Chapter 23
Ashley mindlessly doom scrolled on her phone while waiting for Bailey in the common area of their shared dorm. She noticed a protest today in Meta-Eden about the very show she was starring in and how it empowered the current Council of Heralds without taking any accountability over talks of corruption. Some in the public saw the competition as a spectacle to distract from the lack of any foundational change in the inner workings of The Council and a way to avoid addressing the lack of accountability and the lack of transparency inherent in its current iteration. A pang of guilt hit Ashley’s stomach. She never thought she’d actually make it this far. She only entered the damn thing to appease her parents. Ash always loved going to protests but didn’t know how to feel now that the rage and ire were pointed in her general direction. She wondered if Bailey would be upset if they swung by the protest at some point.
“Whatcha looking at?” Bailey said playfully, not intending to sneak up on her shopping buddy but clearly startling her nonetheless.
“Oh! Um, plants, actually. You know, power research,” Ashley stumbled over her words a bit.
“Gotcha. Well, I’m ready to head out whenever,” Bailey dramatically slid her sunglasses on to make the point.
Ashley gave a polite chuckle, stood up, and said, “Let’s do this then!”
The pair made their way to the elevator in the hallway and waited in silence until the doors opened to reveal Ritchie standing alone, staring forward awkwardly. After joining him in the lift, seeing that the Lobby button was already lit, Bailey nodded to acknowledge the young, budding producer.
“Where you headed?” he asked before realizing that maybe he was prying too far into their privacy. “I only ask because you probably want to avoid the main elevator that would drop you off on the ground floor at The Spire’s entrance. There is a bit of a crowd forming, and you two are celebrities now.”
Ashley hadn’t even considered that. She was about to ask what they should do, but Bailey jumped in before she could get a word out.
“Really?! Is this already on my IMDB?” Bailey asked excitedly.
“I mean, probably. If not now, eventually. The live Culling coverage garnered the highest ratings ever for the network, both overall and in The Demo.” Ritchie excitedly explained. He pressed the button for the third floor and continued. “There is a skywalk on three. You can take it to The Show’s Tower. Follow the hallway until you reach the elevator bay marked VIP. It will take you to a secret side entrance that will help you avoid the crowds. We use it when we have big-time celebs visit that don’t want to be seen by the press. Even though Meta-Eden’s location has been secret until recently, we still have a gaggle of reporters here for press conferences and Q&As.”
The two meta ladies made their way out of The Herald complex using the side door and started to make their way to the exotic plant nursery that Ashley found close by.
“Well, that was pretty nifty!” Bailey commented on their wily escape.
“Yeah, they really thought of everything,” Ashley agreed.
“I'll have to remember that door for when I become a big-time actress,” Bailey laughed.
Ashley was a bit taken aback. “You really don’t want to be a Herald?”
“Damn, you sound like Joel,” Bailey mumbled. “I mean, the profile is cool. And getting to do some good on such a grand scale would be awesome. But I don’t actually want to fight crime. Plus, I love acting. It’s what brings me the most joy in this world. And, honestly, joy was in short supply the way I grew up.”
Ashley didn’t really know what to say to that, so she went with a compliment, which also happened to be the truth. “For someone who doesn’t want to fight crime, you’re pretty good at it.”
“Well, I do want to be an actress. Gotta know how to defend myself against creeps.” Bailey laughed.
“Sure, but there’s a big difference between a couple of self-defense classes and surviving The Culling.”
“I guess,” Bailey said sheepishly. “But, enough about me. What was so important that we needed to visit a plant shop on our first free day off? I mean, I get that you are a plant manipulator or aspect, but what do you need that you didn’t have during The Culling, if you don’t mind me asking?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Yea, I’m a manipulator. I can’t create plants or turn into a plant or anything that I know of anyways. I just had some ideas about new ways to use my power in combat, which I never had to consider before, like in college stuff. I always saw myself like on a mission to regrow the Amazon rainforest or create food for an impoverished area. Throwing down against criminals and saving kids from crashing planes is all new to me.”
“For someone who doesn’t want to fight crime, you’re pretty good at it.” Bailey giggled.
“Nice callback,” Ashley said as she tried holding back her laughter. Their chit-chat continued all the way to the nursery.
‘Summer Breeze Exotic Plants and Gardening Store’ sat alone on a plot of land adjacent to downtown Meta-Eden, just a short walk from Herald HQ. The two powerful meta women entered the small shop, which was surrounded by an acre of land that was home to a plethora of flora, some of which was very dangerous: which is exactly what Ashley was looking for.
A small older woman with grey hair up in a bun, wearing a plaid apron, greeted the two younger women.
“Hello. My name is Thelma. What can I help you two lovelies with today? Looking for anything specific?”
Bailey was silent, letting her newfound buddy take care of business. Ashley surveyed the small shop and asked, “Is this everything?” She noticed a few racks of seed packets, gardening equipment, bags of soil, and some smaller plant cuttings in pots along the back wall.
“Oh, no.” The apparent shop’s owner answered. “We have our larger trees, bushes, vines, and shrubs outside. In addition to our more exotic wares. Although, you can find seeds for many of those varieties in here.”
Ashley pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled up a list she had created the day before. “So, I was wondering if you had any seeds for plants with thick, knotty vines. Super tough, hard-to-break vines.”
“Well,” Thelma pondered, “We have many varieties of grape vines for those that want to start a winery.”
“No,” Ashley interjected, “I mean, massive vines. Like Tarzan swinging vines.”
“Oh! I see what you are putting down, sweetie. Yes, I do think I have something you might be interested in. Come this way.” The shopkeeper waved Ashley and Bailey over to the wall of small plant cuttings where a small leafy green thing was sticking a couple of inches out of a medium-sized pot. “This here is a Liana vine that grows in rainforests. My contact just brought this back last week. We haven’t cultivated any seeds yet, but you are welcome to buy this cutting.”
“Um, well, I really need seeds for what I am trying to do. Do you mind?” Ashley asked as she placed her pointer finger on the top of the baby vine.
“Sure?” Thelma answered, questioning what Ash was up to but not too worried.
Suddenly, a small pod formed inside the vine’s stem and worked its way up to the top of the small plant. All of a sudden, the pod unfurled into a small leaf, holding a collection of about a dozen tiny seeds. “Thank you, Liana,” Ashley said before turning to the shop’s owner. “How much for the seeds?”
“Woah,” Thelma accidentally spoke her thoughts out loud. Collecting herself, she answered, “I hadn’t yet priced anything out, but the cutting was going to be 50 dollars. Maybe 20 bucks for the seeds?”
“Sounds good,” Ashley responded.
Thelma stared at the plant controller in awe, thinking about how much this young lady could transform her business model. “Or you could come to work for me and get all the seeds you want for free.”
Ashley laughed pleasantly. “I’ll think about it. That is a very kind offer.”
“Kind, Shmind,” Thelma spat. “You would be a godsend!”
Ignoring the compliment, Ashley moved on to the next item on her list. “So, I was wondering if you had any suggestions for plants that are poisonous but not particularly deadly; plants that could quickly have some detrimental effect if someone were to come in contact with them; poisonous from contact but not from ingestion.”
“That’s a curious inquiry.” Thelma looked at Ashley quizzically.
Ash quickly added, “It’s for this contest that maybe you have heard of. We sometimes have to fight each other or other constructs, and I need a way to incapacitate or neutralize opponents quickly. I’m not looking to like poison my boyfriend or anything.”
Thelma cackled a bit. “I would never assume, miss. But, as for your inquiry, I do have some ideas.”
Over the next half hour, Ashley collected seeds of Hogweed, Poison Oak, Poison Ivy, Poison Sumac, and Stinging Nettles, as well as seeds for a few thorny bushes and some cacti clippings.
Thelma gave details about the different plants as she rang Ashley up to remind her of their potencies. “Now remember, the Hogweed causes blisters and can temporarily blind a person, so be careful with that one. Poison Oak and Ivy are ridiculously itchy and difficult to remedy without a healer. Poison Sumac will create a painful rash that will feel like extreme pain in the bones, and the Stinging Nettles have little prickly hairs that will attach upon contact like a dozen little bee stings. Please, don’t make me regret supplying you with these.”
This time Bailey was the first to respond. “No guarantees, lady! But thank you for helping us. You should watch us compete on Onyx TV! The season premiere is airing next week, but the live replays are up right now to watch. It’s called ‘Top Seed,’ and we are the stars!” She placed her hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “You should see this blond dynamo in action. It's something to behold.” Bailey figured a purveyor of exotic plants would enjoy seeing Ashley’s power in all its glory and in real-time.