This chapter does not have an upgraded rating, but contains the following:
[ a scene focused around giving a post-mortem of a decased pokemon ]
Andrea, Emily and Patrick investigate the mysterious and deadly plague that is spreading through a Miltank herd.
May 13th
Nettlefield, Kingdom of Lanark
"Cuckawwwww! Cuckawwwww!"
It was the crowing of a Coocluck rooster, a sound that Andrea hadn't heard in nearly five years; for as long as she could remember, that sound was what signaled the start of a new day, and just like the old days of her countryside upbringing, it served that same purpose once more. Despite the lackluster condition of the room, the relatively uncomfortable couch that she slept on and the extreme swing in her sleep pattern, she felt reasonably well rested. She rolled off of the couch, stood up and quietly made her way across the room toward the window. The golden light of the rising sun bled in, turning her pale skin into a beacon that lit the dark room.
The change in light levels roused one of the two in the bed from their sleep. Motion under the covers preceded Emily poking her head out and glancing around in a daze. "Mmm?" she groggily mumbled as her eyes opened. "...time is it..."
"Oh, sorry if I woke you," Andrea said softly, closing the blinds. "Sunrise. A Coocluck woke me up."
"Mmm..."
"Guess that's an earlier start than you anticipated?"
"Mmm..."
She chuckled at Emily's lack of straightforward answers, then made that same quiet journey back across the room and returned to the couch. She grabbed her phone to check the time, and her groggy eyes widened upon seeing it: 5:11 AM. "
Five in the morning? Are you fucking kidding me? That's usually when I go to bed..." She stretched and could feel that it was likely to be an unpleasant day; her legs were still sore from the extended walk from Loch Alstan, and now her back was acting up from sleeping on the couch. "
Well... Now what? I have no idea when these two are gonna get out of bed... and I'm gonna need -- dare I say it -- some coffee before long..."
About an hour passed before there was any substantial movement in the bed. Emily was the first to get up, and she'd clearly gotten a decent night of sleep; she was cheerful, she was energetic and she was excited to get their day started. Patrick was similar when he finally got out of bed about twenty minutes after that, though much more sluggish. A short conversation about how their day would pan out happened; Emily included Andrea's opinions as if they actually mattered -- something she honestly felt was strange -- but the discussion was cut short by a horrible growling sound.
Patrick rubbed his belly. "Oh! How about we continue this discussion over breakfast, ladies?"
- - - - -
"You look like you really enjoyed that, new kid," Emily commented. She pushed her half finished breakfast across the table until it clinked against Andrea's empty plate. "I've never seen anyone clean a plate that quickly."
"I did enjoy it. Outside of special occasions or sneaking a meal out of The Lair, I can't remember the last time I ate something that wasn't cheap, cardboard-tasting ramen," she answered with a sigh. "I've never really had any money, but I always told myself that a bad diet was the price of progress in order to make myself feel better. Always told myself that I should be happy that I even had that, and that I didn't go to class or to bed hungry."
"Yet you show up to your interview in what looks like a designer dress," Patrick commented.
"Okay, younger me wasn't the best with my money! I'd like to think I'm better about that now."
"Well, at least you're a cheap date. I like that," he quipped, earning a sharp glare from Emily.
The waiter returned to the table, dropped off their bill, and rushed off to visit another table.
She reached into her purse to gather up a few coins to pay for her part of the meal, but Patrick urged her not to. "You'd like to think, but
I don't think you are. You said money's tight, and you're our guest. We'll take care of you until you're on the train back home."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I should have enough to pay for my own meals and still get home..."
Patrick looked over towards Emily and stifled a laugh. "The fact that she said 'should' tells me she's not actually sure herself." He turned back to Andrea. "I'm paying, and that's the end of that."
It was the age old 'no, I'm paying!' game she'd heard so much about. She was thrilled she'd finally gotten to experience it herself, as it signified that she was moving into the adult world, but she knew she wasn't going to win. Even more, he was right: money was indeed tight and she didn't need to be looking for excuses to spend what little she had left -- she realized she might need it in the near future.
"Very well, suit yourself. And, thank you."
"Any time," he answered habitually, then caught himself. "Well, not any time. You know what I mean."
She giggled.
- - - - -
With breakfast out of the way, the trio started their day with the walk across town towards the Briar Patch. Andrea wasn't quite sure what to make of the day that stood before her; she wondered whether her skills would be put to the test, or if she'd be asked to sit on the sidelines and observe. She thought about how both possibilities could hint at her immediate future; if she were asked to take an active role in Emily's project, it could mean that Patrick was on the fence about hiring her, but needed to see her work ethic. If she were told to simply sit aside and observe, it painted a less optimistic picture of her chances of being hired being low, but still potentially salvageable.
Whatever the case would turn out to be, she tried to remain calm and gave herself just three simple goals for the day: offer her input wherever it felt appropriate, listen carefully, and take things one step at a time. Nice and smooth.
Their journey took them down a muddy trail that ran along a wide and extensive pasture, dotted with several distinct groupings of Miltanks. To Andrea's untrained eye, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about them; the nearly 700-member herd grazed peacefully on the muddy grass, completely unaware of the fate that potentially awaited them. Curious about getting a closer look at them, she broke away from the two professionals and leaned up against the fence. She offered her hand out as one of the massive creatures approached her.
"Aren't you adorable?" she asked with excitement, loud enough to capture Patrick and Emily's attention. "Look how beautiful you are! Yes you are! So pretty!" Her ability to form coherent words quickly fell apart as she patted and rubbed the overjoyed Miltank's head.
A short distance away, Patrick and Emily watched her, almost as if they were the parents of an excited toddler.
"Am I seeing this right?" Patrick asked. "Look at her... That girl is the opposite of what we've been experiencing."
"It is pretty strange," Emily added.
"Dr. Reiland was right, you
shouldn't judge a book by its cover..."
"Ah, ah ah!" Emily called out with a clap. "Andrea, I wouldn't touch her if I were you! There's no saying what kinda crazy pathogens that thing is carrying."
She immediately retracted her hand. "Oh. Right."
At the far end of the muddy trail was the stately and extravagant manor that served as the Briar Patch's corporate headquarters, a building that dwarfed nearly every other within the village with the possible exception of the old defunct armory. Out in the front yard of the manor was a large penned off enclosure, host to over a dozen small wildfowl. The wildfowl were fat and fluffy, sporting a uniform coat of silky white feathers that obscured nearly every anatomical feature present. A middle aged man was stood beside the enclosure, casually tossing handfuls of bird seed into it. He noticed the group approaching and tipped his hat.
"Ah! Mr. Redford! We were just coming to see you!" Patrick said.
The man's face lit up. "Patrick and Emily, I recognize you two from the conference call last week!" He turned to Andrea with a look of confusion on his face. "And you are? I wasn't aware that a third person was coming along. Fancy get-up you got there, little lady. Very striking appearance."
"That's Andrea. She's... kinda here as an unpaid intern, you might say. She had a job interview yesterday and we asked her if she'd like to tag along for this assignment and see how we operate."
"Ah! I see! Hey, good opportunity for ya!" he said with a polite nod in Andrea's direction, then extended his hand. One by one, he crushed their hands in a vice-like shake. "Well these two already know me, young lady; I'm William Redford, Chief of Operations here at the Briar Patch. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"He is our contact here at the Briar Patch, he'll be showing us around and getting us up to speed about what's going on here," Patrick explained. He leaned up against the fence and looked down at the feathery creatures as they plucked around for the seeds that Mr. Redford had been dropping. "Cooclucks on a dairy farm?"
"Ahh, yeah. Owners' kids' pets. Supposed to be teachin' 'em about responsibility. Cute little things, aren't they?"
Andrea dropped to her knees. "They are!"
"Any indication that they've been afflicted by whatever's killing your Miltanks?"
A pensive expression came to Mr. Redford's face. "I think you'd have to ask the kids that, I'm pretty hands off with these little guys. But they're at school today, the missus is out of town, so I'm watching them for now. To answer your question? Not that I've heard of, and not that I can see."
Emily started to write down some rudimentary notes.
"Ah, ah! Keep your fingers out!" Mr. Redford warned as he watched Andrea gingerly reach her hand out towards the wired fence. "They like to bite strangers."
She instantly retracted her hand. "It seems I can't touch anything around here."
Emily laughed. "I'm sure biology has similar principles, but one of the things I learned during my medical training is that you aren't supposed to touch everything. Speaking of medical, Mr. Redford, perhaps we could get started?"
"Sure? What do you need first?"
"Well! Our guest of honor suggested we have a look at the cattle feed. Maybe we can start there?"
"Cattle feed, you say? Suppose it's possible, but I doubt it. Problem's only come up in the past couple weeks, you see, and we've had that batch of feed since the harvest last year."
"That long?" Andrea timidly asked. "Is that normal?"
Mr. Redford shrugged. "I don't know about that, that's not exactly my area of expertise. For that, you'd have to ask Esther, our resident veterinarian. Course, she's not in yet, so that'll have to wait."
"Hmm. Well, it wouldn't hurt for us to have a look at the cattle feed, would it?" Emily suggested.
"Sure, come along! I'll show you to Silo C, that's where our boys have been pulling the feed from for the past six weeks."
- - - - -
It was a quick journey to the grain silo that sat at the heart of the Miltank pasture. As usual, Andrea lingered a small distance behind and listened carefully as Emily and Patrick questioned Mr. Redford about the day to day happenings on the farm. Subjects that came up included employee movements, feeding schedules, maintenance and cleaning habits, any recent Miltank escapes, and even security breaches. She was disappointed by Mr. Redford happily announcing that nothing seemed out of the ordinary related to any of those subjects, as that sunk many of her early theories and robbed her of a quick chance to prove herself. Still, it narrowed the amount of work they'd have to do.
The maintenance hatch on the silo swung open, blasting them with the musky smell of damp, old wheat. "Oof! Love that smell!" Mr. Redford said. "Well. Don't know what you're lookin' for in here, but have at it."
Almost instantly, Emily climbed into the silo and stomped around on the damp cattle feed. She reached for the purse-like object that dangled from the strap around her shoulder and held it in front of her. A screen on the object lit up as she tapped on it. "Still not entirely used to these things..." she commented as a series of lights on it began to blink and flash in a very obvious pattern.
"What is
that?" Andrea asked. "I thought that was your purse this whole time!"
"It's an R-Kit."
Her eyebrow raised. "R-Kit?"
"They're the future of our profession," Patrick chimed in. "Imagine your smart phone, but several times more powerful when it comes to computation."
She giggled. "That's not hard to imagine, mine's a cheap piece of crap."
Patrick returned with a laugh. "Fine, imagine the hottest new smart phone, but several times more powerful. But the R-Kit isn't just about computation power, it's also got an advanced sensor array on it and can detect all sorts of stuff depending on how you configure it."
"Oh! Like one of those scanners in those sci-fi movies! Holy shit, that's so cool -- I mean -- nerdy, but cool."
"Unfortunately this nerdy piece of kit hasn't been very helpful," Emily said with her brow furrowed. She sighed as she dragged her finger across the screen.
"Whatcha got?" Patrick asked.
She turned the device around in her hand and showed off the screen. "Mountains of junk data... You know, the usual."
"Hmm. They still do need a little tuning, don't they..."
"They do," she answered, scrolling through the data again. "I guess once we're done here, we can take this data back to the lab and go through it..." She turned the R-Kit off and closed the cover on it. "Well! When Dr. Venger asks if we did, we can't say we didn't try to use it!"
"Hands on approach, then?" he asked, approaching the maintenance hatch.
"Mhmm."
Andrea watched as Emily and Patrick slipped on pairs of latex gloves and began to sift through the cattle feed for anything out of place or visibly wrong with it. Outside of visible spoilage, she couldn't think of what else they might find in the cattle feed that may be harming the herd. Rather, she was interested in getting her hands on Emily's fancy scanning device and looking it -- and the data inside -- over.
"You mind if I had a look at that R-Kit? I'm kinda curious."
Emily looked up at Patrick as she thought about the question. "I dunno... What do you think? This thing's pretty expensive..."
He nodded. "I doubt she'll break it."
"It's coming out of
your paycheck if she does, not mine."
"
Thanks for the vote of confidence, lady," she thought as she watched Emily gingerly pull the strap over her head and delicately hand the R-Kit over. She took Emily's caution to heart and treated the R-Kit with care, gently handling it as if it were as fragile as a newborn baby. She flipped open the cover and inspected the R-Kit; rectangular in shape, it wasn't much larger than a trendy handbag, and the adjustable leather strap could keep it securely attached to just about anyone except for a small child. An array of multicolored lights lined the bottom of the R-Kit, while a large touch screen took up the rest. A few dials and buttons could be found along the sides, while the back was covered in a rubber pad, likely meant to make handling it easy. With a single tap on the screen, the R-Kit turned on.
She was presented with, as Emily accurately described, an unfathomable mountain of data: biological composition of the various ingredients of the cattle feed, nutritional information of said ingredients, a reasonable estimate at the age of the cattle feed, spectroscopic analysis relating to color and intensity, measurements of the barometric pressure within the silo and even radiation measurements -- all of which were thankfully negligible -- were present on the screen as she scrolled through. Her first guess was that Emily failed to calibrate the R-Kit's scanners correctly, and she was about to say as much, before she stumbled on some information that might prove useful.
"What about this?" she asked.
MICROBES_PRESENT: Yes. Tap here for a list of detected microbes.
MICROBE_WARNINGS: Inconclusive. Thorough lab analysis required.
FUNGI_PRESENT: Seven potentially different species of fungi spores detected. Tap here for a list of detected fungi.
FUNGI_WARNINGS: Inconclusive. Thorough lab analysis required.
TOXINS_PRESENT: No
TOXIN_WARNINGS: N/A
CHEMICALS_PRESENT: Isopropylamine, Ethrozine, Phenatamine
CHEMICAL_WARNINGS: Excessive isopropylamine presence indicates high level of flammability. Caution is advised.
Patrick dropped his handful of feed and hopped out of the silo to have a look. "Find something?"
"Maybe? I can't tell how reliable this information might be."
"This could be useful... Emily! Bag up some of the cattle feed and we'll analyze it back at the institute!"
"Sure thing."
"Good eye, Andrea."
A smile came across her face as she absorbed the praise. It was minor, but it was praise nonetheless. As Patrick jumped back into the silo to assist Emily, she approached Mr. Redford, who had been stood off to the side looking through his list of daily tasks. "Excuse me, Mr. Redford?"
"Howdy there, little lady! Figure anything out?" he asked.
"Nothing conclusive yet, but I have a question. Do you happen to know what isoprop...propylene?" she stumbled. "No, no, isopropylamine! Ugh, chemical names! I was never good at them. Do you know what that is?"
He looked dumbfounded. "I have no idea. Sounds like quite a nasty one, I'll have to look into it."
"Hmm. Do you happen to know what ethrozine and phenatamine are?"
Mr. Redford scratched his chin in thought. "Yeah, those are pesticides, quite common ones. Weed killer and insect repellant, respectively. Must be what Willow Acres -- that's the main source of our cattle feed -- uses on their crops."
"Do you know if they're harmful to livestock at all?"
"Couldn't say. When it comes to pesticides, we in the industry kinda figure it out as we go... But even if they are harmful, I don't think they'd be responsible for what we've been seeing happening to our Miltanks."
She tilted her head in thought. "What exactly is happening to your Miltanks? I wasn't told much before I agreed to come along."
"If you like, I can show you and your associates. Another one of them passed overnight, so... at least you'll have something fresh to look at."
She hesitated to accept the offer, especially without Emily's approval. She realized that it would likely come to an examination, but she wasn't looking forward to the experience.
"Uhh... Maybe we could put it off for a bit."
"I don't blame you if you're a little squeamish about it, missy. It's not an easy thing to look at."
- - - - -
"Here she is, the most recent one," Mr. Redford said as he knelt down beside a deceased Miltank that was slumped over a pile of hay. Despite his assurances of it having recently passed, a horde of buzzing insects were already at work, and the stench of decay hung heavily in the air. "She looked healthy last night... Whatever it is burns through them quick. Hope they don't suffer much."
Emily shook her head as she looked over the deceased Miltank. "Hope so..." She slipped on a fresh pair of latex gloves and a surgical mask. "Well! Let's dig in."
Mr. Redford tipped his hat. "If you need anything, give me a shout. I'll be back soon, I've got a couple things I need to take care of."
"Thank you, Mr. Redford," Patrick said with a polite nod. He found a sturdy support beam in the corner of the stall to lean up against and crossed his arms as he watched Emily begin her examination. Every now and then, he'd casually glance at Andrea, who looked onward in grim fascination, but kept a sizable distance. After a few more moments, he coughed. "Emily looks like she could use a hand."
Andrea's eyes widened upon hearing it, and her facial expression did little to hide how she felt. "Uhh... Sure..? Hand me a pair of gloves and a mask?"
She cautiously approached the Miltank with great trepidation. She blocked her nasal passages, took a deep breath and knelt down; all that preparation was almost useless, as the smell of decay still pushed its way through the mask and into her nose. In an effort to put off what she was about to do for just a little while longer, she took the time to slowly roll up the web-like netting of her sleeves. "So, uhh... What should I do? I've never examined a corpse before."
Emily gave her a knowing look; despite the mask blocking her mouth, it was obvious that a sly smile appeared on her face. "I don't believe that."
"I may look the part, but, honest. I haven't."
"Just help me give her a broad look, see if anything looks really wrong and out of place." Emily gestured towards the Miltank's head. "Try to lift her head up."
She thought carefully about how to proceed with the request. Worries about ruining her designer dress -- an expensive one at that -- floated in her mind, and she tried to buy herself a few more seconds by hesitating. Conscious about how she might look if she put it off any further, she bit her lower lip and dug her right arm between the Miltank's head and the hay that it was resting on. The creature's head was massive and surprisingly heavy, forcing her to lift with her left arm as well. She tried her hardest to ignore everything around her, opting to gaze into the rafters of the barn instead. Emily slid her finger into the Miltank's mouth and lifted its upper lip; a blast of noxious air escaped the creature's mouth and was nearly enough to make her sick.
Emily shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary here..." 32 well-worn molars, divided into sets of eight, rested within healthy looking gums. "Alright, you can put her down now."
She wheezed heavily in an attempt to catch her breath as the Miltank's head impacted the hay.
Emily let out a chuckle. "Pretty gross, eh?"
"Ugh... If I knew I would have been doing this... I'd have worn that dumb ass skater dress after all..." she said quietly.
"Afraid of ruining that designer dress of yours?"
"Yeah. At least that one would have gotten all messy instead of this one. This one wasn't cheap."
Emily looked up at Patrick for a brief moment before returning her attention to Andrea. "Look, I know Patrick is kinda pushing you to do this, but don't feel like you
have to. I totally understand... Besides, it's not like we gave you the best warning that we'd be doing something like this."
"No, it's fine. I'm going to have to get used to situations that make me uncomfortable if I'm going to make it as a researcher."
A nod. "That's definitely true. Good on ya, new kid." Emily grabbed the Miltank's flap-like ear and began to study it for any potential irregularities. "This is a real trial by fire, isn't it? This, the hotel... they don't tell you about this kind of stuff in the lecture halls."
"No, they don't... If they did, I'd have probably focused on a softball career instead."
"Softball, huh? Were you any good at it?"
"When I graduated from high school, my coach pulled me aside and told me how much he was going to miss me. How much he was going to miss his team making it to the national finals."
"Oh! Wow!"
"Ehh. Save your praise. I was okay, but I wasn't some sort of super star. We
made it to the finals, but were always knocked out quick."
"Still, that's pretty impressive."
"I guess. I'd earned a scholarship because of it, but I didn't make the team... I didn't have time to practice because I was focused on my degree instead."
"I think you made the right choice. The sciences are in desperate need of a woman's touch."
The small talk helped to ease her nerves. She still found the work she was doing to be utterly detestable, but she also found it easier to cut through her apprehension. "Find anything?"
She shook her head as she dropped the ear. "Nothing."
"What next?" she asked. She truthfully didn't care what was next, and hoped that they were done.
She grabbed a large tuft of the Miltank's fur and began to dig her fingers through it. "Well, I couldn't find anything wrong the easy way. Now it's time to start digging deeper."
"Let's just get this over with, then..." she mumbled as she did the same.
"That's the spirit!"
Minute after agonizing minute passed by as they dug through the Miltank's pink fur. Each tug of the fur released more and more of the horrid smell, and all for nothing; they weren't even sure of what they were looking for, but whatever it was, they weren't finding it. Emily jokingly mused at the idea of packing up the Miltank into a box and shipping it back to the medical lab at the institute, but only as a last resort if they couldn't find anything in the field.
Just as they were about ready to give up, Andrea found a particularly unsightly white blister hidden beneath the Miltank's matted fur. A thick, syrupy substance that was lavender in color oozed from it. "Eww... what is that?"
Patrick perked up and walked over. "What is what?"
She pointed out the blister. "This thing... Let me look for more of these."
Emily inspected the blister. "Huh. Haven't seen anything like that before... You might have found what we're looking for."
It didn't take long before she found similar blisters all across the Miltank's lower body, hidden from sight just below its fur. They all looked more or less identical to the first.
"Any idea, ladies?" Patrick asked.
Andrea couldn't shake the feeling that the blisters looked vaguely familiar. "I swear, I've seen something like this before..." she mumbled. "I remember... remember reading about something... first... no, second year's ecology unit..."
Emily and Patrick watched on as the gears turned in her head.
She snapped her fingers. "Your R-Kit! Does it have, like, a Pokédex feature?"
"Yeah, R-Kits come with an encyclopedia function, and it's miles ahead of the Pokédex," Patrick answered. "It's actually got factual information in it! None of that 'Arcanine can run at the speed of light' garbage that looks like it was written by a child."
"Is that why those entries are always so bad and unbelievable..." Emily added.
She held her hand out. "May I see it again, please?"
"Sure," Emily answered, handing it back to her. "What's on your mind?"
She began to flip through the apps in search of the encyclopedia. "During my second year of university, we focused a lot on the delicate balance of ecosystems across the world. I remember reading about something... I can't remember its name!" she shouted. "It was some sort of fungal infection brought on by contact with toxic spores, I remember that much."
Emily and Patrick looked at each other and shrugged, unsure of what she was talking about.
"Let's see... categorize by species subtype..." she mumbled while tapping away at the screen.
"Sounds like you're onto something!" Patrick said with a smile.
"Don't get your hopes up, I'm probably completely wrong," she said. A lengthy list of hundreds of distinct fungal Pokémon species appeared on the screen, far too many for her to sort through in an efficient manner. She filtered the list based on what she remembered: a fungal species that thrived in a forest habitat and released toxic spores. To her relief, the new list was only twenty-three entries long, many of which she knew she could easily ignore. She began to whisper to herself as she scrolled through the list. "No... no... That's not it either... Is that... no... ah! I think this is what I'm remembering! Blastcap!"
"Blastcap? Never heard of it," Emily said.
"Oh,
Blastcap... Every biology and history student in Lanark has heard of that one," Patrick added. "What's the article say?"
She began to read off the information on the screen:
Blastcap is a fungal Pokémon with a colony structure to its body, composed of many distinct yet physically separate parts. Unlike other colony Pokémon such as Dugtrio or Exeggcute, which operate in hivemind-like groups, all of the thought processes and decision making happen in the largest mushroom, while the rest focus on nutrient gathering, defense and expansion. When a Blastcap reaches the end of its adult life, each mushroom in the colony erupts with a cloud of spores that spread through the area and settle on a variety of surfaces, mostly wood-based. These spores then spread their roots and new colonies form.
She broke from her reading and looked back up at the rafters, noting that they, like much of the barn, were constructed primarily of wood. "Blastcap is a textbook example of why a species shouldn't be introduced to a new environment. It's a living ecological disaster, and I really hope I'm wrong about this." She began to read more from the R-Kit:
Blastcap is a species native to the tropical jungles of the Free Republic of Mangada's Andalla Basin, though it has a worldwide range today. In most areas that it has been introduced to, it is seen as an aggressive invasive species, due to a lack of natural predators and its reproductive methods. While there is no solid consensus as to how Blastcap was introduced to other regions (including other sections of Mangada), many ecologists point towards the sharp rise in international trade that the country initiated following its liberation from being a slavery vassal in the early 1950s; this sentiment is backed by numerous historians.
"Here's a section related specifically to Blastcap's presence in Lanark," she added.
The first documented reports of Blastcaps within Lanark were made in 1957, when several colonies were discovered in the forests between Steelport and Verdant Vale. By 1963, the Blastcap infestation had reached critical levels as it made its way north into the Heartland. In the following year, tens of thousands of acres of farmland were overrun and destroyed by the Blastcap colonies, and were the main contributing factor of the Goldwheat Famine, an event that claimed the lives of about 50,000 people and Pokémon. Blastcap's presence was officially declared a national emergency, and an extensive campaign was initiated by the newly established Ministry of Wildlife to contain the Blastcap population. By January 1st of 1967, the Ministry declared its campaign a success, with the last reported sighting of a colony in the autumn of 1966.
"Okay. What does any of this have to do with our dead Miltanks here?" Emily asked.
"I'm getting to it! I just felt the need to provide some context. This thing is seriously bad news wherever it goes."
While interactions between Blastcaps and other species of Pokémon are poorly documented, ongoing research suggests that the spores it releases during its reproductive cycle are highly toxic to most species that are not found within its native range. in 2002, researchers in Kalos linked Blastcap spores to an outbreak at a Pokémon daycare facility that killed eight and left dozens crippled and chronically ill. The outbreak, termed 'White Pox' due to the appearance of numerous white pustules on the afflicted, was limited to Stantlers, Swinubs, Linoones, Zangooses, Tauri and the lone Slakoth at the facility, none of which share a natural range with Blastcaps.
However, other Pokémon at the facility that shared historic ranges with the Blastcap and certain other species of toxic fungal Pokémon, as well as the human staff and visitors, were completely unaffected. Theories about evolutionary acquired defenses to the toxic effects of the spores have been put forward by various researchers and ecologists, but there is no concrete evidence -- especially in humans -- to back these theories at this time.
"Sounds pretty bad, but that doesn't make any sense! Why would a fungal infestation that was eradicated in the 1960s be killing Miltanks now, over half a century later?" Emily asked.
She stood up and started to wander around the stall they were in, checking the rafters for any obvious signs of fungal growth. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to completely control the population of an invasive species once it spreads? Especially in a country this large?"
"Yeah... There really is no way to be certain, we have too much untouched wilderness to make such a conclusion," Patrick added. "Who knows what's festering out there in some unknown corner of the country..."
With her admittedly quick and sloppy search, she didn't find any indication that a Blastcap colony was infesting the barn, and returned to the Miltank's side. "Maybe I can prove my theory... How do I scan things with this?"
"Open up the AccuScan app. It's best to calibrate the sensors, but just hit the big scan button and see what comes up. If there's any dangers we should know about, the R-Kit will tell us."
"If she's right about this, it sounds like we have a bigger problem than a few dead cows..." Emily said with a tinge of worry to her voice.
"Guess we'll see."
Before any of the other information from the scan was visible on the screen, a warning popped up:
FUNGI_PRESENT: Trichophyton verrucosum, Stachybotrys blastaria (spores)
FUNGI_WARNINGS: High levels of Stachybotrys blastaria (Blastcap) spores detected. Quarantine affected area or creature and begin decontamination procedures immediately. Details can be found here. Moderate levels of Trichophyton verrucosum (ringworm) detected. Contact a licensed veterinarian for details and treatment.
She showed off the flashing warning. "I think we've found our problem..."
Patrick grabbed the R-Kit and had a look at the data. "Phew! Those are some
high levels... Ok ladies, time to split up! Search every corner of the barn and see if you can find anything that looks out of the ordinary. And remember to keep your masks on, just in case."
The group split and began to check the rafters and walls of the barn. As Andrea moved further and further down the aisle in her search, the upper reaches of the barn grew darker and darker until she could barely see: the perfect environment for a Blastcap colony to blossom. She reached for her phone and turned the flashlight on, but unfortunately it wasn't powerful enough to reach up to the roof. She next tried to boost herself up by climbing up onto the divider between two of the stalls, but abandoned the idea after feeling the wood wobble under her weight. Frustrated, she returned to the other two.
"Find anything?"
"An active Taillow nest and some spider webs. But other than that, nothing." Emily answered.
He looked towards Andrea. "You?"
"I didn't find anything, but it was pretty dark over in my area," she answered. "Maybe we should ask the staff here to have a closer look."
"Good idea... I didn't find anything either. Let's go find Mr. Redford and inform him of our theories."
- - - - -
"Sure you're not hungry?" Patrick asked, offering a paper tray full of chunky, greasy chips to her.
Andrea was leaned up against the wall of the restaurant, rather than seated with the other two. She took one look at the unhealthy offering and raised her hand defensively. With a shake of her head, she said, "It's tempting, but I don't have an appetite after that." A few minutes passed by in relative silence, until she broke it. "So... What do we do now? Or is that it?"
Emily stretched and adjusted her posture. "I think we've done all we can for the moment. We've told Mr. Redford about our findings, we've got samples to analyze back at the lab, and we'll have to do some research on White Pox to see what kind of treatment options and preventative measures we can take..."
She nodded. She was happy their day was over so quickly, and she was thrilled with her performance. If the trip to the Briar Patch was an opportunity to prove herself, she was confident she did.
"What do you think, Patrick?"
"Sounds like a plan, but we've still got a couple hours we can make use of if we're going to head back to Loch Alstan today. I want to see if we can find the source of this infestation. What kind of environment does Blastcap live in, again?"
Emily pulled up the article on Blastcap again. "Uhh... Tropical rainforests, temperate deciduous forests, wetlands, unfinished basements, abandoned structures such as mine shafts and old ruins where human contact is unlikely and abandoned wood is plentiful." She shook her head. "I don't know what you expect to find if we just wander into the wilderness. 'Wetlands' describes most of the Northcountry, from here to Silverstream, and up north into Glahmreàgh Valley in Glastonfell."
"That
is a lot of land to cover... But whatever is affecting the Briar Patch... It's gotta be close, right? Like, Nettlemarsh close?"
Emily took a sip from her straw and casually shrugged. "I don't see why not. It stands to reason."
Andrea could see the plan forming in their heads and opted to speak her mind. "You two aren't seriously suggesting we explore the Nettlemarsh, are you?"
Patrick nodded. "It wouldn't hurt, would it?"
"But would it help?" She looked down and kicked her foot outward to highlight her designer boots and exposed thighs, then looked toward the western sky. "I'm not exactly dressed for a hike through a swamp, especially in weather that looks like it's about to turn for the worse."
"She's got a point, Pat," Emily added. "Not only is she not prepared for it, the simple fact of the matter is that the Nettlemarsh is
huge. We could spend days out there, and there's no guarantee that we'd find anything. Let's hand this off to the Ministries of Health and Wildlife. They have the resources to actually deal with this problem."
"Hmm," he grumbled.
"How are your legs feeling, Andrea?" Emily asked.
She leaned down and gingerly rubbed her left thigh. "I'll be honest, they're not in great shape... That's also kinda why I don't want to go... Getting back to Loch Alstan will be hard enough on its own, I really don't think I can throw a couple more hours of walking on top of that."
Emily motioned towards Andrea and nodded. "We've got our samples, we've got our data, we've got an idea of what we're dealing with,
and we've got a girl who needs to get home and rest. I think that's a good enough reason to cut this project a little short and head back to the institute."
He straightened his posture and broadened his shoulders, then looked off to the side with a pensive expression. "Okay, you're the boss! Let's rest up a bit and then head home."
