Logs:Plant Identification

Plant Identification
Dramatis Personae Nessie, Samara	2020-09-18 "Who's mind controlling us? How do we know if it happens?"
Location <XAV> Conservatory - Xs First Floor
Tall panes of glass and a many-gabled glass ceiling protect this large indoor garden from the elements, while welcoming in sunlight to keep it warm year-round. Adjoined to the southern face of the venerable mansion and surrounded by more conventional gardens beyond, the conservatory is all Old World elegance from the outside. Within, however, it is lush and green and in certain corners--whether despite its careful tending by the groundskeeper or because of it--seems practically wild. Footpaths and a burbling artificial steam wind through the space, connecting its disparate parts. Benches are scattered throughout, thorough soft grasses or mosses under certain trees also invite rest. The outside wall is lined with tropical and subtropical plants. The ferns and cycads and epiphytes are kept moist by artfully hidden misters that also give the place a sort of magical ambiance, dense foliage wreathed at times with drifting patches of mist. Nearest the building is a desert in miniature, with a few impressively sized cacti as well as palo verde and other trees adapted to arid climes. Between these, and by far the largest section, is dedicated temperate zone plantlife from around the world, the beds growing more carefully manicured and the pads less winding as one approaches the center, where a clearing with a small ring of seats is a popular spot for some teachers to hold court. The afternoon sun floods through the glass walls and fills the conservatory with warmth, bright and nearly too-intense here beneath the inadequate shade of a small lemon tree. Nessie, in large straw hat and tatty old blue and white striped button down, has tucked herself under it, her many legs folded beneath her and a small netbook (PROPERTY OF XAVIER'S says a label affixed to its lid) resting on her lower pair of pincer-arms. Possibly she has been typing on it until recently but now she's just staring, a little abstracted, off into the distance. Samara is padding down own of the winding paths here, wearing a solid green t-shirt, blue jeans, and black-and-white sneakers. Her skin is glowing brightly, in slow, broad ripples of purple and blue. She has her phone in both hands and is diligently looking from its screen to the plantlife around her as she walks. When she spots Nessie she comes over, peeling one hand from her phone to wave. "Hello," she says. "Are you studying plants?" Nessie glances up, adjusting the wide brim on her hat and flashing a quick smile to Samara. "Oh! Oh, no, wow, I'm writing a -- no. There are a lot of plants -- I don't actually know much about them!" she admits this with a sheepish wrinkle of her nose. "I just think it's nice in here. Good for thinking. Or I guess, like, also, good for half-falling asleep while I should be thinking, oops." Her tail swishes lazily over her head, and she leans slightly forward to peek toward Samara's phone. "Are you studying plants?" "I also think it's nice in here," Samara says, her light shifting toward purple. "It is a good place for a nap. But I am studying plants. I found an app that helps with that." The screen of Samara's phone is tiled with photographs of plants tagged with their common and scientific names. "I want to identify all the plants here that aren't labelled." She pauses, her light fluttering a sort of uncertain teal, though her expression is unchanged. "It might take a long time. Can I sit here? I won't talk if you need to write a thing. Or take a nap." "I bet there's people who could tell you! Probably Ms. Munroe knows. Or Mr. Holland -- oh, unless you mean you want to identify them like, you want to do it yourself." Nessie tilts her head slightly to one side as she considers this. "Is that fun? How do you figure out what a Mystery Plant is?" She looks back to her computer, purses her lips, sets it aside next to her where her ratty old backpack is sitting on the ground. "I don't need to write it right now. It's an article for the paper but -- well I guess I do have a deadline. It's just not today." "I like Mr. Holland!" Samara's light shifts purple-pink. "But I want to do the identifying." She sits down cross-legged next to Nessie and taps a leaf symbol in the corner of her screen. A list of topics with icons beside each comes up: plant form, leaf arrangement, leaf shape, habitat, and so on. "You look at the plant and each question you answer about it narrows down which plant it might be. It's like a puzzle game. Sometimes it comes down to two or three, and then you look at all the pictures and try to match them up. It's fun." The purple is stronger again, especially on the backs of her hands. "I'm not good at writing articles. Do you like doing that, or is it homework?" She frowns an exaggerated frown. "I guess it could be homework that you like?" There's a distinct note of skepticism here. "Everybody likes Mr. Hollland I think that's basically his whole deal." Nessie glances down at the computer, then back to Samara's phone. "It's not homework, it's for the newspaper. I thought there should be a piece about, like, how apparently people are just messing with our heads? Mind controlling us? I don't know if they'll let me print it but." Her shoulders lift in a quick shrug. "What's it mean plant form? They all look kinda planty to me." Now she's looking from the phone to the plants around them, curious. "I have heard about that, but I don't know what people mean." Samara's light abruptly shifts to a murky greenish brown, dimmer than it was before. "Who's mind controlling us? How do we know if it happens?" The green becomes predominant, blue-shifting. "I guess I can read your article. They should let you print it, that's important information." Her nod is firm, certain, her light bleeding toward purple again. "They mean, is it a tree, or a shrub, or liana, or other kinds of...general shape. That way you're not bothering with all the vine questions if you want to identify a tree." "I don't know who," Nessie admits, her eyes wider. "Telepaths? Professor Xavier? He's not the only one here but that's what people are saying. I've been talking to some people but I think I need to talk to -- more. But like." Her hands spread in front of her. "If I was controlling people's minds I wouldn't want them to know! Maybe he'll be mad. Maybe he'll mind control the whole newspaper staff." The hushed-rapid cadence of her voice now may be nervous or may be excited, it's hard to tell. "I have no idea what a liana is but that would make a really pretty name. Liana. Liana. I like that." Samara's eyes widen. "Professor Xavier?" Her colors start fluctating wildly, green and brown and even pulses of blue. "He shouldn't do that. I hope that other teachers would know if he were doing that. Some teachers are bad, but some must be good, like Mr. Holland, and they know how powers work." Her fingers tap the back of her phone case frenetically. "But maybe that doesn't stop them from getting mind controlled. I guess...you'll know, if they don't let you print your article." She brightens suddenly. "Oh, yes. It's a good name. I have a plant name, too. Lianas are woody vines. Like poison ivy." "I have no idea how you'd stop from getting mind controlled." Nessie shivers, exaggerated, the swish of her long tail coming faster now. "Wait, you do? What kind of plant is Samara? I don't think I know that one either -- I mean, I don't actually know many plants so maybe that's not surprising. What app is that? How do you learn about the plant things?" "Maybe the ones who have brain powers can?" Samara sounds very uncertain, her light wavering green with flutters of yellow. "I don't know, all I do is glow." The purple returns brightly though, at the question. "A samara is a winged fruit. Maple trees have them. People also call them 'helicopters', because they fly down like this." She traces a tight downward spiral with the tip of her index finger. "This app is PlantNet, it can also automatically identify things from pictures, but it's not very good at that. I mostly learned from reading things on the internet, but also from looking at plants. I like doing that." Then she adds, her glow dimming, "I'm sorry if I talked too much about the plants. Not everyone likes that." "Wait, helicopters are fruit?" Nessie sounds extremely skeptical of this as she watches Samara's finger-twirl. "They just look -- seedy." Her lips purse at Samara's addendum. She shrugs one shoulder, reaching to pick her laptop back up. "You do talk a lot," she replies cheerfully, "but I asked. I don't really think about plants that much. Maybe I should." "It's a fruit the way a tomato is a fruit, or other seed wrapper," Samara says, purple and green light fluttering in alternate waves to somewhat odd effect. "It means something different in botany than when you're talking about food. I think they should have a different word, because that's confusing." She doesn't seem much bothered by Nessie's admission. "I don't think you should think about them if they're not interesting to you. I hope your article gets printed, I want to read it." She gets up and waves. "Goodbye."