ones in the fight cages, he suspects used for sparring. At the far end , Michael observes the oddest sight. From this distance, it looks like a giant, abstract painting made physical, with large sections that look like toppled building s complete with walls, windows and doors, portions of natural rock and artificial climbing walls all melded into the landscape. M onkey bars, sewer pipes, bridge trusses , tires, and other objects intermixed th roughout the massive construct.
Michael looks at Waters; “What the hell is that?” nodding toward odd monstrosity .
“The Monolith. Don’t worry, not your problem today. Sometime , when Takada’s in there training , I’ll grab you to watch, g reat entertainment.”
“Who’s Takada?” Michael asks .
Wate r s turns, look ing up to a large balcony area overlooking the are na . R ows of seats ascend from the front to the back wall , many already occupied . “ Do y ou see the Asian guy , next to Commander Still?”
Michael immediately recognizes him from last night. He was the one with Still, watching them during the tryout .
“Dangerous son-of-a-bitch, runs Infiltration, handles advanced f ight training, c razy with hand-to- hand weapons. He also teaches parkour .”
“Par k our?”
“Easier to show than explain. The Monolith. Think of a squirrel on speed , running through an obstacle course. You’ve been summoned. Let’s go.”
Waters walks Michael over to a small contingent of people; comprised of soldiers and medical personnel .
Michael notices several more people have joined Still and Takada in the bleachers .
Over the next hour, the medical contingent progresses Michael thr ough a battery of physical tests, sprinting, jumping, weight lifting and conditioning drills. Based on the reaction of his evaluators, Michael feels hi s performances were very good.
As the contingent prepares for the coordination testing , Michael notices a crowd , those from the weight area , start ing to form behind him . S everal of the spectators in the balcony have also moved down to the railing to observe , including Takada and Still.
While performing his other tests, several of the sparring mats were rolled- up , replaced by an obstacle course, a pprox imately a hundred- feet square. The course comprised of several balance beams of different shape , height and length , intermixed with numerous p edestals of var ying configuration dispersed throughout the field . The obstacles located by m arkers on the floor.
A technician in a lab coat addresses Michael. “This course is designed to test your coordination and agility. The first sequence is a baseline test. You navigate the course chasing a tracer light. Your objective; get from where you are on the course to where ver the tracer light illuminates , without touching the floor. The light will remain on a destination until you arrive. Do you understand?”
Michael nods.
“ This is a timed exercise with penal ty time added for touching the f loor. As soon as you see the tracer illuminate the first destination , the clock starts. Are you r eady? ”
Michael positions him self at the end of a low beam.
The tracer light appears at the far end of the same beam.
Michael quickly tiptoes down the length . As soon as his foot b reak s the tracer , it disappears, reappear ing fifty f eet away on top of a pedestal.
Jumping to an adjacent waist high beam, he quickly traver ses it s length , continuing on to a series of pedestals. He skip s across three pedestals of increasing height unt il he reaches his destination.
The tracer reappears across an open space populated with several more pedestals of various height and diameter .
Michael bounds from surface to surface like a checkerboard to reach the light . The tracer disappears , reappear ing on another very tall pedestal at the far edge of the course .
Launching from his pedestal , he land s with one foot on a head high rou nd
Michael looks at Waters; “What the hell is that?” nodding toward odd monstrosity .
“The Monolith. Don’t worry, not your problem today. Sometime , when Takada’s in there training , I’ll grab you to watch, g reat entertainment.”
“Who’s Takada?” Michael asks .
Wate r s turns, look ing up to a large balcony area overlooking the are na . R ows of seats ascend from the front to the back wall , many already occupied . “ Do y ou see the Asian guy , next to Commander Still?”
Michael immediately recognizes him from last night. He was the one with Still, watching them during the tryout .
“Dangerous son-of-a-bitch, runs Infiltration, handles advanced f ight training, c razy with hand-to- hand weapons. He also teaches parkour .”
“Par k our?”
“Easier to show than explain. The Monolith. Think of a squirrel on speed , running through an obstacle course. You’ve been summoned. Let’s go.”
Waters walks Michael over to a small contingent of people; comprised of soldiers and medical personnel .
Michael notices several more people have joined Still and Takada in the bleachers .
Over the next hour, the medical contingent progresses Michael thr ough a battery of physical tests, sprinting, jumping, weight lifting and conditioning drills. Based on the reaction of his evaluators, Michael feels hi s performances were very good.
As the contingent prepares for the coordination testing , Michael notices a crowd , those from the weight area , start ing to form behind him . S everal of the spectators in the balcony have also moved down to the railing to observe , including Takada and Still.
While performing his other tests, several of the sparring mats were rolled- up , replaced by an obstacle course, a pprox imately a hundred- feet square. The course comprised of several balance beams of different shape , height and length , intermixed with numerous p edestals of var ying configuration dispersed throughout the field . The obstacles located by m arkers on the floor.
A technician in a lab coat addresses Michael. “This course is designed to test your coordination and agility. The first sequence is a baseline test. You navigate the course chasing a tracer light. Your objective; get from where you are on the course to where ver the tracer light illuminates , without touching the floor. The light will remain on a destination until you arrive. Do you understand?”
Michael nods.
“ This is a timed exercise with penal ty time added for touching the f loor. As soon as you see the tracer illuminate the first destination , the clock starts. Are you r eady? ”
Michael positions him self at the end of a low beam.
The tracer light appears at the far end of the same beam.
Michael quickly tiptoes down the length . As soon as his foot b reak s the tracer , it disappears, reappear ing fifty f eet away on top of a pedestal.
Jumping to an adjacent waist high beam, he quickly traver ses it s length , continuing on to a series of pedestals. He skip s across three pedestals of increasing height unt il he reaches his destination.
The tracer reappears across an open space populated with several more pedestals of various height and diameter .
Michael bounds from surface to surface like a checkerboard to reach the light . The tracer disappears , reappear ing on another very tall pedestal at the far edge of the course .
Launching from his pedestal , he land s with one foot on a head high rou nd
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