"I don't think this is the right way," said Frederick, who would not have been audible except he was currently positioned all of three centimeters from Iijima's ear.
"I know what I'm doing," replied iijima, and gave the scanner a quick whap with his hand to inspire faith. The device bleeped in distress. "There, see?" Frederick had to admit he was impressed. Against all odds, a trail of particles danced on the screen before them. The trail was visible only on a microscopic level. A thin line of nanites led inexorably towards the target of their mission like a proverbial trail of breadcrumbs through the forest. They were not ordinary nanites. They came from a group of most extraordinary cabbages.
No one was quite sure how, but at some point in the last six months, three of the Lab's cabbages had gone missing. Cabbages were always travelling to and from the Lab, being sent out to new parents and then returning. It took weeks to discover that three had in fact gone missing, and then a few more weeks to uncover the truth of what had happened. Somehow, on a routine delivery to Gaia, three cabbages had bounced out the back of a truck and not reached their destination. Iijima and Frederick, neither of whom was essential to the Lab's research or functioning, had been sent to try and uncover the full truth of what had happened.
The trail of nanites had begun at the roadside and went across the sidewalk and into an alley. Frederick and Iijima almost bumped their heads trying to follow. "You can see, they rolled along the ground here," said iijima, indicated a path currently obscured by a pile of trash bags.
"But after that, gone," said Frederick, looking away from the scanner long enough to register their path had led them to a dead end.
"Were they picked up?" mused Iijima, increasing the scan radius slightly for some sign of further nanites. Frederick checked the scanner again.
"No, I don't think so. It looks like..."
They kicked aside the trash bags with their shoes to pinpoint the last nanite in the trail. Closer and closer they came, until finally-- "Ow!" exclaimed Frederick, bumping his head on the wall of a building.
"It's like they came to this wall and then just disappeared." Iijima glanced around for clues and Frederick took the scanner.
"Not just at this wall," said Frederick, turning the scanning range back down for a more precise reading. "The last nanite particle is right... here!" He thrust his finger at a spot on the surface of the wall.
Something funny happened. Instead of Frederick's hand resting on the wall, his finger seemed to pass right through it and Frederick gave a cry of surprise and drew back, dropping the scanner. Iijima quickly bent to retrieve the device, exclaiming, "No way! I don't believe it!" Frederick looked at the scanner's display, still too shocked by his experience to speak. "It's a gateway."
Iijima and Frederick exchanged looks and double-checked the readings. It was definitely accurate. "But a fully-functional, stable gateway to another universe, that would require..."
"Wow," said Iijima.
What it would require was something with the ability to manipulate reality on a local level. A skill possessed by a group of unusual cabbages. Iijima studied the dimensions of the gateway, marking the edges with a pencil in his coat. It was just big enough for a man to squeeze through. He looked at Frederick.
"Oh, no," was Frederick's response, accompanied by a fearful headshake.
"Come on, Handel! Where's your sense of adventure?" grinned Iijima, pulling Frederick towards the gateway.
"In the petri dishes and the microscopes at the lab," replied Frederick dryly.
[@] [@] [@] [@] [@]
They came out in the middle of a jungle surrounded by thick vegetation and immediately readjusted the scanner to provide them with a map. "Wow," said iijima, studying the energy readouts. "The place is crawling with nanites." Indeed it was, random specks of nanite readings scattered around a good fifty mile radius, from the spot they were standing all the way to the island's shore, and even into the water.
Frederick was immediately distressed. "The cabbages could be anywhere! It will take up weeks to find them!"
"Hold on," said Iijima, turning his head to the side. "Do you hear that? It sounds like children!"
[@] [@] [@] [@] [@]
Lost Children: Two strangers came to the Treehut, big strangers! They asked for your help in finding three missing cabbages. They had to go back to where they came from to get more equipment and talk to their leader, but in the meantime, they'd really appreciate it if you kept an eye open for those cabbages. And if you find the cabbages, they will reward you with some more of that "candy" stuff they brought!
Feien: Back when the children first arrived, weird leafy cabbages were observed in the vicinity, but the cabbages disappeared some weeks ago and no one has seen them since. News of the children's search to find these missing cabbages has spread through the cities like wildfire.
Mermaids: Some strange things have been happening in the waters around the island. Some truly weird marine creatures have been appearing. Though oblivious to the antics of the landfolk, it would certainly be in the interest of the merfolk to locate the source of this disturbance!
Pirates: Spying on the Treehut, you've overheard some discussion about the cabbages. Sounds like a big treasure! Well, better not let those Treehutters get their hands on that treasure, aye mateys?
As your roleplay your way around the island, keep your eyes peeled on this thread for more clues as to the locations of the cabbages! Clues will be revealed in response to your searches.
