30. Don't worry, be happy

It was already a week since expedition team went out, and things at the station entered a new daily routine seamlessly. 

First task, securing all the spaces before the move, was already done. Would not be if Olaf was slacking at his job, which he did not. His team now just made sure all the things they use right now will not start randomly flying around when station activates its move protocol.

Being hit in the head by falling furniture would not kill them, but sure would hurt.

Stripping most of the gardens to the dry pipes and placing them in hibernation, though, made Dagda deeply concerned. Rules of using those structures for growing plants were rather strict, and steps could not be omitted. Meticulous care was required to maintain crop rotation, and he spent a lot of time on careful planning of usage for each section.

Sure, at a glance it was a simple repetitive job. First they would harvest crops in one section and process them; then would clean up that part of the system; ending it with setting up new seedlings with fresh nutrients solution. Then move to another section, rinse and repeat.

But this time they had to drain whole system at once. And halt replanting until station moves to new location. Only after the station is done moving, could they start with next generation of crops. It will take a few months before whole thing is back in proper rotation.

And they didn't know when exactly the move will be triggered by away team. Could be in a few months, or in a year. How to plan food distribution and usage in such conditions? He felt like no one bothered to actually think about it. Was it expected of him to do it, or Geb as main cook?

Like, those stews Geb liked to make. Carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, barley, soy sausages. Corn for bread. Each ingredient came from different section, and had different growth conditions and harvest cycles. If they were to go down to minimal level of production, how is he to ensure all ingredients are available as when whole garden was in active use?

Suddenly he had an idea - drying and canning. He will have to explore options of food preservation he usually did not use nor cared about.

Tzol said outside is clean enough, and not life threatening. Ah Kin had that platform with full sun exposure. He might complain about his personal space being usurped but this is state of emergency. And beside, there was a rumor that Xul grounded him and banned from going up to the roof again. He could dry vegetable and fruit slices up there.

As for canning, Geb and Hama should solve that issue. It was their area of expertise after all.

Happy with his decided course of action, he looked up and saw Rudra and Wuo draining out last of the solution from the section they just finished harvesting. With this, all the grains kept here at middle level were collected. After sending them up to granary next to kitchens, they can flush the pipes with disinfectant, and seal them up.

Then they can harvest all the fruits and veggies left on top floor, pass them to Geb to handle and then focus on organizing rotation of fast growing vegetables for daily usage. If they keep active area small enough, they can risk it being damaged in the move.

He wondered how long will that take. Did Yax managed to keep everyone safe out there? Were they all right on their own?

He sighed and asked out of the blue "Do you think twins are doing all right out there?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" Wuo curtly replied, not even looking back at Dagda. His brothers might not be physically strong, but had smarts and wide skill set. And why did they all referred to them as twins? They were quadruplets, sharing same genes and arriving all together, but somehow Hama and him got excluded from the set.

He understood that his muscle mass made him a lot bulkier than Echo and Floreo. He just liked to lift weights in free time. Man has to have some hobbies.

Soma even commented that he looked more like their older brother, or dad. Which would always make his eyelids twitchy.

Hama on the other hand, also grew his body mass. Just not with muscles. His love of pastries even overpowered their enhanced metabolism, making him look uniquely chubby. Soft.

Not fat, he had no distinct belly or double chin. It was just that his whole body looked as if he rolled himself in a thin layer of puffy dough and forgot to use oven afterwards. And, since everyone else barely had any body fat, it stood out.

Wuo felt his own irritation and got annoyed even more. He will grow even more muscle. He will be as large as those two twigs put together. Strong enough to pick up all of his brothers together.

Rudra felt the need to find an excuse to go work on some other section of the garden, far from those two. One sighed non stop, other was breaking record in grumpiness. Because twins were away? Lacking Floreo's careless buffering and Echo's redirection?

Dagda was random, and had unique sense of humor. That was something he knew and did not mind much. Usually, while they worked the gardens, Dagda would be focused on his tasks and there would be no issues.

He would tease twins a bit, sure, but he handled vegetables and fruits with care, and all together it was a relaxing job. This past week though, the usual peaceful atmosphere just dissolved bit by bit.

Wuo was standard silent type. But lately his irritation was radiating out of him in waves. Was Dagda not able to sense it at all? And was he aware that he mentioned twins every 15 minutes or so? To hell with it.

He finished his work and slapped his hands together. "I think this is it for today." Rudra just could not take it any more "We have a card game tonight with the tournament group, Wuo, don't forget."

He slapped Dagda's shoulder while passing by him "I will tell Notos and Veles they can inspect this section tomorrow and seal it up." then he waved and ran away to his place to change and shower.

He and Soma were playing against Garragesale team today, name Ivory gave to Kane and Ler according to some story in his records. They will likely lose, as playing cards against people with chips in their heads and trying to win, yea right, he may be a Metalhead but he sure is not a Bowser.

It was a mystery why Notos named his team Bowser. He claimed it's from some ancient game tool he once had found and played with. But then it short-circuited and fried itself beyond repair, so it could not be confirmed.

But by now, to them that word became a shortcut for 'stubbornly optimistic nutcase', thanks to Veles so vehemently refusing to accept any possibility of defeat no matter what or against who he played.

Fifth team in their so-called Players League were Saviours, still on probation, and not full members. And, as Yax and Ivory went out on a mission, they were off the leaderboard this time.

Older guys did not participate in their tournaments, they had their own interests and pass times. Like Ah Kin's sunning and holy potions, or Geb's experimental dishes.

Youngsters were not bored enough to seek entertainment yet. Jone, for example, had no interest in participating but he observed some of their games. The three lost children got picked up by Olaf and being trained in basic life skills, so too busy to join in.

The fact that Yax dragged Ivory to join them was just due his mission being cancelled. And to be perfectly honest, if Soma did not pull Rudra to form a team, Rudra would likely not play with them at all.

Original group in the Game Room were Ler, Kane, Soma and Veles. And as much Rudra knew, they teamed up to play while still at Academy. They arrived together and soon after asked permission from Xul to make themselves an entertainment area, promising they will keep it clean themselves.

Some time later, Notos was pulled in by Veles, as they got to work together on maintenance. And after that, Soma took some time to persuade Rudra to try it out as well.

At the beginning, he felt too old to join in, aware that everyone else in the group were way younger than him. It did make him feel a bit awkward. But with time, as games were indeed a fun change to his usual routines, he relaxed and embraced this dynamic and easygoing group.

Showering and changing clothes after whole day of physical work helped him relax a bit. Listening to Dagda sighing and Wuo grumbling did a number on his mood indeed.

He snickered, remembering that Greenthumbs were playing against Bowser tonight. Considering foul mood Wuo was in, Veles might just chance himself a victory. And then use that to punish Greenthumbs to do food delivery for them, like last time. That will make his mood improve for a whole next week.

As for himself, he was prepared to lose today. He comforted himself that any punishment for loosing that Ler could pull out of his mad hat, would be nothing compared to his suffering at work during this time.