We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

  ~ Winston Churchill

  Although Sarah did not have a daily quest to complete, she decided to work out anyway. She had awakened from the tutorial bursting with energy and highly motivated.

  After a quick breakfast, she headed to the Alterego campus. Even though the main building was still cordoned off, the rest of the expansive grounds were open. A lot of the donors live there, so they needed access to other buildings.

  No doubt, it would all get sold after the company folded, but for the moment as she drove through the beautiful, windy lanes, she could almost pretend life was normal there. One of the buildings on the grounds was a state-of-the-art gym.

  She did not want to go to the local gym and deal with gawkers and reporters. With her stats evolving to E-grade, she wasn’t sure what she’d be able to do, but needed to do some testing without so many witnesses. Hopefully the Alterego gym would be quiet.

  There did end up being a few other people there working out, including Ryan, and she waved and chatted with some of them before getting started. A 5-mile warm up on the treadmill was fun, but too easy until she increased the speed to what would be a sprint for most people. She held that pace the entire way.

  “You're on fire today, Sarah,” Ryan called from the Jacob’s Ladder climbing machine as she hopped off the treadmill. “I've never seen anyone keep that pace that long.”

  “Just enjoying being alive,” she said with a grin.

  “Amen to that.”

  She trusted Ryan, but still needed to be more careful. There were not a lot of people in the gym, but she really did need to stick to her plan to keep her workout private. So she moved to a secondary gym, a private room usually used by donors assigned to test the viability of newly-acquired convict bodies.

  It was perfect for her needs, and she quickly pumped out her daily requirement of push-ups and sit-ups, then moved on to squats, other core exercises, and a series of free weights.

  The Challenge Dungeon and Tutorial had opened her eyes to what more she could do with her growing stats in those dream locations. Now she pushed herself to the limits to see if she could match that in the real world.

  It turned out she could. The amount of weights she could lift was astonishing. Just evolving to E0 from F9 definitely boosted her at least 20%. Pumping out so much more weight so soon after her previous maxes would have drawn way too much attention.

  She found that pull-ups were now one of her favorite activities, and pumped out a hundred of them in a pair of sets. Boosted strength was the best, but she needed to test her Agility, which was way higher than the others.

  That stat-enhancement rune pushed her Agility to E10, and she needed to see what that meant. For the first time in her life, she checked out the gymnastics basement. A few of the donors had gymnastic abilities and were popular with a subset of renters. The space was more a PR gimmick then something that got used very often, and she found it completely empty, as expected.

  Sarah spent an amazing hour there, pushing her super enhanced Agility and her Basic Tumbling ability to the limits. She tried to recreate all the insane moves she’d tried in those dream locations, and quickly mastered somersaults, tumbling, and leaping dives.

  She even managed to put together a crude floor routine on a large mat. She could manage the individual somersaults and flips, but chaining them together proved challenging and really fun. The balance beam was a piece of cake after having to traverse that lava pit, but the biggest eye opener was the uneven bars.

  Her improved strength allowed her to pull herself around easily enough, but her Agility proved totally off the charts. She had no experience with the bars, but that no longer mattered. She could flip and twist her body in mid-air as easily as she used to walk or jog.

  Moving just came easily, no matter what direction she chose to move in. She had gained an innate understanding of her body’s location in space and how to move in any direction with balance and speed. It was mind-blowing, and super fun.

  Sarah lost herself in the process of exploring her new limits until she managed to link a far-flying routine that incorporated the uneven bars, the balance beam, hanging rings, and even a couple walls of the gym. She leaped and flipped from one piece to the next, never slowing, and never touching the floor. It was a truly magical experience that left her laughing with pure delight.

  After landing a triple backflip with a flourish to finish the training session, she was surprised when a message box appeared.

  Plus one to basic tumbling.

  “That's what I call a successful workout,” she laughed. Hadn't expected to get another level in her tumbling ability. That suggested she could level it up by practicing, which made sense now that she thought of it.

  By that time, her hair was matted with sweat, and her muscles burned from the strenuous workout. She smiled with satisfaction as she headed for the showers. By the time she finished toweling off, She felt totally refreshed.

  “Super stats for the win.”

  Having so much extra power was a heady thing. She adjusted to it quicker than most people probably would, because she'd lived in so many bodies with such incredibly varying physical abilities. She had learned to adapt to new skins fast, plus she’d been pushed so hard in the tutorial to help cement those gains.

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  Sarah had to dodge a couple of aggressive reporters when she returned to her apartment, but eventually managed to find some quiet time. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of checking her social media feeds.

  They were totally overwhelmed by fans and haters alike. The two groups used her posts as an opportunity to attack each other. After a couple minutes scanning down some of the insane things people were saying, she sighed.

  “I might just have to delete all of my accounts for a while.”

  She did share a single short video on each of her accounts just to confirm she was okay, and to ask folks to give her some time to deal with the crazy events of her life that week. She also asked them to keep Mark and Tawnya in their thoughts and prayers while they recovered in the hospital.

  After lunch, she caught up on the news and watched the latest televised news conference. Tomas, still disguised as Mr Fleischer, answered questions and worked the crowd of reporters with expert skill.

  The performance was another stark example of how he was so much more than he pretended to be. Tomas was a mystery, an enigma who left her confused.

  She owed him her life, felt like she could trust him, but at the same time, had to wonder if everything had just been some elaborate manipulation. It was still unclear if he’d helped her because he wanted to help, or because she factored into his broader plans to rescue Eirene.

  As Mr. Fleischer, his performance was nothing but stellar. He continued the efforts to divert most of the blame for the disaster toward Dr. Maerwynn and Mai Luan. At first, the two of them had been presumed dead, but Tomas had leaked the rumor that at least one of them may have escaped the facility before it blew.

  He also added that an unnamed source had spotted Mai Luan alive. That generated a flurry of questions, and a police official who was participating in the news conference stated that a massive manhunt was underway for them, along with the other two missing assistants.

  With the company’s technology lost, along with all the related documentation, the health risks that had precipitated the panic remained unconfirmed rumors. Tomas made additional waves when he stated that he was holding himself and the senior executive staff of Alterego jointly responsible for failing to recognize the danger early enough.

  That statement was clearly a surprise to the other senior executives also in attendance at the news conference. They looked shocked and nervous, and slimy Lawyer Guy looked like he wanted to flee the room.

  Thomas did not give them a chance to interrupt, but stated that as of that morning, none of them would receive any more compensation, nor would they receive any severance packages.

  He finished by saying, “I know this won't fix things, but I consider it a demonstration of our commitment to set things right.”

  “Beautiful,” Sarah laughed as she watched the other executives try to put on brave faces.

  She could see it in their eyes as they realized what he had just done to them. If they objected to his plan, they would only look guilty. With so much scrutiny on them, they could not dare do anything but go along.

  When one reporter exclaimed, “Don't you fear that accepting responsibility at this stage will leave you open to both civil and criminal prosecution and more lawsuits?”

  “Of course it's a possibility. I know there will be consequences to our actions. This is my company, my vision, and therefore my mistake. My team and I had hoped to accomplish great things, and for a while I think we did. Unfortunately, we also made terrible mistakes that hurt a lot of people. The most important thing at this point is to do everything in our power to help make it right.”

  It was a very moving speech, and it was obvious that the cynical reporters in the room were totally shocked by the public show of such integrity. Tomas resumed his presentation, assuring everyone that he planned to route most of the company’s remaining capital into bonuses for other staff and donors, to the expected legal costs, and to establish a fund to help both the renters who had lost their bodies in the explosive disaster, and the convicts who had died.

  He went on to declare that he would dedicate the majority of his personal fortune to those efforts, and challenged the other senior executives to match him. Alterego’s public relations vice president nearly swooned when she heard that.

  Lawyer Guy was scribbling madly on a legal pad, but as news cameras panned over to them, most of them managed weak, sickly smiles as they nodded to the plan.

  Tomas finished with a heartfelt plea, urging people to come together to help those in need. It was a great performance, it set Mr Fleischer up to have to take responsibility for his evil actions, but also made him seem a lot more heroic than he'd ever been.

  Not that he'd escape serious consequences. Lawsuits had already multiplied like wildfire in high summer. Courts all across the country struggled with questions of legal identity, and many legislatures argued about passing bills to help clarify things. As usual, their ideas varied so wildly they would likely just complicate the situation.

  Religious groups had come out condemning everyone involved as spawn of Satan, while other groups had seized upon the use of convict bodies. That was a disaster that just kept growing.

  The convicts had been unwilling pawns, their bodies used by Alterego under the most tenuous of excuses. As the agreements were scrutinized, it became clear that the convicts had never actually signed up for the experimental technology.

  Loopholes greased with generous bribes had facilitated everything, but everyone involved was now caught up in the growing scandal.

  The list of conspirators was long, including elected officials, prison officers, and even some groups who were supposed to be advocates for prisoners. It was a nightmare that swirled around Lawyer Guy, who had masterminded the whole mess for Alterego.

  Despite the legal and ethical disaster, not everyone hated the idea of using convict bodies. Some groups proposed that the technology be adopted to swap convicted felons with good, upstanding elderly people.

  That way, felons convicted of life sentences would die sooner, freeing up much-needed taxpayer funds, while the elderly who received their bodies would get a well-deserved extension on life.

  Of course, that was just little more than speculation until the lost technology was recovered. Tomas had pledged his full cooperation in all inquiries and hearings, vowing to bring justice and closure to all those wounded by his and his company’s failures.

  That evening, Sarah went over to Jill’s apartment for a quiet get together with a few other friends. It was a very good evening, but she caught more than one of her friends glancing toward windows or doors furtively.

  Jill had hired a security firm to guard her apartment during the party, but the memory of those insane gunmen was still too fresh. Ryan, owner of ‘007’, stated that he'd purchased a pistol that very morning. That sparked a lively discussion on the pros and cons of buying a firearm, getting trained in how to use it, or if it was simply better to hire a bodyguard.

  Sarah had never owned a gun before, but she was familiar with using them. Having those skills and being willing to use them had saved her life against the gunman, and helped her succeed in both the Challenge Dungeon and the Tutorial. Maybe she'd have to get a gun in real life too.

  Part of her wasn't sure she wanted to take that step, but then again, she didn't want to feel helpless in the face of another gunman. Her stats had grown to the point that she could more than hold her own in a basic fight, but that didn’t mean she could outrun a bullet. Should she leave herself vulnerable, or be proactive?

  As she considered the question, she was surprised that the thought of another life and death fight triggered a sense of anticipation more than fear, just like she’d felt when she fought those monsters.

  What was this path turning her into?