The next day Cecile's thoughts were still focused on her gifts from the other day, mainly the orchid from Rover. Was it possible there was still plant life above the surface? Was there more of it? How did Rover get it? What even was it?
She idly looked around until her eyes landed on Beverly. She was digging intensely like usual, at the same pace of everyone else, besides Cecile who was averaging two inches an hour. Still in a daydreaming state, her eyes landed on Beverly's shovel.
There seemed to be an unusual texture on the shaft and the spade.
"Hey, what's that on your shovel?" Cecile asked, curiously.
"Huh?" Beverly asked, stopping for a second and looking at her with her eyebrows furrowed, until her face suddenly lit up. "Oh! I carved some patterns on it, wanna see?"
"Oh, uh sure." Cecile said.
She lifted her shovel, showing a group of interlocked squares. "Everyone's carving patterns in their shovels now. It gives it personality, you know?"
"Oh, that's really cool!" Cecile said. "I like yours."
Beverly blushed. " Thank you, I spent all of last night working on it … Oh! You should carve something in your shovel too!"
"Okay uh … I'll … I'll think about it ….." Cecile said.
"What's there to think about?" Beverly asked. "It'll look super cool, Cecile!:"
"I mean, what would I even carve on it?" Cecile asked, sheepishly.
"Anything you want!" Beverly continued excitedly. "Stars, circles, hearts … anything that looks nice!"
"I'll think about it." Cecile said.
Beverly pulled her into a hug.
"Girls, you two aren't getting distracted from your work, are you?" Miss Leader asked, lightly scowling.
"I … I …" Cecile squeaked out nervously, looking over to Rover for reassurance. "N … no I … I … I mean …"
"No, Miss Leader." Beverly said. "I'm just showing Cecile a better technique to dig."
"Is that so?" Miss Leader asked, raising her eyebrow slightly.
"Of course!" Beverly said.
"I see …" She said, sounding a bit skeptical. "If you say so … just keep your mind on the dig. You wouldn't want to disappoint The Grand Emperor, would you?"
The mention of The Grand Emperor made Beverly lose almost all of the color from her face, made Cecile shift uncomfortably, and Rover whimpered slightly.
Beverly's voice faltered. "N .. .. no … of course not!" This came out as a squeak more than anything. "We're digging, Miss Leader, we're digging!"
"Good. Just be sure to keep it that way." She huffed. "I would hate to see workers with such potential to make Metro even more marvelous, and not doing anything with said potential. I'm sure The Grand Emperor would feel the same way …"
She walked over, leaving Beverly, Cecile, and Rover with chills.
Cecile put her hand on Beverly's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Y .. yeah .." She said, forcing a small smile. "Lets … lets just get back to work, okay?"
"Okay." Cecile said, reassuringly, before digging the spade into the dirt.
"But, you should think about the carving, Cecile. I think you'll have a lot of fun doing it."
"Nice work today you lovely little things!" Miss Leader said. "You have made not only me, but The Grand Emperor proud as well! I will see you again bright and early tomorrow to continue our mission!"
The Junior Digging Brigade left the ever deepening crater and headed towards their parents waiting for them.
"Bye Cecile!" Beverly said, now in a better mood than before.
"Bye Beverly." Cecile said.
"Remember, think about the carving! You won't regret it!" Beverly said before rushing over to her parents.
Cecile got out of the crater and started to head over to Chuck. Before she could get close enough for Chuck to see her, Rover gripped the bottom of her pants leg and pulled slightly.
"Huh? What's wrong Rover?" Cecile asked.
He barked slightly and nudged his head towards the back wall.
She looked over and saw the guard dogs all scuttling into the elevator and going up to the surface.
"The elevator? What about it?" Cecile asked.
He grabbed the pants leg again and pulled again.
"Okay, okay, we can go over there ... we just have to be …" She looked over to the crowd and made sure Chuck hadn't noticed them yet. ".. quick …"
Cecile followed Rover over to the elevator. Rover sat down in front of the shaft and barked slightly.
Cecile tilted her head in confusion. "You … want me to in there?"
Rover's eyes widened and he let out a yelp of year. He got on his hind legs, shaking his head and crossing his front legs into Xes.
"Oh. If you don't want me to go in it, why'd you bring me over here?" Cecile asked.
Rover put his nose close to the bottom of the shaft and sniffed. Cecile looked over and saw the bottom of the elevator, filled with blades of grass, much similar to the ones in Cecile's notebook.
"Oh! Is this where you got that … that … purple plant thingy?" Cecile asked.
Rover nodded.
"Thank you." Cecile said, hugging him close. She stood back up and they headed over to Chuck.
"Hey Cecile, how was the dig today?" Chuck asked.
"It was normal." Cecile said. "I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"Have you seen anyone with carvings in their shovels?" Cecile asked.
"Carvings? Pffft!" Chuck laughed. "I haven't seen anyone do that in years! What, did that trend come back?"
"I guess so." Cecile shrugged. "Beverly said everyone else is, and said I should do it to."
"Oh man! It is coming back!" He laughed more. "That was big when I was in The Junior Digging Brigade! My buddies all put these weird triangles and stuff all over their shovels! Aah, good times."
"Did you ever do it?" Cecile asked.
"Nah." Chuck said. "I didn't see the point of it."
"Do you think I should?" Cecile asked.
Chuck shrugged. "Only if you want to. Trends like this come and go. Years ago people were painting their shovels, and before that they taped rocks to it. It's up to you."
They headed back to their Designated Family Unit and Cecile headed to her room. Once there, she opened her journal again and touched the flower taped onto the page. "I wonder if there's more of these up there ... What do you think, Rover?"
Rover shrugged.
"I just wish I could know …"
