Sarah arrived before Marcus finished explaining to Jackson.
"—and then I copied anxiety or jitters or something from some random guy and now I can't stop bouncing my leg."
"That's the worst superpower ever," Jackson said, watching Marcus's knee jitter.
"It's not my only power. It's just one of the random ones I copied." Marcus demonstrated the soldering knowledge by correctly identifying the parts in Jackson's old electronics kit. "See? I know how to do this now. I didn't ten minutes ago."
Sarah closed the door behind her, set down her bag. "Back up. Start from the beginning. You can copy abilities?"
"Apparently. Yeah." Marcus explained the sensation—the click, the shift, the sudden knowledge or trait appearing. "It happened with Bullock. Then the technician. Then the anxious guy."
"So you got cop intuition, soldering basics, and anxiety." Sarah sat down, pulled out her notebook. "That's a hell of a mixed bag."
"Tell me about it. The gacha gods are not being kind."
"Gacha?" Jackson asked.
"Random reward system. Like loot boxes." Marcus's leg was still bouncing. He tried to stop it, couldn't quite manage it. "I don't choose what I copy. It's completely random."
Sarah was already making notes. "Okay. Let's establish parameters. How many times can you copy from one person?"
"I don't know. Bullock was the first, and I only got one thing from him. Same with the others."
"So potentially one ability per person. Frequency?"
"I passed dozens of people on the street. Only copied from three of them." Marcus thought about it. "Maybe there's a cooldown? Or maybe it only works on certain people?"
"Or maybe it's random chance," Jackson suggested. "Like there's a percentage probability of copying when you're near someone."
"That would be frustrating."
"Most random reward systems are designed to be frustrating. Keeps you engaged." Jackson poured coffee for everyone. "If you copied every time you walked past someone, you'd be overwhelmed. This way it's limited."
Sarah was scribbling calculations. "If it's chance-based, we can estimate probability. You passed approximately how many people today?"
"Maybe a hundred? I wasn't counting."
"And copied from three. That's roughly three percent if it's pure random chance." She made more notes. "But we need more data. Sample size of one day isn't statistically significant."
"You want me to go walk around Gotham copying random abilities from people?"
"Yes. For science."
Marcus looked at his still-jittering leg. "What if I copy something worse than anxiety? What if someone has a phobia and I get it? Or a medical condition?"
That stopped Sarah. "Good point. We need to be careful about this."
"Maybe you can control it?" Jackson suggested. "Like, consciously decide whether to copy when you feel the click?"
"I didn't feel the click before it happened. It just happened and then I noticed." Marcus tried to remember the sequence. "Although... with the anxious guy, there was maybe a split second where I felt something before the copy completed. Maybe if I was paying attention I could stop it?"
"Test it," Sarah said. "We need to understand the mechanics."
"How? I can't just walk up to random people and hope to copy from them. The probability is too low."
"Use us," Jackson offered. "You've been around us for days. If you haven't copied from us yet, maybe you can now. Maybe there's a reset period."
Marcus looked at his best friends. "What if I copy something you don't want to share? What if it's invasive?"
"It's random, right? You're not choosing." Sarah stood up. "And if it helps you understand this power, it's worth it. Come on. Try with me first."
Marcus stood, faced Sarah. They'd been friends for three years. If he'd been copying since resurrection, he should have gotten something from her already. The fact that he hadn't might mean he couldn't, or might mean there was a waiting period.
He focused on her, trying to feel for that click sensation.
Nothing.
"Anything?" Sarah asked.
"No. Nothing." Marcus tried concentrating harder. Still nothing. "Maybe I can't copy from you. Maybe I already did and didn't notice. Or maybe—"
Click.
The sensation hit suddenly. Marcus felt something shift, settle into place. Knowledge blooming in his mind like he'd always known it.
CAD software. Computer-aided design. Sarah's specialty. He could suddenly visualize how to use the programs she'd spent months teaching him. The interface layouts. The command shortcuts. The workflow.
"Oh," Marcus said. "I just got your CAD knowledge."
Sarah's eyes widened. "Just now? You felt it?"
"Yeah. That click thing. And now I know how to use the software you're always working with."
"That's actually useful!" Jackson said. "See? Not all random copies are bad."
"How much did you get?" Sarah asked. "Like, my full knowledge or just basics?"
Marcus thought about it. "Feels like intermediate level? I know the fundamentals and some advanced techniques but not your full expertise. Like I got a chunk of your skill but not all of it."
Sarah made notes. "Okay. So copies are partial. Not complete skill transfer. That's important."
"Try me," Jackson said. "Let's see if you can do it twice in a row."
Marcus turned to Jackson, focused again. Waited for the click.
Nothing happened.
They waited two minutes. Still nothing.
"Maybe there is a cooldown," Sarah suggested. "Or maybe you can only copy from one person per hour? Per day?"
"This is so random," Marcus muttered, his leg still jittering from the anxiety copy. "I have no control over when, who, or what I get."
"But you got something useful from me," Sarah pointed out. "And the cop intuition from Bullock could be valuable. And even the soldering might come in handy."
"And the anxiety is driving me insane."
"So the ability gives you a mix of good, bad, and neutral traits. Random distribution." Sarah's engineering brain was in full problem-solving mode. "That means over time, you'll accumulate a huge range of abilities. Some useful, some not. But the useful ones will stack up."
"Unless I keep copying things like anxiety and phobias and end up a psychological mess."
"There's that possibility," Jackson admitted. "But think about it. You're in Gotham. City full of criminals, cops, fighters, specialists. Every encounter is a potential ability. Some might be useless but some could be game-changing."
Marcus sat down, tried to process this. His resurrection hadn't just made him stronger and faster. It had given him this copying ability—random, uncontrollable, with unlimited potential if he encountered the right people.
"I need to be strategic about this," Marcus said finally. "If I can copy from anyone but it's random chance, I should maximize my encounters with skilled people. Cops, fighters, specialists. Increase my odds of getting useful abilities."
"But not too many people too fast," Sarah cautioned. "You don't know if there's a capacity limit. What if you can only hold a certain number of copied abilities? Or what if negative traits start stacking up?"
"Great. So I need to be strategic but not too aggressive. Copy useful abilities but risk getting garbage. And I have no control over any of it." Marcus laughed, slightly hysterical. "This is the most chaotic superpower ever."
"It's very Gotham," Jackson offered. "Fits the city aesthetic."
"Thanks. That makes me feel so much better."
Sarah closed her notebook. "Okay. Moving forward: we document every copy. What you got, from whom, when. Build a database. Track patterns. Over time we'll understand the mechanics better."
"And in the meantime?"
"In the meantime, you be careful. Don't go seeking out copies. Let them happen naturally." Sarah looked at him seriously. "This power is dangerous if used wrong. Imagine copying from the wrong person—a murderer's instincts, a junkie's addiction, a psychopath's lack of empathy."
Marcus hadn't thought about that. The anxiety was annoying but ultimately harmless. But darker traits? Mental illnesses? Criminal tendencies?
"I could become something I'm not," Marcus said quietly.
"Or you could become a collection of useful skills that help you survive Gotham." Sarah squeezed his shoulder. "It depends on how you use it. And who you copy from."
"So no serial killers. Got it."
"I'd avoid criminals in general," Jackson suggested. "Stick to normal people. Maybe skilled people like craftsmen, athletes, specialists. Lower risk of copying terrible traits."
"Although criminals might have useful combat skills," Sarah pointed out. "It's a risk-reward calculation."
They spent the next hour testing theories, documenting what Marcus had copied so far, trying to trigger more copies from Jackson.
Nothing. The ability seemed to have a cooldown or limiting factor they couldn't identify yet.
Marcus's phone buzzed. Text from Uncle Mike.
Uncle Mike:Hospital accepted the medical error story. You're officially alive again. Paperwork nightmare but it's done.
Marcus:Thanks. I owe you.
Uncle Mike:You owe me nothing. Just stay alive this time.
Marcus smiled despite his anxiety-jitters. At least the legal side was resolved. He could go back to school, resume normal life.
Except his life wasn't normal anymore. He was enhanced physically. He could copy abilities randomly. And he had no idea what any of it meant or why it had happened.
"What are you going to do now?" Sarah asked, watching him.
"Go back to school, I guess. Try to be normal. Figure this out as I go." Marcus looked at his friends. "Same plan as before. Just with more random superpowers."
"That's not much of a plan."
"It's the only one I have." Marcus tried to stop his leg jittering again. Failed. "How long do you think copied traits last?"
"No idea. Could be permanent. Could fade over time." Sarah made another note. "Add that to the testing list."
"Great. So I might be stuck with anxiety forever or it might disappear tomorrow. Very helpful."
"Look at the bright side," Jackson said. "At least you're alive to have anxiety about your chaotic copying ability."
"That's not the bright side I was hoping for."
"It's Gotham. We take what we can get."
Marcus couldn't argue with that.
He spent the rest of the day with Sarah and Jackson, trying to understand his new reality. Enhanced physical abilities. Random copying power. A second chance at life he didn't fully understand.
By evening, the anxiety trait had faded to background levels—still there but manageable. The other copied abilities felt permanent, settled into his skill set like he'd always had them.
"Tomorrow I'm going back to class," Marcus announced. "Normal life. Finish my degree. Try not to randomly copy anything terrible."
"And if you do copy something?"
"Document it. Tell you guys. Figure it out together." Marcus looked at his best friends. "Same as everything else."
They nodded. That was their way. Problems were solved together. Even impossible problems like resurrection and random superpower copying.
After Sarah and Jackson left, Marcus sat alone in his apartment, feeling the new abilities settling into place. Cop intuition. CAD knowledge. Soldering basics. Background anxiety.
Four abilities from four people in one day.
If I copy at this rate, how many will I have in a month? A year?
And what happens when I have hundreds of copied abilities? Thousands?
Do I become something else entirely? A collection of everyone I've ever met?
Marcus didn't have answers. But he knew one thing for certain.
His second chance at life was going to be complicated.
And in Gotham, complicated usually meant dangerous.
But I'm alive. Enhanced. With a weird copying power I don't understand.
That's better than being dead.
Probably.
Marcus lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and tried not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
Tomorrow he'd return to normal life.
Whatever "normal" meant now.
In Gotham, for a resurrected engineering student with random copying powers, probably not much.
But he'd figure it out.
One random ability at a time.