Welcome to Verdant Acres.

  No weapons, explosives, or incendiary devices.

  Don't ask us about Greenhouse 5. We don't know where it is either.

  Greenhouse 5 is off-limits to unauthorized personnel.

  Don't touch the experimentals. Do not EAT the experimentals!!!

  Stalkers will be banned.

  Don't follow the music. Remain at a safe distance from its source.

  Ignore the Whispering Vine (Cass)

  Do NOT feed the dog (Skibble)

  Invisibility Plants are NOT real.

  Royal gardener Melora Thriss had found herself nodding along with the list of rules and regulations that her boss had come up with for them to review and potentially make changes to before he posted them up. He'd been going on and on when she saw him last, something to do with legalities that she hadn't paid a lot of attention to. But she frowned at the last one she'd read. She could see the clear benefits of making that statement. They were forever chasing some kid out of the gardens over the rumors that they'd acquired the legendary species and most kids thought it would be fun to be invisible. And it would have been a great prank if there was anyway to reverse the process, which normally had killed up to 75 percent of all the living organism it had been tested on in a recent study...

  "Did you see this, Mellie?" A voice asked, interrupting her thoughts. It was her friend Ermont who was widely regarded as the most handsome male to ever grace Verdant Acres with his presence. He was half-elf and half-fae and the sole reason that that her boss was considering posting the "no stalking" rule in the garden. Most of the scientists fit the stereotypical picture of brainiacs: somewhat unattractive, somewhat intensely focused on their work, and somewhat awkward around members of whatever gender they found attractive. Ermont was the exception. Most humans, aside from Melora herself, seemed to find him breathtakingly handsome to the point he attracted more than his fair share of admirers as well as the occasional stalker. But that wasn't the rule he seemed to be taking issue with at the moment.

  "Oh come on, Ere." Melora said, looking at what he was pointing at. "You may not have an entry badge, but you definitely count as authorized personnel. Unless you're worried that people will start looking for Greenhouse 5 because we're telling them not to go into it?" She frowned, thinking that might be a problem.

  Ermont shook his head causing his hair to fall in his eyes, which he quickly brushed away with a deft swipe of his hands, a maneuver that seemed to charm most females of their acquaintance. Meliora merely rolled her eyes.

  "I honestly hadn't thought of that." He said, "But don't you think that's a bit redundant? If you can't touch the experimental plants than it would logically follow that you can't eat them either?"

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  Melora nodded. "Sure, but Tibbs isn't the brightest. Matter of fact, neither is Fabrizio and I'm sure that's who the comment was directed at."

  Ermont winced at the thought. He'd once found the chef face down and being vigorously bitten by a pile of cannibals plants while Gert's humongous dog danced around them, barking his head off. Just because a plant smelled like bacon didn't mean it was edible. But you could forgive the dog for that whereas the Royal Chef didn't have the excuse of being a dumb animal. However, it seemed Skibble at least had learned caution and Fabrizio didn't seem to be capable of that.

  "I still can't believe he thought it would be a good idea to cook the cannibal plants." Ermont said. "Considering what they're crossbred with that might be a very bad idea."

  "You crossbred them with Cass." Melora said, wondering again what the purpose of that experiment was. "It's not a poisonous species, just annoying."

  After all, Cass was a notorious gossip and it had been known to make things up for fun if life got too dull. But the threat of being banished to one of the less visited greenhouse had kept it from causing any havoc recently.

  "I didn't crossbred them with Cass." Ermont said, clearly offended by the thought. "I distinctly recall telling my boss that it would be a bad idea. He didn't listen."

  "At least Cass doesn't bite." Melora said, with a sigh.

  Ermont nodded. "And what about this one? All chefs must have an escort. Shouldn't that be all professional chefs? Or should we just specify Fabrizio so that it's perfectly clear? Meggie hasn't poisoned anyone yet or turned anyone blue."

  "All known menaces must have an escort." Melora responded. "According to Tibbs, we can't name humanoid species due to legalities. He wasn't sure about the sentient others as he called them."

  "We'd also have to pay to change the signs later if he left." Ermont pointed out. "And you know how much Tibbs hates spending money."

  "True." She was about to saying something else but she heard her name being called from across the field.

  "Mellie, Mellie, Mellie!"

  It source was immediately identifiable as the garden's intern Harald Kessel, otherwise known as Harry, because he was the only person who always chanted her name three times like it was some kind of spell. He also had a crush on Ermont and nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw him standing there beside her. Melora herself grimaced.

  "What is it this time, Harry?"

  ---Readers, You Decide!----

  What problem does Harry need help with?

  a) Skibble ate an experimental plant and her fluff balls are turning into glittery dust. She's also glowing. Her owner, Gert is furious

  .

  b) Fabrizio has once again used questionable ingredients that weren't actually meant to be eaten in his fabulous foam after being left unsupervised in the garden.

  c) The carnivorous plant has caught the absent-minded court musician, yet again.

  d) Cass repeated a rumor that may result in a duel if the situation gets any further out of hand.