[ rows upon rows of plants and still not enough to feed as many people as they have. éadaoin has an eye for these things. these plants are not enough to sustain a whole population, which explains the soylent substitute the new hatchlings had been fed. she paces between the rows, touching the leaves of some of the tomato plants.

they're growing fine, despite any atmospheric differences. lucky. then she touches her fingers to the casing, and she realizes the real issue isn't the atmosphere and the lack of earth's soil, the real issue is that imitating earth's soil in hydroponics is a short term solution. ]

They're so fucked.



[ later, she can be found straying out from under the leviathan's shelter without a rain shield. she at least checks the sky for likely immediate acid rain first, then scampers out to gather soil samples and start prodding at some of the immediate native grasses. there aren't many of them, certainly not hearty enough for farming. the region looks mountainous, if anything.

she plops down into the dirt, shoulders slumped heavily, staring up at the sky as if wishing for it to rain and put them all out of their misery already. ]

[ at first, she doesn't realize what's going on. it's normal. éadaoin gets into the shower, turns on the spray, and when it hits her skin like cold needles, she jumps and flashes to something else. a memory. a relived past life, on that she hadn't hit yet. one where she's a little boy with shiny black leather shoes that kick over the edge of the open train car that rumbles lightning-fast across the countryside. someone beside her (him? no, she's still her.) plays a sad, wheedling tune on harmonica.

and then she's back in the shower. scrubbing at a red patch of skin near her collarbone. she grabs a towel when the water runs out and pats at it when the next hallucination hits, worse this time, knocking her to her knees. she crashes into the row of lockers and slides to the floor, shrieking at anyone who tries to touch her. ]

all the money in the world can't buy what i want.