Stellar Radiation

[Havok]

(( after The Lab : Energies and Formulae; closed ))

As agreed, in half an hour Alex walked outside, to the back of the mansion, where the mansion grounds spread outwards for a few miles. It was a cool but clear evening, and he looked up at the stars, the strongest source of his powers. His powers were still at their limit, not having been released much in the lab, and he decided to walk some hundred yards from the mansion and blast off the excess. It wouldn't do to put Violet in danger while she'd be measuring him again.

Standing now further away from the building, he was letting the plasma blasts go, and they emanated from him in bright blueish circles in all directions, heating up air, weakening on their way and finally dissipating just before they reached distance from the mansion.

[gravity]

Though she wouldn't admit it, Violet had spent the half hour break in her room, crying. The guilt over something so simple as a date with Alex had really gotten to her, but she was getting used to the idea. She couldn't hold on to Caleb forever. She'd cleaned herself up and found that she was really looking forward to seeing Alex again. Confident that she was making the right choice, She slipped out of the mansion just as Alex began to discharge his pent up energy. She sat on the grass a safe distance away and watched the show. When he stopped, she began to applaud.

[Havok]

Alex felt much better after a couple of minutes, and he had become rather distracted, so when he stopped and heard someone applaud, he looked around, startled. He found that it was Violet, sitting on the grass and watching. Chuckling slightly, he took a mock-bow after his little 'performance' and walked over to her. "There'll be encores later," he told her with a small grin.

[gravity]

Violet couldn't help but smile. "You know, it's actually quite beautiful. I'm sorry it causes problems for you." She got to her feet and produced the bolometer from earlier, in the lab. "Are you up for some scanning?" She asked.

[Havok]

"Thanks," Alex smiled. "I'd love to harness it and just enjoy it..." he looked at the device. "Absolutely, now I am." No danger of exploding Violet while she'd be doing it, he added in thought.

[gravity]

Violet was beginning to have doubts that she'd be able to help Alex, and it made her feel bad. At this point, she was still curious about how his ability worked, and was trying to gather as much information as possible. Maybe in doing so, she'd find an answer that would help him. "Since we already know that you're absorbing energy all over, there's no reason to undress this time," she said with a coy smile. She turned on the device and waited for it to adjust to the different environment. She then moved it over Alex's hands and his face. "Wow," she said, "The numbers are significantly different out here. I knew there would be some difference, but I had no idea how much more radiation you'd be taking in. This is pretty impressive."

[Havok]

Alex couldn't fight back a small grin at her comment about undressing, but didn't add any comment to that. "Well, this I knew," he then said with a slightly dejected face, "I just didn't know the exact numbers. Times more?" he peeked at the bolometer.

[gravity]

"It's hundreds of times more," she said, turning the screen so he could see it. She looked up at the stars, trying to see them the way poets did, instead of just seeing the science. With a sigh, she looked back to Alex and shrugged. "That's all I've got for tonight..." she said, trailing off. This gave him the option of defaulting to other plans or choosing to stay out there with her if he wanted to.

[Havok]

"Hm, well," Alex thought. "I wonder how much it gets from gamma radiation... Have I already told you I can hold a piece of plutonium and nothing happens to me?" he said, a bit excited about it.

[gravity]

Violet's eyes widened. "No! You didn't tell me that. That's awesome!" As exciting as this prospect was to her, it added to her doubts about being able to help him. She was realizing that people's mutations had an element of biology to them that made them unpredictable. She wasn't qualified to deal with that kind of variable.

[Havok]

Alex nodded. "Still, I wonder- well, gamma radiation is rare, right? So if it shows the highest rate of charging me, it's probably irrelevant. This leaves us with stellar radiation as the biggest problem. Do you think there could be a way for me to hide from it?" he chuckled nervously. "Sleep in a lead coffin at night?"

[gravity]

Violet gave a sad shrug. "Honestly, I don't know," she replied. "I've been trying really hard to come up with potential suggestions, but I've got nothing so far."

[Havok]

"Okay, it's not a problem," Alex shrugged, wishing to reassure her - she sounded like she was upset about having been unable to help. "We did pinpoint the greatest source, did we not? I think it's an actual real, solid result I can work with." He looked around. Well, there was nothing else left to do, the measurements were over, at least for now, and he didn't feel like just saying 'well, okay, bye' and walking back to the mansion. They'd only just come out - and he could use a short walk in the evening, radiation or not. "Want to take a walk for a bit?" he asked.

[gravity]

Violet's smile returned. She was glad he didn't want to leave yet. "Sure," she answered.

[Havok]

They started walking in a random direction; there were many paths winding their way around the Institute's grounds, and it was interesting to just walk on and see where they would take you. Alex had explored most of them already, but even then the place hadn't lost its charm.

"So," he said after a small pause, "I never got to ask you, if it's something you can discuss - what are your powers? That is, other than getting-" men to take their shirts off- "into random fights and wielding scientific equipment?"