"Uncle, I know you have 6 barrels fermenting, no use lying", Scarlet barks into the phone.
"What? No I don't! How dare you imply I am a liar, I am insulted beyond measure! Years I have lovingly supported you and this is how you repay me?", a nasally voice whines back, "How dare you repay my care and-"
"Auntie Grimble told me about them Uncle, you shouldn't have sold any of her crow bones if you wanted her to keep your secrets"
"AH! Well...", Uncle Klipt pauses a moment, "Damn you got me there girly, didn't think she would notice a few missing wingbones. Well fair's fair, I'll come bring 'm over. What do you need fertilizer for anyway? This stuff is a bit too potent for your office plants you know."
"It's...", she has to take a steadying breath at the reminder of her long deceased houseplants, she won't fail Ember like that, "It's Ember, she needs it."
"That dreamgirl you like so much? What kinda janky dream magic do you need fertilizer for?"
"I...", another steadying breath, "We finally got her out Uncle, but she's undergoing metamorphosis and... and it isn't going great, she needs the fertilizer to grow her new form."
"WELL ROT AND DAMNATION GIRL!", Klipt yells over the line alongside a racket of sudden movement, "Open with that! I'm grabbing my whole stash and I'll call your cousin Rotfang to grab the barrels I have stashed over at the old mushroom mill, is 40 barrels going to be enough? I can call back a shipment to Ursal, a bit of starvation will do those stingy bastards good!"
Scarlet let out a sigh of relief, that was the last of her critical to-do list.
"No uncle, 40 should be plenty, thank you, can you ask Rotty if he can also pick up Cousin Shorn from her farm on the way to me? I don't know if she can get all of the spiders here riding the bus"
"I'll make sure he races, spiders and fertilizer huh, sounds like a good metamorphosis. I'll be there in 20 little snot."
Her Uncle ends the call before she can huff at the old nickname, but it would've been a fake protest. Scarlet was doing what she does best, working the vast network of favors, debts, blackmail and pranks generated by the 7 Clans of Nox.
Normally an activity requiring of subtle threats and nuanced scams, as is tradition on Nox, but this time she hardly had to try. Goblins and the other clans all value a good scam, but not as much as they value family. A stark contrast with her Kitsune side, her mother still hasn't answered any of her messages.
She quickly shoves the thought away and starts her next call, with the fertilizer she has all the critical resources here or on the way, but that doesn't mean she can't do more.
Uncle Grift had been working on a new sunlight generator for his greenhouse, trees need sunlight and she still had those picture of him cheating on auntie Ingra during her last trip to Fathom.
Daisy happily struts along a branch on her way to weave a new web, including her mana in the strands made the webs feel so much more hers and the spell circles were such a fun challenge to weave. Even with her newly expanded intellect she often had to redo large parts as she realized problems and had to figure out new solutions.
She wanted even more neurons so that she could actually understand what the spell circles were meant to do and maybe even design her own!
But that would have to wait a little, there wasn't enough biomass around to grow her body to support the extra neurons.
Still, becoming part of Nemetona was great! When the world suddenly started shifting and her nest was moved vast distances, she had been scared and hid herself deep in her web, only to be taken out of her little habitat and put into a gigantic chamber!
She hadn't understood what had happened until later, at first she had been terrified, trying to find a hiding spot, but a gentle song had soothed her and then knowledge of nearby food and shelter appeared in her head.
Back then she hadn't been smart enough to wonder how she knew that and simply followed her instinct to a small cluster of violet berries hidden in a small nook between leaves.
Daisy had been doubtful about the small berries, they were the same size as her usual prey and even smelled of a juicy maggot, but they were still berries, not food.
The song simply continued singing of her safety and comfort, so after a while she decided to try one, plunging her fangs into the skin, she was surprised to find it already liquid on the inside.
She stands still on the branch for a moment as she remembers that first berry, she had many after, but none tasted as good as that first one, the sudden rush of magic healing wounds, disappearing scars and most importantly offering an invitation.
While she was normally a timid spider, she had rushed into the offer without a single doubt and she hadn't had a single regret since!
The offer had shifted her system to one so much nicer and fun! Instead of constantly offering ways to kill more little flies and the occasional ant, her new system constantly tells her fun new ways to weave her webs, even giving her a skill to better dance on them when they're finished.
And it hadn't stopped there, it had taught her to sing along to the song she had first heard and when she did, she found so many friends! Which was another thing her new extra fun system had taught her about, friends! Others who like to help you and then if you help them back, you feel nice as well!
It had also offered to teach her how to think better, one of her favorite new activities, she especially liked thinking about colors, like the pretty violet shade the leaves had here or the deep burgundy of the beetle passing by her.
Sensing her enjoyment, the beetle made a little spin to show off his shell, as he shifted the angle of light, she also saw flecks of gold glittering among the rich reds. Pleased with Daisy's admiration, the beetle wiggled its antennae at her before continuing on to it's own destination.
Yes, Daisy was having a great time, she couldn't wait until she and the other spiders finished the webs to activate the telepathic array. She wasn't entirely sure what it was actually going to do, the explanation of the bigger brains a little to complicated to follow, but better talking and thinking sounded great to her! Those were almost as much fun as weaving and dancing!
Scarlet was midway the forms needed to register the organisation responsible for storing any [Class 2 Hazardous Materials] resulting from the [Class 4-II Astral Hazard] of the birth of a new ensouled ecosystem, researching whether she was able to fulfill the qualifications to be it's accountant, when Titania entered the room again carrying a small metal chest.
She looks like she hasn't slept in weeks, eyes half lidded and her hair studded with various forest detritus and a bright pink bubblegum wrapper, but she wears a satisfied smile and radiates a genteel calm.
Scarlet rises up to greet her, but is cut off by an annoyed Virabell, "What are these messages about the [Ring Network]being offline? Do you have any idea how much damage an outage this long is doing?"
"I knew it would hurt your work", Titania begins with an emphatic look, "but the [Crossroads] insisted after learning of their youngest sibling. Obie is working hard to get things back up and buying time on human [Harmonic Arrays] for the things that can't wait." Giving the pixie sage a smile she adds, "And you don't have to worry, your students submissions are already transmitted."
The pixie breaks eye contact, embarrassed to admit her main concern and makes a few vaguely affirming noises.
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"Umm, why is the [Ring Network] down?", Scarlet pipes up before someone else begins to banter again, "Why did you have to leave?"
Scarlet mostly resists the urge to shrink back when the entire room turns to her and then Titania, it seems no one else knew what she was doing either.
"Ah! An excellent question my dear", Titania says while she steps towards her looming over the smaller half kitsune, pinching her cheeks before she can flinch back, "I am so proud of you of speaking up like this, you have been doing so good working on your confidence, especially today!" she coos.
"I was out to secure young Nemetona some help, [Fairy Groves] have some challenges unique to them, so I reached out to some of her new siblings for help and guidance", she opens the metal chest showing 8 boxes inside, "We all came together to gift her some of the lessons we've learned over the years."
"HAH! So you confirm you are indeed a [Fairy Grove] yourself!" [Archdruid] Reginald Vivari Estorius Roschinger Borealis suddenly exclaims victoriously, wagging a wing at the fairy regent.
Who gives the esteemed corvid a teasing smile, "Yes and no, it's more complicated than that."
"Rah!", the [Archdruid] shakes his wings in frustration, but seems mollified by the answer.
Titania turns back to Scarlet and offers her the chest, "Do you have a way to get this to Nemetona?". Scarlet nods as she takes the chest, "I borrowed some maintenance drones, they can get in and out without issue, but what are they?"
"They're all a bit different, but they're all collections of information, nothing that can hurt your love".
Scarlet springs back, realizing her implied disrespect, "I didn't mean you would do anything bad! I just wanted too-"
"It's fine dear", the regent interrupts her, "in fact, it's more than fine, it's very lovely and romantic. I am very proud of you today."
She gives Scarlet a small pat on the head and a smile before motioning her to deliver the 8 boxes.
After the activation of the shared telepathic field, Nemetona's main [Cerebral Cortex] empathized with Nemetona's original [Seed]. So connected to every other part of Nemetona, it too struggled with forming a sense of self. However unlike the past, it now had options to solve the problem.
It paused a moment at that thought.
It felt like a continuation, not a replacement of that seed, perhaps this self business was easier than it thought, it hummed to itself.
Already several other [Cerebral Cortexes] were growing and soon it wouldn't be so horribly singular.
It rang out a questioning note across Nemetona and was instantly rewarded with a warm harmony, a swelling of agreement only broken by the chattering of the 27th [Moss Pig] rebellion.
Still the decision was made, Nemetona would be Nemetona, the responsibility would be worth the reward and the [System] instantly reacts.
Every member of Nemetona, from it's cortexes to the smallest protozoa all receive the same two system alerts. Most of them react in brief confusion, until the main cortex uses its [System of Nemetona Interface] to purchase a new [Skill].
As understanding and agreement ripples throughout Nemetona, the cortex becomes aware of another drone entering their space. They had caused some concern when they first started entering, but they had brought a great deal of easily usable biomass and installed wonderfully warm lights. However this one wasn't carrying the large barrels biomass came in, or the large plastic boxes that held the solar lamps, instead it gently places 8 small boxes on a relatively barren patch and drove back.
It was excited to see what it brought, but it needed to focus on reuniting with their soulmates. So it nudged some of the spiders to take a look while Nomi the [Slime Mold] grows some tendrils towards them, in case the boxes contain more nutrients.
Daisy grumbled a bit as she made towards the boxes, she had put all that effort in growing so she could weave prettier webs, not so she could carry some boring grey boxes.
She's halfway towards them, when she realizes Nomi can't keep up with her pace. As she skitters back, Nomi transmits an image of her taking a big scoop of them and placing drops of them along the trail so they can quickly grow over.
Daisy sends back a memory of how scared and lonely parts of them get when they are separated. Nomi responds with a complicated mass of math showing the suffering caused by Nemetona's unsolved problems, the chance of the boxes containing solutions and contrasting that with the pain they would feel. Showing that empirically it was the correct choice.
Daisy goes a bit cross-eyed at the information overload, but [Shared Will of Nemetona] kicks in and she sends back a much simpler arithmetic.
You aren't supposed to hurt people you love and you are supposed to love yourself.
While Nomi tries to find an issue with her ironclad logic, she starts to use [Fairy Weaving] to weave a new type of web. A thick coil with a hollow center, she leaves the inner walls nice and rough so Nomi has something to grab onto and using [Fairy Spinning] she spins an edible thread made of vegetable fiber.
Laying it down in a path towards the boxes starts as a challenge, figuring out how to both keep it strong, edible and anchored to the floor. This keeps her interested for a bit, but she quickly figures out the best way to it and instead starts to work on decorating the little tunnel. Color won't be appreciated by the blind [Slime Mold] so instead she figures out how to flavor the threads.
The little bursts of pleasure from Nomi as they munch on her web make her giggle all the way across.
Turns out a long boring walk is a lot of fun with a friend!
Still giggly, she reaches over to the nearest box with one of her legs, flipping it open, she peers in curiously. Inside is a small seed, at first it seems dead, it doesn't react to Nemetona's song and has no mana left inside it. Using her front legs she gently lifts in out of the box, spinning it around to see if there's something on the underside.
Neither she, any of the cortexes or the rest of Nemetona is able to see anything special about the seed, except for how utterly empty of mana it is. At the prodding of the cortexes she sends a small bit of mana inside it and almost drops it as it begins to sing.
It's a lot like Nemetona's song, but the seed doesn't respond to any of their song, just continuing to slowly repeating a greeting and a need for more mana. Daisy isn't able to with her own reserves, but Nomi is already there and begins to channel mana from Nemetona's main reservoirs.
What is your opinion on the 27th Moss Pig Rebellion?
