Alder's Grove

This is written to the image prompt here for "Sixteen Minute Saturday," something I adapted for alliteration from Ty Barbary's 15-minute Fiction.

I'd love if more people played along!

"It's data tagging."

"Like facial recognition?"

"Exactly like facial recognition. They pass by this camera... see? And then we know which one they are."

"Doesn't work for the females, though."

"No, we're still working on that. But the antlers are very close to unique."

"Very close to..."

"Well, all right. It's not an exact science by any means."

"Aren't you in the exact science department?"

"No, I'm in the tracking animals department. Exact sciences is down one floor and over three rooms."

"Right, right. So. It doesn't track the females and it's not one hundred percent accurate at tracking the males. So what does it do?"

"Well, it projects the patterns on to them, too, in a hard-light display that is really pretty nifty."

"It's nifty."

"Yep. Really nifty. And, what's more, mating interest is up one hundred percent for females looking at the males with the nifty displays."

"...One hundred percent."

"That's what I said."

"So, are you the growing-antlers department, by any chance?"

"No. That's up one floor and over two rooms. And it hurts like hell. But let me tell you... totally worth it."

"One hundred percent?"

"In clinical trials - me - more like one thousand percent."

"Going."