Resetting his arm, David closed his eyes to think while the other two worked on the final kinks. There was not much to do for the next half hour till John was ready for him to perform motion checks.

The year is 2044, automation and unemployment have finally collapsed the world's economies in 2033. Ironically, with the collapse of currency, next came the fall of mega-corporations. Goods started running short till the governments seized all the goods such as food to feed the people. But that is written in the history books. In reality, riots, martial law, and civil wars occurred. In America when the riots started we exercised our ancestral right to bear arms against a tyrannical government.

Not only politicians but the rich were hunted down by the thousands. The military chose to stand by collectively. They saw it for what it was. House cleaning a long time coming. Four years of anarchy till the country reformed on July fourth, 2037.

Of course, America got off light in comparison to Europe. Countries that have existed for centuries no longer do. France is gone, and so are all its neighbors. Russia finally collapsed and India imploded due to a plague. China got the worst of it. There is still a civil war going on over there. North Korea blew itself up ironically with nukes. Places like Australia, Japan, and Britain, island countries, managed to hold together. Canada just shrugged it off while Mexico gave up for a while. South America and Africa were still huge question marks. Those were David's early teen years. Fun times.

After high school, where David met his friends, they each enrolled in different schools. Surprisingly, for nothing. John went to one for higher technology, while Rick went to one for engineering. David himself went into business. Though, it does not do much for his two-car garage and gas automatic service station.

“ You're up in ten minutes.”

David looked at the forty-year-old woman who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here and so did his two friends.

“ All right, the checks are all green. Rick, any exterior problems?”

Rick shook his head as he crossed his arms.

“ Nope, it went together like we thought it would. Still think you should have used aluminum but I ain’t the one wearing the heavy thing.”

“ I’m fine too, by the way. It's a little hot in here and my legs are a little numb from standing here for two hours. But I will walk it off getting to the stage. Any changes to the planned actions?”

The woman looked at the board she was holding and shook her head.

“ Nope, you walk on stage looking like you are ready to fight and aim that thing at the targets marked in your hud. The CGI pricks will fill in the blanks for the audience with hologram tech. After about fifteen seconds into the fight, an air cannon simulating a grenade will blow you off your feet. That is when Kyle will appear in the Master Chief costume and examine you. Your voice actor will handle the lines. You just stay put after that.”

“ So no change then. Got it.”

Without staying put further she moves on to where Kyle was in the Master Chief suit and he could not help but chuckle at the plastic thing. Not that he blames them for cutting back. But his real... ish... suit is going to show them up.

“ You are good to go David. Do a final check and get into position.”

David bows slightly in confirmation.

“ Isolation mode on. Radio on.”

The red light on his antenna lights up as ‘Isolation Mode’ appeared on his hud. Which meant that he is now in an airtight suit as his external breathers sealed up.

“ Check one-two. Check. Check.”

John goes to his ear.

“ I hear you through the radio. All checks are green in isolation. You have half an hour of air before you have to unseal. Since we have ten minutes till the presentation and you will be like that for at most an extra five minutes. You should have plenty of time to figure out some way to fuck up things.”

David could not help to laugh.

“ Knowing my luck. Well, patch in the choreography team.”

David sees a whole group of new names enter the chat list on the side of his hud.

“ Ah, finally, the opener decides to join us.”

David instantly got a bad feeling.

“ As I was saying to the rest of the cast. There have been a few changes. First off, the opener and the star will be looking at each other for an extra fifteen seconds before the opener falls lifeless. The star will then take the opener's main weapon prop and aim straight up to fire at incoming enemies that will be put in place by the CGI team. After that...”

David blinked hearing the last-minute changes that were planned before clearing his throat.

“ Excuse me this is the opener, there are a few problems...”

The choreography director paused in his rant and David could almost feel the glare he was getting from wherever the man was.

“ Oh, and pray tell what those are.”

David clears his throat again.

“ Well first off, the M134 prop weighs eighty pounds. Is Kyle going to be able to carry it? Two, will he be able to aim it at a ninety-degree angle because my best is about fifty. And, three, how is he even going to detach it from my suit? You need power tools to remove the connectors.”

This caused the choreography director to pause. David could picture the first two issues could be easily resolved, but getting that big boy out of David’s hand would be a tall order. He knows how props tend to just disappear sometimes. His minigun might be 90% the real thing, but it is still not a gun. Unlike his Stargazer Revolver, which is a one-of-a-kind patented lethal weapon, when loaded with its S&W .50 cal bullets. That is why he had it locked onto his armor as well. Because it cost him almost as much as the minigun did.

After a few seconds, David could picture the director raising his hands in defeat.

“ All right, we are back to the original script then.”

The final few minutes passed as he could hear cheers from the cast behind him.