Limelight: A Discussion of Modern Phenomena

Gesturing with his chopsticks, Bertram Jackson Parson said, "Let's start with the basic four," to his siblings as they sat around the family dinner table on Staten Island.

"Strong, Weak, Electromagnetism and Gravity," Conrad James Parsons, also known as Limelight, rattled off before his sister could clear her throat to do the same. It had been Beej's turn to cook, but since Beej didn't actually cook, dinner was takeout Chinese. More authentic fare could be had in Manhattan, but since all three of them detested baby corn cobs, they were quite happy with the moo goo gai pan as it was.

"My theory is that the universe could function just fine with only those four," Beej said as he speared a chunk of mushroom.

"That's not your theory," his sister Angelica Josephine noted.

"Fine Aaj, I agree with Pegg's theory that the universe could function just fine with the basic four forces. Which leaves the question of what other forces there are and how they're related to the basic four."

"So what else is out there? Obviously, the suit wouldn't work at all without dimensional manipulation. Without that, the grav generators wouldn't work and we'd have no way to store power."

"Yeah," Aaj agreed, "But when you say 'dimensional manipulation', I'm thinking more of Flex and Mirage, because of their growth and teleportation respectively."

"Sunray grows too." That his sister had only listed men in her example did not surprise Conrad Parsons in the least. In some ways, his sister was depressingly predictable.

Bert swallowed a mouthful of green tea to add, "Well, there's Psi. But we know there's some overlap between Psi and Electromagnetism. Otherwise the thought screen wouldn't work."

"And without Psi, wouldn't be necessary," Aaj tacked on sharply.

Ceej shook his head. "I'm tempted to divide Psi into two overlapping categories. There's the telekinetic stuff Tach does and there's the whole telepathic repertoire of someone like Mystic."

"Who?" his brother asked, puzzled.

"Formerly known as Oracle."

"Who?" his sister parroted.

"Also formerly known as the Red Queen."

"Ah..." his siblings chorused.

Returning to the topic, Ceej said, "I wanted them separate because there are a ton of metahuman abilities, from Tex's super-strength, to Sparx's smoke control, to god knows what else, that can be considered specialized forms of telekinesis, but there's noth-"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold up," Aaj interrupted. "You're saying super-strength is really telekinesis?"

"In some cases it could be," Ceej replied.

"I think I see where he's coming from sis. The suit uses electrically powered gravity based force fields as an overlay of Ceej's muscles to lift heavy objects. But Big Tex can pick up things that are a whole lot heavier without any gear at all."

"That's right," Ceej agreed. "The question is: Where does the energy he uses to lift 20 tons come from? Big Tex likes to eat, but he's doesn't take in nearly enough calories to generate better than 350 horsepower."

"Unlike say Sparx, whose electrical powers seem to be fueled by her metabolism, even if her rest of her powers aren't," Aaj observed.

"True, but let's stop going on tangents for the moment," Ceej said flatly. "When I lift three tons, the grav generators automatically spread the load as much as possible so that I'm not driven through the floor. But I've seen Big Tex, and Flex too for that matter, carry loads that should break concrete without any problems at all."

Aaj cocked her head and thought for a moment. "So put something heavy on a truck scale and see if it weighs less when they pick it up compared to when you pick it up."

"That's a nice, obvious idea sis and when I tried it, it didn't work," Ceej replied. "Well, technically, it worked fine, but the scale read the same for me and Tex."

"Observer dependent phenomenon?" Beej asked.

"God, I hope not," Ceej said flatly. "Those are a pain in the tochis."

"You can say 'ass', we're all adults here," Aaj said while spearing a chunk of mushroom.

"You're just pissed you weren't able to figure out Wild Dragon's... What did he call it? Chi? Before he went back to Japan," Beej accused.

After chewing and swallowing, Ceej replied, "I think that comes under Psi, but there seems to be something specifically anti-gravish about it," Ceej replied. "I will say I don't think there was anything he did that FreeFall couldn't theoretically match."

His siblings pondered that statement for awhile until Beej said, "It still seemed to work because he expected it to, not for any other reason."

"Which is as good a description of Psi as any," Aaj muttered.

"But we know there's a connection between Psi and the electromagnetic spectrum," Ceej said forcefully.

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Aaj said sarcastically.

"So, getting back to the original topic, I think psi breaks down into telekinetic effects and psychic effects and that a lot of the powers I've seen can be considered specific forms of telekinesis."

"So to the basic four we add Psi and Dimensional Manipulation," Beej said. "Anything else?"

"Magic," Ceej admitted grudgingly. He'd been in the hero business long enough to be forced to admit that magic, as magic and not as a sufficiently advanced technology, existed. Which did not mean he liked it.

"As a separate force, not just as a method of manipulating the other forces?" his brother asked in clarification.

"As a separate force. While I've seen it used to mimic or affect the other forces, I've also see it do things I just can't... Trust me on this one. It's there, but it's not omnipotent. Magic has limits or magicians would already be ruling the world." Because of his role as Limelight, Conrad Parsons had a standing invitation from MATRIX's consulting mage, Cobalt, to discuss the nature of magic. Despite severe curiosity, he'd never been able to bring himself to take up that invitation. "You're too smart to make a good magician," had been Cobalt's one specific comment on the subject.

"Well, that makes seven. Is there an eighth?" Aaj asked. "Eight somehow seems more... symmetrical."

"Could be," Ceej admitted as he poured himself another cup of tea. "Is there anything that can't be explained by the other seven? I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

"FTL travel? Time Travel? Ghosts?" Aaj offered.

"From what little I've heard, there are at least two methods of FTL travel in current use 'out there'," Ceej said with a vague wave at the ceiling. Both of them sound like they're based on dimensional manipulation. Time travel? Mirage is the only person I know who claims to have done it but he's never given me any of the technical details. There are mathematical models on time travel that allow you to go to any point where your time machine already exists, explainable without adding any other forces. But they don't cover what Mirage claims happened to him or what little my own observations indicate."

"So is it an additional force or not?" Beej asked.

"I lean toward 'yes', but the scientist in me wants more evidence."

"What about ghosts?" Aaj asked.

Her brother shrugged, causing a piece of chicken to slip from his chopsticks. "Haven't met any myself, but there is one listed in the old Challengers Ink files. Supposed to have been a serial killer whose spirit survived death from sheer force of will. I don't know what to make of it. Case report read like the rough draft of a bad horror flick."

"Did your... allies... draw any conclusions?" Beej asked.

"Her case was considered a psychic phenomenon, not a magical one."

"Her?" Aaj grunted.

"There are female serial killers you know."

Aaj frowned in vague discomfort at the idea and let the subject drop. Silence reigned for several minutes as the Parson siblings ate and drank.

"Let's go back to time travel for a minute," Beej said as he handed cellophane wrapped fortune cookies to his brother and sister.

"Let's not. Between causality violations, grandfather paradoxes and the many worlds theorem... Every time I spend serious skull sweat on the subject, I get a headache."

"If thinking about time travel doesn't give you a headache, you're not doing it right," Aaj quipped as she cracked open her cookie. 'You are a warm and caring person,' she read from the slip of paper.

"Oh, they know you so well," Beej deadpanned before reading his own slip. 'The road to enlightenment begins with a single question.'

"And that question is?" his sister asked.

"If they have to tell you, you'll never be enlightened."

"That's worth about half a laugh so I officially give you a 'Ha'. What about yours Ceej?"

Ceej snapped open his cookie, unfolded his fortune and read, "The most powerful force in the Universe is Tempting Fate."

"Ominous," Beej said.

"Very ominous," his sister added.

A zipper opened in the space above the Parson's dining table. A pale blue, somewhat humanoid, somewhat molluskoid, head extended into the room from dimensions both unknown and unknowable. "Sorry, wrong worldline," the creature said before both it and the zipper disappeared.

END