Consumption

Assimilation
You are what you

{ Eat
Darwin S. Tuazon Jr
}
1 The Power
My selected superpower is what I want to call Consumption Assimilation wherein
depending on what I eat, I can temporarily adapt to its physical characteristics. This
idea stems from the phrase “You are what you eat”. An example would be eating an
ostrich thereby being able to change my leg’s shape to an ostrich’s which is one of
the fastest bipedal animals in the world. In addition, a bonus would be my brain being
able to assimilate and make it possible for short-term communication with the
species that is being digested. The transformation is only limited by the time it takes
to digest the specific food, which is more or less 4 hours, and the rate of digestion
can become faster depending due to exerting myself when using the power. Despite
the appeal of being able to adapt and use some of the best characteristics of animals
or insects through eating, the major limitation aside from the duration of the
superpower would be the sheer amount of pain that involves the assimilation. My
superpower is only limited to the limbs I have meaning having multiple tentacles or
four legs should be impossible which follows the law where matter cannot be created
or destroyed only change form. Transforming my body means immense pain to the
level of bones and skin being ripped apart and reconstructed back together which can
be unbearable if large transformations are to be done.

2 For Good
Despite the limitations and repercussions that need to be kept in mind when
using the superpower, there are a lot of things that my superpower can do good
with. Personally, this can help me get to places faster, as mentioned previously
by transforming into ostrich legs, lifting heavy things like during constructing or
repairing my own house by borrowing something like the strength of a bear’s
upper physique, and even seeing very far like an eagle or better at night like an
owl’s. If my superpower is used correctly, I will be able to help others,
especially in life-threatening situations, on the condition that I have some food
ready, such as saving someone during fires in a building, protecting someone by
lifting heavy debris from collapsing structures, or even seeing accidents from
faraway and react quicker than most. I can even protect others possibly by
assimilating my skin to that of an exoskeleton of an ironclad beetle which is
known for its incredible durability.

I think that this superpower shines the most in the industries related to
construction, medicine, and safety like firefighters. For example, there will still
be times when a firefighter is limited in his or her capacity to help some people
due to their human limitations. But being able to assimilate to various animals or
insects would let me maybe lift debris that is hindering someone from escaping
from an extremely dangerous situation or go in and out of a burning building
quickly enough before any major repercussions happen. I think that there would
be a very hard adjustment period with my relationships considering the physical
characteristics that I adopt are not exactly appealing and may even be regarded
as gross by some people. My time would probably shift towards using the
abilities more and trying out different things since there are so many things, I
can experiment on with my superpower which will serve as my entertainment
for myself and other people around me as well.

3 For Evil
The problem with this superpower is that I can also transform and adapt the
capabilities of animals or insects that can be very dangerous to myself and especially
other people. Take for example if I would eat carefully prepared food that was from
venomous species such as spiders or even snakes then there is the possibility of me
abusing my power by torturing someone or even killing them. If someone had this
superpower with an inclination to use it for evil, they could theoretically harm or kill a
huge amount of people considering that the duration can last for hours depending on
what they eat. To give you an idea, if they were to adapt the pufferfish’s capability
to secrete toxins through their skin, they could literally poison multiple people very
quickly considering pufferfish have tetrodotoxin which is 1200 times more lethal than
cyanide. They could even assimilate with a pistol shrimp thereby granting them very
strong claws that could hurt others if they wanted to. Someone with this kind of
superpower has so many possibilities that if put in the wrong hands, could even make
them an internationally renowned criminal. Even adopting camouflage capabilities by
adapting their skin to creatures like a chameleon is possible assuming they can
consume said species.

Negative
4
Consequences
Considering the necessity to change matter from one form to another, the
process of transforming would result in unreasonable amounts of physical pain.
Depending on the tolerance of the person using the superpower, they may get
accustomed to the transformation much like how we get used to something
over time. However, always trying out different transformations would possibly
bring about new pain that someone using it might end up not having the capacity
to bear the pain at all and end up giving up or fainting in the middle of the
process. Someone using the superpower would have to train themselves both
physically and mentally as well as increase pain tolerance or learn how to bear
with it through multiple uses. The problem with this would be that the mental
burden can be too much, especially if the superpower is abused or used too
often. If the owner of the superpower does not maintain or take care of their
physical and mental health from the usage of the consumption assimilation, their
body could break down much like the concept of wear and tear.

5 Prevention
To prevent the use of the superpower for evil purposes, daily monitoring of one’s
intentions and thoughts or mental state can be done by someone else keeping the
person with the power in check. Even without a superpower, there is only so much
we can do to maintain a positive outlook in life and proceed with our life on the path
of good. It is through the help of other people that can help prevent the usage of the
superpower for evil whether it be through family, a therapist, or by force through
someone that has higher power or authority to keep the “superhero” in check. The
user should avoid overusing the superpower as the body can only handle so much
before it starts to degenerate or be affected by wear and tear. If consistent use of
the person will be needed, they should get used to using the same sets of
transformations, meaning not changing the food or power, training themselves to be
strong enough to handle the superpower. Taking breaks and implementing days where
no use of the superpower is done should be put in place much like working out where
you take rest days so that you can output good performance on the days you do
need to exert yourself.