Tape Measure
Tape Measure
[Cueball finds a tape measure.] Cueball: Hey, a tape measure.
[Cueball extends the tape measure.] extend extend
[The tape measure falls.] clatter
[Cueball tries again.] click schwoop
extend extend
extend
Cueball (thinking): Ooh, eight feet. I wonder if that's a record.
[Cueball imagines an olympic stadium, with three people extending tape measures] Audience: Gooo! Goooo! Gooooooo!

Cueball acts like a small boy, finding a tape measure and then playing with it. He then extends it to 8 feet (approx. 2.5 meters), wondering whether or not that was a record, which makes him imagine a sport where extending the tape measure as far as possible was the goal. (Tape measure strips are bent upward lengthwise to support itself when oriented correctly, much like how one can better hold a sheet of paper horizontally by creating a slight dip. However, as a tape measure is extended, the weight of the strip eventually overcomes the support offered by the bend, causing it to collapse. Skillfully holding the tape measure at an angle can redirect some of the weight load and allow for a longer total extension; it is implied that this technique can be explored to the point of becoming its own sport.)
The title text refers to a future where this sport exists, and this comic is a representation of the origin of this sport.
[Cueball finds a tape measure.] Cueball: Hey, a tape measure.
[Cueball extends the tape measure.] extend extend
[The tape measure falls.] clatter
[Cueball tries again.] click schwoop
extend extend
extend
Cueball (thinking): Ooh, eight feet. I wonder if that's a record.
[Cueball imagines an olympic stadium, with three people extending tape measures] Audience: Gooo! Goooo! Gooooooo!
