Balance (32 page)

“Don’t you worry.  Absolutely nothing will separate us.” 
B
oth finally committing to their feelings,
Michael lifts his head, meeting her waiting lips.

It’s been two months since he and Rena spent the three days in Chicago. 
Michael’s
training has intensified, both physically and mentally.  Takada had Waters
compile video
footage of
parkour
, a form of freestyle acrobatics used for evasion and pursuit.  Water’s description
of
parkour
their first week
,
turned out to be most apt,
‘imagine a squirrel on speed, runnin
g through an obstacle course’. 
Michael
and Takada
spend
many
ho
urs a
week
traversing the
Monolith, pl
a
ying a rudimentary
game of
follow the leader
.

Quite often sessions become so intense
,
Michael
has
to
rearrange his schedule
, much to Rena’s
silent
approval.
 

It’
s during these
adjustments, normally effecting
her
private training
,
she
has
an
opportunity to study Michael and Takada’s
individual
styles
.
 
On several occasions
,
she’
s
observed
Takada shift from teacher to compet
itor,
his
single-mindedness
bordering
obsession. 
K
nowing the Monolith intricately, having trained on it for ye
ars,
he’s
le
d Michael into blind
areas within its construct.  W
ithout firsthand knowledge,
an
entrant
could easily miss a grab point
or foot
ing
,
potentially
resulting in
severe injury. 
Somehow
,
Michael
always
adj
ust
s
to
the
unexpected
condition.  It
’s
these
episodes
, when
Rena felt Takada was trying to intentionally injure or
elicit
some degree of failure
,
when
his
frustration
peaks, their difference become most
evident
.
 
Where
Takada moves through the
Monolith
with purpose,
following a known path,
Michael constantly alt
ers
his
course
, even along familiar
stretches. 
I
t appears as if
he’
s
trying
to experience different
environments,
forming some sort of memory
catalog
of the individual terrain and conditions, versus the Monolith construct itself.

The
parkour
affects
Michael’s hand-to-hand
and short range fighting,
adopting
various
parkour
positions and movements into his own unique amalgamated
aerial
repertoire
.
 
As a result
,
it’
s become
nearly impossible to predict
Michael’s
offenses
and
defenses
,
as
he no longer conforms to any
conventional
combat
doctrine
.

The
human anatomy
lessons
also
influence
hi
s
fighting style;
now taking into account pressu
re and strike points
. 
As a byproduct
Rena’s
hand-to-hand
skills
evolve
as well
.  He
t
eaches
her
to focus
more
energ
y
in smaller movements,
to
create more power when
punching and kicking
, targeting areas of the body
capable of inducing
death
, collapse or incapacitation
. 
Michael’s goal, make sure, if involved in an altercation, she can elevate the terms of the outcome to any level, effecti
vely protecting herself, if he’
s unable. 
His efforts
,
combined with her incredibly fast grasp of intricate sequences
,
produces devastating
results
,
making
both Rodriguez and Waters
weary
o
f
even
sparring
with her.

Michael looks forward to
their
training s
essions to observe her graceful
form
.  He and Waters
refer
to he
r
technique
as the ‘dance of death’,
he
r
movements
so enticing and distracting, almost hypnotic
,
she could
easily
disable a mark
before they’
d even r
ealize they were under assault.

Much of their free time
,
not spent training in hand-to-
hand
,
is
dedicated to comm
unications,
all forms,
non-verbal,
cryptic
,
subliminal, anything that can transmit a message
.  Due to their
shared
concern regarding Tak
ada and the rest of the
Bunker
,
Michael and Rena develop
their own
private
methods, u
tiliz
ing
hand gesture
sequences
and
ambiguous
phrases
with
dual meanings
,
c
onvey
ing
additional information or warnings
. 
They
practic
e
their advanced communication skills
when not in the company
of
Takada, Waters, Rodriguez or anyone from immersion.

Pharmacology and herbology prove to be far more challenging and
enlightening
then either expected.  They spend
hours
learning which
drugs, legal and illegal
, are useful
for coercion, interrogation, manipulation and termination.
Michael and Rena
learn
about
substances
to fake one’s death, release
inhibitions, force truth
and
make the mind
susceptible to suggestion
.
  N
ature
’
s many
secret
s
are unlocked
,
as they discover
animal venoms and
herbs that alter the senses, induce
higher mental and physical function, cause de
ath or induce paralysis and
coma.
  Several labs within the Bunker provide them hands-on exposure and
practice
identifying
and
harvesting these toxins and herbal
elements.
 
Through the course of their education,
Michael and Rena
become living libraries of death and
mayhem
.

S
pend
ing
more time
on the rifle range
,
Michael
works
on his
sniper skills,
incorporating
a
wide
r
array of weapons and tools, learning how to extend his range
and improve accuracy
,
taking into account;
muzzle
velocity,
windage, elevation and parallax.
  Previously
performing at
marksmen level up to 400-yards, Michael’s
skills jump significantly, more than doubling his range while maintaining accuracy, with confirmed hits at
1,6
00-yards.

Rena and
Ms. Smith
’s t
eam
work with Michael to expand his
immersion skills,
teaching him
foreign
languages
,
coaching
him to mimic various g
s
eographic speech patterns, mannerism
s
and
dialect
,
becoming fluent in
French, Spanish, Russian, Italian
, Chinese and Japanese
.
  His exposure and proficiency,
enables
him to grasp new languages in days, versus weeks.

The
Immersion Team
s
work with
both
of them,
expand
ing
their
infiltration detection
and subterfuge
proficiencies. 
Practicing in s
imulat
ed
field
exercises
, Michael and Rena
hone
their skills identifying
concealed
agents
while
main
tain
ing
their own cover
.
 

Ms. Smith is so confident in their abilities; she suspects either could go undet
ected in any immersion
scenario
.  She’s
never experienc
ed
agents with their level of skill.

Expecting
higher reward, higher risk infiltrations;
Rena
recognizes that
extract
ion of
critical information as quickly as possible
will be imperative to her success and safety
.
  E
nlist
ing
the help o
f specialists
,
she
perfects
her manipulation, coercion and deception
recognition
abilities.

As Rena suspected, Takada was turning Michael into
the preeminent
killing ma
chine and her
,
the
perfect
I
nfiltrator. 
She
believes
Chango and Takada have someth
ing big and surgical planned, t
he question is
...
W
as it planned before Michael and her arrived, or as a result?

…

As they anticipated, the
moment arrives when
Michael is to perform in his own exercise.
 
Alt
hough the incident
appears
in the
guise of an altruistic act, Rena recognizes it for the manipulation they expected
.

T
en-months after their invitation
,
Michael
receives a late evening
summon
s
to the main
Ready Room
. 
Upon arrival, h
e finds
Rena
present
,
lead
ing the mission prep
,
look
ing
as if she’d
been there for hours
.