Experiment 1 - Video

[greenteengenius]

Brainiac 3 here. I have explained to our captors that I could solve their energy problem for them, but they insist they have no idea who I am. I suppose I will have to handle this independently, at least for now.

Those of you who have decided to abstain from touch, please allow me to scan you. My medical scans are entirely non-invasive and take only a moment. For best results, I would need a baseline scan before you begin to feel unwell and at least one after you begin to feel the effects.

I am also willing to provide tech or run experiments for those who can supply the components necessary because I am frankly bored.

Comments

[greenteengenius]

[Lyrl shows no surprise, superpowers being as common as they are where he's from.]

That sounds dangerous.

[Lyrl scans him, tapping at keys rapidly.]

You're still reading as healthy. It's possible that the effects are still too sporadic or that I'm entirely unable to pick them up. Would you mind teleporting for me?

[thefuzzyguy]

Ja, sure.

[He scans around carefully for both onlookers and a safe place to land. He's a little worried about solid objects just now.

His disappearance is marked by a slight burst of heat and a whiff of sulfurous smoke, replicated a fraction of a second later when he reappears about six feet away, scowling.]

Ja, I was aiming a little to the left there. Und I'm starting to worry about my tail making the sudden acquaintance of something solid...

[greenteengenius]

[Lyrl records this with interest.]

Fascinating. You stepped right out of space and--hm, is that other environment hospitable?

Your tail you can afford to lose. The rest of you ... I would suggest you hug someone before the symptoms worsen. It's one thing to have to avoid teleporting, but what if you begin to teleport entirely by accident? It's not safe for it to be outside of your control.

[thefuzzyguy]

Nein, not even a little bit. A friend of mine came up with a machine that made the trip long enough to get a look at it. Nightmare city.

[He'd rather not talk about the land of licking flames and shadow raptor-beasts in too much detail. Bad enough he has to step through it every time he needs to port.]

You're right, but... ugh...

[He doesn't mind hugging in theory, but... fuzzy.]

[greenteengenius]

[That just makes him more curious!]

Quite the shortcut, however.

What is it? I don't believe I'll have this solved before it becomes an issue, not with our captors obstructing me.

[thefuzzyguy]

Um... my illusion's visual only. Back where I come from, if I'm not at home, I have to be careful not to bump into people in the hall, never mind random hugging. Scheisse, even handshakes are out. Wrong number of fingers, plus fuzz.

[greenteengenius]

Oh, that. [He can't be bothered to remember your silly problems, sorry.]

I already know your secret, so I can supply handshakes as needed. If I don't touch someone I may lose my own abilities, after all.

[That definitely must not happen.]

[thefuzzyguy]

[His problems are notably silly, after all.]

Well, the nurse did say that'd work. Why, what'll you lose?

[As he asks he extends one rather unnatural-looking hand, the image of five fingers awkwardly interposed over the reality of three.]

[greenteengenius]

My super-intelligence, presumably, as well as any mutant abilities I may have inherited from my mother. My biology is a bit unpredictable and doesn't react well to tampering.

[Lyrl has a very different idea of what looks natural, and doesn't hesitate to shake his hand. Kurt seems trusting and harmless and useful, so it's not much of a concession.]

[thefuzzyguy]

[He is, in fact, all of those things, and having his oddities met without ceremony wins a lot of points with him.]

So you're a mutant too? I wasn't totally sure.

[There seem to be plenty of people and things here he's never heard of. That's exciting, though.]

[greenteengenius]

A mutant alien. Apparently that's unusual to a lot of the people here. But I am used to space and travel, so my experience might be unusual

[thefuzzyguy]

That's, like, slightly odd?

[He's never met an alien, so that's cool, but he's pretty sure they were involved in the Apocalypse thing somehow, and he's been to space.]

Just a regular old mutant human, here.

[greenteengenius]

It's not unusual for you to be a mutant, but still an issue?

[thefuzzyguy]

Mutants aren't as rare as people sometimes think, but mutants who can't pass for human is a whole different... thing that sucks.

[He was almost eloquent for a second there!]

[greenteengenius]

Ah. Then a prosecuted minority nonetheless. I suppose you can observe how others react to me to see whether they are trustworthy.

[thefuzzyguy]

I guess. It's not even that big a deal here, but it's definitely creepy going without it. If I'm lucky I just scare people...

[greenteengenius]

If the robot and I don't scare anyone, I think you'll be fine.

[thefuzzyguy]

It's an interesting point...

[greenteengenius]

Believe me, you are decidedly non-threatening. But my standards might be somewhat skewed.

[thefuzzyguy]

I'm guessing yes. My psychic friend has had to fix some memories to cover image inducer lapse panics, so...