"Oh, like how?"

"Just- very small object, lots of force."

"Yeah, not here. Maybe a gun range, I don't think I have direct combat powers so I'd be happy to join you at one."

"How's that follow? It - oh nevermind. So you can learn, right? Well, maybe we can ask one of the innumerable agents I've been texting to set it up. There's one who I kinda like more than the others so far, anyway..."

"Yes, so I can learn. Is the one you like with Maple?"

"Uhhhh... One sec."

She checks.

Yes!

"Looks like a yep!"

"Cool, I'm in preliminaries with some Maple folks too. They have to also be able to represent my four dimensional cat."

"...4D cat? Out of a dungeon or something?"

"Yeah, I thought I should get a cat to - absorb surplus social impulses while I'm backlashing. I was going to get a normal cat but then it turned out Maple was harboring this one and he doesn't like any of them and does like me so now I have a four dimensional winged cat. He can navigate 4D dungeons still, which when it comes up is really important. He can talk but I'm teaching him to read."

"I must admit, I never really understood the appeal of pets and one that can talk is even stranger. Is it a parrot situation or a - a person situation...?"

"He's a person. A really rude misanthropic fluffy pigeon-hunting person."

"Well, you guys do you I guess. Person, not pet, okay. Probably I should say hi if we're going to be meeting up to touch arms often."

"He seems mostly fine with the 'cat' social role, but like, the specific facet of the social role where you make like the cat is in charge and the humans around are the help. You should definitely meet him if we're going to silo together, especially if you will not always be super chatty while guiding because I get super chatty with backlash and freak out if nobody's talking back to me and will need Cricket - that's what I named him, he wouldn't take a name from anybody else - if you're not up for it."

"I don't know that I'll be un-chatty? Especially if you'll tolerate rambles slash rants about sci-fi. ...I'm going to want like, I know you're gay so not sexually, but... Maximum hug. Like, lie on top of me almost, in an ideal situation? The backlash definitely beats feeling awkward about it. Uh, for me, at least."

"I can platonically lie on top of you. Rambling about sci-fi is great - that's one of the things my dad did, during hell week, he'd read off a Star Trek plot and then we'd talk about that - as long as it's back and forth, if you don't take questions and comments during the process I'll have a problem."

"Yeah I can do that. Oh, Trek is the best but the worst. Where are their radiators??? Where are the radiators, LaForge??? Or does warp drive just not produce much heat? -Ah, ahem."

"I think I just assumed it was very efficient and didn't warm things up too much. They're right there in the room with it a lot of the time."

"At one point they say it outputs- You know what, I'll save this as ammo for backlash time, actually."

She huffs out a deep breath.

"I have lots of other testing ideas but, uh, some of them are kind of scary. I feel like I'd be - tough? Like, it's sort of a, pushing away the idea of being psychically affected, and that ought to work for heat or ordinary attacks or whatever. But, scary to think about testing that."

"I could, like, throw tennis balls at you, and then throw baseballs at you, and you could measure the difference between how backlashed each gets you, and extrapolate?"

"Tennis balls to get used to the idea sound like a good plan to start with."

"Ping pong balls, even."

"Bits of couch fluff?" She points to the offending article in the corner. "Since it's right here and all. Or napkins or something."

"I, uh, suspect that's not what the couch is for."