Breathe slowly and carefully, a blow to the head is serious business.

"no rush, the fire is a way off and is going slow"

JUMPING JACKS

>>194856
If the sight disturbs you, don't look at it.

Where can we go from here?

o 2010/06/17(Thu)02:39 No. 194872 ID: 45be60
File 127676755750.png - (255.49KB , 512x512 , 1.png )

Lets see... Headache, feels like I'm bleeding. Probably concussed, but alert enough to realize it. There's fire over there, but nothing to spread it this way. Unless there is another explosion I guess. One more reason I need to move. Everything feels wet from condensation anyway. No... make that frost, though it's melting pretty fast in the sun. How cold did it GET here? I can't have been out more than a minute or two, and I'm colder than I ever remember being. Oh god! the others... I think... I may be sick.

>>194872
"Hey, your shoe is behind you. Put it on before we go so you don't trip or hurt your foot."

>>194872
Yes, get your shoe and start walking away.
I see a protest sign there; were you working in the lab, or one of the people protesting it?

>>194872
Start walking away and find some medical help. Head injuries are not something to be trifled with, so get yourself examined as fast as you can.

>>194888
Shoe first.
Areas around explosions are covered in debris, and she needs foot protection to prevent stepping on something and crippling her movement speed.

Get your shoe and try to get to safety so you can assess the situation. What were you doing before the explosion? Did you cause it?

>>194888
Um, don't forget we are a plant stuck in her head. If she sees a doctor, they're going to pull us out! That could be bad for us.

We need to make another seed and have our new friend plant it so that we have a second body to dive into just in case.

There appears to be a dismembered arm in the background so you might wanna uh..not ..look too closely at things that may or may not have been talking to you ten minutes ago

>>194899
Naw, we'll just burrow in and become to intimidating for them to remove.

Alternatively...
[Attempt to look for signs of concussion or trauma, including internal bleeding, potential aneurysms or clots, and etc. Then attempt whatever fixes we can safely accomplish.]

Gah, we are flower in someones brain, not a brain surgeon. Maybe acclimation to the fact that sentient plants are embedded in her brain is in order.

Hey, we share your thought space now. We'd like to grow some but lack nutrients. Could you maybe shovel some dirt into your head. Oh wait, that's one of those things that kills humans, right?

>>194899
Plant it, nothing. We should use the dandelion strategy for reproduction, only on a more steady basis. Make little tufts that get caught in the wind, with lightweight seeds attached. Disperse as frequently as we can manage while our host moves around. No work for her that way, and at least some of them should land in viable areas.

>>194922
Noninvasive investigation is not harmful, and we can bind breaks and capture bone shards without putting her in any danger. Further, anything we can tell her would help her medical treatment.

---

@Host: Ok, can you hear us? You're not hallucinating; we're an engineered life-form from the lab. Specifically, the plant-thing that's growing on and in your head. We're going to do our best to help you through this; we're symbiotic, after all.

How do you know were symbiotic? We were a collection of 30 some plants until recently. One of us was a carnivore. Just being in here might be killing her for all we know.

I miss nutrient rich soil.

o 2010/06/18(Fri)00:49 No. 195225 ID: 45be60
File 127684737377.png - (272.65KB , 512x512 , 2.png )

Ooookay. Shoe. Right. Not looking around. Looking at my shoe. Not thinking about it. Choosing to believe that voices in my head are my guardian angel and not an indication of injury induced schizophrenia.

>>194896
>>194886
Okay angel, lets talk. We were here protesting the unethical and environmentally unsound experiments they carry out here. They deny any wrongdoing of course, but everybody knows. I don't *think* we did this, but we are probably gonna get blamed for it anyway. Green Planet has a reputation for um... energetic protesting, but we don't want anybody to get hurt. Badly. I mean, certainly not US. It was probably one of their terrible experiments backfiring or something.


Now that you know kinda what to look for, that is probably blood you feel collecting around your point of impact. You wonder if you could do anything about it. You are sort of familiar with nutrient distribution systems.

Holy cow, we can explode that much?

We can make our girl here fucking plant grenades. Badass.

OH WAIT WE NEED A NAME

WHAT'S YOUR NAME

UM IS THAT A CLAW IN FRONT OF YOU TO YOUR RIGHT

>>195231
Naw, it wasn't just my explosion that did that. It was a secondary explosion that the first one triggered. They had something flammable in those pipes.

>>195235
Oh.

Still...

>>195225
[Keep the blood from pooling too much; suck it up and redeposit it elsewhere. Grow roots laterally some more so that we can redistribute the blood better. OR maybe we could find where the extra blood is coming from, and build bridges with roots to reconnect those severed veins with the rest of the system. Like, literally making new tubes for the blood to flow through.]

Yeah, it was one of their experiments backfiring. ME, actually. I was trying to escape and... well, I didn't really mean to make an explosion that big.

>>195225
@Girl:
Oh, don't worry, that wasn't you; that was us escaping.
Also? We can prove you haven't gone insane; I think we're located around your ear, so if you reach up you should find us around there. Be gentle, though! We have roots going into your head and we're attempting to treat what appears to be a hemorrhage, so panicking and attempting to pull us out would probably be a REALLY bad idea.

Alright, so, do you have a cell phone? If so, call for an ambulance and start walking towards the nearest road and out of range of any further explosions. Pace yourself, keep your heart rate down, and stay calm. Tell us where you hurt and how, and if anything feels wrong.

Uhh, please don't call for an ambulance. I imagine they'd remove us, which would probably kill us at this point.

>>195324
She needs medical attention, and I'm reasonably certain we can make it so that it's riskier to remove us than leave us alone. For example, we can extend tendrils out to ensconce her skeleton. That would make removal too severe an operation to attempt.

Alternatively we could just ask her to ask the doctor to leave us alone; doctor/patient confidentiality and patient consent are kind of a big deal.

>>195238
This sounds like a good growth plan. I'd like to add to it that we should extend roots all around her skull, and possibly begin creating a subtle seed pod somewhere well removed from the site of her injury. If a doctor does decide to remove the flower, I'd like a backup.

>>195235
And it's those explosions that cost me my beautiful flower.

You know she's listening right? Maybe we should ask her if it's ok to start growing. These fleshy types are quite paranoid about their heads.

o 2010/06/21(Mon)00:40 No. 196694 ID: 45be60
File 12771060015.png - (275.50KB , 512x512 , 3.png )

>>195233
I THOUGHT WE DISCUSSED HOW I WASN'T LOOKING AT THAT. Ugh.. its the punctured and frozen body of a man who gave me a boost over a fence last week.

Her stomach heaves, and she tries to throw up, but nothing comes out. Once her stomach settles she begins working her way to her feet.
A few of you begin poking around at the blood vessels around your roots. Applying pressure and pulling the wound closed is simple enough, and seems to help for now.

My name is Florence, and I feel okay apart from my throbbing head. A few scrapes and bruises, and really hungry, but nothing unexpected there after what I guess happened.
I guess... it sounds like there is something seriously wrong with my head? I really don't want to go to the hospital though. They will be asking questions, and I am pretty sure the police wanted me for questioning on a couple things even *before* today happened.

>>196694
Then I hope you know a good backalley medic, because you have some rather nasty damage up here and cops are better than caskets.

[Consume pooling blood for nutrition]

Don't worry, we'll take care of you. With your permission? You're going to have to get something to eat though, unless we can figure out a photosynthesis deal. Is there anywhere you can go?

Calling 911 is a good idea whether or not getting medical treatment is. We've kinda got a burning building and a number of other people that are injured or dead. I'd say taking a risk self-preservation wise is worth it on a level of basic empathy.

>>196694
You should probably get some food then. By the way, do you have any information on what they were researching here, anything like say AI nanobots?

>>196694
Florence? How appropriate.

Don't worry about your head too much. We're helping!

[Hmm, can we synthesize painkillers? That would help.]

o 2010/06/23(Wed)03:08 No. 197572 ID: 45be60
File 127728770283.png - (272.12KB , 512x512 , 4.png )

Not looking at that, not looking at THAT, pretending that isn't there, okay. There were more of us here before, I think probably the others scarpered when things went to hell. So I was left for dead. Real nice, guys. Anyway, I hear sirens already, so help should be here soon, for anybody left.

If you think you can help my head, that's fine with me. I can always go to a clinic later, right? I should have some money on me, to get food, and I can just go back to my apartment I guess. That supposes I can solve the more immediate question of how I am getting out of here. I could run out the gate to the parking lot, but that would mean going by the security station, and it's totally gonna be where those sirens are headed. Or I could try and hop this fence.

Simply processing the pooling blood for nutrition seem infeasible. It is comprised of complicated living material, and your roots lack a digestive system. And it IS pooling inside her skull, though at a slower rate than it would be without your assistance.

>>197572
Hrm... Yea, Flo - can we call you Flo? - you seem to be suffering from some intracranial hemorrhaging, which means you'll be dead within hours and have suffered a bit of brain damage.

Fortunately we've slowed the bleeding, and we're about to start draining the blood. You'll feel some weight shift to outside your head; this is normal.

As far as tactics go? You could jump the fence, although fleeing the scene IS a crime and I can assure you that they have you on video surveillance.
Your best bet is actually to shakily shamble over to the entrance and try to direct help to the explosion site, since medical treatment takes priority over arrests. The fact that the blast is radiating outward is going to suggest it was an accident inside the plant, and the fact that some people are frozen is strong evidence to that effect.

Tell the police what happened as accurately as you can while standing unsteadily, and fail to read anything they show you. If they ask you your name, say "It's Flo-... Flor... Why is it not working?" and start to panic. They'll stick you on an ambulance and send you to a hospital, where escape is going to be both easier and more legal.

Most police won't recognize you, and acting like you've got nothing to hide will keep them from looking at you too closely.

[Grow a storage sack outside her head and drain the blood into that, but let some seep down from the wound so that she will have obvious signs of bleeding.]
[Start creating a digestive system so we can use blood as a source of nutrients.]

...if we can't use blood as nutrients, what are we eating right now? Fat? Or are we normally just absorbing the glucose in the blood without eating the blood itself? Yes, that seems most likely.

[drain blood to outside her skull, creating a new, controlled gap for it to seep through if necessary.]
This might hurt a little. Personally I think we should avoid doctors entirely until we have a backup body or something. Hop the fence. You're uninjured aside from your head so as long as you're careful you should manage it.

>>197588
She has suffered brain damage from a head injury, and we don't even classify as meatball surgeons.
She needs a damn doctor.

Besides that? She IS on the security footage, so if she's unaccounted for then they'll know she's guilty of either leaving the scene of a crime or leaving the scene of an accident, and once they have a charge like that they can get a warrant to search her home, car, and whatever else they like. That's a bad thing if she's wanted for questioning.
Heading for the emergency workers will make her less suspicious.

As far as doctors go, we have a few options there. We can make ourselves too dangerous to remove, we can spread ourselves out so that it's too much effort to remove us, we can show intelligence (shaping tendrils into "Please fix my ride" with an arrow pointing to the wound), or we can have Flo refuse to allow the doctors to remove us.

Oh, also:
[Start working on a seal between us and our host to keep out debris and microbes]
[Start work on a neutral layer to prevent rejection]

Flo, run! The security cameras may have been damaged in the explosion. Jump the fence now and worry about legal action later. There may not even be any.

[Unfold petals and bloom.]

>>197607
If there's any security footage then they'll know she didn't set a bomb or anything. Your argument is inherently flawed. Either they can't track us, or they know we're innocent.

>>197612
That only holds if the distribution of cameras is even and they watch their own walls. They saw her come in, but I'm quite sure they don't have any indemnifying evidence for her.

>>197572
We might, personally, have a problem if our new host see's a doctor. They're going to check her head. They're going to see us. If we are removed, anything could happen from being kept in a test tube for eternity, to being thrown in an incinerator.

>>197654
Yes, and I've already mentioned several ways we could prevent that.
Do you think they would remove us if we moved our conciousness into tendrils affixed to all her major arteries? Or distributed ourselves across her skeletal structure?
They are going to focus on the immediate issues now, and hold off on other concerns until later. Remember, there were other people caught in that blast as well, and they're going to need to treat all the survivors. They can't waste time on non-emergency treatment.

[Shift our thinking parts into Flo's body, behind her jugular if possible. Keep it painless.]

Flo? Getting you the care you need puts our survival in jeopardy, so we're going to move our important parts somewhere where they can't safely remove us. We're not going to put you in any danger, we just need to discourage doctors from removing us.

Jesus, we can't work with this stuff. Unless you want to lose our host we need to get her to a doctor. We could relieve the pressure I supposed, but I don't think trepanating her is really going to help the situation.

Flo, just go and find medical help. Go to the security station. You are bleeding internally.

Not gonna be able to update till we are out of June. Please hold.

>>197679
We don't have any thinking parts. We manifest in the entire plant. I think it has something to do with the chemical we've been treated with.

If we are going to collect and redirect the blood, we're going to need a way to utilize it, rather than waste it. We should develop a digestive section to break down the excess pooling blood into nutrients for us, that will give us something more we can work with to help the girl.

Don't worry, girl, we'll help you.

o 2010/07/09(Fri)23:58 No. 205716 ID: 45be60
File 127874510164.png - (180.93KB , 512x512 , 5.png )

Oh man, please don't call me Flo. Annoying car insurance ladies aside, I spent four years of high school dealing with "Aunt Flo" jokes. Flora if you insist, but in school I had people call me Gale, for my middle name.

As Florence picks her only slightly wobbly way toward the guard station, you have some difficulty agreeing on how best to proceed yourselves. At the very least though, getting the excess blood out of the wound area seems like a place to start. Structures designed for routing moisture through your core are easily modified to shunt blood out of her head. You set to work making the necessary changes.

The guards are still here, and with an inadequate first-aid kit to boot. Looks like a couple of the survivors stopped for help, but only the *really* injured ones. Considering the scowls we got on the way in, I can't say I'm surprised. I don't want to have to rely on these guys for help. I'm nearly there before the one leaning on the fence notices me. They look pretty worn out.

"Oy! Marco! One more commin out."
The other leans around the corner of the gatehouse to get a look at your host. With a tone of surprise barely registering above the obvious exhaustion, he replies. "Whatsat? 'eres no way she was in there. We checked everybody who was far enough out to have a chance."
Florence contrives to frown and look pathetic at the same time. "I was in there, trust me. Please, my head is killing me. Is there anything left in that kit?"
"Sorry doll, unless you need a splint for a broken finger, we're out. Sounds like help is on the way though. Let me take a look at you."
The second one, Marco apparently, leaves his previous patient applying pressure to a wadded up shirt and guides Florence to lean against the fence. He gives her a businesslike once over, stares into her eyes, checks her wound, but if he notices anything, he doesn't show it.
The first guard is not so reticent though. "Hey... I saw you in'air." His eyes appraise your host with a leer she finds somewhat uncomfortable. "You were tha' red-head lying up by the wall. How'sat? Ever'body else up'air froze. This guy 'ere was crawlin out from way closer, an he's frostbit. Yo're barely even shiverin."
Florence, currently watching Marco's finger track back and forth in front of her nose, mutters "Mutation trait" and the guard seems to accept it with naught but a faint eyebrow quirk and a grunt.

By now the parking lot has several emergency vehicles unloading, (still no ambulances though) so the still unnamed guard forces himself off the gate post, which seemed to be the only thing holding him upright, and walks in their direction, presumably to help triage the few wounded who still remain.

Marco simply informs Florence that "You're a very lucky girl, miss," and advises her to "Stay here" while he goes to check on his other patients. She judges that it will be a while before anyone gets back to her.

well, do you want to stay here or do you want to just move on while we try to put you back together enough that your natural healing can deal with it?

>>205716
Oh, so you're resistant to cold? That's good. That explains your earlier comment about never being cold before.

I'm very glad he didn't see us. I wonder why, though? Try feeling your head; can you tell if we're uncovered? Perhaps you can get a hand mirror to check us out.

>>205735
Fleeing at this point would draw too much attention. The guards don't seem to think the protesters were responsible, so sticking around is probably pretty safe for you.

Flora eh? I like that, its a synonym for plants according to what you know. I think since you've been given a clean bill of health by this guy that you should leave. Try not to attract attention. Act casual.

Hah, a plant embedded in the side of your skull is telling you to act casual.

>>205716
Preventing a blood buildup is a good start, but it needs to heal too. Not a brain surgeon here, but if we can create a localized regenerative effect that might be enough. Can we get more detailed info about her injury? If it would require digging into her brain more we should hold off on that, otherwise the more we know the better. Don't want to be bailing out one part while a blood clot or something is forming elsewhere.

Anyways staying around here is a bad idea, we should get a move on. Unless the situation in your head is beyond our ability to help and critically urgent, of course.

>>205775
I disagree. Following the guard's orders is the least suspicious thing to do.

>>205973
He won't give a damn if we wander off. But someone might give a damn if they see us embedded in her head. The guard was bad enough, if someone who knows more sees us she's probably going to be in even deeper trouble.

>>206063
If he doesn't give a damn why did he tell her to stay put?

>>206080
Because that would be the smart thing to do, if the situation were what it seemed. The ambulance is on the way and she could get checked up properly. He's not going to tell us to bugger off, staying put is better than finding us dead outside the compound somewhere. Plus, telling us to stay here keeps us from messing around anywhere else inside the area.

Basically, if he comes back to find we've wandered off he'll think we were foolish, shrug his shoulders and get on with everything else he has to deal with.

o 2010/07/13(Tue)02:00 No. 207140 ID: 45be60
File 127901162727.png - (351.59KB , 512x512 , 6.png )

>stay
>leave
>leave
>stay
In the absence of any broad consensus or compelling arguments, Florence makes her own decision. Uncomfortable remaining near the carnage, and leery of contact with the authorities, she slips away when no one is looking.

>>205739
It's not that I'm super resistant to cold or anything dramatic like that. My body responds to cold like anybody else, it's just better at it. I can metabolize fat stores pretty fast, generate a lot of extra body warmth. Parents first noticed it when I was like nine. It's actually been pretty nice for keeping my weight under control all these years. Don't need to diet, just don't wear a jacket. Yeah, other mutants wish they were as awesome as me. She gives a weak smirk at the thought.

I tried checking out my head a bit with my fingers, and all I can tell for sure is it stings like hell when I touch anywhere near the area. Gonna have to find a mirror if I want to get a better idea how it looks.

Florence lacks the relevant medical knowledge to fully diagnose a head injury from the inside. Still, you spread your tendrils through the surrounding area, on the lookout for anything else that seems amiss. She seems stable at least. The external wound has scabbed over for the most part, reducing the bleeding to only what you slowly pump out yourselves. It earns her a few strange looks on the street, but she ignores them. Her feet are currently pointed in the general direction of home, but it is a long walk. She is hungry, bleeding, tired, and feeling pretty down about things in general.

aww don't feel that way. anything you want us to do for you? well... until we split we can't do much but look in your head and run damage control. probably stings because of our roots, sorry about that. if we knew how to fix it we would. if you look at the chemical formula for things on the...uhhh... internet! yeah. show us the formula for something like endorphins and we can make some.

>>207140
You might want to stop at a cafe, get a bite to eat and visit the restroom to take a look at what your wound looks like. I should warn you, it probably looks bad. We're currently keeping the pressure normalized by seeping out excess blood. So I guess you're dripping a bit, even though the wound's closed. We might also have a pretty flower but I'm not sure if that grew yet. Can't see ourselves very well; your sensory input is overriding ours for the most part.

Hey, tell us more about yourself. What do you do when you're not protesting for Green Planet?

Do you have food and a mirror at home? What kinds of other mutants are there?

>>207140
You've suffered head trauma.
You need proper medical treatment in order to avoid death.
Until then? Don't eat, drink, or sleep. Particularly sleep.

Don't strain yourself, the higher your heart rate the more blood we have to drain.

You really need to see a trustworthy doctor. Maybe you can swear him to secrecy about us? Would that be covered under doctor patient confidentiality?

And for the rest of you in here, we need to come up with a solution or we are going to die too. Maybe we can figure out a way to use these nutrients. If we built fleshy cell walls instead of hard ones we might be able to use this blood.

o 2010/07/14(Wed)02:42 No. 207632 ID: 45be60
File 12791005673.png - (50.29KB , 512x512 , 7.png )

>>207208
The blood is already useful to you in that it carries nutrients. You investigate to try and understand more. Her mind knows that glucose is a simple sugar found in the bloodstream, because diabetics need to monitor their glucose levels. Another part of her brain thinks photosynthesis produces fructose or maybe glucose. Or is it sucrose? No that's probably table sugar. But wait, where does THAT come from? Sugar cane? Ugh, this may be a lot more knowledge than you used to have, but it's still pretty spotty in places. Anyway, it seems like the sugar that runs human cells can also supply plant cells with energy, whatever it is.

Okay, okay, I'll stop somewhere an find a mirror at least. That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I don't need medical attention, the guy didn't seem too concerned. I'm sure it's not just because he was worn out and stressed and his eyes were barely focusing. Right?

I am sort of a full time environmental activist I guess? I mean, it's not a sustainable career, but I have some (gradually diminishing) savings. Between that and donations solicited from the public to pay for, um, supplies, I eat okay. There are a lot of group picnics and such to mooch from. Or at least, there were. Jeeze...

;_;

...

So um, kinds of mutants? I dunno, that's kinda a weird question. There's like... all kinds I guess? They say they are as unique as fingerprints, but... fingerprints all look pretty similar to me, y'know? As she continues to explain, you find the relevant facts drifting up to your attention to confirm. Unsurprisingly, she seems better at navigating her own head than you. Some studies estimate that as much as forty percent of the population is technically a mutant, but most mutations are so minor as to be completely undetectable without a full genome indexing. A small minority of the population, somewhere around twelve percent, know they possess abnormal mutation traits, either through simple observation or medical examination. Only about twenty percent of THOSE have any relevance to daily life. Florence is a member of the less than one percent of the population with a genuinely useful trait; in her case, a variably accelerated metabolism. She probably really is the envy of many.

Florence, you need a way to get nutrients. It's very important since you grow so fast. Do you have enough water? It's great that you want to help things grow too, but you can't neglect yourself!

just use a public restroom on the way too the house to check it. then we need you to go to the internet or library and look up how to treat various head wounds and stuff.

>>207632
Wow, you're really unique. And now you have us, so you're extra, extra special!

I'm sure we'll be able to find some new way for you to make money. Maybe... heh, maybe you could make a garden, and sell US! Thinking, talking, shape-shifting plants must be worth a lot of money, right? Granted I'm not sure exactly how far away we need to be to actually talk to someone. I hope we can do it from several feet away, at least. It would suck if people could only hear us when we are literally in their head.

Are you okay, Florence? If there's something bothering you, you can tell us.

>>207649
It would probably be a bad idea to reveal ourselves as intelligent flora before we are much better situated- less vulnerable and with far more locations. Remember that they were pulling us up and presumably killing us whenever we seeded before that explosion; they might well consider us a biohazard. Or just want to keep intelligent plant life from multiplying. Or something.

Point is, caution is important here.

>>207632
>>207644
Reading up on basic biomedical knowledge is a good idea as well. Even if you don't quite understand it, we can, and will apply it to help you.

>>207649
Weeeeeell... No, distant communication is not really possible at the moment.
You see, and Flora, you should pay attention to this part too, Flora can 'hear' us because we've burrowed into her brain and made somehow managed to establish direct communication that way.
So no, we can't talk to people from any distance.

Flora, how do you feel to be the host to a symbiotic life form? Besides creeped out, violated, and generally ill at ease?

Hey Flora, could you get us a pot and some soil when you get home? I'd like to seed and see if we can move between plant hosts.

>>207769
she can't just PUT us into a pot. we'll make a sub capsule to go in the pot, we can't go in there because we kinda burrowed into her scalp.

>>207766
She did just suffer a head injury. She might not be feeling any of those things, possibly due to physical trauma from the concussion or mental shock from having friends violently killed all around her.

Point is, I would not recommend starting "how do you feel" conversations at this time, except for those relating strictly to immediate health problems. Flora needs time to retreat, regroup, and recover both mentally and physically.

>>207799
What makes you think these questions aren't diagnostic? o.0

We wouldn't need to be removed to seed. Hell, we've done some complex things, I'm betting with a little work we could fire seeds at high enough speed to embed themselves directly into soil.

These humans have learned about something called hydraulics that uses fluids to apply great pressure. I'm thinking if we could detach ourselves with a little work we could make ourselves ambulatory like the fleshy things are.

o 2010/07/15(Thu)02:49 No. 208433 ID: 45be60
File 127918735093.png - (91.94KB , 512x512 , 8.png )

Oh man. Angel, you *must* be looking out for me. This looks REALLY bad. I mean, it's mostly scabbed up now, but... So much blood... And its still bleeding a little. No wonder people were staring.

The storefront fast-food restaurant is not an especially sanitary location, but Florence uses a wet paper towel to clean up as best she can. She stays mostly away from the site of the actual injury, because the half-dried blood and tender flesh do not respond kindly to the rough towel, but she explores it closely enough to notice the red-soaked little bud poking out of the center, looking more like a chunk of torn flesh than a green plant at first glance. She starts to freak out a little bit.

That's... not supposed to be there. What is that? That's not right, what is that why is it in my head that shouldn'tbethereIwantitoutohfuckwhat'sgoingon?

The full recollection of the things you have been discussing replay rapidly through her head, including the portions she glossed over or outright ignored the first time around. By the time she has finished that exercise, she is hyper-ventilating and gripping the sides of the sink like the world could flip upsidown any second.

The bathroom door opens behind her.

calm down. we do not mean you any harm. even if you can't calm down then at least act like you are in front of whoever just came in.

maybe we can help you get aHEAD in life.

o 2010/07/15(Thu)03:07 No. 208436 ID: 45be60
File 127918846183.png - (7.70KB , 200x153 , unicode.png )

>>208434

...

>>208436
[hahahahahahaha, sorry, just trying to lighten the mood, regardless of it being corny or funny to her it will distract her from freaking out.]

Totally a weird freaky upsetting situation yeah, but think about it. If you DIDN'T get some funky plant thing stuck in your noggin, you'd just have the gaping head wound, still be unconscious, and they weren't even looking for survivors that far in. So... weird beats dead, right?

>>208433
Please, calm down. I guess... I guess we're smaller than I thought. We're not going to hurt you! We're trying to help.

Spoilers we're liars, but we're doing it for mutual benefit. Now turn around and punch whoever walked in on you in the crotch. This should relieve some tension.

>>208445
YOU may be a liar but i honestly want to help gale out.

>>208447
Let me clarify. We lied about being guardian angels. Actually, did we ever say that? I don't think we did. Nevermind then, forget the liar part.

>>208433
Calm
down.

Deep breaths.

Don't touch the bud.

We haven't lied to you, Flora.
We are a sentient, sapient, symbiotic life form that has dug into your head. We are that bud. We didn't cause the wound, but we've been treating it to keep you alive.

Take deep breaths.

Get it together Flora, people are around. Don't let them know about us yet please.

And we can't really out and out stop the bleeding unless you want pressure to build up in your skull. I think it'd kill you if we stopped draining the blood. At least it's not much.

Remember, head cuts always look worse than they really are because they bleed a lot. But um.. how's your blood pressure? Are you feeling faint or dizzy?

>>208448
She made an assumption and we let her have it, it's not much better than a lie. Granted, in this case I would have let her think we were the ghost of christmas past if it meant keeping her safe.

I'm sorry for that Gale, but right now we need to protect each other. Neither of us is going to have much luck surviving without the other, so stay calm and take things one step at a time. Right now someone has walked in on you, so be prepared for some story about how broken glass cut against your head.

>>208671
Some of us have been pretty vocal about the truth, you know.

That's us, there in your head. I am sorry we wound up stuck in you like this, but we need you, and we're trying our best to help you too. Please don't try to pull us out.. please please. Your head wound will only get worse and undo our attempts to help you.

Calm down Florence, it's us. We can talk all about it after the person behind you leaves.

Hey Gloria I want a hamburger

o 2010/07/20(Tue)02:21 No. 210388 ID: 45be60
File 127961769143.png - (153.54KB , 512x512 , 9.png )

Florence fights down the sudden urge to respond with panicked violence and turns to look at the door while trying to appear calm.

"Ma'am? Is everything alright?" It's one of the employees. They probably noticed her coming in all covered in blood.

"Um.. yeah, its... I'm fine, I just needed to... clean up."

"Is that *blood*? Are you *bleeding*?"

Crap. What do I say?
>>208970
Who's Gloria? This lady? I don't see a nametag.

>>210388
Uh, I don't know who that one was talking about. I think some of us might not be all there.

Just tell her you're okay, it's just a cut and that it looks worse than it is. That should be believable... though honestly I'm starting to worry. We don't want you to run out of blood.

>>210388
"It's just a mutant thing. Pain in the ass. No need to worry though."

>>210389
agree, say that you just wanted to wash it up but it is no where near as bad as it looks. we may be able to fix it better when/if you find some thing that says how wounds like this are treated.

>>210390
Hmm, the mutant excuse is tempting. Depending on how often people try it, it could either be very effective or not effective at all. Your call, Flora.

Hair dye. It's hair dye. You shouldn't have gotten that crappy off brand. People will believe anything outrageous if it's better than what they thought at first.
(Can we start back up with that flower, guys? It'll hide the wound a bit better.)

>>210406
That's true, but we should wait until nobody's looking.

I wonder if we can grow red leaves that will look like her hair. Might be good camo.

>>210388
Say there was some broken glass, the bleeding already stopped but it's a mess.

>>210390
Or do this instead if you think it has any chance of working.

>>210421
I like this idea... it shouldn't be too hard to imitate the general appearance of hair. And it would go a long way towards looking less horribly suspicious.

That said, leaves are green for a reason- the chemicals that allow energy to be absorbed from sunlight reflect light at a wavelength in the green portion of the visible spectrum. If we want to efficiently get light from the sun, we'll have to have some green. Maybe we can grow a giant leaf over her forehead and claim it's a stylish headband.

>>210429
We can pull sugar from her blood. Not a problem.

Also, earlier I proposed using a sac of some kind to store the blood so it wouldn't get everywhere. Lets revisit that idea and cover it with a decorative flower.

A sac will get full eventually. I think I have a solution, but it's something Flora might not like. Right now we are attached to her skull and channeling out pooling blood, why don't we model a new shoot like a human vein and tap into her existing veins? We could be pumping blood back into her system, it'd prevent the internal bleeding from being harmful, and hey, we'd become a symbiotic organism insted of just a passenger.

Of course, this would probably scare Flora senseless. The only references she has to anything similar to this come from horror movies.

>>210462

...because her immune system would begin attacking your thorn/tendril, causing inflammation. Unless you can form a part of your body that is as nonreactive as surgical steel, it'll probably just hurt her more in the process. Then again, there are plenty of ways foreign organisms can trick an immune system...

>>210462
No, that'd cause blood clots to form.
We'll just hold her various blood transports together until they heal on their own
Meanwhile, we should store her blood until we can digest it. It's the only source of nutrients we've got right now, after all.

>>210611
We can't digest blood. We digest the sugars traveling in the blood. We make Flora's glucose level drop a little, that's it.

>>210611
Store it where? I really don't think she needs a blood engorged growth sticking out of her head, and we aren't about to take even up more space inside her skull. We slow the bleeding until it stops and she is healed, simple as that.

Storing would be a waste of effort anyways. When we do learn to use it for nutrients we shouldn't need more resources than any other part of her body.

>>210615
I said until. I've been saying over and over that we need to develop the ability to digest this blood. It's going to waste right now, and if we had been storing it like I wanted then we could have gotten a few weeks worth of nutrients out of the stuff that has been running down the side of her head attracting attention.

>>210621
Erm, I was saying we don't NEED to digest it. We're getting a lot more energy from her glucose and O2(CO2?) levels than we were from dirt and solar respiration. There's no reason to get an additional food source when we're bursting with energy as it is.

o 2010/07/21(Wed)03:13 No. 210628 ID: 45be60
File 127970721746.png - (152.20KB , 512x512 , 10.png )

Don't fuss over me, just go away. Don't draw attention. Nothing going on here. Not fleeing those sirens you heard a few minutes ago...

Telling her it's some mutation trait is only going to raise more questions. They are pretty rare, ones which would come up often enough to be annoying especially so. Besides, first rule of lying is to make your lie at least as plausible as the truth. The guard accepted what I said earlier (to the extent that he cared at all) 'cause how else would I be alive? But there are more likely explanations for this situation.

>>210406
...fr'instance
"What? OH! no! Sorry, sorry, not what it looks like. Inexpert dye job. It's all uneven and some started to run. Awful color too, huh? Eh heh heh. Got wet, starting running down my face. I'll clean it up, promise." Her nervousness chuckle, while completely un-faked, probably helps support her story.

"Oh.. Alright, that's a relief. I'll just send someone in to help clean up."

"No, no, I'll get it, it's fine. I feel bad for the mess."

"Well... maybe I can just send someone in a bit later then, hmmm?" She start to leave, then turns back with an afterthought. "And you're right dear, that color looks awful on you. Too orange to be real."

...This is my natural hair color. ;_;

awww, don't worry, we like it... well we are a plant, we like bright colors, helps attract insects for pollination.

anyway, just rinse it off a bit but don't scrub, you have a scab and scrubbing would break it.

>>210628
I true redhead is so rare people forget what it looks like. Anyways ignore her, hurry up and clean off before you have to explain it to anyone else.

...Maybe your hair just doesn't work well against that bright blue shirt? I may be biased, but I suggest changing into something with earth tones.

>>210628
Consider trying some softer paper. Like toilet paper perhaps. I hope they're not out.

>>210628
So, are you a bit calmer now? Not panicking

[Form a seal over the wound, grow a storage sac, and start storing the excess blood already]

>>210703
[no, god damn. if that thing starts getting full it will be creepy as hell. i say find where the blood is going from and temp seal it.]

>>210705
First, we're already doing that.
Second, since when is tiny sac under her hair less visible than a rivulet of blood?

I like ticks, they are comfy and easy to wear!

It wouldn't be a tiny sack. We don't know how long the internal bleeding will last and it could grow to be a large bulb on the side of her head, and the would attract all the wrong types of attention.

What happens to us when the internal bleeding stops, anyway? It's currently our only source of nutrients.

Guys, all this discussion of blood is creepy. Let's just let Flora clean up until she doesn't want to continue, then reassess the situation and see what's necessary. We'll probably want to form some sort of scab or seal, but being subtle is the order of the day here. Nothing unsightly or obvious.

>>210715
It would be a tiny sac because we could let the sac drain as needed.

As far as nutrition goes, we can cross that bridge sometime after the bleeding has stopped and our stores are halfway gone - a few days for the bleeding, a month or two for the stores.

I don't want to grow a sac, there's a risk of backflow if it gets hit or squeezed.

o 2010/07/22(Thu)01:43 No. 211004 ID: 45be60
File 127978818399.png - (79.64KB , 512x512 , 11.png )

>>210703
Is it bad that having to make up lies on the fly apparently calms me down? I'm not sure what that says about me. But, I guess I have a few more minutes anyway, so that's good. Have to clean up the sink too. And bury the towels in the trash so nobody sees them.

>>210716
This one! Listen to this one please! I am extremely uncomfortable with this line of thought. Mental images of a girl who looks quite a bit like Florence with a balloon sticking out of her ear flash through her mind as she finishes up. Mixed up in with them, there is also a brief image of a small green child-thing with the same condition, except HIS fluid filled balloon has a face drawn on it, and wears a little suit? Very strange.

Does this look okay? It's gonna have to do I think. What next?



[Apparently I was not clear enough about this, so let me clarify for the confused. Your roots are mostly spread through her subdermal tissues, and have access to the blood therein. You can absorb nutrients from this blood as it trickles past, much like the cells for which the nutrients were intended. This plus the meager sunlight your blood-caked leaves get is sufficient for all your current needs. Your taproot extends through a small fissure in her skull into the grey matter below. Based on a later idea, it is currently being employed to prevent blood from pooling in her skull utilizing a modification to the capillary system common to most plant stems. The nutritional gains from this structure are a small fraction of what is available elsewhere. awright?]

>>211004
[i knew that was the case, but SOME PEOPLE *cough*seven*cough* seemed to not understand that]

don't worry, more the 50% have to agree on a growth pattern to do it. anyway, once we get a bit bigger you want any particular design for the flow or should we just wing it? everyone would assume it is a nice flower hairclip.

>>211005
Heck, we could even function as a hairclip! We're so nice and handy.

>>211005
The primary purpose of storing the excess blood is so that it's not leaking out everywhere, and the reason I want to use that as a nutrition source is so that it's disposed of covertly and serves some useful purpose.

People want to have a seal or scab over it, but don't want to do anything to drain the seepage that accompanies this kind of trauma? That would end badly.

[In b4 two weeks and this becomes sevi quest:The Beginnings]

>>211007
We're already draining it. What we're doing now works fine, no need to embellish it. In fact, I think the blood flow has mostly stopped. I don't see any seepage right now!

Next... Well, how about you show us your apartment?

We just met her an now you want to see her apartment?

I kid, we should go somewhere more private and talk about our unique situation.

Let's get that flower bloomin'! We gotta let all the other flowers know we're totally available. Pollinate pollinate pollinate~

>>211055
Whoa! Let's not. Stay subtle, for Flora's sake; she can manually pollinate us if we need it and we can grow a few seeds for her to plant.

Anyway, that's for later. Flora, perhaps you should head home for now. If nothing else you'll have supplies and a place to rest there; there will likely be official-type people arriving eventually, but you should have some time before that happens.

o 2010/07/23(Fri)09:23 No. 211236 ID: 5ccac3
File 127990218677.png - (228.98KB , 512x512 , 12.png )

Florence finishes her cleaning and grabs a moist paper towel to dab at the bleeding, ashamed all the while of all the trees she just used. She gives a contrite smile to the lady behind the counter on her way out.

Home huh? Well, I guess that's as good a goal as any. It's kind of a long walk though, unless you have any brilliant ideas. The closest tram station is in the opposite direction, and the bus system in this city is shameful. On the other hand, if there was something else I should be doing along the way, this would be a fine time.

>>211006
I never really put much stock in fancy hair decorations. Honestly, I keep it pretty simple, like I do everything else. Pretty much shampoo and a brush for me. Why, do you think a hair clip would help?

Crap, I'm still hungry. Should I have grabbed a bite at the fast food joint?

>>211236
Eating something wouldn't be a bad idea. You'll need a lot of water, iron, and proteins to recover from the blood loss. That said, fast food is not really the best location for getting that sort of nutrients, and if you drink a lot of pop it can actually impede recovery.

>>211236

I really did want a hamburger Gloria.

>>211236
At that joint? No. But get some food in you next chance you get. Healthier is better, but anything will do for now. You have lost some blood and getting some water in you will help keep you feeling well.

>>211236
Florence, why are you upset over the trees? They lack any mechanism which would allow for sentience.

Or did you mean that you dislike deforestation?
If that's the case then your guilt is misplaced, since the first-world logging industry was the first industry to become sustainable; more than 99% of the paper you use comes from trees that have already been replaced with saplings. The cattle industry is what actually causes most deforestation.
I suppose you could worry about the logging industry's fuel use or water consumption, but that's worrying about the drapes while the house is on fire, ya'know?

We need a disguise, and a hairclip would work. Hiding in plain sight.

Yea, go get some food. Are you a vegetarian? Vegan? Something like that?
If not, then go get a bowl of chili and some bread. High nutritional content and everything you need for the healing process.

[Are we dumping what little O2 we produce into the air, or into Flora?]

>>211310
[at this moment ether is fine, we have so little it would be unnoticeable. maybe once we get a bit bigger we can make it so flora can hold her breath for a hella long time]

>>211236
You should get some food, yes. Stop at the next good place for that. Hmm, you know, walking along the sidewalk is actually a good time for us to grow that flower we've been wanting. Let's try for a daisy.

If we are going to blossom let her pick the flower.

Or we could grow a flower that has petals that look like her hair.

o 2010/07/29(Thu)03:10 No. 213497 ID: 45be60
File 128039824615.png - (248.18KB , 512x512 , 13.png )

>>211242
There's that name again. Who is this person?

It's a fair point about the logging industry I guess, and they WERE the natural, unbleached kind of towel. It's just... years of training, you know? Sort of how you know nothing bad happens now if you crush styrofoam cups, but you still think twice about it. I'm sorta sad I missed the days of irresponsible logging though, cause they were such great targets for environmentally justified sabotage. I hear stories from some of the old-timers about putting potatoes in exhaust pipes and the like. Priceless.

Returning what she understands to be useful oxygen to her bloodstream seems like a good idea. So far you have been performing your plant respiration in the same way you always did before, but it is a relatively simple matter to reroute some internal flow and drop your waste gases back into her bloodstream instead.

I'm not a vegetarian. I'm with Green Planet, not PETA. I met a chicken once. Struck me as an animal that deserved to be eaten. I do generally try to avoid mammals, because red meat is supposed to be bad for you, and because it just doesn't seem right eating something in the same... family thing?... that could be... I dunno. Mammals just don't seem like food. I am willing to make an exception for sausage though.

She passes a few coffee shops, and some other places which technically serve food but were still rejected for one reason or another, and eventually finds a place that seems suitable.

Well, This'll do. Pan-asian fusion bakery place. Sounds weird, but they pull it off. Usually a bit too pricey for me, but if I'm just getting the soup, it should be okay.

>>212083
I have a lot of doubts about this "pretend to be hair" plan I'm hearing about, cause if you don't pull it off perfect, it's going to be even more attention grabbing. The hair decoration thing has potential though. I dunno much about flowers though. Something simple I guess. I like white. Maaaybe purple.

Chapter OP is a really quickly drawn white chrysanthemum. If you wanna look like that, I can go "just as planned" and pretend to know what I'm doing.

Well, that's food taken care of. Long walk home now I guess. Or, hmm, there's a library satellite branch not far from here. Wasn't I supposed to look some stuff up online?

ah yes, we were wondering if you good look up some info on head injuries. we are kinda winging this. we know you need your blood, but we are not sure how to fix the... artery? yeah artery. not sure what would be the best way to go about it.

>>213497
Lets disguise ourselves as a really quickly drawn white chrysanthemum!

>>213506
Ok sure that sounds good.

>>213497
Could you also look up some information about plants and flowers and stuff? Oh and I think 'Gloria' is someone that other plantmind made up to try to make some kind of weird joke.

o 2010/07/30(Fri)01:29 No. 213834 ID: 45be60
File 128047859748.png - (219.39KB , 512x512 , 14.png )

Florence makes her way to the library branch and it's public computer terminals without incident. Ah, delicious information.

"The most common and least serious type of traumatic brain injury is called a concussion. The word comes from the Latin concutere which means "to shake violently." blah blah blah okay here we go.

"What Should I Do if I Have a Concussion?
The seriousness of a concussion dictates what kind of treatment you should seek. Most people with concussions fully recover with appropriate treatment. But since a concussion can be serious, safeguarding yourself is important. Here are a few steps to take:

"Seek medical attention. A health care professional can decide how serious the concussion is and whether you require treatment. If you have suffered a grade 1 or grade 2 concussion, wait until symptoms are gone before returning to normal activities. That could take several minutes, hours, days, or even a week.
"If you have sustained a grade 3 concussion, see a doctor immediately for observation and treatment." What's a type three... lets see doo doo doo here.
"In a grade 3 concussion, the person loses consciousness, sometimes just for a few seconds." Okay, that one then. Shit. Where was I? "A doctor will ask how the head injury happened and discuss the symptoms. The doctor may also ask you simple questions such as "Where do you live?" "What is your name?" or "Who is the president?" The doctor asks these questions to evaluate your memory and concentration skills." Well, I think I'm okay there at least.

"The doctor may test your coordination and reflexes, which are both functions of the central nervous system. The doctor may also order a CT scan or an MRI to rule out bleeding or other serious brain injury." Um... bleeding. Right.

"If hospitalization is not required, the doctor will provide instructions for your recovery. Aspirin-free medications may be prescribed and you will be advised to take it easy. Experts recommend follow-up medical attention within 24 to 72 hours if symptoms worsen.

"Importantly, if you have a seizure, immediately see a doctor.

Okay, bleeding, bleeding...

o 2010/07/30(Fri)01:41 No. 213837 ID: 45be60
File 128047931688.png - (223.56KB , 512x512 , 15.png )

"A brain hemorrhage is a type of stroke. It's caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues. This bleeding kills brain cells." It's probably the same sort of thing anyway, right?

"The Greek root for blood is hemo. blah blah..

"When blood from trauma irritates brain tissues, it causes swelling. This is known as cerebral edema. The pooled blood collects into a mass called a hematoma. These conditions increase pressure on nearby brain tissue, and that reduces vital blood flow and kills brain cells.

"Bleeding can occur inside the brain, between the brain and the membranes that cover it, between the layers of the brain's covering or between the skull and the covering of the brain."

Some stuff about diagnosing them.. Not an issue... okay.

"How Is a Brain Hemorrhage Treated? Once you see a doctor, he or she can determine which part of the brain is affected based on your symptoms.

"Doctors may run a variety of imaging tests, such as a CT scan, which can reveal internal bleeding or blood accumulation, or an MRI. A neurological exam or eye exam, which can show swelling of the optic nerve, may also be performed. Blood tests and a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) may also be needed.

"Treatment for bleeding in the brain depends on the location, cause, and extent of the hemorrhage. Surgery may be needed to alleviate swelling and prevent bleeding. Certain medications may also be prescribed. These include painkillers, corticosteroids, or diuretics to reduce swelling, and anticonvulsants to control seizures. Blood products or intravenous fluids may be administered if needed.

"How well a patient responds to a brain hemorrhage depends on the size of the hemorrhage and the amount of swelling. Some patients recover completely. Possible complications include stroke, loss of brain function, or side effects from medications or treatments. Death is possible, and may quickly occur despite prompt medical treatment."

So... I guess keep it from swelling and let it heal on it's own?

okay, we already have everything handled then. good. just need to eat right so blood loss is negated and you will do fine.

o 2010/07/30(Fri)02:29 No. 213848 ID: 45be60
File 128048217790.png - (205.22KB , 512x512 , 16.png )

Okay, so on to learning about flowers then! Wait, what? Hmm, NOW what is she looking up?

...Oh. Right. Okay, that's fair you guess.

"Usually with schizophrenia, the person's inner world and behavior change notably. Behavior changes might include the following:
Social withdrawal
Depersonalization (intense anxiety and a feeling of being unreal)
Loss of appetite
Loss of hygiene
Delusions
Hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that aren't there)
The sense of being controlled by outside forces"

It's those last two that really have me worried here. Causes, causes...

"Experts don't know what causes schizophrenia. It may have different causes for different people. In some people, brain chemistry and brain structure are not normal. Family history may play a role. And problems that harm a baby's brain during pregnancy also may help cause it.

"Genetics: Your chance of developing schizophrenia is greater if your parent, brother, or sister has the illness. But most people who have a family member with schizophrenia don't develop it.
Brain chemistry and structure: It's possible that neurotransmitters, which send messages between parts of the brain, don't work the right way in people with schizophrenia.
Pregnancy: Schizophrenia may be related to pregnancy problems that can harm a baby's developing brain and nervous system. These problems include poor nutrition or a viral infection during pregnancy.

"Schizophrenia is not caused by anything you did, by personal weakness or bad choices, or by the way your parents raised you. More research is needed to understand what causes schizophrenia."

...Okay, so at least if I'm crazy, the blow to the head didn't cause it. This could still be damage induced fever-dream though.

Shout at the librarians so they install superior web browses that are faster and more secure.

ha, think we are insanity. rich.

In fact... I wonder, maybe we could be used as a medical tool someday? Imagine, having a plantmind network in hospitals everywhere! We could even do stuff like dig in past sensitive organs carefully and kill hard-to-reach tumors...

>>213848
Huh what? Oh come on, Flora! We're not a mental condition. We can prove it, just you wait until we get that flower blooming. Then you can just point to someone and go "Hey, like my flower?" and they'll go "Yeah it's pretty."

You'll see.

Seven01a19!!EyA2IwLwVl 2010/07/30(Fri)02:48 No. 213854 ID: 701a19
File 128048332082.jpg - (24.44KB , 460x345 , metroidprime.jpg )

>>213837
>"Death is possible, and may quickly occur despite prompt medical treatment."
>So... I guess keep it from swelling and let it heal on it's own?

You have clearly suffered serious brain damage if you think those lines belong in sequence.

>POSSIBLE DEATH EVEN IF TREATED
>IGNORE IT IT WILL BE FINE

>POSSIBLE DEATH
>IGNORE IT

>DELICIOUS CANDY

Sadly, I don't think we can prove that we're not a part of your head. Not to your satisfaction, anyway.

Except, maybe...
[Disguise ourselves as a really quickly drawn white chrysanthemum]

It's true. De-Nile ain't just a river in Egypt! It's also awesome medicine!

Look, even if this stress and injury did trigger a latent schizophrenia (not likely, by the by), the advice you've gotten has almost all been good advice focused on keeping you alive. Some of the information was irrelevant and wasted your time, but most of it was trying to be helpful.

Go. See. A. Doctor.

I don't think we should.

They'll try to take us out. It will kill us. And maybe you.

The web page said pressure building up is what causes the damage so everything should be fine if we keep draining it.

Blood loss might be an issue. We don't know how long it will bleed. You should look up what foods help your body produce blood (I think it's green vegetables and... red meat).

Mneme!CRITTerXzI 2010/07/30(Fri)14:47 No. 214015 ID: c4c313
File 12805264597.jpg - (43.58KB , 512x512 , prettyful.jpg )

>>213944

The only odd thing in her blood different from just your average SPONCH is a high amount of iron. So, maybe look up iron sources?

Sorry for not speaking up earlier. I think we should look like this!

>>213877
Preferably, go see a doctor that you can trust and who will keep quiet about this sort of thing if you ask them to. Relatives, old friends, or fellow activists might fit the bill.

The fact is, if you stroll in and see some random person they're probably going to want to cut open your head and pull us out, which isn't cool. Either for us, since we'd get pulled out, or for you, since it would involve having your head sliced open and probably poked around in as they attempt to separate our roots from your gray matter.

>fellow activists
I'd be even more wary about asking them before other friends or family, depending on what their ideas about things are. Getting someone who knows you up in arms about you harboring, or being a freak of nature isn't likely to help matters much.

o 2010/08/12(Thu)02:48 No. 217579 ID: 45be60
File 128160653364.png - (175.38KB , 512x512 , 17.png )

AAARG! I thought we were done with this.

>>214051
>>214192
I don't really have anyone fitting that description. Besides, wouldn't it make more sense to visit someone who wouldn't care if I li- ...Who doesn't have a vested interest in my long term well being? In my limited experience, friends and family don't just let things go when they are worried about you.

>>213854
>>213877
YES, damnit. Death is possible with prompt medical treatment if they can't relieve the pressure. The meds are just painkillers and swelling reducers, and the ONLY thing the surgery does is try to relieve the pressure. You lot are telling me that you are relieving the pressure. You are trying to convince me that I'm not crazy, that there really are voices coming from a plant stuck in my head, and that this plant is moving blood around to relieve the pressure. Well, if, AND THIS IS A BIG IF, I'm not crazy, then either you are already taking care of it, or you are lying to me, so which is it? And if I AM crazy I can't trust anything you say about my condition anyway. So I say screw you crazy head voices, I'm going home.

We think we are, but aren't sure.
How's progress on that, guys? Maybe we could put it in a berry by the flower if it isnt getting fixed quick enough?

some of the consciousnesses can't seem to listen right. they hear one sentence but gloss over another. they heard 'death' and no otther after that.
anyway, yes. we are taking care of it, you have nothing to worry about.

So Flora, what are you going to do now? This isn't exactly a normal situation for humans. I doubt it will be business as usual for you.

Also, just out of curiosity, we know stuff you know now. Do you know what we knew before we were embedded in your skull? Do you know our brief history?

>>217579
You're fine. We're doing our job; no risk of death here. It seems that some of us just don't really understand the risks and are worrying too much.

Schizophrenia is a lot different from this, by the way. Schizophrenic voices are abusive, not supportive.

>>214015
I like this look, we should look pretty, just like the Lilium hybrid said we should.

o 2010/08/13(Fri)01:07 No. 217956 ID: 45be60
File 128168685956.png - (121.36KB , 512x512 , 18.png )

She walks for a long time without addressing you directly, still seething a bit with frustration and plain stress. She still thinks steadily though, no amount of ignoring you will stop that. She considers taking an aspirin, because it is a pain killer, and she sort of remembers it being a blood thinner because of those commercials about aspirin if you have a heart attack. But then she remembers something she half noticed from the concussion article about not taking aspirin products. Damnit, her head hurts.

If she had died today, how long would it be before her parents found out? What would they do? Would they have to be nice to eachother at her funeral? Who would get in touch with them? How? Her phone has numbers stored in it. Oh shit, she reaches into her pocket and digs around for a phone. She withdraws it and flips it open. Black. She tries the power button. Nothing. Well that's just great. One more thing she can't afford to fix. Anybody who is good with electronics to mess with it? Not really. Maybe it just needs charged? She should be so lucky.

The park is up ahead. It's only a little bit faster to cut through, but the scenery is nicer. She could use the distraction.

>>217956
...um, are you turning green? How are you feeling, Florence? Aside from the pain, of course. Sorry about that, I'd try to do something if I thought it was possible at all. Tylenol should be perfectly safe, by the way. It's pretty much the only painkiller that's not a blood thinner.

On an unrelated note, our flower's coming along well!

Awwwww yeah. Lookit dat. Soon, all the bee-tches will be all up on dat flower. "You want some o' this pollen? Don't worry babe, I'll be gentle."

Think we ought to come up with some way to cheer Flora up, guys? There's all these funky compounds running around in her system, right? Think more of one would cheer her up?

>>217965
Either She's turning green, or suddenly shading.

>>217970
Not a bad idea, assuming we can figure out which compound does what pretty reliably.

>>217956
Yeah I'd head for the park and just relax for a bit.

Yay, leaves! Commence energy conversion!

Aspirin is a blood thinner. It increases the risk of stroke and makes it more difficult to stem bloodflow. So, yeah sorry. No aspirin.

The park would be nice. Then we could see some of our floral brethren. If the artist cares to draw it, that is.

Maybe we should grow ourselves to be easily plucked off and grow back. You know, in case someone tries to pull the flower out of her hair, it would probably be good if our blossom and most of the stem would easily pop off and leave us in stealth mode, rather than yanking on the root systems sunk into Flora's skull. Important to prepare for these things.

While we're at it, we can put some seeds in our flower. Better start preparing to establish new plants. Being stuck exclusively in Flora's skull forever would... probably not be good.

>>218128
Making the flower easily removable is a good idea. But I find no problem with being stuck in Flora's head. She can move more easily than we can and we will always have nutrients as long as she eats and drinks. But since we can move from plant to plant the seed thing is still a good idea, it gives us more options, let's do it.

o 2010/08/15(Sun)01:14 No. 218528 ID: 45be60
File 128186009963.png - (100.63KB , 512x512 , 19.png )

Oh WOW. You knew the park was going to be a place with other plants, but this... The city was a wasteland, but not even the lab had this much plant life. It is overwhelming at first. Like being plucked from the desert and dropped into the ocean. You even have a brief moment where you feel you may drown, losing yourselves in the empty sea of green.

You are not surprised to find that the plants around you lack consciousness. They feel empty, like you sometimes experienced in the lab when you looked at a physical plant when it's attention was focused elsewhere. They also feel sluggish, like most unresponsive of those larger, slower entities at the extreme end of the lab.

Even though she is still ignoring your chatter, Florence's thoughts make it clear that she too senses the wealth of greenery, though perhaps not as strongly, It is an unexpected sensation for her, and she staggers slightly, seeking a place to sit down.

...okay, maybe I was a little too quick to dismiss that concussion thing. Dizzy. No, that's not right. My head feels... squeezed.

>>218528
woah so many bros

too many bros

that's what is making you so dizzy, there's so much green here it's almost drowning us and I guess you're feeling it too

>>218528
Can... can we move? Can we spread? Can we make these plants grow like we want them to?

I'm going to try it. Try to take over something small, and fast-growing to experiment.

may need direct connection to work. try laying on the ground so we can reach the grass.

Let's find a three leaf clover and make it grow an extra leaf.

>>218567
Pff. That's smalltime. FOUR extra leaves. Seven leaf clover! Pollenation yeah, man!

You aren't concussed, it's the greenery. You couldn't sense it before. This stuff isn't like the plants we are used to, but maybe we can do something with them.

How's about we try making some nearby flowers bloom or something. Just to see if we can affect normal vegetation.

>>218760

Flowers take a while before they're ready to bloom, but it's a good chance we could trigger any that are on the cusp of blooming. Should see results in only hours!

>>218700
I like how you think, let's do it!

o 2010/08/17(Tue)00:58 No. 219018 ID: 45be60
File 128203191023.png - (181.23KB , 512x512 , 20.png )

You cast about through your surroundings, and locate the shape you are looking for in the greenery. It is really kind of hard focus on just one with all the others in such close proximity. You find a strong healthy example to play with. Slipping into its form feels... okay, maybe a little different than you are used to, but still pretty familiar. You have to push your way gently inside, the sensation is that there was not a place for you until you made one, but once inside it is snug and comfortable. The sun feels nice on your leaves. You take a moment to just enjoy it.

o 2010/08/17(Tue)01:36 No. 219022 ID: 45be60
File 128203416699.png - (198.38KB , 512x512 , 21.png )

Grow grow grow! Wheeeeee! It is easy to get lost in the simple joy of growing again in the bright sun and the warm soil.

The clover's internals feel a bit sluggish compared to what you are accustomed to, but it responds to your instructions smoothly enough. Using your new-found sense of time, you estimate you spend about an hour of focused effort coaxing this abnormal growth out of the small specimen without causing any damage

Just as you are finishing up and sitting back to admire your handiwork, you feel a strange pulling sensation. Within moments, before you have time to really ponder the implications, you find yourselves forcibly abandoning the clover and rejoining the flower entwined in Florence's hair. She is walking again, in an area of the park you haven't seen before. You are sure you would have remembered the long hedge she is walking next to. Apparently she decided she was finished sitting and moved off down the path while you were focused elsewhere.

Hey, stop, we can do cool stuff! Find a bench, sit, and watch this plant we're going to grow into a smiley face.

Well okay Gale, we did some experimentation and it seems that we can manipulate pretty much any plant that's nearby. However it's a little slow... and we get pulled back to you if you move away. We just made a 7-leaf clover!

So the good news is you can make a living off of selling weird-shaped produce. The bad news is we're stuck in your head for the most part... at least until we can make a seed or something for you to plant so we have a second 'true' body to anchor to.

Feeling any better after that rest?

Whoa we made a 7 leaf clover, a 7 leaf clover!
It might be nothing like what some of us did in the lab but pretty cool anyway.

o 2010/08/18(Wed)02:06 No. 219393 ID: 45be60
File 128212238516.png - (224.54KB , 512x512 , 22.png )

Oh, you're back. Just when I was starting to think I might be sane after all. Then the voices come back and start yelling about old Futurama references. Joy.

I guess I feel better. My head is still buzzing a bit, but it's not as bad. That or I am just getting used to it. Anyway, I figured I should get going, before it gets too late.

...but um... I guess I could spare a minute for my head wound. Something you wanted me to see?

>>219393

Turn around, go back down the path, back near where you first entered the park. There should be a patch of clover on your right. In the middle of the patch there is a seven leaf clover. We made it, and it's proof we're really real.

>>219047
making a living out of it should be out of question. its very easily traceable.

but becoming a superhero because of that? we can make poison ivy envious!

im guessing we should check for possible head/brain injury. im pretty sure we did not trespassed the skull, so we should not be able to control/heal any pressure in her brain.

how do you feel if we have some development in analysis of blood or stealthly spreading our roots under your skin?

alternatively, would you like some barkskin, maybe a self made shampoo/body oil?

No need to go back and look at it. When you get home well spend some time messing with your plants. We will make you something nice.

>>219393
Hm? Well if you want to go look at what we made in the park, sure. However, it is in a patch of clover so it might be a little difficult to find... On the other hand, you could also take a look at the flower we made on your head~

o 2010/08/19(Thu)20:59 No. 220017 ID: 45be60
File 128227674372.png - (220.66KB , 512x512 , 23.png )

>>219481
What the FUCK?

oh god don't panic, don't pull us out please oh god oh goodness please don't panic we thought it would look more normal this way aaaaaaaaaaaaa

>>220017
Uh... we hope you like white? Though we can customize the color and shape of our blossom if you wish.

Seriously, thought we'd look better as decor than as a head wound. And we did tell you that we're some kind of crazy mutant bioengineered intelligent flower, right?

Crap don't panic it isn't easily detachable yet; you might rip open your skull if you try to pull out the flower.

Don't pull us out! We've only been helping you so far! We didn't even realize we were in a living being until we were, erm, already inside you.

Seriously though, you'll only hurt us and yourself. Pulling would be Very Very bad.

especially the fact that we kinda burrowed into your skull to drain the blood.

Hey I bet we could make her capable of photosynthesis too!

o 2010/08/20(Fri)02:42 No. 220086 ID: 45be60
File 12822973663.png - (242.14KB , 512x512 , 24.png )

Zoom!

Skid!

Plop!

Stare!

What. the. hell. Okay, seriously, I need to be made aware of things like this when they happen. You guys were talking about hair clip disguises like two hours ago. That was retarded fast. Flowers don't grow that fast. Nothing grows that fast. What ARE you?

For the rest of the walk home, her thoughts race through possibilities, until eventually she settles on one conclusion. Okay. So. I may still be crazy. I an unprepared to rule that out at this time. However, if that is the case, my delusions are so complete and consistent that NOT acting on them would be just as crazy. So on the off chance that this is all really happening, I'll just go with it. So do you crazy flower voices have a name?

>>220086
Uh... Not really? I guess I could think one up.

Let's see we're kindof attuned to plants, and we have some kindof supernatural phenomenon going...

How about Viridjinni?

>>220086
Don't have a name. But hey. We're in your head. You got any ideas?

well, we are super plant created by SCIENCE! we can get away with stuff like that.

and nope, no name yet.

We were many flowers until the lab exploded, I guess maybe some of us had names or something like it. I don't know what we could use as a name for all of us though.
Maybe you have a good idea for what to call us?

Call me Ishmael.

Hey, it's name-choosing time? I suggest Verdance.

>>220086
Yeah, we grow that fast. I would point out that if we grew at normal flower rates, there's no way that we'd have been able to try and fix your wound- it'd have taken days or weeks to manage that kind of growth. We managed it in minutes.

On another note, I'd say we look rather fetching there. Excellent job on the flower, team.

>>220086
You're Flora, so lets complete the inversion; call us Fauna.

Fauna is alright, I prefer the name 'SCIENCE', though

>>220168
>>220171
Fauna means animals. That's just silly.

>>220131
>Verdance
I like this one, seconded.

>>220248

Well she's named Flora (and human=animal), we can be Fauna!

>>220249
I kinda like this, a bit odd but quite humorous.

Call us freaky-plant-thing-in-my-head.

Ok I know this isn't the thing we're worried about now, but we might as well get it started now before we wish we did later.

First off we need to make sure that our flower is only loosely connected to us, so that if someone or something pulls it off we don't all go with it or leave a big hole. Ideally the underneath should look like a scar or birthmark.

Secondly, we need our flower to produce a small stem pointed behind her ear, so it looks like it could be supported by it on her head. As opposed to, you know, sprouting straight out of her skull. It should be attached to the flower so they both would be removed together.

>>220323
Yeah, this was brought up earlier but I'm not sure if it ever got done. If it wasn't, it should be. Important to look ahead for future problems.

Also related to looking ahead, we should probably start making up a few seeds.

>>220086

You ran that fast. Why couldn't we grow that fast?

As for a name, unfortunately we used to be many plants, which were all (?) lost in the fire, except for one seed, which is now in your head. If you want to name us, you'll have to get us separated back into individual plants. Until then the others can probably think of a good name for the group. I hesitate to suggest Legion.

o 2010/08/24(Tue)03:01 No. 221686 ID: 45be60
File 128264409682.png - (330.10KB , 512x512 , 25.png )

Heh, okay, a simple 'no' would have been fine. Hey... that guy is staring at me.

A Shady Stranger approaches!

You were unprepared for the attack!

Shady Stranger uses "Hey Miss Have You Got The Time?"

Shady Stranger closes the distance.

Action?

>>221686

Special. You get more XP by using special moves in battul.

>>221686
I don't like this guy's expression... and I don't remember you having a watch. Just say no and keep moving.

Hey did the flytrap learn to spit poison before the lab exploded? If yes, be ready to grow what we need to attack. Else, make the flower easy to remove if we haven't already.

>>221741
No way even we can change quickly enough to matter here. Maybe we can learn to though...

Anyways just tell him you don't have a watch or anything and keep moving away from him. If he gets any closer be ready to run and defend yourself as needed.

...What's in that "Spec" submenu, anyways?

Item > cell phone to check the time

>>221795
Oh, I guess that's right, we can use a phone to check the time.

Watch out though, he may be planning to snatch the phone. I guess I'm being a little paranoid but hey look at that guy's face!

>>221686
Unarmed combat is a bad idea. RUN!

just give him the time.

>>221796
But cell phone is currently dead.

Say "Sorry, No."

Abscond.

o 2010/08/25(Wed)03:11 No. 222094 ID: 45be60
File 12827310838.png - (331.68KB , 512x512 , 26.png )

Florence uses self-pity: dead cellphone.

Nothing happens.

Florence uses escape tech "Sorry, No."

Florence ran away...
But Shady Stranger blocks the way!

Shady Stranger uses "Then How Bout Some Cash?"

Shady Stranger is evolving!
Shady Stranger evolved into Smirking Mugger.

Action?

>>222094
Take out your wallet, go "This is all I have.", crumple up your cash and throw it away from you so he goes for the money and you have an escape route. Then run for it!

wait, just a little knife? use a high-kick and smash him in the jam with your foot.

I can taste the adrenaline in your blood. You're wide awake, and ready fight or to run. Your heart is thumping, and you're evaluating your chances.

He has a grip on that blade appropriate for jabbing but he's not in a proper fighting stance yet. If you're fast enough, and if you can dodge one jab that won't be at full power and speed, you should be able to knock him over with a body check. Then you can stomp on his balls, and leave him incapacitated.

Hmm... can we manipulate fungus? Because he doesn't all that hygenic, let's try to make whatever is growing on him act up really reallybad.

If there isn't an immediate effect just throw some change at his face and run.

how about a sunbeam?

or a hyperbeam?

well ok, stun spore?

uh. leg it. if you can get some sand to trhow at his face, do so.

>>222111
Keep him distracted.

[Make his athletes foot turn necrotic]

o 2010/08/26(Thu)03:09 No. 222367 ID: 45be60
File 128281736764.png - (391.17KB , 512x512 , 27.png )

rolled 4 = 4

---

> distract with throwing!
> right inna rocks!

Florence reaches into her pocket and begins to dig. The smirking mugger's smirk broadens as he takes a half step closer, but his grin falls away when she uses the drop in his guard to throw the contents of her pocket (85 cents, a crumpled receipt, and a pen cap) into his face and rush him. He gets a wild slash off on the charging girl before she checks him into the ground. She immediately kicks him in the fork, then with hardly a pause, proceeds to pummel his prone and writhing form, yelling all the while.

"How DARE you! You don't GET to ruin my day any more! You have no idea the kind of day I've had! I almost DIED! And now I'm crazy! And I don't have to put up with your bullshit!"

The man whimpers and rolls, desperately trying to protect his tender areas.

Smirking Mugger called for help!

>>222367
Great, no matter if he summons hobos or citizens or cops, we don't want to be around that. Get running already!

FLORENCE, CHILL, don't make us figure out how to manufacture sleep agents, cause we will.

>>222368
and no running. if it's cops then we can explain what happened.

>>222367

Unless you're planning on mugging him (turnabout is fair play, after all), you should take this opportunity to leave. Even if you're not going to properly mug him, make sure you grab his knife. He'll be less inclined to try to attack you again without it.

You've been cut on your upper right arm, but it doesn't seem to be bleeding very much yet. It's probably a shallow cut. We can grow some thin root hairs down your shoulder to the wound and pull it shut tight if you want, or you can just go with the traditional bandaging. Up to you.

>>222371
and don't touch anything until you see who may be coming to help. picking up his knife when it's cops would be a horrible idea.

>>222372

We were far enough away from law enforcement that the mugger felt confident in mugging Florence. It's unlikely that the responder, if there is one, will be a cop.

In any case, should Florence need to justify having the knife she can always point out the cut on her arm, and that it was inflicted by Smirker there with that very same knife.

o 2010/08/26(Thu)03:39 No. 222374 ID: 45be60
File 128281916161.png - (391.84KB , 512x512 , 28.png )

> 4: help arrived!

Florence freezes in mid stomp when a voice calls out from somewhere nearby.

"Oy, Jim?"
"Tac! Get this crazy bitch off me!"

A doorway closes somewhere behind Florence on the narrow side street.

>>222374

You really should run, Florence. Grab the knife if you can, and book it.

>>222375
This seems like sound advice.

Tac will not give chase. He'll be too busy laughing at Jim for getting beat up by someone two heads shorter than him. If Jim didn't drop the knife, don't grab the knife. Just book it; the way is clear!

...tell him to keep the change.

Clock him a good one right in the temple.
Then get the fuck out of there.

>>222374
[what was 1?
>Help arrived! With a machine gun?]

I think the thug learned not to mess with us, now leg it before his friend puts a cut on your other arm.

Start walking off. "He started it! And keep the change, asshole! Maybe you can use it to buy a life!"

o 2010/08/27(Fri)02:48 No. 222625 ID: 45be60
File 128290249992.png - (392.02KB , 512x512 , 29.png )

Florence ran away...
Got away safely!

Snide commentary and discarded weaponry are ignored in her adrenaline fueled escape. Never stopping to look back, Florence legs it around the corner onto the main street. She sprints all the way to the last crosswalk before her apartment building, where she catches her breath waiting for the light to change, or at least for traffic to clear.

Ohhhh shit. That was close. I'm not cut up too bad, but this shirt is ruined. I don't think anybody followed me though. Damnit... so close to home, I almost made it. I never should have gotten up this morning. I'm glad this stupid day is almost over. Okay, here we are, home sweet shithole.

Florence's apartment building is not in the best of repair, as to be expected with her budget needs. It is a rent controlled high-rise with buzzer entry and a single rickety elevator. Florence does not know if her own buzzer even works. It has certainly never rung. Whether or not the elevator works changes on a weekly basis. This week it is not. Eight flights. Good thing she has such good endurance.

[[Bonus Objective - Guardian Angel: missed]]

>>222619
No.
No, no, no.
You do not get to whine. See here: >>222192

That was a viable and interesting option that you chose to ignore.
Don't blame the lack of interesting results on us when the smartest response by far is blatantly obvious and you decide to ignore the interesting suggestions.

What were you hoping we would do? Spend two hours growing a poison sac in the hopes that he would eat it? Or spend another two hours building a spine launcher so we could administer it at a distance?

Meanwhile, lets work on setting ourselves up to be more capable in the future...
[Start growing to engulf her entire skeleton in protective matter, and provide reserves of plant matter for us to use as a ready source of materials. Begin research on improved wound treatment, and how to thread through her flesh so that we can treat surface wounds and provide a starting point for research into augmenting her body.]

Get in your apartment.

...Do you have any plants?

Let's be more prepared next time, let's finish developing the poison spit that the flytrap was working on before the explosion.

>>222647
i second this motion. may as well go all out and make the delivery system retractable. a cannon thing sticking out of a flower is very noticeable.

>>222626
(Maybe we're faster than that. Remember, we didn't even get to see our progress on the flower until like 3 updates after it. I thought we were slow growers too, but it sounds like that isn't the case after all.)

Hey, Flora, let's stand at a mirror for a few minutes. I want to try a few things.

>>222658
Let's try growing another leaf and see how long it takes to grow.

o 2010/09/03(Fri)02:58 No. 225263 ID: 45be60
File 128350791413.png - (358.96KB , 512x512 , 30.png )

Florence enters to her dingy but familiar apartment after the long trek up the stairs, unsurprised though vaguely disappointed to find that no magical cleaning fairies came by to tidy the place up in her absence. She guiltily glances at the pitiful excuse for a plant intended to make her cramped, elevated desk feel more friendly, and goes to fill a glass from her sink with cleanish water for the poor thing.

She stands before an antique free-standing mirror, rescued from her grandmother's house after she died, and starts to assess her injuries. Her shirt is, as suspected, terminal. She carefully peels it off and deposits it unceremoniously on the floor. The gash across her torso is not life threatening, but neither is it superficial, and it does sting like hell. It may scar if not handled carefully. The cut on her arm is little more than a nick, the initial contact point of a wild swing intended to do her serious harm.

...I hate this city and everyone in it.

wow, it may just be the popular culture seeping in from your memories but you look pretty hot. and even if that does scar it wouldn't make you any less pretty. if you really want it to seal right though we can try something.
[if she says yes then grow a small seed pod]

and while you may not like some people in here i am sure someone out there is good.

>>225263
Aw, don't feel bad Flora... There's always some bad elements in any city. Let's see now.

[grow some long vines, intended to reach the cuts, and gently hold them shut]

...is that a plant back there behind you?

Don't worry with our help you can get a great job mutating plants for fun and profit. Then you can move to the country and relax.

>>225267
More than hold them shut, how about we start oozing something like aloe to help the healing process? Heck, lets start sanitizing the wounds and cleaning the debris out of them?

[Do this. Also: Start growing to engulf her entire skeleton in protective matter, and provide reserves of plant matter for us to use as a ready source of materials. Begin research on improved wound treatment, and how to thread through her flesh so that we can extend tendrils out from our bone-wrap to treat surface wounds and provide a starting point for research into augmenting her body.]

Any supporters or opposition to this so far?

[Nurse her plant back to health]

Not really supporting crazy plant shit at this point.

Really, you should just soak in a bath or something. We'll... uh. Oh, we can focus on that plant there to give you some privacy, if you like.

[yeah, let's keep the stuff simple and non-invasive right now]

>>225278
[By consensus, delay any alterations to her system]

Hey, Flora? We've been talking about giving your bones a protective coating so they'll be more resilient. We'd like to do a small test to see how well it works and how seamlessly we can do it. It would be maybe a few square centimeters on an undamaged section of your skull, and if it worked there we would do another trial using the same methods to splint and reinforce the damaged bone at the trauma site.
Will you give us approval to go ahead with this?

Also, would you like us to tend to your surface wounds? We can aid the healing process, and should be able to prevent it from scarring too bad. Again, only with your approval.

Titanium reinforcement of the bones should be enough. I think we could cook up an enzyme to break up titanium oxide and another to replace the calcium in her endoskeleton with titanium. That'd leave her with bones that are mostly unbreakable.

For now what we really need to do is get that cut on her torso sealed. We should be able to grow hair root structures that will serve as active sutures.

>>225285
We're not considering altering her bones, just giving them a protective coating. We're not going to make any changes that we can't completely undo in a reasonably short period of time unless she and we both decide to permanently become some sort of symbiotic or hybrid being, and that's not in the foreseeable future from either side.

So, no, we're not going to be making any changes that would be difficult to reverse.

I think it should be safe to try and figure out that poison spit now. Never know when we might need it.

[Start to develop poison spit hidden in the flower]

>>225295

Any process that we use an enzyme to facilitate could be reversed. Furthermore, reinforcing the bones could be done in a permanent fashion that doesn't require any extra work from us. A break, unlikely as it would be, would still mend normally.

im startin to get vibes of poison ivy from everyone suggesting changes. lets keep them hidden and nice.

how about this, lets release some sort of symbiotic spore on her bloodstream. they should help clean up the wounds, seal them and maybe change her blood color to a dashing cyan.

since we seem to be living here anyway, lets check that plant status. maybe we can make a little sentry out of it.

>>225315
I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand times.

We do not change anything about her body or anything in it without her express and literal permission.

This is her body we are tampering with, for god's sake, we need full and complete consent or she can (rightly) rip us out and kill us with fire for fucking around with her.

Please. Stick to modifications to our flower!

>>225319
Ripping us out would be harmful to her too, but I do agree, let's not do crazy experiments to her insides.

We haven't started any permanent changes to Florence. We're just talking about them right now.

I still think the titanium reinforcement is a winner. It'll take a good deal of energy to do, but since Florence can eat meat she has access to very dense energy sources. It should be fine. The hardest part would be extracting the titanium oxide from her digestive tract before it's passed as waste (which is what normally happens to the small amount of TiO2 that people eat). Oh, and she'd need to eat a supplement of TiO2, but that's hardly worth mentioning. That stuff is so cheap they use it in toothpaste as a whitener.

>>225373

Just so long as we don't completely coat the bones it should be fine, sealing off essential organs is probably a bad idea. In any case we shouldn't go making changes without permission, especially since it's likely to make her tear us out.

A coating wouldn't be ideal anyway. Reinforcing pins running the length of the bones would be much better. They'd be stronger, and superficial damage to the bones could be handled by her normal immune system.

>>225451
Ideal? No, but it's a change we could easily reverse. We aren't going to make a single hard-to-undo change outside of a permanent arrangement, and we aren't making any non-emergency temporary changes without her informed consent.

This is not open for debate.

It would be incredibly invasive to do any of these things. Hell, it'd probably hurt like hell.

Maybe we can grow some aloe she could use on her cuts.

>>225630
Yeah, we can grow aloe. And possibly, if she's willing to let us try it, grow fine thorns/strong vines to use as living needle and thread, to tightly bind her torso slash so that it won't scar- reactive stitches that actively maintain themselves. She'll need to disinfect those injuries, by the way, and it might be wise to avoid swimming or showering in deference to the torso slash's need to heal.

Messing around with her internals at this point is a bad idea. I would definitely want to test our abilities there on some creature that we care less about before attempting to implement them; the risk of catastrophic error is too high and the potential gain not high enough.

On minor more feasible projects, let's spruce up that plant in the corner, and maybe have it start producing some kind of strong, fresh scent. Like lilac. Lilacs are nice.

Welp, let us see what we can do for your plant there.

long vines would actually be a very useful addition, especially if we can get more than one.

In b4 we change our name to sevi.

o 2010/09/07(Tue)23:12 No. 227936 ID: 45be60
File 12839263226.png - (368.97KB , 512x512 , 31.png )

Um... I don't think I'm comfortable with all this body modification stuff. I mean, maybe it would be useful, but I don't want to turn into some sort of freak, you know?

After staring at herself in the mirror for a few moments, she turns and digs around in the space next to her dresser to pull out a scale. She steps on and does some quick math.

Man... I think I lost almost ten pounds today. I'm starting to see my ribs. And my bra feels loose. >_< I'm going to have to be eating more than soup and ramen if I wanna get my weight back up. That means money. And I don't think there is much money in the amusingly shaped produce market... Wait, that's stupid. I could EAT the produce MYSELF.

>>227936
That's right! So what sort of produce do you like? Watermelon? Watermelon is simple. Anyway, we can produce stuff for both you and for sale! You're set for life with us!