Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

85 ∞ in two places

Day Eighteen ∞ Monday night

SEVERAL MILITARY PERSONNEL SNEAKED into the lab gym as Mickmi shut everything but the barbell out and sank into herself. Focusing her energy on her lower abdomen, it ascended to the solar plexus and flooded her arms. With a grunt, she pushed with the flow, stretching her arms to lift the bar off the stand with ease. She barely noticed the gasps and wows from the growing audience as she dropped it to her chest and lifted it at a fast, steady beat. After counting twenty, she placed the bar on the overhead support and turned her gaze to Sergeant Phillips.

"I have warmed up now. Please increment the load."

"Are you sure? Don't you want a break?"

"I am sure. Please load at least a hundred pounds more—if you will."

Phillips stared at her, at Dr. Martin, then looked helplessly at the doctors and technicians gathered in a hushed, animated discussion over reams of charts. With a shrug, he and Martin added more weights.

Mickmi shifted on the padded bench, and started slow and rhythmic abdominal breathing, forcing her belly to expand, then drawing it back into her spine. The increased tingling pulsated in her back, shoulders, and arms. Lifting her hands, she placed them on the bar, gripping it firmly.

She was focused. She inhaled to maximum capacity and held the air tight in her belly for four seconds. Then, as she exhaled a hissing "Ahaaaah," she lifted the weight in one fluid, powerful motion.

Stunned silence filled the room. Everybody held their breath until she started her twenty reps. A collective sigh punctuated its completion.

The weight increased for the second time, and a growing discomfort in arms and shoulders warned Mickmi of her muscular fibers' breaking point. As she paused with her arms extended, a cooling rush flooded the burning areas. Within seconds, she found she could complete the reps without pain as if she had just started the exercise with half the weight.

She put the bar to rest and mentally queried the Supramind. The Nanities had fixed and reinforced her muscles, but she needed to know what she could expect from their augmented functionalities.

The instant answer through her brain interface surprised her.

—Change in circumstance... increased weight... greater strain... Increased strength required... Manufacture of polymerized graphene nano-carbon fibers to interlace with vulnerable musculoskeletal structures initiated... Expected weight capability... 250 kilos... Additional increment on standby...

She inspected her arms as they hung from the bar. There was no visible change, yet she felt it happening. The Nanites' Supramind had decided to boost her performance capabilities, making her stronger than she was ever meant to be.

Augmented...

She watched the two men add a smaller pair of weights to each end of the bar.

"Three hundred," Phillips said, looking at her expectantly.

She knew she could do it and yet more. She felt it with every Nanitized fiber of her being. But it was cheating. It would not be a true reflection of her natural capabilities and what these researchers really wanted to learn from her.

—Extra strength not required. Reverse augmentation. She exhaled slowly, listening internally for confirmation.

 ∞