Expand, contract…
He felt his heart beat in his chest.
A deep tone came from Horchoff’s throat as he turned his head from his watch toward Daniel, his stethoscope in his ears. Daniel had forgotten to tap.
He gave the command again, this time tapping as he did so.
Expand, contract…
This time Horchoff said nothing, but Daniel could see him nod his head from across the table.
He decided to repeat the command a few times rapidly, deciding it was probably a good idea to get more oxygenated blood to his brain quickly. Horchoff seemed a bit put-off by this at first, but then seemed please as Daniel began to distance each beat out again, varying the times between heartbeats.
After thirty seconds or so, Daniel began having fun with it, trying to make his heartbeats match the beat of the song “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. Or was it “Ice, Ice, Baby?”
Horchoff chuckled. Daniel wasn’t sure if it was because he recognized the song or just out of the pure joy of success.
“Very good,” Horchoff finally said after the minute was up. 152 beats, although I think we could safely assume you had taken control.
“You caught that,” Daniel half asked and half stated, letting go of his conscious minds control of his heartbeat.
“Yes, I caught it,” Horchoff said with a grin. “Queen is one of my favorite bands.”
Daniel smiled and then decided to mess with Horchoff a bit.
“Actually it was Vanil…”
“DON’T!” Horchoff cut him off, raising his hand up in the air. Then he slowly turned with a lopsided grin on his face.
Daniel had to chuckle. It was the first time he had ever seen the doctor this loose. If he was going to be this laid back from now on, Daniel might actually start enjoying his time in the classroom.
“Okay,” Horchoff started, “let’s try something else. How much can you…”
Horchoff stopped himself as he turned back to see Daniel struggling in his chair. At first Daniel hadn’t even realized anything was wrong, but suddenly he began to feel very light headed.
“Daniel!” Horchoff yelled as he moved quickly to Daniel’s side.
Daniel tried to respond but was finding it difficult to put any words together. The lights in the room seemed to be getting dimmer.
Quickly, the doctor threw his stethoscope back on and pressed it to Daniel’s chest.
“Daniel, you’re heart’s not beating,” he said, trying to hide his panic. “You have to command your heart to beat.”
Command my heart to beat? Daniel thought to himself, a bit confused.
Then he was able to put it together. His conscious mind had never relinquished control of his heart. It had simply just stopped telling it to keep beating.
Suddenly Daniel was beginning to feel very tired.
Horchoff grabbed Daniel’s drooping head and held it up to meet his own eyes.
“You have to do whatever you were doing before to make your heart beat. If you don’t do this immediately, your brain will not receive any oxygen and you will die.”
Die? Daniel thought to himself. “Die!” He inadvertently shouted out loud, suddenly finding a burst of energy from somewhere unknown.
“Yes, die,” Horchoff responded. “Now make your heart contract!”
Daniel concentrated, trying to find the thought in the back of his mind that he melded to last time in order to take control. It wasn’t there. Then he remembered. Last time he had locked onto the command to expand and contract – If his heart wasn’t expanding and contracting there was nothing for him to lock on to!
But I’m already locked on, he reminded himself. The room was now beginning to spin around him. He closed his eyes. What was that thought again? What did it feel like?
Expand, contract, he thought to himself through the back of his mind. Expand, contract.
Horchoff’s head shot up in surprise to look at Daniel.
Daniel began thinking faster. Expand-contract, expand-contract, expand-contract.
He took a deep breath, feeling his beating heart in his chest. The strain on his brain began to lessen a bit. He opened his eyes and looked at Horchoff.
“Now what?” He asked.
Horchoff sat upright and took a deep breath, contemplating his answer.
“You have to shut it down,” he answered with a shrug. “You have to shut down the connection between your conscious mind and the part of your brain that is responsible for your heartbeat.”
“How do I do that?” Daniel asked, making sure to continue to command his heart to beat between speaking.
“I don’t know,” the doctor replied very softly.
“Right,” Daniel said, nodding. “Not really a whole lot of literature on this one.”
“If you don’t,” Horchoff added, standing up from his chair, “you are going to have to walk around telling your own heart when to beat for the rest of your life.”
Just one more risk the good doctor failed to mention previously, Daniel thought to himself.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating on his thoughts. He could still hear the echo from the thought in his conscious mind through the back of his brain where the proper signals were being sent to his heart.
Shut it down, he thought to himself, trying to echo the command in the same way as the one that was currently keeping his heart beating. Shut-it-down!
It was no use. As soon as he stopped giving the command to his heart again he could feel it stop in his chest. He knew that wouldn’t work. The words “shut it down” or “cut it off” sounded like actual words in his conscious mind. The commands to expand and contract did not. They were a command that his conscious mind was able to interpret as meaning those two words. He had to figure out how to give this command in the same way.
Or maybe this had nothing to do with another command. After all, there was absolutely no reason for the brain to have a command to force the conscious mind out of an area it didn’t belong. That instruction wouldn’t exist.
But then how could he stop it?
He sighed with frustration.
“Maybe just push it out,” Horchoff suggested from where he now sat on the table at the head of the classroom.
Daniel gave him a curious glance, silently asking for clarification.
“You were able to push your conscious mind into that part of your brain, now tell it to leave,” he clarified. “Push it out.”
Daniel closed his eyes again, remembering when he had searched his brain for the area that was controlling his heart. He reopened his eyes, staring blankly at the wall, and began to search again. It was more difficult this time, because rather than just search for the signal that was already being sent, he had to consciously give the command, and then follow the echo to where the signal was being sent to the heart.
After about 20 heartbeats he finally tracked it down.
Now what? He thought to himself once he had a lock on its location. Then he remembered Horchoff’s advice. Just push it out.
So with nothing to lose, he mentally pushed his conscious mind forward out of the area in which it didn’t belong, while also focusing on breaking the meld between his conscious thoughts and the involuntary command.
It felt like nothing had happened, but his heart was now beating on its own. He tried to give the command consciously again just to see, and he couldn’t even remember what the thought was that had made it happen. All he could think were the words expand and contract, but there was no interpretation in the brain the way there had been before.
Horchoff must have been able to read the expression on his face. He let out a huge sigh of relief as he stood up from the table, then looked back to Daniel for confirmation.
Daniel slowly nodded, a forced smile on his face. He hadn’t even had room in his mind to feel scared while it was all happening, but the gravity of the situation was now beginning to sink in.
“Oh thank God,” Horchoff blurted. Danie
l wasn’t sure if he had been more concerned for his safety, or at the prospect of failing.
One thing was for certain now, the operation was a success. They had now confirmed that Daniel was able to do everything that they hoped he would be. He was now a superior being.
“How about we take the rest of the morning off,” Horchoff suggested. “Give us some time to recover before we go into anything else.”
Daniel took a deep breath and again nodded, gathering his things. He was appreciative for the break, but deep down he wanted to try again. He knew what to expect now – what to look for. He knew that with practice he could learn to control his new ability, and he wanted to learn now. He was tired of being average, and this small taste of superiority had made him yearn for more. But that could all wait until afternoon.
Working out during the first three weeks – the first week especially – was slightly uncomfortable for Daniel. He felt embarrassed working out alongside a group of people who were in the best possible shape any human being could wish to be in. They could all lift more and run longer than he could, and it showed in their physique. The worst was when he had to go into the locker room and shower with them. The rest of the guys had bodies most women would have paid to see without any clothes on. The sweat glistened off every distinguishable ab and pec, bicep, tricep, and quad. The admiration Daniel felt for their bodies almost made him question his own sexuality.
He was quickly able to write those feelings off though, as his admiration for the female agents in their tight spandex workout pants was much stronger. What he wouldn’t give to be able to run his hands up and down just one of those tight bodies. It was the strongest desire he could remember feeling for any woman other than Jordan.
Unfortunately, in the sexy male category at Elite he ranked dead last. He was Mr. Average in a room full of gods. Daniel was pretty confident that when women read romance novels, they imagined one of these guys as the main character.
After the heartbeat exercise Daniel became determined to change all of that. He now understood what he was capable of, and for the first time almost felt above everyone else in the room. That was before realizing there was no reason for anyone else to feel to see him in the same light. He may have lost a few pounds in the first few days, but he didn’t look all that different, and still wasn’t working out with near the intensity of the others.
It was his intention to change that. Generally he lifted with the thirty-pound dumbbells – mostly curls and shoulder-presses. If any of the other guys used the thirty-pounders it was generally to tone rather than build muscle. Most of them were doing twenty to thirty reps a set, while Daniel was only able to do five to ten. The bigger guys who were looking to get a good pump generally went for the eighty-pounders, more than double what Daniel was able to do.
Or was able to do.
He eyed the eighty-pound dumbbell, considering picking it up off the rack. He remembered the little bit Horchoff had taught him about the way muscles functioned. He also remembered the story about mothers who were able to lift entire vehicles off of their children in an emergency, and how Horchoff had broken down the science behind it.
Horchoff explained that an increase of adrenaline allowed more blood to flow through the muscles which enabled them to receive more oxygen and contract with greater force, resulting in what we perceive as increased strength.
Daniel began to search his brain as he stared at the weight on the rack, searching for the release of adrenaline he was now feeling course through his brain, generated by the nervousness and excitement surrounding the real possibility that he could hang with the strongest agents at Elite.
It didn’t take long for him to find it and recognize it. Then he opened a second connection back to his heart, and began making it beat more rapidly, increasing blood flow throughout his body. Then he flexed his biceps, searching for the command in his brain telling them to contract in response to his movements. Finding that signal took a little longer, but he eventually found the area of his brain sending the signals to his muscles and locked on. All he had to do now was meld his conscious mind with those three areas of his brain and he would be in control.
He contemplated a minute, and before reaching for the weight, pushed his conscious mind out of those areas of the brain. He had a hard enough time breaking the meld with just one area of his brain, now wasn’t the time to try his luck with three simultaneous connections.
What if he wasn’t able to command his body properly, and picked up the dumbbell without being able to lift it? He would be completely embarrassed. Worse, he could be stuck walking around the rest of the day having to tell his heart when to beat, regulate his flow of adrenaline, and tell his arm muscles when to contract and relax. The smart move was to wait until he had more practice in the classroom before trying to be a superstar in the gym. The rest of the agents would witness his extraordinary talents soon enough. He just needed to be patient.
After his usual thirty minutes of free weights and thirty on the treadmill, Daniel went downstairs to hit the showers. By this, the fourth day, most of the guys were used to seeing him in the locker room. No one ever spoke to him however, they just shot him curious glances which Daniel interpreted as them wondering why some chump was using their facility. In fact, he realized that in all four days of him living there he had not had a conversation with anyone other than Richfield, Blank, and Horchoff. There may have been a couple, “how ya doing”s or “excuse me”s, but no conversation. It was clear the agents didn’t yet accept him as one of their own. He knew that would change soon.
Luckily when Daniel took his showers most people were at lunch, having already completed their morning workout. Today Daniel felt less concerned with the opinions of those around him. Whether it was due to the increased level of comfort in his now daily routine, or an increased level in confidence after his success in class that morning, he did not feel half as insecure as he had in previous days as he disrobed and wrapped a towel around his waist.
That confidence all disintegrated when he turned from his locker to walk to the showers and saw the alluring, statuesque figure of a woman walk over to the locker across from him. The image was enough to freeze him in his tracks.
He had seen the woman before in the gym. She had a light brown tone to her skin which led Daniel to believe she was of Latino descent. She was one of his favorite women to discretely monitor while he was on the treadmill, admiring her form as she did lunges and squats in front of the mirror.
“What’s happening boys?” She cheered enthusiastically as she walked up to the vacant locker and opened it up. She wore a black sports bra and tight black workout pants which complemented her figure extremely well.
“How’s it hanging Norma Jean?” A man walking out of the shower said as he passed by her, not at all phased at the fact that there was a woman in the men’s locker room while he stood buck-ass nude in full view of the intruder.
And why should he be? Daniel thought to himself, noticing the man’s well-toned physique. Daniel knew he had much less to be proud of when it came to standing naked before a woman.
Not that he was concerned with his level of endowment – he was certain that he was quite sufficient in that area. Daniel was more concerned with his lack of a well-toned, muscular physique. He was nothing special to look at.
Norma Jean was about to remove her sports bra when she turned and noticed Daniel staring at her, a half-terrified expression on his face.
“What’s the matter? Never seen a woman in the men’s locker room before?” She asked him teasingly.
Daniel suddenly came crashing back down to Earth when he realized that she was talking to him. He smiled and tried to play it off smooth.
“First time,” he said with a lopsided grin and a shrug.
She returned the grin and reached for a towel off the rack next to the burnt orange locker that she had claimed for herself.
“The women’s room is a lot smaller,” she explained. “Sometimes it gets full a
nd all the showers are taken so I shoot over here when I’m in a hurry. It’s an understanding we women have with the boys. It doesn’t happen all that often, but it’s not unusual.”
“Well then welcome,” Daniel said, holding out his arms to the side about waist high before turning and walking toward the showers.
He hung is towel on a hanger just outside the white tiled room that housed the showers and walked over to the nearest one and turned it on. He set his bar of soap and bottle of shampoo on the shelf that was conveniently placed at chest level to the right of the shower head. He stood back and held his hand under the stream of water, adjusting the knob until the temperature was to his liking, then walked underneath, his back to the water.
Once his body became acclimated to the temperature of the water, he tilted his head back to get his hair fully saturated, closing his eyes in the process. When he opened them, he was treated to the view of a completely naked woman walking over to the shower head across from his.
There stood Norma Jean – he didn’t think that was really her name – in all her natural glory, just five feet from where he stood.
His gaze shot up and down her body – he couldn’t help it. She was more muscular than the average woman, but not so much that it subtracted from her sexiness. Her legs were perfect. That was something Daniel had noticed while watching her work out, but now as they stood unhindered by the fabric of her pants, they looked even more magnificent. There was perfect definition where one muscle ended and the next began. They lead up to what Daniel considered one of the best backsides he had ever seen. It was perfectly round and firm, maintaining the ideal size and shape.
She stepped under the faucet and the water poured down the caramel-mocha colored skin of her back. She turned and craned her neck back to let the water pour over her long dark hair, and Daniel almost let an audible moan slip out as she did so.
Her breasts were a work of art – of substantial size yet able to hold themselves up firmly. Her flat stomach was well-toned, and the definition lines down the side of her abdomen were enticing as they led the way down to her hips which had just the right amount of curve to them.
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