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There, between the nursery and the lab, sat the cabbage patch in the middle of the courtyard. Apparently this was going to be literally dirty. Iijima went straight past the rows of cabbages at such a brisk pace it forced Lixxie to separate from his shadow. He made his way to a little garden shed located all the way in the far corner of the yard. it was little more than a basic shack set against the wall.

"You," said Iijima, grabbing a hand spade and dropping it in his lab coat pocket, "can hold this." He handed her a fairly hefty terracotta pot, the kind you might find in any yard or hardware store in the world. Then he grabbed a sack of enriched potting soil. While the pot Lixxie was holding was by no means a tiny thing, at least she was not carrying the dirt-filled sack. Iijima hefted it onto his shoulder with a grunt, bits and pieces of detritus showering his coat. "Off we go!" He seemed to like making such bold pronouncements whenever the chance arose.



((you can go ahead and take it over to the cabbages!))

"Thank you!" beamed Iijima, settling into the task of digging out the cabbage. He had only brought the one spade, so apparently was not going to ask her to engage in any dirtying labor. He did not even flick a single speck of dirt in her direction. He had some skill at the task, punching into the ground with practiced efficiency. "The trick is," he said as he dug down, "to program the cabbage to retract its root system before you start digging."

Iijima grinned to himself, too kind to laugh out loud at Lixxie. He was not known for his social graces, but he tried to avoid teasing people he had only just met too much. "Like it? I love it," he said earnestly. "Dr. Akari may not seem like the most generous person, but she's a good boss and I'm honored to work with her. Besides, the lab facilities are truly unbelievable."

Iijima then reached up for the pot, apparently ready to move to the next step. "I won't pretend I'm entirely happy about the security measures and the intrusiveness, but when you have the best technology, there's a desire to protect it from the competitors. I really don't agree with that, but it's how corporations work! Can't risk the profits, among other things." He said the last part darkly, frowning. Other things was apparently Not Good.

The question left Iijima somewhat baffled. He paused openmouthed a moment, the pot in his hands. Then he set the pot on his knee. "I wouldn't say our research is ever finished. It's an ongoing process of scientific discovery between everyone who works at the lab." He adjusted his glasses and resumed the task of uprooting the cabbage, continuing, "We all work together, and our research is connected, Something Dr. Akari is working on might impact the work being done by, say, Dr. Caspar, our head of microbiology. They have access to each other's notes and exchange information." As he spoke, he shoveled a layer of potting soil into the pot to prepare it for the cabbage. Some of the soil ended up on his jeans and lab coat, tarnishing the white cloth.

Iijima froze again, and it was a good thing Lixxie was steadying the pot because right then he might have dropped it. His face hardened. "It wouldn't be a good idea. They don't let you work here if you don't pass certain loyalty tests, and something like that... it..." He took a breath, cleared his throat. "It could hurt a lot of innocent people. I would hate to think any of my co-workers would be capable of doing something like that. Anyway, it's not something we should really be talking about." With that he stabbed the spade into the loose dirt, moved the pot to the ground, and reached his arms around the cabbage.