Bertha is an overweight woman and a former opera singer who specializes in controlling sound resonance. she can use this ability to destroy targets by emitting a frequency that matches the inverse of their own resonance. this process, known as "resonant destruction," can also cause other health problems such as heart attacks by matching the target's own resonance frequency. bertha is compensated for her services by consuming and then expelling an object from her mouth, typically a cigarette or some other item of her choice. she recounts her past experiences to itzhak, including the unfortunate death of her baby due to ingestion of one of her dropped cigarettes.