1 — Isolation Chamber
Emphasize parasympathetic
Hammond pointed with the marker. “When the parasympathetic nervous system is operating, your body relaxes. Your pupils constrict, your heart rate slows, your digestive system practically shuts down, your muscles relax. You did some of this consciously in Trojan Warrior, as you remember. The isolation chamber does this by lowering your body temperature to the point where your body is almost totally inactive.”
She pointed at the wall plug. “Your brain operates on such a low voltage that its power is almost negligible. We can’t exactly increase the voltage into your brain, as that would fry the cells, so we focus the power that is already there by reducing the need for it to be expended on unnecessary outputs. As I told you earlier, the isolation tube even does your breathing for you. It will also control your heartbeat.”
“How?” Barnes asked.
“We do direct electrical stimulation to control and maintain your heartbeat and also control the nervous system in the brain.”
Dalton glanced at the other men in the room. No one looked particularly happy.
The pen squeaked against the board again.
2 — TACPAD
Cryoprobe
She turned the helmet once more so that they could see the thick lining inside. “The cryoprobe is a device that surgeons have used for a decade or so to target certain areas of the brain. It’s a very fine probe that reduces the temperature in the target area to ninety-three degrees. This causes the neurons there to cease firing, effectively shutting that area down.”
“What parts of the brain do you shut down?” Dalton asked.
“Those connected with the parasympathetic nervous system, since those bodily functions are taken care of by the isolation tank,” Hammond said. “Every milliamp of power we can save is critical.”
“What exactly is the microprobe?” Captain Anderson asked.
“A microscopic wire that is inserted directly into the targeted areas of the brain.” As there was an uneasy rustle in the room, Hammond quickly elaborated. “The wire is so small that you won’t even feel it go in, and when it’s removed there is no bleeding. Less than.008 millimeters in diameter. The fact that there have been so many breakthroughs in microtechnology in the last several years has been one of the reasons we’ve been able to develop the TACPAD.” She held up the helmet. “It’s so thin, you can’t even see the probe with the naked eye.”
She wrote again.
3 — TACPAD
Thermocouple
“The thermocouple does the opposite of the cryoprobe. It targets those areas we want to activate and emphasize. It raises the temperature of the designated area, which facilitates its functioning.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Barnes asked. “Wouldn’t that be like someone suffering heat exhaustion, where the body temperature goes too high? I’ve seen guys get their brains fried like that.”
Hammond shook her head. “No. It’s very controlled and specific. There is a low-grade electrical current running through the thermocouple that does slightly over half the emphasizing.”
“Hold on,” Dalton interrupted. “You just said that it’s not a good idea to up the voltage or amperage in the brain.”
“In an uncontrolled or nonspecific manner, yes. But here, we’re talking about less power than you would get from a double-A battery. It’s safe, I assure you,” Hammond said. “Doctors have been using this technique in brain research for years.”
“Do you use wires into the brain for that too?” Anderson asked.
“Yes. Again, so fine that you can’t see it or feel it.” She went back to the board.
4 — TACPAD
Cyberlink
“Not only has this technology been used by experimental psychologists, everything I’ve talked about up to now has also been used for the past couple of years in the Bright Gate program by our remote viewers. It is only in the past six months that we have developed the critical piece of technology that takes us one step beyond.
“The last component that makes the Psychic Warrior program possible is the cyberlink.” Hammond paused for a second in thought. “You’ve all seen or used simulators that act like the outside environment, such as pilots practice on?”
Everyone nodded.
“In a way, the cyberlink reverses the simulator process.” Hammond reached into the TACPAD and held up a black pad about two feet long by eight inches in width with numerous wires coming out of the back. “We can use our mainframe computer, code-named Sybyl, to help you locate where you are going on the virtual plane and also to orient you. More importantly, the computer gives you form— what we call an avatar— in hyperspace that you can project into real space.”
“Form?” Anderson asked.
“That is the key to being a Psychic Warrior,” Hammond said. “You have to be able to come out of hyperspace, or virtual reality, and into the real world. By using the precoded avatar formats that our programmers have developed with Sybyl, you will be able to stay oriented while in the virtual world and come out into the real.
“Sybyl is one of the most powerful computers in the world, perhaps the most powerful. She is able to calculate at a rate that was unheard of even six months ago. Because of that, she is capable of the vast number of concurrent calculations needed to give your virtual reality avatar enough substance so that you can project it into the real world. She also projects the power into the virtual plane that you reconfigure into mass when you want your avatar to materialize. The power she sends out is critical— that’s what allows us to make the transition from simply remote viewing into being able to project the avatar form in both the virtual and real planes.”
Hammond was now walking back and forth across the front of the classroom, her eyes gleaming. “But Sybyl does more than that. She is also your communications link back to our operations base here. You can also access the computer’s database for information as needed.” Hammond’s words were tumbling over each other as she raced to get them out. “It’s truly remarkable. You’ve never experienced anything like it. Through the link, you can get whatever knowledge you could ever possibly need. It’s like you are part of the computer.”
“As long as the computer has it in its database,” Dalton cautioned. “Correct?”
Hammond stared at him. “Sybyl has over— ” She paused.
“Suffice it to say Ican’t think of any information you would need that Sybyl doesn’t have somewhere in its memory and couldn’t access through the Internet.”
Raisor had been standing in the back of the class. “Time, Doctor,” he said.
Hammond nodded. “All right. You’ve seen the equipment that you will use in the isolation tank, and I’ve told you how it will help you. The other part of your classes here will consist of some refresher training on mind control techniques.” She pulled down another chart. “These are some of the techniques our experts will be reintroducing you to:”
• Biofeedback
• Attitude
• Visualization
• Relaxation
• Cognitive Task Enhancement
• Conscious Physiological Control Meditative States Death and Dying
• Mission Commitment
“Whoa,” Dalton said, reading down the list. “What the heck is death and dying? And mission commitment?”
Hammond held up her hands, palms out. “ ‘Going over’ is transcending to another level. Alevel most people never experience. In fact, the closest experience to ‘going over’ that I’ve heard of is those people who have near-death experiences. Who travel out-of-body while their physical self passes into what is often physical death. Some of our RVers experience an initial panic when they go on missions. The feeling that they may never return to their bodies, that they have indeed died.