CGI, Part 3

Erika closed the store early.  “Well, why not,” she thought, “it wasn’t as if I got any work done what with the hoards of people stopping in to comment about Era:  Tropospheric and, more particularly, ‘my’ role in the show.”

Amazed at how quickly she became adept at ignoring the well wishers and dodging the ogling fans of the bane-of-her-existence, she smirked as she considered what the people would say when they found out that she was not the new starlet should she agree to their request for an autograph as she shook her head in denial once more.

At last, with relief, she closed the door to her apartment behind her.  Pushing the play button on her answering machine, she paused for a moment to boot up her computer before heading to the kitchen to get a fortifying glass of wine.  Glad for that distance as she listened to the breathless excitement of a distant friend, the confusion of her father, the squeaky adoration of a neighborhood boy, she finally returned to take hearty swigs of the calming alcohol while fast forwarding and deleting each message.

And then, both she, her refreshed glass, and the computer were ready.  A quick search and the archived video of the show came up.

Surprisingly, Erika found herself enjoying the show about Earth after the devastation of glacial melting leaving virtually all land covered by the oceans once more.  Small scraps of terra firma alone remained, the very highest mountain tops only, preciously guarded by the caelum-nations which formed in the air.  The wealthiest people lived at the heights of the soaring buildings, avoiding the massive rain falls as a result of the huge amounts of water below, while the poor were forced to work on the earth from which they all had come to provide the precious vegetable matter that was vital yet so rare.

When a group of terrorists organized the continental workers of one such caelum and threatened to collapse the entire system high above their heads, Erika’s nemesis appeared.

Seeming to float upon the air itself, she daringly leapt from the heights to land gracefully upon the solid ground thousands of meters below.  When threatened, she jumped nimbly as a cat and seemed as able as an amphibian at clinging effortlessly to any surface she found.  She appeared to have an incredible arsenal of defenses in her delicate fingertips, for she was able to burn and freeze at will.  And her ability with the myriad of lasers and Higgs-B blasters was incredibly lethal.  All of this with a body to drool over which she successfully revealed with every luxurious curve molded by what could only have been the costume designer’s wettest dream.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, the last few moments revealed her incredible ability to change colors at will, to blend with her surroundings thereby ensuring that the exoticness of her character would become a star of this new series.

Erika sat motionless before her now quiet computer.  As impossible as it seemed, save for a few mannerisms and expressions, the actress was her precise double.  How wasn’t the question any longer, what she was going to do was more important.  It was going to be difficult to convince even her closest friends that she wasn’t the actress, impossible to deny what seemed so apparent to others.  Particularly since, for no apparent reason, the actress’s name had been omitted from the credits and the website.

Muttering a soft prayer, Erika began searching the show’s website for a way to contact the studio, fervently hoping she could elicit their help.

CGI, Part 2

Turning away from the clerk to wait for the preparation of her much-needed coffee, Erika’s discomfort increased.  Sure enough, the couple sitting at the table adjacent to the entry was still staring at her, although they were now clearly trying to pretend that they were not.  Hastily deciding a quick trip to the restroom’s mirror to ensure she hadn’t neglected to fasten buttons, don slacks or conform to some other basic tenent of proper grooming was in order, Erika had the strange sensation several patrons were watching her.  Finally freed from her interminable wait and clutching her steaming morning libation as she exited the café, she knew she didn’t imagine the sudden rush of conversation which burst forth before the door even closed behind her.

She was fumbling in her purse to find the key to her shop and had just about convinced herself that she really needed to consult a professional to determine if the sudden onset of paranoia was any indication of what her future might hold when a man finally seemed to break the tacit agreement of ogling and commentary and instead stopped by her side.  Politely turning towards him while hoping that perhaps he was a customer and not some strange acceleration of her nightmarish journey to work, Erika smiled.

“Holy crap!  You’re more beautiful than I had realized.  I hadn’t thought it was possible, but you are.  I mean, well, I suppose it’s difficult to capture your exact shade of sapphire eyes on film and you didn’t really smile last night.  Maybe that’s it, maybe it’s the gentleness of yourself in person which your character doesn’t seem to have.”

She couldn’t help it.  As he apparently babbled to himself, she endeavored to back away in the event his insanity turned violent.  Seeming to become aware of himself, the man shook his head and smiled ruefully.

“Sorry, it’s just that the up-close you is very different from your character.  Anyway, I don’t want to hassle you, I just wanted to tell you that I loved your show and keep up the good work.  Oh yes, and I look forward to seeing more of you, so much more.”

His eyes dipped lower for a moment before he turned quickly and simply walked away as if he were not more of a candidate for the funny farm than she was.

The ringing of her mobile phone brought Erika out of her amazed stupor.  The comforting sound of Angie’s voice greeted her as she turned the key and escaped into the safety of her shop.

“Girl, you’ve so got to check Section E of the paper, you are not going to believe it!”

“Morning Angie.”

“Come on Erika, do it, check the paper!”

“Okay, hold on a second, I just got in the door.  Let me get settled.  How was your evening?”

“Dammit Erika, just forget that for a minute.  I’m serious, you so need to check the paper, now!  Oh my god, you DO have one don’t you?”

Deciding her poor friend wasn’t going to be able to wait very much longer, Erika set her bags and coffee on the counter before fishing her paper out of her carryall.

“Yep, right here.  What section again?  Oh yes, E.”

“Hurry UP!!!!”

She pulled the section from the rest of the paper and froze in amazement.

“Oh my god it’s . . .”

“You!”

“But I’m not . . .”

“The ‘Gravity defying, chameleon-like, curvaceous new sensation of Era:  Tropospheric’?  Yeah, well, based on that picture, you could have fooled even me.”

Her perfect image, albeit without much covering her voluptuous upper body, stared back at her from the paper as Erika barely articulated the words which were going to become her mantra for weeks to come.

“But how?”

CGI

The woman’s hand gripped a thin beam overhead, her sky blue stiletto boots molded to her incredible thighs, the spikes of her heels almost as thin as the perilous bar upon which she stood.

Her watchers held their breathes as she launched from her perch, golden hair arcing gracefully as she tumbled with exquisite grace from her previous height towards the densely populated level beneath.

As agile as a feline, she landed, her audience fixating on the dangerously low cut of the bodice which seemed destined to obey the laws of gravity and expose her generous assets.  To their vast disappointment, the fabric held and it was generally agreed that the costume she wore must be made of latex, so perfectly did the celestial color mold itself to hourglass figure.

Within moments, she had used her apparently super-human strength and intelligence to route the villains who had threatened to seize control of the precious food supply of the Amer Sky City.  Apparently she had compassion as abundant as her voluptuous curves and exquisite beauty, for she used her influence to convince the New Earth council of elders that the criminals should be banished to the inhospitable colony of Point Godwin Austen.

And that is when the most amazing thing happened.  One moment she was there, and the next she disappeared.  Or, rather, her coloring altered and, like a chameleon, she blended so perfectly with the steel, sky and clouds around her that she had no difficulty evading the heartfelt thanks of the grateful populace.

As the credits rolled, her new fans were treated to a view of her basking on a nebulous cloud, her golden hair now silver and the boots and brief second skin which covered her magnificent body a wisp of color upon the translucence of her skin.  Only as they read their papers the next morning did they realize that the producers of the new show had left them with a mystery – the name of the actress who had instantly become their new goddess been intentionally omitted.