snip

“There has been a steady move of people from the rural country side to the city. Country life is a lot of physical work. Work in the city is less physical and more cerebral. It is also where more money can be earned. The down side to this kind of life is the lack of physical activity and the increase of mental stress. Most of our clients come here to destress themselves. When the technology was first available, there are significant incidents of people being even more stressed than before they used virtual and augmented reality. Research had shown that certain programs were stressful to certain people. Thus, the health department took over the monitoring of people who needed to use this technology to destress. In the process, even therapeutic processes were developed,” Shou explained.

GM

“So it’s a way to get a workout in while looking at something more interesting than a gym,” Thomas said, noticing the equipment in use along with the goggles. “I can’t say I disapprove of that, at least. The scenery can be the least appealing part of a workout.”

COS

Reia nodded and smiled in agreement remembering the coast of Australia where she liked to walk and run at sunset.

• Reai, CIO

“It might sound like a removal of freedom, but those who come here are monitored for health problems, even if they just simply want a break from work. We believe in preventive measures. Whilst we do not force people into receiving treatment, but we reserve the right to refuse particular programs to individual should our monitoring indicate that the program might be hazardous to the individual. For example, if we believe that the sleighing program might cause problems to the heart of the client, we would inform them that until they receive treatment for their ailment, we would not allow them to use that sleighing program. They would be recommended to use the walking program instead to improve their cardiac health,” Shou explained.

“The program has proven to be moderately successful,” said Shou. “We are planning to open another such centre in another part of the city.”

GM

Dagen listened. Basically a holodeck with goggles. Even the holodeck programming merged with medical records to deny the occasional program, though that was minor and physical vitals were being monitored during the programs too just in the event that something may have exceeded. Not to mention the safety protocols. “Are all your facilities like this or do you have other outdoor sports in the rural areas that are not as developed? Are their regional sports teams that compete?” He thought of the Federation having seen the spread of a Terran game called ‘baseball’, among other sports that moved into interplanetary competitions.
- Dagen, CE

Shou frowned. “We did away with team competition years ago when it tended to incite violence between villages. There are, of course, unofficial competitions between individuals, but we do not encourage them. Team sports are non-competitive. The whole team works together to achieve similar or better results than their predecessors. We have a festival where the whole village, represented by a group of young people, scale the local mountain to renew their promise to take care of the animals and plants of the mountain. It used to be a religious festival, but nowadays, it builds co-operation between inhabitants of that village.”

GM

Dagen at first bristled inside about that news. No team competition? That seemed unheard of to him. However, the exobiologist part of him - that part from Thor’s host who was also amateur anthropologist - reminded him of the Vulcans. “There is a race called the Vulcans who were one of the first to join the Federation two centuries ago. In their history their own emotions and propensity to violence nearly brought their civilization to an end. To save themselves they turned to a philosophy of logic and near total control of their emotions.” He said that hopefully in a tone to not one up them or even to suggest they change their ways, but simply as an example of the diversity that is within the cultures of the Federation.
- Dagen, CE