(Untitled)

[first_sixth]

There's a Tommy in the bar this afternoon, seated at a table rather than on his customary couch by the fire. He's in full uniform after some training out by the lake earlier, though the Brachio Staff and his helmet are sitting on top of the table. This is in part because he's currently eating, a large glass of Diet Coke and an entire pizza

Comments

[tyler_marlocke]

Tyler was going to ask Dr. Oliver if he could have a slice of that pizza, it smelled good when he came in from working on the tree fort...

But he got kind of distracted by the book Symbiosis and Baseline+ Abilities In Metahumans sitting on the table. It sounded like something he'd have to read for his own classes.

"Uh.. Hi Dr. Oliver..."

[first_sixth]

Tommy grins. "Hey, Tyler." He nudges one of the chairs out with a booted foot, an invitation for the kid to sit down.

"Hungry?"

[tyler_marlocke]

"Yeh, thanks." Tyler scoots over to decide which half he's going to eat...

Well there's a point to be adventurous sometimes and he snags one of the slices of the shrimp scampi half. "Whuff rrrm yuh studehing?"

Hungry kids do tend to talk with their mouthful.

[first_sixth]

Tommy, fortunately, is pretty good at determining what people are saying even when they're talking with food in their mouth. After all, he has a teenage Ranger team that includes specimens such as Conner McKnight and Ethan James.

"Something happened to a friend of mine recently, and it got me thinking about the effects that meta-abilities might have on people. Particularly those who have gained abilities later in life after functioning on a baseline level for an extended period of time, or those who routinely go between the two. I'm particularly interested in powers that exist at a genetic level and fundamentally alter the carrier's genetic structure."

[tyler_marlocke]

Tyler blinks for a minute as he tries to translate that from technical to average third-grader superhero. "Like when a metahuman comes int contact with an artifact and gets powers from that artifact, but when that magic thing is destroyed they have a completely different but related set of powers?"

Tommy would get a kick out of Dr. Positron, Tyler thinks. Sure he's a robot, but he's one of the foremost experts on metahuman powers, ratings and awareness.

[first_sixth]

"Among other situations, yes. I've held several different sets of abilities, all of which vanished when the artifact was destroyed or drained but which have left... let's say they have left permanent impressions and artifacts of their own. My best friend carried powers that were never meant for the human body to cope with, but which desperately needed a temporary host. They began to fail him before too long, and nearly killed him."

He pats his helmet. "This is the most recent set of abilities that I've held, and the way that it operates is very different. I cannot transfer these powers to another person. They've altered my DNA and integrated fully into me. It's like a symbiotic relationship taken to a much tighter and deeper level."

Tommy would probably get a kick out of a lot of Tyler's teachers.

[a1enzo]

Enzo is passing by at this moment, with, as it happens, a small piezoelectric pizza of his own. "Hi, Tommi!" he calls with a grin and, perhaps, a slight snicker.

[first_sixth]

"Hey, that's Tommy," the Ranger replies firmly. Yes, he can tell the difference between the two as clearly as if he were reading them on paper.

[OOC: Okay. Just delete the OOC tag when you next reply.]

[tyler_marlocke]

Is this about that mint thing last week? Or something else, Tyler grins at Enzo anyways.

"Hey, Enzo, pull up a seat."

[a1enzo]

"That's what I said," Enzo insists to Tommy. Man, he's good.

Enzo approaches agreeably and plunks his pizza down on the table. "Whatcha up to?"

[first_sixth]

"Whatever you say, Captain." Tommy smirks, ever so slightly.

"What happened to Bob got me thinking about my own abilities, considering they altered my genetics when I got them. It's the organic equivalent of his merge with Glitch. So, I figured I might as well read up on the subject, since it's not one that I've really had to contend with before. Most Ranger powers have been transferable, if necessary. Mine aren't."

Besides, it's a fascinating subject, and different from what Tommy usually studies. It's research that he'll have to share with former teams, at some point.

[a1enzo]

"Transferable? You mean like how Danny can turn other people invisible too?"

Enzo hasn't had experience with a wide variety of superpowered persons prior to Milliways, and none of the powered people he knows from home have abilities that are transferable in any sense.

[first_sixth]

"Well, like Danny I can turn other people insivible if I want, provided I'm touching them. That's my Dino Power, being able to turn invisible. I can also teleport other people, and things. But I can't just say to someone, 'Here, I don't want to be a Ranger anymore, you take my powers and best of luck to you'."

Tommy takes a gulp of his drink. "Some of the first powers that I used could be given to another person to carry and utilize. To preserve my Green Ranger powers, for example, I gave them to my best friend by turning over their source." Namely, his Power Coin.

"These are different, though. I could give Tyler here my Dino Gem, but he wouldn't be able to use it. The only way to take my abilities away is to... well, kill me, because that's the only way to break the genetic bond. So of course, the guy who does want them is pretty persistent."

[tyler_marlocke]

"Like how the Swordsman back home would lose his powers if he ever had a child, and his firstborn would inherit them?"

There's a lot of flavors of metahuman to choose and learn from back home.

[first_sixth]

"Well, Ranger powers aren't something that you inherit, strictly speaking. Either you're chosen by an outside source to bear them, or they choose directly. The latter is what happened with these." Tommy lifts his left forearm, where his morpher is. "When these choose you, they bond with you. That's what lets you access abilities, control zords, and so on. No one else would be able to use my morpher, or even access it in the first place.

"Mind you, other sets of powers have bonded to Rangers, but not at so deep a level. They had to be transferred by special means, but it could be done. I've had to give up two sets, one to preserve them, and the other because it was time for someone else to use them. These, that isn't possible."

If Tommy has his powers forcibly torn from him, then he dies. Just having his Gem shatter broke his mind, incapacitated him physically and sent him into a coma.

[a1enzo]

"Ooooh. So, more like a keytool choosing a new Guardian, 'cept it makes you do stuff instead of doing stuff for you."