Dust. All over the place, it's dust, the occasional brush... not a lot of plant life, which makes this area a strange place for a botany research compound, especially with Sac-Town being known for its trees in pre-war times. I suppose there's some sort of secrecy component going on with this. Being just a research assistant, I'm not privy to all the information here, but what we're doing is definitely of interest to some higher-ups in the NCR. In a way, I should be grateful I got this job, because, well, there's not a lot more people working here. In fact, it's exactly two. Me and Tom, my boss and head researcher. Even the mercenaries currently protecting us on our way back from an extended excursion aren't allowed inside the compound and are only paid on an irregular, when-we-need-them basis.
So, as always, the mercenaries are dismissed as we reach the outskirts of the compound, leaving just the two of us for the last stretch to the front door. The chatter that we previously had going fades to a tense silence as we realize that we're just about to see the result of a particular experiment we've had going. Since our excursion took a few months—and we did get a lot of great data from it—our most critical, important creation had been silently doing its work here... well, or not. This creation is a sort of fertilizer, but super-charged. If it were to be successful, we could be capable of allowing plant life to flourish from practically anywhere. Now, this isn't going to revolutionize agriculture overnight—components in this super-charged fertilizer are insanely rare and expensive—but a success here could still mean a lot.
In this experiment, we deliberately set up a rose seed in a very bad situation—I'm not sure why a rose in particular, that was something Tom decided and even reached out for access to some high security seed storage for—and gave it our creation. If this works, we could scale this down, work on making it more easily created... there are many opportunities. But this has to work. We put everything into making this test as powerful as possible, and it should be able to overcome basically anything. But God, the anxiety, the thought of it not working... it's clear Tom's just as unsure as I am. Shit, I can see him screwing up the access code several times because of his hand trembling, swearing under his breath.
After the fifth try, he finally manages to put it in correctly, and we make our way inside, the hum of the lights slowly coming to life almost deafeningly loud compared to our silence. The compound is a sort of hodgepodge of pre-war tech combined with more recent replacements, a strange "cutting edge" that doesn't really look the part but nonetheless gets shit done. There's a bunch of files strewn around, random assorted plants growing in various pots, planters, and such... but the critical part is one room in the back, the one where our rose has been growing. Or so we hope. We both step up to the door and share a silent look at each other, neither of us seemingly willing to make the move until I finally grip the door handle and swing that sucker open.
And there, right smack dab in the middle of the room, under the sun light lamp simulating a harsh, arid environment, in the middle of the pot containing only crappy, dry soil... is a red rose, in full bloom. It worked. It worked! We turn to face each other, grins slowly creeping onto our expressions while the realization really sets in. Then, we approach the flower, almost reverently, like fast movements would cause it to wither on the spot, taking in its every petal. A flower, grown in conditions where no life should flourish, several times faster than even the best conditions normally should allow for. "We did it..." Tom then mutters, still in awe.
With him saying that, something just clicks inside of me, and the tension and vague excitement is replaced with sheer elation in a single moment. Letting loose a freeing yell, I fling my arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace, which he does reciprocate after a moment. But as I hold this embrace, there's this strange urge I suddenly find myself getting, as well as the desire to give in to it... what the hell, this is such a special moment, let's just go for it! So I look Tom squarely in his eyes, and give him a big kiss, really going all in with it.
Of course, after I break the kiss and have a moment to come down from this high, I immediately panic, fearing I've gone too far. I break the embrace and turn away as to not let him see me blushing brightly, muttering, "Ah... um... I d-didn't mean to do t-that, I was j-just really excited..."