podego

Say, why don't you let me help after all?

It's okay. You assigned me this task, so it's my job now. I'll be sure to see it through.

Mm. Alright.

I remember you telling me the same thing, the first time we met.

Oh...

Border of Bolívar, a small nomadic city

Market

3:00 P.M. \ Sunny, clear

Make way! You've been wandering around all day now.

Excuse me, is there a botanical garden or exhibition hall here? Where can I find it? It's supposed to be full of fresh flowers, and the booklet said, um, they're in big nomadic cities...

Yeah, in 'big' ones. Not here.

What about flower fields, then?

Eugh, look, I'm busy recruiting for the farm. Do your research before you go out on holiday, señorita. This is the Bolívarian border, middle of nowhere, we don't got nothing like that.

(I'm not on holiday...)

About the farm then—could you let me try? I've just left home, and I don't know where I'm going yet.

My name's Podenco, and I've been helping in the fields since I was little. I'm familiar with lots of plants, and I've planted seven or eight kinds of crops before. Millet, coffee, hemp, even cocoa trees...

Nursery, irrigation and ventilation, weeding and fertilizing, grafting and transplanting, I can do it all. Trust me.

Hmm.

(So she's not some well-to-do kid.)

If you're worried about pay, I'd be fine without.

But I'd like a tiny little plot where I can plant a few of my own flowers.

I've seen so many flowers on the way here I've never seen before, and I've collected heaps of seeds already. They'll make your farm really pretty.

Enough, señorita, I'm busy here. There's plenty of vacant land outside the nomadic cities. You can plant flowers wherever you like.

(Can't eat 'em, can't sell 'em either. I'd be better off paying you extra than giving you a plot for flowers... Honestly, some kid you are.)

Well... excuse me, then. Very sorry to bother you.

Ah! Sorry, so sorry! I didn't step on you, did I?

Can I see the seeds you've collected?

Um?

Sorry, I happened to overhear you just now.

Ah. Um, yes, go ahead.

A dozen or so bags of flower seeds lie in her backpack. They're carefully sorted by size and color, and wrapped in cotton cloth cut from her clothes to let them breathe.

Lena returns the seeds to the girl before her.

Are you fond of flowers?

Mm-hm. I know you can't eat them, or make money with them, but they make the earth so pretty, and they make us all happier too.

But at the same time, they're so frail, and have trouble blooming, but then they wither so soon too, so nobody who wants to take care of them... I want to become a great gardener.

Podenco, I can provide you a garden, and you can plant whatever flowers you like there.

Really?!

What do you need me to do in return, then?

Love them always, and care for them well. That will be your job.

Podenco stares at Lena.

She gives her head a shake, seemingly lost in thought, deliberating whether she can trust this woman, but in no more than the blink of an eye, she gives a nod.

Just be a good gardener? I'll do it. I'll do everything I can to see my job through.

Alright, then. Come to me if you ever need anything.

Also, try turn in sooner than later. It's very late.

Mm-hm. I'll return to the dorms as soon as I put away these dried flowers.

With the velvets done standing, Podenco lays them out according to petal size.

Sheaf by sheaf, she wraps them up.

By now, the scent of desiccant has vanished. A floral perfume fills the whole room.

Three days later

Rhodes Island, Perfumer's dormitory

Lena pushes the door open.

On the table is a bouquet of dried yarny velvets, and a delicately wrapped paper bag. As soon as the fastener on the side is opened, a floral scent pervades Lena's nose.

She opens it up, and inside are boronia teabags and a box of cookies.

Ah, Miss Lena. Have you seen Podenco?

I just got back from the Logistics Department. Is she not in the Garden? What do you need?

She gave me a giant floral gift package, and disappeared before I could thank her.

A floral gift package?

Flower cookies, floral tea, and dried flowers. Haha—the same one you have right there. I'm guessing everyone on the landship has one by now.

I hear she gave HR a whole stack of office paper, too, dyed in all different colors with flower extract.

I want to find her and tell her how delicious the cookies were!

Gold chrysanthemum stamens, chopped up evenly throughout the dough. Baked with care to not only not ruin the texture, but let the fragrance make them that much more appetizing.

(So in the end, she thought of turning the chrysanthemums into desserts. Now that was a good idea.)

Did she ask you to help her, Blue?

I didn't help her with anything. I just taught her how to make cookies. All credit goes to her for figuring out how to add fresh flowers.

All I said was that it should be fine.

Anyway, give her my thanks if you see her.

Oh, and let me know if you ever need help at the Garden, too.

Lena! Hey there, Miss In-Your-Dorm-For-Once. Anyway, this is for you.

What is it?

Construction work to expand the Convalescent Garden, approved. Dr. Amiya already signed off.

We'll move some of the energy storage facilities to another part of the ship, and that should give you plenty more floorspace. We'll start the evaluation next week, and if all's good, it's hammer time.

Why so suddenly?

Is it? You've applied, like, a couple of times already.

But you never gave it the nod...

Well, I was pretty tied up before.

There's been a bunch of operators requesting to expand the Garden, lately. Blue Poison, for one... Honestly, I expected her apply for more ovens.

Rhodes needs a bigger chill-out area, anyway. The gaming room and the Garden are both getting cramped. And obviously, 'let's expand the gaming room' ain't exactly an idea with legs.

Oh, yeah, I got an application from a Convalescent Garden op too.

It said you had to clear out a whole bunch of plants and stuff before you could cultivate what Medical needed.

It also said she was willing to make her own dorm part of the expansion, and she could move the arbors in herself for max plant care convenience.

Podenco...

Point is, we summed up our ops' views and reached this conclusion. Not to mention Medical needs more stuff by the day—expanding the Garden was always on Engineering's agenda.

Thank you, Closure.

No problemo! And I mean, who could refuse flower cookies AND flower tea that good, you know? Plus, I got a double portion!

Rhodes Island Convalescent Garden

Summer wisteria, fire croton, hiemalgrass... mille-feuille artemesia...

Suramakula, Yamakaphala...

Oh, Miss Lena, you're here.

I just double-checked all the species and quantities.

I've verified them myself. The labelling for all the necessary water and soil nutrient ratios is fine. This new batch of plants for Medical is settling in well.

Oh, you must be so tired, Podenco.

You too, Miss Lena.

We'll need to ask Procurement for two additional orders of nutrient solution.

Alright.

That reminds me, Podenco. The Engineering Department gave the expansion application the go-ahead.

Really?!

Mm-hmm.

That’s amazing!

We'll be twice as big. We're also planning to build two new PRTS-assisted smart greenhouses, specifically catered to the cultivation and exhibition of flowers.

And you, Podenco, will be in charge of managing them.