Echoes

Getting Results

"Oh my god," Hope blurted out between gasping breaths. "How many more?"

Sweat ran down her arms and dripped off her face. Droplets on her glasses lenses would have distorted her vision, had there been anything to look at besides the rubber mats on the floor.

Beside her, Claudia's body dipped and rose in rhythmic succession and her muscular shoulders rippled with each push-up. "Tabatas. Twenty seconds, max effort," she said, a few syllables with each breath.

Her smartphone buzzed, and Claudia stretched her back with a satisfied sigh. Hope flopped onto the ground with what sounded too much like a splat to her ears.

Across the functional fitness area, a couple buff guys laughed between sets of box jumps, pull-ups, and whatever other torture their routines called for. Hope didn't care, and focused on enjoying the respite from physical pain.

Fans blew cool air around the gym, but the room had an ever-present underlying odor of sweat. Weights clanked on racks and rattled when dropped on rubberized floors. In another part of the gym, tennis shoes squeaked on basketball and racquetball courts. Low driving music thumped in the background.

A bell sounded from the phone, and Claudia pushed off the floor. "Two more sets. Let's go."

Hope strained and managed a few repetitions, then dropped to her knees and finished two more before giving up. She rested her head on her outstretched arm. "Just gonna lay here until the next set."

Claudia laughed and knocked out reps until the buzzer sounded. When the bell rang ten seconds later, she grunted with the exertion and resumed an unrelenting pace. "Hope? You starting sometime, hon?"

"I meant the next next set," Hope said, her voice muffled. "Can we do a tabata of push-downs next?"

"What the heck are those?"

"Where you lay there and keep the earth down for twenty seconds."

Claudia chuckled and popped to her feet when the final buzzer sounded. "Come on, Hope. You got this. Just a couple more activities and we're done for the next three days."

"I feel gross."

"You're laying in a puddle of sweat," Claudia said. "Of course you do."

"Mom always said, 'Girls don't sweat. They glisten.' That must prove we're doing something wrong."

"Hate to break it to you, but your mom lied."

Hope kept her face buried. "Wrong and unnatural."

"Okay, fine. We don't sweat. But you're still laying in a puddle of glisten, then."

Hope struggled to her feet and took a sip of water. "Gawd. What's next?"

Claudia offered a sheepish grin. "Your favorite. A five hundred meter sprint on the rowing machine."

Hope slouched and proceeded toward the bank of rowers like a prisoner marching toward the electric chair. "At least it's over as soon as I can get done."

"You may not feel it, Hope. But you're actually good at this. You've got a natural stroke, and your legs are pretty strong. That helps."

Hope took hold of the rower handle and adjusted the display settings. "Thanks, I think."

"Come on. When you first started, you were hitting half a K at, what, three minutes? Huffing and puffing the whole way too. What'd you get last week?"

"Two eighteen."

"And at first you only did push-ups on your knees. Now you're doing some full body work." Claudia held out a fist toward Hope. "You're getting results, girl!"

Hope smiled and gave a weak fist-bump. "Yeah, I know. I just... it takes so long and never feels any easier."

"That's because you never settle for what you were doing before. You always push yourself to get another rep, hustle a little faster, lift a little more. Strong is the new skinny. Muscle tone is the new plastic surgery. And you? Babe, you're gonna show the world you're a beautiful goddess of badassitude."

Hope laughed and narrowed her eyes at the display. "Five hundred meters. Two minutes eighteen seconds. I can beat that." She savored the image Claudia described and repeated it to herself. "I am a beautiful goddess of badassitude." Then she put in her headphones and nodded with the fast-paced beat.

Claudia checked her phone's display. "In three... two... one... go!"

Hope's fingers flexed on the handle and she yanked the rower with all her strength. Her legs pushed off the foot rests and she fell into a rhythm with the music.

* * *

The music thrumming through the Prime's mind filled the central chamber of the Hub, and one Echo in particular felt ecstatic. A glowing Sicstuphyve grinned from ear to ear at the monitors in the ceiling. "Do work! Get some!" Inspiration shone through her skin, but she didn't seem to notice. "Smash that record to the ground and set yourself a PR!"

The newest Alpha tried to stir up some support from her fellows on the dais. Sevnynate leaned back and watched Sicstuphyve's outburst with bemused disdain. Her minion Wunforoh's wide eyes looked around at the others, gauging reactions as if unsure whether to go along or ignore the moment.

In the higher levels of the audience seating, Forsephore sat in the shadows, arms stretched across the bench behind her. She made no effort to hide her smile at the display of effervescent joy. Sevnynate already knows the game I'm playing. No point in missing out on the fun along the way.

The Chief Alpha shot a glare at Forsephore, then turned away when their eyes met.

You'll never admit it, Sev. But what I'm doing is getting to you.

Forsephore paused and scrunched up her face in confusion. Since when do I know her as 'Sev' though?

* * *

Hope threw down the rowing handle. "Crap!"

Claudia stopped in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"Two twenty-one. I did worse."

Claudia shook her head. "Hope, relax. Nobody sets new records every day, every workout. The point is, did you give it your best shot today?"

"Hell if I know," Hope said, her voice ragged from the grueling effort. "I still weigh about as much as before. My jeans feel tighter in the morning."

"I already told you some results you're seeing when you work out. You are changing your body for the better, and that is going to be a process, not an overnight change."

"Anything worth the effort takes time, I know." Hope rose on weary, wobbly legs. Her arms hung down, exhausted. "I just want some proof I'm getting somewhere."

Claudia stood and patted Hope's shoulder. Then she pointed at the rower. "Hey, there's your proof."

"What?"

"The puddles of glisten on the floor."

They shared a laugh and cleaned the equipment, then headed for the locker room.

-----------------------------------------

From Dave:
It's good to be back!

Planning NaNoWriMo efforts took most of my October attention. Then the actual event occupied my every writing moment during November. And out of sheer willpower to not have my forever-in-so-called-progress fantasy novel laying around in 2016, I managed to revise and self-publish Diffraction on CreateSpace and Kindle in December.

Now things are finally settling down to the point where I can spend some time with Echoes and other projects again. Forsephore has a few more tricks up her sleeve, more Echoes have dreams they'd like to see come to pass, and some other Echoes need a little Inspiration. Meanwhile Hope needs to start applying all these changing ideas and values toward her work, her love life with Derrick, and her personal pursuits.

But Sevnynate has a plan to keep everyone else down--even the Prime, if needed--all for their own good, if only they could see it her way.

More to follow!