finlpp

7:00 PM \ Cloudy

Mid-Level Deck Hallway, Rhodes Island

...Weird.

Where did Purestream go?

She's not in the wastewater processing area, the pipe system monitoring room, or the bioengineering lab—

I don't even see her in the communal bath...

Phew—This is awesome. A brand spanking new communal bath! What do they usually say about this stuff again? Technology really improves our lives.

Automatic showers, always heated pools, steam saunas...

That water massage bed is especially amazing. It changes its pressure and direction so finely it's like you're getting an actual massage!

Should've expected nothing less from a new facility born from Weedy's bioengineering research... Feels like all the stress I've accumulated since I was born has disappeared!

Hey, what stress do you even have? Actually, how long has it been since the last time you and I were on a field mission? All we've been doing is hanging around on the ship. I'm almost ashamed to enjoy this.

A good number of field operators are coming back to the ship the next few days. That's the only reason Engineering has been rushing to finish renovating the bath.

You and I, we're just riding on their coattails.

It's just as I thought. The newly renovated bath's packed.

And here I thought Purestream would be one of the first to hop in once it was open—

I mean, she and the others at Engineering spent months of hard work on it.

Wh-What?

You're heading home? And you asked Closure for a long vacation?

Yeah... Actually, I've been on vacation since the day before yesterday. It's just that I've been spending my time in the records room...

Sorry, Mul. Even though I promised we'd soak together in the bath for days after the renovation was over.

Oh... I-It's not a problem. I just thought it was a little sudden...

I mean, you were so busy not too long ago. You were cooped up inside the pipelines almost every day, inspecting the existing pipes and preparing the new drainage system for the renovation.

You even said we should all take a bath together once you were done...

Did something happen between you and the other engineers? Did you have a fight?

Did you forget to go through the disinfection procedures after coming back from the wastewater tanks, and Weedy—

No, that's not it. Everyone at Engineering has been nothing but kind, and Weedy in particular has been taking good care of me. She even asked me what kind of facilities I wanted to see in the communal bath!

I-Is it me, then? Did I do something to upset you so much that you're going home?

O-Of course not! Actually, I should really thank you! There were a few times I was so busy I forgot to eat, and you brought me some Yanese wraps from the cafeteria!

Mm, actually I just wanted some extras for mys— Uh, no, I mean... you seemed so busy, and I thought you should at least eat something.

I know, I know~ The wraps you brought back were so tasty!

Then why are you suddenly—

Hm, it's here. So fast~

Let me get the door.

Huh? What's here?

Purestream, I have brought the requested data regarding Dusk City meteorological and hydrological observations and the rafting team.

This data transfer has been authorized by the 'lovely Ms. Closure.' Please connect your terminal to me, and I will begin the transfer.

Alright! Let's see... I just need to set it down here, right?

Correct. Please set it down as stably as you can—Please confirm.

Okay, I got it... These pictures are so clear! The river water seems to have a little too much silt. Looks like we'll need to keep an eye on the runoff volume and change in sediment discharge rates.

But overall, based solely on the data we have on hand, this doesn't look so bad!

The weather forecast looks good, too. It's practically sunny days all the way through~ Looks like this river rafting trip will go really well!

Thank you, Lancet-2! You've been a great help!

No need to thank me, but I must note that such requests are outside the scope of my ordinary medical duties.

If you require any additional data, please file your request with the 'lovely Ms. Closure.'

Rafting? Do you mean that famous Dusk River Rafting Team?

I saw in the newspaper a few days ago that they're going to take on a feeder river somewhere downstream... I think it was called Wuwu River?

Supposedly nobody has 'conquered' it yet?

Right! Wuwu is the river that passes through my hometown. The name makes it sound murky, but the waters are actually very clear!

The old men in the village said it's called the Wuwu because it's full of black pebbles on the bottom, making the whole river look black.

So... Did you apply for your vacation to join the Dusk River Rafting Team at the Wuwu? You even looked up the meteorological and hydrological data...

N-No, that's not why! I don't know the first thing about rafting. It's not as simple as swimming, where you just have to keep paddling forward...

Uh... Swimming is pretty difficult too, isn't it?

Swimming is just the basics! The people on the rafting team are much more amazing! They're all athletes who have rafted hundreds of times.

As for the meteorological and hydrological data... I'm just a little worried about the river back home. It's been so long since I last went back. I don't know if the villagers and the people upstream have been taking good care of it...

I just hope that when the Wuwu shows up in the newspapers, it'll be in its purest form~

Huh? Newspapers?

Oh, right! Take a look at these!

Are these... pictures of the rafting team?

That's right. This is the Guantou River, this is the Tufang River, and this is Shanyu River... All of them have graced the front page of the papers before!

And now my hometown's Wuwu River is going to make it too! Of course I have to go back to witness this historic moment!

Is... having your hometown's river show up in the papers really something to be so happy about? You must really love it there.

Of course! Don't you always pick your hometown's dishes in the cafeteria too?

Th-That's just because I think other cuisines don't add enough seasoning...

Hm? They're not so bad... Back home, the villagers love making their food bland. It tastes just like the Wuwu River~

Maybe that's why I think it's okay for food to be bland. It's good for your health~

Tastes like the Wuwu River?

Yep! Back home, everyone cooked with the river water~

Must be a really clean river...

Hehe~ That's thanks to everyone working together to keep it that way. Once, we had some really dirty stuff floating down from upstream. It made everyone so mad!

Huh? Was it caused by a Catastrophe?

(Shakes head) Nope.

Then... industrial wastewater?

Yeah.

No way... Even a village's river...?

We put in so much effort to make sure our natural lakes and rivers aren't irreversibly damaged by Catastrophes, but we still can't escape industrial pollution.

I get it. Industries need to expand too. It's not really something that we can do anything about... And if only a few contaminants make it into the rivers, then maybe nature itself can still purify them...

But if we don't bring the pollution under control, they're only going to accumulate, and then—

When you put at it like that, the rivers in these pictures are all maintained pretty well. Although you can still see the mark of Catastrophes...

I suppose our waterway management work has really made a difference.

Yep, yep! But my hometown's management of the Wuwu is even better!

If the Wuwu River makes it into the newspapers with the rafting team, even more people will know that there are still such pure streams out there~

That way, maybe people will stop dumping all that dirty stuff into their rivers!

Wh-What's the matter? Did I say something funny?

No... It just occurred to me all of a sudden that you have a really ambitious dream!

It's extraordinary.

I-I'm not really doing anything! The rafting team chose to challenge the Wuwu River because they want to let more people know about the importance of protecting the rivers' ecosystems.

And rafting's so dangerous and cool! Everyone's gonna be cheering them on—They're the ones making a difference.

(This makes me wonder... What would the river bordering Jiangqi look like clean?)

(Was it once just as pure as these, years ago?)

Mul. Mul? Something on your mind?

Ah! Sorry, I spaced out a bit...

Oh, I almost forgot... I'm here to give you this—it's a ginger pear my parents sent me. They're a specialty from my hometown! I've been looking for you everywhere because I wanted you to have a taste.

Hmmhmmhmm~♪

Soon, I'll be home to see the rafting team~ Yay!

Mul gave me a huge pear, too~ Yay!

What kind of local specialty should I bring back for her as a souvenir?

...Huh?

This...

The water that came out of that pipe seemed... just a little dirty, I think?

Looks like it's back to normal... Yeah, it tastes...