Trash: Chapter 123 Scientific Methods (Patreon)

Chapter 123

Scientific Methods

“It can’t be,” I repeated the same words again, my mind momentarily caught in a loop. Trying to justify what I was seeing before me. But the proof was undeniable.

There before us were freight boxes covered in Sal’s unmistakable Sal’s Arena stamp and seal. The boxes looked like they had been hastily brought and delivered, tops opened, with rotting and beheaded infected sheep and other body parts splashed about.

Seeing it all laid out like that, it felt off. Wrong somehow that was entirely impossible to refuse.  Yet, my mind could not seem to put together why it was wrong.

“It’s too clean, stage,” Mr. Yi said, his four words confirming my own thoughts. I nodded but then had to ask.

“How can you tell?”

“First, this is a hand trailer that one would use for smaller scale moving. The type you would get if you wanted to move things and not worry about losing the trailer completely. The ones Sal uses, especially for carrying and moving hazardous creatures, much larger, and sturdier. Metal cages that are sealed off from all sides, locked in industrial grade crates that can be sealed off and set to incinerates from the outside. These are little more than metal drums one might use to ship liquid. Also, the path chosen, see how they weave purposefully around the other trees and rocks in the ground, but then seem to speed up on the straight away, and head right towards this one rock. A rock that will be enough to only catch one side of the wagon and tip the wagon and its content over. It was planned and deliberate.”

Like a crime scene detective, Mr. Yi broke down the incongruities of the case immediately. Showing his point, there were thick wheel tracks from where the heavy cart was pressed deeper into the ground, further back, as it had more time to settle in. Then the trail got shallower and less obvious, not that the cart got lighter, but that the people moving the cart purposefully began to speed up, allowing less time for gravity to force the cart, and by extension the wheels to press further into the ground.  

After seeing the details, it was clear Mr. Yi was not only able to see the factors that were standing out to my mind, but he was able to articulate the reason why my brain found it all to be off.

“That’s incredible, how you were able to extrapolate all of those details, in a second,” I comment and mean it. Then almost as if caught off-guard, I swear I almost see a faint tint of embarrassment color his cheeks, before I continue. “But I don’t get one thing.”

“What that?”

“Why frame Sal with a clearly staged accident scene? It seems unnecessary,” I question. “I mean, he is already on trial, and likely to be found guilty. What good is staging this to further frame him?”

Hearing my questions Mr. Yi shakes his head almost immediately.

“You assume this is to frame Sal. And you are right, had this not been us, standard guards would likely come out here, see the outbreak in a few days, see the cart and call it case dismissed there. But I don’t think that is what is happening here.”

“You don’t?”

“No, this is opportunistic. See the bodies, how they look bloated?” Mr. Yi asks, pointing out the bodies from the overturned metal cases. Looking at them, it was clear that they had been stored in some type of liquid. “What is likely, is that a farmer had a mild outbreak on their lot. Normally, they would have to report it to the state. But they might have also had shady back-alley arrangements with Sal and Sal’s people for these animals, which is likely where they got the containers. The only problem is that they heard about Sal’s arrest. Knew people would likely investigate his books and come looking through his infected providers. These people, realizing they were now stuck with a product of a crime, one that could get them locked up and tried alongside Sal, panicked and came out to dispose of their contaminated product. They waited a day or two, using the external seals to drown the infected creatures, and then came out here to dispose of the bodies, not realizing that the wastewater needed to be purged first, or you get rapid infections. Like we have here.”

“Wait, the contaminated liquid from those jars did this?” I ask, trying to make sure I understood this correctly.

Mr. Yi just nods, and goes back to his typical shorter responses, “yes.”

My mind took a moment to take it all in, then finally I asked, “what do we do from here?”

“Well, first you need to purify these creatures and help them move on in the afterlife,” Mr. Yi declares, pointing at the dead and bloated creatures that looked like they might have resembled goats at one time.

“Well, unfortunately for you, that means I have to sing again,” I give out as a warning.

“One of the perks of the job,” Mr. Yi replies. It takes me a moment to realize that he does mean it, as he crosses his arms and proceeds to rest against one of the golden core trees that seems to be a staple of these woods. Seeing him like that, I realize he might genuinely like listening to music, it would make sense as apparently Madame Voyou was a member of his team. Or at least, that is the impression I got from our operation on Saturday. Suddenly I wonder if I truly knew Mr. Yi as well as I had expected.

But I dismiss that thought as I proceed to get into a better position. A position where I can easily have my infused words spread out and coat all the covered animal parts.

Getting into position, I just hum a few bars, and let out a few bars from the same song I sung a moment ago. This time, locking down the timing, and the lyrics, dragging it out, and filling the entire area with just one quick, but fully empowered chorus.

Having sung the song twice now, I could see what stanzas were the most for bridging, or building up the power between each notes, and the how the chorus was where I was to deliver the culminated energy. In that moment, I felt like I was onto something. Like I had somehow gotten to a deeper layer of understanding of music, and of what it meant to be a bard. I made a mental note to go over the idea with Madame Voyou, figuring that she would likely know best, and be able to direct me if I was close or not.

I watched as once again two distinct layers of magic flew out, a slightly denser green layer that fell faster than the golden outer layer. The result was impressive, if I thought Mr. Yi was being overly cautious, my words were caught on my throat, as I saw firsthand the fact of how wrong I was, as tiny drops of sickening oil and other liquids rose from the ground and seemed to attack the green balls of energy. Only to be burnt away the next second as a layer of golden light covered and burn away anything that came to the surface. The result was a bubbling mass of oil that expanded like a balloon, only to then pop and slowly sink back to the ground. The more I watched, the more I was certain that this dark oily energy was somehow alive. Alive and able to devour life residue somehow to survive.

Watching the mass of bubbling liquid slowly melt and burn into one solidified tar like glob, I felt something was off. Pausing for a second, I looked up at the ridgeline off to the distance, and scanned for what suddenly felt out of place.

Seeing my confusion, Mr. Yi instantly asked, “what’s wrong?”

“Did something move up there?” I ask, pointing at the ridgeline and trying to see what was missing. Mr. Yi for his part didn’t question me and my sudden concern, but scanned the ridgeline diligently, his eyes glowing golden, as he did so, making sure to scan the area thoroughly.

Finally, after a long second, he gave his verdict, “I don’t see any changes.”

“Okay,” I respond, giving a concern that I was suddenly going crazy. While it is true that my position made it so that I didn’t have a direct line of sight to the ridgeline the entire time, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had somehow missed something. But the more I looked, the more everything looked ordinary. Finally, I gave up my search, and went on to the next order of business, “what do we do from here?”

“Now we need to go turn this over to the guards, but we can clear out shadow stones on our way,” Mr. Yi offered.

At his statement about shadow stones, my mind perked up, as I remember seeing a shadow stone right there, right on the ridgeline. At least, I think I did? Moving back, I took a few steps back and looked at the one area where I was fairly certain I had seen one just laying on the ground, only to find it empty. A slightly wider scan showed that there was an actual shadow stone a few dozen paces away, at the base of a different tree. But that felt off. Still, seeing the shadow stone, I guess I just misremembered.

“Okay, I peel you kill?” I ask, going over the order that Mr. Yi had confirmed earlier. One where I just use Trash to remove the outer shell, while Mr. Yi slices through the stones.

“Lead on,” Mr. Yi added, seemingly more than happy to spend as much time getting rid of shadow stones and improving himself and his Skills in the process as possible. I knew this was part of who he was, part of how he got here, and never spoke about his homeland, but I still had to wonder what made him so dedicated. Still, it was nice knowing that he was just as happy as I was to spend all day, going around and making a park habitable once more.

As we moved, I could almost feel the presence of something deeper, something more ominous just staring at us, and waiting for us to move on. I felt that sensation, gave a scan, but still saw nothing. Despite the growing chill that seemed to wedge itself in my shoulder blades.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just thought I felt something,” I reply. Mr. Yi just stared at me, and gave his own scan of the area, but ultimately shrugged off my concern as well.

***

Unbeknownst to Catarine, she was right to be concerned. For there in the shadows sat a creature that was now more instinct than monster. A Z-Rot infested squirrel that had only recently died hid in its old home, a hole it dug itself over countless years of life. That same home, now served as its resting place as it stared at the first morsel of food that truly looked worth eating since it began regaining its senses.

There in its home was a dark oily stone that all but permeated energy. Every instinct of the squirrel called out to it, telling it that this was the meal it had been waiting for. That’s when it bit down, sharp teeth barely able to crack their way into the outer stone, until an acrid burst of saliva poured from the infected creature’s mouth, coating the stone, and softening its shell just enough for its next bite to sink in.

As the teeth sank in, a marvelous thing happened, for the first time since awakening the squirrel felt its body begin to awaken, as its barely beating heart began to pulse and beat faster. The more of this odd dark nut the squirrel ate, the more alive it became. Then finally as it finished the last drop, a dark protective coat oozed out, coating the squirrel, and protecting it so it could go out into the woods once more and truly begin to live its second life. This time, it would look for more of those nuts. Nuts that it would gather and store in its home, the way its instincts told it to. So that it could have a future meal to survive the upcoming winter. A winter that was almost here.