Thursday, April 23, 2009

Superpowers I Don't Have

Well, I definitely don't have the ability to create a crackling green lightshow. I tried, just in case I was overlooking the most obvious explanation for the incident a couple nights ago. I'm not sure how to describe using superpowers. For me, it's kind of like rolling my tongue. I kind of take it for granted. I'm not sure exactly what muscles are in my tongue, or what exactly I have to flex to make it work, and I definitely can't offer instructions beyond 'roll your tongue' to people who don't know how, but all I know is that when I intend to roll my tongue, I can do it. It doesn't take any particular teeth-gritting comic-book-style mental strain to generate ice. It's a very distinct feeling, and it takes some effort to do exactly what I intend to, but it doesn't damage me when I'm pushing at the boundaries of what I can do. My powers aren't an outside force, or a limited supply of energy, any more than my arm muscles are. Focusing on how I want to use my cryogenesis is like trying to aim a tennis ball at the appropriate part of the court- it's a matter of aim, control and effort, and I'm much better at cryogenesis than I am at tennis. Sometimes I slip, and wind up frosting my entire carpet, for example, but I think that's more due to clumsiness than anything else. And I really hope that evaporates soon, or I'll have to use the hairdryer on the wet patch. Again. And I'm going to have to take a shower to explain why I'm using the hairdryer at all, and maybe grow longer hair to account for how long I have to use the damn hairdryer, and actually use the hairdryer on my hair occasionally, and ... it just snowballs into a big secret identity problem. I seriously just need to get some tarp or something to put down before I start trying to make snowmen.
I wish I had telekinesis. Sometimes when I'm sitting down and I want a water bottle or pencil across the room, I'll yell 'telekinesis!' and reach my arms towards it while concentrating really hard. I figure, even if I don't have any mentally activated powers, it can't hurt to check occasionally. Also, I'm lazy as hell. Maybe one of these days the water bottle will come flying towards me of its own accord. As it is, Dani usually grabs the item in question and tosses it at my head. I suppose that's some form of success. Maybe it's mind control.
I've also been testing whether I can walk through walls. This has gained me a reputation as a klutz on campus, but really it is deliberate. Most of the time. I'm a bit more cautious when testing for flight capabilities, but so far I haven't found any.
It's not that I'm unhappy with what I can do, and am shopping for a newer, cooler set of powers. I'm not exposing myself to mutagens or secret serums or whatever. I'm just trying to figure out my limits. After all, I didn't know I could actually produce ice when I first got my powers. I just thought I was going to be 'Slightly-Cooler-Than-A-Normal-Person Girl'. I've already gone so far beyond what I thought was possible that it's not much of a stretch to assume I have more hidden potential. I suppose I'm fairly gullible these days, since I have a much more flexible definition of 'impossible' than I used to. I'm not saying that I believe in the weird conspiracy theories of secret societies of Elvis-stealing wizards with the power to grant immortality (seriously people, he's dead. Get over it) but considering that yetis have been accepted as a species since 1982, it's hard to be a skeptic sometimes.
And I have to admit, it would be awesome to fly. So I keep trying.

2 comments:

  1. I gotta say, I'm mildly jealous of the "no major strain" aspect of your abilities. It would be nice to not feel like I was going to cough up a lung after only a few 'ports.

    And Elvis is totally still around. Didn't Vector just save him last week?

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  2. I thought that was just a malfunctioning Karaoke-Bot? That was what the Santa Fe police department said, anyway. The '03 models tend to develop weird glitches in their AIs. But even if it was actually Elvis, I doubt there were wizards involved, so my point stands.

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