Wyld Heart

[Shanodin]

Month 6, Week 2, Day 2 Open

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A construction crew, a few police officers, and various men and women in business suits are standing in the middle of a mid-level traffic street in downtown Detroit, staring at what was, just yesterday, a rubble filled lot that the local kids sometimes used for ball. Today was supposed to be the ground-breaking ceremony for a new high-rise building, office space for Biotech Unbound's latest business venture.

The rubble filled lot is now a lush, wild, overgrown oasis in the middle of the city. Trees and flowers which were long ago native to the land, but hadn't bloomed in decades or more are tall and thriving in the space.

Perched on the limb of one gnarled, ivy-covered tree is a nearly-naked green woman with leaves covering just enough to keep her PG-13, and thorns for hair. She blends almost perfectly into the foliage, and one would have to look hard to actually notice her.

She is watching the humans with distrustful, angry eyes.

[Swindle]

One of the men in business suits steps forward into the lot, inspecting the various flora and snapping careful pictures with his smart-phone. He take off his purple-tinted sunglasses as he squats down to examine a flower patch.

"Anyone know anything about plants?" he asks, looking over his shoulder at the assembled worthies. If any of these are new and exotic species then . . . they're technically on Biotech Unbound property, but there's always an angle to work.

One of the plants might secrete something with pharmaceutical properties. Or even better, something that can be refined into a chemical weapon.

[Needlenose]

"Not yet, but I intend to find out about them," says a soft voice that speaks with an odd cadence, emphasizing syllables in a nonstandard pattern. The speaker is a tall man wearing sunglasses in a white suit with a jacket hanging down from his shoulders.

He gives a cold smile that sits on his lips, but doesn't touch any other part of his face. The barest surface smile.

"But you, my friend, are trespassing."

[Shanodin]

The dryad shifts in her tree, causing the leaves to rustle. She doesn't move to another tree; she flows, moving closer to the human who is invading her grove. So far, the man hasn't done anything overtly harmful, but he makes her fret none the less.

She chatters nervously as the one man is joined by the other. The language is certainly not English or any other Earth language. It might ring a distant bell with the photo-taker, maybe.

Translated, she seems to be concerned about the little image box stealing the flowers' souls.

[Swindle]

"Trespassing? Prometheus, you wound me!" says the man in the purple sunglasses, straightening up. "I'm here for the groundbreaking, just like everyone else here. Everyone else, however, is standing around with their hands up their . . . pockets, while I am actually looking into the unique situation we're confronted with." While he talks, he walks around the man in the jacket, though it should be noted that he's still on the suddenly-green lot.

"Besides, if you're worried about trespassing, I'd worry more about the lovely green lady speaking in tongues than about my humble self. Not that I'd ever tell you how to run your business."

[Needlenose]

Black hadn't actually seen the woman from the distance. She kind of blends in there, doesn't she? His eyebrows go up behind his glasses, and he quickly comes to one conclusion.

Biotech Unbound must have that woman.

"I... see."

He steps forward, looking up at the woman. "Excuse me, young lady, but you are on Biotech Unbound... property. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." He speaks slowly and clearly, operating under the ignorant American assumption that if you just speak English slowly enough, people will understand you. But just in case that doesn't work, he's already trying to figure out how many linguists and telepaths he has available.

Doesn't Blackrock Industries have a telepath on staff? G.B. must not find out about this!

[Shanodin]

The skittish dryad makes a startled sound as she is addressed actually fading into the tree for several moments, her features barely visible in the bark. The men don't seem inclined leave, however, and the urge to keep watch over her grove is strong. She reemerges, though she flows to a higher branch.

She continues to chatter in her nonsense language, though the very emphatic shaking of her head indicates that she might have understood some of what the man in the white coat said. It could be, though, merely an automatic movement indicating she does not understand.

Prometheus and the man in the horn-rimmed purple sunglasses might notice that the thorns on some of the vines look a bit more... pronounced.

[Swindle]

The man in the sunglasses gives the biotech mogul a condescending look. "If someone started speaking Japanese to you really slowly, like you were a child, would you magically understand the language because they were talking slowly or would you just think they were sort of an ass?" The Dealer is somewhat of a polyglot, but it doesn't extend to whatever language the plant woman is speaking. He gets the odd feeling that he ought to recognize it, though.

Having said his piece, he backs off the lot, leaving Black alone with the green and watching from what he suspects is the relative safety of the pavement.

[Needlenose]

"Hmph," Black sniffs. "Just because she has not spoken English yet does not mean she doesn't know it." Which is theoretically true, since they've only been 'speaking' with her a few moments. Not that he had actually thought that through, but it's good enough of an excuse.

He actually moves nearer one of the vines, frowning curiously. One of the men who had arrived with him approaches, looking up at the women. "Er, you need us to go grab her down?"

Black glances back at the members of the press still present, then shakes his head in small, quick motions. "We should... give her a chance to leave on her own." Which actually means, 'Come back and capture her while no one's watching.'

[Shanodin]

The dryad minutely shakes her head back and forth when Black says the word leave. Maybe she does understand English to some extent.

The vine which Black is examining jerks back from the man suddenly, curling away and back into the brush. Others, with larger thorns move closer, threatening but not attacking.

It seems this new green is distrustful of the man.

---

OOC: I am ok w/ moving toward a wrap/sceneshift, whatever works

[Swindle]

One eyebrow lifts imperceptibly behind the purple sunglasses. "Not gonna try and coax her down, then? Maybe offer her a nice glass of fertilizer?" The Dealer shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets, rocking forward and back on the balls of his feet as he contemplates.

Whatever this green woman is, she can control plants, she's speaking a language that isn't even vaguely familiar to him (and he knows at least a little bit of everything from Korean to African Bushman, so he ought to at least recognize the language family), and she's on Black's property. Well, he'll have to see if he can move her off the property before Black does.

OOC: I am good with either of those things.