Department of research

Things I spent time working out today: whether undocumented shapeshifters would be able to get driver’s licenses in New Mexico. Conclusion: If they could get them anywhere, that would be one of the places they could. But while New Mexico doesn’t require proof of U.S. citizenship for a driver’s license, it does require proof one officially exists in the eyes of some country. Which most of my shapeshifters have, but this one doesn’t.

Of course, driver’s license requirements are already a plot point, since my protagonist is from Manhattan, and New York City is one of the few places where a 16-year-old might not yet know how to drive, and would have minimal experience, regardless. Not because of mass transit, but because the driving age is 18 there.

Meanwhile, another research question. For those of you who have had broken arms or legs, especially in your teens: just how much did it hurt? And just how capable were you of focusing on other things while it was hurting, before some form of painkillers arrived? That is, just how consuming, or not, was the degree of pain? (Thanks!)