The Magic Farm (standard:fantasy, 1202 words)
Author: GXD	Added: Nov 07 2008	Views/Reads: 3211/2070	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
How to grow a marketable watermelon hydroponically in three weeks? Ask the robot!

The Magic Farm 

Last week I bicycled down to the magic hydroponic farm on 12th Ave. I
knew that they grew watermelons, and figured it might be an interesting 
visit. 

It certainly was. 

The farm itself was in a newly built Quonset hut on the University
campus where the pineapple-canning factory once stood. After the armed 
guard at the door patted me down, collected my keys and small change 
and handed me a folded paper coverall, he motioned me toward the shower 
rooms and went back to his crossword puzzle.  Behind the door I found a 
clear set of instructions: "DISROBE, SHOWER, COVERALLS, PUSH EXIT ALARM 
BUTTON." 

Well, that seemed easy enough, so I complied, grabbed my notebook and
pen, then hit the alarm.  It didn't make a sound, but then the wall 
beside me kind of rolled back, and I saw rows of growing tanks 
stretching for a couple of blocks to the end of the Quonset.  No people 
were visible but a couple of sanitation robots were cruising the 
aisles. 

Each tank was big enough to hold half a dozen life-sized watermelons,
and the tank on my left was busy doing just that.  Inside, each 
watermelon seemed to float a fraction of an inch above the bed of 
spongy sand, and its umbilical cord led to a curious opening just above 
a lazy stream flowing down the sheet metal hydroponic trough.  The 
glass-covered trough was packed tight with roots, so the stream barely 
moved at some points. 

I took a closer look at the strange opening, which seemed to be humming
and vibrating around the umbilical cords.  Its warning sign read: "DO 
NOT TOUCH WHEN OPERATING!!!"  That seemed a bit severe.  Suddenly a 
voice erupted inside my head: "DO NOT TOUCH!!!"  I stepped back a 
little and looked around.  Nobody. 

Something was moving around inside a few cases down the line.  I ambled
over in that direction and found it was a gaily dressed dwarf with a 
Mickey Mouse smile and white gloves.  It took me a few moments to 
realize its mechanical movements were clearly programmed and broadcast 
from some invisible control center.  Feeling a little stupid, I asked 
out loud: "Excuse me Sir, but could you direct me to ....".  The robot 
stood erect and pointed across the room, upward to a small cage I 
hadn't noticed.  With a nod I said "Thank you" and headed for the cage. 
 As I passed by the tank I had first seen, the watermelons seemed to be 
a little bigger than before.  My imagination, of course. 

A short stairway led to the cage, which turned out to be an air lock, of
the interspace type.  I read the instructions, locked the door, sat on 
the bench and waited.  Pretty soon the opposite door swung open and I 
stepped into a plush little office with a couple of live people. They 
were busy nibbling on sandwiches and soft drinks, so I didn't expect 
much of an answer when I said, "Hello." 

The office itself was a little strange, too: in one corner, a sturdy
rope steadily sank into a large hole, while in the opposite corner, the 
same rope was rising.  Now and then a kind of "table" on the rope came 
thru the ceiling and disappeared below the floor, and vice versa.  It 
took me a moment to realize this was an elevator.  With no doors. 

The woman with a stunning hair-do put down her sandwich, swiveled off
the desktop and brushed crumbs from her skirt. Then she looked up at 
me, smiled and asked rhetorically, "What can we do for you?"  I nodded 
at the growing facility below us. 

After tea, cookies and a briefly shared smoke, we began the tour. 

"It takes about 3 weeks to grow a marketable melon," she explained. "We
harvest and ship about 6,000 melons a month, year round.  For good 
taste and texture, no dirt-farm melon can beat us."  I was impressed, 
and said so.  Generally, it takes 3 or 4 months to grow a melon.  So I 
wondered, "How can you speed up the grow rate so much?"  The answer 
came instantly: 



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