Reviewed:
The most powerful man on or off Earth bends his pride and asks Earth’s best paraphysicist for help: a girl’s newly awakened MORFS power is out of control, endangering both herself and his space station. Will they help her in time? And at what cost?
Sidebar: MORFS is an open shared universe, taking place in the decades following a plague, Massive Ontogenetic Regulation Failure Syndrome, that frequently causes infected teenagers (after the initial epidemic, only teenagers are affected) to morph unpredictably. Sometimes it’s just a shift in appearance, sometimes it’s a hybridization with animal traits, and sometimes they gain psychic powers—some of which lead to superhero adventure yarns. Most writers in the universe have migrated off SOL, but of the stories still here, there’s a couple excellent tales, including this one.
Unlike most MORFS stories, this isn’t about a teenager coming to terms with their transformation. The main characters are adults dealing with (and helping her deal with) a kid’s frightening new powers, but the adults are front and center. It’s a problem-solving science-fiction tale, where engineering (and theoretical physics) is the main point.
It’s a good story, but not a good introduction to the MORFS universe—it relies a little too much on knowing the premise. Plus, well, the last chapter is filled with non-plot-relevant callbacks to (and characters from) other stories, something I find rarely handled well even when I’m deeply invested in a series. But regardless, it’s a good story—and recommended.