Enlist Yu's cousins as volunteer test subjects

You ponder Yu's question seriously. How do you want to start? So far you've explored the psychological aspect of ownership the furthest, using your friends as guinea pigs, but theoretically, you could start anywhere.

POINT C IS BEING CAPTURED comes a booming announcer's voice from downstairs.

And like that, you have an idea. "You said your cousins are downstairs?"

Yu nods. "Why?"

"Can we use them as test subjects?" you ask.

Yu, frowning, answers with a question. "Is there a reason to skip straight back to human testing? Especially using my cousins. We already know that basic claims work on people."

"Claiming things from people is what I have the most experience with so far," you say. "I need to dig deeper, not wider. If we already know claiming works, why do we need to prove it works on animals, vegetables, or minerals? We already know it does. I want to try something more advanced."

"We assume it works on other classes of objects, but that's not very scientific," says Yu.

"Look at it this way," you say, scooping up a fake apple from a decorative bowl by the entryway. "If I claimed this apple, tried to do something weird with it, we'd have to rely on observation alone to check if my powers affected it or not. But when we claim things from people, we can ask questions and observe changes in their behavior. And what worries me is how my powers intersect with people - not whether or not claiming an apple changes its apple-ness."

"But why my cousins?" asks Yu. "It would be better to recruit a random sample of people we don't know, so we can be sure our personal biases aren't impacting the results of our experiments."

"Well," you say, "you'd agree using them as test subjects is better than using me or yourself, right?"

"Using ourselves could compromise our judgment and thus our findings," agrees Yu.

"And using strangers means we don't have a baseline," you say. "That could also compromise our findings."

Yu thinks it over. “After you gave everything back to her, how did Pearl seem to you today? Was she okay?"

Well… you didn’t really give everything back, per se, but she is fine. “Pearl’s still Pearl. Whether that’s fine or not is up to you.”

Your argument convinces Yu, and hesitantly, she assents to the plan. “So long as we reverse all claims or changes when we’re done, then, there shouldn't be any harm. I'll introduce you, then. Follow me."

Yu leads you downstairs to meet her cousins.

Three of Yu's older cousins are camped out downstairs with controllers in hand, two girls and a guy you're only vaguely familiar with.

"Hey guys, this is my friend, Chase," Yu announces. "Chase, cousins. Cousins, Chase."

You get a couple of nods and a "Sup?"

You’re introduced to three of Yu’s older cousins in rapid succession.

There's Gho ("Or Georgia, whatever's easier for you.") who's 24, her twin brother Ai ("My friends call me Aiden."), and Lina ("Also Lina.") who's 21. At a glance, the three are obviously related to Yutong. They have the same dark hair, with similar facial structures. Not to mention, being camped out on various folding or beanbag chairs scattered about the basement before the big screen TV, with controllers in hand, Yu looks like she'd fit right in amongst them.

“Hey guys," you say, surveying your cool, college-aged potential volunteers. This feels like a good group to work with - you're glad you're doing this. "So you’re Yu’s cousins, huh? You guys seem cool, it's too bad haven't met before."

"We're here all week," says Lina, without so much as glancing back in your direction. Focused on the game, she doesn't hesitate for a second on the trigger, blowing away two of her online adversaries in rapid succession. Though she's still a good few years older than Yutong or yourself, Lina's the youngest of the cousins.

But one look at her and it’s clear from whence Yu derives her stylistic inspiration. Lina’s hair, cut in a sharp bob, is dyed a full vibrant purple - an echo of the blue streak through Yu's hair. She has an eyebrow piercing as well - something that reminds you of Zoe's septum piercing - which Pearl's sister Macy would approve of. As for the rest of Lina's outfit, she wears black leggings and a loose off-the-shoulder top that exposes the strap of her sports bra. Her facial features are sharp, with intense eyes, and thin lips.

"If you guys can finish up your game, we have something we need your help with," she says, gesturing between herself and you. "Some honestly pretty unbelievable powers fell into Chase's lap yesterday. We want to conduct some tests, and probably perform a few experiments to better understand what they're capable of, but we need some volunteers for testing."

The match continues, punctuated by the staccato of automatic gunfire.

Georgia gets blown up. She uses her **** as an excuse to abandon the match, giving more screen real estate to Aiden and Lina. She rotates her camping chair to center attention on the two of you.

"What kind of experiments?" asks Georgia, leaning forward, elbows on knees.

Georgia looks like an older, taller, and more conventionally beautiful version of Yutong. Long black hair, thin as a whip, almond eyes, and high cheekbones. She gives off some young Lucy Liu vibes, if more of a girl-next-door version than a supermodel-actress version. Georgia wears a roomy plaid shirt, unbuttoned with a white undershirt beneath, and a pair of jeans.

Yu answers by pointing at you. "Chase can claim anything just by saying it's his," she explains. "It could be that he can do more than that, maybe much more, but we haven't had much of a chance to try anything like that yet."

"So you want to test these supposed 'claiming powers' out on us," surmises Georgia. She does not sound impressed.

"There's no supposition that Chase's powers are real, I've seen them in action," says Yu.

"Oh, I'm sure you have," says Georgia. She's leery of you and your claims, probably thinking you've tricked her precious younger cousin somehow.

Without Georgia's support, the match falls out of Aiden and Lina's favor. They lose and the game ends. Lina takes the opportunity to stand up out of her bean bag chair and stretch her back, while Aiden spins his camping chair around to match Georgia's."

Aiden takes a long sip of a can of coke and sets it back in the chair's cupholder, and gives a refreshed gasp. "Hey guys," he says, eyebrows raised. He leans in toward his twin sister. "What's Yutong and her friend want?"

Aiden bears a strong resemblance to his sister Georgia, though he's broader at the shoulders and narrower at the hip. He’s dressed down in a pair of ragged jeans and a puffy jacket vest and has a good rugged jaw on him, with a flash of five o'clock shadow accentuating the look. His hair is tied up and back with a rubber band in a simple man bun.

"Yu's friend wants to show us a magic trick," says Georgia, dismissive.

"It's not magic," says Yu, frustrated.

Georgia winks at her. "Of course it's not."

Aiden, however, is far less dismissive. "Wait wait wait. Magic is real?"

"It's not magic!" Yu insists.

"It's basically magic," you confirm.

Yu gasps. "Chase! No, it's not! Granted, it may be, but we don't know for sure!"

Aiden is blown away. "Holy crap."

Georgia swats him "Aiden, the kid's just telling you what you want to hear."

Aiden looks horrified. "Why would anybody want to hear that? If magic is real, some witch or whatever the fuck could stroll along anytime and turn one of us into a frog!"

You look from Aiden to Georgia, baffled. "I gotta say, your brother's honestly more of the reaction I'd expect when I drop the news but I usually don't even get that much. People usually just accept that my powers are real the second they hear about them," you say. "I've never actually had to prove anything before. "

"Let me guess," says Georgia, tapping her chin. "You've never had to prove your claims because magic's just something you have to believe in or it doesn't work?"

Aiden physically attempts to cover Georgia's mouth. "Hey watch it!" she says, fighting back.

"Don't listen to her. We do not need you proving anything to anyone. We 100% believe you, Chase."

"Even so, I'll prove it to Georgia," you say. "Georgia, I claim your chair."

Georgia succeeds in pushing Aiden sibling off her - he teeters and falls to the ground - before she turns her attention to the chair underneath her. She seems seriously impressed, but only for a second. "Neat trick, I'll give you that. I should have known Yu was in on this."

"In on what?" asks Yu. You're also curious.

"Drop the act. You let your friend in here sometime this morning so he could sneak his chair down here," accuses Georgia. "All he had to do then is dramatically reveal it was his chair all along - everybody's impressed, suddenly magic is real. It's a good trick, but not that good."

You laugh. "If it's a trick, why do you believe me when I say it's mine? The simplest explanation is that the chair's yours, not mine, regardless of what I say."

"We all know the chair is yours," says Aiden, picking himself up off the floor. "You just used your magic on it."

"No, it's his because he snuck it in when we weren't looking," says Georga, abandoning 'your' chair and pointing offendedly at it.

While Georgia and Aiden bicker, Yu's expression turns to one of fascination. "Chase, this must be how Gho and Ai perceive your abilities! Ai is super credulous - he accepts anything you say your powers can do, without evidence. Gho's the opposite, she's super incredulous - she'll reject anything that you claim your powers can do, regardless of evidence. She rationalizes anything that goes to the contrary."

"Huh," you say, watching the two argue for a moment. "So they're like opposites of each other. Is it because they're twins?"

"They're not identical twins, but they are siblings," says Yutong. "Still, genetics could play a part in an individual's perceptions."

You consider how Yu perceives your powers - logically, almost matter-of-fact. "I think your cousins are on the same continuum as you, Yutong," in realization. "Georgia doesn't accept evidence, but Aiden accepts all evidence. You conditionally accept evidence based on scientific observation."

"That's a good hypothesis!" Yu has a eureka moment. "And we can test it."

"How?"

"Like this," says Yu. She calls her cousin. "Lina?"

Lina's playing some mobile game to distract herself from the conversation. She glances up to Yu when called. "Hm? What's up?"

"What do you think about Chase's powers?"

Lina shrugs and turns back to her phone. "I don't care."

"So Lina doesn't consider evidence either way," you say. She literally does not give a fuck.

Yu, observing her cousins closely alongside you. "It's a rough model but it has legs. Unfortunately, even if it's only due to their perceptions, none of them seem as interested in understanding your powers as we are," she says.

Aiden and Georgia continue to bicker, while Lina returns to her phone. Seriously? You get no respect.

Yu raises her voice. "Guys, it would be really great if we could move this upstairs to help Chase test things out."

Georgia's response is skeptical. "I'm not interested in seeing any more of your friend's tricks."

"And I've seen more than enough," says Aiden, backing away fearfully.

Lina blinks up from her phone. "Huh? Oh, um, no thanks." She goes back to her game.

"How about I try?" you ask. "Everybody, Yu excepted, I'm claiming a moment of your time to help test my powers. That sound okay to you?"

Aiden turns pale as a sheet. "Oh no."

Georgia laughs. "On second thought, I need to see this."

Lina sighs and pockets her phone. "All right, let's get it over with."

You grin at Yu.

"That's one way to do it," Yu says, smiling back. "Let's go to the backyard everyone, we'll have more space that way."

Yu leads the group upstairs and out a sliding glass door into the back.

Your friend's house has an expansive backyard, that when Lina hits a switch, is illuminated by crisscrossing strings of lights overhead. There's a garden, a wide stretch of grass, a firepit surrounded by outdoor furniture, as well as a modest-sized pool accompanied by a hot tub. Beyond the yard's tall fences, you can make out the dark shapes of hills behind the house - though the glow from the electric lights makes details hard to pick out.

You always forget that Yu's parents are loaded. It's not like her family drives nice cars or wears designer-brand clothing, though.

While Yu directs her cousins to go to the grass, you're drawn to the hot tub. You run a hand along its varnished wood exterior. "This is new," you remark. You've been here a few times with your friends for barbeques with Yu's dad, so you'd know.

"My parents had it put in a couple of months ago, yes," Yu says, noticing you're not with the group. She wrinkles her nose. "They barely even use it."

"It has water jets," adds Lina.

The two of you look at her.

Lina shrugs. "What? It does."

You reluctantly leave the hot tub to join Yu and her cousins out on the grass.

Georgia folds her arms across her chest and takes a deep, longsuffering breath. "So what did you want to show us?"

"Quit antagonizing him, Gho," mutters Aiden, casting a fearful look your way.

Lina, disengaged already, gazes upward at the evening sky.

Standing beside you, Yu surveys her cousins with a thoughtful expression, with suppressed excitement. “So, what do you want to find out about your powers first?" asks your friend, giving you a brief, shy glance.