Rain-sweeping Maid

"We'll sweep the rain away! Then the sun will come out soon!"

Rain-sweeping Maid is an Anomaly with a long and storied history. Documented sightings can be traced back hundreds of years: "On a rainy day, my broom suddenly ran outside to sweep away the water!"

Yes, in the earliest written records, they were spirits shaped like brooms or mops. When they dozed off with their eyes closed, they looked no different from ordinary cleaning tools. As brooms and mops were gradually phased out of households in favor of robotic vacuums and floor washers, Rain-sweeping Maids' forms seemed to adapt to this change, taking on more… modern technological features. Perhaps this made them more efficient at cleaning?

No matter how times have changed, the Rain-sweeping Maids has always been a Bio Anomaly with a drive to sweep away rainwater. On sunny days, they appear relaxed and sluggish, but the second it rains, they rush outdoors to "clean" the rain, absorbing it into their bodies for temporary storage, firmly believing this will make the rainy weather pass more quickly… It is said a single Rain-sweeping Maid can absorb up to several swimming pools worth of water, and will keep working until the entire rainy season ends. After the rain clears, they seek out rivers to discharge the rainwater stored inside them.

In the past, people believed the Rain-sweeping Maid was likely an Anomaly born from humanity's wish for the rain to stop and the sun to shine. Hundreds of years ago, people often paid them respect or offered prayers, sometimes tying ribbons to their seemingly sentient mop handles to thank them for their help to humanity… But today, very few people appreciate this Anomaly. Now, you hardly ever see a Rain-sweeping Maid with human tributes on her vacuum hose. If you ask city residents what they think of them… some will even exclaim in half-exasperated, half-annoyed tones: "These Oddities are ridiculously stupid!"

In ancient times, the Rain-sweeping Maids' behavior of temporarily storing rainwater like sponges and acting as a buffer layer could indeed alleviate flooding in villages that lacked drainage systems. But in modern cities with complete drainage infrastructure, their endless absorbing and discharging of water serves virtually no practical purpose.

Worse still, perhaps because modern rainwater contains far more chemical pollutants than in the past, Rain-sweeping Maids that have absorbed excessive contaminated water may begin to exhibit chaotic, violent behavior. The Rain-sweeping Maid who always used to smile are now covered in black, their faces often twisted in expressions of pain. The polluted water accumulating inside them causes corrosion, causing constant burning agony. Driven by their nature and unable to stop absorbing rainwater, the Rain-sweeping Maids affected by pollution are no longer able to discharge water properly. They end up crashing around like balloons, spewing rainwater erratically, even attacking humans who walk into their rain curtain… With the climate becoming increasingly extreme and unpredictable, a Rain-sweeping Maid might encounter a sudden cold snap before she can empty her stored rainwater. This causes the rainwater she discharges to freeze into sleet, hail, or even snow, triggering a severe blizzard in localized areas. These are situations that never would have happened before.

An ancient, gentle, and stable Anomaly species has undergone a fundamental change due to shifts in era and environment… As a prime example of an Anomaly transformed by the human social environment, the Rain-sweeping Maid holds considerable research value. If atmospheric pollution and extreme weather can be brought under control in the future, those Oddities who always smiled happily while quietly waiting for the sun to shine might return to our side once again…

· In the past, Rain-sweeping Maids resembled brooms or mops with a wooden pole standing upright on their heads, but the crisscrossing 'apple pie'-like cloth strips below were their actual bodies. The wooden pole was merely decorative. As times changed, the broom and mop-like wooden poles gradually "evolved" into flexible hose tails resembling vacuum cleaners or floor washers, and the way Rain-sweeping Maids absorb rainwater changed accordingly. The formerly decorative tail developed the function of absorbing rainwater, while their main body became a water storage container.

· Rain-sweeping Maids love sunny days and dislike rainy days, but they do not complain about the weather they dislike. Instead, they become more active and attempt to change the situation, which is why rainy days gets them up and about.

· They are stronger than they appear, and as such, being struck by their rainwater-filled tail is quite painful. They have sharp teeth on their "suction nozzle," but rarely use them for attacking. Although Rain-sweeping Maids can overcome the weight of their tails and hover steadily in the air, they usually keep their tails pressed close to the ground and "crawl" forward when sweeping up rainwater, like an unmanned upright vacuum cleaner.

· After absorbing large amounts of rainwater, their body will visibly swell. If polluted water is absorbed, their body turns black or develops oily stains.

· During the process of discharging and reabsorbing rainwater, if the surrounding temperature drops sharply, the "black rain" in their water circulation system undergoes a phase change and continues to circulate in solid ice form.

· Out-of-Control Rain-sweeping Maids discharge and reabsorb rainwater repeatedly, causing a "black rain reflux" phenomenon in a small radius. If someone wanders into the rain curtain's range, they may be attacked by the Rain-sweeping Maid. If you can help them release the polluted water and restore them to a dry state, they can be easily contained or subjected to nullification.

Drain all the rainwater stored in its body.

Friendly to humans when dry, but will attack humans who wander into its rain curtain range when it is filled with rainwater.

The Celaeno Compound currently contains one Rain-sweeping Maid that still retains the original form with a wooden pole on its head.

Purify or drain the polluted water inside its body to contain it.

Experiment Objective: Verify the Rain-sweeping Maid's behavioral criteria.

Experiment Process: Research personnel placed the same Rain-sweeping Maid successively in four environments: natural rainfall, artificial rainfall, beneath a waterfall, and an indoor rain curtain Landscaping installation. They observed its reactions to "water falling from above" in different situations.

Experiment Results: In both natural and artificial rainfall environments, the Rain-sweeping Maid showed clear reactions and immediately began absorbing rainwater. However, beneath the waterfall and in the indoor rain curtain landscaping installation, the specimen showed no reaction whatsoever. It is therefore hypothesized that the Rain-sweeping Maid has a specific identification mechanism for determining what constitutes a "rain."