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 Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 10:37 pm
Quote: Curious Findings (17) : Maybe it’s got something to do with the weather, or the construction, or all the other general oddities that seem to occur in Destiny City, but for the first time in nearly fifty years, the historic tree in one of Downtown Destiny City’s parks has woken up. While the tree was known for being alive and growing despite a lengthy hibernation, this is the first year that it’s sprouted leaves–but that’s not all! The unique tree has now also started growing strange pods. Because of the trees legacy–and not at all because of the oddity–the area has been taped off, but that really hasn’t been enough to stop anyone curious enough to investigate. The tree itself is several feet wide and stands roughly fifty feet tall; it’s branches spread significantly and seem like they can hold a lot of weight–which is good, because the pods growing on it have a hard brown shell and can grow up to the size of a soccer ball. Sometimes, the larger ones seem to tremble and shake in place. Maybe it's an animal trying to nibble? Maybe it’s just the wind? Maybe it’s something else. The pods can be pulled from the tree or collected from the ground; the shells are incredibly difficult to crack open, and some of them leak a strange, acidic sap that is strong enough to cause skin agitation–and in some cases there are even reports that it’s burned through wood or fabric. Sometimes, the healthier looking pods that aren’t leaking anything even seem to shake on their own, which is a mystery in itself. Another mystery is why Almadel seems so keen to trade for them…
Leaving the one alone on the ground did Irenaea leap into the first set of branches before slowly walking out further into the bough of the tree before seating herself on the sturdy branch. What would it take to pull down all of these pods? The fact that some seemed to vibrate was a cause for alarm. Just what were these things?
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 11:04 pm
Hela had heard about a weird tree as she had been walking down the hall at DCU one day and now she had the time to go investigate. Powering up and making her way over to the odd tree, she noticed another dark mirror senshi was already there. “Oh, Hello!” Noticing the pods on the ground, she nudged one with her boot. Nothing seemed to happen so she turned her attention back up to where the other senshi sat. “Hey uh... you got any idea what these are? I’m pretty new to the area but these don't really look like something that should be growing in a city.”She could see some of the pods moving or rattling in the soft breeze. That was... unsettling to say the least.
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 11:36 pm
Irenaea had sensed the arrival of a fellow senshi of the dark mirror and instead of answering her right away she merely sent a wave in the other's direction before she frowned at the pod that she was looking at. It was vibrating, shaking itself and the branch that she was standing on before jumping back down to stand in near to her fellow member of the dark mirror.
"The tree itself has said to been here for quite a long time, it's these pods though that are new. And trust me when I say that these things are definitely new. I also can't really figure out what they're exactly made of."
Realizing that she had yet to introduce herself Irenaea pulled back on one of the sleeves of her outfit before extending a hand, "hi, nice to meet you. I'm Irenaea," as she spoke she nudged a fallen pod that was near to her feet before giving it a swift kick. Would anything happen? She doubted it. "Want to see if we can work this mystery out of Destiny City?"
She was almost certain that the pods might seem benign at the moment but there was something that gave Irenaea the creeps. Things were not meant to sway back and forth on their own, especially when nothing seemed to be touching them. "I don't like new things cropping up."
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 2:41 pm
"Oh, ok yea that is definitely weird it's like one of those corpse flower things that maybe blooms every 200 years maybe? I think I saw something about one at one of the national gardens or something. They look kinda sorta like cocoa. But, like not at the same time?"Nudging the one on the ground with her foot she got an idea and tried to stomp it open with her boots. Nothing happened, other than jarring her knee. Nodding and shaking the other's hand. "Nice to meetcha, I'm Hela. I think a bit of figuring out would be good, I really don't like the idea of all this weird crap. I'm still getting used to it and all the stuff that goes on in this city. I've only been here since for a few months yea." Hela looked up to the tree and wondered if they were some weird monster thing like the eggs from Alien. "I wonder if they can be cut open or something? I just hope they aren't some weird alien face-hugger larva things, bleh."
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 1:18 am
Irenaea shook Hela's offered hand before kneeling on the ground, careful always of making sure that when she were to rise that she wouldn't trip herself over the voluminous folds of her outfit. Sometimes she came all too close for comfort. It took getting used to that was for sure. Figuring that now was a good time as any other to experiment Irenaea reached up to the veil that was artistically draped over the circlet/tiara that adorned her head and with a quick motion tore the veil off before staring down at the wisp of fabric. Her eyes quickly lit upon one of the pods that was sitting near her side before she dug out a pocketknife from her subspace pocket.
The blade she wanted was opened and the black-clad senshi stared at the scrap of fabric before glancing up towards Hela, "I don't know if this is going to do anything or not, but maybe step back for a minute or two. Gonna see if a knife blade can crack this outer shell or not."
When Hela made the comparison that the pods looked like cocoa been pods Irenaea mentally had to agree with the other dark mirror senshi but if that were the case, why were their shells so hard, "the shells though around these things remind me of coconut husks," and on the word husks did she stab the knife down towards the shell of the strange pod. The ricochet that she thought would occur failed to materialize but even as the blade was wedged deep into the shell did Irenaea yelp at the surprise of a strange viscous liquid that seemed to seep out from the hole as she drew out the blade. Turning the pod so that Hela could see Irenaea muttered for a moment before speaking, "so, what do we make of this sap?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 3:24 pm
Hela nodded and took just a step back, being careful not to trip on the other pods that littered the ground. "Ah yea, that makes a bit more sense. Either way, I think I saw a sign somewhere about them while I was out earlier. Someone wants them so there must be something going on with them."Squatting down, she took a look at the one that Irenaea had pierced. "I guess they are just hard to crush, looks like cutting works just fine. The sap looks kinda weird but that smell it has makes me think we shouldn't let it touch our skin. It smells like battery acid almost right?"Watching as the sap dripped onto the ground, she thought it looked like the pavement got a little cleaner. It was almost like it was getting acid-washed.
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Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2023 2:51 am
Someone was actually looking for these pods? That was new to Irenaea. Watching as the sap dripped onto the pavement and the results the young woman frowned before shaking her head. "I think I'm going to have to concur on your assumption. There's no way I want whatever is inside of these things touching any part of me if I can help it."
The black-clad senshi turned her gaze to the pods that still hung from the tree before she sighed. If someone was honestly eager enough to want these specific things then probably the best idea was to harvest some likely specimens from the branches themselves. When one was sent to pick fruit, the most desirable option was to pick straight from the tree/vine/bush ... instead of the produce that had fallen to the ground. Was this going to be a case of something similar? Was it worth it to gather some of the pods straight from the source?
"I know we both agree that whatever is inside these pods are of the "not so good" way of thinking, but if someone is looking for these, wanna harvest some from the branches?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2023 10:34 pm
"I figure they either know what's up with them or want to find out what's going on with them. I'm up for grabbing some from up there but one sec, lemme grab some ziplock bags. I don't want it to like touch my other stuff in subspace." Thinking for a moment she mentally dug in her space and pulled out exactly what she needed. Handing a big one over to Irenaea, she made her way up the branches to look for ones that fit the instructions from the sign. "Oh, I forgot to say, I've seen a few of these like around the city where there aren't by this tree. Wanna meet up and see what's going on with them later?"Poking a few of them to listen for rattling, she found two that seemed like they checked all the boxes and carefully shoved them into her baggy before sealing it and double bagging it for good measure.
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Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2023 11:27 pm
Considering that Irenaea didn't really have anything that would have caused concern in the little extra pocket dimension that everyone seemed to have but to be extra cautious the bag that was offered to her freely was accepted with an audible, "thanks" to Hela. It was fairly strange that the tree was putting out so many of these pods ... stranger still that they were cropping up a distance away from the tree if what Hela said was the truth, and considering she'd seen them, Irenaea had no reason to doubt the veracity of the claim.
"Strange. I wonder how they're getting so far away. Guess that could be something we look into. Always better to check things out in pairs, so yes, I'd be game to investigate if you are. Can't have whatever these things are causing issues later on, can we?"
As she finished speaking Irenaea found a pod that seemed to be relatively okay, as it looked like nothing was leaking from it before she gently twisted the stem to detach the thing. Almost reverently did she hold onto that sample before finding a smaller size pod that would fit in the bag that Hela had provided. "Where would you want to meet? Give me a time and place and I'll be there."
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