For swerved: "Circa 1900's-ish, JC invents plastic, and Lance thinks up interesting ways it can be used."

"Look at this," JC said, waving the sheet of slightly rubbery synthetic material under Lance's nose. It smelled faintly of chemicals, and artificial mustiness, and when Lance touched it he could feel his skin starting to crawl.

"Very nice," Lance said, patiently. He was used to being presented with odd devices, and strange substances, and unusual things for which he had no name and no function. It was simply one of the hazards of living with a genius inventor. "What is it?"

"I don't know!" JC bounced on his toes and beamed. "I was bored and I tried a little bit of this and a little of that and when it all cooled off, this was what I had. It's kind of neat. It feels funny, and you can pull on it and it won't come apart, and I think that it might be really durable but I'm going to have to bury it outside in the backyard for a few months and see how it holds up. Isn't it interesting?"

Lance sighed and took the stuff from JC's hand, putting one hand on each edge of the sheet and tugging experimentally. There was a little bit of give to it, but not a whole lot, and it seemed very durable. "Hmm," he said, and looped it around both of JC's wrists to see how pliable it was. It was. Very. "...Interesting. Yes. I think interesting is a good word for it."

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