A Research Excursion [Xros Hunt/Cas]

Thankfully, the Floramon would be unaware as to Cassandra's scanning efforts - and if either herself or Char was observing, it might become apparent that she had no reason to believe that she could be tracked. She didn't know Demon's position, but was just glad to have a big bruiser around that could scare away the monsters of this swamp!

She simply went along with her search. Maybe around this tree? The Floramon would turn the corner, and... "Aha, there it is! Metal, come here and look!"

"Hm?" Following his employer's instruction, the Devidramon would turn and look down, seeing... some kind of red flower? Growing right from the roots of the tree, it looked to be some fibrous weed, an admittedly pleasant-looking flower growing out of a fibrous, ugly-looking root. "This it?"

"Should be. This stuff started sprouting up all over the place lately..." She gave a sigh, carefully moving to pluck a sample right on up, placing the plant matter in a plastic bag, before stowing it on her right. Afterwards, she swore: "Should have brought the gloves, that stuff stings..."

"Hm." Demon seemed relatively disinterested, but at the very least, not offended, by the plant's antics. "Should I get a scan on that stuff?"

Demon growled. He'd rather not get more involved in this than he already was!

Well, it wasn't as if the three of them had any knowledge of Char's existence. The Floramon proceeded with a few more cuttings, and with that, she would clasp the bag closed around her waist. "Alright, that's that! Shall we get back?"

"Mm." Demon gave a short nod, the Floramon leading the way once more, this time back the way they came. "I have to say, I'm glad you two came along. I swear it was worse than this when I tried to go out by myself, but..."

"Beasts wild. Fear bigger beast." Devidramon's answer was short, blunt, and not too poetic - but the Floramon still gave a nod. "Yeah, that! Anyway... Knot 38..." Looking briefly down at her compass, she pointed forward and towards the left - a direction they would follow for half a mile, slowly leaving the swamp to more stable ground. Eventually, the woods themselves would start to thin out, Devidramon forcing through fewer and fewer branches, until they reached it: a small hut, half-carved into a tree, with a faint billow of purple smoke floating up through a makeshift chimney.

"Alright, you sit tight. Let me just sort this out," she tapped at the bag, "and then we can start cooking!"

The Devidramon gave a nod, and as the Floramon stepped inside, the Devidramon rested himself near the door, keeping his gaze outward, carefully tracking his surroundings.

Another day, another paycheck.

In all, Demon couldn't call this a bad job, just... unfulfilling. Though he was crossed with the Kokuwamon, it wasn't as if he had to exert much energy. A little more, and he'd be able to afford to travel somewhere more open -

- Wait, Char? The Devidramon's wings flicked in recognition, hearing the low whisper of the Monitamon. So Denryu sent Cassandra to pick them up? In most circumstances, the Devidramon would have simply strode to the end of the clearing - but not in this case. Instead, he gave a short shake of his head:

"Researcher. Needs guard. Only rookie." His comments rolled out in a low tone, nodding slightly in Cassandra's direction. "Doctor does not need to hide. Will scare her more if you two sneak."

So she was here.

Here, in that mockery of a disguise, but here nonetheless. As the Sorcermon approached, Demon's interest seemed perked. He slowly raised up to his feet, even offering an arm as Cassandra's gaze seemed concerned about his condition.

"He's waited this long. He can wait a little longer." Devidramon spoke in agreement, the visor giving an audible buzz: "Probably better that it ended up being you." Denryu, though he wore a mask, wasn't necessarily the best at wearing another face.

"Alright, that should do for now..." With a sigh, the Floramon would step out of the hut, even managing to close the door behind her, before the plant's eyes fell on the Sorcermon in the clearing. Interesting - they were talking? "Metal, who's this one?"

"A colleague." Demon managed to pick a rather eloquent word, at least for his vocabulary. "Did not have chance to say where I went. She came to look for me."

"That so?" The Floramon tilted her head, before walking right on up to the Sorcermon, hand outstretched: "Charmed. I'm Bell, researcher with Whitewater Medical. I'm here to get a reading on the health of the swamp here. Metal here's a godsend - honestly, I thought I was going to have to miss a season after my last guard called off!" She sounded both thankful and relieved! "Sorry I had to borrow him on such short notice."

"Argent... that rings a bell, from somewhere..." Was it related to the nameless Wizardmon with that Datamon? That sounded right, but then again, maybe Bell was just confusing it with something else.

As for her concerns, Bell gave a sigh. "I know... honestly, I can't imagine trying to get help as a spellcaster. One bad egg sours the whole pot for everyone else, it seems." Argent's cover worked beautifully, the Floramon even showing a bit of sympathy towards the Sorcermon. "Actually, while you're here, I'd like to get your opinion on what I've been working on out here. If you don't mind? Metal, hold on here for a bit, alright?"

Should Arget accept, she'd hold the door open to the hut - and offer the Sorcermon a paper mask, just as the Floramon slipped on one herself. From there, she'd pull a rug back, revealing a hatch underneath. Pulling up on a metal hook, she'd lead the way down, through a small tunnel lined with faintly glowing vines. "My aunt's handiwork, this tunnel," Bell clarified. "And... ah, there we are." Just a minute later, they would find themselves in a surprisingly spacious room underground, still loamy soil underneath their feet. Across the top were sets of solar lanterns, and across the sides, several different plants growing in different enclosures.

To the back and the left, a cutting of the red plant that she had just procured had just been planted. "Sorry 'bout the stuffiness down here. Doesn't look like it at a glance, but if the laymen of Whitewater knew what was going on in these woods, it might cause a panic. See," she gave a sigh, "Recently, a number of strange plants started cropping up around the woods. Actually, we don't know for how long - the entire swamp is a no-mans land. For all we know, this stuff could have been choking out the forest for months."

"Ironically, that 'restricted' subject's the one most of us are eager to try and figure out because of the Timberlands fiasco. Well, that, and that whole mess in the desert." The Floramon's tone was quite casual at that remark, having not been involved in the incident herself. But if Argent was interested in the D-Reaper?

Then this was going to be quite the interesting exhibit to see. "Metal's quite bright, just not... 'articulate', if you don't mind me saying. Thankfully, I've been on this line of work for quite a while, so they haven't tried to shut me down yet... hm?"

Something in regards to the Timberlands... the mushrooms? "Your second guess is more-or-less correct, but there's an interesting bit to it. Actually, every bit of flora I have here has something in common - well, I can say that officially once I've tested the last plant." She tilted her head towards the closest entry: behind the glass was a short, stubby growth of what looked to be crab grass, a sharp silver in color. Right below it was the label 'BladeGrass'.

"In a way, Whitewater's been lucky to avoid the worst of the mess. I mean, if the Timberlands had the last of it, then there's not going to be a statue someone's looking for around here. But it also means that this particular area's only been working off the 'overlapping edges' of the statues." She nodded towards the exhibits:

"BladeGrass, Mahogany Deathcap, Rabid Horsetail, and Bloody Ivy. Whatever it is, all these plants thrive at damaged areas of the forest, either at the base of ancient trees or at the scars of battle. Undoubtedly," she sighed, "each is a case of the D-Reaper's appearance to cut away at the corruption. Which, you know, 'Fine, that's what it does, don't lose your head over it', but its not just that. Because..."

Carefully, the Floramon took a knife, and approached that fourth plant - what looked to be a leafy ivy, with crimson, serrated leaves, dangling off a small trellis. She cut into a flowering bud at the base, and in a gloved hand, showed the cutting to Argent:

A seed.

"I've planted a handful of these - in clean, non-corrupt water environments, down here in the lab - and they grew just as normal plants would. The D-Reaper has never, anywhere else in the world, shown the ability to reproduce like this." The Floramon's voice teetered between excitement and fear, shaking her head.

"The D-Reaper's universal constant is that it appears and corrects corrupted data, or works to prevent it. So why would a 'programming constant' pick up such a trait? Could you even call it part of the D-Reaper, if it mimics normal plant life?"