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The entire group cheered as the tall, skinny man with the red hair stepped into the room and introduced himself as Mannequin. The average height of the Victorian World was over six feet. I must say, I was very surprised when The Eye of Sauriatu II began to call me "Mister Mannequin." I'd never thought to be called anything else besides "John" or "Johnny." Since that's my name, I'd sort of forgotten that being called Mister was an honor of sorts.
Mister Mannequin went right through the introductions and then seized control of the discussion by declaring that the topic of the meeting was "Current Comic Book Trends. And by the way, we're not talking about Marvel or DC, people. We're talking Steampunk."
Link: Comic Con panel idea research
My friend and I tried to play along. "Hmmmm," we said with our hands in our lap. "We didn't realize Steampunk was a comic book genre." "Oh, it is," said Mr. Mannequin. "Oh, it isn't." I know that it's not. "I think we need to define Steampunk," I said. "Oh, I already did," said Mannequin. "Why don't you ask your question?"
"Okay," I said. "How do you spell Steampunk?" "What?" "Well, how do you spell Steampunk?" "Exactly the way I just said it. Steampunk."
Steampunk. SW-E-PUNK (stop). One of the reasons I really like the word is it is fun to say. Also, it's cool to say I have a name that I didn't choose for myself. It means "engine." Even though it's a noun, it doesn't belong to me, it belongs to my friends and family. It has not changed me over the last thirty-eight years. I still have not built a steam engine. And I don't want to. Building a steam engine is difficult. And, I can't imagine what it would be like to use one. I cannot imagine it.
"The word Steampunk is a made-up term that people invented to classify and describe a genre of literature and movies that they want to put in the 'period' or 'Victorian' area of their heroes' lives. Such as Sherlock Holmes (Police procedural), Tarzan (Adventure), Luke Skywalker (Science fiction), Alex Cross (Crime), and Matt (Gamers)."
"You know," I said. "Totally correct, Mister Mannequin. I mean that what you just said is very precise and specific. I mean, this is an exceptional panel discussion." He nodded and I paused. "Stop me when you hear the word 'Interactive,'" I said.
"I'm sorry?" he said, laughing.
"I am saying," I said. "Stop me when you hear the word 'Interactive.'"
"I know what you're saying, but I'm not sure I hear you, John. Were you asking a question?"
"No, I'm not."
"Then you should quit talking." He said.
"Okay, I think that was a very good discussion. Very good. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. It was very nice to meet you, Mister Mannequin. And I'd like to thank you for that set of reference materials."
I reached for the card in his left hand and as I did so, my hand was passed from his. I held the card for a moment and finally realized what I had done. A couple of people around the table looked at me, and then took the card I attempted to take and continue the discussion. I realized that I didn't have any notes or any ideas to contribute to the forthcoming discussion. I stared at my feet.
"It was very nice," said Mister Mannequin with The Eye of Sauriatu II. "And, I think it's nice that you joined us today. I've really enjoyed the discussion."
"I'd like to thank you for taking the time to be on the panel," said a third man. "We really do want to keep the conversation going. We are really glad you're here."
"Thank you for allowing me to join the panel," I said. "It's been my pleasure."
"We were only joking around!" scolded a fourth man.
"We knew you were joking!" said a fifth man.
Everyone laughed. This was a very friendly group, and I was proud to have seen them from the front row.
Someone walked over to the corner and grabbed my hand. Everyone got up and shook my hand, one by one. As they walked away, I got up and put on my backpack. I had it on the table and stood by the table as the talk continued. I was the center of attention. I flinched a little. And then, the discussion began again. Everyone was in such a tizzy. I wanted to get away. I needed some time alone in a quiet corner to find my notes. My notes. I needed my notes. I remembered that I had brought them with me. Finally, all the attention was on Mister Mannequin. Everyone was paying attention to him. I decided that now was the best time to walk out.
The Eye of Sauriatu II saw me and began to motion me back. "No," I said. "I gotta go. I have a thing I gotta do." "Can you wait for me?" she asked. "What?" I said as I walked backwards, even faster than I did when I was in my home town playing a match on the soccer field.
"Can you wait for me?" she said again, as I walked backwards out the door. "Okay," I said, not knowing if I should. I kept walking backwards, faster and faster, until I was running.
And then I stopped.
Away from the convention hall convention hall room, in the shadow of some large skyscrapers, there was a street that ended at a sort of plaza. It was on a hill so I could climb the stairs at the edge of the plaza, cross the street, and walk back down in the shade of some trees and take a minute to think about what to do next. I decided to take advantage of that. But, I was not going to go hungry. I took out my Apple phone and I opened up the Uber App and I called the Uber Car. The rate was $20 a minute. That's more than any college intern makes an hour. It was also more than the averag
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