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Morty knows he shouldn't be screwing around with multidimensional shit. It's dangerous, it's impractical, it's blah blah blah. But it's a potential key to unlimited energy, how does nobody see that? He's built a dimensional siphon (it kind of looks like a cardboard box with a funnel and a TI-84 taped to it, but it damn well works), keyed in the dimensional coordinates to a random plane, and by God he's going to use it.
He flips the switch and waits for the energy bar to fill up.
It does! It fills up very rapidly. Then it explodes, along with the box. There's rather more smoke than there should be, and once the smoke clears someone is standing there.
"Oh dear," Morty says faintly.
Flicker at Whateley
point_b
"I would actually like to know that, because it seems like it would be nice to get into the mystic arts library by myself. I am warned that trying may cause me a headache. Can you arrange testing sans headache?"
"Since we'll probably be testing you on a spectrum of ward strengths, if it's going to give you a headache it'll come earlier. So it'll be less of one than it would've been that you'd get by just battering at the Inner Sanctum or whatever."
"But we should probably start you on the exemplar mental test, that's usually how it goes. Unless you've got a strong preference?"
point_b
"I see no reason to deviate from the standard. Is this basically just a high-ceiling IQ test?"
"Ish. It was designed by a social sciences devisor, so it's kind of... idiosyncratic, but it works."
There follows a fairly lengthy test. There are sections on memorization (increasing strings of numbers, skimming and immediately reciting paragraphs or pages of text), spatial reasoning in up to eight dimensions, and an absolutely brutal strategy game like a cross between Go, 3D chess, and the Game of Mao. There are also straight math and English and science sections, the last of which shades into the bizarre towards the end. (There are entirely too many quantities approaching infinity.)
point_b
Bella is fairly bewildered by a lot of it, but gamely plays along. She isn't, after all, mentally enhanced, so a test designed for people who are is of course going to thoroughly stump her on a routine basis.
Martin certainly seems impressed!
"Very nice. Do you want to move on to the physical immediately, or would you like a breather?"
"Very nice. Do you want to move on to the physical immediately, or would you like a breather?"
point_b
"I could use a glass of water and then I'm all set to go." She even has remotely appropriate gym-type clothes on, what with the shopping trip yesterday.
Water is provided!
"When we get to the power tests proper there'll be a couple more people observing, if that's all right. I might have to hit them with a stick to get them not to watch if it turns out not to be, though. So please bear my noodly arms in mind."
"When we get to the power tests proper there'll be a couple more people observing, if that's all right. I might have to hit them with a stick to get them not to watch if it turns out not to be, though. So please bear my noodly arms in mind."
point_b
"I don't have any strong reason to object, but why will there be more people observing?" asks Bella.
point_b
Bella laughs, and ponytails her hair for convenience. "I don't mind being shiny. Are the tests calibrated to take into account that I have no actual training in many forms of complex Olympic derring-do? That is, my form is going to be off unless somebody coaches me on it and this will affect how good I am at running, jumping, turning cartwheels along a balance beam, etcetera."
The tests are many and varied! There are tests of speed, deadlift capability, endurance, et cetera. Breaks are at regular intervals, including protein bars and water as necessary.
One of the later tests appears to be another test of speed. She is placed on a treadmill and set to go at a certain rate.
Abruptly, out of the console pops a boxing glove on a spring, moving much faster than aerodynamics should allow it to.
One of the later tests appears to be another test of speed. She is placed on a treadmill and set to go at a certain rate.
Abruptly, out of the console pops a boxing glove on a spring, moving much faster than aerodynamics should allow it to.
"Reflexes! Excellent reflexes, by the way. You react faster than you should given your speed, unless that's a twin thing?"
No further boxing gloves appear for the remainder of the test, though there is a less antagonistic test of her reflexes later involving a batting practice machine.