Clashing Obsessions

Chapter 4 - Dr. Blayne

"200 kilometers per hour," I pronounce, gesturing to an animation on the towering screen behind me, a figure in freefall. "That is the terminal velocity of an average human being. And as I'm sure you know, hitting the ground at that speed would be fatal. But, it would seem, humans have a strange fascination with jumping off things. So, we developed technology like the parachute—" Another animation displays on the screen, a figure falling with a parachute. "Decreasing the terminal velocity to around 30 kilometers per hour which, combined with the right landing technique, leads to a safe arrival at the ground for the parachuter."

The audience, a crowd of scientists and reporters filling Lecture Hall 8 at Humboldt University of Berlin, nods, as this is all common knowledge. Turning back to the translucent glass screen, I feel as though I'm looking through my faint reflection, staring past the 57-year-old face with his sardonic expression, focussed features defined by wrinkles, past the figure of the archetypal scientist and into the digital world of formulas and calculations. Screens, to me, have always looked like portals, and right now I wish I could walk straight through this one and come out in my lab, alone, except maybe with my postdoc associate to help me continue with my project.

Instead, I turn back around to face the audience, continuing my explanation with what I hope doesn't look too much like an air of resignation.

"This equation," I communicate with a gesture, "has many variables. Windspeed. The surface area of the parachute. The mass of the parachuter, the position in which he falls, his landing skill. Acceleration due to gravity might even be considered a variable, because this experiment could take place in a gravity-mod chamber. However, there's one factor in particular that is almost always overlooked." I pause for dramatic effect, hoping to somewhat 'liven' the presentation, and I can see audience members looking around at each other, wondering what I'm talking about. "Survivability of the fall."

A murmur of confusion rises in the crowd, and I continue.

"Let's assume gravity is 9.81m/s/s, as is the case on Earth, our hypothetical person weighs 47 kg, falls from a 10 story building, 50-ish meters, without a parachute. Wind speed is negligible. What is her velocity when she hits the ground?" I pause again, though I'm not actually waiting for an answer. "You see, the answer to that question is quite simple. It can be calculated with a basic physics equation. However, determining the answer is not the problem. The problem is, we're asking the wrong question."

I nod to my backstage assistant, and he changes the slide to one with a bold title that reads,

Does she survive?

"You may be wondering where I'm going with all this, so allow me to explain: Last year, I met a woman named Azria Quarta. You may know her as a modern innovator, CEO of Fourth Wall Technologies."

The crowd murmurs, acknowledging that yes, of course they know that name.

"She's also a cyborg," I continue. "You've probably heard her story by now. On a nature hike with her family three years ago, she fell from a cliff face and injured her right leg. Of course, she recovered fully, thanks to the Tokyo Cybernetic Institute replacing her leg with a cybernetic one. Now, not only is she alive and well, but she has full use of her leg. However, a few months ago, Ms. Quarta actually experienced a second accident while with a research team taking air samples from a similar cliff. Again, she recovered completely after the fall, and is now perfectly fine. What's unusual, though, is that, despite incredibly similar circumstances, Ms. Quarta sustained significantly lesser injuries. Her cyborg leg was not damaged at all, and she reported less pain while in the hospital in the days after. Not only that, but her recovery time was faster — her hospital stay, the second time, was only about a third of the duration of the first hospitalization."