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Enhanced
Enhanced
Chapter Eleven: Testing
Tracy Island
Next Morning
John Tracy awoke the next morning with a mix of expectation and trepidation. Today they would begin finding out what exactly the tiny machines within him had done to him altogether and John couldn't wait to find out. Yet at the same time he was a little nervous about what they might find.
He knew that the nanites had completed their integration with his body late yesterday evening. John knew because shortly before he had gone to bed, he had begun to really feel the difference in his body. And he could still feel it now.
It was a feeling of power and strength that seemed to come from every cell in his body at the same time. It was a strange and amazing, but at the same time frightening, sensation. He was fully aware that he could now easily hurt someone without meaning to, at least until he learned how to control his body's new abilities. But to do that he would first need to know the extent of those abilities. And that was the reason for what they were going to do today.
As he sat up, John noticed that the feeling inside him was weaker now that it had been last night and that at the same time there was a strong feeling of hunger in his stomach. But there wasn't yet any sign of that terrible exhaustion he had experienced yesterday after Alan had signed off, relaying the information that he had found with the aid of the powerful mainframe on Thunderbird Five. That feeling of exhaustion had only ended when he'd eaten some sandwiches and a protein bar that Kyrano had brought him.
Guess the nanites inside me are starting to run low on energy, John thought as he climbed out of bed. But the lack of power isn't critical yet. Good. I should have time for a shower before breakfast. John sighed to himself as it again dawned on him that he could now not afford to miss any meals. Like all his brothers and his father he had a habit of occasionally doing that while working on something. It was going to be a hard habit to break.
John sighed again and headed into the /en suite /bathroom for his regular morning shower.
***
Breakfast was surprisingly uneventful though John found himself being very careful when he buttered his toast so as not to knock anything accidentally flying. He reached for the jar of jam and laughed when he saw Gordon move as if to duck. He was again seated by the milk jug and did not want to get another potential milk shower like the one he'd gotten yesterday.
"Relax, Gordon, I'm not going to send the top of the jam jar flying this morning," John said. I hope, he added to himself.
"Can you blame me for being cautious after what happened yesterday when you opened the jam?"
"No," John admitted. "Though I didn't do that on purpose."
"I know. That's why I won't be paying you back with a little interest," Gordon replied, a momentary devilish gleam in his eyes. Everyone one knew that by payback and interest Gordon meant a prank.
Looking at John, Gordon realised that playing a prank on John and getting away with it was going to be a bit more challenging now. John being suddenly quicker and stronger than the rest of them meant it would be harder to escape his wrath. And when subjected to a prank even the quiet and mild-mannered John Tracy could get very disagreeable; never mind that it was all harmless fun. Gordon inwardly quietly relished the new challenge. Once they had found out just what John could do and how much the nanites had enhanced his body, he would start plotting a great prank to play on his older brother.
John sighed and shook his head, guessing from the look in Gordon's eyes what his younger brother was thinking about. Going to have to be on your guard for a little bit, John, he thought. Even as he thought that, he opened the jar of jam, being careful in the amount of force he used. It came off easier than he would have thought it would.
"See? No flying lid," he said, smiling.
"Yeah, Gordon, you were worrying about nothing," Virgil added. "Course if you want to get covered in milk, John could always throw the lid at the jug."
"No thanks," Gordon replied and his older brothers laughed.
"Enough playing around now, boys. Let's just get on with breakfast, shall we?" Jeff said.
"You're right, Dad," John replied, eager to get breakfast over with so they could actually start finding out just what the nanites had done to him.
***
Tracy Island Gym
A Short Time Later
John took a deep nervous breath as he along with his father, brothers, Brains and Tin-Tin entered the island gym, which was just down the corridor on the ground floor from the sickroom.
Now that they were about to start finding out just what the nanites had done to him, how far they'd enhanced his bodies physical abilities, he was more nervous that he had been in along time. In fact that last time John could recall being this nervous was when he had been summoned before NASA's astronaut selection panel for the first time, after his request for astronaut training had been submitted to and considered by them.
After they'd finished breakfast he'd gone back up to his room and gotten dressed into the clothes he normally wore for a workout. Now he was clad in dark blue tracksuit trousers while wearing a white sleeveless muscle T-shirt.
"So what should we do first," John asked as they stood just inside the gym looking at the array of exercise machines and free weights that filled the gym.
"W...w...well John first you should put this on," Brains said holding out a slim armband like object. "It will a...a...allow us to monitor your bodily systems during the t...t...tests."
"Sure thing Brains," John replied taking the sensor armband from Brains, he slid it along his right arm until was secure around the upper part of his arm.
"So what shall we look at first," Virgil asked.
"I would suggest that we follow a normal workout format," John suggested. "We could use the treadmill first as it will serve two purposes. It will allow me to warm up and we can go from there to seeing how fast I can go and get an idea how long I would be able to keep it up."
"Good idea son," Jeff replied. "Once we've done that we can start trying to workout just how strong the nanites have made you. Brains you have had a chance to go over the material Alan sent down from Thunderbird Five. Was there any mention of the level of enhancement bestowed by the nanites?"
"N...n...no Mr Tracy. Alan was c...c...correct when he said that the level of nanite enhancement is not s...s...specified," Brains replied, he had gone over the data in detail and while he didn't yet understand it all, he understood enough to be reasonably confident in the answers he gave. "According to the information tests to d...d...determine the level of enhancement were d...d...due to be carried out at the r...r...research base at the time of the e...e...explosion. Any research that was done was lost with the base."
"Then we will just have to find our own answers," Jeff said.
"Dad's right," John said. "So what are we standing around here for?"
Listening to John Scott hid a smile, while John's voice was calm like it always was it was obvious to him at least that John was getting a bit impatient with doing nothing, desperately wanting to start finding out just what his enhanced body could do. Scott understood what John was feeling, if he were in John's position he would be just the same.
"Yes we should get started," Brains said moving towards one of the treadmills. John followed immediately with everyone else following him.
In moments they were beside the treadmill and John stepped up onto the track. Brains held up a small electronic pad, remotely linked to the sensors in the armband John was wearing, and turned it on.
"Okay John. I want you to s...s...start slow then start picking up s...s...speed," Brains said.
"Sure thing Brains," John replied before pressing the button that started up the treadmill.
Then he started moving at a brisk walking pace. Once he was comfortably into the rhythm he picked up the pace into a jog. John was surprised to find that he felt perfectly normal, when a jog like this should have at least caused him to start breaking out in a light sweat.
Brains checked the readings on his pad even as John started to run. He blinked in surprise when he saw that there was no change at all in the readings, as far as the sensor showed John might as well have been standing still.
"How are you feeling John," Virgil asked.
"Fine," John replied. "I should be starting to feel hot and sweaty running like this but I feel perfectly normal."
"Your r...r...readings are showing normal," Brains added. "According to this you might as well be standing still John." John blinked in surprise as Brains spoke even though it fitted in with how he was feeling at the moment.
"Maybe you should try running faster John," Scott suggested. "Really let loose and see just how fast you can go."
"I think you're right Scott," John agreed
"Give it a go son," Jeff added.
"Right dad," John replied and began running a bit faster, then faster again. Yet still he wasn't even noticing the exertion or even starting to sweat. So he decided to really push himself to see if he could go even faster than this. He picked up his pace some more, and suddenly felt something happen inside him. Something that felt like an internal power surge and he suddenly felt powerful, really, really powerful and strong as if nothing could hurt him. His pace increased till the point when his feet were barely even touching the treadmill at all.
Watching in amazement Scott, Virgil, Jeff, Tin-Tin and Brains stared in shock as John's pace increased to the point where the movement of his legs was little more than a blur. Seeing a human running at what was obviously an extremely high speed was incredible and a little frightening.
Brains forced himself to look away from John and at the pad display to see what was happening. What he saw surprised him, the nanites were somehow boosting the efficiency of John's muscles beyond anything previously thought possible, yet every system in John's body remained at a perfect equilibrium, with no system showing any stress. John's muscles were producing almost nothing in the way of waste products, no lactic acid, no nothing, or if some was being produced it was in such a small amount that he could not detect it. He would have to analyse these readings properly at a later time to determine exactly what was happening inside John.
John looked at the speed indicator on the treadmills computer display and gasped when he saw how fast he was running. According to the display he was running at a hundred miles an hour, John stared at it in disbelief. He was so shocked and he watched as the speed display began dropping as he slowed down to a brisk walk and finally stopped. Automatically the treadmill stopped moving.
"I can't believe I was running that fast," John said still stunned by how fast he had been going.
"How fast were you going John," Virgil asked. "You certainly looked like you were going pretty fast."
"According to that," John gestured at the treadmill display, "I was running at a hundred miles per hour."
For a moment there was stunned silence.
"Wow," Gordon said at last. "Did you feel anything when you were going that fast?"
"Not to indicate how fast I was going," John replied. "Though I did feel something. It's hard to describe. But it suddenly felt like there was this power surge inside me and suddenly I felt..." John's voice trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain how he had felt.
"Felt what," Jeff prompted curious as to what John was going to say.
"I felt strong," John replied after a few seconds of silence. "Really, really powerful. I felt like," he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, "felt like I was invincible. That nothing could touch me or harm me. Now that I think about it the experience was somewhat scary. It was like the ultimate high. It would be dangerously easy to get carried away on it."
"If the nanites have made you that fast," Scott mused thinking again about how fast John had been going, "then how strong have they made you?"
"I don't know," John replied. "And truth be told I am a little scared about finding out. But at the same time I want to and need to know."
"Understandable," Virgil commented. "We should get started on trying to work out how strong you are now."
"Yeah and I have a thought to figure out how we do that," John said.
"What are you t...t...thinking John," Brains asked.
John opened his mouth to reply, when abruptly an all too familiar alarm abruptly rent the air. Typical! Why can't the international rescue alarm have better timing, John thought as like everyone else he began walking out of the gym in response to the alarm that had been triggered automatically when a hail about a rescue was received from Thunderbird Five. I wonder whose in trouble this time, John thought as they hurried through the hallways of the villa towards the main room.
John hoped that it would be something minor - something they could deal with quickly, then they could get back to the business of finding out what the nanites had done to him.
But somehow he knew that was unlikely. Some strange six sense, honed over the last few years, ever since International Rescue began operating, told him that whatever was wrong was something major. A glance at his brothers and father showed John that they felt it too. That whatever mission Alan had lined up for them was going to be something on a scale that they hadn't dealt with in a long time.
So it was a very nervous group of Tracy's who raced into the main room. John stood quietly off to the side with his brothers, while Jeff went over to his desk to press the controls that would acknowledge the signal from Thunderbird Five, as evidenced by the urgent flashing of the eyes on Alan's portrait.
Enhanced
Chapter Eleven: Testing
Tracy Island
Next Morning
John Tracy awoke the next morning with a mix of expectation and trepidation. Today they would begin finding out what exactly the tiny machines within him had done to him altogether and John couldn't wait to find out. Yet at the same time he was a little nervous about what they might find.
He knew that the nanites had completed their integration with his body late yesterday evening. John knew because shortly before he had gone to bed, he had begun to really feel the difference in his body. And he could still feel it now.
It was a feeling of power and strength that seemed to come from every cell in his body at the same time. It was a strange and amazing, but at the same time frightening, sensation. He was fully aware that he could now easily hurt someone without meaning to, at least until he learned how to control his body's new abilities. But to do that he would first need to know the extent of those abilities. And that was the reason for what they were going to do today.
As he sat up, John noticed that the feeling inside him was weaker now that it had been last night and that at the same time there was a strong feeling of hunger in his stomach. But there wasn't yet any sign of that terrible exhaustion he had experienced yesterday after Alan had signed off, relaying the information that he had found with the aid of the powerful mainframe on Thunderbird Five. That feeling of exhaustion had only ended when he'd eaten some sandwiches and a protein bar that Kyrano had brought him.
Guess the nanites inside me are starting to run low on energy, John thought as he climbed out of bed. But the lack of power isn't critical yet. Good. I should have time for a shower before breakfast. John sighed to himself as it again dawned on him that he could now not afford to miss any meals. Like all his brothers and his father he had a habit of occasionally doing that while working on something. It was going to be a hard habit to break.
John sighed again and headed into the /en suite /bathroom for his regular morning shower.
***
Breakfast was surprisingly uneventful though John found himself being very careful when he buttered his toast so as not to knock anything accidentally flying. He reached for the jar of jam and laughed when he saw Gordon move as if to duck. He was again seated by the milk jug and did not want to get another potential milk shower like the one he'd gotten yesterday.
"Relax, Gordon, I'm not going to send the top of the jam jar flying this morning," John said. I hope, he added to himself.
"Can you blame me for being cautious after what happened yesterday when you opened the jam?"
"No," John admitted. "Though I didn't do that on purpose."
"I know. That's why I won't be paying you back with a little interest," Gordon replied, a momentary devilish gleam in his eyes. Everyone one knew that by payback and interest Gordon meant a prank.
Looking at John, Gordon realised that playing a prank on John and getting away with it was going to be a bit more challenging now. John being suddenly quicker and stronger than the rest of them meant it would be harder to escape his wrath. And when subjected to a prank even the quiet and mild-mannered John Tracy could get very disagreeable; never mind that it was all harmless fun. Gordon inwardly quietly relished the new challenge. Once they had found out just what John could do and how much the nanites had enhanced his body, he would start plotting a great prank to play on his older brother.
John sighed and shook his head, guessing from the look in Gordon's eyes what his younger brother was thinking about. Going to have to be on your guard for a little bit, John, he thought. Even as he thought that, he opened the jar of jam, being careful in the amount of force he used. It came off easier than he would have thought it would.
"See? No flying lid," he said, smiling.
"Yeah, Gordon, you were worrying about nothing," Virgil added. "Course if you want to get covered in milk, John could always throw the lid at the jug."
"No thanks," Gordon replied and his older brothers laughed.
"Enough playing around now, boys. Let's just get on with breakfast, shall we?" Jeff said.
"You're right, Dad," John replied, eager to get breakfast over with so they could actually start finding out just what the nanites had done to him.
***
Tracy Island Gym
A Short Time Later
John took a deep nervous breath as he along with his father, brothers, Brains and Tin-Tin entered the island gym, which was just down the corridor on the ground floor from the sickroom.
Now that they were about to start finding out just what the nanites had done to him, how far they'd enhanced his bodies physical abilities, he was more nervous that he had been in along time. In fact that last time John could recall being this nervous was when he had been summoned before NASA's astronaut selection panel for the first time, after his request for astronaut training had been submitted to and considered by them.
After they'd finished breakfast he'd gone back up to his room and gotten dressed into the clothes he normally wore for a workout. Now he was clad in dark blue tracksuit trousers while wearing a white sleeveless muscle T-shirt.
"So what should we do first," John asked as they stood just inside the gym looking at the array of exercise machines and free weights that filled the gym.
"W...w...well John first you should put this on," Brains said holding out a slim armband like object. "It will a...a...allow us to monitor your bodily systems during the t...t...tests."
"Sure thing Brains," John replied taking the sensor armband from Brains, he slid it along his right arm until was secure around the upper part of his arm.
"So what shall we look at first," Virgil asked.
"I would suggest that we follow a normal workout format," John suggested. "We could use the treadmill first as it will serve two purposes. It will allow me to warm up and we can go from there to seeing how fast I can go and get an idea how long I would be able to keep it up."
"Good idea son," Jeff replied. "Once we've done that we can start trying to workout just how strong the nanites have made you. Brains you have had a chance to go over the material Alan sent down from Thunderbird Five. Was there any mention of the level of enhancement bestowed by the nanites?"
"N...n...no Mr Tracy. Alan was c...c...correct when he said that the level of nanite enhancement is not s...s...specified," Brains replied, he had gone over the data in detail and while he didn't yet understand it all, he understood enough to be reasonably confident in the answers he gave. "According to the information tests to d...d...determine the level of enhancement were d...d...due to be carried out at the r...r...research base at the time of the e...e...explosion. Any research that was done was lost with the base."
"Then we will just have to find our own answers," Jeff said.
"Dad's right," John said. "So what are we standing around here for?"
Listening to John Scott hid a smile, while John's voice was calm like it always was it was obvious to him at least that John was getting a bit impatient with doing nothing, desperately wanting to start finding out just what his enhanced body could do. Scott understood what John was feeling, if he were in John's position he would be just the same.
"Yes we should get started," Brains said moving towards one of the treadmills. John followed immediately with everyone else following him.
In moments they were beside the treadmill and John stepped up onto the track. Brains held up a small electronic pad, remotely linked to the sensors in the armband John was wearing, and turned it on.
"Okay John. I want you to s...s...start slow then start picking up s...s...speed," Brains said.
"Sure thing Brains," John replied before pressing the button that started up the treadmill.
Then he started moving at a brisk walking pace. Once he was comfortably into the rhythm he picked up the pace into a jog. John was surprised to find that he felt perfectly normal, when a jog like this should have at least caused him to start breaking out in a light sweat.
Brains checked the readings on his pad even as John started to run. He blinked in surprise when he saw that there was no change at all in the readings, as far as the sensor showed John might as well have been standing still.
"How are you feeling John," Virgil asked.
"Fine," John replied. "I should be starting to feel hot and sweaty running like this but I feel perfectly normal."
"Your r...r...readings are showing normal," Brains added. "According to this you might as well be standing still John." John blinked in surprise as Brains spoke even though it fitted in with how he was feeling at the moment.
"Maybe you should try running faster John," Scott suggested. "Really let loose and see just how fast you can go."
"I think you're right Scott," John agreed
"Give it a go son," Jeff added.
"Right dad," John replied and began running a bit faster, then faster again. Yet still he wasn't even noticing the exertion or even starting to sweat. So he decided to really push himself to see if he could go even faster than this. He picked up his pace some more, and suddenly felt something happen inside him. Something that felt like an internal power surge and he suddenly felt powerful, really, really powerful and strong as if nothing could hurt him. His pace increased till the point when his feet were barely even touching the treadmill at all.
Watching in amazement Scott, Virgil, Jeff, Tin-Tin and Brains stared in shock as John's pace increased to the point where the movement of his legs was little more than a blur. Seeing a human running at what was obviously an extremely high speed was incredible and a little frightening.
Brains forced himself to look away from John and at the pad display to see what was happening. What he saw surprised him, the nanites were somehow boosting the efficiency of John's muscles beyond anything previously thought possible, yet every system in John's body remained at a perfect equilibrium, with no system showing any stress. John's muscles were producing almost nothing in the way of waste products, no lactic acid, no nothing, or if some was being produced it was in such a small amount that he could not detect it. He would have to analyse these readings properly at a later time to determine exactly what was happening inside John.
John looked at the speed indicator on the treadmills computer display and gasped when he saw how fast he was running. According to the display he was running at a hundred miles an hour, John stared at it in disbelief. He was so shocked and he watched as the speed display began dropping as he slowed down to a brisk walk and finally stopped. Automatically the treadmill stopped moving.
"I can't believe I was running that fast," John said still stunned by how fast he had been going.
"How fast were you going John," Virgil asked. "You certainly looked like you were going pretty fast."
"According to that," John gestured at the treadmill display, "I was running at a hundred miles per hour."
For a moment there was stunned silence.
"Wow," Gordon said at last. "Did you feel anything when you were going that fast?"
"Not to indicate how fast I was going," John replied. "Though I did feel something. It's hard to describe. But it suddenly felt like there was this power surge inside me and suddenly I felt..." John's voice trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain how he had felt.
"Felt what," Jeff prompted curious as to what John was going to say.
"I felt strong," John replied after a few seconds of silence. "Really, really powerful. I felt like," he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, "felt like I was invincible. That nothing could touch me or harm me. Now that I think about it the experience was somewhat scary. It was like the ultimate high. It would be dangerously easy to get carried away on it."
"If the nanites have made you that fast," Scott mused thinking again about how fast John had been going, "then how strong have they made you?"
"I don't know," John replied. "And truth be told I am a little scared about finding out. But at the same time I want to and need to know."
"Understandable," Virgil commented. "We should get started on trying to work out how strong you are now."
"Yeah and I have a thought to figure out how we do that," John said.
"What are you t...t...thinking John," Brains asked.
John opened his mouth to reply, when abruptly an all too familiar alarm abruptly rent the air. Typical! Why can't the international rescue alarm have better timing, John thought as like everyone else he began walking out of the gym in response to the alarm that had been triggered automatically when a hail about a rescue was received from Thunderbird Five. I wonder whose in trouble this time, John thought as they hurried through the hallways of the villa towards the main room.
John hoped that it would be something minor - something they could deal with quickly, then they could get back to the business of finding out what the nanites had done to him.
But somehow he knew that was unlikely. Some strange six sense, honed over the last few years, ever since International Rescue began operating, told him that whatever was wrong was something major. A glance at his brothers and father showed John that they felt it too. That whatever mission Alan had lined up for them was going to be something on a scale that they hadn't dealt with in a long time.
So it was a very nervous group of Tracy's who raced into the main room. John stood quietly off to the side with his brothers, while Jeff went over to his desk to press the controls that would acknowledge the signal from Thunderbird Five, as evidenced by the urgent flashing of the eyes on Alan's portrait.
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