well first how many samples do we have? first thing i'd do is plant the vegetable in the best most comfortable and rich soil ever to make sure it grows again and give it moderate amounts of water and sun to ensure it grows some more so i can harvest more of this vegetable.

then i do a poison test! i taste the leaves and the vegetable, touch them and rub a tiny amount on my lips to check if i have any negative side effects. i check for bitter or awful tastes. i wait for 15 minutes, then proceed with another taste with a small bit of the plant, and wait another few hours. i keep testing until i realize that there are no poisonous substances.

i still prepare one sample to send to a lab, but for now i want to do my discoveries on my own. :3

in the meantime, i'll try to note down everything i can about the vegetable. i'll doodle it, get its general shape, write my impressions, my thoughts on it while observing it. then i'll start doing a general more detail illustration of the plant's anatomy from the outside and in cross sections, noting down each region and how they smell, what they feel like, amounts of water, etc etc...

i lack the biological knowledge or vernacular to correctly note down each part of the plant's anatomy so i'll just keep the plant illustration intact and as detailed as i can. then i take a bunch of really detailed pictures and videos of the plant and vegetable from all sides, and watch how it grows.

after that i wanna try a litmus test and check the ph level of the plant... i'd probably get a litmus paper or smth.

now that i've done enough researches on the vegetables, it's time to cook it if it's not poisonous :3

first, after cleaning it thoroughly in water, i'll try tasting it raw no cuts, and see how it pairs with salt and then sugar, separately. after this, i'll dice it and tr to sauté it and taste it as is. based on how it tastes, i'll see if i'd rather pair it with a spicy sauce or a milder sauce. if it's a tiny bit bitter or chewy then i'll go for spicy, but if it has a more earthy flavor then i'll add more spices.

i'll also try to eat it in a soup, and also just cooked raw in the oven. i wanna see the panel of different tastes this plant can offer me. can i also make a tea out of it? out of its leaves and whatnot? i'll get the residual bits of the vegetable i cut off, put them all in the oven and cook them until they are fully dry, then pummel them into a fine powder to make either seasoning spices out of this vegetable, or powder for tea.

of course, i'll be documenting all of my researches on video because this is priceless data and i control all of it hehe.

after this, if i still have enough vegetables to both send to a laboratory, and to make more dishes out of, i'll make a few dishes that i deem are perfect for this vegetable, and serve them to me myself and i because if it's somehow still poisonous or smth im not giving it to my family... though i doubt it because i would have already died by now.

anyways. i take all of the document material i have, put them all together in a 30mn long video documentary. after which, i send a snippet to a lab and tell them i am renting the video for approximately [I Have Bills to Pay]$ dollars. and if they're interested, i can send them my thoroughly documented video and a sample of the plant for more money, because i have bills to pay and also put a lot of effort in this. of course i am all for sharing information publicly.

except not now because i am in dire need of some money. sorry for being a capitalist.... but i would have probably already posted and sent some bits and pieces of my researches either on here or to various friends. not on twitter. i hate twitter. not on insta either. just here or on discord or whatever.

i'd also listen to a bunch of advice from people as well, just in case.

my third eye is telling that they'd be bipeds but only because they're piloting bipedal suits or controlling some bipedal robots.

IM SO EXCITED FOR YOU AHHH!!!!!! That sounds so self actualizing?? (Idk if that’s the right phrase) but POWERFUL u kno?? I know it’s already your name but just getting that paper work stuff done to make it offícíàł has gotta feel so good ! :D

HELL YEAH fuck it up!!!!!

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Victor asked. His hair shone like starlight under the LED overheads, designed for conserving power for the duration of the USS Agape’s eighteen-month mission. The gold of his command shirt was the brightest color by far, drawing Yuuri’s eyes away from even the magnificent sight in the bay window behind him.

The Earth, all round and green and white and blue, so very blue. As blue as Captain Nikiforov’s eyes as he turned them back on Yuuri, his fresh-faced and distracted First Officer.

There should be nothing else on Yuuri’s mind but the sight of wide-open space, in this moment. He’d trained his whole life for this. He’d waited twenty five years for this sight. But he could look at nothing but his commanding officer and feel joy, feel fear, and feel the strange and mortifying attraction he’d acknowledged when he first chosen Victor as his idol long ago.

He was the most distinguished alumnus of Starfleet Academy; a true genius, a prodigy in all things navigation, language, and discovery. And he had chosen Yuuri for his second in command, despite the fact that dozens of graduates (some even twice Yuuri’s age) had been desperate for this chance.

Why me? Why now?

But does it matter?

“Yes, Captain,” Yuuri answered, and swallowed back the fear. Everything, everyone he knew was on that planet, now microscopic—entire lives, entire cities, so small they were invisible to the naked eye.

It certainly put things into perspective, Yuuri’s anxiety notwithstanding.

Victor laughed; the sound echoed off the thermoglass, off the bulkheads, and echoed down the spacious halls. Yuuri drew in on himself; Victor, oblivious, reached out to pat him on the back. “Yuuri, please, you can call me Victor when we’re not on the bridge. We’re going to be living and working together for the next year and a half. It’s the least you can do, please, for me.”

How could Yuuri deny him? He lowered his eyes and nodded, still starstruck (not by the galaxies they would be facing, exploring—but by the man himself before him). 

“Come on. I’d like to hear you say my name at least once,” Victor said with a bright smile.

“I just don’t want to disappoint you!” Yuuri felt the words tumble from him unexpectedly, the hot, embarrassed blush following closely behind. He clapped his hands over his mouth and mumbled, “...Victor.”

Victor’s cheerful expression softened into something gentle, private. His hand, where he had patted Yuuri’s back, drifted up to rest on his shoulder, heavy and comforting. “You won’t disappoint me. You’re capable of amazing things, Yuuri. You’re full of surprises, I know it. You may even surprise yourself.” 

Victor winked; Yuuri hoped Victor couldn’t feel the heart palpitations that had to be shaking his whole body.

And then Victor stepped closer and slid his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder. “Come on, Commander Katsuki. Let’s go greet our crew.”

As Victor led him away, Yuuri had only a moment to take in the view of the Earth; it would be more than a year before he would see it again. But the last thing he saw was their reflection—tall and broad, short and slender, silver hair and black, command gold and science blue.

They looked good together.

(Yuuri hoped they would work together just as well.)

“Yes, Victor,” Yuuri answered.