Liam ran, his long muscular legs pounding the pavement. There were only a few souls out that chose to brave the cold and darkness of the early morning. His breathing and rhythm were steady. He wasn’t pushing himself as he settled into his run. He ran to relax and be with his thoughts.
”Show dad running” he said softly to himself between breaths. Ahead of him on the long bridge his dad appeared running. He smiled to himself. The music he was listening to changed to a different track. “Sweet Dreams, Ministry of Sound Running Trax Winter 2011” appeared at the top of his vision, next to more text … “Pace 5:27/km, 20sec slower/km”. Memories of his childhood came flooding back of them running together at the park near their home, him desperately trying to keep up with his shorter legs. Better catch the old man now he thought, I’m slacking off! He gained on his dad and was finally running in sync with him, side by side.
The nanotechnology in his body connected him to the vast services and data available on the net and seamlessly augmented his reality, which in this case was his vision and hearing. His dad had been born into a time when the world was starting to emerge from their pre-digital caves, and people started leaving digital footprints everywhere they went. He was benefiting from his dads digital footprint now. His dad loved to run, and had recorded them for his own benefit using the primitive tracking technology and services of the time.
This was the first time Liam had been to this city. His dad had been here before and run this same route. As he ran side by side with his dad, listening to the same music he had listened to many years before he felt connected to him, in a way that would not have been possible for his dad’s generation. This was his dad, in his prime, doing something that he now loved too, and they were doing it together at different places in time.
As he stopped at the end of the road and looked out over the water, the sight of the Sydney Opera House greeted him. They both stood there, looking at the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge to the right. He turned his head and looked at the avatar of his dad, and smiled.
