Balance (76 page)

She
explains…

“You know how some baseball pitchers
could
throw a
baseball
over a
hundred miles an hour?
This is the
same kind of thing.  Those pitchers
could
fire t
heir muscles in rapid succession,
starting at their waists
and progressing
to
their fingers
,
each joint accelerating
the overall motion,
propelling
the tip of the arm and
ultimately
the ball
,
faster a
nd faster
until
release. 
F
or
the most part those pitchers trained their bodies to perform efficiently with regard to
only
throwing a baseball, a singular
, learned,
action.
 
O
nly
performing
a singular
repeated
action
, the pitcher’s control
a product of muscle memory and training
, h
e doesn’t have to
account
for
changing conditions
.

That
’s where you differ. 
Your mind, because
it computes the mechanic
s faster, react
s
quicker.
  Your brain
, in response to stimuli
,
fires
the impulses to trigger muscle
action
more efficiently, faster
.
 
Also,
the way
your brain constructs mechanics
, it
trigger
s
your
muscles to fire
in
more efficient succession
.
T
ake a series of small movements, each tri
ggered slightly faster
,
sequenced
more efficiently
,
you mov
e quicker.
R
eflexes, jumping, running
,
throwing,
all of your movements
accelerate,
becoming almost
unnaturally
fast
.
  Consider all the muscles
in motion
to perform, say
,
a punch, muscles from your legs through your mid-section, shoulder and finally the arm.  Now, if every one of those muscles fired a fraction of a second quicker, timed in succession more effec
tively, the punch is far faster and
more powerful,
al
though the individual muscle
movement
s are only slightly different.
 
It’s the sum of the parts.
 
Think of it like playing Beethoven’s
fifth
Symphony at double speed.  Same notes,
same tonal relationships,
the keys
just
st
r
uck faster.

I do not
believe
what you are doing is completely unheralded.  There are examples of
football players, running backs
that
appeared
to
run faster, stop and change direction, adjusting to the changing conditions so
quickly
, they
looked
un
n
atural.
”

“The brains at the
Bunker
thought
my joints, tendons and ligaments were evolved to be stronger.  Is this the case?” Michael
offers,
her
explanation
making mo
re sense.

E
xpecting
him
to ask
this question
,
Rena
had
already
prepared
a
rebuttal.
“I don’t think physically, you are any more evolved than anyone else, a
t least no more so than a power
lifter is stronger or bodybuilder is more muscular.  You use your muscles and joints a little differently, so they
may ha
ve developed
much like a bodyb
uilder
’
s
physique
develop
s.  The muscles, tendons and ligaments grow and strengthen with effective use and exercise. 
I had originally thought
your joints might prematurely break down, early onset arthritis, but now
,
I believe
the way your
mind
efficiently
affects
movement
,
may
actually prolong your joints.
”

“So
,
I have no real negative effects a
s a result of this condition?” He asks.

“My only real concern is your bone integr
ity.  At times, you generate un
na
tural torque.  Bones have been
known to break under these
kinds of stress
.  Suffice it to say, if you were a pitcher,
you would throw well in excess of a 100-miles-an-hour, but
throwing a baseball repeatedly
, u
nder
these
circumstances …
you would probably have broken your
fore
arm more than once.
”

“Okay, so now I know how I hit a moving target with a saucer.  How do you explain the coordination and agility?”

R
ena smiles
confidently
…

“This theory actually explains everything I’ve seen you do. 
Remember, y
our mind is processing mechanical relationships in detail
,
incredibly fast
, affecting your body’s movements more efficiently
.

On
the coordination test, moving from point A to point B
,
you navigated the course faster, mind and body
subconsciously
compensating for the physical conditions
,
center of gravity,
beam shape
, height and distance … the
result
,
unbelievable balance. 

Now
,
on
the
agility test,
understanding
you process the mecha
nics of what you see and feel.
W
atching the people throwing
, your mind was
computing the trajectory of
the
ball.  You were
anticipating
where the ball was going to be
in relation to where you would be,
and then
adjust
ing
your course
or
body position,
all the
while
,
maintain
ing
balance.
  Because of the way your mind computes mechanics and triggers your muscles in accordance, you are able to perform amazing aerial feats, even adjusting your center of gravity. 
As amazing as that
all
sounds, it’
s more amazing to watch.  These same theories explain everything I’ve wa
tched you do.  It explains the
agility test,
parkour
on the Monolith
, your hand-to-hand skills
,
even your marksmanship”

“My
marksmanship?  How does it explain that?  I’m not extraordinary in that.”

“Yes, that threw me as well
… initially
.  Do you remember how you were able to hit
Whitemire
while
s
he w
as running, after you missed her
the first time
, standing still
?” 
She
recalls
.

“Yes.”

“I realized that the more relational information you perceive
,
the more adjustments your mind makes
, reducing
the opportunity for
error
.  When you shoot a gun, you can’t see all the mechanics, the barrel and the speed of the bullet prevent you from accounting for any variab
le associated with the
projectile
, things like
muzzle velocity
, deceleration, revolution.  Your mind anticipates location based on momentum, direction and speed.  Stationary, yet mobile objects don’t provide
your eyes, or
your mind that information.
  You don’t know where the target will be at the moment of impact.
”

Michael
considers the mas
s of information
Rena has just leveled on
him. 
H
e
always knew she was
uncommonly intelligent, even among the brilliant minds at
the
Bunker
, but t
his
… this
was
different
.  N
ow seei
ng her in an entirely new light, Michael asks,
“How did you figure all this out by yourself, when the entire staff of engineers and doctors in the
Bunker
could not?”
H
is own
theory
formulating
.

“I think Takada was coming close to figuring a lot of it o
ut.  I hoped,
taking you out of play
,
would prevent him from getting there.”
Responding
elusively
, trying to marginalize the value of her
contribution to the theory
.

“You still haven’t answered my question.”
He
asks more pointed.

Rena
turns
away,
her
eyes
begin
ning
to well up.  She knows that to answer the question will provide him enough information to figure out all the rest.
Turning
to face him, s
he can tell he
’
s
already
formulating much of
it
.
  T
ears running down her face,
she
confesses
,
“You and I have much in common,
al
though I didn’t realize it until the
Bunker
.
 
I also have a unique talent, although n
ot as unusual
or
apparent
as yours
.  In
fact,
people like me have been in the employment
of the military for many years.
”  Wiping her tears away, “
I have the ability to identify connections or relationships. 
Some people use the term
‘
fractals
’
. 
For examples, w
hen
I look at a painting on a wall.
I see not only the
image
,
but
all the individual brush strokes that create the image
as well
.
”

A puzzled look crosses Michael’s face.

Sighing deeply, Rena explains, “
Where y
our ability
utilizes
physical
relationships
to
form
mechanical
analysis
, my mind
is not limited in that fashion.  Like a
puzzle,
I can identify how things are interrelated
, bu
t at a far more intricate level
,
almost three-dimensionally
.  The relationships can
also be
mechanical,
or
social, financial
,
computer programs
, human reaction
… almost anything
. 
The more information I
have access to
,
the more relationships I
identify.
 
Think of it
like
the six-degrees of separation. 
I picture the relationships
as constructs;
like balloons connected by strings, parts in a machine or organs in a body. 
I can
move around inside them,
disassemble them,
understand how they work together,
explode them,
direct
them any number of ways. 
Once the puzzle starts to form, missing pieces start presenting themselves, finding me
…
in ways
allowing me to predict the missing pieces
.
  This gift
,
or curse, depending on how you view it, helps me construct theory and strategy, even manipulation.
”