(JP) Robin Hopper, Aitas, & Aurelio – Plantasia
Robin Hopper
((Level 9, Science and Research Center, Amity Outpost))
Aitas hadn’t actually visited the SRC much. She saw Sakon regularly already, and to say she’d been busy felt, as it often did, to be just a bit of an understatement.
But it did have its lovely sections, and given the respective schedules had proven a reasonable place to meet at.
Aitas, for her part, had chosen a dress in a lighter shade of green than was usual for her, but which complimented the tan pants and pale blue band t-shirt that Aurelio wore. His hearing was a bit less sensitive than hers, which thus far had resulted in rather different tastes in music.
It wasn’t hard to pick Robin Hopper out of the sea of civilians and blue uniforms, most of which seemed in a hurry to be moving to somewhere else.
Aurelio: Commander! Over here!
He didn’t raise his voice too much, but he did try to stand up as tall as possible.
Hopper looked up from her PADD, where she’d been perusing wedding bouquet designs. Spotting Aitas and her son, a soft smile brightened her face, and she pushed herself off the wall she’d been leaning against. Her bionic leg whirred softly as she crossed the train platform to meet them.
Hopper: Hiya, you two. ::Looking down at the seven-year-old by Aitas’ side:: And you’re welcome to call me Robin if you want, Mister Aurelio.
She gave the boy a cheeky smile, before looking back to his mother as she spoke.
Aitas: Thank you for helping with this. Aurelio is very excited.
Aurelio: I want plants mom can’t kill. She’s good at that.
Aitas rubbed a finger over the bridge of her nose.
Hopper: ::Chuckling:: Well, it’s easy to do – especially when we take them out of the places they like to live in nature and stick them in little boxes in space with artificial lights. It takes a lot of trial-and-error, and practice, not to over-or-under-water them to death.
In many respects, the process of determining how best to care for your plants was similar to the scientific method. It required observation, trial, study, and repetition to find the optimal conditions – then work out how to maintain those conditions. Robin was lucky. She’d been introduced to the process as a kid, herself. Her Mavai, Ansyra, was an amateur expert on the subject.
Aitas: Quite guilty on that account, I’m afraid. Perhaps the request would be better described as ‘plants that I can automate the watering of easily’.
Aurelio: ::a little more quietly:: And some that are purple, if that’s not too much trouble?
Hopper: ::Grinning:: Ooo, fun! We call those plants anthocyanated – that means they have a lot of the pigment ‘anythocyanin’ in them, which turns their leaves blue, pink, or purple… ::Both index fingers poking the sides of her head:: The wheels are turning already. I think I have some ideas for you.
Robin gestured to the SRC’s turbolift.
Hopper: Shall we? The botany lab has quite a few species, some of which we could take cuttings from and propagate for you – assuming we find some you like, Aitas – and that Mister Aurelio here approves of.
Aitas: ::lightly:: I’ve hardly earned the right to be particular.
Aurelio: I’m told you have lots of plants. I’m sure I’ll find something!
Stepping into the turbolift, Robin pressed the button that would carry them to the appropriate level. As the lift doors shut and it whirred to life, rising gently upwards, she continued the conversation – taking the opportunity to ask some questions.
Hopper: So, what sort of plants have you cared for, or tried to care for, in the past, Aitas?
Aitas gave an apologetic smile as she pulled a PADD out and handed it over.
Aitas: My father made a list. Mostly a mixture of tropical and desert varieties, though I tended to underwater the former and overwater the latter, so far as I can judge.
Aurelio nodded, perhaps a bit too vehemently. Robin, amused, smirked as she took the offered PADD and looked over the list.
Hopper: Ohh… Many of these are native to Betazed or Vulcan. ::Tilting her head, eyes up in thought for a moment:: Well, that makes sense now that I think about it.
She chuckled lightly.
Aitas: There were some—I believe they’re considered orchids—from the Jalara Jungles that I particularly regret losing. They grow wild around where my grandparents live.
That made Aurelio tilt his head and look over at Robin.
Aurelio: They’re usually too high up for me to get a good look at. And Fureri’s not great at climbing.
Hopper: Well, at least that means they’re growing like they’re supposed to. Orchids are a type of epithelial plant, meaning they grow out on the sides of cliffs, or off the sides of tall trees, rather than down in the dirt. A lot of traders will pot them up in moss and bark – or worse, soil – but that’s not really what they want at all.
The turbolift slowed as they reached level twenty-one. Aurelio darted toward the door before it even opened; Aitas caught him with a hand on his shoulder.
Aitas: My father has been telling quite the complimentary tales about your labs. I think someone’s excited.
Aurelio brushed a bit of loosened hair behind his ear and straightened up a little.
Aurelio: No one has taught me much about plants yet. Of course I’m excited.
Robin’s eyes slid up from the boy to his mother, meeting her gaze.
Hopper: Well, we may need to look into getting you your very own educational access pass for the botany labs then, Mister. Who are we to stand in the way of an enthusiastic learner?
Aurelio: I’m going to have the best reports to send back to Mirra! ::he paused, then lowered his voice.:: Grandfather promised to help me with one on the subspace serpents too.
Aitas: Doctor Mirra Ezo and I served together on Starbase 118. She’s his…I suppose godmother would be the closest equivalent.
Given the scientists in her family, she couldn’t exactly blame Mirra for Aurelio’s enthusiasm. Just for that first alphabet book of infectious diseases. And a few other choices.
The doors slid open, revealing the botany labs – or rather, one floor of the botany labs. The space, like many of the other SRC levels, was arrayed in a ring. The outer edge of the ring was lined with various specialized facilities: a hydroponics bay, a cellular biology laboratory, a chemical sciences lab, microscopy, radiometric studies… these were all connected by the circular hallway in which they now stood and, at the center of it all, was–
Hopper: My favourite part…
Robin strode forward, turning as she did so that she was walking backwards towards the central column of steam-tinted glass, which spanned two decks.
Hopper: The walkthrough arboretum. It currently contains compatible species from thirty-two different Federation worlds – and counting – along with a number of pollinators. It’s also a great place to sit and have your lunch.
Aurelio’s eyes widened, and his gaze darted back and forth, attempting to take all of it in.
Aitas: It’s an impressive sight. Especially given the size of the station.
She followed Robin’s lead easily, while Aurelio seemed to stop and start, as if he were keeping himself from once again rushing ahead.
Hopper: Of course, we don’t all have the luxury of 30,000 cubic feet of growing space in our apartments, do we? ::Chuckling:: So – for something a little more ‘home-sized’, why don’t we start with one of the greenhouses? There are plenty of good houseplants to choose from.
Aurelio: Can we see the ones from Betazed first? And maybe some from Risa if you have any?
He reached up and rubbed at his ja’risia as he thought.
Robin’s eyes flicked up to Aitas, her expression seeking the other woman’s assent.
Aitas: Those sound like good places to start to me. Hopefully some of them will be a good fit for the apartment.
Hopper: Well, how do you keep your parameters? You know, barometric pressure, humidity, artificial light, and so on… Do you have full-spectrum?
Aitas gestured at the PADD. Her father had been quite thorough on the details; rather pointedly so, even for a Vulcan.
Aitas: I do keep it more humid than most of the ShiKahr district, and perhaps a little cooler. And there’s the higher gravity, of course.
Hopper: Let’s start with Risian foliage then. The jungles of Betazed are predominantly tropical through temperate, and quite consistently moist. ::Looking to Aurelio:: Risa might have a lot of water and beaches, but her plants are a little hardier, given the ancient weather patterns they used to have to contend with – before the control systems were built.
She led them to one of the numerous ‘greenhouse’ labs. The door detected her combadge as she approached and slid open, a wave of warm humid air hitting the trio as they walked through. Inside were rows upon rows of various coastal tropical plants – strelitzias, cordylines, anthuriums, plumeria, erigerons… the list went on. Some were broad-leafed and thick-stemmed, others had less showy leaves but sported vibrant flowers, and still others felt more like they had walked off the set of some cheesy Earth science fiction film from the 1950s. It was amazing how unwittingly predictive a few of those had been.
Hopper: See anything you like?
Aurelio immediately darted off toward those with the most vibrant flowers. He stretched out his hand, but didn’t touch them, instead staring in wonder.
Aurelio: Sharkalis has a few of these. I like them!
For her part, Aitas tilted her head, admiring those with the more showy leaves. Despite her numerous flaws in plant care, she did understand enough to know that flowers often faded.
Aitas: Sharkalis is a friend of ours from Risa. And he does indeed have several such flowers.
Hopper: Sounds like he has good taste! Of course, it’s pretty easy growing plants on Risa, where the entire globe is climate controlled.
Aitas: I should probably start small, but ::she turned to Aurelio::, we can fill your room with flowers if you want. It is yours, after all.
Aurelio glanced back at Robin before turning once again to the flowers. His black eyes were wide; he still didn’t quite touch the plants.
Hopper: ::Encouragingly:: Strelitzia xenoforma Risa. Give them a sniff. Supposedly those are the blooms that give Risian honey its distinctive cotton-candy like flavour!
Robin grinned. While she’d always been wary around children, seeing a little boy so enthusiastic about the simple joys of plants was, nonetheless, pretty heart-warming.
Aitas: At this rate you might tempt him into being a botanist.
Aurelio shrugged and otherwise remained in place. It was like a little section of Risa in that room, and it reminded him of just how far he’d have to travel to go back there.
Aurelio: Maybe. How do you get to know so many things about plants?
Robin walked over towards the boy, crouching beside him. She produced a pair of pruners from the pocket inside the flap of her uniform jacket.
Hopper: Well, I had the good fortune of growing up on a farm, for starters. Ansyra, my Mavai – my mom – was a bit of a subject matter expert when it came to growing things as well. She worked for many years as an expert on Centauran terraforming projects… And of course, she learned from my Tsavai, my granny, who’s a biologist. All you need is an interest in learning…
She reached out, running her hand along the stem of the large flowering tropical in front of them, fingertips searching for the little bump that signified the origin point of a growth node.
Hopper: …And plenty of patience.
Reaching in with her pruners, she placed the blades over the stem right above the growth node.
Hopper: Alright, can you take these pruners for me and cut right here?
Aurelio stared at the plant, then back at his mom, and up at Hopper. Then he placed his hands on the pruner, very carefully.
Aurelio: And it won’t hurt the plant?
Hopper: By cutting it here, at just the right point, we’re essentially splitting this one plant into two. The piece that comes off will know to grow roots when you stick it in a bit of water – and in a week or so you’ll be able to plant it in dirt and watch it grow and thrive. The piece that remains will know to grow a new stem and, given the abundant light and humidity, it’ll produce lots of leaves and flowers as well.
Aitas: ::softly:: That doesn’t sound too complicated.
She was still going to make sure she had precise directions, though.
Aurelio nodded, then cut the plant with equal care to which he’d given toward the pruners.
With the stem cut, Robin proudly passed the boy his flower before taking the pruners back and tucking them into her jacket again.
Hopper: There you go, Mister Aurelio. Now, let’s get a jar with some water so it doesn’t dry out, hmm? ::A smile towards Aitas:: And what about you, Aitas? Anything in here striking your fancy?
Aitas: Quite a few things. But I’ll start with these, ::she indicated some of the plants with showy foliage she’d eyed earlier:: Orchids can wait until I’ve more experience at not killing things.
Hopper: Don’t worry… We’ll get you managing a farm in no time.
Lt. Cmdr Robin Hopper
First Officer
Amity Outpost
V239806K11
&
First Secretary Aitas
Federation Diplomatic Corps
Amity Outpost
O239307A10