Voluntary experiments

[Daniel Uriel]

"It was hard to tell. After I took Gladiator's power, everything started getting based on self-confidence or something like that, they told me. So I had to worry about how invulnerable I was all the time."

"Most of them didn't seem to take, though. Let them go without keeping them burned in."

[Stan Bowen]

Stan nodded, tapping his chin.

"Do you usually.. Just let the unneeded power go? I mean, is it passive, releasing the powers? Or is there some effort to the process?"

[Daniel Uriel]

"It depends on how much I'm carrying around. If I've overloaded myself, it's kind of an effort to hold onto everything. But otherwise, they just stick there unless I let them go. Usually I just hang onto whatever I've got until something better comes along unless it's giving me a lot of problems."

[Stan Bowen]

"Well, the working theory right now is that one of them is giving you problems."

[Daniel Uriel]

"Don't know how, I let them all go," Daniel answered.

[Stan Bowen]

Stan nodded, taking a few more notes.

"Do you possess any kind of burned-in powers currently?"

[Daniel Uriel]

"I, ah... still have Gladiator's stuff burned in. It was just way too badass to let go of."

[Stan Bowen]

Stan looked up, looking Daniel directly in the eye.

"Badass or not, there could be some quality or Gladiator's power, something unnoticed, that is causing your issues. In order to continue, I need you to be at a clean slate."

[Daniel Uriel]

"Yeah, I was afraid you'd say something like that. Don't think I'll get a chance to grab him again," Daniel sighed as he focused on purging the powers he'd burned in.

[Stan Bowen]

Stan looked on, at the purging commenced.

He looked at a handheld monitor, measuring the progress.

"Once you are finished, we'll take a baseline reading to measure against future readings, it's similar to a concussion screening."

[Daniel Uriel]

"All right, clear," Daniel said. The readings seemed to resemble Daniels old readings a little more, but were still vastly different.

[Stan Bowen]

"Are you certain? The readings are still a little beyond baseline.."

Stan checked the batteries, they appeared good.

[Daniel Uriel]

"Trust me, I can feel it. Invulnerability feels really weird."

[Stan Bowen]

"Well, if you say so, you say so."

He stands up, and leads Daniel over to an area that appears to be a treadmill, surrounded by clear protective viewing walls.

"Up for a little stress test, to determine your current physiology?"

[Daniel Uriel]

Daniel smirked. "Wow. Haven't been stress tested in a lab in forever..."

[Stan Bowen]

Stan led him to the treadmill, and bade him to remove his top. Once that was done, he began attaching sensors and other wires, and checking the connections.

[Daniel Uriel]

Daniel seemed uncomfortable with this, but he put up with it without complaint. He started running on the treadmill again once it was set up.

And running.

And running.

This might bore Stan after a while. He didn't seem to have any inclination to tire, according to the readings.

[Stan Bowen]

Stan noted, with interest.

"Your endurance is incredible. Do you feel exerted, or tired, at all?" He asked.

[Daniel Uriel]

Daniel thought about it. "Not really. I... guess my legs kind of ache? I could still keep going, though. It's not bad or anything."

[Stan Bowen]

"No, keep going, for now. This is what you are here for."

Stan patiently charted Daniel's progress, seeing what his new limits were.