1.252
IF SIRISANA MIR IS THE SUBJECT OF HELPFUL BIOLOGIST, GO TO 1.252A
IF TIELLA IS THE SUBJECT OF HELPFUL BIOLOGIST, GO TO 1.252B
1.252A
"Just look at it!"says Sirisana. "Magnificent." She walks to the side of the terravore's gaping maw and pats it gently. As if in response, the terravore quivers, and with a groud-shaking rumble, moves a hand's-width forward. "It's still moving fast. Tiella and I were here not but three days ago, and it has already moved another ten meters at least."
You mention that ten meters in three days doesn't sound very fast to you.
"Compared to most other beings, you're absolutely right," she says. "But for a terravore, that's practically blinding speed. It should have moved no more than a meter in that span of time. I wonder what could be causing it…"
You consider the terravore for a moment. Is it even possible to diagnose so strange a being? How much—if anything—do you have in common with it? Does it have emotions?
You share your musings with Sirisana, and she grows thoughtful. "If the terravore experiences emotions, I don't know if we'd even be equipped to interpret them. But you might be on to something. What if it's some kind of "flight" response? Perhaps it's attempting to flee from a perceived threat. It's fascinating to consider the possibility.
"Let's venture inside and study the ambulatory organs. I always carry my bio-diagnostic kit. We can use it to take tissue samples and analyze them. Perhaps we'll find elevated levels of adrenaline—or whatever the terravore equivalent of adrenaline may be."
Complete the INTO THE MAW mission. Gain the SIRISANA'S HYPOTHESIS mission.
"Before we go, there's one very important bit of preparation to which we must attend," Sirisana says, digging into her pack. "Here. Take this." Sirisansa hands you a small rectangular device from which hang several thin, green vines. The vines writhe like freshly unearthed worms.
"From what we can tell, these vines are native to the terravore itself. We're not sure what purpose they serve within the terravore's intestinal ecology, but they somehow confer upon their wearer the ability to breathe even the most oxygen-poor air." You place the device on the back of your hand and watch in amazement as the vines grow and twist, wrapping themselves around your forearm. You feel suddenly enlivened, each breath you take somehow conferring more life force energy to your body than normal.
Sirisana gestures toward the mouth of the terravore. "After you."
Gain the Symbiotic Dendrite reward card.
1.252B
"Would you look at that!" exclaims Tiella. "It plowed straight through the hill. Sirisana and I were here three days ago, and it was just over there," she says, gesturing toward a tall tree, now slightly listing. "I thought it might go up and over, but I guess the hill had something in it the terravore just wanted to eat."
You suggest, facetiously, that perhaps the terravore thinks the biological outpost is particularly appetizing, and that's why it has changed course.
Tiella laughs good-naturedly. "I don't think it has anything to do with the outpost specifically," she says. "But you might actually be on to something. I hadn't considered the possibility that the terravore could be attracted somewhere specific." She walks up to the terravore's wide mouth and stands before it. It quivers, a ripple passing down its length, then moves forward a hand's-breadth as it furrows the ground before it.
"I think we need to go inside," she says. "We need to understand far more about its physiology than we do at present." She unhooks and opens her backpack, sorting through her gear until she finds a leather pouch. She urges you to hold out your hand, and empties it into your palm. Three small, spherical devices there are, each identical in design.
"If the terravore is being lured somewhere, it must have something akin to an olfactory sense," Tiella continues. "We know that the terravore 'breathes', at least, as evidenced by the purified air exhaled from the vents on its dorsal ridge, but it would be quite the discovery to learn that it also has a sense of smell—especially if it uses that sense to determine its path.
"These air-sampling devices won't tell us whether or not the terravore can smell," she says. "But they're sensitive enough to capture all sorts of particulate matter and trace compounds, so if the terravore does have an olfactory sense, we'll at least know what it's smelling.
"I think that if we place them in a safe spot where they won't immediately be digested, we should be able to gather some quality samples of whatever's in the air in there. Wouldn't it be interesting to learn that the terravore just smells something delicious in the distance and desperately wants to eat it?"
Complete the INTO THE MAW mission. Gain the TIELLA'S INSIGHT mission.
"Oh! There's one more thing before we go," Tiella says, digging back into her pack. "Here. Put this on." She hands you a small rectangular device from which several thin, green vines hang. The vines writhe like freshly unearthed worms.
"It might seem weird, but these vines will help you breathe while you're inside the terravore," she says. "Sirisana discovered them. They actually live in there––like they're native to the terravore itself. It was only by accident that she learned that they somehow enhance human physiology."
You place the device on the back of your hand and watch in amazement as the vines grow and twist, wrapping themselves around your forearm. You feel suddenly enlivened, each breath you take somehow conferring more life force energy to your body than normal.
"All right," Tiella says. "Let's go!"
Gain the Symbiotic Dendrite reward card.