Indigo (
indigloaming) wrote in
tabularasa_rp2021-02-11 04:19 pm
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Entry tags:
February Prompts
Who: Indigo + OPEN
What: February prompts
Where: Various
When: February
Content Warnings: Body horror as per event, possible nudity.
What: February prompts
Where: Various
When: February
Content Warnings: Body horror as per event, possible nudity.
Mushroom Concrete (In front of the Merlaut)
"Well, these sure turned out pretty," Indigo muses to herself while surveying her work. Are they as strong as normal concrete, though? Beauty is nice, but utility is what she's interested in. "Awful light, though." She weighs the tile in her hands. She's not sure if that's a bad thing, or if she's stumbled upon something that's lighter than normal concrete while being just as strong (or even stronger?).
She had assumed at first that while the white rock-like skin of the mushrooms could be used to make concrete, the colored skin would have too many impurities to be useful for such chemistry. She changed her mind after remembering that so many things didn't work the way they were supposed to here. Really, there was no way of knowing if either of the skins, the white or the colored, could be used for her purposes until she tried... hence the tiles she made as a test batch.
Indigo stacks all the tiles that didn't crack during the drying process (an inevitability when what she made was so thin, not much more than an inch or so in thickness) next to the wall, organized by intensity of color (since that would represent the ratio of white to colored skin she used to make it in the first place), and stands up, eager to find others who might be interested in her new discovery.
I'm assuming this is before Overgrowth awfulness?
Today they're more just passing through than anything, but the sight of stacked colored tiles immediately catch their attention. They are clearly out of place and appear to have been put there intentionally, judging by the way they're organized. They walk over, pick one up... and then notice Indigo.
"Greetings. You have placed these?"
Possibly created them? Judging by the molds.
It can be! Timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly and all that.
"Yeah, that's my test batch. The skins on the mushrooms here are awful close to rock, so I wanted to see if they're any good for makin' concrete." She holds out a bit of colored mushroom skin she didn't put into her batch, to show what she's talking about.
no subject
"Acknowledged." They run their fingers over the material, collecting data on solidity and texture. It feels similar enough to the 'real deal', they think.
"It is sorted by color?" Is there a reason, they wonder?
no subject
"The pale ones got more white skin in 'em, and the bright ones got more colored skin. That way if there's any difference between the two, we'll know."
Even if it turns out that only the white skin is good for concrete, that's still much easier than running around pouring vinegar on rocks to find limestone. She really hopes the colored skin is good too, though -- it's so much prettier, and would go to waste otherwise.
no subject
"How will you test for differences?"
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"That's the hard part. A lot of proper testin' for concrete involves tech we don't got, so we'll have to come up with a low-tech solution. Main things I'm interested in are strength an' waterproofness."
She knows that impurities cause the different colors in gems, so she thought it might be the same for the mushrooms -- and those impurities might interfere with its ability to make good concrete. She's trying to not think too hard about it though, lest she give the Void ideas and retroactively ruin her efforts.
no subject
Though they are more limited than they used to be, they are still composed of denser, stronger material than any organic.
no subject
Since she's not familiar with this type of robot, she'll need to have something to base her expectations off of.
no subject
They could probably at least help with strength tests, they're just saying.
no subject
no subject
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"Do ya think ya could crush that, if ya tried hard enough?" There are other directions of stress she's interested in other than crushing -- twisting, folding, pulling, etc -- but they can start with crushing.
no subject
"We will try. If necessary, we are also able to employ the assistance of larger mechanical fauna." They can talk to the fluffy mimics, it's pretty great.
They can probably crush it on their own, though.
no subject
"Maybe we oughtta go somewhere outta the way for all o' this. Wouldn't want a shard o' concrete to fly out and hit someone in the eye." Not that either of them have to worry about something like that, but a passer-by might.
no subject
(The ruined buildings in the forest are rarely bothered by anyone, and the beach has a lot of junk to block any potential potential flying shards.)
Civil Engineering (Mt. Silver tunnels)
And sure enough, she comes across a pathway that's darker than she remembers it. Peering into it, her purple glow catches on some broken shards of glass -- the lightbulbs that were used to light the walkway, now broken by earthquakes or something else. Wildlife, perhaps? So she starts down the path, her own glow lighting her way.
"Aw, shoot." It's not long before she comes across exactly what she was afraid of: A giant mushroom growing out of their hard work, cracking it and blocking the way in the process. Well, standing around complaining isn't going to do anything about it, so she takes up her sword. As always, not the ideal tool to be felling mushrooms (especially now with their rock-like skin) but in the absence of a functioning Matter Manipulator or something else better suited, it's all she has. Soon, the sound of metal striking rock, over and over again, echoes throughout the tunnels under Mt. Silver.
no subject
It had been uneventful so far, but eventually he started to hear the metallic sound echoing throughout the cave. Frowning a bit, he wondered at first if this was not some purposefully destructive element here to ruin his work- that's just the sort of paranoia he lives with. Hastening to the source, he found something entirely different.
"Well- this is a new development."
no subject
"Seto!" She calls out, lowering her sword momentarily. "Ya got anythin' better for gettin' through rock?" She glances down at the blade. "Not that I'm afraid of chippin' this or anythin', but it might go a little faster."
Void Exploration (Shrine Bridge)
Now, a few hours later, the car returns to the bridge -- at the exact same angle it left, if anyone is the type to notice details like that. It drifts to a stop and lowers to the ground, and Indigo stumbles out, staring around at the scenery in disbelief.
"Tha's impossible!" She pounds a nearby tree in frustration. "I didn' turn around! I didn' turn around!" She went in a straight line out from this place, she knows it, she made dead sure of it! That was the whole point -- to see if there was anything on the other side of the void, or if it really did go on forever!
So why, when she went in a straight line... why did she end up right back where she started?
Flowering Stars (Underground Academy)
Now it's progressed to the point where she can barely function, where all she can think about is cooling herself down. The bathhouse sees too much traffic, and the showers there are too much of a pain to use anyway -- so she drags herself down to the underground gymnasium to use the showers there. Too tired to dress properly afterward, she simply wraps herself up in a towel and trudges as far as she can -- only to collapse onto the blessedly cool gym floor.
She's not exactly hard to find, with the trail of burnt flowers and wisps of colored gas following in her every footstep. Though actually approaching her may be a problem, as she's putting off enough heat and light now that it's like trying to walk up to a bonfire. In fact... oops! Her towel just began to smolder from more hot plasma she's coughing up. She doesn't go to remove it or anything, though -- she doesn't react or even move at all. Actually, the area around her is dimming despite her brilliant glow; despite the danger, she doesn't even have the energy to stay awake anymore.