The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 33 - The Harvesting

“That’s it. Cut it right there. No lower though.” Xander Luce watched closely over Ollie’s shoulder as Ollie cut the stalks of the plant.

When Ollie had shown up in the greenhouse that morning, Xander had announced that it was a harvest day. A dozen or so of the hundreds of plants in the greenhouse were ready to be culled for the lab.

“What’s going to happen to this stuff?” Ollie asked as he used the sharp scissors the way he’d been instructed.

“Extraction!” A smile flashed across Luce’s face.

“Extraction?”

“There are different techniques depending on the plant, and depending on the compound we’re trying to isolate, but at a high level, we put the plant material in a solvent, and apply heat. That process draws out the plant’s constituents – the pieces that we’re looking to isolate.

“Why don’t we just pull the whole plant out of the dirt? Wouldn’t that be faster?”

“Well, sometimes we do that when the elements of the plant we’re trying to isolate are in the roots. But for many plants that’s not necessary.” Luce explained.

“Yes. But wouldn’t it be faster?” Ollie asked again.

“I suppose, but then the plant would die.”

“Cutting it doesn’t kill the plant?” Ollie sounded puzzled.

“Oh no. In some cases it can make the plant stronger.” Xander was excited to enlighten Ollie on this topic.

Ollie thought for a moment. “Does this work with animals too?”

Xander’s eyes showed that the question had caught him off guard. It took a few seconds for him to think about his response. “Well, I wouldn’t apply sharp scissors to an animal the way we are to this plant.” Xander laughed briefly. “But, in principle, yes. When done properly of course, it is possible to experiment on animals without killing them. And, in my mind, preferred.”

“And they’ll grow stronger afterwards? Like the plants?”

“I suppose. Yes. That’s certainly possible.” Xander stopped what he was doing to spin Ollie around to face him. “But Ollie, that requires the scientist to have a deep understanding of the subject of his or her experiment. They must know the plant or animal inside and out. In other words, it must be done with utmost thought and care.”

Ollie nodded and went back to his harvesting. In the relative silence, Ollie’s mind kept going over what Xander had said.

§

“Are you sure he’s the owner of the company?” Penny asked again.

“I told you, when Huitre suggested we go to Dr. Trace’s boss, I had no idea who he was talking about. But I just couldn’t imagine two people in the same company with the name Xander.” Binny trailed off.

Binny had messaged everyone to meet in the Madrona Park that morning with their bikes, instead of gathering at their usual spot in their underground headquarters.

“Why is the guy who started the company working in the greenhouse? He didn’t look like the big boss to me.” Zoe asked.

“That’s what I asked Dr. Huitre when he told me Xander was in charge.” Binny said. 

“I guess the boss gets to do whatever they like – including, work in the greenhouse.” Zach added.

“Well, let’s see how bossy he gets when he finds out that Dr. Trace has been having us followed.” Binny said.