driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Zoe Hange
Broadcast: Yes, fleetwide video
Action: If you're on the Red Fish
When: 2/16 early afternoon

[Tap-tap-tappity goes Hange's finger on the mic, and the speakers pop-pop-pop in response. There's a moment's pause, and then Hange flicks the setting from audio to video and grins at the camera.]

Good afternoon, everyone! New arrivals and parties being planned, I see everyone's keeping busy. Good, good! The fastest way to get bored is to give yourself nothing to do!

Speaking of that - I've been working on a little something I'd like to rope the whole fleet into, if ships are willing! It'd be to the benefit of all of us, hopefully, and I think it would boost morale around here too. We aren't meant to be crammed in these cans with no sky and no trees around. So!

[Up pop some drawings, in front of the screen. It looks like a vertical setup of... troughs? Deep troughs with some other stuff thrown in there. Hange's voice continues cheerfully from behind her papers.]

What I'd like to do is get us microfarming! I took as many samples as I could from that forest, so we have some stock to start with. I'm looking especially at producing edible plants and those with medicinal purposes! Vertical arrangement would be more space-efficient then horizontal. I'm hoping to start things off on the Red Fish, and if we see success, build similar setups in the ships of those who are interested! One of our young engineers seems confident he can set us up with growlights, so that'd mitigate the lack of sunlight we see on these ships. And I know we have some people around who are excellent at working with plants!

[She drops the papers, grins sunnily at the camera again.]

Of course, they'd require tending to. That's why I'm broaching the idea to everyone!

[Kaneis]

Say! Introduce me to your botanically-inclined crewmate!

[Hiro]

You're still on board for this, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh- [Komaeda is completely taken aback by such an earnestly friendly response to his presence. He blinks for a few beats, but then smiles sort of halfway, as if he's expecting a kick that's winding up.] It's... good to see you too, Hange.

Will you keep some kind of updated site so we can see how the progress is going?

[So sweet. She feels a brief moment of pity for him. Komaeda is obviously strange, and maybe it drives others away, but it's unfortunate he should be so surprised at a mere friendly greeting.

She won't say anything about it though.]

Oh, a site? I hadn't thought about it, and I don't have any experience with doing things like that, but I suppose it could be a possibility! I was imagining keeping people updated through this.

If you'd like, I can help with that, at least. Maybe we could have a live feed of the plants growing, haha. It might be more exciting than watching stars go by, though perhaps only marginally.

[He has reached the point in his life where he is excited to literally watch grass grow. Komaeda wishes he felt more conflicted about how excited he is.]

I have a bit of experience with technology, if you'd like my help.

[She's not sure it's necessary so much as she thinks to herself that Komaeda probably needs something productive to do that prompts her response:]

Sure, kiddo! I'd be happy to have something like that set up. I've had kind of a crash course in this tech since I arrived here, but I'd be happy to have your help with things.

[Though he would protest that this wasn't true, his protests wouldn't really ring very true. Komaeda is used to being able to roam as he likes- being stuck on a spaceship isn't really conductive to that. Keeping himself busy isn't something he's ever had to work to do.]

All right! I'll have to gather up some components, and then I'm sure we can get it set up soon.

[That's something Hange can relate to. Usually at home, she has so much to do... enforced idleness grates on her.]

Excellent! Will you get in touch with me when you think you're ready?

I'll definitely do that. I think I've been cleaning the ship too much lately, so it will be good to focus on technology for a bit.

You don't think it's possible to rub away the finish of a floor just with a mop and soap, do you?

I think you should make an experiment of it! Cordon a bit of floor off if you can and scrub it every day with a mop and soap just as you have been. Then compare it to the floor around. If you see a difference, maybe you can!

Huh, good idea! ... But that means I'll probably have to not mop in the rest of that room. Or maybe it takes a really, really long time.

Hmm. Cordon off a small section that you don't mop, and a small section that you mop incessantly! Then you can mop most of the room as you usually do, and your control and your experiment will remain intact.

[He laughs so hard that his shoulders quiver a little.]

Uh, I guess I can do that! I'll let you know what I find out!

Hahaha! Good, Komaeda! Let me know whatever you learn!

I guess I will!

And, uh, I was thinking, about the plants- we'd normally need special lights ourselves to not die of a lack of vitamin D, right? So is it possible that we could simply try to grow some smaller plants or what have you, under just our normal lights?

[She takes a moment to think about that, tapping her fingers, before she speaks again.] As far as I can guess - maybe the negative affects of improper light just haven't had time to cause health problems yet? Or perhaps Atroma doesn't think its cast dying slowly on camera is a draw for the audience, and they've modified ship lights to serve that purpose as well.

Which is to say, it might well be worthwhile trying to grow some small plants on board too. Really, there's all kind of experimentation we can be doing! You're setting us up to be quite busy, Komaeda.

Haven't there been some people here who have been on the ships for several months? I think rickets and other things would definitely have set in by then, right? I think the lights must be full-spectrum or something like that. [Turning his face up to the ceiling to look in the direction of said lights for a moment, Komaeda tips his head this way and that.]

I'll definitely try it! It can't hurt. I don't know a lot about gardening, though. I guess I'll have to figure it out one way or another. [HE IS SO EXCITED!]

[She agrees, to be honest - Atroma's goal doesn't seem to be to torture them with illness. Although if they suffer it, Atroma won't mix their hands in to help. Since she has nothing to say to that, she just moves on to the next topic of conversation.]

Ahaha, well, it's the bestp ossible thing you could do for yourself here, in my opinion! Learn new things! Try out innovations! Make lots of mistakes!

I hope you're right. I think I might have had my full share of mistakes as of late, though. I'm hoping for some successes at this point.

[...] By the way, there are all sorts of people here with unusual hair colors! Were you just playing a joke on me the other day?!