A Day In Wonderland

Today was awesome! One word—BUNJI. It’s kinda crazy to think that there is a full size gym hiding down here, like one you would see in a high school (so I’m told, stairs climbing up one side, the side you enter in at the top. Rich people spend their money in all sorts of ways, I guess. Some people get expensive cars, others get expensive cars and underground gyms. But who cares, I can fly. The objective is to get my equilibrium used to sudden drops and to practice firing at fast speed, call it what you like it was the most fun I’ve had yet. Bright Flame has me doing it all week, but I think I know what I’m doing with my free time.

Despite the fact that there are no windows and therefore no reference to night and day, there is a rhythm to what happens around here. They have me on a set schedule to get me re-ready for whatever purpose they created me. After breakfast is strength and perseverance training. Then “book” learning, MacGuyver type stuff, chem., internal communications, stuff that helps you when you are out in the real world, like French. I guess we’ll be taking over a French embassy someday, I don’t know, maybe just a French restaurant, but at least I will know all the wines. It’s mostly memory stuff and that is easy as osmosis, it just happens. The bunji training is part this sort of program to make you distraction free, a lot of it is done with the military video games, but Warlike wants us to feel it and sense it in actuality and that is where paintball comes in. They throw in any one around, change the environment, light levels, noise levels, some people may have better or worse weapons, they mix it up pretty well. It’s a good way to get out frustrations, but most of the time it’s just a lot of fun. Except for Usurper, that guy becomes someone else when he’s got a gun in his hand. Sometimes I wonder if he is the same person.

It had been a pretty good run of games and as it often is, he and I were the only ones left, but he had already won the two previous rounds and he was feeling pretty good about himself. We all banter as we run around, but his was becoming increasingly self- aggrandizing. In short he was getting on my nerves and it was time to knock him off his goddam horse. All it would take would be one shot and it’s game over. In a sequence of running and shooting, only seen in movies, yellow paint speeding past me, splattering all around, we ran at each other in a full run and some how, I dodged and weaved, aimed and fired, and BAM! Usurper is covered purple paint. If we had been using real guns I would taken out his entire chest cavity.

I admit, I did a pogo dance of victory. The others clapped and cheered. Usurper just glared at me. In keeping with the spirit of the game I walked up to him with a little sway in my hips and leaned in close to his reddening face and said sweetly, “Whooped by a woman, huh? Better get used to it,” and blew him a kiss. To my shock and amazement he threw his gun on the ground and verbally exploded. He lost it, I mean absolutely lost it. He was demeaning, derogatory, and right out malicious. A real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Finally the cyclone ceased and he stood before me, sweat dribbling down his beet red face, hissing through his teeth as he caught his breath. I was so stunned by all the hurtful things he had just thrown at me. He had always been so supportive and encouraging. It seems that Mr. Number1 was feeling his position slipping. The perfect revenge of course would have been to play up to Warlike and simply displace Usurper, but that would take too long. So…I punched him; square in the jaw.

There was a clean cracking sound that matched the jab of pain that shot through knuckles. His head snapped back, but he recovered quickly, staring me down. Blinking, he took a deep breath and leaned in toward me, as he pulled his arm back for retaliation; Bright flame squeezed himself between us before Usurper could do any more. Even as pain was just starting to radiate up my arm I was so happy. Punching him was one of the most satisfying things I have ever felt.