"I mean... honestly, most of our high-tech machinery's been breaking down. It's not the environment, it's just that not a lot can stand up to twenty-odd years of constant use without easy access to spare parts, y'know? That's part of the problem..." He sighed. "Last season another one of our tractors' transmissions gave out, and like. What are we even gonna do with that? We don't have the gear for mining ore to fabricate parts and even if we try to make sustainable setups, half the time it just gets wrecked during the Glow and then it's back to square one, relying on machinery because we need the extra help. Between you and me, don't say anything about the portions tonight. You know how Cal is, we can both work our butts off in geoponics, but when a harvest comes up short, he always takes it personally."

A pause. Wait. Did Denji know how Cal was? For the life of him, he couldn't remember the two ever interacting.