”I sure do, and you’re welcome to take it.  Here, let me get a sense of how bad your backlash is?”  And let me guide off a little of mine while we move rooms.

She squeezes his hand. It's definitely not too bad at all! Noticeable, but not major. It does help her guide him a little faster as they walk.

Tim will relay this information faithfully!  “I think your efficiency is going to be pretty reasonable.  And you almost certainly have a durability power, if you can, er, ruin your shirt but leave your skin intact.”

“Right this way, dears.”  The next testing chamber could be confused with a weightlifting gym, if the weightlifting stations were overengineered with safety in mind.  The machines are all resistance-based, and the only exposed moving parts are the ones that absolutely need to be for the equipment to work.  “I’d like you to do a baseline test first, for each machine, please.  Nothing should be a personal record attempt.  I just need an approximate baseline.  Then on each machine, use a little of your power, then whatever feels like a medium amount.  Don’t go all-out, this is just a class 3 facility.  Do you have any questions?”

"I don't actually know how much I can lift, but I guess I'm about to find out..."

The answer, of course, is 'an esper amount', but once she's gotten that baseline, turning on her power has surprisingly little effect—except that, out of curiosity, she pauses midway through a set and just holds the weight there, and... "I feel like I could do this all day. It's not even that bad on backlash. It's just kind of chill." She lets go of her power, winces, and finishes the motion properly. "And yeah, that is not fun to hold like that when I don't have my power up."

Well.  That's puzzling.  Strong enough to leave fingerprints in steel, to heat up the steel in question.  But this incredible strength somehow doesn't apply to the act of picking up heavy objects and setting them back down.  And the endurance to hold a weight at what would be an uncomfortable extension baseline?

"Not a standard strength power, I think.  Not that there are really standard powers, of course, but some are more standard than others.  I think you're going to be at least a Melee 2, possibly a 3 if we can figure out how to leverage your strength."

"It really feels like I'm doing something that's not superstrength, it just looks like superstrength some of the time..."

She tries another set at a slightly higher weight, this time pushing a little more with her power. It does make it easier than when she wasn't using her power at all, it just doesn't... quite...

"...I feel like I'm gonna break something if I push any harder." She doesn't push any harder. "It's like, I don't know, like I'm making myself... not exactly heavier, but harder to push around? Harder to push around but not that much better at pushing."

"Ma'am, I'm a Melee 3 with Healing 2 and Buff 3.  I do regen, and I can give it to other people.  Is it okay if I try to push her?  In another room?"

She thinks about it for a moment.  "Okay, we can do a setup for it.  If you're quite alright with that, dear?  I don't think the strength tests are going to get us anywhere else."

Thumbs up. She has seen Tim unfuck some truly fucked limbs; in a sense, right next to him is the safest possible place to be, even if he's using the Don't Move You'll Break Stuff power on her.

On to Test Chamber One, then!  This one's got a grippy yet plush floor, with excessive amounts of padding on every surface, including the ceiling.  The plan for them is to stand with a protective bulletproof glass shield between the two of them.  They can stick their hands through the holes in the shield and just push back and forth.  All set?  Okay!  Tim, you're up first.  No power use on either end.  Go ahead and try to push April back.

Tim is bigger, stronger, and trains in grappling on his days off.  April, how are you doing?

Poorly!

Yeah, nobody's surprised by this result.  How about with a little bit of power use from April, nothing from Tim?

A little bit of power use is enough to have a subtle effect on how it feels to push on her hands, but not to majorly change how much pushing on her hands sends her backward overall. She reports that she doesn't have that 'hard to push around' feeling yet, though.

"Huh.  Okay, keep the power activated, dear, let's see if it has a slow startup time.  Same strength?"

"It feels like I'm pushing on a brick, or something.  Your hands are, uh, pretty soft, you must lotion pretty well or something.  But they just don't...I'm not sure.  It's a little weird."

Yeah, he can keep pushing April around for a few minutes.  Just normal esper things!

It's a little hard to tell, but she does seem to have slightly better grip on the floor, or something, and maybe an easier time not bending under pressure. It isn't ramping up at all as she holds her power at its lightest level, but it's there.

Huh. “You’re not standing differently or anything?”  He’s morally certain she isn’t.  But.

"I mean, I'm no expert at shoving, but I'm trying not to... Should I try a little more power?"

“Yes, please.  Ramp it up slowly, and if either of you feel even a little bit concerned, we can end the test there.”

"Mhm!"

Now, let's see...

Hey Tim, quick question. Ever wrestled a mountainside?

There was this one attack boulder dungeon once!  But that was easier than this.