(We Can Rebuild Him) Swifter, Higher, Stronger
“So. What did the tests show? Metabolics.”
“His vitality monitors are showing some lactic acidosis. Oxygen saturation’s in spec, but it’s still not enough for that latest round of muscle ops at full capacity. I say we push another unit of breather hemocules.”
“We’re already close to topped out on blood viscosity – by the book.”
“Cardiac parameters and tissue perfusion are both clean and low. We can afford this.”
“Right. Do it. Ergonomics?”
“Stride length’s off, and that’s taking us out of the sweet spot for pace shape. Probably costing us at least a sixtieth per; again, it’s the new muscle grafts that’re doing it. We ought to strip and replate the tendons to match, but there’s no time for that, or for retraining. I can hack around that with some nerve-impulse shaping, but it’s not going to be comfortable…?”
“Do that, too, and have the nanocytes damp the algetic response, too. We’ll be going after those tendons later, so we can clean up any trouble then. Okay. Good. Anything else?”
“One more thing. Adrenal response was a little fuzzy going into the final lap; we never got all the way to sprint-optimal.”
“Ideas?”
“I could set up a timed artificial stimulus, but there’s no guarantee it’d trigger when we needed it. I’d say it’s up to you, an old-fashioned pep talk, and the right pair of shoes, boss.”
“Okay. Great work, people. Let’s go win a race!”
– overheard at the 89th Cluster Games