| abstract | - Major Dmitri Gomez was a pilot of an F-27 for the United States Air Force during the war with China in 2117. While waiting in line at Edwards to take-off on a bombing run on Catalina Island, an avatar appeared in his cockpit. Since there was barely room for one, she sat in his lap and wiggled. She then offered him Real which he vehemently refused. She pouted, said "spoilsport" and vanashed. Shaken, Gomez still managed to take off with the dozen other aircraft. As the flight streaked to Catalina at treetop level, the avatar re-appeared in Gomez's cockpit in defiance of the laws of physics. Which only showed that the U.S. didn't know everything there was to know about physics. She again offered Gomez Real which he refused. Giggling she slipped it under his flight helmet and placed it on his right temple. Gomez imagined he was a great horned owl. He chould feel the effortless strokes of his mighty wings, the impossible sharpness of his night vision and especially his high definition hearing. He heard a mouse scurry far below, zeroed in with his sight and swoped down thinking "they can run but they can't hide". In reality as opposed to Real, Gomez crashed his aircraft into a Korean takeout place across the street from a Police Station in Los Angeles.
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