Microstory 144: Molly Bloom

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Unlike fictional stories of people with special powers, anomaly abilities very rarely presented themselves due to heightened emotions. You don’t hear stories about Freeman Sesto accidentally freezing someone to death because he happened to be angry with them at the time, or Fiona Mill teleporting to the moon because she was scared. No. Many abilities were tied to the acute stress response, which often occurred during moments of intense emotion, but if the ability presented at such a time, it was a reaction to need. When you were a baby, and first learning to walk, you must have fallen at least once. At that moment, your arms reached out to protect your body from injury. No one taught you to catch yourself. It was a reflex. You would have to be suffering from some kind of medical condition in order to stop this reflex from happening, or for whatever reason, make a concerted effort to hold your arms back. Anomaly abilities behave the same way, because they are hard coded in the DNA. If Gus Arnett were ever knocked unconscious and fell from a great height, his ability would automatically kick in and float him down to safety. Mason Palomino could never be locked in a room for any relevant period of time. His ability will always act to protect him, and unlock the door for him. Every time. It is this phenomenon that prevented Molly Bloom from even recognizing that she had an ability in the first place. Abilities usually present in one of two ways; dire need, or basic instinct. But Molly’s ability was too passive, and required a specific set of circumstances, to be called into action. And so, she spent the majority of her life assuming that she was just like anyone else. After careful study and testing, a team of scientists discovered that she could withstand virtually any level of radiation. She was born capable of absorbing this radiation and then venting it through another dimension. But she was never able to test this for herself. Her ability was quickly stolen from her, and given to Phaedra Wirth.