reaction.
Ever so slowly, she moved to the next, an
older grey-haired woman. She, too, stared blankly ahead. With one
trembling hand, my ally reached into a pocket of her jacket and
drew out a small metallic square.
Without warning, the old woman turned her
face and addressed us directly. Her voice rang out hollow and
multi-tonal. "We don't like your kind."
To her credit, my ally remained calm, her
hands up - the small metallic square hidden behind two of her
fingers pressed together. "I'm just going to leave… no hostility
intended."
A small blank-eyed child to her left spoke in
the same voice, as if a crowd was communicating through him. "Go
now."
With the camera shaking visibly from her
tension, she crept slowly out through the gathered crowd of silent
stares. I heard her make a noise of anger, and she threw one hand
at the air briefly as she left.
"What is it?" I asked, concerned.
"I just…" She looked around, and then settled
her gaze on a distant deer. It bent over the light green creek,
sipping quietly. "I have to make sure."
"Come on, get out of there! What if you get
infected?"
"I don't know, but I have to see this
through. I have to know if there's a chance to save them." Moving
along the creek, she followed it upstream, and higher. In just a
few minutes, she reached a higher outcropping. "Look."
From her vantage point, I saw a tremendous
plain of patterned greens and greys that stretched out to the
horizon. Set dead center was a staggered collection of office
buildings - we were looking at a recognizable city, sprawled out in
a vast pattern of suburbs. The only thing out of place was the
green… patches of mossy green grew splattered along the tall
buildings. "It's Richmond," she commented. "Humans."
Jumping down from her rock, she moved along
the forest until she found something specific - a bird, sitting and
staring blankly at nothing. Its lungs moved in and out visibly as
it breathed, but it made no move to escape from her.
A little further down another trail, she
found a normal young man in jogger's clothes, staring blankly down
his trail.
Instinctively, I zoomed in to get a better
look at him - and froze - but he made no move and gave no response.
Odd…
Heading back to her original location, she
sighed into her facemask. "I have to try this."
"Try what?"
"Didn't you see the deer? It's the details
that matter."
"The deer… the deer was moving and
alive."
"Exactly." Heading for the creek, she scooped
up some of the oddly pale green water in her gloved hands and
carefully brought it over to the brown-clothed people. Tipping her
hands, she poured some into the mouth of the male with the long
black hair.
Nothing happened for one minute, two…
The entire clearing, people, bushes, and
mossy ferns, seemed to convulse as if struck. Many multi-tonal
voices cried out.
The man she'd given the water blinked and
fell forward weakly. "I'm free…"
Around them both, everything living began
moving. Even as I watched, what I'd thought were bushes began
uprooting and slogging toward them. The blank-eyed people moved in
like a wave.
"Let's go," she ordered him, tugging him in
the direction of her point of entry.
"How long has it been?" he asked between
ragged breaths.
"I don't know."
I watched as they stumbled and ran up along
the creek. The oddly colored creek remained the only path ahead, as
all the life around them clustered frenetically closer. It seemed
that nothing living wanted to get near the stream.
"What happened to you?" she asked, using her
shoulder to support him. "Can we save them?"
"It's a brain," he breathed, eyes wide. "It's
a giant plant-based brain, and we were all forced into being a part
of it. Haven't you noticed the distribution of the plant nodes
around here? They're neural cluster equivalents. And that creek is
full of toxic material it's excreting back along a vein of
sorts."
"How big is it?" she asked, her voice
haunted.
He groaned at some pain in his chest. "The
whole
Ever so slowly, she moved to the next, an
older grey-haired woman. She, too, stared blankly ahead. With one
trembling hand, my ally reached into a pocket of her jacket and
drew out a small metallic square.
Without warning, the old woman turned her
face and addressed us directly. Her voice rang out hollow and
multi-tonal. "We don't like your kind."
To her credit, my ally remained calm, her
hands up - the small metallic square hidden behind two of her
fingers pressed together. "I'm just going to leave… no hostility
intended."
A small blank-eyed child to her left spoke in
the same voice, as if a crowd was communicating through him. "Go
now."
With the camera shaking visibly from her
tension, she crept slowly out through the gathered crowd of silent
stares. I heard her make a noise of anger, and she threw one hand
at the air briefly as she left.
"What is it?" I asked, concerned.
"I just…" She looked around, and then settled
her gaze on a distant deer. It bent over the light green creek,
sipping quietly. "I have to make sure."
"Come on, get out of there! What if you get
infected?"
"I don't know, but I have to see this
through. I have to know if there's a chance to save them." Moving
along the creek, she followed it upstream, and higher. In just a
few minutes, she reached a higher outcropping. "Look."
From her vantage point, I saw a tremendous
plain of patterned greens and greys that stretched out to the
horizon. Set dead center was a staggered collection of office
buildings - we were looking at a recognizable city, sprawled out in
a vast pattern of suburbs. The only thing out of place was the
green… patches of mossy green grew splattered along the tall
buildings. "It's Richmond," she commented. "Humans."
Jumping down from her rock, she moved along
the forest until she found something specific - a bird, sitting and
staring blankly at nothing. Its lungs moved in and out visibly as
it breathed, but it made no move to escape from her.
A little further down another trail, she
found a normal young man in jogger's clothes, staring blankly down
his trail.
Instinctively, I zoomed in to get a better
look at him - and froze - but he made no move and gave no response.
Odd…
Heading back to her original location, she
sighed into her facemask. "I have to try this."
"Try what?"
"Didn't you see the deer? It's the details
that matter."
"The deer… the deer was moving and
alive."
"Exactly." Heading for the creek, she scooped
up some of the oddly pale green water in her gloved hands and
carefully brought it over to the brown-clothed people. Tipping her
hands, she poured some into the mouth of the male with the long
black hair.
Nothing happened for one minute, two…
The entire clearing, people, bushes, and
mossy ferns, seemed to convulse as if struck. Many multi-tonal
voices cried out.
The man she'd given the water blinked and
fell forward weakly. "I'm free…"
Around them both, everything living began
moving. Even as I watched, what I'd thought were bushes began
uprooting and slogging toward them. The blank-eyed people moved in
like a wave.
"Let's go," she ordered him, tugging him in
the direction of her point of entry.
"How long has it been?" he asked between
ragged breaths.
"I don't know."
I watched as they stumbled and ran up along
the creek. The oddly colored creek remained the only path ahead, as
all the life around them clustered frenetically closer. It seemed
that nothing living wanted to get near the stream.
"What happened to you?" she asked, using her
shoulder to support him. "Can we save them?"
"It's a brain," he breathed, eyes wide. "It's
a giant plant-based brain, and we were all forced into being a part
of it. Haven't you noticed the distribution of the plant nodes
around here? They're neural cluster equivalents. And that creek is
full of toxic material it's excreting back along a vein of
sorts."
"How big is it?" she asked, her voice
haunted.
He groaned at some pain in his chest. "The
whole
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