revivalproject | Into the Depths

Entry tags:

Into the Depths | Closed

WHO: Dustin, Tony, some mushrooms
WHERE: Temba Mines
WHAT: Dustin and Tony do some Funfrond-spotting and subterranean map updates
WHEN: Late November, post-event
WARNINGS: Foul language as always

Honestly, Dustin had finished this project for the Funfronds at the beginning of the month. All it took was a few more replicated biochemistry tools (before the replicator was taken and subsequently ruined by the Agrii) before he had a whole culture of spores growing, identical to the original sample gathered nearly three months ago. Dustin can no longer claim to be low on supplies for such undertakings in future; half his shop might as well be a bioengineering lab at this point.

What's kept him from distributing is second verification. And what's kept him from getting that second verification is...distraction. Pedantry. He doesn't like that there's a sheer pit in the center of town that the Funfronds tend to gather around, and he wants to be able to get out of it if he ever falls in. A couple of near-misses during last month's storm might be inspiring this impromptu project, but either way, it's set back his schedule by nearly a week and he only slightly regrets it.

For several hours every day, Dustin arrives at the cavern like clockwork, sets out a bundle of climbing gear, rappels himself down the hole and installs metal footholds as he goes. He stops for breaks, obviously - the noodle-armed boy doesn't have the stamina for this kind of sustained labor - when he runs out rope, and when he runs out of footholds. It is a long and tiring process.

But, finally, he's nearing the end. It's dawn, and Dustin is approaching the mine with more than just construction and climbing gear; now he has a backpack of non-perishable food, some towels and a blanket, basic first-aid supplies, a flashlight and batteries, a lightweight pick and shovel, among other things weighing him down. A section of Funfrond spore culture is carefully tucked away in a padded side pocket. The whole ensemble is half as big as he is, and it's all necessary.

Today, Dustin plans to reach the bottom of the pit and stay there.

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Dustin eventually gives up on shooting backwards glares at Tony while they walk - the man talks so much that it's basically impossible to lose track of him, in spite of how his voice echoes through the main tunnel ahead. His steps are cautious, but without hesitation. Dustin knows where he's going.

"Let me know when you get around to building that giant manhole cover," he mumbles. Then, changing tracks, "See anything?"

Tony had mentioned that his helmet had some infrared-adjacent technology built into it, which could make him a valuable scouting resource. But luckily for both of them, the Agrii's bug-repellant measures have been successful; the tunnels ahead are empty and quiet, and apparently have been for some time.

If Iron Man did see anything, Dustin was going to wait for the answer while he happily retorted instead, "It'll take about as long as your four hundred and eighteen metre elevator. We'll pop the champagne together," and took his time considering the tunnel and the information he did have. Reeve's maps didn't go this far, and after spending several days down here he had not found a good direction to wander out in, though see also: local idiot population. He had not done much of anything good with that time.

"If they are down here," he finally said, with a glance over his shoulder back the way they had come, tracking the movement of the air, "the only way out is the way we came down. At least--I don't know--maybe there's plant-sized access points. I'm not seeing any hotspots, if that's what you're looking for, but you might be interested to know there is a higher concentration of CO2 from this direction. If that's the kind of thing you're into."

A valid point, but not one that Dustin is in the mood to acknowledge amicably. He grumbles something irritably under his breath and sweeps Tony's quip away with a wave of his hand.

His answer to Dustin's question is much more interesting, besides. "...Yes," he says, pausing to glance in the same direction as the Iron Man's helmeted, glowing eyes. "Aside from respiration, anyway. Funfronds feed on decaying plant matter. I've never observed them eating on the surface, so that would imply they take it back to a centralized colony; whatever food storage they have should be emitting carbon dioxide at a significantly higher rate than ambient as it passively decomposes."

"Yeah, sure, it's plant matter that's decomposing, nothing to worry about," Tony wasn't so ready to believe. No one else had gone mysteriously missing, right? Dustin would have to get some control over his mushroom enthusiasm for Iron Man to finally slip ahead of him, one hand out to keep him behind the armor while Tony found out for them what was rotting away underneath the city before Dustin had to have any dreams about it. He only hesitated in his slinking approach down the tunnel when he started detecting a sound, a rustling and the clatter of sliding pebbles; something moving. Hopefully, that wasn't also what was rotting.

Dustin, pretty clearly understanding what his traveling companion is getting at, rolls his eyes as Tony passes him. "I haven't tested if they're omnivores," he says, deadpan, halting just before his chest impacts Tony's outstretched arm. Then he ducks underneath it and keeps going. "I suppose there's no reason why they wouldn't be - most Earth-based fungi are opportunistic enough to decompose plant and animal matter. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Agrii were using them as some kind of convenient body-disposal unit."

Before he can continue needling at Tony's Funfrond paranoia, however, both of them are startled into stillness by the sound of something moving up ahead. Dustin flinches and reaches for his belt; his leatherworking dagger is sheathed there, and although it wasn't made as a weapon, Dustin will absolutely shank an alien cockroach with it if he has to.

"The fuck was that?"

What indeed? Moments after the noise there is a little bit of motion, something blue-purple and slightly glowing in some places, rolling into the middle of the path. After a moment of stillness it is obvious that the glowing is the cap of a mushroom. A mushroom that stands after a moment, then dances a vigorous jig in the direction of the pebbles it had tumbled down. A jig that, since both of those present had the Communication datapoint, would be understood as language.

[Push fair not!]

Then it moves back toward the pebbles, clearly rushing back to meet whoever 'pushed' it.

Dustin didn't get the chance to do any panic-shanking with Iron Man already frowning at the back of his head and arm still raised at the ready to snatch him abruptly by the collar and yank him back when the ambiguous sound became distinct movement. He didn't get much further than that, holding Dustin by the shirt at his side and raising a lip at the glowing thing in the beat of stillness that followed, and only tightening his grip as the new entity...danced at them.

For a hysterical moment, Tony thought he understood this dance, only what it was saying was nonsense. He might have been the bigger threat here to Dustin, who could just step on the glowing thing if it got too excited, so he finally released the kid with an apologetic pat to the fabric, to try to put both of their dignity back together.

Dustin has just enough time to recognize the little figure before he's roughly dragged away by the scruff of his neck, multiple sweaters, and a coat. His eyes, already wide from realization, bug out in surprise.

"H--Hey! Let go!" The boy squirms like a feral animal and lets out a string of furious curses, consequently missing the Funfrond's own dance of protest in the process. There's absolutely nothing to be done against the Iron Man's grip, however, so he doesn't actually escape until Tony allows him to, at which point Dustin promptly scuttles a few steps ahead and drops to the ground. Experience tells him that Funfrond language is just as reliant on vibrations transmitted by their movements as it is actually seeing them, if not more so, which means the fact that the quickly-retreating mushroom isn't facing him shouldn't be too much of a problem.

One of his hands perches on the soil, standing upright on its index and middle fingers, with thumb and pinkie extended in a rough approximation of waving arms. Then he makes it dance back.

[Wait!! Have words for colony!]

The movement of the He Rows finally drew the attention of the little Funfrond, which looked ready to run away until Dustin moved to 'speak' to them. After a moment another Funfrond appeared, this one more red and amber in color. They watched Dustin for a while before the original blue one danced a tentative response.

[Not allowed talk to big strange animals.]

Ah stranger danger, you apparently can exist in many cultures.

Edited 2023-01-06 19:19 (UTC)

Oh, good, Dustin was on the floor and talking to the fungus. Wait--that was talking, Tony realized, in not so much of a rush but slinking closer after Dustin as the mushrooms considered them, and then did their little dance again. That was a lot more clear to Tony than the first phrase, and he helpfully provided, "They think you're being an animal, and honestly, this is all pretty rude, usually you'd start with a greeting, maybe bring a gift for the hostess. Call ahead, even. The clothes can't really be helped, but we could still work on it, if you've got a couple of years and are willing to address the hair issue."

Dustin breathes a sigh of exasperation, both at the Funfrond's (admittedly expected) wary response and the peanut gallery's commentary behind him. He decides to address both at once.

"I know a guy," Dustin hisses at Tony. Simultaneously - effortlessly in fact - his hand does an agitated jig at the pair of Funfronds. [Dealings before, on surface. Make spores, show map? Spoke to this one.]

Then his other hand is drawing a crude picture of the multi-tiered Funfrond he talked to several months ago in the dirt, unconsciously emulating the style of the mural Funfronds at the Memorial. All this, while still talking to Tony.

"Most of them don't even know we're sapient," he explains quickly, tone hushed and more than a little snide. "Their language and behavior accounts for that. It's not like there's a standard work for polite discourse with them, unless that's really what you want to focus on."

There's a beat. Dustin's eyes narrow, twisting his neck sharply to glare at Tony over his shoulder.

"...The fuck do you mean, 'hair issue?'"

The little Funfronds pay lots more attention to Dustin because he's actually a talking creature, and when he explains the look between each other and nod. One runs off on little toddling legs while the other watches Tony and Dustin together.

[Big animal very funny look. Why moss on face?]

The sapience thing seemed to be a mutual issue, so Tony wasn't about to take the assessment personally. Much like that sharp look that Dustin shot him for the dig, to which he only opened a delicate hand in surrender, like he couldn't be expected to have any control over how he responded to how Dustin chose to keep himself. "It would probably be useful to focus on, you know, if you want to have an ongoing working relationship. I find it's best to keep those well lubricated," he continued easily as he watched the one little fungus take its leave, eyes narrowing cautiously.

Not sure if he should be offended by a mushroom creature being so unappreciative of his appearance, they clearly had different standards, Iron Man still corrected, "It's a mask," out loud even as he made a much bigger gesture than Dustin had restrained himself to to translate for the whole party. It wasn't quite a dance, but there was plenty of arm swinging that probably didn't capture quite as much as he chattered out loud, "It's very fashionable, sweetheart, and if you're really nice, maybe I can make you one as well. You'll be the talk of the underground."

Dustin catches the movement of the remaining Funfrond out of the corner of his eye, just enough to interpret what it's said. Is it talking to me, or--? Ambiguity aside, he still brings up a hand to self-consciously scratch at the scraggly patch of peach fuzz struggling to grow on his chin while the Iron Man takes up the Funfrond's attention (something he's only briefly confused about, before recognizing that he must have the Communications expertise as well). Maybe he's internalizing what Tony said about his hair a little too much.

Dustin brings his hand up to knead at the bridge of his nose. "Please don't flirt with the mushrooms," he groans into his palm, quietly mortified and looking very tired. "I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth. What the fuck."

Again the little creature considers them for a long moment. What was it thinking? Perhaps it was not thinking. At last it answered with a careful little dance.

[Shiny rock for face is pretty. Want shiny rock! Give shiny rock?]

The mask could not reveal much, and Dustin very clearly did not want to look at him anymore, but Tony still tilted his head to shoot the kid a coquettish smirk and was absolutely thrilled to carry on in front of him, "Of course, I would be honoured to serve your pleasure. What's your favourite colour? Can you see colours? You'll feel as beautiful as the rest of us know you are." He finished his dance by bending down where he could give Dustin's back a light pat of encouragement, so he knew Tony was grinning at him for such a successful introduction.

Dustin realizes his mistake as soon as Tony turns to look at him. His face is hidden behind that impassive metal helmet, but Dustin knows exactly what's going through Tony's head in that moment, and he is so full of regret for giving him any ideas. At least the Funfrond is taking it well, for better or for worse.

"I'm gonna...go," he mumbles awkwardly, deftly dodging the hand approaching his back by shuffling to his feet. "I'll, uh. Keep watch for the other Funfrond and anything else. Try not to scare this one off, would you?"

Well, good news and bad news on that intended departure was that as he rose, the Funfrond Dustin would know best finally arrived down the skittering of loose pebbles. The other small Funfrond did not return, and this one shuddered its cap at the one addressing Tony.

The smaller funfrond, a child perhaps, looked meek and then rushed away, leaving the contact before Dustin and Tony. It considered for a moment before dancing.

[Greeting. Returning you are. Have spores? Who other?]

Tony had just started to pout at Dustin for not playing along in this game he had started, only to pluck at his clothes again to keep him from going as the new creature appeared. He had to lament, "Oh, okay," as the friend he was making went instead, wiggling his fingers in farewell. He still didn't know what this deal was that Dustin clearly needed his help brokering, but he could answer--well, no, he didn't know how to give his name in this language. He had to offer, "Iron Man," then finally crouched to bring himself closer to the funfrond's level. "He wanted to introduce us, said you had a lot to teach me." If Dustin wanted to argue about that, hopefully he had enough sense to do it later.

Dustin scowls - outwardly because Tony is going to great lengths to annoy him, which warrants an irritated swat at his hand for his troubles, but there are other things about this situation bothering him, too. The spore communication part of Funfrond language still eludes him, which means he can't figure out why his usual contact has apparently sent the remaining one away. It could be to keep the littler mushroom from getting in the way; it could also be to protect them from the pair of strange humans near their home. The latter possibility, with how forthcoming this Funfrond has been with him in the past, is troubling.

His discomfort is only made worse when Tony decides to speak for him. "Lying for me won't do you any favors," Dustin hisses, before he also crouches to the ground so he can once again speak with his hand. [Have spores. Want test, see if good make. Also check that colony safe after plants.]

There's a beat as Dustin shoots Tony a Look.

[Iron Man animal follow from surface.]

Many good words there, and the Funfrond considered before responding. But this time there was an almost joyful and excited energy to the dancing. Any other Funfronds around would be able to taste the happy energy in the spores it released, but sadly the animals could not.

[Meet good Iron Animal! Meet good Fluffy Animal! Colony [...] do well now. Plenty season for us. Plants and Wrong Plants and Away Plants all sleep. Is [...] time now.]

The gaps were clearly moments where something it was doing didn't translate, and in truth it was because of the concepts were ones relayed only by spores, not by dance and spores. But still the little Funfrond continued.

[In return I believed. Find moss for test! Follow please?]

While Tony had caught the last part, he finally hesitated, looking to Dustin like he might watch to see what the kid did next again, unconcerned that this might be burying Tony to stop him from talking. "Did you catch all of that?" he muttered, like there was any chance the funfrond would pick up on what he was saying. A mystery test was unnerving enough without even knowing the available parameters.

Dustin's brow crinkles a little as his brain first unconsciously processes what the Funfrond has danced for them, then he actively tries to work through what it means.

"Mostly," he murmurs, gesturing a quick [I follow] before lifting his hand and standing up. Just going to gloss over the name that the Funfrond has given for him; much like what Tony's noticed, their human names don't exactly translate well, and Dustin's nasty habit of never giving his out unless directly asked has apparently forced the mushroom to improvise. He supposes it could have been worse. "Part of their language is spore-based. Obviously we lack the receptors to process it, so there's going to be some blanks. Trying to develop a workaround."

[Take to wrong moss. Come this way.]

The Funfrond sketched a bow that somehow meant thank you and have patience at the same time before turning and darting away with surprising speed for something of its size. It would be happy to lead them after all, just like it said. If at any point the He Rows fell behind it would stop, just far enough to be seen from a distance, its cap glowing faintly, as it waited for the smart animals to catch up. And the path it would take would be very winding until it came to stop before what might seem like nothing more than a blank side of the cave tunnels, there to wait for the animals to catch up to it.

Wrong moss? Tony didn't need much more context to figure 'wrong plants' might have been those that were running wild when they had returned from their alien vacation, but as far as he knew, those had all...gone away, much like their arrival. It wasn't really his area. Any lingering wrong plants, mossy or otherwise, should have been an imminent threat. It only got worse as their path kept twisting, deeper into the underground and away from Tony's sure way out, and worse yet as he continue to mutter at Dustin, "Gotta be honest with you, I'm not really interested in getting their spores in my brain, that's pretty low on my list of desires, sweetheart."

By the time they had come to a stop in the dark, he was tense in his suit, his fists obviously balled around the glow of his palms.

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