Barbara stepped cautiously into the hallway beyond the lab door she forced open. The overhead lights glowed weakly, throwing uneven shadows across corroded pipes and the vines clinging to the walls. The air was damp and heavy, the smell of mildew and moss filling her lungs. She froze when a sound reached her ears—a dragging step echoing from the far end of the corridor.
A figure staggered out from the shadows. It limped forward, each step clumsy and uneven. Its skin was streaked with bark, veins pulsing beneath mossy flesh stretched tight across its body. A cracked oxygen tank clung to its back, hissing faintly with each move. Across the front of its filthy shirt, faded letters spelled Seedling-01.
Barbara's breath caught. "One of his early experiments," she whispered. "Barely stable." Her eyes narrowed as she studied its staggering steps. "He set them to patrol the halls. As guard dogs."
Barbara lowered into a stance drilled into her through years of training. Muscles tightened as she moved closer, ready to strike. But the Seedling lunged faster than she expected. Its bark-covered hand clamped around her arm with crushing force. Pain tore through her shoulder as her body jerked upward, lifted clean off the floor.
"Shit!" she gasped, teeth clenched as she kicked against its chest. "It's stronger than it looks!" The monster's moss-covered face pushed close, its breath foul with rot. She shoved at its torso with her free hand, straining to pull free. "Let me go!"
Heat surged down her spine, sharp and alive. Her eyes widened in panic. "What's happening to me?" she whispered. Blue-white light erupted across her skin. Sparks burst from her arm, striking the Seedling square in the chest with a violent crack. Electricity ripped through its body, burning bark and flesh in bursts of smoke. The stench of burned wood and charred meat filled the corridor.
The Seedling shrieked, its distorted cry muffled by the cracked helmet. Its limbs convulsed, jerking violently as smoke poured from its mouth. With a final shudder, it crashed to the floor. Its body twitched once, then sagged still.
Barbara stumbled back, chest heaving, eyes locked on her trembling hand. Arcs of static snapped between her fingers. "I… did that?" she whispered. Slowly she raised her hand again, and a spark jumped to the wall with a sharp pop, leaving a blackened mark across the metal. Her words came unsteady, edged with awe. "The nanites… they've linked with my central nervous system. I can channel the electricity that powers my body."
She steadied her breathing and stepped closer to the corpse. The ruined shirt clung to its chest, the letters still visible through the charred fabric: Seedling-01. Green sap oozed from its split limbs, dripping onto the floor. Barbara's jaw tightened as she murmured, "So that's what he calls them. Seedlings." Her lips pressed together. "The missing people from the university … this is what he turned them into."
Her fists clenched, sparks flashing faintly across her knuckles. "You bastard."
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