revivalproject | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes, the replicator is such a lovely machine. I am attempting to figure out how to program it to make some Kree medical instruments," she said with a smile. It would be useful, to be able to have more healing tools.

"And the Map on our Communication devices. Apparently it did not have labels before. The lady gave them to us. But that was before my time."

Dustin's eyebrows steadily rise. It's helpful to know that the whole Temba and Sh'ka map system was apparently installed by someone who wasn't even from this planet - interesting in its own right - but his attention is stolen by Lauri-Ell's talk about the replicator again. He assumed they were just for food. He didn't even realize he could reprogram them. The devices on the spaceships have been totally inscrutable, even on the level of blindly breaking them down for parts; it's led Dustin to believe that the knowledge is, like many things the Agrii don't want them to know about without their direct meddling, locked behind a data point.

Naturally, he's missing the mark here.

"...Lauri-Ell," Dustin starts, brazenly ignoring the fact that Lauri-Ell has not formally introduced herself to him, "do you have an Expertise?"

Well, that's how she understands it. How accurate Lauri-Ell's information is happens to be something he'd have to ask another. Still, she smiles as he asks his question, not bothered by his use of her name. It's not like there are a lot of blue people around.

"Yes. I am currently Medical. I have previously been Security."

This is the first clue that maybe his logic isn't sound. Dustin is visibly confused when he turns to look back up at Lauri-Ell.

"How are you able to reprogram the replicator, then?" he asks incredulously. "I can't get into the one on the Palm Cottage at all."

This, said with the baffled tone of someone that definitely doesn't think Lauri-Ell is as technologically savvy as he is. If he can't do it, then clearly an Engineering Expertise is required to achieve a higher level of genius. Obviously.

"You feed the replicator detailed specifications and-"

Wait. She frowns.

"You're talking of the dispensers. These do not change. The replicator does."

Dustin's brain grinds to a halt.

"They're not--" Fuck. He shakes his head like he's being menaced by a fly, face rapidly turning red with embarrassment. "--Shit. The hell is the replicator, then?"

Ah, welcome to the conversation. Lauri-Ell is too kind to tease him, she just smiles patiently.

"The device in the Whale Comb Sent Her, near the Soup Lies box. We can each use it a limited amount of times a month."

"That thing?" Dustin sputters. Sitting under his nose, this whole time? Here he thought the Agrii had provided it to fulfill requests, but now--

Well, is it really better that it came from some stranger on another planet that might be Agrii-adjacent? In some ways, Dustin thinks it is; he feels like he has a better chance of actually understanding how the thing works without implanting memories of it into his brain like a telepathic driver updates. He will take what he can get.

Thus inspired, Dustin's expression shifts from embarrassment to earnest enthusiasm. "How long has it been there? Why is it limited? What kinds of things have people been able to make with it?"

"I do not know. I do not know. And I do not know," she admits with a shrug. "I have heard of things people do. Sometimes I get clothes from it. Sometimes they get foods. But I do not know the limits of it, only that one must be able to describe it, often to great detail, and that weapons are not possible."

Dustin sucks in a breath like he's about to rapid-fire another series of questions at her, but thankfully for Lauri-Ell, he's just about able to stop himself. This is enough information to get his brain buzzing over the possibilities. Lenses and mirrors, proper climbing gear, a chemistry set - it's like a whole other realm of possibilities has opened up, just waiting for Dustin to take advantage of it.

That is, if it hasn't been totally destroyed by plants. Dustin's face pales.

"--Do you think it's safe?" he stammers. "Has it been damaged by the storms before?"

"That building," she says, her voice thoughtful, "has often been a shelter from storms and other bad things. I think... there is something special about it. If that is true, it will be safe."

And safe is the best this place can offer them.

Dustin nods vigorously. "Good...should still check on it anyway," he considers, running a nervous hand through his hair. "Just in case. I can detour, it's not too far from my shop. We should be close."

"Alright," she said with a smile. "This is no doubt wise. I will help ensure your path is clear."

Plants are the Worst

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