Chapter 134 Sweet sweet cola
"Sister, have you seen this?" Fey came to see Scarlet in a hurry. She was holding her small computer terminal in her hands and waving it around wildly. It seemed as if something 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 same time when it came to the standards and behavior of women from noble families.
"You participate in mecha fights and combat training come 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 something like this has occurred. Think about it this way, eventually that company has to come 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 come 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 come to us. So, instead of worrying, tell Beord that we should send a congratulatory message to that company and extend an invitation to open a cooperative channel with them."
"Yes, yes, they have to come 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 development 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 seemed little Sia had somehow 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 some honey buns and milk from her storage space. "Here, eat carefully, I am working so don't disturb me 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 came in to see her.
"You will never believe what happened." Oak shouted loudly immediately. 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, some 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 some research.
"Once." she replied. "If animals can mutate what stops plants from doing the same? Be especially careful around beautiful and hypnotic flowers, they can be the most deadly. Some of them use deadly poison as a defense mechanism."
"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 some 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 me?"
"This." Oak showed her a red oval shaped fruit. "We have been carefully using the water and fertilizer you gave us in the experimental fields, some 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 smelled 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 some 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 times had they been called before the house of ministers and been ridiculed before the emperor by some ministers. Those ministers had called their agriculture department a blackhole of funding. Money went in but no results came 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 smell reminds me of something my teacher once mentioned. 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 come to an understanding quickly before someone 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?"