Unwanted Power

Tired

One reason Heather chose a 'costume' that is all white with a matching cape is daytime flight. The epidermal layer was the cloth, but the cape was something Heather had to build and attach. Her solution to that was that it was not that different from the hair on her head. Heather can build hair, which is not living but is a protein complex. Heather could similarly extend the 'fabric' covering her 'skin' into whatever she needed the material to look like as it solidified.

The big flowing cape was meant as a sight gag. Superheros have capes. Heather spent a great deal of time composing a material that would flow correctly. That was more of the disguise. A report of a caped person flying would be received with proper incredulity.

At night, it has become easy, with practice, for Heather to absorb light. Night flight is stealth flight. The worst case is a fleeting shadow across the moon from a particular angle. If Heather had any lingering worries at all about the night sky, it was something else up there flying about, not seeing her, and running into her. Birds and bats mostly. Above a certain altitude, the problem went away. Planes she could sense coming from a long way off.

A black outline in the sky during the day would be much more obvious. A figure clad head to toe in white, other than the face, would be much harder to spot, especially when she is up high. Technically, she could be any color she needed to be. Color is about what EM wavelength she absorbs versus what she reflects. Heather could be sky blue if need be. Standing against a red wall Heather could be the same color red. Far more effectively than a color-changing animal possibly could. She is not using pigments and dyes to achieve the transformation. Heather worked with the wavelengths themselves.

As camouflage, it was flawed at the moment because it is utterly uniform. A painted wall has variations. Heather standing next to a colored wall is solidly monotone. A patterned wall is beyond her ability so far.

A new body and color morphing via controlled reflectively made Heather confident no one is going to figure out who is driving her designer body unless she said something stupid.

She still worried about how she walked. Some stores use AI to analyze a person's gait to identify a repeat customer. Gaits are not fingerprints, but they can be distinctive. A man that walked like a woman doubly so.

The new body's narrower hip geometry helped her with changing that. Her natural sway is gone. It was never a conscious thing to have. She did not know she had it until Bill happened to be following her along a sidewalk one day and gave her a wolf whistle. They were already together at that point, so he felt comfortable in expressing his appreciation.

Bill was at work. Cristine at School. Heather's two minutes of work done for the day. Heather was up daytime flying and testing out things. She, now as a caped 'he', overflew a young man standing next to a Jeep, frustrated by the flat tire on the driver's side rear.

Heather paused in the air to study the situation. The Jeep was shod in massive offroad tires. The vehicle body had been significantly raised up to allow the immense things to even fit. The proportions were almost comic. A toy car come to life but is now broken down.

There was not a spare tire bolted to the tailgate as there usually is on cars like this. If there were, it would block the rearview mirror and render the tailgate useless. Given the size of the tires, Heather assumed whatever device it is used to attach tires to tailgates could not be adapted to something this large. Or perhaps it would have bent the tailgate off the back of the vehicle. Tailgates are only sheet metal, and those things would be heavy. Hit a bump, and the tailgate would sheer right off the car. Tires like that would need their own trailer. A support vehicle following it around. Something.

How would someone not gifted with Heather's abilities even lift a tire that size onto a bracket?

The young man was slumped down against the tire. A picture of being dejected and defeated. Heather assumed he is stuck.