day 43 | 2:14 AM | Network Monitoring Station
Ethan shouldn't be awake. Dr. Sato's orders were explicit: daily LE consumption capped at 4,000, mandatory 8 hours sleep per night. But his brain—now 50% lignified neural tissue—doesn't need sleep anymore.
The plant half stays awake. It listens through the Network.
Tonight, it heard something that shouldn't exist.
Anomaly Detection
SYSTEM ALERT:
[ANOMALY DETECTED]
Location: Sector 7-West (Verdant Network Node #847)
Signature: Encrypted Human-Origin Signal
Pattern: Military-Grade Frequency Hopping
Status: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS
Duration: 47 minutes (ongoing)
On Ethan's screen:
Network Node 847 = "neutral buffer zone," 3 miles from Nursery SectorSignal source: Human communication device using Verdant frequency camouflageData packet contents: Encrypted, but metadata shows transmission target → Pentagon subnet
Critical question:
How the hell can humans transmit through Verdant networks? Unless someone taught them how to mimic mycelial signals.
Ethan's decision: Trace the signal source. But he can't use tech (would be detected).
He uses his own mycorrhizal network.
Root Hacking
2:47 AM - Ethan enters full Interface mode.
SYSTEM WARNING:
[WARNING]
Current LE: 1,240/15,000
Remote Network Access: -850 LE/hour
Brain Core Temperature: 41.3°C (106.3°F)
Dr. Sato Override Protocol: DISABLED (Manual shutdown by E. Cross)
Estimated Time to Critical Failure: 31 minutes
Vivienne (via earpiece): "Ethan, your core temp is already redlining. If you persist beyond 30 minutes—"
Ethan: "Then I'll stop at 31."
Interface Process - Subjective Experience:
Ethan closes his eyes. His consciousness descends—through the concrete floor, into soil, sliding into the mycelial ghost-highway.
What he experiences:
He's no longer "Ethan Cross in a room"He's 84 square miles of forest as distributed consciousnessEach tree is a neuron; each mycorrhizal thread is a synapseHe can "taste" rain 7 miles away, "hear" deer stepping on roots 4 miles northHis awareness flows like water through 847 million fungal connections
LE drain: 850/hour = 14.2 LE per minute = agony
But he follows the signal.
Discovery
Node 847 location: Abandoned logging road, designated "dead zone" after the Collapse.
What Ethan's root-vision sees:
3 humans in NBC suits (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical protection)1 modified Verdant Interface rig (civilian model, but jury-rigged with military encryption hardware)Operator: Female, mid-30s, Verdant User signature: 4,200 LE
She's connected to the Network. Illegally.
Data stream Ethan intercepts (partially decrypted):
TO: USSTRATCOM//J3//TARGETS
FR: NIGHTSHADE ACTUAL
CLASSIFICATION: TS//SCI//NOFORN
NURSERY LOCATIONS CONFIRMED:
- Primary: 47.2891°N, 121.8344°W (12 specimens)
- Secondary: 47.3104°N, 121.7988°W (8 specimens)
- Tertiary: 47.2764°N, 121.8521°W (11 specimens)
PRIMORDIAL MATURATION SCHEDULE:
- Wave 1 (Specimens 1-12): Days 45-52
- Wave 2 (Specimens 13-25): Days 53-61
- Wave 3 (Specimens 26-47): Days 62-75
SOVEREIGNTY PROTOCOL STATUS: ACTIVE
Cross, E. (Sovereign) continues stabilization ops.
Recommend [REDACTED] before Day 60.
AUTHORIZATION: THORNE, GEN. M. (JSOC/SPECOPS)
NIGHTSHADE ACTUAL OUT.
Ethan's blood runs cold.
Translation:
Someone is mapping every Nursery location with GPS precisionThey know the exact maturation timeline (info only 4 people should have)"Recommend [REDACTED] before Day 60" = military euphemism for "kill it before it becomes a threat"Thorne authorized this.
The woman suddenly stops typing. Her head snaps up.
Through the Network, Ethan feels her awareness brush against his.
Woman (whispered): "Network traffic spike. Someone's watching."
Ethan pulls back—but not fast enough.
Counterstrike
The woman interfaces deeper.
Her LE signature explodes: 4,200 → 6,800
She's weaponizing the Network against him.
What happens:
She sends a dissonance pulse through Node 847It's like a sonic scream through fiber-optic cablesThe pulse races toward Ethan's connection point at 840 mph (mycelial signal speed)
Ethan's options:
A) Sever connection immediately = lose her identity, but survive
B) Hold connection 8 more seconds = get her biometrics, but risk neural damage
LE remaining: 390/15,000
Time to pulse arrival: 12 seconds
Ethan chooses B.
8 seconds of hell:
Second 4: Ethan's visual cortex lights up with pain—colors invert, the room spinsSecond 6: His lignified neurons crack (literal fractures in wood-brain tissue)Second 7: Nosebleed (hemorrhage from biological/plant tissue interface stress)Second 8: He gets what he needs:
BIOMETRIC CAPTURE:
TARGET IDENTIFIED:
Name: Kiera Navarro
Age: 34
Rank: Captain, U.S. Army Special Forces (discharged 2 years ago)
Verdant User Status: Registered (Seattle Network, Tier 3 access)
Current LE Capacity: 6,800/12,000
Specialization: Network Infiltration & Counter-Intelligence
Employer: [ENCRYPTED] - likely private military contractor
Second 9: Ethan severs the connection.
Aftermath
2:58 AM - Ethan collapses.
Dr. Sato rushes in:
Medical scan results:
LE: 12/15,000 (near-total depletion)Core temperature: 44.1°C (111.4°F) (seizure threshold)New damage: 7 lignified neural clusters fractured (like cracked wood)Blood chemistry: Sap leaking into cerebrospinal fluid
Dr. Sato: "You absolute fool. You could've suffered catastrophic neural pruning. What was worth—"
Ethan (barely conscious): "Thorne... is planning... to kill the Nurseries... before they mature."
Silence.
Vivienne: "Say that again."
Ethan: "Military op. Codename NIGHTSHADE. They have GPS coordinates for all 47 Nurseries. Authorized by Thorne. Execute before Day 60."
Claire (via comm): "But the Treaty—"
Ethan: "The Treaty has a clause. Article 12, Section 4: 'In the event Primordial specimens pose imminent existential threat, signatory parties reserve right to unilateral defensive action.' Thorne thinks the Nurseries are existential threats. He's going to sterilize them."
Vivienne: "With what? You can't just drop bombs—Primordial spores would scatter for 200 miles."
Ethan: "Thermobaric weapons. Fuel-air explosives. They superheat the air to 3,000°C, consume all oxygen in a 500-meter radius. It'd incinerate the Nurseries and prevent spore dispersal. No radiation. Technically compliant with environmental clauses."
Dr. Sato: "How long do we have?"
Ethan: "Seventeen days. Day 60."
Casualties
Medical report (3:20 AM):
Metric
Value
Ethan's LE
12/15,000 (emergency IV drip initiated)
Neural fractures
7 clusters (permanent damage)
Brain function loss
Additional 4% (now 54% lignified)
Speech impairment
Moderate (Broca's area damage)
Estimated time to cognitive collapse
3.5-4 months (revised down)
New symptom
Sap secretion from tear ducts
Ethan can still think. He can still plan.
But every word now costs him effort. His sentences come slower.
Claire (holding his hand): "We'll stop this. You found out in time."
Ethan: "Didn't... find out in time. Found out... with seventeen days left. That's not... the same thing."