Eve and Tic return! I'm still trying to nail down exactly what she's like, and what her role is. Ideally I'd like to use her to explain things that we take for granted. This one touches briefly on plant biology, but not in any way that would teach things. The trouble is, I think it would take quite a lot of exposition to explore some ideas.
Anyway; in my head, the setting for this is a town in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in a valley, where Zuko and Iroh end up fighting Azula, and Aang gets involved as well. According to Google, it's called
Tu Zin.
043 – Dying
Panting, Eve collapsed onto one knee. Her crossbow was
smeared in green residue, some sort of ichor from inside the enormous plantoid
that was shuddering its last in front of her. Its roots, ripped from the ground
as it thrashed, were turning brown, wilting even as she watched.
Something buzzed at her shoulder, and then Tic was next to
her. His brass casing was covered in the same slime that the plantoid had
vomited up; he shook himself and Eve recoiled as more flecks landed in her
hair.
“Watch it,” she growled.
“Sorry,” the little Cog replied.
“Better record this.”
A small hatch opened on the front of his casing and a long
bluish-white line shone onto the top of the creature. It quickly swept down it
from top to bottom, then turned sideways to sweep across it horizontally. Eve
could feel the heat from the beams and breathed in the sharp scent that always
accompanied their use. It was a useful trait, though; the little Cog could
produce three-dimensional models of the creatures it scanned on demand.
