"Selene?" EOS's voice chimed out quietly through the comm that had been left on the bedside table. Reaching out blindly, not putting her book down, Sel felt around for the necklace. Her fingers brushed across the rough surface of the raw amethyst that made up the front of the comm, the back having been hollowed out to allow Brains to pack the space with the same miniaturised comm technology as Penelope's compact before the whole thing had been backed and set into a silver pendant tray. She pulled the necklace closer and picked it up, touching the clear quartz chip in the center to activate her end of the line.

"Hi, Baby Girl, what's up?"

When EOS didn't answer straight away Selene looked all around like she expected to see the love of her life spying on her from a dark corner of the room, ready to berate her once again for her appalling organisational skills.

"Did John ask you to call?" she asked suspiciously. "Because I'm definitely going to start on the wardrobe declutter I promise. I'm just finishing this chapter."

"No, he did not ask me to call."

Selene breathed a sigh of relief, one which was quickly replaced by the first little spike of worry when she realised that she still didn't know why her peace was being disturbed by her adopted AI daughter.

"Then why are you? I thought you two were planning on doing some maintenance while it's quiet."

"We have been."

"Then what's going on?" They were going round in circles and it was starting to scare her enough to put her book aside and sit up to pay better attention.

"There's been an accident."

"What?" Selene leapt off the bed on which she had been reclining, shoving her feet into her flip flops, and heading for the door. "Is John OK? Is he hurt?"

"No, he's not hurt, but I think you need to see for yourself. The elevator is already docked."

Even though EOS had said that John wasn't hurt she could barely sit still in the ride up to the space station. It was rare for her to be called in on anything, let alone by EOS unless there was a very real reason or something that EOS felt like she couldn't handle herself, and so the nerves were riding her hard on the journey into space.

The airlock doors opened with a whoosh and she was running before EOS's camera had even started moving to show her the way, her inbuilt John radar leading her there more effectively than any comm scanner or location tab.

She skidded to a halt in the doorway, pausing for a second to catch her breath.

"Babe? Is everything OK?"

He turned to her, a small frown creasing his forehead and the space between his eyebrows.

"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be? Why are you here, weren't you supposed to be cleaning out your wardrobe?"

"EOS called me, she said that there'd been an accident, I was worried." She crossed over to his side, crouching down beside him and peering into the air vent he currently had his arm stuffed into. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong? Sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine," he promised, his face now one of concentration as he felt around inside the vent. "I've nearly got it all."

"Got what?" She was thoroughly confused and still a little worried. She knew her man well enough to recognise his habit of downplaying almost everything, making it out to be a better situation than it actually was.

"One second," he grunted with effort as he shifted his position and tried again, reaching deeper into the gap where he'd removed the protective cover. "We were doing the monthly filter replacement of the CDRA's and checking that all the ASV's were fully functional…" he paused as he made a grab at something and started hauling it out. "Global Two came a little too close and EOS was forced to correct our orbit a little to keep us out of their radar sight, not to mention their flight path."

"OK…"

"You know how it goes when we have to initiate an emergency move, not everything has time to be secured properly. I had the vent open at the time with the vacuum running to clean out the interior and…" he yanked his arm out of the vent, something cradled in his hand. "It all happened so fast and I couldn't catch it in time. We turned it off straight away but the damage had been done. This is all I could retrieve."

-x-

TWO YEARS PREVIOUS

"Have they arrived yet?" the excitable man asked, his face split in a wide grin.

"Virgil picked them up this morning," Kayo told him. "He dropped Captain Rigby's off on the way."

"Right you are then, I guess you can open yours now," Ned Tedford told them.

"Do you want me to wait for John to come down?" Kayo asked, reaching for the box labelled with her name.

"I do have to go on duty soon, so I can't really wait," Ned dithered.

"Want me to take it up for him?" Selene asked. "I was going to stay for a few days anyway so it's no trouble."

"Well, if you wouldn't mind, I'd hate to be a bother..."

"It's no problem at all, give me like twenty minutes to get there, then I'll get him to call you. If you wait for him to come down you'll be waiting forever." As if feeling the need to prove her point, she jumped up from the couch and reached for John's box.

"Ca-careful with it," Ned warned her. "It's a wee bit delicate."

"Got it!" Selene promised, saluting with her free hand. "I'll guard it with my life."

"See that you do."

"I'm leaving right now," Selene called, already heading out the door.

She balanced the box carefully on her lap in the elevator and carried it gently through the gravity ring to where John sat perched on a fold down chair, tinkering with something on the screen that was pulled up in front of him.

"Honey, I'm home!"

"And there goes my peace and quiet."

"How dare! You're supposed to have missed me so much that you haven't been able to function, unable to focus on anything but my absence, spending your lonely days awaiting my return."

"Would it make you feel better if I were to lie and say that I was inconsolable?"

"Yes, yes it would." She bent down to steal a kiss.

"I'm glad you take such delight in my fake misery." He pecked a quick kiss onto her offered lips. "What's in the box?"

"No idea, it's a gift fro-"

"International Rescue? This is Ned Tedford calling."

"From Ned," she finished as the man's voice echoed out from the emergency line.

"Hello, Ned," John greeted him as he turned to face the screen.

"Hello there, Mr Tracy. I see your gift has arrived, hopefully safe and sound."

"I promised it would, didn't I?" Selene sniffed, slightly insulted. What had he thought she was going to do while she was suspended above the earth on a cable, play football with it?

"I'm sure it's fine," John soothed, taking the box from Selene and giving it a little shake.

"No, don't do that!" Ned yelped, reaching out as if he wanted to snatch the box away. "It's a little delicate."

"Oh, sorry." John stopped rattling it and set it carefully on his lap.

"What's in there anyway?" Selene asked, sneakily trying to lift a flap to peek in. John gently flicked her hand away, giving her a mock scowl before covering the flap with his hand.

"Should I open it?" John suggested gently, not wanting to rush Ned but knowing that if he didn't attempt to hurry things along a little Ned would let the conversation drag on for hours. Ned was a chatter, especially when he was nervous, which he seemed to be at that moment.

"Oh, yes, yes I suppose you'd better," Ned agreed, somewhat reluctantly if his tone was any indication.

"Alright." John carefully prised open one flap and then the other, releasing the lid.

Ned sucked in a large breath and held it as John flipped the lid open and extracted his gift.

"A plant?"

"Gahh, that's so cute!" Selene stuck out a finger, booping one of the round, saucer-like leaves. "It's so dinky! Look at the baby!"

"Wow," John forced out, smoothing out the look of confusion on his face as quickly as he could. "I don't know what to say."

"It's a Pilea Peperomioides," Ned said proudly. "Also known as the Chinese money plant, the missionary, the coin plant, pancake plant or the UFO plant. I propagated it myself."

"That's so cool." Selene took the pot off John and held it up so she could get a closer look. "Look at his little pancake leaves! Adorable!"

"It's a him?" John asked.

"Of course, don't you think it looks like a him?" She thrust the plant towards his face.

"I'm forced to admit that I've never thought too hard about what it takes to make a plant look masculine," John said seriously, trying not to laugh.

"Look at his leaves, such a dark green, and look how erect and bouncy they are. Definitely a boy."

"If you say so," he allowed, not bothering to argue his point, it wouldn't hurt him to humour her. He was well aware of her need to baby everything that she came into contact with and to assign even the most mundane of objects a personality. It was just her way and he, as the sensible man that he was, knew when to pick his battles.

"Thank you, Ned, he's great."

"Do you really like him?" Ned asked, his hands clasped as one would in prayer as he awaited the answer to his question. "After what happened at the seed vault, when I saw how glad you were that Gladys was still with us, I thought that you might appreciate a buddy of your own."

"I do," John promised him. "We'll take good care of him."

"Right you are." Ned nodded. "Well I'll be off then, let you all get acquainted. I've got a meeting with Colonel Casey, something about increasing security at the vault. Oh, but you didn't hear that from me." His hologram blinked out without another word.

"Urghh," John huffed, slumping in his seat. "How is he so enthusiastic all the time? It's exhausting."

"I think he's sweet, and it was so nice of him," Selene said, now sitting cross legged on the floor with the pot in her lap. " And look, you're a plant daddy."

"No, I'm not," John said, getting to his feet and moving over to the silently spinning holographic globe that floated nearby. "I'm a busy man, you have more time than me, so, congratulations, you have a new plant."

"What? No way." She scrambled to her feet, still cradling the little plant. "He was a gift, that means he's yours."

"Rubbish, what's mine is yours, or so you keep telling me."

"Ha, nope. If you wouldn't accept that as a valid reason when I borrowed your sock the other day-"

"You didn't borrow it, you cut holes in it to make a superhero mask for the cat."

"My argument still stands, it's your plant, you look after it." She set the plant on his recently vacated seat and sidled up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist.

"It won't work," he warned her, even as he dropped his hand down to entwine his fingers with hers. "You have enough plants of your own that you won't even notice one more. It would be better off with you, I don't know the first thing about plant care."

"But you'd learn. Think of it as an experiment," she wheedled, pressing a gentle kiss to the soft skin behind his ear, loving the way he shivered lightly in response without even meaning to. "You like experiments."

"I'm listening..."

"Think of all the research you'll have to do to figure out what he's going to need to survive up here."

"That's true," he mused, the prospect of research tantalising one. He really did like learning new things. "No sun in space, plants need sun, plus there's the Zero-G to consider."

"Exactly." She kissed a little lower on his throat to sweeten the deal, invoking another shiver, this time more pronounced.

"I did read an interesting essay about the polytunnels they have set up on the Mars Colony," he continued, lost in his thoughts.

"Plus EOS could help you, it would teach her some responsibility," she finished, playing her trump card. "It'll be good for her."

John sighed, knowing he was beaten. "Why do I feel like I've just been played and I'm seriously going to regret this?"

-x-

"What the heck is that?" Selene asked, staring at the wooden box that Brains was carrying towards the elevator along with a few essential supplies that Virgil had gathered. Pipes, wires and a number of other objects were visible inside it, along with something that looked vaguely like a large popcorn machine with its glass dome on top.

"It's the p-p-ponicpod that John asked me to build, I f-followed his design to the letter. "

"A ponicpod?"

"It's a s-self contained, scaled down version of the hy-hydroponic tunnels that they are using on the Mars Colony," Brains explained, his stammer smoothing out the more he talked. "It's really quite ingenious. You see, rather than just having the water being pumped around the roots as they do in a growing tray, he has employed the use of pumps to move it from the upper chamber to the lower chamber and back again. And instead of the UV lights staying stationary above the plant, John has designed it so that the plant pot sits inside its own cradle and the cradle moves to compensate for the rotation of the gravity ring as well as the lights, the pot being able to achieve a ninety degree-"

"Brains, babe, cliff notes please, remember that I'm a dumbass, yeah?"

"The box is a p-plant house that provides it with recycled water that mists like rain, UV light that mimics the sun and the pot rocks to strengthen its roots to compensate for the times that it might be in zero gravity."

"That I can understand." She moved towards the elevator at the same time Brains did.

"Oh, are you g-going up too?"

Selene gestured to the insulated food bag and two bottles of John's favorite blood orange organic soda she was carrying, along with the overnight bag she had slung over her shoulder. "I thought I might, you know, since I cooked and he needs to eat."

Brains looked at her properly for the first time. He frowned for a moment and then, as if a switch had been flicked in his mind, his expression cleared. "There's no need for both of us to go, I can take it up for you, you don't need to wo-worry yourself."

"You gonna give him the good loving too, or am I truly surplus to requirements?"

Brains blinked once, twice and a third time before his thoughts connected and came to the answer he was looking for.

"I...I erm… what I m-mean is…"

Selene waited patiently.

"Ladies first?" He gestured towards the elevator.

"A wise decision."

Brains kept his eyes on the control panel the entire ride, refusing to look her in the eye. Selene, in an evil mood already and feeling the urge to torture, found it hilariously funny and kept up a steady stream of chatter the entire eight minute ride up to Five from the Island.

The second the elevator docked Brains was on his feet, the box in his hands as he waited impatiently for the airlock to open. With a soft hiss the doors slid open and he was off, wasting no time in putting as much distance between them as possible. Honestly, she hadn't even known he was capable of moving that fast.

Selene followed at a more leisurely pace, stopping to stow the food and drinks in the small kitchen unit and her bag in the sleeping quarters before she joined them.

It seemed that Brains had made good progress, the little ponicpod was already in situ, plugged into a power box in the gravity ring. The little plant was already installed inside the chamber, the lights glowing softly, shining down on its little saucer like leaves.

"Awww, it looks like he likes his new house," Selene said as she wandered in.

"It-it's not a he," Brains told her, turning to look at her, peering over his glasses in that way he had, the one where you weren't sure if he was judging you for being utterly stupid or if he was seeing you as a particualy interesting puzzle that he wanted to solve. "A plant has no gender."

"Brains-" John started to warn, but the other man interrupted him.

"No, there is no argument to this, there is no collaborative data to support any sort of gender assignment of this kind." Once again Brains had lost his stutter somewhere between leaving the space elevator and working on the ponicpod. It was like the more comfortable he was, not to mention distracted or focused on work, the less he suffered. In times like this, when he was delivering a lecture or in her case trying to prove she was wrong, he hardly stuttered at all.

"I don't think she cares-"

"It's not about science, Specman, it's about his soul, his little plant spirit," Selene told him patiently.

"It's a plant," Brains said slowly, as if talking to an idiot.

"Exactly."

"It has n-no soul."

"Of course it does."

"It's simple science-"

"It's a living thing, isn't it?"

"Ob-obviously."

"And therefore he has an energy to him, albeit a different one to ours. If you studied this plant you would register an energy signature from it, correct?"

"Of course."

"And that energy signature would fluctuate, would it not? If you studied it in different environments, temperatures, states of health?"

"Sel," John started, but gave up when he saw the look on her face. Determination mixed with just a hint of 'I got this shit'.

"Yes," Brains answered.

"And it's been proven that a plant has some version of a brain in it, it reacts in different ways to different things but on an intelligent level. If it needs more it grows towards the closest light source. Some close up at night or if it rains to protect it from damage or potential danger. If it is thirsty it puts out more roots in an effort to search out more water. They react to vibrations and other outside stimuli, yes?"

"There have been studies…" Brains hedged.

"Furthermore Paco Calvo wrote in his paper a Manifesto for a Philosophy of Plant Neurobiology…" She paused for a second to pull out her phone and then read aloud," The list of plant competencies has been growing at a considerable pace in recent years. Plants can, not only learn and memorize, but also make decisions and solve complex problems. They can sample and integrate in real time many different biotic and abiotic parameters, such as humidity, light, gravity, temperature, nutrient patches and microorganisms in the soil, and many more, courtesy of a highly sophisticated sensori-motor system. That sounds pretty alive and sentient to me. Add into that the fact that it has been proven that plants can communicate bioautistically, using clicking sounds, that tells us that they can effectively speak to each other."

Brains stared at her open mouthed as she rattled off her argument. But she wasn't done.

"And we also know, scientifically speaking, that plants react to pain, that is the same argument that people once gave as a reason why we should have animal rights and wellness. So, let's sum this up, plants hear, they feel, they think, they communicate, therefore on some level they are sentient. That is the same criteria we give to the life force that humans and animals have. We know that a force like that, an energy, cannot be destroyed, it can only change form, that is the argument for life after death, for the spirit, the soul if you will, living on. Something that we have talked at length about, correct?"

Brains nodded reluctantly.

"And you're still going to tell me that plants don't have a soul and that, therefore they cannot have a personality or a gender assigned if indeed I feel that it has one in its current even if many don't?"

Brains shook his head.

"Cool," her voice dropped back into its usual chirpy and slightly joking tone, "just wanted to clear that up."

John shook his head, hiding his smile. Selene was very much like Gordon in the way she approached things. She didn't shy away from conflict, but she would rather be calm and mostly rational in any argument. She knew as well as he did that as soon as you started to raise your voice or become aggressively defensive the other person was less likely to listen to you.

Gordon was the same, people took in his exterior first, saw the loud shirts and the jokes and never took him seriously, they only ever listened to his expertise when they were forced to. The look of shock on their faces when his brother reeled off facts in an intelligent, well thought out and educated manner that was so at odds with his general attitude and appearance, was always fun to watch.

He'd seen it happen with Selene more times than he could count, they looked at her as an oddball, a hippyish goth that was more into peace, love, light and spiritualism than science and facts, yet she could reel off an intelligent, not to mention scientifically accurate, argument to back up any statement she made, showing that she was more than just a pretty face and mystical tendencies.

Brains, at a loss for words and not knowing what else to do, turned back to the ponicpod and its integrated computer screen.

John sidled over, slipping his arm around her waist to pull her in close. "Stop picking on him," he whispered, dropping a kiss on her neck in greeting.

"I'm not," she whispered back. "I'm bantering but also trying to open his mind to other possibilities."

"You're teasing him for your own amusement."

"I'm not," she continued to whisper, but the evil little smile on her face told him differently. One sleek auburn eyebrow lifted. "I'm doing it for your amusement too."

He bit his lip, trying very hard not to laugh out loud.

"Admit it," she demanded, the challenge evident in her tone. "Admit that it was needed."

"I won't admit that," he murmured, leaning so close that his lips brushed the shell of her ear, his warm breath making her shiver in response. "But I will admit that it's incredibly arousing to hear you talk like that."

"Ditto, Star Boy." She turned her head for a proper kiss but managed barely a peck before Brains interrupted with a loud cough.

"I...I t-think I should get going n-now."

"You don't have to, Brains, I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable" John assured him.

"N-no I don't wish to interrupt," Brains insisted.

"Well, I did ask about the good loving," Selene reminded him innocently. John was not fooled.

"I...I-I'll… call me if you have any p-problems with the ponicpod," Brains called as, for the second time in twenty minutes, he shot off like he had a rocket up his butt.

"Do I even want to know what that was about?" John asked as the sound of the engineers' hurried footsteps faded.

She shook her head. "Nope, probably not."

"And you said you weren't picking on him."

"I wasn't before, but then I was." She shrugged, unconcerned by the fact. "How about you show me what planty's little house is all about?"

Distraction was always a good way to deal with John, especially if it involved him having to explain something that he was passionate about.

The bottom of the set up was square, with a cradle in the middle in which the plant's pot sat. The front of the box had the computer screen installed, where a number of cycles and functions could be chosen or programmed in. A small sprinkler system had been installed in the sides of the box, designed to move in a way that altered both the angle of the spray and the downfall of the water to mimic different rain patterns. The excess water would drain away into a tray in the bottom of the box where it would be filtered and pumped back out into the spray. The pot cradle was designed to move, not only as a way of strengthening the roots but also to allow the plant better access to the water should it need it.

But the most ingenious part of all was the dome that covered the top half of the box. Made with the same technology as the craft's zero gravity communications sphere, it had been inset with a dozen small screens, each curved to fit perfectly into the glass, clear unless they were in use. They could emit a UV glow that mimicked the sun, providing the plant with the light source it needed, one that could be adjusted and moved to simulate the sun's movement across the sky, keeping its environmental factors as natural as possible.

"My gods, that's amazing," Selene gasped, staring in awe through the dome to the little plant inside. "I can't believe you thought this up, that you went to so much effort for a plant you didn't even want."

"I still don't want it," John pointed out. "But since I have it I might as well do my best with it."

"With him," she corrected.

"It," he insisted. "You might have confused, baffled and slightly bullied Brains into your way of thinking but you won't do it with me."

-x-

"What's wrong with your plant?" Kayo asked, spotting the ponicpod in the background as John finished giving Scott, Virgil and Gordon their information on the emergency call that had just come in and sent them on their way.

John glanced over his shoulder at the pod with its droopy little resident. "I've no idea, I've done everything I can think of, it makes no sense. I've replaced its soil with a nutrient rich hydroponic jelly that Gordon helped me to research and mix up, so it's getting all the nutrients and water that it needs. The gel has helped to anchor the roots so that gravity is a little less harsh on it and the sunlight dome is in perfect working order. Logically there is absolutely nothing else that it needs to thrive, yet it's still drooping more each day. What does yours look like?"

Kayo turned to the side of the couch that held one of the bonsai plants that her father had cultivated during his time on the island. She reached behind the plant and slid out a pot which she held up for him to see.

"Kayo, that plant is dead."

"I'm well aware of that fact."

"Don't tell Ned."

"Wasn't planning to."

"What about Rigby's?"

"He gave it to his grandmother, apparently she has a greener thumb than him."

"So I'm the only one that still has one?"

"Yep, sucks to be you."

"Why does it suck?" Selene asked, as ever choosing the wrong moment to enter a room and a conversation. "Did something happen with the rescue?"

"John's killing his plant."

"No I'm not! And thanks for that by the way."

"Welcome." Kayo shrugged, smiling sweetly in his direction. He gave her a squinty eyed glare in return.

"You're what? Let me see." Selene, for some reason best known to herself, actually twisted her head in an effort to see around his body. Taking pity on her, John moved aside, allowing her to see the ponicpod on the wall behind him.

"What did you do to him?" Selene wailed, the sight of the pathetic little plant almost too much to bear.

"Nothing! It's fine as far as I can tell, everything is working as it should be."

"He's not fine, look at him!"

"It's just a bit-"

"Send down the elevator, I will not allow you to become a murderer like this bitch!" She pointed an accusatory finger in Kayo's direction but the other woman remained unbothered.

"You don't have to co- and she's gone," John sighed. "I'm never going to get any peace today, am I?"

Kayo shook her head as she swiveled on the couch, lifting her legs to stretch out fully, fully intending to have a nice nap. "It was nice knowing you."

-x-

"Well, it seems obvious to me. He's depressed."

"It's a plant."

"Yes HE is a plant, but that doesn't mean he's not depressed."

"What does it have to be depressed about? It's got everything it needs. Gordon even dug out his old marine farming research to help me create the perfect chemical nutrient mix for its gel, what else does it need?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about a little love and attention?" Selene's hands were firmly on her hips, a sure sign that she was getting annoyed. Not that that was going to stop him.

"Excuse me?"

"Have you tried being nice to him?"

"It's a plant."

"I can see that!"

"Why would I be nice to a plant?"

"Because he's depressed! If I was depressed you'd be nice to me."

"You're my fiancee, I love you. That is a plant."

"Well you should love him too."

John rolled his eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't fall out of his head and go floating off into the air.

"Ned knows what I'm talking about, look how nice he is to Gladys."

"I am not Ned, I'm not going to waste my time being nice to a plant."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a plant," he said in a tone that implied he suspected she was being deliberately stupid on purpose just to mess with him.

"Urghh, you're so annoying," she huffed.

"Yet you're the one marrying me, what does that say about your personal choices?"

She flicked his shoulder with her finger and made swipey motions at the pod until he gave in and opened it. Once she gained access she reached in and plucked the pot out of the cradle, uncaring as to the warning lights that flashed when the sensors became unhooked with it.

"Hey baby, has your mean daddy been ignoring you?" she crooned, her voice soft and loving as she gently stroked its dropping leaves. "Yes, you're a good boy aren't you? You didn't do anything wrong, you're just trying to grow and live your life and he's being a meanie poo poo head."

"A meanie poo poo head? That's what you came up with?"

"Yep." She plonked herself down cross legged on the floor of the gravity ring and glared up at him. He resisted the urge to laugh, but only just. "If you don't want to be called names, don't act like one."

"And where is your evidence that I have acted in such a manner?" he asked, sitting down next to her. When she waved the plant pot in his face, he gently pushed it away. "Besides that."

"My evidence is based on knowledge. I know you and I know that you will have looked up everything to do with plant care and probably followed it to the letter-"

"Of course I have."

"And you are probably sitting there thinking 'it's had everything it needed, why isn't it growing right'."

"That's hardly an observation, I just said that."

"But you'd be wrong," she finished.

"Wrong? Me? How's so?" John had never been so offended in his life. How dare she say he was wrong when he'd gone out of his way to make sure that the damned plant, that he hadn't even wanted in the first place, had state of the art technology and wanted for nothing.

"Think of it as a human-" she stared but he quickly cut her off.

"It's not a human, it's a plant."

"I'm well aware of that, but if you'd zip your lips for two minutes and let me finish I'd explain."

He clamped his mouth shut and motioned for to continue. She gave him a mock squinty glare before continuing.

"My dad always says that you should treat your plants as you would treat a human, think of them as if they were a friend or a child."

John looked sceptical but didn't interrupt again.

"You wouldn't leave a human in a room alone, even if they had food, water and a bed to sleep in, without some form of interaction. Humans need stimulation, companionship, some attention now and then and plants are no different. That's how he became such a sought after gardener, everyone knew that his plants were the best because he treated them like his babies."

John still didn't look convinced.

"Plants react to stimulation and attention, both positive and negative in the same way that humans do, one helps them thrive, the other makes them sad."

"With all due respect, you know that I fully support your beliefs and would never actively argue or dismiss them-"

"But you're a man of science, you deal in facts not hippy dippy bullshit?"

"I would never put it that way…"

"But the point still stands?"

He nodded reluctantly, he'd promised never to lie to her after all.

"OK, then. So I'm gonna head home for a bit, since I've got my own plants to attend to and a few readings to do."

"What? But you only just got here."

"I know."

"Have I pissed you off? I didn't mean to." And he really hadn't, he just wasn't used to her kind of thinking, it didn't come naturally to him. "I wasn't trying to be dismissive of your beliefs in any way, you know I'd never do that and I'm sorry if it came across as if I were."

Selene could see the uncertainty and worry on his face and she hated it, she didn't want him to feel that way, to feel like he couldn't have an opinion or argue with her in any way. Sighing, she put the plant pot gently on the floor and shuffled closer.

"You haven't pissed me off, or upset me."

"You sure?"

"The only way you could piss me off about this is if you were dismissing what I was saying without being willing to research it yourself, which I know you wouldn't do."

"Of course not, one should never be unwilling to listen to reason."

"Exactly. And I trust that you are man enough to research properly and amend your views if the evidence proves otherwise."

He nodded. "I am."

"So I'm going to give you a few things to research, a few videos to look at and, if by the end of them you still feel like you don't believe in it and aren't willing to try then we'll agree to disagree and I'll take the plant home. Deal?"

He thought about it for a second, it sounded reasonable enough to him, she wasn't asking the impossible she was being understanding and staying calm about the whole thing. This was what he loved about her, she wasn't one to get into an argument about something without first trying to sort it out like adults. She was taking his own opinions and beliefs into account and instead of trying to batter him down and yell him into submission, instead of trying to force him to change his mind she was giving him a chance to look things up on his own in his own time and in his own way. She trusted him to be as reasonable and respectful as she was to him in return.

"Deal." He held out his hand for her to shake but she took full advantage, catching his hand and using it to pull him closer, stealing a kiss instead. "I like how you seal a deal."

She grinned in return. "As long as I'm the only one you make deals with in such a manner."

"As if there would ever be anyone else that would put up with me."

"Oh, I don't know, the benefits of putting up with you make it very worth it."

"Benefits, huh?" His hands slid around her waist and down to rest on her lovely round backside. "You sure you won't stay? I could show you some benefits."

"I can't, I wasn't planning on coming up at all, I was about to bully Scott into giving me a ride home, I promised to have dinner with Mum and Dad," she paused, an idea forming. "You could always come with me and chat to Dad about Plant, he'd know more than I do."

"Oh, yeah that would be great," John scoffed. "Hi Mr Tempest, I'm the man that asked your daughter to marry him without your permission, sorry about that but can you tell me how to fix this plant? I don't think I'd be very popular."

"You have to meet them some time," she said with a dismissive shrug.

"And as I said, I'd rather make a good impression somewhere special, throwing me in at the deep end without any time to prepare is asking for trouble."

"I know that, but if you leave it much longer I'm going to take Scott and then just give them a shock at the wedding," she threatened.

"Hey!" He swiped at her backside. "You know the rules, no lip on my ship. If you're going to go you had better do it before I decide we need a sudden, unexplained elevator malfunction that will trap you up here with me."

"Wouldn't want that now, would we?" She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, just a brief peck, knowing anything else would make her want to stay more than she already did. "I gotta go."

"I know."

"Promise you'll look at everything with an open mind?"

"I promise."

-x-

"I do not understand why we are watching this, John."

"Because I promised Selene that I'd watch these two videos with an open mind, and I am determined to follow through with it."

The video was obviously designed for children or teens as it had a very simple way of explaining things and laying out the information it presented, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was accurate and true.

Starting from the time of Charles Darwin and his concept he called the root brain, the idea behind it being that the tips of a plant's root system acted as a kind of brain for it. It accepted information and took in outside stimuli, telling the plant how to act, move or react to the situation, just like in a human or animal.

Over time this concept had developed into a full academic field known as plant neurobiology, a term that drove some scientists crazy, even though the field of enquiry had yielded some pretty interesting theories.

It had been proven that plants had a number of senses that were analogous to human ones, such as sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. The presenter showed an example of a plant sensing a caterpillar on it's branch, crawling up to begin eating its leaves. The plant would then produce a substance kind of like a mustard oil that repelled the caterpillar. That was a pretty standard defense mechanism, but scientists had gone one further and recorded the sound of a caterpillar eating leaves. When they played that back, even though there was none actually on the plant, the plant reacted as if there were and released its defensive oil. Meaning that, in some way, plants could actually hear and recognise sounds, even so far as remembering them.

"This is actually quite interesting," John admitted to EOS, who nodded her camera in agreement. "I knew that plants had some defence mechanisms, for example, the smell of fresh cut grass, which Gordon loves, is actually the grass releasing a chemical to let other patches of grass know that it is in danger."

"What would the grass be able to do in response?" EOS asked. "It cannot unroot itself and walk away."

John paused, unsure how to even answer that one. "I don't actually know. Maybe that's something for you to look up later."

"Affirmative."

As they watched they learned that one of the reasons some scientists hated the term plant neurobiology was simply due to the fact that plants lack actual neurons, hence neurobiology was actually impossible. Although really it was just a matter of opinion and finding the closest term that fitted. Plants did have something similar, like a central nervous system. They have glutamate receptors just like humans, used to form memories. They have neurotransmitters and use electricity to transfer information throughout the plant to get it to move and react as it should.

They then watched an experiment whereby the presenters took a Mimosa Pudica plant, one that Selene actually had in her collection, commonly known as a sensitive plant. The sensitive plant reacted to touch, its leaves curling up as it protected itself from that which it perceived as dangerous. They used the Mimosa to show that plants could display learning behaviour.

They dropped the plant on the floor, pot and all. The plant reacted by curling its leaves shut in defense. They then left it alone to uncurl and relax. They did this three more times over the space of a few days, and by the third time the plant didn't curl up. It had learned that it was not in danger from falling. They waited a month and did it again and the plant had retained that menroy. It didn't curl up.

"Fascinating, that is a clear hallmark of consciousness," John said, his eyes locked on the video. " I should try that with Selene's one, Graham I think she called it. It really does seem like plants have some kind of awareness to them."

"But a plant is not a sentient being," EOS argued.

"It's alive, EOS, and Selene's right, they do feel, they feel pain, they feel rain hitting them so they close up, and to a certain extent they do think for themselves. Anything that has the ability to feel or perceive things should be classified as sentient."

EOS's lights flickered, going round and round in a circle, a clear sign that she was thinking although she stayed quiet a little longer as they watched the rest of the video playing on the screen.

It was a simple experiment sure, but effective nonetheless. The video showed a highschool hallway on a busy campus. Two plants, exactly the same species, age and size were put in clear glass boxes, one on each side of the corridor. The boxes had holes in them for ventilation and watering, all the basic needs of the plant. At first John had thought it was a crueder version of his ponicpod but he'd soon realised it was there for experimentation purposes only.

One plant had a sign on it that said "Please be nice to me," the other had a sign that said "Be mean to me." It was very odd. But as the video continued he was hard pushed to deny the evidence he was seeing.

The plant that had asked for nice things was spoken to in a positive, loving way by everyone that passed by it and had only nice things recorded to be played back while the students were in class. It had been complimented on its leaves, told it was pretty and beautiful, praised for how well it was growing and all sorts of other nice things. The one that had asked for people to be mean to it had gotten just that, negative words and abuse. It was called names, told that it was ugly, that it was weak and wasn't growing well enough.

By the end of the month there was a clear difference between the plants. The plant that had been complimented and encouraged was flourishing, but the plant that had been bullied and abused had drooped, it's leaves had withered and it was obvious that it was a very unhealthy and unhappy plant.

"The plants actually reacted to the communication they received," John marvelled. He'd heard of many things in his life, had researched many a strange subject that had caught his attention, but he had to admit that this would never have been something he'd come across on his own. "It's actually very interesting."

And it was, eye opening in fact. It was hard to deny the evidence that had been presented to him. He wouldn't go as far as to admit that he now believed that plants had the kind of feelings and sentience that Selene would like to ascribe to them, but he could believe that the negativity from harsh words and actions could have an effect on the atmosphere.

"I'm not sure I understand the logic," EOS said. "How could simply talking to a plant affect it in such a manner?"

"Think of it this way," John said, trying to frame his words in a way he thought she would understand. "You can think for yourself, you can remember things, you learn. But you do not have a body, you do not have flesh and blood organs, you do not feel things physically, you especially do not feel pain, so therefore most people would not count you as alive. But we know you are, we see you as alive." He paused, seeing EOS watching him intently, needing him to give her some kind of logical answer that she could understand. He thought about it again, trying to find a way to relate it to her situation and then, there it was.

"I guess, in that respect, that's what Selene means," he mused, almost to himself, the tumblers in his brain clicking round and slotting into place, making her point perfectly clear.

"What does she mean?"

"You wouldn't like it if we treated you like you didn't matter, if we didn't talk to you or acknowledge you in any way, would you?"

"I had never thought about it, but now that I am, I believe that I would not. I did not like it when we first met, when I felt that I was being ignored or threatened by you."

"It's exactly that," he said, a small smile forming as once again she amazed him with her capacity to pick up the thread of an idea so easily, her mind a wondrous thing. She was unique in a way that he doubted could ever be replicated again, and part of what made her that way was the time that he had put in to teaching her, the time that his brothers had by talking to her like she was a real person, to all the mothering and patient explaining that Selene did.

"If you had not taken the time to talk to me and understand me I feel I would not be as I am now."

"No, I don't think you would be," he agreed. "And I think that's what she meant, if you want to look after something you have to put time into it. You have to give it attention for it to thrive and keep growing. If I stopped talking to you you would stop learning as effectively as you do. Do you understand that?"

"I think so, but I am not a plant and I do not believe that, for a plant, it would make much difference. A plant does not learn as I do. It just is." She had that slightly stubborn tone that she so often got when she didn't fully understand but was also not prepared to back down without proof that she could see and experience for herself.

"Then maybe we should try it for ourselves," he suggested, the idea forming in his head and popping out of his mouth before he even realised he was thinking it.

"What do you propose?"

"An experiment." He reached for the plant pot again, studying its drooping leaves and sad looking branches.

"In what way?"

"We've had the plant for two weeks. I propose that for another two weeks we try things her way and see if there is a difference."

"You mean talk to a plant?"

John shrugged. "It can't hurt, can it?" It wasn't something he had ever thought he'd be doing. He'd definitely feel stupid at first and it would take some getting used to, but on the whole it seemed doable.

EOS seemed to think about it for a long moment, but finally she spoke.

"For science?"

"For science," John agreed, then paused to stare at his screens, completely at a loss. "What do we do now?"

"You go first," EOS said five minutes later after she had done nothing but stare at the ponicpod and the sad looking plant.

"Fine." He closed down the disturbingly new age instructions to plant care that he had been reading and crossed over to the ponicpod. "Can you take some measurements? If this is going to be a successful experiment we need to have accurate data to collect, including a good baseline, only then will we see real results."

"Scanning now." A moment later her software let out a small beep, indicating that she was done. "Finished, what are the first instructions?"

"It's all rather vague," John admitted, waving his hand in what EOS assumed was a suitably vague manner. "From what I've read plants do appear to respond to positive attention, musical stimulation, changes of scenery and loving words."

"So we have to be its friend?"

"Essentially, yes," John answered with a small shrug.

"And how do we do that?"

"I guess, for a start, we shouldn't leave it locked in the ponicpod all day long. Selene said that if we wouldn't do it to a human we shouldn't do it to the plant."

Always having been more of a doer than a talker he crossed over to the ponicpod pod and opened the door. "Erm...hello, plant. Say hello, EOS."

"Hello."

John paused, not really knowing what to do next.

"It feels strange," EOS said a moment later. "I know how to talk to you, and to other people, but this is not a person, this has no personality."

"Well, what made you feel more real?" John asked, taking the plant pot out of the pod.

"I think it was probably when I gave myself a name."

"Then maybe that's what the plant needs. Selene said it felt like a boy, so what would you like to call it?"

"I...I don't know, I have never named anything before other than myself," she once again paused to think. "How do humans go about picking a name for something?"

"Well, they often pick a name that has a significance to them."

"In what way?"

"Well, it might be a family name, it could be someone they admire, a character they relate to or just a name they really like. Take me and my brothers for example, we were all named after astronauts that had been part of the Mercury project, the first human spaceflight in the US. The Mercury Seven as they were known. Dad had studied all their flight logs and mission data when he was just a small boy obsessed with the stars, rather like me."

John couldn't help the fond little smile that formed along with the memory of his father presenting him with the books he himself had read as a child, saying he trusted him to look after them. Those same books still lived on the bookcase in his room back on the island, untouched since his disappearance seven years before.

"I have been doing as Selene said, familiarising myself with the history of computer science, all the better to know the legacy of my ancestors," EOS told him.

EOS had always been very interested in Selene's ritual traditions and beliefs, an interest that had led to a long discussion a day after Halloween when she had questioned Selene's insistence that they lay an extra plate at the dinner table for the loved ones that couldn't be there.

Selene had gone on to explain that heritage and ancestry was very important to humans, they liked to know where they had come from, what cultural influences had shaped the way they lived their lives now, as well as the way they looked and behaved. She had explained that it wasn't just a matter of science and DNA, but personal history, a need to understand all the things that made you, you. And that, just because someone had passed on didn't mean that they should be forgotten. It was their job to keep the memories alive, their job to keep telling the stories told to them by the family that had come before them, to honour them and celebrate all they had done.

Unfortunately EOS hadn't fully understood this, having no frame of reference, no ancestors of any kind. In an effort to help her to process the information in a way that would make sense to her, Selene had suggested that she research the history of computers, to find out all the things that had come before, leading up to what she had evolved into. Evolution, she said, didn't only include humans and animals, it was the evolution of ideas, of knowledge, of the world around them and EOS was part of that.

"And what have you learnt?" John asked, softly wiping the plant's saucer-like leaves with a damp cloth to remove the watermarks caused by the rainfall and air circulation of the ponicpod, the instructions having said that plants responded well to touch as well as sound.

"A lot, but most recently I have been reading about Sir Maurice Wilkes, the man who built the first computer able to retain information rather than simply processing it."

"That's very interesting, I think I read a little about him in college."

"Would he count as someone that I admire or who is an ancestor of mine?"

"I don't see why not, he's part of your history after all albeit in a rather roundabout way."

"Then I shall name the plant Maurice, after him."

John smiled, once again blown away by the way her mind worked. The way she processed information was both alien but also so very human.

"Maurice it is. Hello Maurice," he said, lifting up its pot in greeting. "It's nice to formally meet you."