Rufus dotingly tended his greenhouse orchids. They had a three month blooming cycle with proper care, one of the reasons he loved them so. Few things in life stayed pretty so long.

They were also among the most beautiful flowers in the world, with stunning variety that played off one another, adding to their charm. It was possible to see life's diversity as something grand inside his greenhouse, which wasn't always so possible to do out in the real world where human dissimilarity led to things other than beauty.

Rufus embraced order over chaos, but he needed to find a way to deal with chaos, too, without it flustering him. Inside his house of orchids, where he constantly added to the genetic diversity of his plant varieties, both elements were in balance. In the real world, this was never so.

To encourage a second bloom, he clipped the stalks down with a razor-knife to just above where the blossoms spiked. It was recommended to sterilize the blade beforehand as orchids are very susceptible to viral infections, just like animals or humans. He had long learned to do so out of habit.

Since it was fall, after the growing cycle was complete, he carefully removed the first orchid from its pot and removed all dead or mushy roots.

The same way he trimmed the dross of humanity.