aroma

Oh, that's fine. Thank you, though.

But there's actually something else I wanted to ask you about.

Take a look at this.

Is this... an application to submit an engineering blueprint?

Yep, all the cleaning work's been reassigned. Purestream and I will help her take care of the some of the other things she was supposed to work on.

I was surprised there was so much non-cleaning work, though. Not only does she make herbal dishes at the cafeteria, she was also scheduled to install anti-static equipment in the corridors...

*sigh*, never mind. I'll cancel all of them for her and ask other Logistics operators to cover those.

Next, we have the tough part.

Hello, is Aroma here?

Oh, she just took an engineering blueprint to Roberta.

A blueprint?

That's right. She asked Weedy to teach her how to draw one.

I've seen her bringing all sorts of data here lately, and leaving with large stacks of blueprints.

Data...?

That reminds me. She asked me for all these weirdly specific details about the laundry room.

The current diameter of the piping... The maximum flux of the drainage... and something about the water usage during cycles...

Oh no, I've been so worried about the maintenance these last couple days, I forgot all about that!

Hold on... So she's already good friends with Weedy, one of Engineering's most senior operators?

Weedy's always so busy, but even <i>she's</i> paying so much attention to Aroma. Look at me, though... Not only have I been overlooking her contributions, I even forgot about her request.

No wonder she never talked to me about what comes after her formal employment. It's already a done deal...

It's too late. It's all over...

Huh?

But...

It's okay. I understand.

I respect her decision, but at least let me do one last thing for her. After all, we've worked together at Logistics for so long now.

Is this... an application to submit an engineering blueprint?

Hold on, why do you have the early design drafts of the hydrotherapy machine?! It even has the magazine publisher's phone number that I scribbled on there...

Oh, actually, I saw it over at Weedy's.

I came because I heard about the hydrotherapy machine from her.

Take a look at the documents in the back, too.

A research report on the hair growth of operators of different races... This is so detailed!

You researched all this by yourself? Amazing...

It's all thanks to everyone's help.

Please take a look and tell me if the improved design on the document is viable.

Yeah, I took a look at the application. There's nothing wrong with making modifications based on the hair characteristics of different races, but the hydrotherapy machine is still in testing. It hasn't been through final inspection yet.

Whether it can be mass-produced after the modifications, and whether it will be installed in the changing rooms and the communal bath, all depends on Closure's approval.

No need to worry about that. I've already checked with Weedy, and there's room for new equipment in the bath.

I'll keep working with you to test it, and there are plenty of operators willing to volunteer to test the improved version.

...But why go this far for this?

This is just a beauty treatment I designed for the experiment section. How come this is so important all of a sudden...?

What's this about, Aroma?

Actually... Rhodes Island is going through a hair loss crisis.

Wait, Purestream, what are you moving?

I don't remember seeing anything like that on the trash disposal manifest...

Huh? But I reported it!

All of this is our operators' hair. I got it from cleaning up around the landship!

You mean... this entire pile is hair?

Yep! You just got here, so you probably don't know about this yet, right?

Lots of people onboard Rhodes Island shed hair every day.

If we don't get this taken care of promptly, it'll take over both the water pipes and the air vents!

But this seems kinda... excessive.

No, if anything it's not enough.

These pipelines go through Rhodes Island's power plant and propulsion systems. They aren't things you can redesign on a whim.

Let's try some other methods to take care of this.

Like, say... Wait, what's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?

Weedy... where were you just now?

Huh? I just got back from the cafeteria.

Were there a lot of people there, and you had to squeeze through the crowd?

Yeah...

Don't move. You have a lot of hair on your shoulders. It must be from other people's tails...

Okay. I got it all.

You don't look so good, Weedy...

Hey, don't point that disinfectant spray gun at me like that.

Sorry, Aroma!

Okay... I got it. I'll do this pile of laundry.

But isn't this is the third time this month...? We can't keep closing the laundry room for maintenance.

So... did Engineering ever say what's behind it?

This probably sounds silly, but...

Actually, it's because the drainage pipes under the laundry machines keep getting clogged with hair. Every single one of them.

I'll ask Engineering and see if there's any way the sewage system can be modified.

Until it's completely fixed, we'll need to clean the laundry machines before we use them, every single time.

I see... That's quite troublesome.

Yeah... It's not a problem we can realistically solve completely, but I still want to figure out if there's any way to reduce the hair we need to clean up.

Which is why I've been observing the operators while I'm working in different areas.

And I realized that some people shed hair just from having it touch their zippers when closing them. And others carefully pull their tails from their pants before carefully grooming them every day.

And it's not just tail hair, there's also head hair, ear hair, hair on the back of your necks... All of this gets on their clothes.

Other than that, there are some who use lint rollers to remove the hair on their clothes before putting them in the laundry machines. If they notice me watching, they even give me an embarrassed smile...

It was only after that that I realized... there's a much more important truth behind this crisis: a lot of operators are worried about their shedding.

Although we've been trying to deal with the hair every day, we've never truly tried to take care of their worries.

I... want to do something for them.

So that's why you want to improve and promote this hydrotherapy machine... But I don't think that's going to be enough. We'll need a lot other ways to go about this, won't we?

Yeah, absolutely.

The cafeteria now has a couple of dishes that help with hair maintenance, and there will be even more choices in the future.

Logistics is also going to introduce new shampoos that are formulated for the hair of different races, too.

And the work I had scheduled for this afternoon was to check on the anti-static equipment in the storage room.

...Okay, Aroma.

I now completely understand just how persistent you can be.

Do you remember what we were discussing earlier?

What...?

When I apply makeup, I always look for the part of the face most worthy of jazzing up first. That's the most important part.

And whether I leave it all to the auto-modelers or grab a makeup brush myself depends on the situation.

Huh? What's with that response? Isn't that what you've been doing?

Actually, I'm not really sure about that...

I might have been thinking about it in a much simpler way... I just want to help solve a problem and make everyone's life better.

I think that's what all of us Rhodes Island operators should be doing.

...Well, thanks to you, I just got a new design idea. What do you think about adding a hair dyeing module to the hydrotherapy machine?

You mentioned in your report that there are a lot of people who aren't happy with their hair color...

Anyway, I'm so glad we've got you around in Engineering now. No wonder Weedy's been taking such good care of you.

What? Me, in Engineering...?

Hold on...