“Chaos is everywhere.”
“Even the most ordered of lives were born from the womb of random chance, and shaped by happenstance much the same. We’ve all heard the tragedies – the lives cut short through no fault of their own. Terminal illness, murder, natural disasters, workplace accidents, mechanical malfunctions… None of us are immune. Chaos can strike anywhere, any time.”
“While you can’t prepare for everything, you can prepare for some things. Pattern recognition, physical toughness, reflexes, composure under pressure… I have had to learn these skills very well – my continuing ability to draw breath is testament to that. It could be a sudden gust of wind on a high wire, with me using my body as a counterweight and adjusting my stance so that line of steel takes some of the strain for me. It could be a crumbling handhold on a cliff face, where instead of clenching in a panic, I shift my weight to my other limbs and find somewhere near to grab. It could be a rabbit darting across the pistes, where I jump to clear it rather than tumbling over trying to reroute momentum.”
“I am accustomed to chaos, for I have immersed myself in it. Am I the master of it? No, but it is much like fire – we all use it, even if a mistake can lead us to be reduced to ash. Some of us know not to throw water on the blazing chip pan, or to use the CO2 extinguisher on the combusted electricals. My life has been one big ol’ fire safety course. How many of us can say the same?”
“Saturday promises chaos in spades. 11 people (and Redgrave), 4 teams, one goal, one prize. Victory, and a chance to fight for a shot at the big gold belt, the adoring crowd at the end of the wire, the view at the top of the climb. All different people, all varying motivations, none of which have much love for their teammates. We have about as much chemistry with our partners as noble gasses, when we’d much rather be flourine and francium.”
“As such, what will decide the outcome of chain reaction will be one individual, one lone substance bringing the boom, and I’m a bouncing grenade filled with nitroglycerin. I am accustomed to the chaos of the world… And I am better suited than anyone in that ring to embody chaos. We’re all Rube-Goldberg machines, our own chain reactions started from a single point of origin, a flicked domino, a pressed button or a dropped ball. If you struggle with metaphor, I’m saying since we came out of our mama’s cooch.”
“Some Rube-Goldberg machines might have seesaws, strings, ping pong balls and cards. Mine has molotovs, drones, catapults and a battering ram breaking a glass ceiling at the end of it, for I have learned more than most how to order the chaos. From the day of my birth, from the big bang, it has all been ordained. This cosmic chain reaction ends with my head held high,”