revivalproject | Plants are the Worst

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Plants are the Worst

WHO: Dustin and you!
WHERE: Somewhere in the northeastern quadrant of Temba and the Hangar.
WHAT: Dustin does not take plants seriously until they make him. Later, he tries to talk to some mushrooms.
WHEN: Where the Wild Things Grow event, August 11th - September 8th.
WARNINGS: Someone needs to wash this boy's mouth out with soap and make him go to his room.

1. Northeastern Temba [OTA]

Dustin had plans. Key word, 'had.' He'd come back from Eorzea with a wealth of new tools, unique chemicals, some potions - hell, even some clothes that were more tolerable in the heat and actually seemed to fit him! It's more of a haul than he was expecting and it leaves him returning to the ship genuinely optimistic about his projects back on Agra-10.

...Well, okay, most of those warm-and-fuzzy feelings end up being constructs of the Agrii and their incredibly effective compulsion abilities, but even after Dustin comes to this realization he finds that they're not totally foreign. For the first time in several years, he has a place that he wants to go back to and improve.

That feeling is what he's trying to focus on now.

It's hours later, back on the surface of Agra-10, Temba. What should have been the road south from the hangar. What it is instead is a miserable slog through too-tall grass and prickly bushes encroaching on just a bare sliver of exposed, cracked asphalt that winds through towering trees blotting out the summer sun, forcing him on a winding route with no static landmarks to speak of. The leatherworking knife he brought back along with his crafter's gloves help him slice through the more onerous vegetation in his way, but it's like he's brought a pocket knife to the heart of the Amazon. The walk is slow, hard, and annoying.

Maybe I can mix up something more effective back at the shop, Dustin considers, grimacing as he pushes aside a blanket of vines dangling in his face. Some of them are as thick as his arm - twitching like one, too. He has to step carefully over their piled-up and tangled mass in the middle of the road. There were a few reagents that had endothermic reactions with each other. If I can isolate the most efficient ingredients and find a way to amplify the cooling effect, maybe I could freeze out some of these irritating plant fuckers from the roots. That'll show 'em.

Something moves next to his ankle. Dustin glances down, just in time to see one of the vines suddenly start to tighten around his leg. He gasps in surprise and hops out of the way--

--Only to feel his feet drop out from underneath him as a mesh of thin roots masquerading as solid ground gives way. This was likely a natural depression made from rubble blocking the road that he just didn't notice under all of the plant cover. Interesting, he thinks, numbly, just before landing in a heap on the leaf-littered dirt at the bottom. The fall isn't far enough to injure him, but the shock and impact still leave him dazed for several seconds.

Then, Dustin looks up. The roots are growing back.

"--H-Hey! Hey!" he yelps in panic, stumbling upright on unsteady legs to scrabble at the edges of the pit. It's about eight feet deep and the sides (or at least, the side he's currently clawing at) are too crumbly to get a good grip with his fingers. "Wait! Fuck!"

2. Temba Hangar [OTA]

Several days later, Dustin returns to the hangar feeling a lot more prepared than when he left it. Not only was he able to make it back to his shop (eventually) and find it relatively unscathed from the storm, but also he has done something he never thought he'd consent to and picked up an expertise. These little mushroom guys - Funfronds, according to the 'Dictionary' - clearly have some kind of negative effect on the overactive plant life around them, and they're intelligent enough to be communicated with so they can discover why, potentially. Dustin feels confident he could have picked up their language with enough patient observation and time, however he is finding himself woefully lacking in both time and patience at the moment. Desperate measures must be taken.

So here he is, sweaty and exhausted from yet another long walk through the aggressive forest, back to where he remembers seeing the Funfronds when they disembarked the ships. There was a crack in the wall, surrounded by glowing moss...but surely he's not the only one chasing this clue here.

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Dustin balks a little at being called an animal, but the flash of emotion passes quickly in the face of rationality. The Funfrond isn't wrong, and the context isn't insulting or derogatory. Simple classification - animal versus fungus.

[Yes.] A beat, as Dustin struggles again with how to best express his ideas with this limited dancing vocabulary. [I can make one? Would need samples for tests.]

[Much time. Have no time. Must fix {…} wrongness.]

The little creature stepped from the last bits of rotting fruit though, moving closer. With its statements done it lets a small hand come up to tap the small, mouth-like structure at the front of its, well, one could do well to call it a ‘face’ though it’s not really the same as a face. There are definitely little eye-like dots that are probably functional like eyes, and then there is that mouth-like structure. Perhaps that’s what it uses to sense the spores?

[Animals return many times. Bring wrongness. All {…} and fixing we do.]

Okay, project for later then. Dustin files that idea away and focuses on the task at hand - the reason why he's been staked out here for three days, he has to remind himself. No time for distractions.

[Yes. Also want to fix the wrongness.] Dustin's finger on his non-dancing hand taps, perturbed, on his opposite arm. It's annoying him that this particular translation is so vague. Like how the Agrii's term for the anomalous events that caused their civilization's downfall is just 'storms.' So much information, lost in imprecise language. [Which animals brought wrongness? How are you fixing? Can help?]

Who knew, maybe Dustin would have many things to study in the future. Perhaps the Funfronds might even want to study him. After all, he speaks. For now the Funfrond points at Dustin then continues its dancing language.

[You animals. They animals. Animals not of here. Many animals not of here.]

The question of how the wrongness is fixed earns a new behavior though. Instead of staying still to ‘talk’, the little Funfrond approaches a nearby plant. This one already seems to not be misbehaving, but it was still a plant. Once there the Funfrond did a little dance, this one not truly communicating words so much as perhaps an interpretive dance in a more metaphorical sense. A dance of ‘soothing’ and ‘healthy growth’ and ‘healing’ perhaps. As it does its quick little dance it releases an almost visible cloud of spores. That done, it stops and turns back to Dustin.

[Fixing. Always fixing. Except in {…} boxes. Less fixing, less wrongness. Animals make right there. Soil pure, water pure, growth pure. Plants {…} forced but {…} joy.]

Dustin's hand stills and his already pale face drains of what little color it has left. We're making it worse, just by being here. God fucking dammit. The Agrii have no fucking clue what they're doing. Or maybe they do - or did, and the whole 'Heroes' bit is a mistranslation passed down through their society's collapse. They're parroting the mistakes of their ancestors.

So focused on spinning through these pessimistic theories, Dustin nearly misses the Funfrond's demonstration of its plant-regulating properties and its explanation of them. He shakes his head to clear it. Speculation, he chides himself. The Funfronds might be attributing causation via correlation. Need more concrete proof. Focus.

[I understand.] At least, he thinks he does. That description sounds like the Greenhouse - particularly in how the plants within are behaving. [Big sun box. Separate from wrongness? How do animals bring wrongness?]

So much thinking, when he could be talking, dancing, knowing. Animals were such strange things.

Still, it seems glad for the new way of describing the Big Sun Box that the other can understand. And good questions.

[Good question. Very happy question! Prove right of me you do! I speak that some animals have smart. Not just nest and burrow and spread! Must give big telling to colonies!]

The little creature seems almost ecstatic in this revelation and for a moment dances in pure joy over knowledge gained. Only then does it turn its attention to Dustin again to answer.

[Animals from away bring plants of new. Plants not of the here. Plants not of {...} and so soils wrong. Makes them sick. Grow wrong. Grow mean. Worse with the wrong storm. But big sun boxes, they {...}, more pure. Soil not of here, but we make better. Soothe plants. Care for plants. They don't know they are wrong. Plants just try, so we help. They do not know they are wrong.]

Dustin frowns a little. He's...flattered? Maybe? The Funfrond isn't wrong - most animals are pretty stupid. Dustin just considers himself to be an exception.

That particular trait comes through in how his brain translates the next set of explanations. 'Storm,' he realizes, has its own gesture separate from 'wrongness;' prior to, he'd been equating them. Now that he's been given further context, the difference makes a lot of sense. This is a classic invasive species problem. Well, maybe not so classic, generally invasive plants don't grow so aggressively that they produce mobile wolf flowers when given too much fertilizer, but. Concept still applies.

[I understand. Here is the wrong place for them. I will speak to the other animals.] A little late for that, Dustin considers blithely, but better to make sure the problem doesn't recur. Which brings up another interesting question: [When did the first wrongness appear? With--] Fuck, how to describe the Agrii? [--Tall Ones? Or after?]

[Other animals help? Many wrong place plants. So many in big stone boxes.]

How was he going to do it all? The little Funfrond seemed very curious. Still, when the other question comes, the figure considers, tilts its crown, and definitely closes the eye-like structures. It's a long time coming, this answer.

[Long time. Many turnings. Very long time. Before colony as is now. Before colony as is before. Very long time. Before Many-Arms. Before before. Not here first. Ask Fruit-Kin. Came there first if correct remembering. To other place. Place of wrong trees of stone. Far Animals come there first.]

Edited 2022-09-15 19:35 (UTC)

Dustin doesn't answer immediately - he needs more time to properly translate that explanation. His eyes twitch as he cycles through possible information.

Fruit-Kin...some kind of similar plant-based sentient organism? Might be described under Fauna, then... It takes barely a moment for Dustin to get a ping. --Barrys? That makes sense. And they predominantly live in Sh'ka, which incorporates a lot of stonework that seems to be sized differently...Right.

And then his hand moves. [Understand. I will speak with Fruit-Kin. But, animals need...]

The term 'spores' seems like one of those that Dustin can't replicate directly, which makes sense given the context, but now he has to try and come up with a different term that still makes sense. Eventually he settles on repeating the 'healing' dance the Funfrond showed him a few moments ago, albeit without the puff of spores at the end.

[...I can make more, maybe? Samples in Sun Box soil? Water?]

Well now this was interesting. The Funfrond considers him for a very long moment.

[Animal think make spore for peace of plants? You have no {...} how would make?]

How could an animal do the process, this was a mystery to the little creature.

[Make,] Dustin repeats with a frown. The word doesn't seem to be getting the traction he wants, though, so he fumbles for a different one. [Build? Get sample, see what spores made of, build new. Maybe not possible, not time. Won't know unless I try.]

This is an interesting question. Because the Funfronds make them. Perhaps it's possible though.

[Must asking colony. You again come next sun low? Give you answer.]

Dustin nods eagerly at the same time that he answers with his hand, having it 'bow' in a gesture he knows is one of appreciation.

[Yes. Return what is owed. I will not disappoint.]

[Yes, return then. Will give speaking of colony.]

And with that, the little creature rushed back off for the dark. It was definitely time for it to go do the telling to its colony.

True to its word, it would return the next day, before sunset, or 'sun low' as it had said.

Dustin is there, as promised. Obviously he hasn't remained idle since the previous day's meeting; aside from having to go back to his shop to hide from the Thorntooths (and just barely making it at that), he's spent a good chunk of today at the Greenhouse, taking soil, water, and various plant samples. He lacks the testing equipment to properly analyze their compositions and a spore sample to check them against, but at least he has somewhere to start.

There's a similar pile of old fruit left for the Funfronds this evening, much like last time, except this batch includes a more varied diet: Some slightly-off vegetables are there, too, plus some seeds that got a little too damp in deep storage. Dustin is more open about sitting next to his offering now, with his hand already on the ground and ready to dance a greeting when his new Funfrond ambassador friend arrives.

The creature does indeed make its arrival on time, though it continues to stay in shadows for a little bit, waiting, considering. Only when it had taken the time to prove the area was not an immediate trap did it rush to the offerings. It seemed most particularly gleeful over the bad seeds and shivered in delight before performing a welcoming dance toward Dustin.

[News to you I brain. Tidings of the colony.]

A little paranoid creature after Dustin's own heart. He waits patiently for it to determine that the area is safe, trying not to fidget too much until it addresses him formally, at which point he returns the customary finger-puppet dance of greeting.

[Eager to hear the news.]

The eagerness is met with quite a bit of eagerness from the Funfrond itself, its dancing communication met with more energy than before.

[Colony say try. Many wrong plants, not easy help for us. Animals help spread? Help bring peace?]

Dustin cannot stop his face from splitting into a flashed grin of enthusiasm - not just in being allowed to find a solution to this apparently widespread problem, but also in having the doors opened for what sounds like fascinating research. Working out these sorts of puzzles is a dream come true for him.

[Can try,] Dustin reiterates. [I do my best. What colony willing to provide?]

Well, he's definitely got a seemingly equally enthused Funfrond in the mix here. One that does a little dance of joy because it's so eager over all of this. Especially in finding animal who will help.

[Spores. Answers of where putting spores. Teaching? We can teaching.]

[More than enough,] Dustin responds with a quick and happy-looking skip of his fingers. The gesture is appropriate for the idea he wants to get across, plus, he's just as excited as the Funfrond is. He pauses to shuffle through his satchel with his free hand, obtaining a round flask a moment later - one of the old, cleaned healing potion bottles from Eorzea. [Can collect spores. Save for later, study, learn. Show where putting spores? Map?]

The little being considers the container, tilting its whole body so it looks a bit lopsided. A very clear gesture of confusion.

[How put spores in?]

That's fair - none of these materials Dustin gathered would be familiar to the Funfronds, he figures, and the whole process is probably quite strange to them regardless. He sets the flask down, watching from the corner of his eye while he reaches back into the satchel for another couple of boons from Eorzea: A sheet of paper, torn into strips, and an eye-dropper, both casually lifted from the Alchemists' Guild.

[Few steps,] the other hand dances, then is forced to pause as Dustin commandeers it to carefully dribble some water onto a strip of paper, just enough to dampen it. [This under...]

He doesn't know the word (or anatomical equivalent) for 'cap,' so Dustin settles for holding the wet paper strip up to his dancing hand, tucked under his thumb.

[...Where spores come out. Sticks. You dance. I store, here.] With an accompanying gesture to the flask. This is not the ideal form of mushroom spore collection Dustin came up with; in a perfect world, he would put a whole damp culture underneath the Funfrond and trap it inside a dome or something while it danced, then wait a few hours for the spores to settle naturally. He doubts he'd get permission for that sort of thing, though. Hoping for enough spores to peel away with the paper will have to do.

Yes, it's not ideal, but the Funfrond seems keen to try. It offers a bow and, at last, moves cautiously forward. It is time for their experiment.

[You place. I dance.]

Good enough. [Still,] Dustin directs. Then, slowly, he removes his communication hand from the ground so he can better maneuver the strip of paper into place. He doesn't want to alarm the creature - based on his observations on their first meeting, he gets the impression that the Funfronds sense vibrations through the ground much better than the air, or seeing movement in general, so removing his primary connection to the earth might disorient the little fungus. Not much other choice, though. At least Dustin has careful fingers, used to working on tiny parts; he's surprisingly delicate and precise.

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