stayed out of the con buildings. And no one complained." She tried puppy-dog eyes on him, "You aren't going to complain, are you?"
Something had been nagging at Brains for a while. A buzzing sound. Just on the limits of his hearing. He looked down, and plucked something previously invisible off his now reappeared clothes. Holding it close he saw a small bee-like machine, one wing crushed, with stylised crosses over where eyes might be expected.
Several of the women looked away from him, and seemed puzzled. Some kept on looking but frowned, and only the ones that'd spoken to him seemed unaffected. "Where did the Rei go?", asked one at the back. 'I guess that was a light-bee'[4], thought Brains.
"If you don't mind me holding on to this", and he held up the faux insect, "I won't be making any complaints". "Those aren't cheap!", someone called, but was subdued by a glare. "Maybe if you keep an eye on the various entrances you won't 'ka-girl'[5] anyone else", he continued. "OK?"
"Leona?" and the woman in that costume turned to him, obviously only now recognising him. "I see you liked the costume I made for you."
And, she blushed.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
Eastercon, 2008, UK.
He'd survived his encounter with Maureen and Dave. After Dave talked to him for a while the 'wheelchair invisibility' didn't seem to affect him any more. He wasn't sure why Maureen immediately saw him - maybe it was because she was sort of an AI? Uran and Brainless had no trouble, after all.
The talk by the "British Interplanetary Society"[1] had been revealing. He'd expected more talk of handwavium, here at the con. There'd been some minor chat, and he'd heard some discussion of it being mass hysteria, or a minor blip in the laws of reality that would soon correct itself. Or, just the world's biggest hoax. The enthusiasts seemed to be keeping their heads down. Con security had made it quite clear that carrying functional non-peace-bonded weapons, of any sort, outside the Masquerade, would result in them being safety tested on the carrier.
So, they were now the "British Interstellar Society"[2]. The slide show of the planets, zooming-in from orbit to ground level, had been quite fun. The gas giants obviously didn't have a 'ground level', so various moons had been substituted. And, Pluto was included. Showing Earth all the way from orbit down to the North Pole, then the South Pole had been a bit novel.
"Look out, she's got a ray gun!" Not the normal sort of shout he'd expect in the hotel car park. He'd been out getting Brainless some more supplies for their table. People had been buying pre-painted figures and taken all the leaflets, and it looked like he'd some really nice orders.
There was a flash of light, and a "Ka-zap!", as he wheeled out from behind the van. As he looked around he realised something was different. He hadn't been a lightly-built female before, in a white plug suit. Yes, that was blue hair. But, he was still sitting in his wheelchair. Ah! That must have been a "Rei Gun".
A woman in a tight silver costume, showing a lot of skin, lumbered up to him. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't see you there!" 'It would be Kei', he thought, 'I expect Yuri is around somewhere'. He noticed she was wearing a fluorescent green headband, which clashed with her red hair. The voice sounded pretty accurate. 'Classic Dirty Pair', he thought.
Another woman popped-up from behind a car, further down the car park. "In The Name Of The Moon..." She stopped, and looked at Brains. "What's a Rei doing in a wheelchair? She's not wearing bandages." Sailor Moon was wearing a florescent red headband over her blonde hair, tucked underneath her pigtails. 'Odongos I think I'm supposed to call them', he thought.
'Hmm', thought Brains, 'she moves a bit better'. "Time out!" called a third woman, and they were joined by a number of more-or-less magical girls. Including more than one plug-suited Rei. Brains recognised the Leona costume, he was pretty sure he'd made it for someone to cos-play. All were wearing either red or green headbands (except for Rei). The shock was beginning to wear-off, now, and Brains found it interesting that they could all obviously see him (he didn't care if he looked like a Rei, he was still 'him'!).
"We caught a bystander in the cross-fire." Brains didn't recognise the speaker, probably one of the more recent manga or anime. While they all looked and sounded pretty authentic, some moved in ways that suggested they weighed quite a bit more than their character. 'I wonder if we have any Sailor Bubba here?', he thought.
The older woman, presumably one of the organisers, turned and looked at him. "We're sorry. The con security implied they'd have no problems with our game of 'Killer'[3] as long as we stayed out of the con buildings. And no one complained." She tried puppy-dog eyes on him, "You aren't going to complain, are you?"
Something had been nagging at Brains for a while. A buzzing sound. Just on the limits of his hearing. He looked down, and plucked something previously invisible off his now reappeared clothes. Holding it close he saw a small bee-like machine, one wing crushed, with stylised crosses over where eyes might be expected.
Several of the women looked away from him, and seemed puzzled. Some kept on looking but frowned, and only the ones that'd spoken to him seemed unaffected. "Where did the Rei go?", asked one at the back. 'I guess that was a light-bee'[4], thought Brains.
"If you don't mind me holding on to this", and he held up the faux insect, "I won't be making any complaints". "Those aren't cheap!", someone called, but was subdued by a glare. "Maybe if you keep an eye on the various entrances you won't 'ka-girl'[5] anyone else", he continued. "OK?"
"Leona?" and the woman in that costume turned to him, obviously only now recognising him. "I see you liked the costume I made for you."
And, she blushed.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind