@Lord Wraith@Stein I am a little tentative about that myself. My justification feels sound though. But probably good to run it by you... Especially since you asked. Ha. Oh and
@Hillan too.
So, if I'm understanding your point correctly, pretty sure I am, but y'know, I might not be, anyway! The main reason Andrew would start off with the risk is because he is unaware of it. He knows about the consequences of lowering his density, which aren't great, he'll be honest with you there, but he's never had an issue with a fast heart rate before, so his heart can slow down on its own and, for the most part, he assumes it's like exercising, since it was worse when he started. And the pacemaker makes sure that when he goes back to normal density, all that extra work doesn't just leave his heart giving out. He's also used to watching for the symptoms of arrhythmia, and is aware of his limits, so he's not afraid of testing them or making sure someone is there to spot him.
When he starts out with the fighting crime thing, and it winds up being less preparation and less safe because obviously, he won't be stopping in the middle of a chase or fight to check his pulse or be able to call a time out if he feels some bad palpitations, then I'm hoping for some chance at character development. Since it
would be a risk and he'd be fully aware of it at that point. And he'd have to decide if that's something he wants to continue to risk. I cannot promise he will, but I know him fairly well in my head, and it wouldn't be something he'd want to give up on immediately, so he'd want to look for work arounds, compensating methods, that sort of thing. And it would make working in a group a much better idea. ;) Not that he needs the incentive there. He likes people. And if nothing else would motivate him to stay with them, it'd be that. He'd want to help them, even if it's not in the obvious way, he wouldn't like bowing out just because of the risks to him when they're risking themselves too. (granted, risking himself might only add to the complications they'd be dealing with, but that would be another character development moment, I hope)
It's a sort of, it landed at his feet as a solution to 'what do I do with my life to pay it back?' and he wouldn't readily let it go. He was still fairly young when he got his power, so he definitely would have thought about fighting crime or helping out somehow, but he wasn't in much of a position to make that happen, and still had some heart problems, so it was just a fantasy that he half-forgot about. So, I'm hoping that the first time he does it, it's kind of an accident, and then, after that, he realises that it might not be as out of his reach as he's always thought. Then whoops, maybe it is, after all. Psyche.
The heart thing, I will admit I am not 100% in the know on, as I've only been using internet research and a few blogs to get my knowhow. He had the actual heart transplant 15 years ago, and while I know he probably has to take medication for it for life, I'm not aware of any other regular routines he'd have to go through at this point apart from doctor check-ups(if anyone else knows, feel free to toss that knowledge my way). The pace-maker, which he's had for about 8 years, does have a few points of weakness of its own (which I think I've still managed to not include, go me), but apart from the potential for its shocks to get out of alignment with the greater density (don't ask me if that is at all scientific), it is meant to let him do most things, if not everything, as anyone else might manage. And as far as I know, the recovery time for the initial operation is expected to be about 5 months or less depending on the type of operation, with minimal maintenance required.
The only thing I think that could cause a problem (apart from the ones I actually want) is the fact that I had the EMP short out the batteries in it. Since I'm pretty sure it would do that whether I want it to or not. And changing the batteries does require a small operation to get to the pacemaker, but I don't think the recovery time is nearly as long.
Hopefully I've answered your concerns somewhere in that ramble. Sorry, I just kept going... If not, poke me, or something.