Aahana Swrup
The sci-fi world presented within the ‘Code 8′ franchise explores a society where superhumans, a minority population, face oppression within a system designed to stack the odds against them. In fictionalized Lincoln City, the leading protagonists, Connor and Garrett, confront hypervigilant policing after the city’s strict regulations push them on the wrong side of the unfair law. Thus, through their misadventure in the first film, the narrative delves into their specific power set as Electrics with the ability to manipulate electric charge.
Inversely, the second film revolving around Connor’s mission— of protecting a young superhuman, Pavani, from being hunted by the city’s corrupt cops, shifts the focus to the latter’s powers as a transducer. Since Pavani’s abilities become a narrative center within the sequel, fans must be looking for a deeper insight into the powers of transduction. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Pavani and Her Powers As a Transducer
Like the Electric superhuman class established in the first film, Transducers are another category of superhumans introduced in the second film. In-universe, there has yet only been one significant example of a Transducer superhuman, Pavani, with Garrett conveying that the kid’s abilities are particularly unique. Nevertheless, the narrative offers a comprehensive account of such powers.
Outside of superhuman abilities, a transducer is any electronic device that converts energy from one form to another. Therefore, a microphone— which converts sound wave input into audio signal output— is a prime example of a transducer from regular life. Consequently, Pavani’s abilities work in much the same way. With enough mastery over her skills, the girl can take the energy within one electronic device— be it in the form of programming, memory, or otherwise— and mold it according to her will.
Within the plot, Pavani’s abilities come in most handy when faced against the superhumans’ newly manufactured robotic adversary: the Canine robo-dogs. Although Pavani is not well-trained in her abilities, she can still control these Canines and access their memory data to transfer them into another device through significant energy depletion on her part. Furthermore, during more relaxed settings, her powers also control things like radio stations and television channels.
As such, the technology-driven aspect of Pavani’s abilities ends up complementing her mentor/adoptive caretaker, Connor, who is an Electric superhuman himself. The film bestows specific gravity on the equipment of technology by the regular people in order to go up against the superhumans. As such, even though the powered individuals have an evolutionary advantage, their opposing sector’s employment of drones and aggressive androids, such as the Canines or the Guardians, overpowers and outnumbers them.
In the midst of this dynamic, Connor and Garrett’s classifications as Electrics— even though on separate power levels— proved to be a notable tool in their arsenal against the city’s police department in the first film. Consequently, their battles against the Guardians were on more equal footing than they would have been if their powers manifested in different ways. Thus, the duo ends up being the perfect fit for the narrative.
Similarly, Pavani’s abilities as a transducer provide the young girl with a remarkable link to technology that ends up being her best-used tool against her aggregators’ tech-savvy attacks. Furthermore, her unique skill set modernizes the franchise’s subliminal and gradual fight between the superhumans and the corrupt system while maintaining the inherent link between the two.
As a result, her superhuman classification will most likely progress the narrative down intriguing roads, considering the police’s reliance on technology in their collective oppression of superhumans. Ultimately, Pavani’s powers, paired with Connor and Garret’s abilities, promise an engaging dynamic with the team-up between technological manipulation and raw brute force.
Read More: What is Psyke in Code 8, Explained
