Katassia- chapter 2 
By 24
24 watches Katassia triumph in her physique contest

I had not seen Katassia for 3 months. She thought I was dead. Fortunately Bob has 
never quite got the knack of virtual reality software. We both survived. Katassia 
sent me several messages afterwards. I could not respond - military protocol. The 
last one was two months ago. It was a virtual recreation of an ancient Celtic 
funeral - my effigy consumed in the flames of a ceremonial pyre as she read the 
ancient elegies.  Katassia as the Goddess ISIS  - brought to the Celtic people 
from Egypt by the conquering Romans. They adopted her as their own and named their 
most ancient and powerful river for her.  Katassia is aware of this parallel. She 
the  Replicant Goddess, worshipped by the conquered humans. We the Celtics of our 
age. Brave but hopelessly overmatched. Suppressed until the day in which the alien 
Huns from the east destroy the empire. 

Tonight was her Physique aesthetics contest. I had missed the preliminary judging 
- even in the 22nd Century transport is  rarely on schedule. One hundred years and 
they still have not fixed the Chicago hub.  Fortunately I arrived in time for the 
finals. Katassia was the last on stage. The previous Replicant females were 
spectacular.  Each muscle perfectly sculpted. The result of intense training and 
superior genetics. I could not help but glance down periodically at my scrawny 
arms and soft midsection. One of the females abdominal muscles was at least four 
times as thick as mine. My fingers would comfortably fit between them to the first 
knuckle. Maybe if I trained more? 

Yet although each muscle was perfectly formed there was never an ideal balance of 
parts. There was always an asymmetry in their overall structure, sometimes slight, 
but noticeable. They  tried to hide these flaws in their posing routines, like 
magicians using sleight of hand.  However at some point they were apparent - 
particularly when they moved between poses.  

The crowd fell silent when Katassia was announced. They remembered the 
controversies in the games. Also the rumors about  that night in the virtual 
reality site. She was the only Replicant ever to defeat an alien in hand to hand 
combat. However the military classified the incident - it technically never 
happened. Nobody was prosecuted - that would be tantamount to an admission that 
the incident occurred. But the legend could not be suppressed. 

 I immediately recognized the distinctive arch to her back. A perfect sensuous S 
curve. Almost like a ball room dancer of the 20th Century.  The epitome of 
elegance and grace. She was not as large as some of the other females. Yet none of 
them had her symmetry and proportions. Nor did they have her dynamism, her 
fluidity of form.  Each muscle group contracted and relaxed in perfect 
coordination as her body shifted from pose to pose. It was hard to pick out a 
single group, so captivating was the whole.

Physique aesthetics is  judged primarily on mandatory static poses. Form judged 
independently of function. An artificial separation derived from the belief that 
all aspects of human performance may be judged analytically. Another false hubris 
of our scientific age. Motion is where the human body achieves  transcendence.  
Form and function inseparably coalesced. A beauty which is far too complex for 
deductive analysis - yet trivial to understand with our souls.  Katassia moved 
with the precision and elegance of  a ballerina. However no ballerina ever had her 
power or her proportions. 

She ended her routine with a pleat. I glanced at the judges. All Replicants 
extensively trained in objective physique analysis. They were transfixed.  Almost 
like a group of children on a school outing after witnessing their first dance 
performance or play.  None of their precise descriptors or equations able to 
capture the magic they felt in their souls.

I then scanned  the audience. Military security guards were everywhere. Probably 
searching for me. I am a renegade now. Fortunately they also were mesmerized. Even 
years of rigorous training and two extra chromosomes could completely suppress the 
needs of their spirit for beauty. I had to leave.  Never to witness my Goddess in 
triumph. Perhaps never again to receive her blessings