punishment.
Horchoff had ordered Daniel to take things easy for the remainder of the evening and meet with him on Sunday morning.
“Time for a bit of Sunday school,” he had said.
Daniel did as he was told, spending only an hour in the lounge celebrating before going down to his bunk and spending the rest of the night in bed recovering. When he woke up Sunday morning, he went to the medical level to meet with Horchoff in one of the exam rooms.
“Today I am going to teach you about healing,” he told Daniel. “At first I wasn’t sure of the possibility of self-healing, but with the progress you’ve made I am confident in your ability to take control of your immune system.”
Daniel tilted his head slightly as he took a seat on the padded exam table, his interest clearly piqued.
“I want you to lie down as I explain the process to you, and I want you to search your mind and find the signals as I explain them,” Horchoff instructed.
Daniel did as he was told and laid down on the table, closing his eyes and opening his neural pathways.
“Now as we covered in class during your first few weeks of training, neuropeptides are hormones released by the nervous system to communicate with other cells and organs in the nervous system. I’m sure you have commanded many of these to be released when using your abilities,” Horchoff explained.
Daniel had sent many signals through neuropeptides but only vaguely remembered the term. Scientific terms were irrelevant when using his abilities, he needed only to know the process.
“It is believed that these hormones can also be used by the nervous system to communicate to the immune system,” the doctor continued.
Daniel opened his right eye and focused it on Horchoff. “Believed?”
Horchoff took a breath and responded, “Little is known as far as exactly how these two very different systems interact in the body, as they serve two very different purposes. One controls bodily functions while the other fights off bacteria and infection. But if you ask me, the nervous system must play a part in the function of the immune system. The way this would happen is by the nervous system communicating to the immune system using neuropeptides, while the immune system delivers messages to the nervous system using interleukins.”
Daniel again gazed at Horchoff with his right eye, communicating that he had no interest in the confusing terminology.
“Right,” Horchoff responded to the silent criticism. “I want you to first open your neural pathways and search for any signals being sent in the direction of the injured areas of your body.”
Daniel sent his conscious mind back through his neural pathways and searched for any unidentified signals being sent to the area of his face that had been welted by Titan’s fist. Finding a signal for the first time always required extra time to explore.
Eventually Daniel did find a signal being sent from his nervous system to the bruised areas of his face, only they felt different than the commands his brain normally sent to the rest of his body. These signals felt less like commands, and more like requests.
“I think I found something,” he told Horchoff.
“Good,” Horchoff replied. “What’s it like?”
“These are different,” Daniel replied, attempting to sync his conscious mind to the area of his brain sending the signal. “It’s like my brain is telling the immune system that its assistance is required in that area, but it the immune system seems to be working on its own.”
Horchoff pondered a moment.
“Interesting,” he finally spoke. “Many doctors would say that stands to reason, I suppose.”
Daniel opened his eyes and turned his head toward Horchoff, ready for the doctor to admit for the first time ever that he was wrong.
“I think,” Horchoff started his thought, staring off into the distance as he did so, “that you still may be able to take command however.”
“How?” Daniel asked
Horchoff had ordered Daniel to take things easy for the remainder of the evening and meet with him on Sunday morning.
“Time for a bit of Sunday school,” he had said.
Daniel did as he was told, spending only an hour in the lounge celebrating before going down to his bunk and spending the rest of the night in bed recovering. When he woke up Sunday morning, he went to the medical level to meet with Horchoff in one of the exam rooms.
“Today I am going to teach you about healing,” he told Daniel. “At first I wasn’t sure of the possibility of self-healing, but with the progress you’ve made I am confident in your ability to take control of your immune system.”
Daniel tilted his head slightly as he took a seat on the padded exam table, his interest clearly piqued.
“I want you to lie down as I explain the process to you, and I want you to search your mind and find the signals as I explain them,” Horchoff instructed.
Daniel did as he was told and laid down on the table, closing his eyes and opening his neural pathways.
“Now as we covered in class during your first few weeks of training, neuropeptides are hormones released by the nervous system to communicate with other cells and organs in the nervous system. I’m sure you have commanded many of these to be released when using your abilities,” Horchoff explained.
Daniel had sent many signals through neuropeptides but only vaguely remembered the term. Scientific terms were irrelevant when using his abilities, he needed only to know the process.
“It is believed that these hormones can also be used by the nervous system to communicate to the immune system,” the doctor continued.
Daniel opened his right eye and focused it on Horchoff. “Believed?”
Horchoff took a breath and responded, “Little is known as far as exactly how these two very different systems interact in the body, as they serve two very different purposes. One controls bodily functions while the other fights off bacteria and infection. But if you ask me, the nervous system must play a part in the function of the immune system. The way this would happen is by the nervous system communicating to the immune system using neuropeptides, while the immune system delivers messages to the nervous system using interleukins.”
Daniel again gazed at Horchoff with his right eye, communicating that he had no interest in the confusing terminology.
“Right,” Horchoff responded to the silent criticism. “I want you to first open your neural pathways and search for any signals being sent in the direction of the injured areas of your body.”
Daniel sent his conscious mind back through his neural pathways and searched for any unidentified signals being sent to the area of his face that had been welted by Titan’s fist. Finding a signal for the first time always required extra time to explore.
Eventually Daniel did find a signal being sent from his nervous system to the bruised areas of his face, only they felt different than the commands his brain normally sent to the rest of his body. These signals felt less like commands, and more like requests.
“I think I found something,” he told Horchoff.
“Good,” Horchoff replied. “What’s it like?”
“These are different,” Daniel replied, attempting to sync his conscious mind to the area of his brain sending the signal. “It’s like my brain is telling the immune system that its assistance is required in that area, but it the immune system seems to be working on its own.”
Horchoff pondered a moment.
“Interesting,” he finally spoke. “Many doctors would say that stands to reason, I suppose.”
Daniel opened his eyes and turned his head toward Horchoff, ready for the doctor to admit for the first time ever that he was wrong.
“I think,” Horchoff started his thought, staring off into the distance as he did so, “that you still may be able to take command however.”
“How?” Daniel asked
Similar Books
Suddenly Expecting
Paula Roe
The Snowball
Stanley John Weyman
The Ramayana
Ramesh Menon
Sweet Southern Betrayal
Robin Covington
Witness Pursuit
Hope White
Arcadia Falls
Carol Goodman
Hide Out
Katie Allen
Fall of Colossus
D. F. Jones
The Book of Basketball
Bill Simmons