"Sister, have you seen this?" Fey ca to see Scarlet in a hurry. She was holding her small computer terminal in her hands and waving it around wildly. It seed as if sothing terrible had truly occurred.
'What, what is it?" Scarlet asked her. "Mother has warned you about running you know, no man will marry you if you run like a headless chicken." Scarlet guffawed at the ridiculous notion that a man would reject a woman from a noble family simply because she run. The interstellar had progressed but also returned to the 1800's of her earth at the sa ti when it ca to the standards and behavior of won from noble families.
"You participate in cha fights and combat training co off it." Fey said in an irritated voice. "Look, a company in the capital is selling a snack that is familiar in taste to our potato chips. They simply changed the shape," she paused, "okay the taste is a little bit different but still, we have competition."
Nonchalantly, Scarlet looked at her sister and raised both of her eyebrows up in utter confusion. "Is this what worries you Fey?"
"Yes." Fey said loudly. Her eyes were filled with many questions as to why her sister was not as dismayed and bothered by this awful news as she was. "I thought our goal was to dominate the market?"
"Whose words were those?" Scarlet was taken back. "My goal has never been to dominate the market, it's to develop our blue star. It's actually good that sothing like this has occurred. Think about it this way, eventually that company has to co to us to buy the raw ingredients that are used in their snacks. We grow the potatoes, we provide the spices, if they use are using spices that is. If they want to continue producing snacks they have to co to us, the blue star is the only one that been proven so far to have food growing capabilities. No matter who produces what in the Sun star, they will all have to co to us. So, instead of worrying, tell Beord that we should send a congratulatory ssage to that company and extend an invitation to open a cooperative channel with them."
"Yes, yes, they have to co to us." Fey nodded her head eagerly. "I will tell him right away."
"Don't run." Scarlet yelled, but it was too late, she was already taking off like a rocket anyway.
She was writing down a developnt plan for the valley and widely dry and plain area around her castle. She intended to turn into a valley of flowers and tea trees, this could attract bees that she was sure were in the blue forest. As she pondered which flowers to plant, small hands tugged on her foot.
"Sia," she said in surprise when she looked down and saw the little girl. "What are you doing here?" she lifted her up, carrying her on her laps and looking around for an adult. It seed little Sia had sohow escaped from her mother or the daycare and no adult had noticed.
The little girl touched her stomach and looked at Scarlet.
"Ah," she said in understanding. "You are hungry it seems." Scarlet took so honey buns and milk from her storage space. "Here, eat carefully, I am working so don't disturb too much." She sat her down on top of the table with the bread and milk, gave her a red rattling toy and went back to her work. She used old books from earth to look for references, occasionally having to rescue the books from Sia's grubby hands.
She was just concluding when the agriculture professors ca in to see her.
"You will never believe what happened." Oak shouted loudly imdiately. His loud deep voice roused Sia that was sleeping on a table. Her head had been resting on a small pillow which Scarlet placed beneath her head. The little girl yawned and Scarlet was trying to 'shh' Oak.
"It's too late." Bell said. "She is already awake and she looks like she is about to cry."
Scarlet carried Sia and bounced her around in her hands while shaking the rattle for her as if she were an infant.
"What has got you both this excited? Did one of the ancient seeds finally mature or sprout? We are going to have to be very careful with those you know, so plants are carnivorous, I don't want anyone to be injured or eaten."
"Have you ever seen a carnivorous plant?" Bell asked her curiously. This was a new concept that would require so research.
"Once." she replied. "If animals can mutate what stops plants from doing the sa? Be especially careful around beautiful and hypnotic flowers, they can be the most deadly. So of them use deadly poison as a defense chanism."
"Is that why the gatherers have to wear goggles, masks, shielded lace boots and gloves?" Oak asked her. They had been wondering about that for a while, the gatherers had these cool new outfits which made people in other office related jobs envious.
"Yes, it's also why they are so of the biggest earners on our blue star, their job is risky." she responded and bounced Sia from side to side, making the sound of an ocean wave which made the little girl smile. "Why are you looking for ?"
"This." Oak showed her a red oval shaped fruit. "We have been carefully using the water and fertilizer you gave us in the experintal fields, so of the trees sprouted two weeks ago and they have started producing fruits. The tree which produces this fruit is especially growing faster than most and one of the fruits burst on it's own a few minutes ago. It slled so sweet but we are mostly confused about what to do next. Should we harvest the fruits and what are they used for?"
She placed Sia on her waist, holding her with one arm and she used her other hand to take the fruit. First, she sniffed it.
"Do you know what it is?" Oak asked eagerly. Before she could reply, he went to excitedly say, "I can't believe we have successfully grown so of those seeds, I had all but given up on them. How many years of our lives did we dedicate to this Bell?" he suddenly took a seat, broke down and cried.
Bell's eyes turned slightly red when his good friend started crying. He knew all too well how many years of their lives had gone by with no results to show. How many tis had they been called before the house of ministers and been ridiculed before the emperor by so ministers. Those ministers had called their agriculture departnt a blackhole of funding. Money went in but no results ca out.
"We finally have results Bell." Oak said as he wiped the tears away from his face. "We can finally shut them all up."
"Yes," Bell agreed, "we are are not black holes anymore."
"Does that make you white holes?" Scarlet asked and she giggled as if her question was funny.
"It's not funny." Oak sniffed.
She could not believe that they did not find her joke funny, it sounded funny to her. "Sia, is governor aunt funny?"
Sia nodded and they both laughed.
"Let's go to the field, I want to look at the fruits. The size, appearance and slightly fruity sll reminds of sothing my teacher once ntioned. He called it a cola fruit." She was lying of course, the answer was on the plant section of the underworld forum. Never in her life had she ever seen such a fruit. The forum said it was a rare natural liquid fruit, you poked a hole on the opening and drained out the liquid then cut the rest of the fruit open and removed the seeds.
Logically speaking, she thought, a fruit called cola that had a liquid inside made her think of soda. There were millions of supplies in her system but only a few sodas. If this cola fruit tasted anything like coke soda than she and the agricultural bureau would have to co to an understanding quickly before soone else got wind of it and took a hold of the opportunity.
"Hey Bell," she asked in a calm voice not wanting to sound desperate, "Who owns the seeds by the way, is it the agricultural bureau or the royal family?"
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