A fourth spark blooms in her mind, and with it a sense of fullness and also ... pressure, perhaps? None of these four sparks like each other, adopting wide, shifting orbits that stay out of each others way.

At first, nothing changes. And then a nurse walks by in the hallway outside, and it is obvious that he can see her. When he steps out of sight the feeling fades.

Can she tell anything about what sort of other sparks they would like?

Hmm. Well, the spark that is suppressing her pain liked the bone-setting spark. It feels like it would like something medical, or maybe something about hysteric strength, or using her nociception for another sense?

The spark that lets her apply gentle uniform forces to her body in a way that partially negates the effects of gravity would prefer something relating to spatial awareness, or maybe momentum.

The spark letting her cut and work fabric in the dark would be happy with a lot of things — material generation, absorbing light, knowledge of fashion, etc. The spark letting her know who or what can see her would also get along with something relating to spatial awareness, or with something to do with hearing.

The sparks present the sense that all of these categories are fuzzy, and somewhat broad. The fabric spark in particular gives off a sense of 'I'll know it when I see it'.

Hmm. Suppose she had something for spatial awareness, of trajectories of things that are her and not her. Would you two space-related sparks like that? Could you be three-in-one in a chain? (Will she have to actually take it to find out?)

The sparks swirl for a moment in thought.

They return a sense that it would be likely, but they need to see the potential new spark to be sure.

Then she will say goodbye to the cloth-cutting power, and wish for a spark that understands spaces from the perspective of how they can be traversed: what path collides with nothing? What can be seen or heard from this point? Where can this point be seen from? Where will a moving object (including people) be?

The cloth spark drifts out into the darkness, and a replacement blooms in her chest. Both the flight and sight sparks do decide that they like it, and the three of them start orbiting in a chaotic dance that lets each spark loop close to the new spark without approaching each other too closely.

In this hospital room, things are mostly going to remain stationary. But, since she can fly, she could move her body in these sorts of ways, in order to be located in different parts of the space. Similarly, the door could swing open, if someone were crouched below the window and decided to open it.

A doctor with a clipboard steps into view in the hall, and it is instantly apparent that she will cross the window in six seconds, during which she'll be at the right angle to see Kaitlyn for four and a half seconds as her sight plays across the room, if she keeps moving like this.

Seeing the whole gestalt of the room's space as a sort of four-dimensional impression of angles and timings takes a moment to get used to — but only a moment. She doesn't seem to be getting any extra sensory information from her new spark, exactly, but it makes tracking the locations and velocities of the things she can perceive instantaneous and effortless.

Excellent! And what are you like when merged?

... no, the sparks can't merge. 'Flight' and 'Sight' don't like each other.

She could merge the spatial awareness spark with either of them, though.

You seemed far more confident in this being a possibility a minute ago. Maybe they have to be merged stepwise? — actually, “noticing who can see her” is almost redundant, here. There’s probably a better route.

Spatial awareness and flight, combine!

There's a sense of confusion around what possibility she's talking about, before spatial awareness and flight click together into a single brighter spark.

And suddenly, it becomes clear that her understanding of spaces should really be thought of in terms of forces. It's not just that things have positions that can be extrapolated, it's that everything is nudging the path of everything else, in a way that now seems perfectly clear.

Including her body, the path of which she can nudge far more directly. The heart-rate monitor in the corner table isn't going to rise into the air, hover, and then return to Earth; that isn't one of its possible paths. But her body could.

Within the inner space that holds her sparks, however, it becomes clear that the spark which tells her who or what can see her can't make the same kind of connection with the new, merged spark. It feels like it wants to, but they're at different levels, and it couldn't balance.

After considering things from this perspective for a while, she realize she wasn’t thinking about observation quite right previously — people move all the time, even when they think of themselves as holding still, but cameras don’t. So, detecting cameras is still a useful power. What would pair with it well? Something more generally about states of information?

How about a power like that — noticing the paths, not of matter and forces, but of information, of knowledge, of correlation and synchronization? Is that even concrete enough to make sense? Is that within our capabilities? Can she have that?

Oh! Yes, that's something a spark can provide.

A fourth spark blooms in her chest again, and with it a sense of verging tiredness. She can keep generating more sparks (when she has room), but maybe not at this same pace for too much longer.

The new spark likes the 'sight' spark, and they drop into each other's orbits. The new sense that she gains is ... vague, blurry. But still quite useful, for all that.

Right now information is flowing out of her via this pulse oximeter, down that cable, and into that machine. A tiny amount is flowing from her lungs and hair through the air and out under the door. A larger amount is flowing off of her face and clothing and bending through the glass of the door. A miniscule amount is flowing out of her in all directions.

Information is flowing into her eyes, nose, ears, and skin, although it's a bit harder to trace, for whatever reason. Some additional information is appearing directly in her brain, in two different areas which some knowledge of neuroanatomy might clarify.

The new sense still doesn't let her see whether there is, for example, anyone in the adjacent room with a listening device. But it does make her aware of how the sound of her breathing splashes against the wall.

Limits: noted. Does merging and un-merging sparks also cost anything?

But this is very valuable experimentation regardless!

No, the sparks seem happy to merge or un-merge at her direction, with no sense of tiredness.

Merging the 'sight' and 'information' sparks produces a new 'big' spark that likes her flight and spatial awareness spark.

And it can inform her with confidence that nobody’s watching, directly or indirectly, at least through ordinary eyes and sensors and not more diffuse and indirect things like precognition?

Well, no. There's a nurse at a station down the hall who is peripherally aware of her by way of the pulse oximeter. And a hospital wellness dog a few rooms down can smell her, a little.

But other than that, nobody is currently directly perceiving much recent information about her.

Nice. Reassuring. Copacetic.

She could get started on something to improve her clothing and mask situation, but for now, time to take a break and read that brochure.

Becoming a Parahuman: What you Need to Know

Glossary

Parahuman: A human who awakens a dormant power in a moment of extreme personal stress (called a Trigger Event).

The Protectorate: The premier hero team of the United States and Canada.

The Wards: The junior branch of the Protectorate.

The Parahuman Response Team (PRT): The department of the U.S. government concerned with supporting, regulating, and investigating Parahuman affairs.

Heroes: Parahumans who choose to use their powers to help others, usually as part of the Protectorate or an independent hero team.

Villains: Parahumans who use their powers to harm others, or in the commission of crimes.

Starting Statistics

Many Parahumans feel unstoppable when first experimenting with their powers. The sad truth is that this overconfidence can be deadly.

Fact: 68% of newly-triggered parahumans who do not join a team die within the first three months.

This is especially true for Parahumans with powers that can be used to enhance other people, including indirectly by building devices.

Fact: Gangs are three times more likely to forcibly recruit Parahumans with powers that can enhance others.

Joining up with the Protectorate can greatly reduce your risk of serious injury or death.

Resources

PRT Emergeny line: +1 555 342-8820

PRT Non-emergency line: +1 555 342-8800

Protectorate Emergency line: +1 555 987-1212

Protectorate Non-emergency line: +1 555 987-1211

In an emergency, contacting 911 will always put you in touch with the most relevant agencies.

Suicide-prevention hotline: 988

Protectorate on-call therapy: +1 555 575-9267

Support Services

The Protectorate offers complementary power testing to all Parahumans. Dedicated specialists can help you determine the extent of your powers, as well as providing opportunities for further growth.

Non-villains are also entitled to free, confidential trauma counseling.

Independent heroes who register with the Protectorate can receive a number of additional perks, including notification of ongoing emergencies.

Protectorate members receive identity protection services, relocation assistance, a competitive salary, branding and merchandising assistance, and a host of other benefits. 

The Endbringer Truce

For certain high-level emergencies, such as an attack by one of the Endbringers, the Protectorate may declare an Endbringer Truce. This truce has been officially recognized by many countries world-wide. Any Parahuman, regardless of legal status, is permitted to join fights against the Endbringers. Committing crimes during an Endbringer Truce is likely to result in harsh penalties.

This brochure was produced under the auspices of the P.R.T. and the Department of Justice, and is therefore not subject to copyright. The distribution of harmful or fraudulent information purporting to originate from an agency of the U.S. government is illegal. For questions or concerns, please contact the PRT non-emergency hotline.

She feels vaguely disappointed with this, but isn’t sure what would actually improve it. More information? More awareness of — something? Eh. Probably “just the facts” often goes over better than a more ‘advertising’ approach, and it is a useful set of phone numbers and defined expectations. She sets the brochure aside, under the domino mask. What next? Oh, right, she wanted to improve the mask situation.

The problem is, doing anything that fits and looks better needs sewing, better materials, or preferably both. She has the vague idea of somehow combining the domino mask with the remaining car-seat fabric to make something with more coverage, but not any of the details for how to do that.

She could look for another spark but if that’s limited throughput, she should save it for emergencies. For now, she can see how the hospital handles things, and how fast the tiredness goes away.

Mostly, the hospital handles things by leaving her alone. Broken bones are not the kind of injury that demands fast, life-saving attention.

Eventually, a nurse comes through on her rounds, to ask Kaitlyn how she's feeling and if she needs anything. She has a cart with some neatly-organized little cups of painkillers, but doesn't give any to Kaitlyn, since she hasn't shown any signs of being in pain.

Her tiredness fades into undetectability around the same time.

“Can you tell me how long I will need to stay?”

"Right now you're just being kept in case of complications," the nurse informs her. "With your leg in a proper cast, you could be discharged today. But Parahumans sometimes have idiosyncratic reactions, so the doctor would prefer you stay in inpatient care for a few days, just in case. Plus, your bone will have set more solidly in another day or two, which will make the chance of exacerbating your injuries while moving lower. Even if you left the hospital now, the doctor would probably recommend bed rest for the next few days at least."

“I see.” Longer than she would like, but she doesn’t actually have a complete plan for what she is going to do next. And she cannot start ordering new clothes and a cell phone — or calling any acquaintance to borrow something — without a lot more opportunities for eavesdropping that isn’t nearly as simple as “being in earshot”.

“Well, whenever that does happen, I will need replacement clothes — or maybe what I was wearing will actually be salvageable, but I have no idea if hospitals do patient laundry.”

She is tempted to ask again about masks but, actually, she might not want to seem so extremely focused on one ‘silly’ ‘little’ ‘thing’. More options may become clearer in the future. She does not need to rush anything, it seems, except insofar as she is (sort of) stuck here in a rather vulnerable position and not doing anything she could be doing to arrange her future better. (She could just fly away and avoid jostling her leg. She is keeping that option in mind.)