The Leviathan

Time to let you in on a little secret.

You know when you hear about a ninety pound mother lifting a two ton car off her kid? That’s an actual phenomenon. It’s called hysterical strength. It’s a function of our evolutionary fight-or-flight response that has helped us survive as a species since back in the day when sabre-toothed tigers wanted a bite of our ass every time we left the cave.

It’s an amazing process. When the human body is faced with a sudden dangerous situation, the hypothalamus sends a signal to your adrenal glands, activating your sympathetic nervous system, flooding your body with epinephrine and norepinephrine. Those hormones’ chemical function is to drastically shunt blood from your stomach and skin to your muscle fibres. Which is why you get chills and butterflies when you’re scared. Your muscles are flooded with oxygen, supercharging their conversion of your body’s fuel source, glucose, into energy. Put simply, your muscles suddenly function at an elevated, seemingly superhuman level . . . for a very limited amount of time.

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My grandfather had taught me that the mind controls the body. Not the other way around. Inside The Pit, I learned something vital: somewhere, lurking deep within my brain, was the key to unlocking my true physical potential. I call it The Leviathan. Since then, I’ve systematically trained myself to consciously trigger my sympathetic nervous system. It’s by no means easy, and it comes with a heavy price tag, but it really is that simple: Flick the switch . . . and The Leviathan awakes.
-Sledge vs. The Labyrinth, pg. 179-181