“I don’t want a power like that.”
“No. For one thing, the ‘R’ value of sample J-zero-zero-ninety is very low. Note the letters on the grid. The most important ones are the ‘O’, ‘P’ and ‘R’. These, on their own, determine roughly ninety-percent of a sample’s cost. O refers to a power’s uniqueness.
Interesting.
I suppose the O value would be low for things like flight, strength and invulnerability, the Standard Alexandria Package?
It’s largely subjective, and liable to change through factors entirely out of Cauldron’s control, but it is easier to stand out as a hero or villain if nobody else can do what you do.”
Yeah, that’s true.
“You’ve already mentioned the other two letters in passing.”
“The ‘P’ value is the raw effect of the granted abilities. An estimation of the rating the PRT would assign to the powers. Higher ‘P’, more effective and versatile abilities.”
Shatterbird’s P value must be sky high.
Jamie nodded. “And ‘R’?”
“Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned, there are no guarantees. A given sample does not provide the same effects every time it is tested.
So we’ve got O for… Originality, P for Power and R for Reliability?
There are admittedly some dangers involved in the use of our product. Sometimes there are physical changes that cannot be masked. You have seen the heroes or villains with glowing eyes or less human features.”
Ahh, I guess experiments on powers with a very low R value might be the cause of the Case 53s?
That was sobering.
“The ‘R’ value refers to how predictable a given sample is. There are some that produce very simple, reliable results. In sixty-three tests of sample T-six-zero-zero-one, it has only failed to grant a form of flight on two occasions. Contrast that with sample B-zero-zero-thirty. It has, in four tests, granted an individual the ability to make things implode, it has created a powerful vacuum in someone’s mouth, that draws everything into a portal where it is promptly annihilated.
Hah, that’s a fun one.
Sample B-zero-zero-thirty killed the other two test subjects.”
Ouch. That’s less fun.
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