FIELD REPORT:

Cortex scuttled out of his chrysalis and had immediately gotten into a fight with a bug. It was mostly one-sided but he'd managed to grab it and eat it and in his books, that was a victory.

He munched on it loudly, holding it in his paws, using his sharp sickle-like claw to peel off the thicker carapace so he could eat the rest and not worry about getting poked in the gums. He peered at the shell and decided to keep it, holding it in one paw as he scuttled along, sniffing at everything and wondering how the fungi and rocks glowed. It was amazing.

He picked a mushroom from a cluster and watched it slowly stop glowing, head tilting. He pulled up a few more and made the conclusion that the glowing came from whatever the mushroom were attached to, and started to dig, wanting to know more.

He found a network of 'roots' stretching into the ground, drinking up water and probably whatever was in the soil, and he realized that the glowing came from the energy provided by the roots. Fascinating.

After a while he set the mushrooms down, moving on to try and inspect the rest of the cave, ears perked forward. He caught a few more bugs and kept their shells, eating the rest, idly walking about.

> Mushrooms produce a curious bioluminescence that seems to gain energy from the root system. Unknown if all mushrooms produce this, or just these ones.

@Researcher

"Hello?"

A strange, bipedal creature, one cloaked in gold instead of grey, stared down at the raccoon from a mossy overhang. She was just a couple days old, just experienced her first night, and just wandered off from the Cold-Tunnel into a place full of crystals and light and energy. It was fascinating. She spent ages in there, most of which could be condensed into "putting things in her mouth and regretting it.' before she finally spotted another soul and decided to take a look.

Now, this creature did not look like the Black Cat. He was plumper, and lighter, with a round tail and a funny dark mask around his eyes. Mark that off as yet another species she discovered. A cyan talon extended from one of his fingers.

"Is that your rock?" the gibbon blurted out, clambering down from her position to investigate. Should Cortex allow, she'll grab his paw to poke at the needle-like larimar. "That's weird. I thought we all had mouth rocks." She looked back up at the kit, aware of how weird her introduction was but choosing to ignore it. "Who are you?"

@Cortex

FIELD REPORT:

Cortex turned to face the voice, about to say the word back, before blinking. Hm, not behind him.

He looked up and blinked, surprised.

> New entity observed. Four limbs, two legs, two arms, and a mask over its face. Unknown if it is hostile or friendly.

”What are you doing up there?”, he asked, ears perked forward, ”Why are you climbing like that?”

He sat on his haunches as the creature climbed down and poked at his gem, and in return, he poked at hers, ”Rock? This is a rock?”

He peered at the gems and rocks around before back at their gemstones, making a 'huh' sound. Yeah, they did have rocks embedded in their bodies. Weird!

”It is my rock,” he said, ”I am... uh...”

He blinked, for he didn't have anything to call himself, and looked at her head again. Something came to mind and he mulled it over, mumbling the word first before nodding to himself.

”I am Cortex,” he said, and held up a mushroom, ”Did you know these stop growing when pulled away from their base? It's amazing.”

And he said all of this with a frown on his face.

> New entity has a name. "Researcher."

@Researcher

Researcher did not react when the raccoon prodded at her stone (thankfully for Cortex a single touch was not dangerous), too enamoured in investigating theirs. Hard. Cyan-blue-ish. Shiny. Seemingly embedded in the finger bone, replacing the claw. She didn't even respond to his initial question. Man, this was so interesting!

"Third creature," she muttered, seemingly out-of-context, and then: "Huh? Yes, this's a rock." The young gibbon finally let go of his paw and returned to a crouching position. Then, the entity began talking about his name and something about mushrooms and she couldn't help but smile, despite how unnoticeable it was. Someone who shared her interest in objects!

"Those are an interesting thing," she said, "Not un-alive, but not aware like you or I. I observed many of them." She scraped at some lichen on the ground. "I am a researcher. I am an explorer. When you say Cortex, does that mean you're a cortex-er?"

Without even giving the kit a moment to respond, she was going off again, this time prodding a finger at his muzzle. "And why does your not-stone-mouth have a weird shape?"

@Cortex

FIELD REPORT:

Cortex picked up some of the lichen and peered at it, curious to find that it remained glowing. How odd.

> Subject does not seem to have roots. Energy source undetermined.

He looked up at Researcher and shook his head, "My name is only Cortex. I am a thinker, an explorer... I suppose I am a researcher too."

He tapped his chin for a moment, setting his beetle shells down, "I have an idea. Every time we ask a question, the other person gets to ask one too."

"I have many teeth," he said, and bared them in some semblance of a grin, "See? They are big. Why is your face flat? Do you not have many teeth?"

> "Researcher" asks a lot of questions. Like me. Perhaps she and I are more alike than I initially thought.

@Researcher

Ah, Cortex did not name himself after a study. Different from her experience so far, but that was the exciting thing about it. There were so many differences to discover between one subject and the next!

Researcher took her finger away from the kit and leaned back, hearing the soothing cave ambience echo around her. He wanted to ask his own questions? "Sure," she agreed. The gibbon's hands tapped on her crystal cage as she thought. "Hmm... I dunno." Her flat muzzle was only partially visible through the cerussite. "I guess it's for... eating? I haven't eaten much yet, but when I do I take a small bug and push it through here." her fingers wrapped around the thin slit of her stone. "Then, my teeth go up and down and crush it before I swallow. Maybe we eat different things, so we need different teeth." She was quite smart for a hatchling. One of the few positives in her life.

She flicked her finger to Cortex. "Now it's your turn. Did'ya see anyone else here? Or is it just me and you?"

@Cortex

FIELD REPORT:

Cortex nodded in understanding.

> "Researcher" most likely has a different diet than I, though neither of us have really figured out what they are yet. I believe they are as new as I am.

"I haven't seen anyone yet," he said, grumbling a bit (though that just seemed to be something he did when he thought), "So far I've been alone, you're the only one I've seen."

He sat on his haunches and rubbed his hands together, careful of his scalpel-like claw, "Have you seen anyone? Are we alone in these caves?"

It wouldn't be too bad if they were, it meant less people bothering him when he was looking at things (not that Researcher was at all a bother), but it would be... eerie, to be the only intelligent things around. All alone in a cave, the only people here for centuries.

@Researcher

Researcher sprung up and started pacing around Cortex, restless in the way many toddlers are. She leaned her head towards the raccoon before ticking her head up in understanding. "One." she declared, holding up one finger in emphasis. "Their name is Assistant. Small, black, mouth-stoned. I met them when I hatched." she let her hand down and fumbled with the lichen. "But given how little area I have travelled, and the fre... fre-quen-cy I have met creatures... no, I do not think we're alone."

She turned to look at the kit. "I can show you them now (if I can find them), or we can meet each other a later time. I think you would like them. What do you think?"

@Cortex aaaa-

FIELD REPORT:

"Now," Cortex said, "I wish to meet them now."

He didn't want to be lonely anymore, and they were curious about this 'Assistant'. Clearly by their name they were a helper of sorts, but what kind of help that entailed was still a mystery.

"What does the Assistant do?", he asked, rubbing his hand-like paws together, head tilted to one side.

> New entity discovered. "Assistant": Black, mouth-stoned, small. Actual appearance unknown, assumed to be smaller than I.

The raccoon stood up and shook out his soft baby fur, peering at Researcher with his mismatched eyes. He was curious, though he appeared to be grumpy. That was just his face, though.

@Researcher

Researcher smiled a bit at the mention of her cat friend. "Assistant is my assistant. And partner. They help me, and I help them. Very cheerful, which is the opposite of you. You look mad." She chuckled, even though it wasn't a joke. "I'll come get them! It may take a bit, though."

She bounded away with a kick of her legs, leaping through the glowing crags in clumsy-footed wonder. Her golden head shot up here and there, trying to make out Assistant's signature black coat amongst all the fungi and crystals and stalagmites and-- you get the idea. This was a really huge place. "Assistant?" she hooted, though her voice was still quiet and muffled. "ASSISTANT?" She threw a pebble against the stony floor for extra notice. "I FOUND SOMEONE NEW!"

@Cortex @Assistant