(Pre-Show) The Recreation Dome

[Carn_Val]

Walking past the doorway, I find myself in the Recreation Dome. How'd I know, you ask? There's that large, chrome lettering that says "Recreation Dome" on the door immediately in front of me. If the arrow that points here doesn't persuade you, I don't know what else to say. I suck the air into my non-existing nose to sense the smell that led me here, only to be overwhelmed by a wave of other nasal stimuli. I couldn't complain since all of the other scents are as good, in fact, my eyes can even see where all of it is coming from. Shops, stands, booths and carts, all working hard to make a common product, food. I had no choice but to succumb to the sight.

First stop was a little stand, simple and plain. Good thing it serves colorful cup-size cakes despite the stand's rather boring approach. I take one, sweet. Sweet...ew. Ew ew ew...yuck. "What is this ??", my back shakes with disgust as it reminds me of my own saliva. It was like biting a chunk off of solidified oral secretions. I wipe the little tear building up on my right eye as I try to get the thought out of my head, walking forward to the next stop.

Watching a tower of grey smoke rising from the distance, I find myself in front of another stand. This one is different, with a red and orange "flame" decal and grilled chunks of staked meat sizzling above live coal. The smoke suddenly rises towards me, temporarily catching me offguard. A bit blinded and eyes sore, I wondered why all this smoke didn't cloud up the dome and suffocate its guest. Blinking a few times to recover, I grab a few sticks with my hands and bite off the thick slices of succulent meat with my teeth. After a few moments trying to grind the beef with my molars, I stop in failure, swallowing the food reluctantly. This is a downside to having a sharp set of teeth, not possessing teeth for grinding. Too bad.

So far, the experience merely reminds me of how different I am and how I can't appreciate most of the 'normal' food served here. It should either be hard and rigid or big enough for me to dig my teeth into. I slump my shoulder, casually grabbing a table full of calamary and swallowing all of it in sadness. Naive secondaries screaming their guts out doesn't help either, just makes me a little more annoyed inside. Wandering around aimlessly, I grab any other food along with its stalls and table and shove them in my mouth absent-mindedly. I might even have eaten something alive too since it was struggling in my mouth for a while. Still, all of them merely tells me how different I am. A few minutes of roaming around got me stopping in front of a wooden structure. Moving my head upwards to read, the signboard says "Ramen Shop." Great, noodle soup. Well, it could help me forget thing since it's pretty much edible, right? I mean there's no trick to consuming salted water and strings of dough, correct?

Pushing the white curtain upwards, I step inside and grab a seat, calling out to whoever's in charge and order the biggest bowl they have. A few minutes of waiting, the food arrived. The bowl was made of porcelain, painted blue on the outside and wide enough to sit on. The bowl's easily bigger than my head, literally. Trying to process what lies on top of the broth and noodle, I spot some soft-boiled eggs, chunks of meat, vegetables and seaweed paper. Oddly, I feel appreciative of the great work served for me and, how else am I going to show appreciation other than eating all of it and leaving no left-overs? With a simple back stretching, I lift the bowl to shoulder level and chug the soup first until it was dry. The remaining ingredients were simply scooped up with a pair of chopsticks as I dump all of it into my meek mouth. With a smile of satisfaction, I look around to see people wearing faces on the border of ashtonishment and fear. I don't know, I'm not sure what they're thinking , I can't read minds. Maybe they enjoyed my little feat?

Anyways, another smell distracts me, this time it was coming from behind me. On the open street. The smell reminds me of the seafood I ate a few moments ago, this time it smells bigger, and there's two of them. Trying to listen in on the direction where the scent came, I hear little giggles. Drooling with excitement, I smile brighter the moment I hear them coming. A hand pulls the curtain up and my legs get ready to jump at my prey. I meet confusion topped with a little bit of disappointment when the owner of the hands appears to be a little human(?) with pink hair. Mouth wide open, I wipe my drool in embarassment. "I...uhm...I uhm, Hi," I stuttered. Looking behind the little pink-haired person, I spot my intended targets. "Sigh..." I deflate from my excitement. I'm still full anyway, might as well just enjoy company.

"I'm Carn. Want some ramen?" I offered them.

*sniff sniff* "Oh boy..."