Microstory 126: Connor Higgins

This is an experimental Bellevue Profile microstory. The introduction can be found in Microstory 101. More to follow.

Like Helen Larkin, Connor Higgins was one of the few people to be categorized as meta-anomalies, in that his only ability was to negate other people’s abilities. Sandro Watts’ darts have no effect on him, Hosanna Katz cannot manipulate his feelings, and Patience Cooney would not be able to place him inside one of her stones. Though his ability to prevent others from using their abilities had limited range, he would always remained unchanged by them, regardless of how far they were standing from him. For instance, if fire manipulator Diane Ghoti was far enough away to create a fireball and send it flying towards him across the distance, a protective force field would surround him and protect him from it, even though the fire itself was really just like any other fire. But there was also a downside to this. There was no way to turn his ability off, or control its targets. Connor has never teleported with Jaklyn Simonds. He has never passed through a wall with Serenity Theodo. While it’s true that, if Catriona Rice were to turn invisible within view of him, he would be able to see her when no one else could, it is equally true that he has never been physically capable of seeing one of her magnificent holographic images, even as others do. Though he passionately wanted to join Bellevue and be a part of the group, it was simply too impractical at first. They couldn’t risk having him near someone like Blake Williams when there was a quake that needed neutralizing, or Ellen Snider mid-flight. Later on in the organization’s history, as growth became more and more necessary, he traveled the world and recruited non-anomalies for field and office positions, but he missed out on a lot of the goings on. He wasn’t alone in his job, though. His best friend, Bree Nolan stuck with him even though he prevented her from using her ability. There was one major contribution that Connor was able to make. When his blood was mixed into paint, and then applied to a room, that room could become an effective prison for anomalies. This would prove to come in very handy once Bellevue started encountering some disagreeable and dangerous characters.