Balance (9 page)

Expecting
her reaction
evaluated
,
Rena
exhibits
no interest
, remaining calm and indifferent
, catching
the doctor
smile ever so slightly.

“Okay, I’ve got one final procedure.  Can you please stand, face the
wall,
and pull you
r
right
pant leg up to
the
knee?”

Rena looks at him,
her anxiety
visibly
returning
.

“Trust me, it’
s required.  There’ll
be
a sharp pinch just under the skin of you
r
calf
.  You may experience
some irritation for about a week
.
”

Rena does as instructed. 
The doctor
holds up a device that looks remar
kably similar to a cookie press
.
R
est
ing
the
tip against
the back of
her leg
, he
depresses
a trigger.
S
he feels more than a pinch.  When he
removes the device from
the back of
her leg
,
she
notices
a small incision
and a raised bump on her calf.

“Now you’
ll
be free to move throughout most
of the facility.”

“So
,
it’s a tracking device?” Rena
probes
.

“
Yes
,
and a little more,
i
t monitors your body heat and pulse
as well, let’s
us know if you’ve expired.”

The
examination complete, the
doctor excuses her. 
Rena
returns to Waters and
R
odriguez
in the waiting room
,
arriving
before Michael
.  She
notic
es,
whom
she suspects is
Michael
’s
doctor
,
emerg
e
from
his examination room, a
very
attractive female.

Rena remarks
under her breath
, “
Always under evaluation.”

Michael returns shortly after.

W
hile their handlers are
distracted,
Rena giv
es
him an amused half smile glance
.  He
rolls his eyes in response.

The four
depart
the
infirmary
, headed to destinations unknown
.

Waters and Rodriguez
next
guide
th
em to a large room
. 

Racks of clothing along two of the walls, makeup booths at the far end, and
curtained
changing stalls tucked here and there
,
Michael
considers what he
would
expect for s
ome sort of stage performance.
“What are we doing in here?”
He
inquires, scanning the
area
.

“You are
both
currently projected as field agents. 
In those roles
,
you will be required
,
at times
,
to infiltrate
foreign
environment
s
. 
To
facilitate
th
ese
effort
s
,
you may be required to
assume a false identity
.  In this room,
immersion
specialists will
alter
your appearance
to
assume
the various
guises
.”
Rodriguez explains.

Rena looks around
,
the room
filled with many articles of
clothing,
several
make
up stations
,
and an adjoining photo studio.

Rodriguez adds,
“
Today,
they will take
stock
photos of you in various disguises
,
compil
ing
a sample catalog on each of you.  These photos will be used
as
reference
to determine if you are
suited
for a
particular
mission.”

“
For this junket, Mr
.
Allen will have only a few wardrobe changes.  Miss
O’Neil
will be here longer.  I will return for Mr. Allen in one hour.” 
Waters explains before he and
Rodriquez
depart,
leav
ing
them alone in the large dressing room.

Michael and Rena look at each other blankly.

Shortly, f
our people enter the dressing room from a
connecting
office.  As they enter, Michael notices
several
images
, faces and bodies in various states of dress and makeup,
visible on the monitors
in t
he office before the door closed
behind them.

The four, two women and two men
,
surround
Michael and Rena.  They talk amongst themselves, comment
ing on
their
physical
appearance:
height, stature, face shape, eyes
, nose, legs,
backside
, arms, hands and
hair,
e
verything about
each of
their bodies
critiqued
, all of their flaws on public display
. 
Both
instructed to remove their jackets,
permitting the
evaluators
to deliberate
on
their arms and
torso
.

The assessment last
s
five minutes,
all the while
Michael or Rena
never
directly addressed
other than instructed to turn, look up, raise their
arms,
or change their pose.

As Michael had expected, they fi
nd little complaint with Rena.

The two younger of the four, a man and woman
guide
Rena to a chair.  The
other
male directs Michael to the
small photography studio located in
an adjacent
room.

A distinguishe
d thickset black woman,
mid-fifties,
hair pulled back into a tight bun
,
wearing
horn-rimmed glasses resting halfway down her nose
,
oversees
the activities.
 
She
introduces herself and her colleagues,
“I am
Ms. Smith
.  I am the head of the
Immersion Team
s.  Our job is to make it so the
Infiltration Teams
can
successfully
‘immerse
’
into a mission.
  We specialize in disguise, cover background,
documentation,
and environment intelligence.  I know
you will have
question
s
as to what all that means. 
T
oday
,
y
ou do not have time
to discuss.  You will have
more
opportunities
to
understand our role in the future. 
Today is about
your
evaluation
.”

Ms. Smith
points at the two
assisting Rena,
“This is Abigail and Fior.”  Pointing at the man positioning Michael in front of the light green wall, “
and
Reg.”

Ms. Smith
continues,
“W
e are not military, so we don’t address each other as sir,
ma’am
,
sergeant or otherwise in this room, unless you are being courteous.  So Michael, Rena, how
have
your first couple days been?” 
Ms. Smith
gives the two a very warm
,
inviting,
understanding
smile.

Rena looking at Michael, assumes the question
rhetorical, re
p
lies
sarcastically,
“Oh fine, n
othing to write home about.”

Ms. Smith
lets out a burst of laughter,
“Finally
, some chutzpah.
D
arling
we’re go
ing to get along beautifully.”

All six people in the room
instantly
relax.

“Speaking of be
autiful
,
”
Ms. Smith
continues, “your eyes are exquisite.  Don’t you think Michael?”

Rena blush
es
at the pointed question directed at someone she finds attractive
.

Michael
,
remaining composed,
repl
ies
,
“Not much
about Rena is not exquisite, don’t you think?”
paying Rena
the
compliment
in
hope
of
strengthen
ing
her evaluation.

“Well said young man.  I mu
st agree. 
I’d heard
you tw
o had a unique rapport
with each other …
understand you
two
had only
become acquainted
, just before your
invitation.”

“Yes, that’
s correct.
”
Rena
confirms
,
t
he interest in
her and Michael’s relationship
starting to get unsettling.
She
muses
, ‘I
f they
or
Michael
actually knew.
’

“So
,
what we are doing today is getting baseline photos of you two.”
Ms. Smith explains.

“Baseline photos for what?” Michael asks.

Ms. Smith
continues,
“Michael
,
we’ll
be
dressing you in various outfits
with some rudimentary enhancements
,
just
to have some examples of how you’d look
in different roles
.  Given the delicate nature of
some
operations, correctly placing the right person in
an
immersion
is critical.  Different physiques, nationalities, facial features and even
demeanor all come into play.”

Michael nods understanding.

“Rena dear, I am sorry
, but you will be here a
while.  Unfortunately, unlike Michael, your
role-playing
involves makeup.  You will also be trying on several more outfits.  We’ll try to make it a little fun for you.  O
kay
everyone,
let’s
get to work.”

Reg
takes
several
pictures of Michael,
most
ly
straight on or profile head a
nd body shots, no
posing, save trying not to laugh.  Michael
’
s wardrobe changes include rol
e
s as a security guard, teacher, janitor,
white-collar
worker and strang
ely enough a male beautician,
which gets
a
laugh
from those in attendance.