[Team Two] Furniture Shopping

[yrindor]

Inui should never be trusted with anything apparently.

The next display case was nearly the same dimensions as the last, except instead of glass, its walls were made of acrylic

"What about this one?" Kaidou asked, pointing to the computer screen. "It's the right size, and the price is far more reasonable."

"Absolutely not," Inui replied. "It is cheaper due to inferior construction. I am sure it is fine as a display case for small items, and possibly even as a terrarium, but there is no way these walls will withstand holding an aqueous solution for any length of time. In addition, the glass cases all specified that they were waterproof. This one does not. It may be less expensive, but it is utterly unsuitable to serve as an aquarium."

"If you want an aquarium, then why are we looking at display cases?"

"I did go to the pet store earlier, but all of their aquariums of suitable size are optimized for the housing of fish and similar animals. Most of them came with water filtration and aeration systems included, or at least with modifications for the easy hookup of such. The construction materials were all also guaranteed not to leach any potentially harmful compounds into the water."

Kaidou squinted. Hadn't Inui wanted an aquarium to raise fish? "What exactly are you doing?" he asked. He had some regrets immediately as Inui pulled up a slideshow on his computer.

"Since Homo sapiens as a species are unable to achieve adequate hydration through the consumption of brackish or salinated water, the ability to desalinate water is a hallmark of functional society. Unfortunately, current water desalination technology is an energy-intensive process. By developing new technologies that are simpler and less energy intensive, we can simultaneously increase the accessibility of potable water and decrease our overall energy expenditure. A recent large-scale survey of saltwater microorganisms found several species of bacteria and one protozoa that appear to use a photosynthetic pathway to directly power an ion pump that shuttles sodium ions across the cell membrane against the gradient. The hope is that such bacteria could be bred selectively and then tailored for use in large scale desalination setups, especially those in or near the sea that have a ready source of solar energy available."

"The tanks test the filters?"

"In a roundabout sort of a way. Potential target species have been identified, but isolating them and coaxing the to grow in the laboratory environment has proved difficult. Before testing on water filtration abilities commences, more testing is needed on different growth media and the effect they have on selective grown of the target species."

"You're growing bacteria?" Kaidou asked somewhat incredulously. "You're growing bacteria, in repurposed display cases, in our living room?"

"Hoping to grow bacteria," Inui corrected. "And at least one species of protozoan, but the research isn't there yet. The most successful experiment so far only managed an 8% yield of the target species. We need at least five times that to even approach a viable system."

"Don't you have a lab?"

"It's full. Overdue renovations in the biohazard 4 wing shifted everything that could move safely elsewhere. We're sharing our space with another lab for the next year, and it's tight just with the current projects."

"So you're bringing it home? That's safe?"

"It's perfectly safe," Inui replied. "I already submitted the research proposal to the review board, and it's been signed off on."

Kaidou remembered the smell of Inui's lab from the few times he had visited. "Please look at the aquariums again," he begged. He didn't consider himself that picky, but the thought of weird bacterial culture water leaking onto the carpet made him shudder. "Or anything else designed for water."

"They're just so much more expensive," Inui sighed, "and they cut our department's budget again for next year. The new round of grant funding hasn't started yet either, and we've used most of the existing grant funds that weren't earmarked for specific projects. There's some potential funding sources that look promising, but it's a bit tight currently."

"Not negotiable," Kaidou said. "Weird experiments need to be contained. The apartment is already tight enough just with the two of us."

"Fine. I'll look into it." Inui shifted, nearly knocking over the stack of textbooks balanced on top of a couple of Kaidou's weights next to he computer. "Maybe this is a good time to consider moving too? We've been living in this studio apartment for three years, seven months, and twenty-eight days now. We can afford something a little bigger now, and it's feeling a bit small."

"Sounds good. Training room and research space?"

"I'll start putting together a list of requirements and wishes tomorrow. Once we're happy with it, I can write a script to compare it to new listings and rank the results. I estimate it will cut close to 60% off of the time needed for searching."

"Thanks. Still one bed?"

"I see no need to change something that appears to be functioning well. Unless you want to?"

"One bed's fine," Kaidou mumbled.

You're up, clearlykero!