Chapter 13

It has been a little bit since I posted a chapter, but it's finally time again. Let's see the aftermath of the explosion!!!!

A pungent scent invaded the room as fear spread. The reality set in for the others, yet I was used to this. It has happened at least fifteen times since I began to work with Cascara on projects. As the others were still frozen, I moved to the side and called Organics. Within seconds I was connected to Homun.

“Hello, Organics, Homun speaking, what may I help you with?” they said, that slightly odd yet flowing voice as calm and soothing as always, which made sense as they tended to be contacted in case of plant matter requirements, a.k.a. when a sophont was hurt, badly. I notified that we needed another batch for Casc sent to C.E.S.

The response was nonchalant, “Oh dear, did yae cause an explosion during testing again?” Chuckling, I answered with yes, the ones behind me slowly leaving their shocked state. “Seems like we have to quickly replenish our backups. We only got three batches left for yae.” My palm impacted my forehead a bit harder than intended. Really, how does Casc keep going through these so quickly, doesn’t yae ever check stuff before testing. 

A deep breath left my lungs, and I swiftly said goodbye to Homun, turning to my friends. “What in ever blooms name, he. I mean, yae… yae’s core.” Scinthi was thoroughly shaken. I jumped before her, vines extending to catch me. Eyes still fixated on Casc, she began idly patting me, focus unwavering. I ran my paw along my chin, rubbing as I thought of how to get her out of her stupor, and then it came to me. I extended my fangs and plunged them into her vines with vigour, which she probably wasn’t unfamiliar with.

A shiver ran up her vine, finally reaching her consciousness as her eyes bore down upon me with interest. “Cifran? You, you’re not shocked?” I smiled and wagged, opening my jaws again, letting her vine out. Shaking my head, I giggled as my ears perked at a noise outside our room. Ooooh, Organics must’ve fast-tracked. Smart, as Casc was known to be a quick rebloomer.

The door opened, and I hopped off the confused Scinthi. “Hiya, so Casc got stripped of all matter, only the core left. It’s in there, unscathed.” The trolly, piloted by a Terran, who surprisingly had no visible body mods, moved swiftly, quickly entering the testing room, where Cascara’s core pulsed with vitality, a reddish brown glow surrounding it like a halo. Unloading the three-storied trolley, they spoke to themselves in a hush, monotonic manner.

I returned to the duo before the glass, gently wrapping my arms around them, at least as much as possible. Firum was slightly out of it, drugged into an unnatural calm by Scinthi as she looked down at me with a glint of shock still in her eyes. “How are you so calm, Cifran? I mean, Cascara blew up. All that’s left is yae’s core.” 

I smiled and rubbed my head into her vines, “It’s not the first time that this has happened. Cascara can be a bit… how do you say it? Neglectful with yaes safety. I remember one time that it happened twice in one month. Boy, that was something. I think yae got chewed out by the head of Organics that time.” Her eyes widened, her usual tight weave loose as what I said began to sink in.

Silence stretched as she digested what I said, her bark face moving, twitching, as thoughts raced. Her disturbed rhythm slowly returned to that calm legato, causing Firum’s features to smooth out even further still, gently easing them out of their drug-induced stupor. “Sorry, twice in one month?” Her mouth moved with delay as she uttered those words, the realisation hitting her.

Then, as she was about to ask another thing, the Terran loped back in with a small clipboard. It seemed they liked to keep things analogue, “Hello, mister Cifran. I have delivered the materials as requested and laid them out as well. Cascara’s core seemed to identify the matter instantly and has already begun incorporating it. Cascara’s one-thousand-three-hundred-and-thirty-seventh blooming should be over soon.” their monotonous voice droned before leaving. Scinthi, still coping with the realisation of Cascara having to bloom twice in one month, looked shocked by the new information.

“WAIT, 1337th BLOOM!” she boomed, her humanity fading as she fully unravelled, barely able to take in the truth of what was said. Even her bark mask crumbled as vines lost power, her once smooth rhythm again having turned a jumbled mess. Sagging and loosening, I looked with surprise. I never expected Scinthillus to be this shocked.

Hugging Firum, I gently drew them to the seating area, patting their head. “Good Fir, just gently wake. It’s all good.” They blinked, yet consciousness stayed out of reach as their system lowered them out of the drug-induced stupor. Keeping Firum safe, I huggod and snuggod them, letting the affini regain themselves at their own pace.

Inside the test chamber, I could hear the rustling of the vegetation as Cascara connected and pulled everything closer, reconstituting yaes body. Firum rubbed against me instinctively, demanding my touch, which I gave without question. Scritching, nuzzling and hugging, I let my mind wander.

“Welcome, little Cifran, to our labs. I hope you’ll enjoy working here on whatever project you wish!” the plant said with a vigour I matched, my tail excitedly swishing through the air. A vine ran underneath my chin as I let out a happy yip. “Now then, how about we start our tour?” I softly barked, and they lifted me into their vines as we entered the facility.

The hallways were perfectly cleaned and flowed through the building like a river. It branched at unexpected points, doors and occasional windows breaking the smoothness. It took a short while, yet as the hallways stretched onward, we finally entered a room. Well, room would be an understatement, as it stretched on and on, with many cabinets, small greenhouses and a couple of sophonts filtering between, checking in on the experiments and growth of the plant matter.

A large creature composed of perfectly interwoven vines approached us, “Ah, this must be our new little scientist, Cifran. Am I correct, Choval?” The affini gently pat me as their other arms moved to tap things on the tablet held to the side. “Oh, sorry, sweetie, I forgot to introduce myself. I am the head of Organics. You may call me Homun.” 

I smiled up at Homun, my tail going wild as I greeted them, “Hello, Homun, I am indeed Cifran. I wanted to learn some new thingies, and my teacher at school recommended I come here!” I felt excited as this was the first grown-up thing I’d get to do. All by myself, at least, when not doing dangerous things. I didn’t know yet what things I’d do, but I knew I’d do all I wanted.

Homun stretched one of his arms out towards me, attention still split between me, Director Choval and their tablet. “So, we are the ones you call when something has gone wrong, though I doubt that will happen to you. You can also call us if you notice an Affini who has had an incident. In general, we keep one set of transplants ready for each Affini who researches here.” I listened attentively as his tone shifted to near desperation, “Except for Cascara, we need almost three for yae at any time.”

My head tilted slightly as I scritched my head, “Cascara?” Homun’s eyes widened in shock, certainty that they had spoken so quietly that I would not have been able to hear, shaken. Their bark face moved a little, yet no sound came out. Then they decided the best response was nothing, as Choval said I would see yae later.

The tour continued as Choval showed me the expanse of plant and biomatter experimented on and grown. It was here that they worked on possible new implants and further improvements to the biosphere. The goal was sustainability, safety and happiness. Each new thing made my eyes widen with wonder, sophonts were giga smarts!

A couple minutes later, we were done and continued again, saying bye to Homun and their mind-blowing department. Once more flowing through the hallways, we went to our end destination, Cascara’s experimental space, C.E.S. for short. It was a short walk, especially as Choval carried me. Within a minute, we were there.

There was a small lounge with seating and a compiler. I assumed it was for drinks and food. It was quaint and cosy, even one super fluffy blanket. Beyond was a window and a door to what I assumed was the test area of Cascara. The light reflected off the window, robbing me of sight beyond as Choval explained all the safety mechanisms added to C.E.S. 

It had a metal alloy shell, only interrupted by the door and crystal window. The door locked with bars and was unopenable during an active experiment. Furthermore, there were instant foamers that went off in case of fire, coating the space with a flame retardant. It also had a magnetic field around it to keep any exterior-interior interaction to a minimum. Also, it was under a light vacuum, so all would stay inside in case of safety failure. Simply said, it was a genius construction that even the most deranged lunatic would have trouble destroying.

What I didn’t know yet, was how crazy Cascara was. We moved forwards, and the moment the glare faded, allowing me a sight of the space beyond, lasers went haywire inside, and the plant inside was cut into a million pieces. It was a gruesome view. The instant the vines collapsed, I could see a core with only a couple of pieces of plant still attached.

I let out a scared scream and closed my eyes, much like Firum did this time, and then it went mostly dark. All I remembered was Choval saying, “We need another batch for Cascara. That idiot destroyed most of yaes matter. The core is intact.”

I snapped back to the here and now as Firum’s rough tongue traced my chest, their eyes lucid again. “Ciffie, is Cascie okay?” A slight tremble went through their voice as they asked me. I smiled reassuringly, nodding as I looked towards the testing room, seeing Casc’s mass already having fully formed, it would take five minutes or so, and yae’d be back. It wasn’t the best, but neither was it the worst.

That memory gave me actual shivers, as I remembered the crack on yae’s core. It was full-on panic for all present. Luckily that was only once. I shook my head and gave Firum a kiss on the brow, “Yes, Casc will be fine. This isn’t the first time it has happened, nor will it be the last.” Their tail started swishing through the air again, reassured by my calm and presence.

Near the glass, Scinthillus turned towards us again, her mass reformed and rhythm semi-normal. “Cifran, are you sure you’re okay? I know that such things can be quite shocking. It’s rare for an Affini to need to rebloom.” I shook my head and smiled. Once more, reassuring Scinthi I was fine, I pointed beyond her as I noticed Cascara’s form moving swiftly.

Apparently, I was wrong, as, within seconds, Cascara was back up, looking around and checking out yaes surroundings. Some surprise, but not much more was visible on yaes face as Casc walked through the door towards us. “Welp, that was a failed experiment. I hope I didn’t scare you too much. I am quite alright.” I let out a hearty laugh and pulled yae in for a big hug, telling Casc how much of an idiot yae was.