It took over half an hour.
For more than thirty agonizing minutes, the netizens of the Empire suffered in real ti as they were forced to watch the scene unfolding before them.
Forced.
Because no one could look away.
Just when they thought the pain could not possibly get worse, Solaris Tis began a simulcast. The mont that happened, the number of viewers spiked violently, dragging in even more people who imdiately realized they were too poor, too slow, or too unlucky to have secured expo passes.
And so they stayed.
Watching.
Complaining.
Screaming internally.
[Ah! Ah! I swear he’s off by five milliters! The cadet said an inch! An inch!]
[Nooooo! If that were , I would have done it properly! What if the plant yields less next harvest because of that error?!]
Comnts like these flooded Reeve’s livestream nonstop as the feed showed attendees taking their sweet, agonizing ti harvesting fruit.
Painfully slow.
Painfully careful.
Painfully real.
The children, anwhile, had ford an impromptu council.
They crouched together, whispering furiously as they compared baskets and strategies.
Should they pick the biggest fruits to maximize value?
Or should they go for smaller ones so they could fit more into their baskets?
If they did that, wouldn’t they technically have a larger stash that would last longer?
Tiny hands gestured wildly as they debated like seasoned tacticians planning a military operation.
The Empire watched.
The Empire wept.
And slowly, painfully, the truth beca clear.
The children were lucky.
Incredibly lucky.
Because those who had won at the wheel were allowed to bring parents or guardians with them, aning entire families were harvesting together.
It was wonderful for the adults.
It was devastating for everyone watching.
And it was absolutely incredible for the kids, who now got to pick different crops as a family.
That realization alone caused several forums to temporarily shut down.
Naturally, while the children chose the hypnotizing strawberries, their parents were still there to gamble for the baby potatoes.
And once again, to the absolute despair of everyone involved, Reeve Solin proved that he was so sort of cursed existence blessed by the universe itself.
Because the flustered journalist sohow ended up pulling a plant that yielded enough baby potatoes to fill three baskets.
Three.
Thea stared at the feed in disbelief.
"Reeve," she looked at him pointedly, "what did you even do today? How did you suddenly get lucky?"
The intern was rather speechless, not that it was anything new today.
"I don’t know," he said honestly.
Thea narrowed her eyes at him
"Can I rub against you?" she demanded. "Just once. I feel like that would change my life."
Back at their office, several Solaris Tis officers were harboring similar emotions.
Even the shareholders had taken ti out of their allegedly busy schedules to tune in.
They watched in silence, in awe, and with a lot of simring tension.
They watched their stocks climb.
What kind of intern was this Reeve Solin?
Apparently, a lucky one.
Because Solaris Tis was now the only news organization in the Empire with exclusive coverage of what was rapidly becoming a historic booth.
But what do you know?
Just when everyone thought that the strear was destined for greatness, one child decided to muster all his courage.
And in front of practically every socially connected netizen in the Empire, a small voice decided to go for it.
"Um, excuse , Lord Farr," the child asked hesitantly. "Earlier you said we could pick from all the mature offerings in the greenhouse."
Jax turned toward him at once.
"Ah yes," he said warmly. "Why?"
The child swallowed.
"Then... would it be possible to pick from there?"
A small hand lifted.
Milo pointed toward the very end of the greenhouse.
Toward the large water tank.
"!!!"
"Huh?"
A ripple of shock went through the crowd as everyone followed his line of sight.
Jax blinked.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Oh!"
"Did you want to take a fish instead?"
Milo nodded earnestly. A little more and his head would have bobbed off.
Though under all that courage, he was just a bit terrified.
Even more so were his parents, who clearly hadn’t expected their child to say sothing so dangerous out loud in front of everyone.
Milo was already preparing to take it back.
But before he could, the great farr suddenly smiled.
"Wait a minute," Jax said, lifting a finger. "Let ask about that. Not because there’s a problem with the fish. But because there’s a very important step you need to know to really enjoy that."
"!"
The entire greenhouse held its breath.
Jax fiddled with his terminal.
He tapped a na.
The call connected almost imdiately.
"Hello?" Luca’s voice ca through, calm despite the carnage at the front of their booth.
"Hey, Luca," Jax said brightly. "About the harvest. One of the kids asked if they could take a fish instead."
The silence on the line lasted exactly half a second.
Then there was a soft chuckle.
"Ah," Luca said warmly. "What a smart child."
People exchanged looks.
"If you’re okay with catching one, then I think that’s fine."
"But you should tell them a few things first. They need a way to store and cook it properly so it doesn’t spoil. The fish we have in there can’t be eaten without cooking after all."
Several adults stiffened.
"And maybe we should help clean it for now," Luca added thoughtfully. "That part might be a little too difficult for beginners."
The greenhouse buzzed.
Would it really be fine to take ho sothing so big?!
The call ended with Jax nodding enthusiastically.
He turned back to the group, eyes shining.
"It’s allowed!" he announced.
The children erupted in applause.
They really didn’t know what could be done with a fish, but it was huge! And everything that was there was great, so whatever it was could only be a good thing!
The parents looked faint.
"But," Jax added quickly, "if one parent takes a fish, it would be best if the other parent chooses the herb bundle."
That stopped everyone cold.
"Why?" soone asked.
The farr grinned.
"Because that’s the best combination for cooking fish!"
Wow.
The Empire trembled.
Milo stood there, face red, heart racing, barely processing the fact that he had just changed his own future.
And as another family decided to follow his lead, the flustered but glowing child ended up walking away from the greenhouse a very different person than when he had entered.
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