Undercover
"Ugh."
Angela, fresh out of the shower, melted onto the bed without even drying her hair.
Under normal circumstances, she would never do such a thing.
Priding herself on her strict self-care routine, Angela always took precautions to prevent anything that might compromise her appearance.
She should have applied hair essence, blow-dried it thoroughly, and finished her skincare routine with a perfect layer of moisturizer... but right now, she simply didn't have the energy.
"It's a new bathtub."
"The manual says it has a spa function, too."
"And it has an auto-clean feature, so it's super convenient."
Upon returning to the office, Swoo's eyes had sparkled at the sight of the bathtub Serena had gifted them. She had immediately ripped open the bath bomb sitting next to it, shed her clothes, and started running the warm water.
Angela had told Swoo to go ahead and use it first while she sorted through the credits and various gifts they had received from Kou. Then, thirty minutes later...
"Angela, this is weird."
"I think the bath bomb is defective."
Fluffy, white bubbles began to seep out from under the bathroom door, spreading into the office.
"Oh. I guess I wasn't supposed to put the whole thing in."
"The water? I'll turn it off. But I can't see anything."
"Yep... it's fine. I can do this."
Buried under the mountain of suds, Swoo had conjured a gust of wind to clear them away.
The result was entirely predictable.
The wind scattered the bubbles throughout the entire office, coating the wallpaper and the tiled floor in soapy foam.
Swoo had offered to clean it up herself afterward, but Angela couldn't bring herself to trust Swoo's cleaning skills.
Anyone who had ever crossed paths with Swoo would have given the exact same response.
And so, Angela had to clean up the entire mess with her exhausted body before she could finally wash up herself...
"Angela, do you want steamed potatoes for breakfast? These aren't Kimera, they're real potatoes."
"...Where did you suddenly get potatoes?"
"They were in the gift box Kou gave us."
If he grows his own strawberries to make strawberry milk, I suppose he grows potatoes too. Kou really is more diligent than he looks, Angela thought.
With that thought, Angela turned her head. There was Swoo, holding sprouted green potatoes in both hands.
Honestly, it was a miracle Swoo had even recognized them as potatoes. No matter how one looked at them, they were definitely not the color of potatoes.
"...Well, they certainly look like real potatoes rather than Kimera ones, but I don't think we should eat them."
"Why?"
"Potato sprouts contain solanine, so you'll get food poisoning if you eat them. And see how they're green? That means the solanine has already spread through the whole potato."
"Dragons don't get stomachaches."
"Your sister does."
"Then should we grow them?"
"...Huh?"
Angela stared at her, wondering if she was actually serious, but Swoo replied with a completely straight face.
"I can grow them."
"Really?"
"Yep. Someone grew them on Mars, so I can do it even better on Earth."
I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
It was a movie based on a novel that started with those exact lines. The opening had left quite an impression on Swoo, which was why she still remembered it.
"...Mars? Someone grew potatoes on Mars? Did they go there on vacation to do that? Who?"
"Mark Watney."
"Um... I, I see."
No one had ever grown potatoes on Mars.
No matter how hard Angela searched her databases, no such record existed.
"Can I grow them?"
"Sure... why not?"
"Yep."
With sparkling eyes, Swoo cut the six potatoes into quarters, placed them on a plate, and set them under a desk lamp. If planted immediately, the moisture on the cut surfaces could cause mold, so drying them out thoroughly was a crucial step.
"Our Swoo really knows what she's doing, doesn't she?"
"Dragons don't lie."
Afterward, Swoo opened an online shopping mall to order pots and soil for the potatoes.
"Oh."
She had never imagined that soil would be this expensive.
But on second thought, it made sense.
While useless dirt could be scooped up anywhere outside, high-quality soil capable of sustaining plant life was bound to be in limited supply.
Even if they were living in relative peace now, Eden was still a dystopian city at its core.
After a moment of deliberation, Swoo dialed the number of someone who would likely have access to such soil.
"Hi, Frey."
[Ah... Swoo. It's been a while.]
"Are you sick?"
[No, I just didn't sleep very well.]
Swoo had initiated a video call to keep her promise of always using video chat when they spoke, but Frey's face looked incredibly haggard.
It wasn't just a lack of sleep; she looked like someone who had been trembling in terror all day.
Angela gasped in surprise at Frey's appearance, but Swoo remained unfazed.
"Why?"
[The details will probably be on the news soon. There was a major incident... or maybe an accident, in Sector 7. Anyway, something like that happened.]
"Ah."
[And since my shop is in Sector 6, I've been too anxious to sleep...]
"Did you open the shop without sleeping?"
[Yeah, I still have to work.]
"I see. Then, find me some soil."
[Uh...]
Frey blinked blankly for a long moment.
Normally, conversations between women were supposed to involve empathizing with each other's feelings and situations, offering comfort.
But Swoo bypassed all of that and went straight to the point.
Frey had felt this when talking to Enoch too, but Swoo felt like she was always one step ahead of him...
[S-Sure. What kind of soil are you looking for?]
But what could she do?
Frey knew by now that Swoo was not someone anyone in the world could easily handle.
"I'm going to grow potatoes, but the ones they sell online are super expensive."
[Aha, of course they are. But you did the right thing by calling me. Thanks for thinking of me, hehe.]
"Yep. So, do you have any?"
[...I do. Should I have it delivered today?]
"Tomorrow is fine. I have to dry the potatoes first."
[I see... How much should I send?]
"Hmm..."
She hadn't thought about that.
How much soil did she need to grow potatoes?
"Ten kilograms for now."
If it wasn't enough, she could order more, and if it was too much, she could just grow other plants.
"Oh, do you have other plant seeds too?"
[What kind of plants? Well, you could say my shop has pretty much everything except what it doesn't.]
"Apple seeds."
[Apples? But apples grow on trees. And for those, it's usually better to get saplings rather than seeds.]
"A sapling sounds better."
[Are you going to... grow that in a pot?]
"We can move it to a wider space once it grows."
[That won't be easy...]
"It's fine. I'm not the one growing it, it's a gift."
Doesn't that make it even harder?
Frey thought, but she didn't question it further and simply nodded. She just hoped the recipient wasn't her.
[Got it. I'll send it tomorrow along with the soil. I'll include a guide inside, so you can just follow that.]
"Do you have a paper guide instead of a shard?"
[Paper...? I don't have anything like that. Should I write it down for you?]
"Just send it as a shard then."
Still, since it's a gift, wouldn't it be better to give a handwritten manual?
Swoo smiled brightly at the thought.
She had planned the perfect schedule for the day.
Transfer the soil delivered from Frey's shop into the pots, plant the potatoes and the apple sapling, take a commemorative photo, and head to Salvador's office with the sapling in hand.
Then, she would have lunch with Salvador, and in the evening, enjoy a delicious steak at the restaurant Angela had reserved. It was going to be a truly flawless day.
"This is who I am."
Swoo accepted the shard handed to her by the man in front of her, her face blank. Of course, only Angela could recognize Swoo's blank expression as a pout.
To anyone else, she just looked typically lethargic.
Operations Team Leader
Erik Linus
It was the company, rank, and name written on the business card.
Zyrec Tech's CSIA stood for Corporate Security & Intelligence Agency. Such terms were tedious and pedantic; in short, they were Zyrec's secret police.
And an operations team leader in the secret police department was a fairly high-ranking position.
Of course, it was a step below Serena, who held the position of director, but given the heavy nature of the CSIA's work, it wasn't a position that could be easily compared or looked down upon.
An operations team leader of the secret police had come to Swoo's office.
Her first impression of him wasn't very good.
It wasn't just because he had ruined her perfect day. She disliked how he acted so high and mighty while presenting his card, despite being secret police.
It was likely a natural behavior stemming from the pride and arrogance of being Zyrec's secret police, but to Swoo, it was off-putting.
"You don't seem surprised."
"Should I be?"
"My apologies if that was rude. Even the most hardened mercenaries usually react to this card, so I made an assumption."
"Yep, it was rude."
Erik looked slightly taken aback by Swoo's blunt reply. Swoo felt absolutely nothing in response. His tone, expression, and every single action were entirely fabricated.
She felt no empathy for the emotions of a human wearing a thick, rigid mask.
Especially when even that mask was used as a tool to manipulate the other party.
"Ahem. In that case, let me apologize once more."
"Yep."
"May I... get straight to the point?"
"Yep."
"I would like to commission a job."
"Yep."
"...Did I make a bad first impression?"
"Yep."
Erik's eyebrow twitched.
But that was it; he showed no further reaction.
"Are you here to give us a job?"
She was done testing him.
Swoo shifted the topic first, seizing control.
"Yes... but if you aren't in the mood, we can always discuss it another time."
"If there's a next time, it must be a job you really want to give to us."
"Indeed. Your reputation hasn't spread widely yet, so others may not know, but our side is well aware. We know that you enjoy the favor of Lord Salvador Ortega."
Having finished speaking, Erik pulled out a shard and offered it.
Swoo didn't reach for the shard, choosing instead to simply stare at him.
Since Swoo already knew what Zyrec's CSIA primarily dealt with, she didn't even need to check the shard.
"Do we just need to rescue an undercover agent?"
"...Pardon?"
"An undercover agent in Lui Chen, I assume."
Erik's slick smile cracked.