[PRP] Lets Get Botanical [FIN]

[Venti Mico]

Lu had felt a lot happier since his switch into the botany department. He hadn't been expecting to do much of importance, which was good, because he was given the lowest of low jobs. At least mopping the floor where plants were close by was more fun than mopping some regular old floor. The people in the botany labs weren't very rowdy either, which was something he definitely could appreciate.

Today was just a little more exciting: Lu got to take some files from one place... to another place! ...Alright, so not the most exciting, but he still liked working here well enough. With the small crate stuffed with files, a bit heavy but nothing he couldn't manage. The walk from the botany labs to the genetics department wasn't far; Lu reached the right door and knocked, standing back patiently with his little box of important papers.  

[Gwennythe]

If there was one inconvenience about the science labs, it was the security in place to prevent events like the infamous Charizard, or Mewtwo, incidents.
Thus, when Tambrey heard knocking, and was able to see a familiar face with files in his arms, she quickly scurried (it was nice to be able to scurry again) toward the door to grant Lu access with her key.
Heavy or not, she suspected most people didn't like waiting while holding stuff.

"Hey, come in, come in." She greeted, after the door clicked open, though she was quickly reapproaching her work area where an electron microscope seemed to be displaying some automated process on a flatscreen monitor.
A few quick taps, and apparently it was safe enough to leave alone, as she spun back around to face Lu.
"Hello! Files?" She queried- they obviously were, but she wondered just which.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu offered Tambrey a smile and a quick hello when he entered, stepping in and standing off to the side. He had learned quick that it was best to stay still when you were in an unfamiliar lab; too many things could be broken far too easily.

"Files, yes." He nodded, said nothing else, then blinked and realized he should continue, "R-right! They're from Botany, they asked me to bring them over. Um... they didn't really say what it all is, just that it was requested. If I had to guess, probably something about photosynthesis. That's a big thing with, uh.. plants." He joked, shifting the box into one arm and scratching his cheek. "Is there anywhere I should put them...? I don't want to set them down on top of something that might explode or start dissolving it." It had happened. Once. And at least it hadn't been Lu's fault; just a witness.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey grinned as Lu answered... and then realised he hadn't quite answered enough and answered with a joke. She smirked and nodded.
"Oh yes. Very popular with plants. All the rage, in fact."
Ah, but that was a semi-serious question.
"Thanks; that might- some of it- have been me... Kinda looking at the grass types lately. Interesting hybridization of animal and plant cells- bizarre yet... simple? Does that make sense? Erm. Um. Hm. Well. Exploding and dissolving... Not over there then... To the right might set them on fire. How about just behind you there?" She half-joked. "Only thing that might happen there is they gain sentience and start asking awkward questions."  

[Venti Mico]

Lu looked around the room, eyes widening. It was hard to say if she was serious or not; fires and gaining sentience, that was a thing that happened often in labs. ...Wait, sentience? Lu blinked wide eyed at the spot behind him, but laughed when he realized she was joking too.

"If they start asking questions, maybe they'll be scientific and awkward, at least?" He suggested, turning and setting the box down. He thumbed through the labels quickly before turning back to face her. "They said it was, er... had something to do with grass types and the..." he spoke a little quieter, unsure if he was saying the right thing, "Relationship between the energy they get from plant cells and energy from eating... e-er, there are some files on Chikorita and it's evolutions. I don't think I know enough to give you a lot of details, sorry.." He awkwardly rubbed his neck, looking sheepish.  

[Gwennythe]

The 'catching on fire' was, unfortunately, based on truth, though nothing he set the files on should catch fire... She was pretty sure of that.
"Ooh, hopefully. I suspect it'll mostly be about reading themselves depending on how intelligent they become." She comment, thinking a -tiny- bit too deeply about the joke.

She nodded.
"That would be right. Don't worry about it; if you knew all the details, I wouldn't have to do much science. Could just ask you." She grinned again.
"But that's some of the basic interest; y'know, Chikorita and Leafeon both photosynthesize. Same with a lot of grass types. Yet they're clearly fauna as much as flora and, well, Treestar there," She jerked a thumb across the room, and a long Bayleef neck popped up from behind a desk upon hearing his name "is proof enough that they like to eat."

The Bayleef gave a goofy grin and waved his leaf at Lu.  

[Venti Mico]

"I think I need to read a whole lot more if I want to know enough for you to ask me questions," he laughed, though it wasn't quite a joke. Most of the people there had been in some higher education- or been in the department far longer than Lu. He didn't mind being the bottom of the totem pole because he knew he... knew pretty much nothing.

He could grow a mean potato garden, though.

Lu looked over at the Bayleef, a little surprised, but then he grinned back at the pokemon and walked over to it after returning it's wave. "He must be a nice pokemon, if you can keep him in here," he said, reaching out slowly to pet Treestar's head. "I have a Leafeon. She's... I think the only thing she does is eat and sleep." He laughed, patting his pocket where he kept his pokeballs. "Grass pokemon are... confusing. H-have you done any research on them or are you, uh, just starting?"  

[Gwennythe]

"That's basically true of all of us, depending on the subject..." Tambrey commented absently thinking for a moment, before shaking her head.
"He," She nodded toward Treestar who was eagerly leaning forward to be petted "is a huge softie. Be warned, once you pet him, he expects it every time he sees you..." The Bayleef happily began wafting a pleasant scent.
"I bet that's all he'd do if I let him. They /are/ fascinating. I haven't done -a lot- of research; we've got a couple of people who are really into the subject though. I'm mostly just starting the research to see what kind of things we can genetically synthesize using similar methods. I mean, they have chlorophyll and blood cells in the same system. I've barely ever seen a sick grass type either. It takes a very specific, and generally pokémon-derived, pathogen or poison to make them unwell... I have a feeling their composite biology might create some incredible medications or cellular enhancements that we could adapt to other uses."  

[Venti Mico]

"Well, yeah... but, I think unless you were asking about knitting, I probably couldn't be a lot of help," he replied sheepishly. He kept petting Treestar, happy to have a nice friendly pokemon- and look! He liked the attention! Lu grinned a little wider at him.

"I wouldn't mind petting him. You seem like a very nice pokemon, Treestar," Lu said to him, still giving warm head pats. He listened to Tambrey, thinking over the things she said. It wasn't too hard to understand, though he was sure he'd be lost if he got into the really scientific parts of it; that was the thing he needed to learn.

Curious, he kept petting Treestar's head, "I, um, I've read on stem cell research, not that that's very impressive compared to what you know... but, do you think they could use stem cells from grass types..? I-I mean, since it's animal and plant, I guess maybe it would be more effective than just animal cells..." Lu looked down at the floor, embarrassed, "B-but I don't really know a lot about that..."  

[Gwennythe]

"Actually, you're pretty much right there." Tambrey replied, turning just slightly to click something and then pick up a 'dex-tablet. "Hold on, I'm sending you something. It's a pretty basic read, but it's pretty much what you just said. Uh. A lot of plant cells are totipotent by nature; 'cuz they have to be to turn into leaves or roots or whatever's needed when it's needed." She grinned "Totipotent's a fun word. Uh, anyway, that basically means it's capable of becoming whatever eventually- specializing. Essentially a plant version of, well, a stem cell."

Treestar didn't seem to care too much about science. This big human was giving him petting. That was the most important thing right now.  

[Venti Mico]

Totipotent. He... had absolutely no idea what that word meant. At all. Pulling out his dex, Lu made a quick note to look it up later, even after Tambrey's explanation. He received the thing she'd sent and looked it over while she talked.

"I guess there's been a lot of research on that already," he said, nodding as he flicked through. He looked up and grinned a little at Tambrey, "Totipotent sounds kind of like a pokemon..." He laughed and looked back at Treestar, who seemed to be thoroughly invested in receiving pets. Nah, if a 'totipotent' was a pokemon, Treestar was too calm to be one, probably. It sounded like something more dangerous. Something... far more dangerous than pretty much any of his own pokemon. Lu thought of his Leafeon, Minty, then blinked.

"Oh, um... so, what about Leafeon? Because, it starts out as a normal type, then becomes grass type... so I guess, would that be something there's been research on?" Sure, the power of evolution was it's own confusing study, but surely something like a non-grass pokemon becoming one would help with understanding how animal cells could adjust to suddenly having plant cells too. Weird... he was glad he only focused on the plant side of things, not the animal. Genetics was confusing.  

[Gwennythe]

"Psychic or Poison. That'd be my guess." Tambrey commented with the remark on 'Totipotent' sounding like a pokémon.

"A fair bit, but that's the same with pokémon evolution. /SO/ much frakking research on pokémon evolution in general. But that," She looked up and nodded approvingly "is a very good point. I think one of the grunts was looking into a similar subject a while ago, but that's actually a great example. You could think of Eevee as being kind of like a 'totipotent pokémon'; might turn into any of the 'eons depending on what happens."

Treestar yawned and settled down a little, leaf flicking happily.  

[Venti Mico]

"It sounds like it'd be pretty dangerous," Lu said, trying to look grim but he had a goofy grin on his face anyway. "But I guess Eevee is a totipotent pokemon, kinda. Huh... I feel like whenever I'm around you I learn something new," he said with a little laugh, but it was true. "I think if I visit more, maybe they'll let me start doing something more important in the labs. I guess if you're doing research on grass types, maybe I could help a little..? Not a lot, since you're the smart one, but uh... I guess I could drop off files for you again, if you need more."

Smooth. Very smooth.  

[Gwennythe]

"Perhaps a legendary even; a poison legendary... That'd be kind of neat..." The scientist mused. Good! I'm kinda glad to hear that... Don't feel like I get to teach a lot of people much... My research is, uh, kinda restricted in who gets to look at it after all." She tapped on a nearby 'R' logo.
"Eh, you're not as dumb as you seem to think, you know. Made the connection between Leafeon and the subject on your own there, but that'd be welcome, thanks." Tambrey smiled, and nodded. "Definitely going to need to look over a few more files soon. Actually, the ones on Eevee-to-Leafeon cellular changes would probably be extremely useful... Another project involves mineral-based 'mon; we just completed a hugely important process there, but I've got some interest in pursuing something related."  

[Venti Mico]

"I think I've had enough of legendary pokemon..." Lu said sheepishly, hand unconsciously moving to the scar that started on his arm and moved across to his body; their whole Keldeo mission that'd turned sour, and the Articuno incident? Lu was happy to stay away from legendaries for a while, thank you very much. "I-I'd like to know more. Anything you could teach me, really... I-I'd appreciate it a lot, I think it would help me do better in my own department. That is- u-uh, if you wanted to teach me. You don't have to," But it'd be very nice. Tambrey was his only science friend who didn't spend much of their time with dead bodies; Zacharie's work was... for a good cause at least. Just a little spooky.

Lu blushed at the kind-of compliment, deciding to watch Treestar to keep his eyes occupied. "W-well, I don't know; I have a Leafeon, maybe I was just thinking of her. So, it's nothing compared to you. But I could ask and see what we have on Eevee-to-Leafeon evolution... and, maybe I could help you with research?"