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Story or Book would be mid-1990 or earlier as that is when I read it. Scenes I remember:

  1. Boy entering the office of his father/guardian and giving the exact time to the second since he was last there. Had the ability to keep perfect time.
  2. The father/guardian being summoned to the boy's school/boarding school because he refused to eat or drink. He told the school that there was something wrong with the food/drink. They insisted that the food from the food processors was perfectly fine. Turns out there were minute traces of a harmful chemical that the boy somehow detected.
  3. He was a young man and applying for some program. He and the other candidates were placed in small rooms and left without further instructions. They were all being observed to see what they would do. This guy tilted back his chair, closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing/heart rate so low that he freaked the observers out. The observers barely altered the CO2/O2 levels to his room and he instantly snapped awake and righted his chair.
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  • Can you not recall whether it was a short story or a novel?
    – Adamant
    Commented Sep 17, 2016 at 0:45
  • Also, was the phrase “food processors” used verbatim?
    – Adamant
    Commented Sep 17, 2016 at 0:47

1 Answer 1

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I think I found it. Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski

From the reviews:

He has been genetically engineered to have fast reflexes so he and his team can win the virtual war...

His days and nights are spent in a box, with virtual walls...

Three genetically-engineered young people have been raised and trained their entire life to fight the war: Corgan with super precision, dexterity, and timing...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2211941.Virtual_War

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  • 2
    Why do you feel it's a match?
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 19:52
  • 1
    Hi, welcome to SF&F. To make this a good answer you should quote details from your link to show how it matches the question.
    – DavidW
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 19:54
  • And, if so, it will be a dupe of scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/110234/…
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 19:55
  • updated - how's this?
    – BadNetCode
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 20:10
  • @BadNetCode typically you would reference specifics that the OP mentioned in his question, (ex. a quote from the book or a mention in a review where they mention him knowing the exact amount of time since he last visited his father;'s office) Nothing you mentioned relates to any of the points raise by the original question. [It might be the book, but, I as someone who has not read the book, can't point to your answer and say "Yep that must be it." ]
    – NJohnny
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 20:55

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