| Machine Race | |
February 1, 2016
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| In this society, technology was high, but it also had a dark side. Many athletes used drugs. Of course, they didn't use prohibited drugs, which would become 'negative' in the dope tests. But thanks to the technology, there were many drugs that were invented which would become 'positive' to the tests. The speed of these invention of drugs exceeded the speed of the organizers' research. In this country, there were a lot of track and field fans but recently the number of fans dropped. They were disgusted to see unnatural muscular male and female athletes running, and jumping, and throwing in the various events. Viewers of track and field games on TV decreased, too. The athletic association as an organizer of the races and TV companies as sponsors begged the government to do something to improve the situation. The government had a meeting to gather sports-related people. She was in her 70s and was one of them. She used to be an 800m and 1500m runner, and won some races. Old fans knew her. She said in the meeting, "If you can't block injustice activities, how about allowing
She cleared her throat, "I'm not talking about drugs. I'm talking about allowing machines." Others became silent. She continued, "Recently, I broke my leg bone when I slipped down. My doctor gave me a machine to assist with my walking. During the later part of my rehabilitation, I enjoyed full speed running with the help of this machine. It reminded me when I was young. As I got order I had frustrations when jogging because I thought that my legs were not moving as fast as I wanted. Using machines gave me a sense of freedom. It is totally safe, and even healthier for us." No attendants agreed with her drastic idea except the worker who was in charge of this meeting. He liked her way of thinking which emphasized athletes' health. In these days, many young people used legal drugs because they wanted to have a body like that of a CM athlete. On this day the race which allowed the use of machines held a demonstration. Many organizers from all over who were concerned about athlete's drug problems came to the stadium. There were 5 categories in this race: 100m, 1500m, 400m hurdles, the high jump, and the long jump. In the races, they didn't categorize into men and women or types of machine; anybody, anything ok. As they prepared to start the 100m race, 8 runners who were wearing machines and were standing at the starting line. It was a strange sight. One man was wearing a huge machine, he was like a Japanese animation character. He was in this 20s and was sitting on the body of a robot, and the robot was two times as tall as he was. The plainest of the eight runners was a skinny young woman. She only wore a protector type of joints on her elbows and knees. (She explained in the interview before the race that the elbows' machine is important as well as the knees' because you can't run fast without moving your hands moving fast.) The others were between the full-metal and hers. The pistol banged. Voices of cheering occurred from the spectators. Many TV crews were covering this interesting race. The race was funny. Half of the racers fell down on their way. The winner was the simplest young woman. The full-metal machine was second. He announce that 100 meters was too short to show his machine's real performance. He said he would try the 1500m next. The 400m hurdle was funnier. All the attendants fell down in the middle of their course and the race was disqualified. The commentator said the technology wasn't as high as the hurdles themselves. The high jump and long jump were performed beautifully. The machines tended to be light because of the jumping. They looked like they were just wearing athletic supporters. The jumper jumped in a natural way but the distance was amazing. There were a lot of applause from the spectators again and again. The last race was the 1500m in which she joined. Her machine was the conversion of her rehab machine. Her doctor and therapist offered her support for the race. They said it would be good for the improvement of their Power-Assist Walking Machines. There were 20 runners. She was the oldest. Like the full-metal guy, others were wearing heavy machines. Researchers in universities and engineers in companies thought that in this distance, the mechanical parts were more important than a human's. So she looked rather small among them. But it didn't show that she was weak. When the pistol banged, she rushed out and kept the first position for a while. It was clear her reflexes were better than the machines. In the first 400 meters, the full-metal guy became top. She became in the fifth position but she was happy. She remembered her old days. At that time she felt she ran like the wind. This time she felt like that. But it was a little different. The last time her coach supported her, but as a racer she was lonely. But now she could feel her supporters' existence through her machine. After 1000 meters, she was in third place. The full-metal guy kept the lead. She changed her gears. But it didn't mean her machine's gears. Her mental gears. For the first time in ages after she became a runner, she could remember how to get 'it'. She felt like her mind was as still as the surface of a pond; but, at the same time, she could feel hotness in the bottom of her mind. Soon the spectators realized her speed had changed. She sprinted towards the goal. The full-metal guy was still in front of her, but she didn't care. She was just looking at the goal line going full speed. |
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*muscular :having firm, strong muscles (C)