Defying the Future: Side Scenes

[Quellian-dyrae]

Normally, Lily smelled faintly but noticeably like flowers. It could easily be mistaken for a perfume. In the time they'd been working together, the others had probably noticed her scent change a few times. She had smelled of fresh-baked bread when Watcher had first introduced himself, and of mint when they had first spoken to Ntombi Peters.

As they appeared in the Food Fast restaurant, Lily's scent resembled nothing so much as honey.

"Thanks," she said, after Nope had teleported them and Helios had warded them against observation. She opened her mouth to speak, and kinda hesitated, seeming to have trouble finding words. It took a couple aborted tries (and a brief whiff of maple syrup, apparently) before she said, "So...we didn't ever really do the thing where we all kinda explain our powers to each other," she said with a little, awkward laugh. It was something that happened pretty much every time the party first assembled in one of the campaigns Bruno ran. Difference between characters in an RPG and people in real life, she supposed.

"I mean, that isn't...why I wanted to talk. It's just...um, okay, so, Ntombi told us about how Manchineel controls her minions, right? She has a particular scent, and while they can smell it, she can control them. And...you probably noticed, when we were trying to calm Raphael down, I kinda smelled like her?"

"One of the things I can do is alter and intensify my scent. It can be pretty overwhelming when I turn it all the way up. But there's more to it than that. I can...influence people. Control them, even, using pheromones, or other chemical agents that can be dispersed through the air and influence brain chemistry."

"And my sense of smell is also enhanced. That's how I was able to estimate when Raphael would reach us, or pick out Watcher's pigeonbots. I can smell things further and more precisely, but also in...a lot more detail. I think...I think if I could get a sample of Manchineel's scent, and practice with it, I might be able to emulate it. Use it to take control of her minions, at least if she isn't around. Probably even confuse them pretty bad if she is. I'm sure it would be an extremely specific scent marker though...like the olfactory equivalent of a fingerprint. I don't think just smelling it once would be enough, I'd probably need a physical sample I could analyze. Still, if we could get something like that, it could give us a big edge. Against Manchineel's forces anyway."

The smell of honey was getting stronger. "So...that's the good news. But here's the problem. Most of what I can actually do comes down to one power: I can transmute vegetable matter into different vegetable matter. About two pounds of it a second, on my own power. And the reason that turns into like...shooting vines and producing intense smells and creating nectar is because my body is vegetable matter."

"I'm not...human, anymore. Biologically speaking." The smell of honey mingled with the distinct scent of fresh-baked bread. "I don't know if you saw in the news...a couple weeks ago, Manchineel attacked a biochem lab. She turned the scientists and assistants there into...plant monsters. I was one of them. She transformed me into an anthropomorphic flower. I guess some of her transformative power rubbed off, or something, and that's why I can transform plants now. I only look like this because I used that power to transform myself back to more-or-less my normal appearance." Two pounds at a time was left unsaid, but the smell of cinnamon had started to mingle with the scents of bread and honey, and if one looked closely, past the veil of flowers dangling from her hat, they might notice her eyes had been touched by a faintly golden sheen.

"That was the first and only time I've been near Manchineel. To the best of my knowledge, she wasn't trying to turn us into part of her Menagerie. She was...raving, when she attacked us. About how we would like having our DNA spliced with that of random plants. I think it was intended as a...punishment, or something. So for all I know it's a completely different process from the one she uses to create her Menagerie."

"Or for all I know it could be the exact same. Like I said, my sense of smell is enhanced. And I have personal experience with the possibilities of using particular scents to influence the minds of others. I can't rule out the possibility that if I come within range of Manchineel's scent, I'll become as much a puppet as the rest of her...creations." She spat the word like a curse.

"That's why I thought you all needed to know about this. We need to prepare contingencies. Like I said, my powers can potentially offer us a tremendous advantage against Manchineel's forces if I can learn how to emulate her scent. But there's also a big risk that she could usurp control of me. I wouldn't want to take any of you on in a fair fight, but me going from ally to enemy in a battle already involving Manchineel would be anything but fair. We need to establish some contingency plans so you can quickly neutralize me in the event I'm compromised." She said it as dispassionately as if she was reading from a biology textbook, but the smell of honey mixed with cinnamon practically filled the room.