sirenspull | video;

[Nina looks somewhat concerned when she turns on the video feed, and she doesn't waste any time getting right down to it.]

I have a question for the other newcomers who came here normal. No, I'm sorry, I don't mean that many of you are abnormal—I'm talking about powers.

[She stretches a hand out before here for a moment.]

There's never been anything that special about me. Not in that way. But they say that after being here for a while, some newcomers can do things they couldn't do before. Like heroes in comic books. But I always thought special powers were like Superman's, you know? Really obvious stuff.

But...things have been happening lately. When I'm studying for class and want to find something in a textbook, I can always find it right away, whether I've read it before or not. And when I'm tidying up the apartment, I just know where things are. And that's harder than you think when Tenma's been a little messy. It's happened often enough that I know it's not my imagination.

Do you think it's possible for something like that to be a 'power'?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you can use it like that, then it would be a useful power to have. Or a dangerous one.

I'd prefer useful.

Most people would, but look at it from my perspective--clairvoyants are a pain in the ass when you're on the run.

[Looking at him carefully now.]

I guess they would be.

[ A tilt of his head, the slightest arch of an eyebrow. ]

But that doesn't matter if you can't find people. Do let me know how that goes for you.

I think I'll be fine.

We should all hope so. Sadly, life isn't always so simple.

[ The sharpness of his attention says he'll be watching. ]

No, it's not. I think all of the newcomers know that much.

They think they do, at least.

And you think they don't?

No, I don't think they know what complicated is, some of them.

People can surprise you.

They don't always show all they know.

No, but I've been one of them. I know what it's like to think that complicated is whether or not you have coffee or orange juice with your breakfast waffles. And I know what it's like now, when life really is complicated, to look back on how it was before and see how small and insignificant a choice like that really is. It can't change the world. It's simple; irrelevant.

You sound like a man who's been through a lot.

[She shakes her head.]

Maybe life really is simple for some people. But that doesn't make them worth any less. And I think there's more to most people than you give them credit for.

I think I was worth less. No, I was. Does the imago not look down on the caterpillar as it takes to the sky, and think 'Thank god I'm a butterfly'?

Perhaps it remembers where it came from and understands the caterpillar better for doing so.

From experience. No, it doesn't. But you're welcome to keep thinking that.

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