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Okay, since this is apparently the request hotline lately, I've got three.

[Heather holds up a hand, counting off on fingers as she goes.]

First, the Agricultural department is stupid understaffed. There's stuff growing in there that wasn't when I got my introductory tour, so I know at least one of you knows what they're doing. Sure I don't need to remind you that if the garden goes tits-up we all die nasty, so how about some of you come and make it all official?

Second, does this puzzle deal seem familiar to anyone else? Stuff goes to hell, you get a puzzle, you get clues, and you don't know whether what's on the other side is something you need or something that's gonna make it worse? Might have been a little lonelier last time around. Let's talk. Two heads are better and all that bullshit.

Third, I need to hear from anyone who has or knows how to make Aglaophotis. If you know what it is you'll have a pretty good idea of why.

Let me know.

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[Misinterpretation of that first request, activate.]

It's not okay to grow kuims in the garden?

[He's got a face that screams "but I really need those", but if they have to go, then they have to go.]

I can spend some time in Agriculture. Botany was my second concentration in Academy.

Has anyone ever complimented you on your vernacular?

[ Hint of amusement here. ]

[Definitely pinged at that last bit.]

Aglaophotis? ... Like, as in, used in the occult, Aglaophotis?

Depends. What kinda puzzles are we talkin' about, here? Like... riddles? Odd placements...?

[Moving picture frames? Fishing rhymes out of corpses to get to a specific location? TERRIBLE POETRY?]

Whoa! Don't panic, big fuzz.

[ smile, placatory hand gestures - calm down, kittycat. ]

I don't know what a kuim is, but if it makes oxygen it's more than okay. It's just - my gardening experience comes down to a windowsill full of potted plants. When I signed on for this I thought there'd be people to tell me what to do, and now it's just me.

Maybe you can teach me about 'em?

Third probably won't be useful, not really. Can you make it? I thought it was more grown. You could really have sort of lumped that into your first one.

Heather, my name is Asato.

[Who is big fuzz he doesn't understand.]

Kuims are... [Nuts? Fruits? Something in between, and very delicious.] They're for eating. I had some in my locker and I planted the pits. Should I not have done that?

[Now he's worried he's going to kill someone, because how should he know what does or doesn't make oxygen? What even is oxygen?]

You don't just grow stuff, you have fancy book-learning about it too?

[okay, there might be a bit of sarcasm in there, but it's playful rather than mean because what she's about to say is pure truth:]

You might be my favorite person on the ship right now. I'm Heather. What can I call you?

It's one of my many charms. We don't all get to coast on a sassy accent.

I'd like to think that's not all I've got to offer.

So, you've decided to green your thumb, have you?

[ Bingo. So she's curious, but guarded. ]

That's the stuff. You gonna make my day?

[ DING DING DING! Give that man with the voice a prize. ]

Yeah. Crap that looks like it's out of place and weird stuff happens when you put it back, poems that kinda make you shit your metaphorical pants. Sounds like maybe we're on the same track.

I say Silent, you say..?

[ Frown. It's not that Heather doesn't like a smartass. It's more that she likes to be the smartass she's liking. ]

It was pretty damn helpful last time.

It's the processing bit I need help with. Dioscorides thought it was peonies, so I planted some. Past that point, I've got jack. I'm not gonna eat a bunch of flowers and hope for the best.

Sounds like--

[He freezes very abruptly when she asks that question, his jaw too stiff for an immediate answer. It's a long shot, and he wants to reply with something infinitely more smartass and crude, for all of his thoughts and feelings about that place are... But this is serious business, people.]

...Hill? [Murphy finishes, hoping like hell that he's taking a shot in the dark and she'll just look at him like he's fucking crazy -- but another is also secretly hoping otherwise. Misery loving company and all.]

I've a passing knowledge and two working hands, if that would be at all helpful. To the first request, of course. I can't say this puzzle business is something I've encountered before, and the term Aglaophotis is completely foreign to me.

That sounds -- like quite a harrowing situation to have been in before. The puzzles, that is.

I know it's related to... [Gotta think on this a minute, remember all his past research.] ... Peony? But if it exists at all, it's rare. There isn't much evidence that backs it up.

Having demon problems?

i could help.

It is familiar, only the chance of there being something better on the other side is slim to none.

[ She's laughing. Asato, you make it really hard to maintain a bad mood. ]

I know your name. It's a nickname. 'cause I like you.

I'm not mad you're growing things. I think it's great, especially if it's food-type things. You did good! It's just - I don't really know what I'm doing here.

[ big pause. She'd only say this so bluntly to someone who meant a lot to her. ]

I need help. I mean, people are helping already, doing their own thing, but this is kinda important. I figure we need to get some kind of system down so that if something happens to the people who are left, it doesn't all just go to hell.

I see...

[Definitely not one to argue, although he's still a little confused about that whole nickname thing. But that's not important.]

Do you need help? I can help if you want. [Hey, how badly could he screw up cultivating plants?] I'm in the garden a lot, and I don't want anything bad to happen there.

Yeah, I signed up for agricultural when there was an actual team. I figured I'd be pulling weeds and learning as I went along, but I checked the records a couple days ago and it turns out I'm the last man standing. Which is crappy news for anyone who likes eating stuff that doesn't come in a vacuum pack. Or, you know, anyone who likes breathing.

Don't suppose you're keen to come try out that charm on a few vegetable plots for me?

The fanciest kind.

[ so deadpan ]

My name's Hikaru Sulu.

It definitely exists where I'm from. That's one of the things about this place, I guess. You never know if something that's real for you is a stupid fairy story for someone else.

I'm good now. More like... I'm worried I have a predisposition. A girl likes to be prepared, you know?

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permavid? Heather loves your face

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and asato loves yours so permavid yes

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