An athlete, Dan, breaks out of the matrix through a feat of strength and gets a brief glimse of the real world outside his existance.

Dan ran a 100 meters world record of just under 9 seconds, but was accused of using doping and found positive. Now he is back, and he is willing to give everything. Too much thinks his friend, who is concerned that Dan will injure himself by running too hard in the qualifiers. But something strange is going on with Dan, as machine agents are keeping a close eye on him. When the race is there, fate strikes as Dan muscles literally are severed, causing Dan to fall. But somehow he finds the strength to go on, passing his opponents, on his way to learn the truth.—Arnoud Tiele ([email protected])