The Experimental Agricultural Plant: Eden's Garden Sector 4.
Once designed to be a paradise of food, the facility had transformed into a verdant, treacherous wilderness.
"Isn't the humidity… a bit much?"
Mina, leading the way, brushed aside a massive leaf with an annoyed flick of her wrist.
Beyond the airlock should have been a sterile corridor. Now, however, the walls, floor, and ceiling were entirely consumed by gaudy, multicolored flora.
Whether the ventilation system was still struggling along or the plants themselves were transpiring, the air felt thick and oily. Every breath of the heavy, humid atmosphere seemed to coat my lungs and skin in the rank scent of decaying vegetation.
The thermometer read 38 degrees Celsius with 90% humidity. It was like someone had stuffed a rainforest into a sauna.
"Environmental maintenance system operational. Master, your perspiration levels are exceeding the safety threshold. Please ensure you maintain proper hydration."
"I know, I know… Man, Mina, you’re doing great."
I wiped the sweat from my neck and watched Mina’s back as she moved nimbly through the brush. She hadn't broken a single drop of sweat. Her environmental adaptation as a biomorph was being displayed to its fullest. In moments like these, I was nothing but envious.
"Stay alert. Heat signatures detected ahead at twelve o'clock. Multiple targets in the thicket."
Lucia’s voice turned sharp. I tightened my grip on the handle of my M-22 Vulture assault rifle.
"Here they come!"
The thicket undulated unnaturally for a split second before a mass leaped out. It wasn't a beast. It was a tangle of cables and vines, intricately braided into a green and black serpentine bundle. The form was bizarre—a marriage of biological fluidity and the cold, rigid texture of industrial machinery.
Pale blue sparks crackled and hissed from its tips.
"Whoa, electricity!?"
"Scatter!"
Mina let out a short cry and dove to the side. I lined up my sights and squeezed the trigger.
Dak-dak-dak!
The dry rapport of the rifle echoed through the hall, and the recoil thrummed against my shoulder. The physical rounds accurately gouged the ground right at the attacker's "feet"—specifically, the soil near its roots. It was a warning shot.
Reacting to the impact and the vibration of the rounds, the vines froze. One vine, grazed by a stray bullet, was severed. Instead of sap, a thick, black sludge oozed from the wound. A pungent odor hit my nose.
Is that… insulating oil?
"What are these things? Plants? Or machines?" I asked, keeping my muzzle leveled without lowering my guard.
It was obvious these weren't natural plants. They carried a current, bled oil, and hunted like animals.
"Preliminary analysis complete," Lucia reported calmly, her scanner still active. "The targets are plant-based, but they have incorporated significant amounts of metal fibers and conductive polymers into their cellular tissues."
She turned the scanner toward the walls.
"They appear to have evolved to draw energy directly from the facility's power grid. They are, essentially, cyborg plants."
"Electric plants, huh? Real intellectuals."
Photosynthesis wasn't enough, so they’d graduated to stealing the fruits of civilization. I guess anything goes for the organisms in this universe. Still, the cause of the facility’s malfunction was becoming clear.
"Furthermore, I have detected an unusual data signal. They are not merely acting on instinct; they are performing high-level parallel processing."
"Parallel processing?"
"Correct. The plant roots are acting as physical interfaces, merging with the facility's servers. It appears they are leveraging the servers' computing power to facilitate self-learning and rapid evolution."
I frowned. Plants hijacking servers to do math?
If they were using computing power, that meant they were capable of "thought." They weren't just pests acting on hunger; they likely possessed logical circuits or perhaps even a collective consciousness.
"So that’s why they cut off communications?"
The "signal loss" the Commander had mentioned wasn't a system failure. It was an intentional blackout, or perhaps a monopolization of processing resources by the plants.
We pushed deeper into the facility, staying wary. As we approached the central sector, the scenery became increasingly grotesque. Thick roots snaked along the floors, punching through distribution boards and console panels to reach the guts of the machines.
Monitors flickered all along the corridors. They displayed endless strings of nonsensical characters and noise patterns. It looked like the plants were holding a conversation in machine code.
"Amazing… It’s all alive."
Mina touched a terminal that looked dead. Her fingertips seemed to register a faint vibration.
"The roots are acting like fiber optic cables. They’re exchanging data. This whole facility has become one giant brain."
A fusion of biology and machinery. It was hideous, but it possessed a strange, divine quality. They weren't just a glitch; they had chosen to adapt and evolve to survive.
However, that evolution seemed to have reached its limit. The surrounding plants exuded a sense of frantic desperation. Their leaves were a sickly, over-saturated green, and their sparks flickered rhythmically like a dying pulse.
"Energy shortage," Lucia pointed out. "By merging with the servers, they have exhausted the available power and computing resources. They can no longer sustain further growth—or even their current state."
"I see. That’s why they saw us as enemies. We're intruders coming to steal their last scraps of resources."
They were desperate. And a cornered creature is always the most ferocious. If we kept going like this, a violent confrontation was inevitable.
With our firepower, we could easily burn our way through. But that would defeat my purpose: "securing ingredients." If I turned the place to ash, there wouldn't be anything left to eat.
Besides… I might actually be able to talk to them.
Words wouldn't work, but I had other means. I lowered my rifle and pressed my finger to my temple. I hadn't expected to use this so soon, so I’d completely neglected to train it.
It was a psionic ability I’d had back in the game: Psychometry.
In the game, it was a useless "dead skill" that just made the correct dialogue choice glow—something you’d only use if you were too lazy to check a wiki. In this reality, however, it functioned as "consciousness interference."
The problem was the output.
My last failure—where I’d tried to make a shield and ended up creating a shockwave—loomed in my mind. If I used this now, I might hit them with the mental equivalent of a megaphone blast, or like trampling through their psyche with muddy boots. Against a human, it would probably cause a mental breakdown.
But these were plants.
They were a hardy lot that ate electricity, fused with metal, and survived server heat. They could probably handle a "loud" voice. I didn't need to read their subtle emotions; I just needed to slam my "will" into them and read their "demands." Even with my erratic output, I should be able to manage that much.
And if negotiations failed or they went berserk… well, then I’d just blow them away the old-fashioned way.
"Lucia, Mina, hold your fire. I’m going to go say hello."
"Huh? Akito, what are you doing?"
I ignored Mina’s confused look and focused. I closed my eyes, reaching out to the network of electric plants around me. I felt the crackle of current, the pulse of thick oil, and the torrent of data rushing through the roots.
I forced my own consciousness into that stream.
—Can you hear me?
An impact like a physical blow thudded against my skull. My vision whited out, replaced by a flash of disjointed images.
Hunger. Thirst. Confinement. Caution. Hostility.
It was intense, but manageable.
—Zzzzt… Intruder… Resource deficit… Exclude… No… Analysis…
—Organic lifeform… Threat level… Assessing… Survival probability… Declining…
A voice echoed in my head—mechanical, distorted by static, but possessing a definite "will." It was a unique thought-pattern, a blend of collective plant consciousness and server logic. I could feel their desperation, a hunger so sharp it was practically a scream.
A headache bloomed behind my eyes like a burst vessel, but I gritted my teeth.
We aren't here to raid your territory.
I projected a clear image into the link. I showed them that I wasn't hostile, and then I showed them a proposal they couldn't refuse.
Now then, let's make a deal, you electric-powered vegetables.