What Is Superhuman?
What is 'superhuman'? The answer seems quite simple: that which is beyond human capacity.
To exceed human limitations is to be 'superhuman', but what exactly are they? Speed? Strength and durability? Mental capacity? Moreover, who establishes this ceiling? Doctors and scientists - that's who.
These are the same people who tell us 'facts', like how we possess five senses, up until they also discovered that we have at least fourteen: nocioception, proprioception and chronoception, to mention but a few.
The list goes on.
It makes me wonder what else we have gotten wrong.
Professional athletes are the true valiant champions and heroes of the present age.
They put in the hours, blood, sweat and tears to become the best and set a record as a shining example of peak physical condition; a record soon to be broken by another athlete who dared to dig a little deeper and shatter the mold their predecessor imposed on them.
Everything in our bodies strives to maintain the status quo; from the rationalizations we use as excuses in our minds, to the pain and discomfort telling us we've reached our limit and should give up.
No, my friends; superhuman is not that which is beyond human capacity.
It is human capacity that just hasn't been unlocked yet.
Throughout history there have been many unique individuals who possess 'superhuman' abilities.
Like Ben Daniels, who lost both eyes to cancer when he was a child, and taught himself to use echolocation to navigate around the world.
He also played basketball and rode a bicycle.
Or Li Lin, a retired factory worker in Malaysia, who once pulled a car for twenty meters, by means of an iron chain magnetically stuck to her body.
Buddhist monks of the early twenty-first century could generate massive amounts of heat from their bodies using a meditation technique called Tum-mo - increasing the temperature of their fingers by seventeen degrees.
Such stories abound in history and anecdote.
My name is Doctor Max Peakman, and I am searching for 'super humanity.
' This quest began a little over a year ago, in the year 2049.
A single, fateful night changed everything, and launched me on my journey.
Doesn't it always happen like this? Don't all of us at some point come across that defining moment that destroys everything you have ever believed in.
You lose faith in people and - often - yourself.
Everything you've ever known is thrown into doubt - or is clearer than ever.
If only I had been a little faster, a little stronger, everything would have been different.
I was weak.
Vulnerable.
Pathetic.
Never again will I let that happen to me.
If only...
Every morning, in front of the mirror, I poke at the ghastly exit wound on my left side.
I cannot help this.
It repels me, and so does every other nick and scratch my body has ever sustained.
This body must be whole again - and more.
The key to unlocking untapped power is an elusive one.
It comprises a complex puzzle laid out before me - made up of four elements - adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine.
Nothing less than the human DNA.
I have scoured the labyrinth of documented studies, and conducted experiments of my own, in order to harness ultimate human perfection.
Gradually it all began to make sense.
I could clearly see the pieces falling into place.
Independent studies from various scientists across the globe; yet the connection between them was remarkable.
I stumbled upon my first interesting discovery while sifting through medical archives, searching for genetic anomalies at childbirth.
I found that in 1999, a boy was born in Germany with abnormally developed muscle tissue.
Scientists found that this was caused by a genetic mutation that changed the way his body controlled muscle growth.
At the age of four, the boy could lift six times more weight than the average child.
After 2007, there were no more records of the boy's development, but farmers began to take advantage of the same 'myostatin' mutation that affected the child, and used it for years to breed large, muscular livestock.
Testing of humans was never approved, due to growth irregularities and heart complications in primate test subjects.
I found it intriguing, nonetheless.
Before I specialized in Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, I was a resident at Hartman Hospital for a year.
While I was there, I witnessed a patient suffering from a severe panic attack throw one of my colleagues across the ward.
Thanks to movies and TV, many people know what adrenaline does to us.
What they don't know, however, is what it can do when mixed with other hormones.
These come from the hypothalamus, which is the region of the brain responsible for maintaining the balance between stress and relaxation.
We normally use a small fraction of our muscles' capabilities when we are not threatened, but when we are in danger these hormones mix with adrenaline to create a state of readiness to confront danger.
Combined, they make people more agile, quick-thinking, and stronger.
The last clue, but certainly not the least, was augmentation technology.
You see, there is a reason why we cannot be in constant 'adrenaline mode' - our bodies cannot take the strain.
Muscle fibers wear out, the mind becomes unstable, and our metabolism suffers a great deal.
Something must be added to enable the body to withstand the greater amount of strain and at the same time add to the effort applied.
This is the centerpiece binding all my findings together.
After three failed prototypes, my crowning achievement was born.
I call it 'the Delta Suit': The suit uses neuromuscular electrical stimulation technology, which is exactly what it sounds like.
The lining is padded with electrodes that adhere to the skin in direct proximity to major muscle groups.
These elicit muscle contraction using electrical impulses, mimicking action potential coming from the central nervous system.
To protect my identity, I use an integral helmet equipped with an interactive heads-up display and speech synthesizer to mask my voice in a robotic monotone.
Whenever I am not wearing the Delta suit, I have always kept it under lock and key in the safest place I know: Peakman Research Labs.
At this moment, I find myself once more in a weapons vault below the North Wing of Peakman Research Centre, standing before the augmentation suit's glass casing.
A stern-looking bespectacled scientist in a white lab coat is staring back at me through the bulletproof reflection.
Neon blue displays on either side of the case beckon for both of my palms to touch them.
My left hand falls squarely on the corresponding panel, turning it emerald green.
I look again at the man in the mirror...
his hand pressed against mine.
My right hand instinctively reaches for my left side...
but I do not have time for that now.
I jerk it away and complete the palm scan.
Both panels turn green, and the fluorescent lights inside the casing switch on, revealing my attire for this evening's 'festivities'.
To exceed human limitations is to be 'superhuman', but what exactly are they? Speed? Strength and durability? Mental capacity? Moreover, who establishes this ceiling? Doctors and scientists - that's who.
These are the same people who tell us 'facts', like how we possess five senses, up until they also discovered that we have at least fourteen: nocioception, proprioception and chronoception, to mention but a few.
The list goes on.
It makes me wonder what else we have gotten wrong.
Professional athletes are the true valiant champions and heroes of the present age.
They put in the hours, blood, sweat and tears to become the best and set a record as a shining example of peak physical condition; a record soon to be broken by another athlete who dared to dig a little deeper and shatter the mold their predecessor imposed on them.
Everything in our bodies strives to maintain the status quo; from the rationalizations we use as excuses in our minds, to the pain and discomfort telling us we've reached our limit and should give up.
No, my friends; superhuman is not that which is beyond human capacity.
It is human capacity that just hasn't been unlocked yet.
Throughout history there have been many unique individuals who possess 'superhuman' abilities.
Like Ben Daniels, who lost both eyes to cancer when he was a child, and taught himself to use echolocation to navigate around the world.
He also played basketball and rode a bicycle.
Or Li Lin, a retired factory worker in Malaysia, who once pulled a car for twenty meters, by means of an iron chain magnetically stuck to her body.
Buddhist monks of the early twenty-first century could generate massive amounts of heat from their bodies using a meditation technique called Tum-mo - increasing the temperature of their fingers by seventeen degrees.
Such stories abound in history and anecdote.
My name is Doctor Max Peakman, and I am searching for 'super humanity.
' This quest began a little over a year ago, in the year 2049.
A single, fateful night changed everything, and launched me on my journey.
Doesn't it always happen like this? Don't all of us at some point come across that defining moment that destroys everything you have ever believed in.
You lose faith in people and - often - yourself.
Everything you've ever known is thrown into doubt - or is clearer than ever.
If only I had been a little faster, a little stronger, everything would have been different.
I was weak.
Vulnerable.
Pathetic.
Never again will I let that happen to me.
If only...
Every morning, in front of the mirror, I poke at the ghastly exit wound on my left side.
I cannot help this.
It repels me, and so does every other nick and scratch my body has ever sustained.
This body must be whole again - and more.
The key to unlocking untapped power is an elusive one.
It comprises a complex puzzle laid out before me - made up of four elements - adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine.
Nothing less than the human DNA.
I have scoured the labyrinth of documented studies, and conducted experiments of my own, in order to harness ultimate human perfection.
Gradually it all began to make sense.
I could clearly see the pieces falling into place.
Independent studies from various scientists across the globe; yet the connection between them was remarkable.
I stumbled upon my first interesting discovery while sifting through medical archives, searching for genetic anomalies at childbirth.
I found that in 1999, a boy was born in Germany with abnormally developed muscle tissue.
Scientists found that this was caused by a genetic mutation that changed the way his body controlled muscle growth.
At the age of four, the boy could lift six times more weight than the average child.
After 2007, there were no more records of the boy's development, but farmers began to take advantage of the same 'myostatin' mutation that affected the child, and used it for years to breed large, muscular livestock.
Testing of humans was never approved, due to growth irregularities and heart complications in primate test subjects.
I found it intriguing, nonetheless.
Before I specialized in Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, I was a resident at Hartman Hospital for a year.
While I was there, I witnessed a patient suffering from a severe panic attack throw one of my colleagues across the ward.
Thanks to movies and TV, many people know what adrenaline does to us.
What they don't know, however, is what it can do when mixed with other hormones.
These come from the hypothalamus, which is the region of the brain responsible for maintaining the balance between stress and relaxation.
We normally use a small fraction of our muscles' capabilities when we are not threatened, but when we are in danger these hormones mix with adrenaline to create a state of readiness to confront danger.
Combined, they make people more agile, quick-thinking, and stronger.
The last clue, but certainly not the least, was augmentation technology.
You see, there is a reason why we cannot be in constant 'adrenaline mode' - our bodies cannot take the strain.
Muscle fibers wear out, the mind becomes unstable, and our metabolism suffers a great deal.
Something must be added to enable the body to withstand the greater amount of strain and at the same time add to the effort applied.
This is the centerpiece binding all my findings together.
After three failed prototypes, my crowning achievement was born.
I call it 'the Delta Suit': The suit uses neuromuscular electrical stimulation technology, which is exactly what it sounds like.
The lining is padded with electrodes that adhere to the skin in direct proximity to major muscle groups.
These elicit muscle contraction using electrical impulses, mimicking action potential coming from the central nervous system.
To protect my identity, I use an integral helmet equipped with an interactive heads-up display and speech synthesizer to mask my voice in a robotic monotone.
Whenever I am not wearing the Delta suit, I have always kept it under lock and key in the safest place I know: Peakman Research Labs.
At this moment, I find myself once more in a weapons vault below the North Wing of Peakman Research Centre, standing before the augmentation suit's glass casing.
A stern-looking bespectacled scientist in a white lab coat is staring back at me through the bulletproof reflection.
Neon blue displays on either side of the case beckon for both of my palms to touch them.
My left hand falls squarely on the corresponding panel, turning it emerald green.
I look again at the man in the mirror...
his hand pressed against mine.
My right hand instinctively reaches for my left side...
but I do not have time for that now.
I jerk it away and complete the palm scan.
Both panels turn green, and the fluorescent lights inside the casing switch on, revealing my attire for this evening's 'festivities'.
Source...