my time at Rapture

After many days of sitting there, post party. post pride. Bored. Everything finally collapsed. "Screw it! I'm volunteering for that game thing, I mean I play games occasionally" I announce to myself, dropping an email to Rapture and receiving a phone call mere hours later confirming my position. Little did I know when I accepted my way into the staff Facebook group what I was signing up to.

The first day seemed simple enough, I rocked up mid day, shook hands with people and was put to work with an assortment of nerds screwing together chairs, plugging in consoles, and flipping tables to match the floor plan. The music was good, the company was alright, even the jobs were fun in that fiddly satisfying "every furniture leg clicks in just right" kind of way ... until it was time for the computers to be set up.

I stood staring at the row of tables adorned with wires and computer parts. Screen stands were screwed and things were plugged in. The only problem. I am not a computer guy. I never claimed to be a computer guy. And no one debriefed me on what anything was called.
I had people I'd barely met growling at me to "plug the kettle lead into the side. Not the mother board the other bit" barely telling me what the hell a kettle lead was, "it looks like the bit you plug into a kettle.” This statement especially confused me since it was always said like plugging in kettles was a universal experience, unlike the kettles I’ve interacted with where the wire is built in.

During this time was also when I met two huskier lads goofing around a little bit too relaxed as they worked. They seemed to come as a package deal ala “tweedle dee and tweedle dum” despite having only met recently. They seemed nice, albeit a tad immature. One of the duo - the one with spikey hair - seemed to warm to me very quickly, watching me like I was an insect in a jar. This coupled with his music taste, and a few odd testing-the-water lines made me wonder if he fancied me.

Amongst the stress I was sent under the tables and their cheap acrylic black table covers to connect all the wires down below. There was something hypnotic about this, a den of darkness and fancy LED lights as someone would lower a wire like a fishing line towards me to grab and plug in. Under the table it was peaceful. The primal kind of peace found in caves and forests at night. I didn't want to emerge and deal with the guy in charge, a man who complained about costs and resembled a taller, slimmer, clone of the grandfather in Jurassic park.

After a few hours, I make my excuses early and leave the nerds to their devices (literally) while I got quietly tipsy with my parents at a street food thing. That was exactly what I needed, street food and company I could get drunk and cuddly with without ruining any boundaries.

The next morning I wake up with a faint humming in my head from the 2 sets of cocktails. I shower, get dressed, and reassure the group chat that I will be coming up. This of course was dubious. I was planning to test the water and if it was as dreary as it was the Friday then I'd quietly claim I had somewhere to be or some tragedy had hit a local family member, you know, usual stuff. So I arrive and dodge security, getting given a red tee shirt, a green access band, and a lanyard.

When I'm released the first thing that strikes me is the sea of children. Like honest to god below 12 year old CHILDREN. I guess realistically it was likely to be that or sad adults. I get directed through the red games room and given to John to place me where I seem fit. John was a cool guy, a lighter skinned black guy in a yellow and black overwatch snapback that on anyone else would seem juvenile but somehow managed to make him look more grown up. He bounced to the music when he walked, occasionally adding hand gestures as he herded me around. I discovered later that with the addition of beer this evolved into proper dancing.

Eventually John took me to retro games and I was told to do laps of the top floor. On my travels I watched a little bit of a games tournament for the Nintendo game “arms” – an exciting take on boxing where everyone has springy arms and powers during the fight. It had all the perks of proper boxing without the risk of injury, and is currently to my knowledge the safest way to gamble on children fighting. The contest was narrated by two charismatic, bubbly hosts, who managed to strike the right balance between kids TV presenter and proper sports commentator. They consisted of a young woman in a jacket based on an overwatch character - tracer – which seemed just distant enough from cosplay for it to fly under the radar anywhere else but here, and a man with a gamer top and a beard whose voice bounced around the room as he gushed about strategy and combat.

Eventually I was placed in charge of FIFA competitions. I don't know anything about football of any kind, However I befriended the competitors to pass the time: a semi-professional FIFA playing lad in his 20s who would have qualified as cool in any other situation, a few vaguely Indian lads who were here for fun, a Spaniard in a "Sokka from avatar" haircut who I met up with later, some kids, and an aunt who was there with her brother and niece. I supported the people who seemed to enjoy themselves the most over the people taking it seriously, and congratulated the Indian lad for his prizes.

Eventually, after hours of volunteering as well as free lunch and dinner (free food is the best food, and Rapture fed me well) I was released into the afterparty. I quickly changed and met back with the Spaniard, underwhelmed by the turnout but a little smitten by his accent and European charms. We played a few games, and he explained his tattoos to me, as well as his interrailing exploits. At one point he took his glasses off and shook his hair from its elastics into his face in slow motion, and for a second I genuinely struggled to not to go full bad Romcom on this tragically straight guy.

instead I shifted my attention back to the games at hand. After a few rounds of consoles (smash bros - he won, batman -I won, Mario cart - I won, FIFA - he won) we went to the music band game. Standing there next to the equipment was a petite lady with dark hair and her friend, who I discovered underwhelmingly was her boyfriend. We befriended these people in minutes. Sidenote: Don't crush on strangers, kids. they either don't match you sexuality wise, or are already involved with people.

Nevertheless we banded together, performing a few power-ballads by the killers and then continuing to party by playing a “just dance” as a team in exchange for shots of sours. I was terrible but at least I was enthusiastic! “itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow pokadot bikini” was a particular low of my career as a dancer in the just dance shot competition. Once again the Spaniard was the victor of the group. We hung out for a bit, drinking and playing Mario cart before the band departed one by one leaving me with the staff and the special guests unaware of who was who.

The thing about nerd parties is although I am a strong believer that video games should be available at ALL nightclubs for when the night gets static or awkward, they also have terrible music tastes. Don't get me wrong most of the songs were fab. The problem was that every other song had a meme wedged into it. Some badly shoehorned remix of pickle rick or a big bang theory line as a transition track served by a DJ dressed in a tragically sci-fi vest the likes of which can only be found in Camden markets sci-fi rave section. This was insufferable enough to make me slink to the back room and stick to the games for a bit, before emerging for "apple bottom jeans" by Flo Rida.

My night finished off in the nerd rave, where I met a few intense characters. One of which particularly stood out. It was me. No, wait. it was me in 5 years if nothing went tragically wrong. He had my jacket, he had a pendant, he had a better haircut than me and just enough tattoos to be interesting without seeming like he was overcompensating. Most iconic of all was that he could dance. I'm not talking line dancing, I'm talking this future me had rhythm and the commitment to pull off the moves he made in a way that almost rivalled john. It was at that point I began to wonder if it would be narcissist to flirt with my hopeful future clone.

My overall opinion of the event is that I don’t want to admit I liked it, but it was fun. I came in looking for a cheap boredom buster, and although it definitely had its downsides such as the DJ. I did manage to meet some interesting people, win free alcohol, and play games I wouldn’t have played without the event.