Welcome to Gaia! ::

This was something that she did not want to keep to herself. This was something that science demanded that she share. There was a new, unrecorded species of mushroom within the borders of Destiny City, one that either had a unique biology among any other Earth mushrooms, or else was changed by magic.

It meant that Naeria was practically vibrating out of her skin, and also that she needed a second opinion. A close friend who she shared secrets with seemed best to be the first person to show, and so she’d convinced Andreyia to come with her.

Also, since she’d found a youma in the cave with the mushrooms the first time around, it seemed prudent to bring a friend who also was a Commander, and so she’d managed to get Andreyia to come with her.

“They glow,” she told him as they arrived at the scene, a brightness to her smile that only showed up in very specific situations that involved mushrooms, Portabella, or Steve. Andreyia could find ways to make her happy, too, but right now he wasn’t having to try very hard. “I need to collect samples, and if you are interested you could collect a soil sample.”

She knew soil research was important to him as well.

Naeria considered the worn stones around them. "Do not look up embalming," she told her friend. "It is too late for me. I found a documentary and could not stop watching, and what the humans do to their dead is-" her words trailed off as she grew uncomfortable with the thought, and instead, she simply shuddered.

Burial was strange to her, but she could accept that as a cultural difference. At least, she would have accepted it if they simply buried the dead and allowed them to compost and continue in the life cycle. Instead, they filled remains with dangerous chemicals simply to preserve their features for a few days, and then used Earth's limited and precious resources to make expensive vaults and caskets that had no purpose that she could understand.

She heard that the chemicals could leak into the surrounding areas at times. Was that what had happened here? She had not seen similar mushrooms in any other areas, but she would look at Andreiya's results for evidence of that.

Then she was back to thinking about science, and she was no longer shuddering.

"I like to look at construction and demolition zones," she told him. "Anything that can survive there is sturdy enough that it might be useful. It is not usually this interesting, though."

Naeria followed Andreyia's gaze to where a twisted tree curled around the top of the cave's ceiling. She had been so focused on the mushrooms that she had not even noticed it at first, but now she did.

"You can look at the plants," she told him. "I will even come with you, once I finish gathering my own samples."

It might have been even more important for their research than what she was looking at. Mushrooms could generally survive in places like this, but other than a few species like the ghost plant, which was small and strange, plants needed lots of light and energy to thrive.

Plants that did not have those needs could prove useful for Velencya.

She was sure the mushrooms would have some use too, though, and so she pulled a few plastic containers out of subspace and began to gently pull some of the mushrooms from the soil and put them in the containers.

"I am going to cultivate them, if I can. Analyze their growth structure, molecular makeup, nutritional value, and see what I can find that might be useful."

"If they do have nutritional value, we will find a way to make them palatable," she promised. She wasn't as concerned about things like flavor like some of the others were. She had been fine with the simple food she had grown up with, but she agreed that just because something was nutritious didn't mean that it should taste bad, or be a struggle to eat.

She knew that there were those in the house that would help her cook up anything that she could forage, or grow.

She didn't notice Andreiya's worries, being too caught up in her own thoughts. She did not like the loss that death brought, but she did not mind the physical remnants. She found decomposition fascinating.

She was only thinking about mushrooms until Andreiya brought up the seasons.

"I like them, too," she murmured.

She stopped looking so closely at the mushrooms, and looked off into the distance instead.

A moment later, she asked, "Do you think they had seasons on Velenia?"

If she'd studied it, it slipped her thoughts now.

As Andreyia spoke, Naeria tuned away from the mushrooms for a longer second. She needed mycelium samples, still, and some photographs, but that could wait. Instead, she rocked back on her heels and watched her friend with those golden, curious eyes.

Her words had come quickly, talking about her research, but now they slowed again. It took several long moments for her to speak.

"All of my research is focused on extending the life of Velencya," she said. "Fungus is an efficient source of food, a natural recycler, and it can serve other purposes, too. If energy is a limiting factor, that should help." She reached down, and found cool soil to dig her fingernails into as a comfort. "But it is not a permanent solution. I do not know what is."

She thought of her life on Velencya, cramped and artificial, before she had seen the sun. She thought of Caedus's smile.

"I will not harm the king," she said. "I am not sure that is a solution, either."

She would have to be certain of something having great benefits before she would even think about taking a life.

If everyone could be friends, and they could find a way to save their world? That would be the ideal. They might have to consider other options, like evacuation, but Naeria was not going to bring that up right now.

She had already done one difficult thing, speaking of Caedus.

"There is something special here," she agreed. "Not just the mushrooms." That was said with a smile, the attempt at a joke. She had her specialty, but she was not blind to other areas.

What had kept Earth alive, without a senshi, when so many other worlds had fallen?

"It makes me happy to know that someone else is looking for it. Hopeful, too."

And if either of them could buy time, then maybe some of the others could help them look for it too, without anxiety and desperation driving them to extremes.

"I think I have enough samples," she added, picking one more mushroom just as an extra.