The Garden of Echo
Posted on Sat May 29th, 2021 @ 2:19am by Kindra Graham & Alison Bliss & Daiyu & Chloe Waltz PhD
Mission:
Back in Black
Location: Daiyu's aeroponics garden, cargo bay under the catwalk
Timeline: en route to Ghost
Kindra had been making an effort to get to know the Fortune's Echo. Small transport ships like this Firefly had a personality, though Kindra couldn't know her as an engineer would - the contented purr of her engine running at peak efficiency, the rattling cringe of too-rough handling, the grinding demand of disciplined repair. Kindra wanted to learn the Echo's soft and hard places, her curves and hollows, the twists and turns of her corridors, shared and hidden spaces. Fortune's Echo was more than an artfully designed vessel of metal, machine, and engine - Echo was home to her crew.
She set about cautious wandering, wearing a casual blue choli and matching harem-pants. Kindra was looking for Alison or another friendly face, and found herself in the cargo bay, where Daiyu appeared to be busy with an interesting assortment of actual live plant starts and equipment. "You're Daiyu, right? Not sure we've officially met. I'm Kindra. Is that an aeroponic garden you're working on? I'm willing to help if I can." She smiled apologetically. "You'd have to tell me what to do, though."
Daiyu snapped her head to attention like she had been poked. Rather than respond to Kindra's question, she led with an observation of her own.
"You're pretty." The sullen stare that followed paired well with the awkward silence. At some point Daiyu blinked but she said nothing else.
"Thank you," was Kindra's automatic response. She cocked her head to the side and wondered if she had somehow offended the other woman. "You must be quite clever. I understand that aeroponic gardens are complicated to establish and maintain."
Daiyu canted her head to mirror Kindra, though her motion was more deliberate and jerky. "I learned at the Monastery," she said at length. "Father...the Father said I have a way with plants." Turning back to the small vine she was nurturing to greater lengths, she said, "Their voices are just kinder than the others." After running her fingers through various plants as though stroking a horse's mane, she made a quick snip. "You must be quite clever as well... You get men to fornicate with you for money and not shame you after."
Kindra regarded Daiyu for a long moment with raised eyebrow, considering an appropriate response to her strangely worded statement. Had Daiyu been shamed after engaging in prostitution? "Perhaps. When you use the word fornicate, what do you mean exactly?"
"Sexual immorality. Adultery. Lasciviousness." Daiyu gave a casual shrug as if she didn't truly know what those words meant apart from their relation to one another. "All of the sinful things that happen when a man and woman are alone together. Father Johns said so."
That explanation gave Kindra pause. She'd heard of religious cults with perverse ideology around human sexuality. Usually it was some isolated group with a charismatic leader who used self-serving doctrine to control and abuse their followers. Guild history told of rare occasions since colonization of the Verse when individuals of that ilk had risen to a level of political power sufficient to attempt a challenge to the position and status of her Guild… and been summarily put down.
"Well then, by that definition I have never fornicated. I'm a registered companion. The purpose of my vocation is to provide consensual pleasure and care to men and women," said Kindra, her tone neutral and informative. She wanted to ask more questions about Daiyu's monastery and Father Johns, but considered the scars on Daiyu's face and decided to wait until she knew the other woman better. "Unfortunately, I'm not especially good with plants, but I do admire those that can coax them to grow and thrive."
"Then treat them as you would a man or woman you wish to please." Grabbing Kindra abruptly by the hand, Daiyu pressed their fingers into the nearest sprout. "Become as one flesh with them that you know its spirit. The defects and blemishes will become known to you then, and you will love them. The defects reveal the hidden truth. Know the plant as yourself and you will know how to care for it." It was more words than Daiyu had put together at a time than ever before. "All I know of myself I learn from them."
Alison was walking by when she heard voices or Kindra and... Daiyu? Naturally being quiet, Alison guess that they might not realize she was nearby and the natural curiosity, had Alison sneak up closer. She came close enough to distinguish words in time to hear the definition of fornication. It made her grin but also sad for Daiyu. The girl was not just unstable mentally, but Alison heard another proof that the girl very likely was abused. Alison had her share of experiences of that but mostly through other people she met. Staying in her place, she listened to Daiyu's lessons on plants.
The way Daiyu grabbed her hand surprised Kindra, but she relaxed into the other woman's hold and went with… whatever this was. Daiyu's interpretation of the way a companion serviced a client was not how Kindra would describe it, but not quite wrong either. "A fascinating insight, one I'll remember." She looked at their intertwined fingers, pressed gently against the sprout, Daiyu's hand cool against hers. "I've always thought of plants in a garden as soothing. Will we harm this young plant, touching it like this?"
"Not if you love it," Daiyu said. "Plants cannot respond to love like animals, but they need it all the same. Otherwise they turn wild, unmanageable, killing even soil until it becomes fallow." She moved along the line, manually and visually assessing each sprout as she talked. "Aeroponics is a good choice for that reason. Being free of the soil liberates the plants to be their best selves."
Kindra looked around at the spray tubing, strange vertical pots, and lighting. Unlike the kind of garden she was accustomed to that relied on the passive delivery of nutrients and light, this garden depended on an active delivery system, supplied by equipment that required power. "Have you consulted with the ship's engineer, Chloe? Shall I check with her and ask if she has time to take a look at your setup?"
"Alden said I could plug it in," Daiyu meagerly offered. "Chloe doesn't like me. She probably won't like my plants."
It took a moment for Kindra to consider her reply. "I've found that engineers often have an, uh, affinity to their mechanical charges that is similar to the way you feel about your plants. I think Chloe would appreciate being asked for her opinion. I'll talk to her."
"You better." Alison stepped inside looking around and raising her left hand, palm open in a calming gesture in case she startled anyone. "I like the idea in general though. We need some greenery even if to keep everyone sane." She gave both women surprisingly soft smile. "How big you can make it, Daiyu? Could we make it also a way to enhance our food supplies, with some spices for example?" She stopped at the entrance.
"I can make it as big as it will be," Daiyu said plainly as if that explained everything.
Kindra was glad to see Alison, and not a bit surprised she appeared at an opportune time. She winked at her friend. "Back soon."
"I'll hold the fort." Alison said playfully to Kindra as she passed her. Turning attention back at Daiyu she looked around assessing how many plants there were. "Where did you learn taking care of plants, Daiyu? If that is not a secret."
"At the Monastery." Daiyu's voice was demure and reserved. While it was true that she'd gained experience in gardening among the Nicolaitan Order, Father Johns had also said her aptitude was beyond that of a novice. Much of what she did was seemingly intuitive. "Did you learn to fornicate with the Companions like Kindra?" The question was posed in the same quiet monotone as before, though her almond eyes widened a bit.
"No. I was a companion." Alison sighed, with a hint of of melancholic longing, while she was watching Daiyu and her reactions. "Was there anyone particular who taught you plants? Or was it more like a common activity for everyone?"
A few minutes later, Kindra stood next to the open door of the engine room. "Chloe? Do you have time for an, uh, diversion? Daiyu is installing an aeroponic garden in the cargo bay, and seems to be…" she tried to think of an appropriate word, "shy about asking you for help."
Chloe looked up. She was wearing long gloves on her arms, a precaution against getting dirty. The gloves hadn't been here before, and certainly weren't part of Echo's inventory. She must have purchased them herself.
Daiyu? Chloe thought to herself. She didn't know much about the girl beyond when the girl ripped somebody's face off. Was this whole aeroponics garden some sort of... therapy? Trying to teach her the value of living things. Yeah, Chloe could see the point of that.
"Yeah, sure," Chloe said, pulling off the gloves. "I'm just waiting for this epoxy to cure. I guess I can help. As long as you don't like, like, leave me alone in a room with her," she muttered that last part, barely audible enough for Kindra to hear. "Does she already have fogging pumps? Or lighting?" Chloe had a decent knowledge of plants, given her experience with some Arabidopsis thaliana experiments in the past. An aeroponics system was new, though, but she knew the theory behind it.
"I, uh… I think I saw some lights amongst her equipment. I don't know what a fogging pump is." Kindra was uncertain what to make of Chloe's requirement not to leave her alone with Daiyu. "I'm happy to stick around, if you'd like, it's an interesting project. Alison is with Daiyu in the cargo bay now."
"Okay," Chloe said, a touch more uncertain after Kindra's response. Uncertainty was the sort of emotion of multiplied, when it came to her, and hearing somebody else hesitate was a surefire way to doubt herself. Was aeroponics like an innuendo for something? Some sort of slang that Chloe didn't know about? The engineer gave a weak smile. "I'll head over to the cargo bay, then. See what all we need."
"Thank you." As she made her way back to the cargo bay with Chloe, Kindra wondered about the engineer's reluctance to be left alone with Daiyu, and Daiyu's assertion that Chloe didn't like her. Kindra had the sense that she was missing something, but surely if it was important Alison would have clued her in. By way of announcing their arrival, Kindra said, "Chloe asked me about what equipment you have, but I didn't know how to answer."
Daiyu said nothing and didn't even look at them. Her hand raised slowly as if paralyzed before pointing at the makeshift power junction that was formed by intersecting power cables in a tangle on the deck.
Alison stepped to the side, allowing the newcomers for an easier access to the room. She glanced at Chloe who didn't look like she was all too happy and then she glanced on Kindra. Alison smiled clearly amused by the situation.
Chloe looked down at the power junction and gave just the smallest frown. All in all, it could've looked worse. Daiyu clearly had a plan in mind, even if she didn't have the engineering expertise needed to execute said plan. "What lighting are you using?" She asked Daiyu directly. "Where's the rest of your equipment?"
"Still in the crate," Daiyu said with a childlike tone that indicated her expectation to be yelled at. "Didn't need the rest yet."
"Right," said Kindra, turning to search the cargo bay whilst appreciating Alison's amused expression. Daiyu looked uncomfortable, so she asked gently, "Daiyu, can you enlighten us as to which crate that would be, or shall we play a game of hot and cold?"
Alison eyed Kindra with a clear 'seriously' mocking glare before she rolled her eyes. This was getting silly, too silly in her opinion. She glanced at the power junction assessing how much power it could draw and if it was a threat to ship's primary functions. Of course she had no idea. Hopefully though, Chloe should know.
"I don't know," Daiyu said with a shrug. "The captain had them hauled aboard and got me started with the first one."
Kindra folded her arms in front of her chest. It definitely seemed like Daiyu was jerking all three of them around, and Kindra just hoped it was unintentional. "Daiyu, it seems extraordinarily unlikely that Alden would have unpacked only a few of your supplies then hidden the crate from you. Now, Chloe agreed to help with the technical aspects of setting up this aeroponic garden." Kindra gestured to the tangle of power cables on the floor. "Help you obviously need. Plus, Chloe is responsible for the operation of the entire ship, including the garden's power supply. Come on Daiyu. Please, just let us help."
At first Daiyu said nothing, merely casting a mistrustful eye toward Chloe. "B-b-b-blue star," she said at length with a stammer. There were, indeed, two crates with a Blue Sun logo embossed on them.
Chloe returned the mistrustful glance with an equally mistrustful glare. "There," she said. Jeez. Her toddler had been easier to work with than this woman. "Was that so difficult?" She asked. Normally she wasn't a fan of questions such as that but her patience ran thin around Daiyu and a part of her considered the stranger a lost cause anyway. "It will be much easier to get to the equipment-" she continued as she stood up and walked towards the other side of the cargo bay where some crates were stored. "Now that I know where it is."
"Rúguǒ nî sî yú dàhúo, ná jīang shì yì zhông chīru," Daiyu said. (It would be a shame if you died in a fire.)
Kindra had started to move toward the crates, not exactly sure how she would help, but ready to take direction. Had she imagined a malicious tone in Daiyu's comment to Chloe? She wondered again what she was missing, but said diplomatically, "A fire resulting from faulty wiring would be dangerous to everyone on board."
"Wǒ bùnéng duì nǐ shuō tóngyàng dehuà (I can't say the same about you)," Chloe muttered in response to Daiyu's comment. Rarely did the woman speak Chinese, not unless there something that language had that she couldn't convey in English, but in this case it was warranted. "Yes," she spoke louder, prying the top off the larger crate off to see if it had the right equipment. "A fire onboard would be less than ideal. More likely than causing a fire, though, faulty wiring would trip the circuit breaker, shutting off the water and light system and killing the plants." She spoke that with a bit more of a condescending tone than an informative one. "That's the problem with aeroponics. In hydroponics, if your pump shuts off, you get some time to fix it. But aeroponics? There's no buffer time. Those roots are as naked as a newborn baby. They lose their water supply, and they're dry and dead within the hour."
"Then we better work TOGETHER." Alison stepped in emphasizing the word 'together'. "To avoid that. It is a great exercise for team bonding. Just to be clear, because as much as Alden might be encouraging this little garden here, I won't give a damn about it and throw it all out of the airlock if it will even once threaten the ship." She said softly but firmly, far from making it a threat and more just a promise. There was a lot of good to have with Daiyu's idea, Alison would be first to admit that, but in the Black the rules of survival could be cruel. She joined Chloe in opening the crates and pulling out lamps and other equipment out of them. "Do you think these would be enough?" She asked Chloe.
"Yeah," Chloe shrugged. "I guess." She decided not to respond to Alison's comment about them working together. After all, she wasn't about to pick a fight with Alison. She imagined the perfect comment to herself though: it's hard to work together when only one of us has a job. What was Daiyu's role here, again? The woman held in a sigh as she pulled the last of the lamp's wires out of the box.
"Don't touch the plants," Daiyu said to Chloe. "Wires and machines may not notice, but plants do. They wither from evil's touch. They can live beyond their means if they are loved." The look Daiyu cast on her sprouts was almost matronly. "Poisonous energy will kill them as surely as lack of watering."
Chloe inhaled a sharp breath. She had been called evil too many times. By her mother, her husband, her coworker. None of those times ended well for her. The word and the situation hit a raw chord with her, and she turned towards Daiyu with nothing short of rage in her eyes. This time it was Daiyu, telling her about the plants. In the past, it had been her family telling her she was too bad, too wrong, to evil to care for daughter. Children wither just as much from "evil's touch" as plants do, according to them. Who was this girl to speak? She had ripped a guy's face off without hesitation. Chloe wasn't always too confident on what was good or bad, but in that event she knew Daiyu were in the wrong How dare she, the woman thought. Of all the situations - how dare she? Chloe was a better person (rarely could she say that, but the bar was low in this case) and undoubtedly more responsible in caring for living things than this psycho. Chloe let out the breath. No. She was supposed to better than this. She respected Alison, at least, and didn't want to face the shame of lashing out like she did to her coworker in front of Alison. Not again. "Fortunately for us," the woman said, trying her best to talk polite as she started looking at the wiring of the lights, turning her gaze away from Daiyu. "Plants can't sense 'evil', and even if they could they don't share your perverse definition of it." There. The scientific answer. If the last few years had taught Chloe anything, it was that science was always right.
"If that is what you think, then it is best you do not care for living things," Daiyu said. "But thank you for helping with the power circuit."
"Daiyu, do you want help? Or not?" Alison stepped in seeing the potential conflict ready to spin out of control. She tried her best not to antagonize Daiyu, and even amend whatever was between them. For Alden. She did care about him even if she was finding his behavior sometimes really stupid like keeping Daiyu regardless of the consequences it had on others around. She sighed letting some of her irritation to be seen on her face. "The plants won't make it without the light, so you better be nice to Chloe if you want her to help you. Can you be nice for her?" She turned to Chloe. "Let's get it over with, Chloe. Fix the lighting, don't touch the plants and let's just leave it." She added calmly but obviously with more intense emotions brewing underneath.
"She said it would not be a shame for me to die in a fire!" Daiyu protested. "Don't talk to me about being nice. You wouldn't know nice if it bit you on your whore pants!"
Alison eyes glinted with barely controllable anger as she instantly turned her face back at Daiyu. "I know that nice people don't bite people, don't steal and then drink someone else's stuff, don't bark at everyone who is trying to help them demanding for from them to be treated nice, and the list go on, Daiyu. So you don't need whore pants, you wouldn't know nice if it ripped your face off." She hissed and took deep breath before turning to Kindra and adding deceptively soft and nice, with a perfectly amicable smile on her face. "I believe that my presence here is somewhat disruptive, so I'll leave it up to you to square those two away." Alison then glanced at Chloe and finally once more at Dayiu. "If lights can't be fixed without risk to ship's power, if all this will present any danger to the security or the safety of the ship and the crew, or if this will be creating any problems whatsoever, I'll throw everything here in the Black myself." She finished and turning on the spot, she walked out of the room leaving remaining three women behind.
"You wouldn't know the first thing about caring for living things," Chloe said, though she wasn't talking about plants. That being said - she did have some plants in her room. Without Alison here, Chloe wasn't so sure about her safety here with Daiyu. Hopefully Kindra would step in if the girl attacked her or something. "Don't dish out what you can't take," she muttered. Still, Chloe didn't touch the plants. She didn't like Daiyu but she knew what if felt like for people to disrespect what was important to you.
Kindra watched the three women snipe back and forth, open-mouthed. Wo de tian a, what was going on here? She knew Alison well enough to expect she wouldn't make up accusations about Daiyu, but Alison had left the room by the time Kindra recovered her voice. She cleared her throat loudly, and spoke to the remaining two women. "That escalated fast."
"Look Chloe, I'm the one who asked for your help with this garden. So, my apologies. I didn't know about-" Kindra gestured vaguely to the three of them and the direction Alison had gone, indicating the hostile interactions. "Well, I still don't rightly know what the problem is. But what I do know is that all of us onboard are hurtling through the black and you, Chloe, are the person keeping the Echo up and running, and keeping all of us alive."
"Keeping us people alive just like you want to keep those plants alive," added Kindra, looking at Daiyu. "Now, you brought up Chloe burning in a fire first and called her poisonous and evil. That is just hurtful. Says loud and clear that you don't want her help. Like I said, I don't know much about aeroponic gardens other than how fresh edibles would surely go a long way toward lifting everyone's spirits. But I'm inclined to accept Chloe's expertise when she says the plants will die if the lighting and power aren't set up right. She's not obligated to help, and at this point I wouldn't blame her if she left now." Kindra folded her hands together loosely in front and regarded first Chloe, then Daiyu. "You do want the plants to live and grow, don't you Daiyu?"
"Sounds like I don't have any choice," Daiyu said petulantly. "Not with anything. Chloe has been mean to me from the moment she got here when I never did anything to her and all of you let her get away with it. She will poison my plants with her evil spirit. I hate it!" Looking at Chloe, she screamed, "I HATE YOU!" Tears began to well up in her almond eyes. "And now my spirit will poison the plants!" She ran up the catwalk toward the bunk area with her hands over her face.
Kindra watched Daiyu run away, dismayed. The girl was intellectually disabled, that much was obvious. She looked at the half-unpacked equipment, and then at Chloe. "It would seem this was a no-win situation from the start. I'm sorry to drag you into it. What now, do you think? Do we set up the aeroponic garden properly despite Daiyu? Or do we close up this crate and leave the rest as-is, for Daiyu to muddle through on her own?"
Chloe took in a deep breath. It was not a calming breath. Hearing Daiyu call her those things had brought back bad memories, but at least in this case it was easier to convince herself that Daiyu was wrong. It didn't hurt quite as much as having somebody she respected tell her the same. But still. The engineer balled up her empty hand into a fist, but she didn't do anything with it.
"No," Chloe shook her head. "We can't set it up. I've met people like her before. They'd tear down our work just out of spite. I-" Chloe paused. She sighed, softly tossing aside the string of lights in her hand. "That girl needs help. She needs to be in an asylum. Not here." She looked back at the equipment, half unpacked onto the ground, "I'm sorry. I'm just... Just, not in the mood to deal with this." Chloe stood up. "I can come back tomorrow, and put in a fuse. In fact, you could even put the fuse in if you want." Talking about electronics, keeping her mind off of what had happened - that was how Chloe stayed calm. "A type-T fuse. They're all labelled, down in the engineering room. As long as it has the fuse in the circuit, no matter what Daiyu or whoever sets up, it won't hurt the ship. Probably won't hurt it anyway, but I'd rather replace a fuse at this local level than letting the interior electronics on the whole cargo bay go out."
"Yes, of course. A fuse… that much I can do. Whatever Alden spent on the equipment for this project of Daiyu's, I hope she doesn't waste it." Kindra wondered if she should go speak to the girl. The equipment would wait until Daiyu was done throwing her tantrum, but the plants would die, especially the ones already removed from soil. "Are you headed back to the engineering room now? I can go with you and grab that type-T fuse."
Chloe looked at the woman. Offering to help her? Chloe had assumed after what she had said, even if it paled in comparison to Daiyu, that nobody would want to be near her. Voluntarily offering to come with her and help grab a fuse? The engineer blinked in surprise. "Yeah..." Chloe muttered. And then, with more conviction: "Yeah. I'm headed there now."
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