Aven Defense Reflex

The Defense Reflex is an ability coded into the aven species by their creator, the artilect Helia. Avens, being light-weight in order to fly, possess a lower striking force in their blows than humans and hence are not that good at physical fighting. Among themselves this is no problem, Athena gave them a peaceful and cooperative psychology, but in interactions with other species it could prove a significant disadvantage.

Therefore, she gave them the Defense Reflex. This is an ability which triggers when an aven feels sufficiently threatened, and enables them to enter an altered mental state in which they percieve time moving slower, their senses of sight and hearing are focused, and their situational awareness improves. This system works similar to the "turbo gland" which powers their takeoffs, supercharging their muscles so they can move faster—an aven using their defense reflex can extend their arm too fast for a human to see the intervening movement, all the while feeling the inertia of their limb as they accelerate it out and then slow it to a stop, then the waste heat afterwards. The defense reflex cannot be sustained for long periods, being intended as a means of evading a threatening situation and then making good one's escape via flying.

The other Children of Helia, such as the sphinx and chirans, have their own variants of this ability.