Kinda odd, but writing a ridiculous scifi story in the same vein as Hitchhiker's Guide. In this story, there's this race of sentient trees that are after our heroes. In my story, I think I want there to be some sort of gas leak that could cause serious damage, perhaps something that could destroy an entire planet. I was wanting maybe the trees to be the ones to help, and as such, Iwwas. Thinking something involving CO2 and them absorbing it. Any ideas for how I may be able to go about this? Not sure how a large CO2 leak could put and entire planet in jeopardy, and not sure how I could use the trees to save the planet (doesn't have to be 100% realistic, but stay within suspension of disbelief). Any ideas on how to go about this?
Brings to mind greenhouse gases and global warming If you want them to take in more CO2 than is physiologically possible, you may need some sort of genetic mutation that makes them super absorbers. But genetic mutations need generations and generations to increase in frequency in populations. So the question becomes how can you genetically alter them all in one big event?
Well, they're alien space trees that have been around for a long, long time. I think a quick explanation could have people suspend their belief.
Maybe all the extra CO2 has an effect on the trees, like growth spurts, or an excellerated reproductive cycle. Or something else that complicates the story.
Gene-editing technology combines locusts, quokkas and piranhas Everyone has to be carried by sentient trees to avoid being defleshed in seconds by an adorable, fluffy tidal wave
Well, it's kinda towards the end of my story, so wanting to kinda avoid complications for the most part. Protagonist knows a lot about botany, so trying to have him save the day somehow with his plant knowledge, and just in time for the space trees to track him and his crew down. Story has him being told he's the Chosen One meant to save the planet from a ruthless dictator. Turns out, dictator has been dead for a long time, so he thinks there was a mistake, and he's not The Chosen One. In actuality, the prophecy was slightly misunderstood, and he is the chosen one, and he learns this maybe while drowning his sorrows away at the pub or something when a cataclysmic, planet-destroying event happens, and he's able to save the day.
It gives you options, like a second book, or the over population of the trees being a world ending event for human kind. You asked for ideas, so throwing out what comes to mind. The author is always the final judge of what works with their vision of a story.
They're alien trees. They can do whatever they want. This sounds like a solution looking for a problem.
True, but I still want it to make some sort of sense. Like, could planet-threatening CO2 leaks even be a thing? Or, I wonder if there are any other sort of disasters that a botanist could solve.
I didn't take it that way at all. I figured from your reply that it didn't fit your vision for the story.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Not sure if people would suspend their belief on that scale. Any ideas for other plabet-desteoying disasters that could be solved using knowledge of botany? Well, I mean, I could just make the space trees' ship (which is a tree itself) utterly massive, big enough to absorb enough of the CO2 in the atmosphere. But then I have no idea what would suddenly release That much CO2 into the atmosphere so quickly.
This is trying to squish two different things together that don't fit: botany and bombastic. Saving the world today is what you'd hire a physicist for. Or Doom Guy. But that's sort of the point of the humor, isn't it? The thing about using absorption of CO2 via the trees as the protag's contribution is that... well virtually anyone else of rudimentary education could also suggest the idea. The best way handle that involves lamp shade: someone suggest it sarcastically/ignorantly, epiphany follows due to uncovering an idea that was masked by its simplicity (e.g. you know science Mr White. Can't you just make a robot?). Eh, my humble suggestion is to look into carotenoids. Your average person probably wouldn't know much about them, so it's more fitting of a specialist's knowset. https://als.lbl.gov/carotenoid-pigment-key-photoprotection/ https://news.mit.edu/2020/how-plants-protect-sun-damage-0310 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9905/#:~:text=Chloroplasts are so named because,cell metabolism is not clear. A sudden doomsday scenario could involve a solar surge of some kind (someone here will surely know an astronomy thingy about that or it could just be fabricated for the story). It turns out the massive tree ship has enough greenery surface area to protect the planet from this wave of radiation that will otherwise kill the planet dwellers. The ship just has to take the blow. Simple problem, simple solution—but no! The treeople refuse to sacrifice themselves or their ship to save the planet, noting that they will absorb the hefty radiation and themselves perish. What to do? Botanist pipes up with a radical plan that involves saturating the ship's greenery cells with chromoplasts via some sci fi or treeople method. The treeople are eventually convinced, their ship turns a strange colour, bears the surge, and the day is saved. I have to go to bed, so my loose understanding of plants could be wack, but it's a jumping off point if it interests you.
I'd make it so that an evil mastermind is threatening to do something that will devastate the world, the trees are frantically trying to find a solution with their advanced botanical science, then a young BFG-toting tree storms the mastermind's base and blows him away. "I'm gonna photosynthesise your ass!"
That would be a CME, coronal mass ejection. Which would also cause an electromagnetic pulse. Fired electronics for half the world, the half facing the sun at the time. The technology of the trees could survive because it is biological in nature.
Interesting. In theory, any way to stop it (like others suggested, perhaps a giant space tree ship that can absorb it all)? It doesn't exactly have to be something botany related, but it'd be really nice of I could find a way to fit both my MC's botany hobby, and the space trees subplot into one coherent ending.
No need to absorb, think umbrella and rain. He could point out that the biological basis of the trees technology would not be affected like human technology would be.
Gotcha. I've also thought about doubling down on the ridiculousness, and maybe make it so it's a gas leak from a pub or something. They use CO2 to prevent oxidation. Could be the largest pub in the galaxy or something to give an idea of its scale. Main character to steal the trees' ship, and use some sort of advanced tech photosynthesizer.
If you want ridiculousness, then emissions for long winded political speeches might be a good source of the leak.
That's actually an awesome idea! I actually kind of had something similar in a previous court scene, but I think it would be better placed at the end for this idea! Earlier in my novel, when I first described this planet, I described it as so perfect and peaceful, that they didn't even understand the concept of a filibuster. Perhaps a politician finally being the one to introduce it to the planet nearly causes its destruction due to emissions. In my court scene, it's currently my main character just going on a huge rant about everything when asked if he had any last words, for the sole purpose of putting everyone to sleep so he can make and escape. Definitely want to repurpose it for my ending, though. I'm sure I can think of some other clever way to have my character escape. Or just keep both, and I'm sure no one would even notice, lol. But seriously, this is a great idea, and I'm most likely going to use it, thanks! I even already know what I'm going to have to be arguing about that will tie into that same earlier description.
Have you thought about other ways in which tress help the environment? Trees aren't actually huge carbon trapping organisms on earth. Smaller organisms like algae are more important in this area. Trees provide erosion control, habitats for animals, shade on mountains that preserve snowpack and allow more water to be released in arid areas such as the Colorado river. For real, though, longer summers are allowing two annual reproductive cycles of bark beetles in the Rocky Mountains, which is killing trees, which is allowing the snowpack to evaporate rather than be released as meltwater into the Colorado. Start thinking along those lines maybe
I see where you're coming from, but he isn't looking to write about the many spendors of carbon dioxide absorption in nature, he's looking for a way to have some cool alien trees walk around and do badass stuff while saving the world.
