mlyss

I just happened to catch a glance at this while negotiating a business deal, and figured a certain Director Muelsyse might agree to a date if she were interested.

Wait, is our well-connected Director of Business actually a coward? They don't keep me <i>that</i> busy over at Ecological, you know.

I'll come find you. Are you over at HQ?

At the café downstairs. I seem to recall you complaining about the decor in my office and refusing to enter.

I'll catch you at your office this time around then.

You're back. Has it already been more than half a month since you left so suddenly?

Mhm.

Icefield Cottongrass, she's...

I saw.

It is raining inside the vivarium.

Raindrops seep into the veins of the Zelkova leaves, drench the Square Sunflower's disc florets, and fall onto the stem of the withered plant next to them.

The rain is neither heavy nor fast, but seems to have no intention of stopping.

Muelsyse, are you crying?

I don't blame you.

That researcher, Kelly? She tried her best too...

I know.

Be it adding more nutrient solutions or replacing the substrate, they just can't compare to Sami's natural sustainability systems. But the Polar Area biome still isn't ready...

Hey, stop crying. You're drenching us in your tears and its killing me.

Maybe... Maybe I should delay the next batch of plants from Sami coming in next month.

Hmm. Are you the type to be so easily shaken?

Well... exploring new scientific frontiers was never gonna be easy, and a setback or two was expected...

So why are you crying?

I made a trip to the mountains in northern Columbia, after my little chat with Justin Jr.

Was it far?

Not really. Took me three or four days... I just ended up staying there for a whole week.

If it wasn't far, why did you only make the trip now?

Because just finding the place took forever.

From the orphanage in Trenton, to the deserted old houses, to the university in Trimounts, and to the laboratories of Rhine Lab...

From the voluminous records in the library, to the nameless inscriptions, to experiment records with hardly any headway—yes, I even conducted experiments using samples taken from myself...

I spent a long, long time searching for it.

And then finally I found it. Where I thought I'd find the answers about my parents, my people, and myself.

I <i>have</i> to turn this glass house into the cleanest place in Terra. It <i>must</i> have the freshest air, the most hospitable climate, and the most nutritious soil...

It must have the richest ecosystem ever, for every kind of fragile life to freely thrive in.

...Including me.

And that's why I need those answers. I have to know why my life is so frail, why I'm so sensitive to Originium Zones.

I need to know what I am, what 'Elves' are. I need to know how I was born, if my kin still reside on this land, and where... my future lies.

...And you came back without an answer.

There was only a dilapidated mountain village, a patch of dying trees, and a simple and crude cemetery... Time has buried it all.

There's no way to even tell if those Elves buried in the Pale Conifers had the answers I've been looking for, or if they were looking for them just as hopelessly as me.

Muelsyse, are you alright?

You look exhausted. Here, you can lean on my trunk.

You were right, Sunflower.

The vivarium's snowy mountains aren't actually mountains, and the icefield isn't an icefield. I'll never be able to recreate a 'Sami,' ever.

Because how can I, when I myself don't even know what kind of land I'm looking for?

The rainfall continues.

Rootless waterdrops form a pitter patter curtain of rain in the vivarium.

Stop crying.

It never rains like this in Sami. If you cry any more, you're going to destroy the Polar Area's ecology. And then the other plants will get sick, and you'll worry even more.

You know...

The life cycle of Icefield Cottongrass really isn't long at all. When the winter wind on the icefield is at its strongest, not even a single cotton clump can hold onto its branches.

Two days ago the Polar Area was practically smothered in white cotton wool. For a moment I really thought I was back on the Sami icefield.

...Thank you.

It's Cottongrass's fault anyway, for being too curious. She was sending her clumps everywhere while you were away the past few days. They were all over the Polar Area, the Plateau Area, and the Ocean Area. She probably got her wish.

She counted up all the plants in the entire vivarium... there's nearly a thousand species in here, and many of them should already be extinct from various ecological disasters.

You said you wanted to build an ideal habitat here, but what you're actually doing is much more than that... Erm, when I put it that way, you're pretty similar to those other guys.

Hmm?

I'm saying I've met people like you.

Actually, I realized it from the start. I just wasn't completely sure... All of you can 'feel' us. You're all doing something similar, except you're doing it in a lab while they're in a forest.

Plants are their bandages, while the rain and dew serve as their painkillers... I think they were mending Sami's wounds.

Are you sure, Sunflower?

Of course, I even helped them out.

The rain stops.

Muelsyse stands in the center of the vivarium, pensively gazing at the plants in front of her.

I conducted two comparative experiments and the results were consistent. Basically, my deductions from dissecting and screening your samples were right.

To date, the chemical composition of the seeds in your disc florets are unknown to academia, and they've proven to be decisive evidence for my conclusions.

You really are a super duper special plant. You have some kinda 'healing' property, we just don't know what exactly in nature you're meant to be healing.

But plants don't do that on their own.

In other words, someone's putting you to use. And those someones are also a part of Sami's natural sustainability systems.

Hey, Sami? Any of my people up there?

Sunlight penetrates the glass, and the Square Sunflower's drooping disc florets move ever so slightly.

Thank you, my imaginary friends.

Director Muelsyse...

Um...

Uh, your... I'm so sorry for your loss!

Umm...?

You can talk to plants, right? The Icefield Cottongrass... I...

Kelly! That's crazier than the rumors I hear about the old goat turning himself into a super cyborg to have late night boxing matches with Saria!

...I-I apologize.

Ah, right. I came to hand you this letter.

They're invitations from the leading scientific journals. You know, 'The TIT Academic Journal', 'Biology Review', and 'Nature Communications.' They're all really interested in your recent research results.

Your plant information experiments have proven workable in the fields of both plant physiology and plant phylogenetics. This marks a major breakthrough in ecology.

Hey now, I don't deserve <i>all</i> the credit. You guys helped too!

So what should we do with the invitations?

We'll take their offers, but could you write back to the editors for me? The submissions might come a teensy bit late.

Are you taking some time off? You did just throw yourself back into your work right after that long trip.

Nope. I'm taking a little trip to Sami.