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In which April May Turnberry is tested
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It's been a long day of dungeoneering.  There were only two dungeons, but none of his fellow espers that day were actually compatible, and the second dungeon had been costlier on backlash than anticipated - the beaver-porcupine dungeon boss turned out to be capable of shooting spines everywhere, and neither of the Beam espers he'd been partnered with had had any real ability to protect themselves.  So it fell to one Timothy Bartholomew Delgado to protect both of them and also himself while also making sure that the boss didn't engage them in melee and preventing his stupid oblivious frustrating inattentive probably psychologically backlashed teammates from breaking line of sight to their protector.  Taking cover behind trees is great, unless it sharply increases the backlash rate for your protector!

But hey, they managed to get it.  And since he's still backlashed and Sara was two time zones over, last he checked, he might as well guide off some of the backlash with powers testing!  Sean had arranged the details with Bill, and now they're in an Official Powers Testing Facility.  Which realistically speaking, means they're in a highly-reinforced building outside of town, with a mildly dizzying array of equipment and experts who can facilitate the use of said equipment.

Tim hasn't gotten there first, unfortunately.  He's a little late, courtesy of a reroute around a portal.  The taxi drops him off, and he hops out, backpack in tow.  Is that Sean he spies?

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It is! He waves.

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April follows Sean's eye and also waves.

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"Hey, Sean, April.  I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.  Dungeon portal re-route on the way, you know how it goes."

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"Yeah, no problem."

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"Okay, let's go find out what the fuck I'm all about. Or do you wanna snuggle first? How bad did the dungeon take it out of you?"

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"Uuuggghhhhhh.  Maybe we can hold hands while we go in?  Just - rough teammates today.  I think it was a case of psych backlash, or something, I had to keep shielding this one guy and he kept hiding from me."

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Sure, he can have a hand.

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Ahhhhhh.  "So much better.  Okay.  Let's figure out your power."  It's nice that these two have stuck together.  He's a little clingy, if she doesn't push back he's going to press their forearms together as well as their hands.

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"Let's!"

She's happy to keep their forearms together while they walk, though it takes some doing as she's quite a bit shorter than he is.

All right, what does this place look like?

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Well, they definitely didn't design it for looks.  It's oddly reminiscent of a dingy mechanic's shop.  Concrete floors that have had quite a few repairs made over their years, similarly-patched sturdy concrete walls and steel I-beams are the order of the day. There are a few posters on the walls, but they're all themed about being safety conscious and warnings about power use and care regarding backlashes.

After entering the reception area and glancing around, they're flagged down by a middle-aged woman with a kind smile.  "April Turnberry, correct?  For initial powers testing?"

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"That's me! Fully prepared to find out that my power does nothing but make fart noises at varying pitches and volumes!"

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The kind smile graduates to a hearty chuckle.  "Well, dear, you've already gotten to one of the things we have to tell people.  About half of all esper awakenings result in a D-ranked power.  That's not to say that those powers are useless, just that they're not sufficient to make someone capable of running dungeons with nothing but that power and support.  My name is Dr. Rosanna Canto, but you're welcome to just call me Rose."

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"Aumento on the paperwork, ma'am.  But you're welcome to just call me Tim."

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"And I'm Sean."

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"I'm definitely hoping for more than fart noises, because dungeons fucking suck, but I have had a heck of an education in how much I can get done just as a professional partner."

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"You're not wrong about that.  There's no such thing as an independent esper - every one of them requires guiding, and it doesn't matter how good your power is if you don't have someone to guide you.  Many powers come with intuitions, does yours have anything?  A targeting component, a sense that it can be used for a specific thing, anything like that?"

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"I get, uh, the opposite of targeting? It feels like it's something in me, or on me, or about me."

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"Okay.  So we'll need Test Chamber Four.  Follow me, please?  It's just right this way."  Pretty soon, April's brought to Test Chamber Four, which can be described pretty accurately as an empty concrete bunker with a lawnchair in it.  "Tim, Sean, you'll need to stay outside.  We have a live intercom here, so you'll be able to talk to your friend while she tests her power.  Okay?"

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"Yeah, sure thing."

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...she's kind of endeared by the lawnchair.

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It's a standard DRT lawnchair!  They have dozens of the things.  Very comfy, big enough for two people who're willing to share, slightly tougher than a standard lawnchair, and trivially modular.  You can replace any part of it in under three minutes if you have a screwdriver.  Helps keep overhead down.

"Okay.  Whenever you're ready, April, go ahead and activate your power.  Probably nothing will happen, and that's okay.  You're in good hands."

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She gives a thumbs up, double-checks that the door is closed, and...

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...activates her power?

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"Well it's not doing anything yet..."

She takes a step toward the lawn chair and gives it a gentle nudge. That also seems pretty normal; the lawnchair shifts just a tiny bit, as a nudged chair ordinarily might.

"I definitely feel different somehow," she reports. "I feel... not stronger exactly, but... something like it?"

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"Okay.  Deactivate your power.  Once you do, I'll let you back out and hand you a series of test objects.  I'll also have you wear PPE.  Usually powers like this have protections, but better to be safe."

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