They're about equidistant between a kookaburra in a birdbath (called in by a passerby just fifteen minutes ago) and a jerboa that was reported three hours back as having joined someone in her hammock, where it was discovered not to be her cat a while later when she put her book down, and which permitted her to put it on the ground and walk away without incident but now that she's had a minute to think about the incident she's wondering if she needs rabies shots or what.

They'll go to the kookaburra because Lawrence is feeling hubristic and wants to catch more aerial monsters. Of the other espers he knows who might be doing Menagerie monster captures, he thinks he's the best suited for their capture. Hm, although...they'll probably fetch a lower price, won't they? Because they take up more space, being fliers. But separately from that, if it would be cheaper for him to capture them, then it's his comparative advantage to do so and therefore Contribute.

Lachlan will hold Lawrence's hand while they walk over. He could use his power now to match his backlash level but generally he'd rather not do so unless they're in a silo.

The kookaburra is still in the birdbath when they get there, preening and rinsing its feathers. It's got a sort of bowling-alley-carpet color scheme and markings, black and neon and geometric.

Neon feathers! Do they actually glow or are they just very reflective?

They'll repeat the same procedure as last time, except this time Lachlan will approach with the open cage, having already pre-filled it with Cheerios and nuts.

It's hard to tell in broad daylight!

The kookaburra is not done with its bath thanks.

Hm...the birdbath isn't big enough for him to do the same colandering move.

The creatures are amenable to petting, and the kookaburra is small...can Lachlan cradle the bird in the water with both hands?

Yes! Chirrup chirrup.

Wonderful. He will lower it into the cage...is it interested in the snacks?

It pecks a nut once it's in there, then tries to hop back out.

They should come up with a better SOP for this. Except they can't really do that because each dungeon break is unique.

"Lawrence!" he calls out.

Hop back inside.

Hop!

Close!

Two out of six boxes filled.

Where's the next nearest sighting?

There's a koala-sloth thing over that way!

"Can we talk about capture procedure before trying to catch that one?"

"Yes."

"I think...so, the relevant constraint here is your power use, right. We want to minimize that. So we're trying to find ways to capture the monsters without using your power. But...the goal is to have the monster cross the threshold and stay long enough that I can close the lid. I can get the monster to approach without issue — they want to do that — but having it go in the box and stay there is harder, and I feel like I'll mess up. And I'd rather not gamble. I want to reduce the variance. I don't have any melee powers."

"Okay. So you want to lure the monsters in, then I can use my power to make them go in the box?"

"Yes. I think I could get away with not needing your power with aquatic monsters because I can do the scooping water technique, but. I'd rather you still do it for safety."

"I can do that."

With that settled, they will approach the koala-sloth. Lawrence had previously been thinking of the monsters as being terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic...is this one sticking to a tree? Is it arboreal instead?

It is slowly ascending a fire escape! It's a bit above easy reach.

Hm. Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves. They don't have eucalyptus leaves. He can't recall off the top of his head what sloths eat. 

"Hello!" Lachlan calls out. "Do you want Cheerios?"

He'll scatter some on the ground in front of him. Also, some of the nuts.

The creature looks slowly at the commotion and then resumes slowly climbing up.

Sigh. How difficult would it be for Lachlan to climb the fire escape?