Radiant Invasion

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(Work in progress)

## Chronological Order

### **(October 31st)**

Alone, deep in the Norvus Republics Base, Zulu locked himself away in his makeshift 'lab'. He may call it that, but in reality it was just a large wooden table that held his collection of herbs in glass jars.

Zulu has been the only Novus Republic member here for some time, the others still haven't return from their Training Exercise. During this 'vacation' Zulu has been hard at work trying to find out the usefulness of this 'Glow Flower'.

Non-poisionous
Non-flameable
No halluiengence properties
Refuses to grow

The flower never wilts as the root always glows; no matter the lack of water, exposer to radation, intensity of sunlight, and so on. No barbaric test Zulu can do in this shack of a base can uncover its' secret it seems.

When he gave Drugzilla three of his sample of 'Glow Flowers', she used them in a mix for some kind of medicine. She says it helped someone with great stress, but even she doesn't understand 'why' that worked.

Mumbling to himself, "This hobby of mine will eat me alive, I should just stick to what i'm good at."

### **(November 8th)**

"You know, I have all my life to figure out your secrets now. I paid my dews and now it's just me and you." Zulu mocked at his lone Glow Flower. Slowly he circled it with journal in hand. Test after test brought him no closer to cracking it.

A wave of frustration washed over him and he slammed his fist on the desk, "Don't think I'll stop when the others get back. They can't save you from me."

Zulu went to sit on the front porch, being locked up inside so long was getting to him. The fresh air filled his lungs and cleared his mind a smidge.

"Fuckin' plant"

### **(November 17th)**

[Are you happy?]

The sudden voice shook Zulu from his midday nap. The minimum light that peaked through the slits in the wooden walls was enough to make sure he was 'alone' in the Novus Republics base, safely locked away. Sitting on the table across from him was the potted Glow Flower, scratch paper and crumples notes laid around it forming a depressing halo.

[Are you happy?]

Zulu washed out his mouth with a handy mug of water next to him before answering The Glow Flower, "My men are alive, my sisters is taken care of, and I have a new hobby."

[You didn't answer the question]

He stood up, stretching his muscles. They acked from 'doing nothing' the past couple days. They're not use to resting this long. "I'm an officer in a well respected army. I have four walls and a rough above my head. I haven't gone hungry in years." Zulu spoke with confidence at his new 'guest'.

[These aren't absolutes.]

Starting to boil up water for some coffee, "Of course. One day i'll fail, these walls will rot, and my food will spoil. But not today. Right now I can hold the world at bay" As he attempts drink the rest of wate; his right arm suddenly tense up, a burning pain spread, it leaked a few drops of oil, then goes limp.

[Was your arm worth the price?]

Zulu ignores The Glow Flower as he starts to fix himself. They sat in silence as he troubleshoot his arm.

**(November 18th)** ===
[Are you going to reenlist for another year?]

Zulu layed awake on his cot in 'the officers quarters'. Finally the rest of the Novus Republic stationed in Greyfell have returned. They were having some kind of fire out front. Must be midnight by now, just himself and The Plant was inside.

[Are you happy they're back?]

Zulu sat up on the cot, the light of the fire let the shadows of the soldier's silhouette peak between the wooden wall's crack. Looks like they were dancing out there.

[I don't think you are.]

Putting on his clothes, he bundled up for a nightwalk around town. Zulu found that, as crazy as this town was, most of the 'citizens' tend to stick to daylight. Last thing he wants is to run into a headache right now.

[You know, it's not wrong to romanticize the life of a hermit]

Zulu stuffed The Glow Flower inside a hidden pocket within his jacket. Why? He didn't know. But they left through the back door for a midnight walk.

**(November 20th)** ===
Zulu burst into his shack of a lab and locked the door behind him. Within his coat lies what he believe will finally make a break through in his research.

The Glow Flower sat triumph on his desk, radiating a healthy green as the very day he "found" it.

[You have something to tell me]

"Oh, yes I do", Zulu double made sure that no one was eavesdropping on him, last thing was rumors in town about his sanity. "I'm on the edge of figuring you out." he shuffled through shelf, picking up a brand new clay pot and filling it with a mixer of soil.

[You wish to end me.]

Ignoring that last comment Zulu continues on with preparing. "Drugzilla has been using your kind in medicine, something that 'lessens the voices' in people's mind. NOw that alone doesn't confirm anything. But the other day she claims she used your kind and that it lessens her nightmares."

Out from inside his coat he dragged out a second Glow Flower, but this one radiated red. Carefully he set the second Glow Flower in its new home (the clay pot) "It's been killing me to make a connection from Drugzilla's experience with the voice you've invaded into my head".

[Invaded, or unlocked?]

### **(November 22nd)**

'Play god. That was the phrase.'

Professor Skylor trudged across a field saturated in starlight and the soft silvery glow of a waning moon. The eerie ivory light illuminated the path ahead as the bipedal silhouette of the teacher made his way towards a glowing field.

~You've trapped yourself in a logic loop. You only allowed my programming to attempt 1,000 cycles in such a situation. So, I'm inserting my logic before you even get to 100.~

'...Very well, AM. I suppose it's only fair to allow your involvement at this point.'

The artificial conscience debated with the host as their collective body neared the rainbow lit meadow.

~It seems, logically, that the error in our decision was to merely "play" god. Not become or act as one, which would be impossible by the way. Because of our inability to exercise power as a supernatural beign, it's unfair to hold yourself to the standards of one.~

'But those people... they thought they were safe. They didn't believe us when we tried to convince them otherwise. Taking matters into our own hands nearly resulted in Mr. Harvey's and many others untimely death. I could not stand for anyone to die because I was unable to help them or, even worse, because of my errors in judgement.'

~First off, it's we. We made those decisions. Furthermore, we aren't a god. My calculations show that we HAVE helped people. I also project that we may still help many more. So terminate this unnecessary agony of faulted logic. It's actually really boring.~

Laughter rings out amongst the sounds of the night.

'Bored are you now? Well I suppose you're right on any account.'

Brilliant light surrounded the medical engineer as he strode through the vividly lit field. Rainbows of colors washed through his eyes as he plucked one of the sources from the ground.

"You, my friend, are quite the elusive plant. Nearly three days I have searched for you and your ruddy companions. I think we will become the best mates, for both Miss Drusilla and Mister Zulu speak very highly of you."

The vibrant fuchsia of the glow flower pulses in the Professor's hand. Not in complete defiance, but almost as if the vivid plant encouraged the challenge.

"I think that between the three of us, your stories and secrets will soon be ours."

The scientist pockets a variety of the mysterious flowers and starts to make his way out of the brilliantly lit botanical collection. At the edge of the field, a sudden overwhelming desire to lay down amongst the plants and never leave flooded the scientist's senses.

~Come now, Professor. We need to find Drusilla and Zulu. You promised Drusilla you would learn about plants. Let's be off.~

Persuaded from the gentle coaxing of his artificial counterpart, the man trekked out of the enticing field in the direction of Greyfell.

"It would be nice to return here one day... soon..."

**(November 23rd)** ===
32 newly potted plants littered Zulu's shed of a work place. Many were just soil with the shriveled up plant remains, rotting away. A few were still shriveled up, but were easily 3 times longer. Just one, the latest attempt, showed promise; the plant has yet to breach the soil but a constant, faint red glow bleed through.

[Keep it away from the cold]
{Don't forget to water}
[Filter the water]
{Not too much sunlight}

"Oh, now you give me advise, where were you the other thirty one time?" Zule gave his best to give both the Red and Green Glow Flower (who both sat on their own separate tables) the cold shoulder, doing so made him feel immediately childest.

After some time taking care of number thirty two, Zulu collapse in his only chair. Immediately thoughts of sleep were assaulting him, and they were winning despite his best efforts; three sleepless nights will do that to you. "You know, I think I finally got it"

[If we are just voices in your-]
{head or we are sentient?}

"Yea that" Zulu interrupts himself with a lengthy yawn. For a moment it looks like he nodded off, but briefly wakes himself to speak once again. "You're bullshit. Both of you, all of you. Your tricks not lay within you body, but in-", the need for sleep won.

### **November 28th**

Exhausted, Zulu finally washed off his dirt caked hands before going through his routine in 'locking down' the Novus Republics base. Every door secured and hole sealed, even a mouse would have trouble cracking in to steal the bread crumbs that Pvt. Wolf leaves behind from dinner.

Instead of sleeping in the normal 'Officer's Quarters', Zulu laid down where he set up a spare cot in the midst of his 'lab'. Plants of many species sat in bottles and pots still decorated the numerous shelves and tables there, but mixed in their company were at least sixteen Glow Flowers, freshly matured from just being born days ago.

A lovely ambiance of green and red fought away the shadows. Even the darkest corner of the room were hardly worthy the color title of 'black'.

[We are proud of you.]
{We can never thank you enough.}
<Why do you feel alone?>

"Shut up, i'm trying to self reflect." Zulu mumbled to the crowd of flowers. The voices obeyed while he continued to think out loud, "It's you that has changed me. Made me waste my only Serum for a useless secret. Could have just let her died and claim the bounty even after she told me. I should have." Deep down, Zulu knew he didn't mean what he just said. That scared him.

### **November 30th**

Resting upon the front desk of The Hospital lays a beautiful bouquet of Glow Flowers, equal amounts red and green variants. Attached is a little white envelope with the simple words "For Renegade" writen on it.

No one saw who dropped it off.

(23 Comments Followed)

### **December 1st**

On the counter of the Roughedge was a glass bouquet of equal mixture of red and green Glow Flowers (which look similar to tulips). Even in the middle of the day, their constant radiance was very noticeable.

Attached was a white envelope with the words "To The Roughedge" neatly hand written on it.

The messenger was no where to be seen.

(7 comments Follow)

### **December 2**

After stuffing the journals mentioned by Ambrose into a safer spot the shunned Scribe sits behind the counter of Watchers Investigative. She quietly jots down the events of the last two days as she always does.

She pauses and glances in the direction of the Floggin Molly with a sigh.

[ You shouldn't have to apologize for doing what you needed to.]

The voice sends a jolt of surprise through the woman and she has to assure that no one else is near her.

[It was only business. They should understand.]

Silence

[Please take better care of us.]

"Who?"

[Insides your bag.]

She nods dumbly at the voice, glancing down at her bag. She opened it and tucked into the front pocket were the two glow flowers she'd received from Zulu a week ago.

She chokes out a small, strangled laugh and runs a hand through her hair, "I'm going crazy, aren't I? This was the final straw."

[You're not crazy. We want to help you. We can't do that if we die]

"That's true." She answers, pondering on why she was answering them in the first place.

There are weirder things out there. Talking flowers could exist. What would she even be able to put them in? Would they last in the ground outside?

She leans against the counter as she thinks, "Maybe Zulu would have something. Answers too. He gave you to me after all." She says to them.

### **December 3**

\*The workshop was dark, the overhead bulbs were cold, the vents shut. The workbench was littered with loose bolts and scrap. The only thing moving around the dark space was a small mouse searching with futility for morsels.

Jorge was elsewhere, far from the workshop. His limbs were going numb and his back ached. It was his second journey into the dark forest. The first journey was on orders from Lt. Zulu(Charlie Heger) and he found what was needed. Each step lead his along the simple path he forded, pulling taught against the weight lashed to his vest. He glanced back, seeing Sgt. Arreat's shield quickly assembled into a cargo sled with the 15 foot evergreen.

It took him the better part of two hours to eventually reach the plaza in the center of town were he'd dug the two foot hole and set several boxes of miscellaneous parts and rope. The base of the trunk was lined up over the top of the hole and Jorge pulled a bundle of rope from the boxes and whipped several knots around the upper half of the tree. He hurled the bundle over a nearby branch and put his weight against the base.

A slow, methodical pull pivoted the tree up and down into the hole. He packed the earth tight and positioned several large rocks around the base to hold it in place as he set about feeding long belts of empty bullet casings, painted pieces of metal and glass, and other bits of finery. Having emptied all but one box of decorations, Jorge set about opening the last box, letting the soft lights pour out.

The greens and reds of the Glow Flowers slowly made their way around the tree, humming with their gentle light as the moon slipped away behind my butts. The glow caught on the brass, glass, and metal, slowly turning the tree into a small nebula of stars hovering above the cold earth.

Jorge stood back, policing up the tools and equipment before running it back to the NR base and returning with a bottle of liquor and the materials for a small fire.\*

"Looks a bit like home, don't it, Elena?" Jorge mused as the moonlight cracked from behind the silver butts

(62 comments between Jorge, Rosie, and Cygnus follows)

### **December 5th**

The sun was coming up over the horizon as Elizabeth watered the Beaming Smiles once again. Their glow was pleasant through the course of the night and she had wondered about planting more to live up the town.

She looked up through the openness to the sky above with a sigh before moving to jostle Cygnus from his rest. "Morning has come Cygnus. I believe Miss Elenora said she would be returning some time soon. If you have need to clean up we have access to reasonably clean water and other things, all you need to is ask."

She smiles and moves back to wandering the hospital looking for a second suitable pot. Ensuring growing flowers regrow in sustainable ways wasn't far outside of her abilities, but she required a proper pot first.

(6 Comments followed)

### **December 6th**

In a rare sight, Zulu left his lab behind to walk toward the middle of town. A few days ago he had made his Private set up a great Evergreen with an impressive amount of homemade ornaments and, most importantly, hundreds of green and red Glow Flowers. (aka a freakin' Christmas Tree)

Besides being bundled up for the cold weather he also carried a bucket of a semi clear liquid that he started to pour carefully on the Glow Flowersand the Evergreen itself.

(25 comments follow)

### **December 15th**

Thorn had locked himself away, determined to find what effect these "glow flowers" had that was causing them to be such a sudden craze. As soon as Cygnus had given him the samples from the tree at the center of town, Thorn retreated into his little 'office' and ground up one of the flowers to see how the paste reacted with different reagents. After several hours and nearly half of Thorn's supplies, he could find no conclusive data on what effects this plant could have. He did, however, note that he began to feel sorry for grinding up such a visually appealing plant.

### **December 20th**

A small, glowing flower stood alone and pristine in the small pot as Thorn carefully watered and evened the soil, his dead eyes unblinking and focused, barely lit by the glow of the flower and the few candles scattered about the room. As he finished tending the soil, he looked down to the picture he had drawn just a few days ago. A crudely drawn flower stood in the foreground, with a large heart behind it, but a question mark sat to the right of the symbol. Thorn looked at it quizzically and thought, "why Thorn question such beautiful, innocent flower? All it need is grow and spread. What make him draw mark?" As he tried to remember the day he drew the picture, the day Cygnus first handed him the flowers to test on, something in his head told him to forget, that there was nothing he needed to remember about that day, and that he should continue to focus on keeping this one in good condition.

### **December 21st**

Propping the door to Zulu’s lab open, Jorge moved into the room and set his tools down against the wall beneath his repaired shelf. He bit back a fit of pollen coughs before he began to saw a hole through the upper wall facing towards the outside of the base. The wood was cold, but it gave to the blade fairly well, kicking back and forth with slow, grinding strokes.
Catching a knot in the timbers, Jorge cursed under his breath as he forced his weight against the saw blade. A shift in weight pulled the blade back across his hand, drawing blood. He spit profanity as he pinched off the gash. Letting the surge of pain rein back into the lub-dub throb of every heartbeat. Jorge looked over the wound, wiping away the blood on a rag in his bag.
“Won’t need stitches,” Jorge mused, wrapping gauze and duct tape around the gash.
Jorge wheezed lighter as he pushed up and resumed cutting.
{Maybe we can help with the pain}
Jorge tensed, letting a hand fall to his holster. He whipped around, scanning the room with his revolver.
“I swear if there’s another scout inside the wire-”
He stood alone in the room, threatening a shelf of glow flowers with his gun.
The plants seemed to pulse a gentle glow as he swept his gun over the corners of the room.
“If you’re here, come out and you might not die.”
(We aren’t hiding.)
“Then come out, hands where I can see them.”
/Kina can’t since we don’t have hands./
Jorge squinted, lowering his revolver. “What the hell is going on?”
[Nothing severe, you hurt yourself and the voices in your head want to help.]
His squint tightened as he holstered his revolver.
“This is di-di’kulta? Is that the right word for it?”
Jorge returned, sliding the small motor and fan into the hole he cut.
“I swear, that cactus was stronger than I thought, over one year, and I still hear things.”
He gently screwed the fan into the wood and flicked on the motor. The gentle whir of the fans grew as the air began to move. Jorge stopped, staring up at the ceiling while his mind walked through the possibilities.
He flicked the motor off, feeding simple wiring along the wall.
(What are you doing?)
Jorge sighed as he began to tie the wire into the switch, feeling the pain in his hand fade bit by bit. He tested the switch, flickering the light and the whirring of the motor. Letting it run for a second, Jorge fished the filter out of his bag.
/What are you doing?/
Jorge placed the mesh screen against the wall and began to drill guide holes.
{Wait, what is that?}
“A filter. I don’t know what’s poison in here, but I ain’t takin’ a chance of getting my balls busted by the Lt for leaking poison into the town.”
[Take it off. We need it.]
“And I need four bottles of barley wine and more smokes to barter with, but I don’t got that.”
Jorge screwed the filter into place over the vent and rounded up his gear. He and the Lt. would be heading up the road before long.

### **December 27th**

\*Thorn is walking around the hospital picking the glow flowers and shoving them into a large bottle.\*

(75 Comments Follow)

### **December 30th**

After slinking away from Janus and his robotic pipe dreams, Cygnus was happy to have some privacy. He had enough on his mind to worry about, so any break was welcomed. He looked down at the pile of wilting glow flowers nested in his satchel. Being after the holidays, Cygnus had decided that neither Jorge or Zulu would mind him liberating some more garland off the grand pine. That assumption had been made for a few days now.

Referencing his journal, Cygnus tried to remember how many flowers to ingest. Thorn never told him how many were in the initial dose he was given, but what Thorn did give Cygnus was the best night of sleep in a long while. With Thorn still convinced that the glow flowers were harmful, Cygnus opted to skip the middle man and self-medicate. However, it had been taking Cygnus more flowers each night to achieve the same drowsy state. He had attributed the increase to the less than pristine petals he had been using, and that was his first mistake.

His palate protested each chewed up petal, but to Cygnus, the ends justified the means. He was up to nine? His entire mouth tasted like grass at this point, making subsequent flowers easier to stomach. Cygnus continuously glanced over at Thorn’s ’office’ between each bite. Thirteen? Still not drowsy . . . Slowly but surely, Cygnus’s satchel lost its glow, and Cygnus lost his count. Impatience was his second mistake. By the time Cygnus realized his error, the room around him was spinning. Luckily, Cygnus had found solace in one of the Hospital’s cots, but that wasn’t going to help him for long. He collapsed onto the bed.

### **January 1st, 2017**

1 part forest fungus
1 part vodka
8 parts clean water
5 parts that sinister flower

The concoction was made, and Thorn stared at what would either allow him to finally beat this parasite once and for all, or kill him dead. He locked the door, prepared a spot on the floor, then downed the potion. Within a minute, Thorn fell into a deep sleep.

When Thorn awoke, he was alone in pitch black, except for a large glowing flower, with a smiling face. As Thorn stood up, the flower spoke.
"Hi Thorn! Are you ready to accept us, yet? You know we just want to make you happy, right?"
"Thorn know what you want. You not have power here, this Thorn's mind."
"All we want is to be friends, why can't you accept that? Just take care of us and we'll take care of you." Thorn grabbed the plant by its stalk and attempted to pull it from its roots. Before the stem could tear, he was blinded by a bright flash. When he regained his vision, he was staring at a large, carnivorous plant, with roots growing from faceless people, each standing with a single flower in their hands.

"You cannot stop us," the faceless people spoke, "give up now, for we will eventually have everyone under our control."
"As Thorn said, this his mind, you nothing but intruder in hostile kingdom." As his words ended, he grew to match the plant in size while patterns formed on his skin, the symbols of his tribe's greatest mind warriors. "You no longer welcome here, now Thorn pull you like common weed."
The plant screamed as it lunged forward, but Thorn blocked with his arm and grabbed right under the plant's head. The plant's thorns dug deeper into his arm while he struggled to get a good hold on the plant's stem, but once Thorn had a good grip, he began to pull as hard as he could. As the stem ripped, the plant screamed louder, until there was a loud pop, and everything went black.

Thorn awoke on the floor of his office, staring up at his equipment. He wondered what he had just gone through, then he remembered the purpose of this endeavor: the glow flowers. He stood up and grabbed one of his samples. Thorn inspected it, smelled it, even tasted it, but now it was just a glowing flower to him. The mental connection was gone, but only time would tell if it would stay that way, or if this treatment would be as effective on other victims.

### **February 1st**

The sun starts to set as Lt. Zulu tracked out to the middle of Southern Woods, alone. Under his heavy winter coat, in a hidden pocket, contained the last remains (that he knew) of Glow Flowers. They were all just bulbs, but ready to be planted and restart his 'collection'.

The cursed fire of Greyfell has destroyed most of his progress, not just with Glow Flowers but other excotic and usefull material like Water Hemlock and Nightshade. Without a dedicated 'lab' to his studies, progress will be at a crawl compared to before.

Zulu addressed the bulbs in his coat as he spoke aloud "Don't worry, our plans have only been set back a few months. We may have lost a handful of pawns, but a Queen has been promoted."