Zeroth Directive

Archive IV

On rainy days, you can sometimes find Aroma sitting next to a porthole, looking out the window at the rain. 'Can you describe what rain tastes like?' An operator once jokingly asked her, upon seeing how engrossed she was with it. 'The rain that falls here on Rhodes Island has no taste. In Columbia, it has the taste of the wasteland sand, and the aroma of grass when the plants are sprouting. In Siracusa, it has a faint lemon scent, the smell of tobacco, and the sour odor of sweat. And then...' Aroma stopped there. After some time, she kept gazing out the window at the intermittent rain. In Siracusa, each family has their own dirty business they need dealt with, and once that's done, they are left with a mess they need a professional cleaner to get rid of. So thoroughly it will be as if it was all washed away by the rain. We understand Aroma's grandmother to have been one such famous cleaner. According to rumor, no matter how terrible the scene, she was able to make the place look spotless. As a child, Aroma was energetic and mischievous, and she often followed her grandmother everywhere. Yet when she followed her to a cleaning job one time and broke her promise to remain outside the house—instead chasing a bubble that flew far, far away into a small alley—she witnessed a crime. Ever since, her personality shifted from lively and energetic to quiet and cautious, and she became less and less able to tolerate dirty environments. This experience also prompted her family to make the decision to move away from Siracusa and restart their business in Columbia. Aroma tells us that, aside from that one experience, her impression during childhood was that she belonged to a normal Siracusan family who ran a laundromat as well as a workshop producing fragrances and detergents. Her strict grandmother always took charge of both family and business matters down to the last detail, and everyone else needed only follow her instructions and 'work for the family' as per Siracusan tradition. For example, on holidays her grandmother would wake everyone up early to prepare. Once they were finished with the all-important house cleaning, they would follow her orders and divide up the house chores. Some would go out shopping, others would be in charge of food prep, and yet others would put up decorations in every corner of the house. Even after leaving Siracusa, this tradition remained with them year after year. 'For as long as I can remember, it's always been pretty noisy back home, and it got even noisier during family gatherings. We could probably tear the house down just from the noise. But whenever that happened, Nonna would clap her hands, and everyone would quiet down to listen to our matriarch's orders. 'But really, my nonna isn't as strict or scary as you'd think. She's such a kind old lady, cute even. One time when I was a kid, it rained really hard. The water in the yard almost reached up to my knees. I was so excited I rushed out to dance around and stomp on the water. '...Not only did she not scold me, she came out and started singing and dancing along with me. She even yelled at the others to come join us! 'Forgiveness, trust, intimacy, and loyalty... I think that's what my family has always stood for.'

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