self_composed | super speed and other exceptional abilities

Wisconsin fast plants (so called because they are from Wisconsin, fast-growing, and plants) are the subject of Bella and Bridget's chosen bio experiment. It involves taking at least some measurements after sunset - Bella managed to find an exact specific experiment design that hasn't been done before, when she heard they were allowed to choose their own, and even though all it will determine is whether indoor plants without windows can "tell if it's night" even if you leave the light on all the time, she is slightly excited about this.

She meets Bridget there. They measure their plants in the lit room and the dark room, take pictures, and write down subjective evaluations of leaf droopiness. They leave.

They're about a third of the way to Bella's building when a man's voice behind them says, "Hello, girls."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

regularsized

"If you can suggest a test, I'm all for finding out."

From:

self_composed

"Find a wall you don't care about that I can't knock over with a good solid push, and push on it."

From:

regularsized

"Well, do you know any good walls?"

From:

self_composed

"Not off the top of my head. I will let you know if I find one."

From:

regularsized

"You do that."

From:

self_composed

"Hmm, what else..." Bella taps her chin. "I may actually be running out of other questions. For the time being."

From:

regularsized

"I am genuinely astonished," says Bridget.

From:

self_composed

"It had to happen eventually. Oh! I was wrong. I suppose the whole thing applies to all of you. What happens if you bite your own tongue?"

From:

regularsized

Bridget tries it.

"Sore jaw muscles," she concludes. "Now that's interesting."

From:

self_composed

"It is!" Bella agrees. "Hmmm. Ooh - if you hold a hot thing, it doesn't hurt you - I imagine you can tell it's warm, but perhaps you are nonetheless thereby more insulating than regular people. Either that, or the heat does go into you and simply fails to do damage - a lot of things simply fail to happen to you, it seems. I'm not sure of a good way to test this that doesn't involve a human who is not you holding an equivalent hot object so we can measure the temperatures of yours versus the control, though." Alice would so do it, but Bella doesn't want to explain to Bridget why she'd be willing to inflict burns on her boyfriend for science.

From:

regularsized

"Hmm," says Bridget. "Yeah, that's a tough one."

From:

self_composed

"I guess you could hold a hot thing and we could take its temperature anyway, and compare against some naive model," Bella says. "How far will a needle or a knife go before it won't anymore? A relatively dull one should compress before it pierces, normally."

From:

regularsized

"I think the best way to put it is that it acts like it's not sharp," she says after a moment.

From:

self_composed

"Hm. But even a not-sharp narrow object would eventually compress enough to do damage - I'm just curious how far in that turns out to be on you."

From:

regularsized

"Got any sharp objects handy?" she asks dryly.

From:

self_composed

"Not on me, but this is your place - haven't you got kitchen knives? Scissors?"

From:

regularsized

"I do," she admits. "All right. For science, or a reasonable approximation."

As she turns toward the kitchen, she asks over her shoulder, "Is this your first experience with what I will loosely call the supernatural?"

From:

self_composed

"Far as I know," Bella lies easily. "I suppose there are all kinds of exotic powers I could have manifested and never noticed, but I don't have anything like yours. Why? Do you run into lots of people who've seen supernatural things and don't mean the Virgin Mary on toast?"

From:

regularsized

"It gets hard to sort out the genuinely quasi-magical from mere wishful thinking," says Bridget, returning with a large, sharp knife. "But I've seen a thing or two. Nothing as immediately visually impressive as this, however."

She presses the edge against her arm with obvious force. It makes a polite sort of dent, the kind you might get from poking yourself with your finger. And in much the same way, a paler line along her skin is briefly visible when she drags it away.

From:

self_composed

"Interesting," says Bella, watching raptly. "Does that dull the knife particularly?"

From:

regularsized

"Probably at least a little bit, but once again, I haven't done a formal study."

From:

self_composed

"Huh. I might be out of ideas," Bella muses. "Although we know what happened the last time I thought so..."

From:

regularsized

"Yep," agrees Bridget. "I'll go put this away," she makes an understated gesture with the knife, "and we'll see if you've got another one by the time I get back."