Chapter 86

Cautiously he tried again. It was now or never. A critical mass of interrelated randomness had conspired to ensnare his free will. He no longer possessed the power of choice. If he was to survive, there was but a single move to make, and it would require all the concentration, focus, calm, resolve and skill he could coax from his broken body and frozen cpu.

He coughed a laugh of phlegm and type O positive thinking about an embarrassing moment on stage during a dance recital some 50 years prior. Who in that audience would pay another price of admission to see him now?

Perhaps that was the lesson. Step, shuffle, ball, change. His eyes opened like the iris of a camera in low light. All these years carrying the emotion of that ridiculously meaningless moment. Why?

It didn't matter then, but it seemed to now.

Step, he commanded.