Bushroot's brilliance is getting him recognized at work, and he's movin' on up the scientific corporate ladder. This new work outfit is the required gear for the Level 3 position, which came with another nice bonus and paycheck.
His hard work has paid off, but it does wear him out. It reminds him of his pre-mutation days slaving away for an unappreciative boss at St. Canard University.
However, Bushroot can't head home and hit the hay just yet. He was told that he could take some of the engineered fruits and vegetables grown in the Landgraab Science Facility's garden to use as free fertilizer in his garden. While fish are more ideal for that, his fishing skill isn't quite high enough to catch much and he's tired to boot.
Then he comes home and finds a pile of bills in his mailbox. He had almost forgotten how annoying that aspect of a "normal", non-criminal mutant plant-duck lifestyle was.
Still, a plant-duck's work is never done until he gets a chance to get to his roots and tend to his garden. Once the bills are paid, he uses his new fertilizer on his newly planted seeds to ensure they grow at a nice or better quality.
Work is a little less stressful the following day, so Bushroot fishes in the pond out behind the science facility when he's done. Boosting his fishing skill will increase his job performance and get him free fertilizer, so it's a win-win hobby for him. He's starting to feel a bit lonely, though, and misses his sweetheart. After a couple of hours of fishing, he calls up Blair and asks her to meet him at the beach park.
They're happy to see each other and share a friendly conversation. Bushroot is getting pretty tired, but he does get in a few smooches before heading off to bed.
Bushroot then heads home to crash. Shack Sweet Shack still has no siding or windows other than the door, but all of those promotions and bonuses have given him a lot more space, as well as a sink, shower, and toilet. Now he can finally take care of all of his basic needs at home, and he has a double bed all ready in case a certain someone would like to woohoo and spend the night on it with him in the near future.
The work week goes on, and Bushroot spends some time after work brushing up on his gardening and handiness skills in the library. He overhears Nick and Vita Alto talking in front of their daughter, Holly, about some "family business" that doesn't seem entirely on the up and up. It makes him briefly nostalgic for his old life in St. Canard.
Back at home, the postman on Bushroot's route is having a bad day. He throws Bushroot's bills on the ground instead of putting them in the box. How rude!
And here's the morning horizon view of Shack Sweet Shack after the disgruntled postal worker leaves. It's now got stone and log siding and looking like a nice little cabin overlooking the ocean. Bushroot's garden is bearing fruit, and he has a sprinkler in it now. Thanks to all of his time studying handiness for work, he was able to upgrade his sprinkler to auto-water his plants every morning to save time and water as well.
As you can tell by the upgraded suit jacket, Bushroot received yet another promotion at work for his innovative ideas and knack with plant life. He celebrated by spending the rest of the afternoon fishing for new and better garden fertilizer. His promotion pay bonus went toward household items and new fishing books that teach him which bait is best for catching different kinds of fish.
Unfortunately, he had to pawn his dining chairs to be able to afford the bookshelf he wanted to hold all of his new books. One more day's pay would allow him to recoup that loss, but in the meantime, he has to eat on the only other seat in the house...
After harvesting the high quality fruits and vegetables in his garden, Bushroot immediately re-plants some of them to grow them from superior seed and make them even better. He fertilizes them with the fish he caught, and then he stretches, feeling a little tired after all that work. On the upside, he can sell the produce and extra fish in his inventory for enough money to buy his chairs back.
The next morning is the weekend, which is not off to a great start. He takes a shower, and it breaks right afterwards. He calls Blair to let off some steam about it before fixing it.
Then, once the shower is fixed, the toilet clogs! Bushroot mutters about cheap toilets as he then fixes that. At least it's boosting his handiness skill some more, though.
Saturday evening he invites Blair over to visit for a romantic evening in. Seeing her makes him happy, plus it boosts his charisma skill, which he earned a point in from reading a charisma book recently. He figured that learning a few new lines to charm the ladies would impress Blair, and it seems to work quite well.
To Be Continued!
Let Spike take you back to the main chamber!
