on the digestive nature of tangleweeds

OIA'I'O

and i asked myself about the present:

”Mutations certainly.” You reply, but Kai knows this of course. His exuberance is not lost on you but nor do you reciprocate it. “If I knew what it did we would not need to be here, nor will I imagine it. I don’t need confirmation bias skewing my results.” But then, because you know how he is, you add: ”I imagine their lungs are better at purifying the air, given the lack of appropriate ventilation within the barrier.”

As Kai breathes life anew into the ground you give him a passive look and deliberately slide down a few feet having not yet finished your notes. You don’t raise your eyebrows, purse your lips, cock your head, or any of those other things people normally do to convey confusion. Instead, like normal, you merely communication it: “Confusion.” Then you explain. “We are not here to help them.” And then, ”Do they have a leader?” You flip through your notes to confirm. “There is nothing written here indicating one.”

how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep