One person's trash...
Arizona pyrope garnets occur in a remote section of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The gems have never been mined commercially because there aren’t enough of them. The entire world supply of these gems depends on those living nearby who collect a few stones after the occasional rainstorm and trade them at local stores.
This gem is most commonly called “ant-hill garnet” because they are “mined” by ants. Ants find the garnets while digging their anthills, drag them out, and discard them on the surface.
It’s wonderful to imagine the ants being SO FRUSTRATED at all these stupid crystals getting in the way of their work.
Makes you wonder what humans discard that an alien species would see as valuable.
(#00725 - A360)
Pebbyxx Brokk, the sign read. Assorted Liquids.
Cho'desh, already in a mind to browse, wandered inside. There were tanks, of course. Clear plexisteel and, for the more active liquids, solid glass, showed the interested customer the contents.
What almost startled Cho-desh out of her skin was the acids. She half expected them to be bubbling, but they just sat there. They didn’t even look evil.
“Uric acid,” she read, and then backed away.
“It’s quite safe,” soothed the shopkeep, presumably Mx Brokk. “That’s three centiUnits of solid glass, behind a repelling shield guaranteed to deflect even the most aggressive blows.”
“Why do you even have that?”
“Asteroid miners use it to dissolve worthless carbon,” explained Brokk. “It’s quite profitable and worth the trip.”
“Trip?”
“Oh yes. I found a little wormhole that leads to the outer reaches of this boring yellow star system. The cogniscents there are just entering the space age and they flush this,” a friendly knock on the container, which made Cho'desh flinch unconsciously, “into the higher atmosphere. I buzz the planet a few times and pick up their rejects. They’re none the wiser.”
“For that?”
“Dear Cogniscent… I get two Hours a miliUnit. And that’s for the super-condensed crystalline form. Then I sell them the purified water at an Hour a Standard Liquid Unit. How could I not pay attention to such profit?”
“And they just… dump it?”
“It’s waste to them,” Brokk shrugged. “Can I interest you in some more -ah- amenable liquids?”
“Thank you, but… no. I’m in exploration mode.”
Brokk nodded understanding and wished her a good day.
Cho'desh spent the rest of her day wondering what sort of creature would just throw away something as dangerous and valuable as uric acid.
[Muse food remaining: 11. Submit a prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories!]