Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
07-16-2010, 10:25 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by gloomyMoron.
Reudic silently watched as the strange 'creature' known as 'Charlie' seemingly disappeared from sight, or at least so the machine had thought. The optical camouflage Charlie employed worked by not only bending light, but by utilizing dozens of sophisticated micro-cameras to capture its surroundings. These images were then relayed to the adaptive and reflective 'smart-metals' upon its outer chassis and simulated in real time. When still, the bot was nearly completely invisible. When in motion, there tended to be a slight, barely noticeable 'ripple-upon-the-lake' effect. Though not perfect, the technology was quite advanced and very effective. Reudic knew nothing of this, and would only be able to understand parts of it should it care enough to ask. It did not. All the plant-being knew was that its 'visual image' of Charlie that his numerous leaves had 'seen' had disappeared, though that was all that changed.
The unique biology that the viridioflorans had evolved in the lush jungles that were their home were many and diverse, and it was thanks to such an adaptation that Reudic still knew the whereabouts of the mechanical assassin. In viridiofloran anatomy, there existed a highly specialized membrane and pressurized fluid-sac system. This system was used to notice slight changes in air pressure that could indicate any number of things such as an incoming storm or the approaching of a nearby prey-beast. It also allowed the plant to have exceptional hearing. In this respect, it would not be wrong to compare the system used by viridiofloran biology to that of a human's ear, specifically a human's inner ear: only be a gross underestimation of its efficiency. So delicate and fine-tuned was this system that if there was so much as a slight breeze or Charlie stayed in motion, Reudic would be able 'see' the unwieldy bot as clearly as if it was a rampaging gorhinorex, a territorial predator from Reudic's homeworld that could grow to be, at its smallest, about the size a small tank or about the size of a Boeing 717 at its largest. Both objects Reudic knew nothing of and couldn't be bothered to care about.
Reudic floated along and followed, at a distance, the wake and drag-flows the metallic prey-beast left as it entered the next room. Here, Reudic saw two bipedal figures fighting seed-shooting branches? At least that's what the plant assumed they were fighting. It couldn't really be any less interested in the fighting, so long as its own life wasn't in danger, even then Reudic wouldn't particularly care. It'd do what it always did when in the wild, survive or die. No more, no less.
It watched as Charlie and Karen managed to destroy the defenses. Some of its vine tendrils crept along the ground, not to hunt for prey as it was finally beginning to feel its nectar sac pump nutrient-rich sap through its vacuoles, but to feel for extra vibrations along the ground. |Strange. Constant noise. Small things scurry nearby. In the distance, medium-sized prey-beasts stir. Two pair of two. Separate from each other, but close.| Reudic listened carefully to the ground and to the air, something that was as natural to it as releasing oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide.
Reudic was the first to notice that the newly formed group of four had visitors, not just because it was listening, but also because one of its vines had been bitten. Another tendril had whipped out in a flash of dark green; the rough, sharp point piercing the offending creature through its neck, killing it neigh instantaneously. "Kah-wren. Loy-did Kahn-rad. Char-lee. Kree-tch-ores," Reudic's mouth-fruit had said in a disinterested tone, trying to mimic words it had heard previously.
Losing what little interest Reudic already had in conversation, it went back to dealing with would be attackers. Whip. Snap. Crack. Another creature down.
Reudic silently watched as the strange 'creature' known as 'Charlie' seemingly disappeared from sight, or at least so the machine had thought. The optical camouflage Charlie employed worked by not only bending light, but by utilizing dozens of sophisticated micro-cameras to capture its surroundings. These images were then relayed to the adaptive and reflective 'smart-metals' upon its outer chassis and simulated in real time. When still, the bot was nearly completely invisible. When in motion, there tended to be a slight, barely noticeable 'ripple-upon-the-lake' effect. Though not perfect, the technology was quite advanced and very effective. Reudic knew nothing of this, and would only be able to understand parts of it should it care enough to ask. It did not. All the plant-being knew was that its 'visual image' of Charlie that his numerous leaves had 'seen' had disappeared, though that was all that changed.
The unique biology that the viridioflorans had evolved in the lush jungles that were their home were many and diverse, and it was thanks to such an adaptation that Reudic still knew the whereabouts of the mechanical assassin. In viridiofloran anatomy, there existed a highly specialized membrane and pressurized fluid-sac system. This system was used to notice slight changes in air pressure that could indicate any number of things such as an incoming storm or the approaching of a nearby prey-beast. It also allowed the plant to have exceptional hearing. In this respect, it would not be wrong to compare the system used by viridiofloran biology to that of a human's ear, specifically a human's inner ear: only be a gross underestimation of its efficiency. So delicate and fine-tuned was this system that if there was so much as a slight breeze or Charlie stayed in motion, Reudic would be able 'see' the unwieldy bot as clearly as if it was a rampaging gorhinorex, a territorial predator from Reudic's homeworld that could grow to be, at its smallest, about the size a small tank or about the size of a Boeing 717 at its largest. Both objects Reudic knew nothing of and couldn't be bothered to care about.
Reudic floated along and followed, at a distance, the wake and drag-flows the metallic prey-beast left as it entered the next room. Here, Reudic saw two bipedal figures fighting seed-shooting branches? At least that's what the plant assumed they were fighting. It couldn't really be any less interested in the fighting, so long as its own life wasn't in danger, even then Reudic wouldn't particularly care. It'd do what it always did when in the wild, survive or die. No more, no less.
It watched as Charlie and Karen managed to destroy the defenses. Some of its vine tendrils crept along the ground, not to hunt for prey as it was finally beginning to feel its nectar sac pump nutrient-rich sap through its vacuoles, but to feel for extra vibrations along the ground. |Strange. Constant noise. Small things scurry nearby. In the distance, medium-sized prey-beasts stir. Two pair of two. Separate from each other, but close.| Reudic listened carefully to the ground and to the air, something that was as natural to it as releasing oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide.
Reudic was the first to notice that the newly formed group of four had visitors, not just because it was listening, but also because one of its vines had been bitten. Another tendril had whipped out in a flash of dark green; the rough, sharp point piercing the offending creature through its neck, killing it neigh instantaneously. "Kah-wren. Loy-did Kahn-rad. Char-lee. Kree-tch-ores," Reudic's mouth-fruit had said in a disinterested tone, trying to mimic words it had heard previously.
Losing what little interest Reudic already had in conversation, it went back to dealing with would be attackers. Whip. Snap. Crack. Another creature down.