Balance (5 page)

P
ass
ing
through the door
, Rena and Michael walk
into a large
meeting
r
oom
. 
A
conference table with
several chairs positioned around it
fills the front half
of space
, a
small sitting area with four leather chairs around a small
coffee
table
reside
in the rear of th
e room.  A large monitor
covers
half
the
long
wall opposite the sitting area.

The sold
i
er points to two of the
leather
chairs
.
Rena and Michael
tak
e
seats next to each other
in the sitting area.

The soldier departs thr
ough the same door they entered,
lock
ing
behind
him
.

Left alone, Michael turns to Rena, “Are you okay?”

“I’m
fine
… thank you.”

Without warning, a
section of the wall
,
adjacent to the monitor
,
opens
, exposing a brightly lit hallway beyond
.  Michael and Rena look at each other,
acknowledging
neither
expected
the
hidden
entrance.
R
eturn
ing
their attenti
on to the newly visible passage, they watch as
t
wo people walk into the room, a wom
a
n, mid-thirtie
s,
business-like
and
a man,
mid-
fort
ies,
military. 
Conversing
as they enter,
they
stop and turn their attention to
the couple sitting on the chairs
.

Michael and Rena stand to meet their hosts. 
The wom
a
n steps forward and
introduces herself;
extending
her hand politely to Michael.
“Hello, my name is Angela.  I am head of human resources.” 
She
shak
es
Michael’s
hand,
turns and a
ddresses Rena.

The military man
,
indifferent
,
waits
silently
until
his counterpart
is fin
ished
.  Without extending hi
s hand, he introduces himself, “
Commander Still
.
”
He
nod
s
at Michael
.

Angela motions
, “Please sit
.
”

Everyone seated, s
he immediately starts into an introduction.  “As Alexander has
explained
, we are in a military installation called the
‘Bunker’
.  We work for the
businessman
known worldwide
as
‘
Chango
’
.  This is his installation
,
and he ultimately oversees its operation
.  If all goes as expected
,
you t
w
o will operate out of this facility for the next year.
”
 
Letting her guests become
accepting of
this revelation, Angela goes silent.  She knows that a complete grasp of their situation is imperative to their successful
acclimation
.

Commander Still nods, directing her to continue.  “
For the
first
two
weeks,
you
are
to be evaluated
.
W
e will ascer
tain your skills, talents, psych
ological
makeup
,
strengths,
and weakness
es
. 
Assuming positive evaluation
s,
you will be
assigned
a
position
,
trained
and eventually placed w
ithin Chango’s operation
. 
D
epending on position and skill level
,
t
rainin
g can last three to six months. 
Commander Still is the head of this facility.  It is his job to facil
itate evaluations and training.” 
Angela
pauses a moment,
let
ting
the infor
mation absorb before continuing.  “
After training
, you will
participate
in field rotation
exercises
,
basically
,
‘on-the-job
’
training for field experience and evaluation.  If all goes as planned you
will
then be placed
outside the facility for permanent assignment.”

The commander supersedes,
“You will
reside here
,
in the Bunker, each assign
ed
a personal
living space.
There are curfews
and restrictions.  Abide by them.  You will have no contact outside this facility
,
until field training.  As Alexander explained, there are protocols.  It is your responsibility to become familiar with them
and abide by them
.  The facility operates under a mer
it system.  You will gain and l
ose merits.  It is not advisable to lose all of your merits.
  Merits gain you privileges.  D
emerits constitute punishment.”

“Any questions?”
Angela asks.

“What happens if
we
lose all of your merits?” Michael inquires.

“It is not advisa
ble to lose all of your merits
.”
reiterates Commander Still
,
“You will eat, sleep, wash and train in this facility.  There are talents already training and new talents
will
arrive throughout your training.  These talents are your colleagues and your competition.  You will be training with them and evaluated against
them. … Do I make myself clear?
”

Michael and Rena remain
s
ilent
,
attempting
to
assimilate
all explained
.

“Good.”
Angela remarks.

It
is
at th
is
point
,
Michael and Rena
realize
each of their lives, as they had known
,
just ended.  From th
is
moment forward, they would be creating entirely new lives, of which they had no clue what direction that wou
ld take them
,
or for how long.

Michael could tel
l by the way her eyes glistened;
Rena
was trying to hold back her emotions.  He had
n
o
t gotten to know her at al
l in their little time together
and for that
,
he was sorry.  If he had tried, she might not have felt so alone.  He did
no
t know if
she was leaving behind
family
or
frie
nds, but
b
ased on what little he had gleaned of her personality and what he
expected to
be a
proper
upbringing,
Michael was confident
she felt abducted.
  This
opportunity
was
n
o
t a way to get out of the
Hustle
;
it was the
abandonment
of her life.

Angela interrupts
Michael’s thoughts.  “You will be escorted to your living quarters. 
M
eal
s
brought to each of you shortly.  I recommend spending the remainder of the day reviewing the Protocol
and
Procedures manual you will
each find in your quarters.  B
oth
of you
will
be expected
in
the
dini
ng hall
at 6:00PM this evening.  Please come appropriately dressed.  You will find attire in your rooms.  Your evaluations start in the morning.”

Rena is
confident
their evaluations ha
d
not stop
ped
from the moment Michael stepped into the cage last night.

Through the hidden entry, a
n
armed soldier enters
the conference room
.  Commander Still nod
s
, indicating
Michael and Rena
are
to follow th
e escort
.

Michael, Rena and the soldier
exit
the room
,
the hidden door clos
ing
behind them.

Commander Still turns to Angela.  “Where are they being projected to end up?”

Angela opens two files,
placing
them on the table in front of her and the Commander.  “
According to Alexander,
the young man has unique fighting skills, great hand eye coordination and unnatural
reflexes.  He thinks ‘dispatch’,
depend
ent
on range skills
and psychological evaluation
.  The girl, without a question
,
he ha
s recommend
ed
‘infiltration’
.
”

“
A
keen eye for talent,
Alexander’s
in
stincts are impeccable.”  Still acknowledges,
“Is there
anything else in there?  How’
d he find them?”

“Well
,
according to
the report
, finders alerted him to the young man, but the young
woman
was just
in
the right place at the right time.  He says that until last night, the two had
n
o
t met.
”

“That was fortunate for us
.”
comments the
Commander.

“
Alexander also recommends, assuming his projections are correct,
we pair the two.  He thinks they have chemistry and are predisposed to form a bond.”

Still
concedes,
“
As I said ‘g
reat instincts
’
… You know, we should be a litt
le more protective of Alexander.
H
is talents are a great asset.  We should be more careful
someone doesn’t
try to acquire
him from us.”

With the last
exchange,
they
exit
the conference room through the hidden
access
.

The soldier leads
Michael and R
ena down a hallway
, through a
double oak
door into
a
large room
with high ceilings
. 
With w
ell-lit
natural colored walls, the room resembles
an
office-building
lobby d
ecorated
with greenery, uncomfortable lounges,
and
abstract painting
s
hanging on
the walls. 
Covering her mouth,
Rena
smirks,
finding the
ensemble
an effective representation of early
century business
misconceptions
.

Across from them, on
the far
side
of the
lobby,
a wide staircase lead
s
up to
a second floor
hallway. 
Their guide
continue
s
up the stairs and
down
the hall
,
extend
ing
several hundred feet in front of them with
doors s
paced roughly thirty feet apart along both walls.
 

Escorted
more than halfway
down the hall
the sold
i
er
stop
s
at a door
on the right side
.
P
lacing
his ha
nd on a small
monitor
embedded in the wall
next to the door, a
green
shadow of his handprint briefly
display
s on the scree
n.
H
e touches th
e lower corner
causing a keyboard to appear
.
T
yp
ing in a series of characters, he
turns to Rena.  “Place your left hand on the screen please
.
”

Rena does as
instructed,
her handprint
shadow
s,
first
blue,
and then
green.  The door unlocks.

The soldier opens the door and motions Rena inside. 
Closing
the door behind her,
it
lock
s automatically
.

The soldier turns to the door
across the hall
and repeats the exercise,
likewise
lock
ing
Michael
inside.

Rena steps into her quarters, t
h
e door shutting behind her.
H
earing it lock, s
he stands for a
moment in the dark entry hall.

Now, for the first time alone, emotions overtake her.  Her eyes well up and she starts to tremble.  The events of the last
twelve
hours have drained her.  She did not want to succumb to her emotions in front of her ‘captors’
or
Michael
, especially Michael
.  She
knows
her future w
ill
depend on him. 
His display in the cage, all but guaranteed it. 
H
e
has
to have fai
th and confidence in her. 
She c
annot
afford to
appear weak in front of him.

Weak, at this moment, is
all she feels.  Cha
ngo, of all the SuperElite, he’
s the most dangerous, the boogeyman from the nightmares of children, faceless and ruthless.  What the
H
ell was
she thinking?  She closes her eyes, replays the events of the past … thoughts of right or wrong have nothing to do with it … it’s all about those we love.

After
minutes
of reflection
, Rena collects herself
,
whisper
ing
so as not to be
heard by any surveillance equipment
likely
present in her ne
w home,
“
Stop being a
little girl.  You can do this.”
 
Crossing her arms i
n front of her
to provide some additional
reassurance
, she walks forward into the
residence
.

As she steps into the main room, sensors
detect her presence and illuminate the space.  The
dwelling
consist
s
of a central sitting room with
a couch and
two
lounges
positioned around
a coffee table
.
A
large monitor mounted on the far
wall opposite the entryway.  An
office
area
with only a desk
extends off the side o
f
the main space
on her right
.  A small kitchenette
sits
adjacent to the office space,
also
off the
main space.  On the opposite
wall
,
to Rena’s left
,
an ent
ry
way opens into what
appears
to be
a bedroom.

Rena steps cautiously
through the entry
. 
A single large bed sits in the center of the
space
against the far wall. 
To her left,
several drawers
built
into the wall, a small walk-
in
closet,
and a rather large dressing area with a full
-
length
lighted vanity mirror. 
At the opposite end of the room,
a
bathroom and
shower.

She surveys the entire
room
for obvious surveillance.  No cameras
present themselves
,
but
without being overly
invasive,
she
didn’
t expect to find much
.  Mo
re
importantly, she
does
n’
t want to raise any concerns as to her acquiescence
.  S
he knows surveillance
exists
in the room, and she needs to operate under that assumption
.

As a
whole,
the entire
dormitory
,
with
its excessive
light and the walls too lightly colored
,
is
relatively sterile
and somber
.  Even the furniture
felt uninviting
.
 
She
walks
to
the closet and drawers,
perusing
bot
h pieces for appropriate attire.  She
find
s
only
a single
set of
basic
undergarments
and
a
black workout
suit
. 
Gathering
the clothing
,
Rena
deposit
s
them on the bed
and
heads
to the bathroom.

After undressing
, she
slips under the hot shower.  A
gain,
Rena
succumbs to
her
emotions;
confident
surveillance would not work or be present in the
steam-filled
bathroom.  She understands that the events of the last day have been
overwhelming, expected as much.  T
o be here, after all the planning
… she was unprepared for the onslaught of emotions.  She chides herself for her
naiveté
.

Her mind flashes to Michael, to the cage.  In all th
e chaos of the invitation, she
hadn’t
the
time to reconsider the events of the night.  What happened?  She’d seen him fight before, truly enjoyed
watching him … but last night,
that was different.  His
reaction, his offensive … anyone seeing the fight, with any real knowledge of fighting … would have come to the same conclusion … the fight was fixed. 
However,
the promoter
appeared
just as shocked by the events, and Michael, he didn’t seem to
even
know what happened.  His reaction to her insinuation and collusion
was
genuine puzzlement … e
ither Mic
hael’
s an excellent actor, or he’s completely in the dark as to what happened.

She stands under the hot water streaming down her body, relaxing the tenseness in her muscles, and her mind.  The gamut of her emotions spent in privacy, she collects herself.

Showered
and
wrap
ped
in a towel
,
only
her hair still wet, she
returns to the bedroom
.
 
Standing before the large mirror, Rena dries
her long dark red man
e
,
then
dresses
. 
Locating
a brush
,
she
straightens
her hair
,
arrang
ing
it into a
loose
braid down
the
middle of her
back.

Returning to the mirror, she
inspects herself. 
The
clothing
,
form fitting
,
meant to provide mobility and minimal interference, the material
intended
to keep in warmth
, while
wick
ing
away perspiration. 
She
wears a
form fitting
lycra
white
ribbed
tank under
the
removable
jacket
.  The shoes,
a type of booty with a rugged
ized
rubber
sole,
form fitting
without lace
s,
effective for running, climbing,
swimming or any physical activity.

R
eturning
to the main space,
Rena
goes
to the office area. 
O
n the center of the
desk,
she finds the Protocol
and
Procedure
s
manual
, a large tome holding the rules for her survival here in the Bunker
.  She picks it up and deposits it on the coffee tabl
e,
on her way
into
the kitchen
ette
.  The only appliance
,
a refrigerator complete with
drink dispenser, s
he grabs a glass from the cupboard and pours
herself some
water.

A computer on the wall
in the sitting room chimes indicating
11:30AM. 
A second chime sounds
and the door unloc
ks.  The door opens slowly,
followed by
a knock and a greeting.  “Lunch
m
a’
am.
Is it okay if I enter?”

“
Yes
.
”
She replies, working to hide any apprehension from her voice.

A young man
,
dressed in white fatigues
,
enters carrying a tray with covered plates.  He walks in and places the tray on the island coun
ter. 
T
urn
ing
to the young woma
n, he
introduces himself.  “Sargent Owens, Ma
’a
m.  Did you find everything you needed?”