002 | video

[ringen]

[ Tonight, the video feed shows Gaby tossing a roughly palm-sized object up into the air and catching it repetitively; for those who venture to look more closely it's a door knob. For those who venture to look even more closely, there is a nearly-unhinged door somewhere in the background. Sorry, Heropa 006. ]

I'm curious. Now, I'm sure this question has been posed many times before, but I'd still like to know. How many of you already had powers before you were brought to this place? And how many of you were--for lack of a better term--completely ordinary beforehand? And how did you adjust to your newfound powers, if at all?

You see, I've been here for quite some time now, but still find it a little difficult to compensate for this--hm, unnatural strength? [ she doesn't want to call it super strength ] That I've been given. I assumed I would get used to it over time, but perhaps there's something more to it than just that.

[ She sighs, and stops tossing the thing up and down, now holding the broken-off doorknob up to be seen. ]

In other news, there doesn't happen to be anyone here with the power to fix doors very quickly, does there? I can certainly fix it myself, but I'm afraid I might make things worse instead.

Comments

[driftsintobuffetline]

My fiance kind of can. Fix doors, I mean. He does this ...numbers thing and matter goes where he wants it to go.

[mathemagier]

Back for a day and already you're volunteering my services.

[ringen]

Perhaps your fiancé's just proud of what you can do.

[ she smiles. ]

[mathemagier]

Er, yes well it does depend on how many pieces it's in. I also can't guarantee a perfect fix, as I'm not a carpenter even if my abilities can mimic them to a degree.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Stop trying to be humble and fix the lady's door, dude.

[mathemagier]

I'm not a magician, you know.

[driftsintobuffetline]

No, you're a mathemagician.

[mathemagier]

Did you just--

Dear god that sounds like the sort of ridiculous superhero name I'd be saddled with if ever my efforts were public.

[driftsintobuffetline]

We'll get you a top hat and coattails, complete the look. Bunny for the hat, too.

[mathemagier]

Absolutely not. Hats are terribly unflattering.

[driftsintobuffetline]

So make the bunny wear it.

[mathemagier]

[Sigh]

We don't need a rabbit.

[ringen]

Oh, I wouldn't even worry about the door.

[ she was just making small talk. Mostly she wants to know about other people's powers. ]

Can you explain how your power works, exactly?

private video;

[mathemagier]

[Not that his powers are exactly secret anymore but he did somewhat recently make an anonymous post so]

Well if you know anything about programming, then you may understand its basic principles. Essentially writing code to modify the properties of a given object. However, I cannot give an object properties it doesn't already possess. Even so, this in combination of being able to specify its return point make this a very flexible ability.

In order to apply those modifications, the object I'm working with will temporarily vanish and enter a fourth dimension where my specifications are applied. It will then materialize at my chosen destination with the newly applied code.

private video;

[ringen]

[ Gaby does her best to follow, but unfortunately she doesn't know anything about programming, being from the early 60's. She knows very little of it from having lived here for a few months now, but the specifics of it continue to elude her. The gist of what he says she can at least understand based on context and such, and she nods along. ]

Interesting. I have to admit that I'm unfamiliar with programming, but I think I've got the main idea. Would you mind giving an example of that power at work? It could be a hypothetical one.

private video;

[mathemagier]

Well since this is a video feed, it's not terribly difficult to give a visual demonstration.

[Hermann looks around and then behind himself and gestures to the coffee table in the living room with the butt of his cane. After a few moments, it vanishes entirely in a blink of tiny white numbers, and then returns in the same way about half a minute later, rotated 90 degrees and colored blue.]

A very basic application, I adjusted its position and color property.

private video;

[ringen]

[ Gaby looks thoroughly impressed, and gives another nod. ]

Very impressive. I hope you weren't too terribly attached to that coffee table, though it sounds like you could very easily return it to its previous state, correct? You mentioned something about a "return point."

[driftsintobuffetline]

Just whoring you out, babe.

[mathemagier]

Wonderful.

[ringen]

[ she looks thoughtful. ] That all sounds very scientific and complicated. How does that work exactly?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Math. I'd explain it, but it's not my specialty. Knowing him, I'd probably get a minuscule detail wrong and it'd annoy him for the rest of the evening.

[ringen]

And you certainly can't have that happening now, can you?

[ ah, romance. ]

[driftsintobuffetline]

[Dripping heavily with sarcasm. 'Annoyed with each other' is their way of life.] Oh, no. Never.

[ringen]

[ Gaby just chuckles. ] In any case, I'm thankful for the offer. If I'm honest, I'd say I can certainly fix this myself--because I have, before, but it's interesting to hear how other people would approach the problem.