revivalproject | Beyond the Boundaries

Entry tags:

Beyond the Boundaries

WHO: Dustin, Felwinter and Link
WHERE: Westward, ho!
WHAT: Felwinter finds himself in...interesting company as he finally sets out for a long put off expedition beyond Temba's city limits.
WHEN: Later this month
WARNINGS: N/A

Organic beings needed preparations, supplies, for a trip. Felwinter remembered these things when he contacted Dustin. 'Star roof', probably wasn't much of a message, but he knew Dustin would understand. He left a more detailed message there, penned and folded under a rock: 'I plan to set out in five days' time. If you wish to join me then pack accordingly and comm your confirmation. Several days out and then back, unless we find any reason to extend our venture. If you have anyone you trust to come along, then so be it.'

He wondered if he was being too generous.

Link would once again find himself under much scrutiny by the helmet-wearing warlord. This time they're at least not on a rooftop, but the mood is probably very much the same. Again, there are questions, and again, Felwinter isn't certain where to even begin. Or rather, he knows what to ask, but he has a feeling that he's better off not knowing. That unseen gaze shifts to Dustin with the impending sense of a query and yet none forthcoming.

And then finally, Felwinter turns, shouldering his pack as he starts on towards the city's outskirts, pausing to cast an expectant look at the two as it seems he's going to accept this extra company after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Link will also spoon himself extra soup. Although this isn't really Felwinter's share - Link had already known he'd wanted to eat more, and so had made more in the first place.

"Funfronds?" he says, as the other two start to talk. But for the moment part, he stays quiet and listens.

Dustin nods. "Basic descriptions for them are in the 'Dictionary,'" he explains with a dismissive wave of his hand; no use wasting his breath on a primer when one is readily available on the network. "That was enough to establish a line of communication with them."

Well, that and obtaining the Communications expertise - but Dustin conveniently glosses over that detail.

"I made contact with one that seems to act as a scientist for their colony--very curious about us, from an experimental point of view. The Funfronds view 'animals' as inherently unintelligent since we normally can't understand their language." He pauses to sneak in a spoonful of soup, since is mouth is starting to water so much that he's having a hard time speaking. "There's still aspects of it that are difficult to replicate without some kind of...sensory enhancer, that can translate their spores. Like trying to understand pheromones. Work in process."

"Interesting," Felwinter muses. "They are open to communicating? From what I've seen, they take care to avoid us, although perhaps for good reason." They are quite small by comparison, after all.

He looks over at Link. "It has only been a recent revelation that these...Funfronds are more than just local fauna. There is an old image depicting them however, suggesting they have been here for some time."

Link nods at Felwinter's explanation - before turning back to Dustin. He tilts his head to one side, a silent but expectant look. Is Dustin going to tell them what these Funfronds had to say?

Dustin nods again, even as he shovels more soup into his mouth. It's...really fucking delicious, actually, which is especially impressive given that it's made from spontaneously foraged and hunted materials. He has to exercise a nontrivial amount of self-control to stop himself from just ending the conversation here so he can inhale the rest.

After a couple seconds of hurried chewing, Dustin (reluctantly) continues. "Same way we would avoid large, stupid animals," he points out, unintentionally mirroring Felwinter's thoughts. "Once I was able to prove that I wasn't a threat and could understand them, though, they seemed to warm up a little. I told them about the mural and the storms, and they seemed eager to assist in dealing with them--or I guess, eager to have me assist them in dealing with the consequences, from their perspective. That's when they told me about the plants and how they react to the storms."

Dustin pauses for another spoonful of soup, prepared and hovering next to his face for a chance to eat it.

"They release a particular type of spore that seems to reverse the effects," he explains, mumbling around a chunk of meat in his teeth. "They've been treating the soil and plants for as long as foreign species have been present in Temba, but there's just not enough of them - not enough production. So, I offered to synthesize an alternative."

The warlord strokes his chin thoughtfully at that. "...have the plants always responded so? To my knowledge the only time things got truly out of hand was when we returned from offworld." That had been a particularly exhausting problem to deal with.

"How much of the plantlife is foreign? ...is that perhaps why the gradual change, the farther we have gone from the city? We have reached a point where Agra Ten's natural wildlife flourishes, unaffected by whatever my influence Temba."

"The plants react to the storms?" Link repeats, unsure that he follows exactly what Dustin is saying.

Though it doesn't help that, as yet, he hasn't actually seen any of the storms for himself. Heard of them, yes. Learned that they are the whole reason the Agrii have summoned them here. But he hasn't experienced them - or what they might do to the plant life.

Dustin hums the affirmative to both of them. "To a lesser degree, but yeah. Apparently even before the storms," he amends with a pointed jab of his spoon. "Simply being on-planet causes them to slowly mutate. The storms just make those mutations worse. The one last year was exceptionally bad; the Funfronds mentioned that it set progress back on 'treating' the plants by entire generations."

There's a longer pause after that while Felwinter asks his follow-up question, which Dustin uses as an excuse to pick out the last bits of solid food from his soup.

"A decent amount," he eventually answers. "Numbers unclear. The difference in flora between Temba and Sh'Ka is a good indicator, but not good enough. I plan to get a better estimate after we have a chance to observe the ecosystem in other biomes, as a baseline."

That sounds reasonable. There's really no telling how plant or even animal life will react on a given planet. That this place has breathable atmosphere for a range of organic life has been an overlooked convenience.

"Strange that storms have such an effect. Or perhaps not, given how they affect us." Although in that it still makes no sense in some ways. He and Cayde aren't organic, after all.

"Something I want to look into more," Dustin admits, then breaks to tip the bowl of soup back, guzzling the flavorful broth away in several deep gulps.

"--Anyway," he continues, quickly wiping a sleeve across his mouth. "I got some samples of the spores the Funfronds use for treatment, and confirmation that the mural you found was something they created. They treat it like a sacred monument of their history - rare, considering that they don't have a written language - but they couldn't tell me how it was broken, or why we found all of those pieces of it off-planet. Might have happened when the Agrii evacuated, while the Funfronds were mostly driven underground by the chaos of the storms."

"Someone does not wish us to know something," Felwinter concludes. "Or we are being toyed with. It seems too convenient to have found those missing pieces- most of them, on one particular world." But then the possibility of being toyed with probably isn't much of a surprise given things he's heard.

"Do the storms affect them too? Outside of environmental damage." It seems a fair thing to ask. From what Dustin's been saying, the storm seems to only have an affect on outsiders, non-natives of Temba. That...is an interesting point.

Dustin hums unhappily. Being toyed with is definitely the angle he's leaning towards, given what he's learned recently about the Atroma and their history.

"Unclear - I didn't ask - but doubtful," he answers. Dustin's gaze drifts towards the pot of remaining stew, then he decides that it probably wouldn't hurt to get a second helping, so, he wobbles to his feet to grab one. "As natives of the planet, they are likely unaffected outside of the obvious collateral damage. I should ask them how the storms interact with their technology, though - would be interesting to see if their tech fails just like Agrii and Atroma tech does."

That's a piece of information the Exo picks up immediately, those burning embers set in that black metal skull seeming to brighten in intensity as they fixate upon Dustin.

"They possess their own technology?" he asks. That's certainly news to him. "That would be interesting information to learn. And curious that the storm so specifically affects non-natives when it is questionable whether the storm itself is actually natural or something created."

Dustin glances up again, eyebrows arced.

"They do, yeah," he says - then has to quickly look back so he doesn't spill his bowl into the pot. It's already overfull with broth starting to dribble past his fingers. Dustin hastily stoops to slurp some of the excess away rather than let it escape. "Scope is...hard to say. They tend to their own needs and stay local, and their technology reflects that. Other sapient plant civilizations have their own ways of solving similar problems based on their natural resources. Both the Funfronds and Barrys have the ability to create secret doors and passages in rock to better accommodate their tunneling lifestyles, for example, but Barry communication methods have lent themselves to writing while the Funfronds stick to oral traditions. How much of their technological advancements were pushed back due to alien invasion and storm damage..."

Dustin slumps back onto the ground and shakes his head.

"...Getting ahead of myself," he murmurs. "The storms--definitely created, as far as I can tell. Or they're a natural phenomenon that was artificially triggered. No doubt in my mind that something was done, intentionally, to at least start the process, if not maintain it."

"If their technology is somehow failproof when the storms are active, then it would be interesting to see if they can help us devise something like a network that will remain functional under the threat of an emergency, at the very least."

Communication was an important thing to maintain, especially when they were all so spread out. It made it difficult to coordinate anything during the storms as well.

"I suspect they are at most a cover for the unusual events that take place during them. But if they are triggered, there still has to be a source somewhere."

Dustin hums around the rim of his bowl (he has abandoned all pretense of decorum now and is just slurping the soup whole, spoon still held in his hand in case he needs it). The conversation is starting to veer into the territory of speculation - interesting speculation, yes, but it's a bit far removed from the information he's trying to convey.

"Regardless," he eventually says, pausing to clear his throat. "Took me a few months, but I synthesized the spores and wanted to test them under Funfrond supervision - make sure they were functioning as intended. Their activity patterns indicated that they had common paths likely leading to a settlement in the Temba mines, starting from the sinkhole in city center."

Dustin opens his mouth to take a breath, but stops himself, looking briefly uncomfortable before trying to hide the traitorous expression behind his bowl. Does he want to talk about Tony's involvement in this part of the story? He did help, but there's something deeply embarrassing about having to admit it, which he didn't anticipate until just now. The man has a way of making Dustin feel like he's being chaperoned, even in retrospect.

Eventually, he caves. "Ah..." Face still partially obscured by his soup, Dustin's gaze flickers to the ground at his side. "...Stark came along. We were able to track the colony down."

Link - who up to this point had been listening attentively, but in silence - pipes up.

"...Tony?" he says, frowning slightly. He vaguely remembers the man introducing himself with that name when they first met. But other than that, he's always been 'Tony'. At least in Link's interactions with him.

Felwinter stares intently at Dustin. The boy had proven to be most resourceful from the start, but it's still quite something to see what he manages to accomplish.

"Impressive," he says, and at least Dustin knows the warlord isn't one to mince words.

He can't say that he's surprised of Stark's involvement though, offering a thoughtful nod and nothing more, at least until Link speaks up.

"Tony Stark. A confusing man, but a helpful one at times." He won't discount the man's brilliance and capabilities, but he is also a lot more than Felwinter knows what to do with at the flip of a coin. Worse yet, the Exo knows Tony tends to do it on purpose.

A little bit of that embarrassment goes away at Felwinter's rare praise, although it comes back with a vengeance when Dustin realizes that his mouth has, unprompted, twitched into a bashful smile. His face reddens before he furiously tucks back into his soup, letting Felwinter and Link chatter while he tries to wrangle his emotions.

"Also has Communications," Dustin eventually cuts in, once he's had a few moments to recover. "To understand the Funfronds' language and talk back to them. He did some...negotiating, after we confirmed with my contact that the artificial spores were working as intended, with the Funfrond Elders."

"...He is confusing," Link agrees. He still wasn't sure what to make of his own encounters with the man. How could someone talk so much, and yet make so little sense?

"Do the Funfronds need help?" Certainly it seemed that Dustin had already helped them. But was there anything else, maybe something that Link and Felwinter could help with?

"Confusing, but competent," Felwinter is willing to admit. And while a lot of what Stark says and does around him makes little sense to the Exo, the man still understands more than one might think, maybe even more than one thinks they do themselves.

He glances at Dustin as the lad seems suddenly intent on finishing his meal, dipping his head then in acknowledgement of Tony Stark's data point. "I too have Communications, but I have not made attempts to speak with these local beings. But then I have not seen them very often. I would not be surprised if they mean to avoid me."

Dustin sputters a little as he tries to huff a laugh into his bowl of soup and nearly chokes on it. 'Confusing' is an interesting way to put it. 'Obtuse to the point of intense frustration' has been more of Dustin's experience, but he can't deny Felwinter's assessment, either - the guy knows what he's doing, sometimes to a rather unsettling degree.

He's glad to move the conversation away from further discussion of Tony's involvement. "They're cautious," Dustin explains, settling his now mostly-empty bowl down in front of his crossed legs. Only chunks of meat and vegetable remain. "It took a lot of offerings and days of observation to negotiate a meeting in the first place. They're very sensitive to vibrations, air currents..."

A shrug. Dustin scoops a clump of meat-and-vegetable medley onto his spoon, then turns to Link.

"They were mostly interested in the plants issue," he says. "Didn't ask about their internal politics or anything. I'm sure that if they actually have a problem that we can help with, now that they know we can be communicated with, they'll seek us out first."

Link nods. "We'll help," he says firmly. He doesn't need to know what with, or how. If they need help, and they tell Dustin - Link will help. No questions asked.

And then he spoons himself another bowl as well. One of the benefits of Felwinter not wanting to eat (even if it's weird) - more for Link and Dustin. Especially since Dustin seems to have an appetite to rival Link's own.

Edited 2023-04-26 07:35 (UTC)

Felwinter quietly notes these sensitivities. It seems more than understandable, especially when these beings are so much smaller than the sentients that have intruded.

"They seem to have been able to get along fine without outside intervention. Perhaps they have just gotten used to being ignored. This development should be interesting. Perhaps others should be made more aware of these locals and the circumstances surrounding them."

He turns his head, letting his gaze drift towards the fields just beyond before straying skywards. What more might they find out there? More sentient plantlife? And if they came close to anything worthwhile, would whoever's watching attempt to stall them?

Decades of paranoia creep back into a slight hunch of his shoulders. Felwinter slowly pushes himself to his feet, gathering up his shotgun and helmet, putting the latter back over his head.

"I'll do some scouting. When you are both ready to rest, I will handle the night watch."

Dustin opens his mouth to say something about telling other people, but stops himself short. Tony had chided him about the same thing while they were exploring the mines, although hearing the suggestion coming from Felwinter feels...different. Or maybe it's a compounding thing. The excuses that came so easily before die in his throat this time around, leaving him to awkwardly stuff his mouth full of soup instead and chew in sullen silence.

There are people - like Link - that can help the Funfronds and Barrys in ways that Dustin couldn't accomplish on his own. He realizes that now. They really ought to know. It's just the whole 'letting them know' part of that equation that Dustin is still dragging his heels on. Maybe Felwinter and Link will just take care of that for him; between three secretive and tacit guys, surely one of them will make some kind of announcement. Right?

Link standing up to get more food jerks Dustin out of his moping. He'd started to slow down on his second bowl, but somehow the thought of Link finishing off the rest of the soup sets his appetite back in motion. Dustin wobbles to his feet to refill his bowl as soon as Link steps away.

"What's the signal if you find anything?" he asks Felwinter. Dustin's pretty sure any signal from the Warlock will be pretty recognizable from a distance, especially now that they're out of the woods, but it would be nice to establish concrete signs for things like 'I need help' or 'you can't help, run.'

Beyond the Boundaries

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)