2nd Contraption - Oh, Worm?!

[pineapplesalmon]

Who: César Salazar (pineapplesalmon), YOU, and a giant frigging worm
What: The larvae inside César from the ship mutates into a giant EVO worm when it encounters one of César's nanites, which activates
When: May 1st (May Day) for fight; May 2nd for revival, May 3rd (late) through 9th for mandatory vacation
Where: Battle mostly in the field and forest nearest the path to Pumpkin Hollow from the nearest trolley stop to César's farm
Warning(s): giant green worm/larvae (MANY many eyes, fourth human arms around its mouth, rows of throat teeth), burning worm flesh does not smell like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
NOTES: Harvey has given sign-off that some of this can be canned for later. Because. It's a lot. So bountiful groceries for the price of basic! Or free if you are a food producer.

1. [CW: Debugging, chest-burster followed by crushing death, worm warnings (see above), fire, violence, o] A closed log to Magne and Dabi. César's death with potential haunting of Magne to follow. You stay by your soil-mate's side, you know?

2. [CW: worm warnings (see above), worm on people on worm violence, holes, only attempted vore because it's in too much pain (UPON REQUEST), can spew dirt on you (emeto, UPON REQUEST)] BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF IT. Shorter threads because that bastard is gonna run away.

The Floor is Larvae

A shrieking roar in the distance and yelling from people breaks the peace of the afternoon, followed by a spray of dirt as the ground shakes. More commotions ensue. Then sudden, the earth begins to tremble, then rumble, and then shake. It's coming towards you.

With another shrieking roar, a giant grub slams out of the ground, spraying dirt and rock everywhere. It's angry. It's hurt. And it has just spotted you.

Everything's been attacking it, and so will you, so it must attack you first.

3. [CW: (now dead) worm warnings, holes, likely someone eating it] GENERAL MINGLE THREAD. Touch the body. Be glad you can't get nanites.

The Still Worm Body

The worm finally dove down into the earth and came back up in a place without anyone to attack it. Unfortunately for the grub, it was only to die. The body lies still in a field. It's four arms around his mouth are slumped down, it's dozens of red eyes are open in a death stare. The tusk-shaped claws close to its body and its hundred or so of throat teeth are almost all attached. Some of its flesh is burnt, some of missing, some of it punctured such that it oozes.

The corpse is ripe to be picked over. After all, its not using it anymore. It would be a bad thing to let this much raw material go to waste, unstudied and unused.

4. [CW: Nonconsensual vacation] I'll post this one a bit later! But wildcarding will be heavily encouraged. :) César's getting a mandatory vacation because he died and WON'T FRIGGING REST.

WORM GENERAL INFO

32 second YouTube Video of the Worm EVO in action - Attempted VORE
Here's a reference to caterpillar anatomy! And also a picture of its head. This is what the caterpillar USED to be.

The caterpillar is as tall as a single story when lying flat. Segmented. Green with some fuzz. Many, many red eyes. Four human arms have replaced its maxillary palps, two on each side of its mouth which leads immediately into rows and rows of very pointed teeth down its throat. The spiracles have become engorged yellow sacks. The true legs and protolegs are now capped off with claws.

CW: Talking about butchering of the animal in this section!

Worm body scavenging

PER talking with Drake, the CW: DEAD ANIMAL AS FOOD DESCRIPTION FOLLOWING THIS flesh is definitely a bit similar to the internals of lobster. So. Uh. Someone please don't let all this high protein stuff go to waste. It will respond well to canning. And there will be no nanites in whatever is canned. It will also give you the bonus of bountiful groceries for the price of basic. Which means if you get free basic, you'll get free bountiful! Or it can be used later.

The claws of the legs (the length of an adult human forearm) and the teeth (many fitting well in a human hand) are big enough to be very useful. And also the eyes are solid, so they might... be interesting to keep around? The skin would be more mammalian, so it can be used for making green leather.

EVO WORM PICTURES

Comments

Ask questions here!

[pineapplesalmon]

Moved the worm description up to the post itself to be able to add on more as necessary.

[CLOSED START] 1. Would you still love me even if I was squished by a worm? [POST AS COMMENT]

[pineapplesalmon]

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Just take a few days to make sure everything's situated at his farm and row house both so the animals were comfortable and the electrical wouldn't cause a fire, then find someone who isn't Magne to solve the problem of his... hitchhiker, before he loses complete control. That was the plan, shared openly with Magne, Dabi, his farmhands, and those he's close to or simply noticed.

All of that has suddenly gone to shit, after his farmhands called Magne in a panic, saying César was in agony. They brought him to the trolley stop to meet up with Magne and Dabi. It's getting worse, and not because the trolley ride had some bumps along the way.

César's breath comes in short, pained gasps his arms wrapped around his middle, his head limp on Magne's shoulder as they rush back to the village. "¿Cómo... Como puedo ser tan tonto del culo?"

How could he be so fucking stupid? All of this could have waited.

"... Lo siento, Magne...."

Oh worm....

[sistermagnetic]

Magne, while wanting to hang nearby in case he needed any help, was mostly needed to help take care of the general goings-on at the Oak & Iron to get everything put back in place and dried out, and make sure that nobody's belongings had floated away in the flood. In the time that they make her take breaks though, she's right there at the farm, and in response to that call, of course she'd come as quickly as she could, skidding over to him as soon as she'd leapt from the trolley before it had even fully pulled up to the stop.

"¿Lo que está-?" She stops as he doubles over straight into her, and carefully she picks him up, scooping her arms under his legs and keeping her arms secure around his shoulders. "Keep everyone clear!" she calls ahead of her as she starts right back down the road the way they'd come, counting on Dabi to part the way ahead of them if they needed to.

[pineapplesalmon]

César's pretty sure he's dying. But for a brief flash, things are better. Magne has him. Spanish from her lips brings him to fight for his Emeran.

"Pain's bigger." Not worse, bigger. "Faster. Growing. Rate..." He pulls out his pocket watch, tries to read it. Fumbles it into the dirt. César moans in agony, clutching a spot on his stomach. His hand doesn't flatten all the way. It can't.

"Joder." The tone and his widening eyes carry the word's meaning; he has a new way to track the increase in pain. "... Exponential!"

[iamthepyre]

Not far behind Magne was Dabi, not understanding what either of them was saying but knowing the tone. As soon as he's given the order to clear the path he's on it. Even if he has to make a line of fire ahead of them to get people to move.

"We gotta do something, Mag! Where are we going?" They didn't have everything at home that they would need if he was sick or injured and Dabi hasn't really been to any clinics or anything since he'd been there. He knew there was one, he'd just never been.

[sistermagnetic]

"Bigger? What do you mean bigger-"

Magne nearly stops when she realizes that César's stomach has just started to bulge outward. She can't though, she needs to get him into town, to one of the clinics, the first one she can readily get him to. Winterbottom's maybe, so he doesn't have to deal with stairs. She's shouting this ahead of her as she takes off at a dead run. She's not quite as fast as Dabi when she's got someone else to worry about, but she is plenty quick when she needs to be, and this is an emergency.

The Floor is Larvae

[pineapplesalmon]

Fighting the giant hungry caterpillar goes here.

[astrogator]

They say a Tradeline officer should be prepared for anything, but really, when you're taking a pleasant country walk, glad to see that all the buildings are still mostly intact? The very last thing you expect to see is an absolutely enormous creature bursting out of the ground in the distance, showering dirt in its wake.

There's a split second where Ari Tayrey is shocked, bewildered, absolutely astonished by this sight. If she thought about it too hard, she'd run. Animals have always unsettled her. After recent events, normal-sized insects are getting squashed as soon as she sees them. A gargantuan worm-thing? Nobody wants to deal with that.

Except that it's her job. If she does nothing, and that thing hurts civilians, or destroys property, she'll blame herself. Tayrey draws her revolver, and, in defiance in all good sense, she heads towards it.

[pineapplesalmon]

This is more animal than most animals, at least by size. It's already burnt on one part of its body, the flesh oozing. It doesn't understand that the fatal wound will kill it eventually.

It shrieks again and sees movement out of the corner of one of its many eyes. Rearing partway off the ground, it swivels and looks directly at Tayrey, letting out a shrieking roar at her.

[astrogator]

She stares directly into that gaping maw and immediately regrets her decision. The thing is full of teeth. Its mouth is surrounded by arms. In that instant she sees it for what it is, a monster that wants her dead. She sees herself, nobly, foolishly getting in its path, and the terror of that makes her legs want to buckle. Darkness creeps in at the edges of her vision.

No, Tayrey. That is how you die. So it's tougher than you thought? Step up, and follow through. Like you're on expedition.

Willpower keeps her upright, and she narrows her focus. Nothing but her and the gun and the target. She didn't spend hours shooting at cans and improving her reload time for nothing.

She aims for the eyes. Easiest way to the brain, since she doesn't know how tough the thing's hide is. Cock the hammer, fire. Over and over. Six shots. Two miss their mark, lodging in the thorax. Two are very good shots. Two are perfect - but Tayrey doesn't stay to assess her work. As soon as the last shot is fired, she's dashing away, to the side, hoping the monster's size means it lacks maneuverability. There's an empty barn, and she silently apologises to the owner as she heads towards it.

[dubiousfoodie]

This monster is strange in its features--those hands at its mouth do not make him feel good about where it must have come from--but it needs to be taken down, so he's going to take it down. He's fought things like it and stronger than it before.

He's so painfully short on supplies. No bombs, no arrows, no claws or teeth or horns to even fuse to what few weapons he has, not even a little bit of armor, but that doesn't mean he'll die. It just means this battle will take longer, but given the possibility for civilian death and collateral damage...

Link is on his feet with a blade in hand in a flash, racing down the pathways towards it. He'll break every sword he has to if it means cutting this short.

[pineapplesalmon]

It will eat people. There's no question about that. The transformation means that leaves is no longer enough to keep it alive. It will need to consume flesh.

Hungry and injured, it's both looking for its next meal and the next threat. The caterpillar sees Link charging towards it and turns, rushing on its legs and protolegs towards him in turn. Many legs make quick work.

The Still Worm Body

[pineapplesalmon]

General mingle after the worm dies.

Medical mingle

[lovinglefthand]

"Oh...how terrible."

First Aid appears on the scene after the worm's been slain, transforming with a heavy sigh and with the help of a nurse immediately setting up a triage and treatment station for anyone who was hurt by the worm's rampage or the efforts to put it down. There's nothing he can do for César, unfortunately, but if anyone needs a shoulder to lean on, he's here.

He's also here to stitch people up and give them a ride back into town if they're injured. It's the nice thing about being an ambulance, he's a pretty multi-purpose kind of guy.

[OTA POST DEATH] 4. Worm Regards, 5/3 onwards

[pineapplesalmon]

César's returned to life, at a cost: take a fucking break, you nerd. A whole week of no work. He hasn't taken a vacation in over a year and he's very overdo.

So he visits people he hasn't seen in a while. Goes to places like the library and pray at the temple. Just... simply exists for a time outside of work.

((OOC: Basically a lot of bespoke wildcards go here, and I WANNA PLOT WITH YOU! Either PM this journal or poke me on plurk as icelightning or on discord as jennerally.))

5/5 for Dabi

[pineapplesalmon]

César unlocks the door and walks into the house, humming cheerfully, changing out his shoes for slipper.

He's got two bags. One is plastic with a logo, "6-TEN". The other is cloth and smells like oranges. He drops the bag with the cloth next to where Dabi's sitting and then plops down onto the floor and starts rifling through the bag. He pulls out an onigiri in plastic packaging. César's starts pulling the little plastic strip to open it.

By the shit-eating grin on his face, he's waiting for Dabi to ask what the fuck.

finally getting to this before bed!

[iamthepyre]

Dabi had just been relaxing and minding his own business with one of César's books. Yes César, he's reading another one of your trashy romance novels. They aren't safe from him.

However he's left blinking at the guy when he plops down with his bags. The oranges aren't that much a surprise...the onigiri however. Now that definitely has his attention. That looks like food from home.

"Where the fuck did you get that?"

:D

[pineapplesalmon]

There's a reason why César doesn't immediately return them to the library. He knows. It's just a thing they do without saying.

César pulls out a canned coffee followed by a chicken and egg sandwich, then picks up the plastic bag and holds it out to Dabi. "Royal Dominguez of the Limoncello will straight trade food from our worlds for citrus fruit."

There's three fruit sandos/sandwiches in there, two more canned coffees, and a yakisoba.

Oh, Backdating for the Boys! Backdating for One-Thousand Years! (5/3!)

[gruesomegourmand]

It had been pure circumstance, the right time at the right place, for Laios to find that massive caterpillar.

He'd heard some commotion before about it wreaking havoc, but hadn't been able to make it to help before it'd burrowed away for the final time. Wouldn't it be just his luck that this town gets a new giant monster, and he misses it.

Except, of course, fortune gave him a second chance at it!

The carcass kept him incredibly busy for a full day: at first, he took an opportunity to grab one of his notebooks and scrawl out the best depiction of what it might've looked like alive that he's able to do. Then, after a hike back into town for supplies (and, of course, failing to mention what the supplies are for), he returns.

With great care, diligence, and the touch of a butcher who's managed to prepare monster meat more than once, a hundred pounds of caterpillar flesh, two fangs, a claw, an eye, and a carefully-peeled small bolt of flesh to dry are carefully plucked off of the great beast, tucked into a long piece of brown paper or into the bag slung over his back, and hauled home.

It's only during his diligent work of preserving it all and tucking away the canned and jarred meat in both his own room and some spare shelves in the kitchen that he learns very crucial pieces of information.

1) This monster burst forth from the chest of a man in town, another outlander like himself.
2) That man wasn't feeling particularly well after he returned to life.
3) Laios was, perhaps, kind of a jerk for not checking on the guy before butchering his worm.

Thus, here he is now, with a container of what can only be described as smoked-grub bisque, as well as one of the long claws from the beast, well-cleaned of any connective tissues. A trophy for the poor man's troubles?

He knocks at the door, and offers the best smile he can, which is only moderately awkward.

"Hey! You're César, right? The guy who got crushed by that giant caterpillar a couple days ago?"

Not his strongest introduction, but considering that it would be so, so unfortunate if this wasn't even the right house and he went on his spiel, it was better than nothing, right?

HECK YEAH

[pineapplesalmon]

César's both surprised yet not to hear the knock on his door. Word gets around about deaths, and he's made quite a few friends here. It wasn't like last time, where the only ones that knew had his head literally delivered to them. Even Magne hadn't suspected.

His absence would be noted, now. It's reassuring. César tells Magne and Dabi that he'll get it since it's likely for him.

What he doesn't expect is a stranger (not entirely a stranger, vaguely familiar) that greets him at the door. Or a stranger with food. Or a stranger to immediately start off with that.

The awkwardest first questions he's ever been asked is strangely soothing. If someone had an ulterior motive, they would have thought of a better way to phrase them, and they would've remembered to introduce themselves. No, this is genuine concern from a stranger.

Which makes him smile warmly, overwhelmed for a moment by the thought of not being forgotten anymore. "... That would be me, yes. So people have been talking?"

[gruesomegourmand]

"Well, not talking so much as--- I asked."

Despite his avid enthusiasm about it, Laios has been fairly private about monster cuisine - before his party, it wasn't exactly a topic that went over well. It wasn't as though now was a time he could get around it, however; it was half the reason for his visit, after all!

Maybe he can address the other half first, though?

Carefully balancing the container of soup, he pulls the backpack off of his back, and a bit clumsily, he pulls the claw out of it, from where it'd protruded from the top of the bag slightly. It's been cleaned, and seems to have even been polished, before it made its journey over.

"I brought this for you, and made you some lunch. I was told that people can come back from the dead not feeling great, so I figured if I was taking parts from something that killed you, you deserved to have some trophies from it, too!" A beat, and the gear in his head turns another notch. "...If you want trophies from it, of course!"

[For Magne] REVIVAL

[pineapplesalmon]

César wakes up in the hot springs. It's a bit disorienting to go from feeling nothing to feeling warm. But it only takes him a moment to take stock of his situation (sending stone, bottle of salts?, a letter he can't touch due to wet hands) before he collects himself well enough to call Magne.

He asks her to bring him a towel and a change of clothing. He tells her he loves her. She tells him she loves him and he should take it easy before going back to work because he just died again. César promises the only thing he's thinking about right now is spending time with her and also Dabi, having made arrangements for a nice night in ahead of time.

When Magne finally finds him, he's half-dozing in the hot spring up to his shoulders. He sees her approach and looks up. César smiles warmly to her, his entire face lighting up.

"Hola, amorcita!"

[sistermagnetic]

Magne had asked him over the time that he'd been hanging around haunting her that when he revived, if it was away from home, that he should send her a message so that she could retrieve him. She'd been expecting it when it finally came, but the missive for her to bring him some clothes had caught her off-guard, and she'd wondered just what kind of trouble he'd ended up in after reviving.

Arriving at the springs, when she's made her way up the trail, she lifts a bag with a change of simple clothes in it for him to see. This gets put aside in the little locker space, before she settles herself on the edge of the spring on her knees, just shy of where his head is leaned.

"Feeling better?" She quips, giving him a small tilt of a smile before reaching for the note left for him to find. Presumable César hasn't opened it because he doesn't want to get it wet, so she obliges instead, running her finger under the seal then taking a moment to read the note on it's pretty card.

And she laughs. "Oh, you've really done it now," she says before turning it for him to read without having to get out of the water to see.

[pineapplesalmon]

César would've called her immediately regardless, so it just means he called her several seconds sooner. He's relieved to see he won't need to walk home naked and watches her come to see him, turning around in the water to rest his forearms along the rocks to face her.

"I'm back to normal. And I'm feeling much better now that you're here." César can't miss the opportunity to flirt, and he waits for her to read the note, eyebrows raising as she laughs.

He sputters when he reads it. "But- I'm not-" César stops and groans a little, dropping his forehead to his forearms. "... okay, maybe I am that bad. But I've been getting better!"

Then with a mumble, he adds. "Even if I never took a vacation after saving the world or arriving here...."

[OTA] The Punishment, May 3rd-May 9th

[pineapplesalmon]

1. Attempting
César is laying face down on the ground in the Festival Green, groaning softly. "Ow."

2. Thinking
César walks along one of the main streets. He's suddenly gasping for breath and stumbles, reaching out for someone before he falls.

((OOC: The "punishment" for César's revival is here.))