Balance

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Authors: Kurt Bartling
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beam. W ithout stopping to balance himself, he skips across three additional beams of alternating height and varying shape , positioned parallel to each other, finally leaping off the last beam to land on a pedestal a man and a h alf high, reaching the tracer.
    The red marker reap pears at the point he started.
    Michael drops from the pedestal, around ten- feet in the air to land on a n arrow beam a foot off the floor. W ithout hesitation, he races down the beam over a waist high pedestal onto the last beam , finally t o the tracer.
    T he people watching from the floor start clapping and cheering .
    Michael looks up to see t he weight lifting area em ptied, with all in the arena now watching him.  He jumps off the beam t o the floor, turning to address Waters ; wearing a stunned look on his face .
    Ca tching his breath, Michael asks, “How’d I do?”
    “I’ve never seen anyone do that.” Waters remarks.
    “Really?” An exasperated Michael replies.
     
    …
     
    After Michael ’s departure , Rena changes out of the gown.  H er makeup r emoved and hair strai ghtened, wearing only a skintight nude body stocking, Reg takes s everal stock photos from straight on and at both profiles .   Ms. Smith explain s that the images act as canvas, allowing them to design various appearance s and wardrobe on their computer s .  It greatly reduces trial and error when designing an immersion .  The y can even use the images to create 3D models of her face and body , allowing them to create clothing and artificial prosthetics where greater augmentations are required for immersion .
    Ms. Smith has Rena change into several more outfits ; house cleaner , w aitress, flight attendant, swim suit, business -woma n, security guard, street walker, cocktail waitress and others.  She spends an additional hou r and half in the dressing room before Rodriguez returns.
    Thanking Ms. Smith and her team for the ‘fun’ , Rena changes into her mundane workout attire .
     
    As she follows Rodriguez out , “Where’re we going now? ” She asks.
    “We are headed to the Combine.  A lthough, I don’t think you will be the center of attention today.” He replies.
    “ Excuse me ? ”
    “From what I understand, Michael is putting on a show.  Seems he’s blown away the coordination test course rec ord.  We should be arriving just in time to catch his agility test.”
     
    Rena and Rodri guez arrive at the arena, pass ing through the double door s , station ing just off the large ov al track.   Sounds of exuberance, clapping and cheering emanate from a crowd assembled at its center .  Rena cannot see Michael , bu t based on Rodriguez’s comments; suspects the excitement is his work.  As t he y p roceed t oward the gathering , Rena scan s the expanse , noticing the huge , odd looking, urban terrain construct at the far end.  Looking over her shoulder, s he sees the elevated seating area , immediately identifying Commander Still and his Asian counterpart , both standing along the railing at the lower front edge of the balcony .
    As she watches them, the Asian departs, exiting out a doorway located along the wall.  Moments later, he enters the a rena through the double doors.
    Walking b riskly toward the gathering, approa ching from behind her and Rodriguez, he acknowledges her briefly as he passes.  His expressi on imperceptible, she’ s unable to discern whether angered or intrigued by the performance on display.   A s he approaches the gathering, s everal spectators spot him , h is appearance creating nearly as much commotion a s Michael’s performance.
    Like the Red Sea , the crowd part s in front of him, creating a pathway through the crowd, snaking its way directly to Michael.
    Rodriguez , seeing the opportunity , quickly directs Rena to follow in Takada’s wake.
    Takada comes to a stop near the beginning of the course.
    Rena , emerging from the crowd behind Rodriguez, spots Michael hunched over, catching his breath.  Having

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