ArchivedLogs:Arborisurgery

Arborisurgery
Dramatis Personae Ash, Cage, Chelsea, Jim
In Absentia	2014-03-18 Putting Jim back together.
Location <NYC> Tompkins Square Park - East Village
Small but popular, this tree-lined park is a perfect centerpiece to the eclectic neighborhood it resides in. Home to a number of playgrounds and courts from handball to basketball, it also houses a dog park and chess tables, providing excellent space for people watching -- especially during its frequent and often eccentric festivals, from Wigstock to its yearly Allen Ginsberg tribute Howl festival. Having already made one trip to Mendel and back this night, Luke Cage and his daughter are eager to get back to helping people in the park. With all the emergency vehicles blocking the roads, Cage simply drives his humvee up onto the sidewalk and stops on the grass of the park. Chelsea is practically out of the car before it even stops, looking frantically about for their friends, or anyone in need, really. "Shane! B!" she yells, running halfway across the basketball court, eyes wide at the mess and confusion. Luke catches up to her and takes her hand into his. "Hold on, hon. Let's just see where they need us…" The park is still a bedlam of rushing emergency responders and flashing emergency lights throwing red and blue lances across a grass still colored with brilliant remainders of Holi celebration- sullied now and trampled through with all the foot traffic and char and blood and hasty first aid remnants. Most of the injured have been removed, by ambulance, by civilian vehicle, by convenient mutant aid. It's possibly one of the fastest mass-wounded transport New York has seen, but the work is far from over. Lying in the bright grass off to the side, amongst other litter and dropped gloves and debris is... A horrible freaking Hexxus tree. It stands out from the others in the park by many markers - this one is blackened and burnt, malformed and squat-ugly, far more wide than tall, its roots are exposed and tangles inward against its underbelly(??) like recoiled tentacles. Lying on its side with no discernible hole it might have been pulled up from, someone must have really hated this fucking thing, as its also apparently been subsequently ripped OPEN after burning, exposing heartwood at its core still faint sapling green and blond. At least someone's beat out the fire on it, shreds of blackened bark sprinkled around the grass. People are mostly giving the creepy thing a wide berth. Ash has been in the area for hours at this point, helping initially in structural reinforcement before moving on to helping with search and rescue. Once they released him from work, he found himself under the care of an EMT who just needed to look him over to make sure he didn't inhale too much smoke. While he is being checked out, he hears a story - a rumor, really, of a victim being pulled out of a tree - not like out of the branches, but some how out of the middle of a very burned tree that no one knows where it came from. This statement may cause wonder with the medical staff around him, but to Ash, this is serious. He demands an answer as to 'where' and finally shakes off those trying to treat him, heading out to find this tree. He slows down as he approaches, his eyes locked on the tree carcass, his gaze intense. His jaw sets hard as he clenches his teeth together, approaching further, looking it up and down from roots to branches first, then to the gaping hole in the center. His fingers reach out to gently touch the wound, gauging how deep the burn on the exterior is next to the inner core blond. The tree did not catch the attention of either of the Cages until Ash rushed right to it. Knowing better than to write anything off as 'too weird' at this point, Luke lets go of Chelsea's hand and nods to her. "Let's start there. I know that man from somewhere." Together, the two jog to the site and pull up just a few feet away. "Ah fuck," Luke says, taking Ash's cues as indication that this is not 'just a tree'. "Shitshitshit," Chelsea says, anxious, but unable to express herself with any more eloquence at the moment. "What can we do, man?" Luke asks Ash. "Who is this?" Luke takes a knee next to Ash, peering closer at the tree, pondering the possible implications. Closer inspection will probably make out a general human shape amongst the char and squat misshapen branches like a poorly preserved Vesuvius survivor, thickened and overly filled in with bark and split with branching forks and ingrown knots formed up from layer after layer of growth, burning, regrowth, reburning, as though it had survived /multiple/ fires and decades of healing in just the single afternoon. Lying stomach down, the gnarly roots have erupted from the man-form's abdominal region, joined by curled-in arms and legs, the branches thrusting up from its back. The deep split is in the abdomen, roots opened where a second human-sized POCKET is now empty and- well, reeking with the smell of burn meat and human skin. The inner blond-green wood is probably kind of damp-greasy to the touch. The thick bark has managed to absorb the worst of the fire damage, leaving that vital cambium layer generally preserved in patches. "It's … Jim. It's my roommate Jim." Ash seems to have difficulty finding the words, his attention very locked on the open and gaping wound in the body of the misshapen tree. "We... should plant him." He stands up quickly and moves around to the exposed roots, eyeing them for signs of vitality. "I want to plant him at the Harbor Commons in the Lower East Side, but … I don't know. He may need human treatment, too, and that's kind of a shitty place to be stuck." he considers for a while then turns to see Cage, maybe for the first time. "We need a spool of baling wire, three to six saplings, and as many shrubs as you can carry. I probably also need a grafting knife and wax, but I don't know where we are going to get those." "Holy shit," Cage says, pausing another long moment, but then Chelsea leaps forward, suddenly frantic. "No no no," she blurts, dropping to her knees next to him. Her hands turn black from the soot as she scrabbles at him, trying to figure out how to help. "Jim…" Chelsea is already in tears, salty droplets falling to spatter on the charred wood of Jim's hardened exterior. Luke blinks, and puts a hand on Chelsea's back. Obviously she must know Jim, but this isn't the time to find out details. He turns to Ash, "Yeah ok man, I know the Commons. But um… I'm kinda wondering if that's the best place." Luke clenches his jaw and then just shakes his head. "Fuck it. There's this school out in Westchester. For mutants. They got all kinds of people and abilities out there, not to mention a whole fucking greenhouse. And some of the best minds anywhere. I bet they'd have everything you need to plant him on the grounds. And they know me there." Luke glances over at the humvee and cocks his head slightly. "Shit, I bet we could even… I mean, if we fold down the back seats…" He turns back to Ash and asks, "What d'you think?" "Yeah, yeah, the school is the safest place to go to ground." Ash agrees sadly, frowning deeply at the state of the man. "What is your name?" He asks the teen. "You shouldn't cry. Jim's kind of a hearty tree and pretty damn sturdy. All that mess you see inside isn't him. That's someone he was protecting, someone he protected long enough to get medical attention. He did a good job, now it's our turn to protect him, right? Time to take care of him." He kneels down next to Chelsea and surveys the situation again. "You know what else we need? We should probably wash out some of this mess so it doesn't decay." Chelsea takes a shuddery breath and nods at Ash's reassurances. "Uh, Chelsea. I'm Chelsea. And Jim was- /is/ my friend." Luke puts his hand on her shoulder and says, "Run back to the car and grab the water jugs from the back. We can rinse this off at least before we go." He turns to Ash as well and says, "It'll be ok, man. I'm sure the school will know what to do." When Chelsea comes back, she's carrying a gallon jug of water in each hand, and they look far too heavy for her to be running around with, but she does her best anyway. When she arrives, Luke takes one from her and waits to make sure he isn't going to splash gory water on anyone before upending the jug into the gash in the tree, sluicing away the blood and grime. When it's empty he drops the jug, and takes the other from Chelsea. Popping the top, he takes a swig, makes Chelsea drink a little and offers some to Ash. "Is." Ash replies immediately to Chelsea. "Jim is your friend and he's going to survive this if I have anything to say about it." He stays rooted to the spot until the water gets back. He looks up when Cage starts pouring, but immediately gets in there as best he can and brushes at more of the gore until some of it comes loose and the water runs out. He frowns but looks back to see the second bottle, accepting it into his hands to drink just a mouthful before using it more sparingly, more directly at bits that didn't wash away the first time. "I want to power wash some of this out," he says at last, "but I don't know how that'll affect the heartwood. Can... you get the supplies and meet me back here? I understand if you have other people to see to. I just need to do this right. He's very important to me." Luke nods at Ash's words for Chelsea and then stops to think a moment. "Oh, well I was thinking the school would have all the supplies we need. How about we just put him in the back of my truck, and drive him up there now?" Luke glances over his shoulder at the Humvee and shrugs. "I'm pretty sure I can move him." "Ah. No." Ash replies firmly, getting to his feet and shaking off his hands. They are unfortunately still quite dirty and wet. "He's got a very serious hole in his back. How ever he got ripped open…" He pauses drawing a deep breath, displeased. "I don't want to make it worse with an hour long drive out into the country over who knows how many potholes and rough stretches of land." He licks his lips and eyes Cage evenly. "I can go get the supplies. I just - need some time. Okay? I mean, I appreciate and want to take you up on the ride, but I'm just going to need some time. Is that okay?" "Yeah sure," Cage says, holding up his hands in a passive gesture. "I don't know shit about trees. It's probably better if you go anyway. I'd end up getting the wrong stuff. You go, we'll stand guard. Won't we Chels?" "Fuck-an-A right we will," Chelsea says, the last of her bravada draining away when she sees her father's glare at the language. Luke shakes his head and nods at Ash. "Go man, we got this." Ash is only gone for a half hour, forty minutes at most before he returns with the necessary supplies. He arrives by cab, which is probably the the lengthiest part of his journey as he knows of a construction site nearby that he can pilfer things from (and replace later). He is quiet when he returns, not precisely social, but definitely down to the nitty gritty with the task at hand. He guides them through the process of rinsing out Jim's inner cavity, having Chelsea pump the water in the bucket until everything runs clear, then a quick wipe down with some wax to make sure things inside don't dry out. There's a little more on the outside, but his primary focus isn't Jimtree's outsides for the time being. That will come later. Then there's the wiring. Ash is calm and collected as he wraps the wire around the tree once, then asks Cage to step in and give Jim a good, hard squeeze until his insides match up once more - as much as they can with the brutal cesarean he received earlier in the evening. Once closed up, Ash tightens and secures the wire, then does a good deal more wiring to secure the tree fibers as much as possible, especially given the long trek to Westchester. Every exposed portion of Jim's blondwood is then coated once more with more wax to keep him moist. It's unfortunately extremely late in the night, early morning by the time poor Jim is ready to go. Moving him to the truck is simple. As tired as he is and as taxed by all the work done on the shaky remains of the Village Lofts, Ash still has enough in reserve to pluck all the dirt from underneath his florafriend, especially careful to keep any dirt around roots that had a chance to dig in. He uses this earth to cradle the man as he lifts, shuffling along beside the flying clod, before sliding it into the back of the hummer. "We're still going to need saplings. The stores are all closed right now." Obviously, Ash will have to handle this in the morning.