forfeiting a darker base

[Ostap]

During a brief power outage, Ed Glosser’s tanning booth experiences a slight malfunction. Forfeiting a darker base, he instead gains the mildly impressive ability to foretell insignificant events of the immediate future.

timecode

Hello, teachers. What does "base" mean in this sentence?

 

[SoothingDave]

The "base" level of tanning.

 

[jutfrank]

What is a Base Tan? (with pictures)

A base tan is a suntan that develops over a long period of time. Many tanning salons recommend getting a base tan as a protective...

www.beautyanswered.com

 

[Skrej]

he instead gains the mildly impressive ability to foretell insignificant events of the immediate future.

This reminds me of a short radio comedy skit I once heard about a group of "so-so heroes" (as opposed to superheroes) with very underwhelming special abilities.

One woman's psychic ability was limited to simply knowing a phone call was imminent. Her prescience was however limited to about 2 seconds into the future, so the running gag was her saying "I'll get it!" immediately before the phone rang.