We Should Have Let It Die

“Alright... I will be there in 10 minutes.”

Sheena sighed heavily and hung up. She looked down at the huge bowl of loaded nachos and pizza rolls that hogged most of her old coffee table with visible regret.

I adjusted my oversized glasses and looked up at her from the innards of the plush blanket burrito I was almost finished making on her comfy grey couch. This was our annual tradition. Once a year I would come down from Upstate and we would hang out for the weekend.

We would turn off our phones so our jobs couldn’t reach us and just decompress.

We would go exploring old record shops and drink too much coffee and watch old sci-fi movies. It was just like when we were kids, and it was the best thing ever.

The heavy strains of Orvak’s Your Love Is Ego were the only sound in her apartment. She was on a big Orvak kick currently. Said he helped her focus.

“I’m sorry, Jin, I have to go back in. Something’s wrong with the project.”

She began shuffling stuff into her overstuffed messenger bag that had been beaten out of shape by the long life of Sheena’s overhauling back and forth to work. She had been the same way in school.

I shook my head.

Sheena had been consumed with work since I had known her, but recently whatever project she was on had her wound tight enough that I was legitimately worried about her.

Even when we spoke or messaged, she wasn’t really there. I could tell that she was just counting the seconds until she could get back to work, running the lists of tasks that she needed to accomplish in the background of her mind.

“It’s ok. This recent project has you pretty engrossed. Go. I will be here when you get back tonight. The nachos and pizza rolls probably not.”

I gave her a grin.

She smiled sheepishly.

“Go ahead. I’m so sorry, Jin. We only get to do this once a year... and here I am headed back to work.”

I waved her off.

“It’s ok. And besides, I was thinking maybe we should do this more often. We’re both dyed-in-the-wool introverts, but I’d like to hang out with you more than once a year. So let’s just plan for another weekend, ok? How about that?”

She looked even more depressed and then shook her head.

“I can try, Jin, but... I wish I could tell you what I’m working on. It could change everything if things go wrong...”

Yep. I knew it.

Sheena had nabbed a high-level research job right out of grad school. It had been tough to stay in touch with the work that she did. In truth, I was worried about her. This job might be important as hell, but it was eating her up, swallowing her life and her health. Those dark circles under her eyes didn’t tell of happy days in the sun, and she had lost weight steadily.

It was the other reason that I volunteered to come out more often.

I worked in advertising. It was high pressure and high stress, but I loved it. Odd for an introvert, but I always put my mask on at work and pretended to be bubbly and glamorous. It was like playing pretend for a living. It was fun.

“Then ya better go take care of it.”

I sounded a lot more flippant than I felt.

She hesitated.

“I could be gone for most of the night, and then I would need to catch a nap before I got back on the road, Jin... maybe...”

I knew what she was going to say, and I shook my head and waved my finger at her.

“Unh uh! No way. I came down here to hang out with you. I will be here when you get back. Take the time that you need.”

She smiled and headed for her hallway, grabbing her lanyard and keys as she went. She chucked on her shoes and hustled out the door, locking up behind her so I didn’t have to un-blanket-burrito myself.

I heard her footsteps pounding down the stairs.

I took off my glasses and set them down on the coffee table and then pulled my hair out of its messy bun, shaking it loose and feeling some of the stress lift.

Part of what made me so good in sales was my little ability of reading the other person’s emotions. I knew how they felt about a presentation before the words were out, and I could adjust on the fly.

And I had felt Sheena’s stress.

This project was tearing her up inside.

I would slowly wheedle out of her why she was so wrapped up in this, besides her being her normal self... this was something more. And then slowly start to shine a light on some of my worries. I needed to be gentle, but she couldn’t keep going like this.

I got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to make some tea—Sheena always had the most enviable collection of tea and coffee—and then a smell hit me.

I looked around and checked the sink, the most likely culprit, and nothing. Everything was clean.

I poured the water into the kettle and set it on the stove, lighting the burner. As the flame grew, the smell in the kitchen decreased slightly.

I worried about mold. This apartment wasn’t exactly new construction.

Poor Sheena probably hadn’t even noticed. I wondered if she had been home enough to notice anything.

It was a good thing that she wasn’t a pet person... and that she killed any plant that came within a foot of her, else I would worry for their safety!

I filched through her cupboards and found my favorite—Victorian Earl Grey—and made myself a cup, no sugar.

I took a sip. Even though it was hot, it was wonderful!

The contrast between the scent of the tea and the odd smell was sharp.

I went to the living room and clicked off the television and began checking the apartment for the source of the unpleasant and weirdly dead scent.

Bathroom—clean.

Kitchen, all the cupboards and even under the sink—clean.

Living room, even under the couch—clean.

I even checked in Sheena’s bedroom... under the bed, by the bed, dresser, closet... it was all clean!

What the hell?

Where was that smell coming from??

I realized each time I walked the hallway that connected the rooms—the smell got stronger.

I sniffed around, literally, the hall.

The smell did get worse the closer that I got to her bookshelf. It was a huge monstrosity of a thing but somehow fit into her hallway perfectly.

I shook my head.

Oh, Sheena.

Sheena always had enough books to put a library to shame. It was no different here.

I realized her home office might be on the other side.

I debated, chewing my thumbnail a bit. It was classified, but there was no doubt the stench was coming from the room behind the bookcase... and that room had no other entry point.

I’d need to move the bookcase.

Now why had she done that?

Then I saw that there was an outline where the bookshelf had been. She had moved it fairly recently. Bet she moved it before I got here. Just for my visit.

Now it could have been about work... but I really doubted it.

What was she hiding?

With a sigh, I decided to find out.

I grabbed the side of the huge thing and gave a test shove... and it glided like butter. On closer inspection, Sheena had put it on casters.

Now that was interesting.

I pushed it to its original spot and was greeted with a large open frame with no door, but a long piece of industrial plastic tacked over it and sealed with tape.

Through the tape I could see Sheena’s desktop and file cabinets and such... and a bunch of dead plants sealed up in glass domes.

The smell was definitely worse.

What the hell???

Sheena was death to plants. It wasn’t like she didn’t try. They just didn’t like something about her energy.

I halfway wondered if it was linked to her ability.

Sheena and I had bonded over our unusual... gifts.

Sheena had visions of the future. Flashes really, and sometimes dreams. Once she worked with it instead of against it, it helped her quite a bit. School, getting this job, avoiding trouble... Sheena had a knack for dodging problems.

We both did.

But we never talked about it with anyone else.

Who would have believed us anyway?

I hesitated again on the threshold.

One, because I really, really didn’t want to intrude on Sheena’s work.

And two, because she could potentially get in deep trouble for it.

And three, because I knew if I pulled that plastic that the smell would most definitely get way worse.

I stared in through the murky tarp and decided that Sheena was an adult and she could have a discussion with me without my prying into her workspace.

My compassion had limits.

I turned, reaching for the massive bookshelf to drag it back over the tarp—I would snug it up even tighter and hopefully block some of the smell. It couldn’t be healthy—when a wave of terror hit me along with a burst of extreme sadness and loneliness, and I buckled to my knees.

My thoughts ran in a circular train.

Would I die here, all alone?

Would I never see my home again... my family?

Coming here had been a mistake.

I would die here all alone.

No one was coming to save me.

I was all alone—

—and it circled back again.

It was an emotion loop mixed with thoughts... well, the concept of thoughts anyway.

I had run into this a time or two, and these were nasty.

That meant only one thing.

These thoughts weren’t mine, nor the feelings that blended with them... which meant that Sheena had a living being in there, and they were terrified that they would die here.

What the hell, Sheena??!!

I got up and turned to the tarp, ripping it open—I was a tad charged from that little emotional burst—and gagged on the stench.

This was the stench of death.

Multiple things dying and rotting to death.

I looked around.

All of the plants were specimens.

By the tags, they were all genetically engineered.

Some for resilience, some for splicing. Some were for things that sounded more at home in science fiction than they did my friend’s office.

There was one that was an attempt to grow a bioweapon.

It looked like someone was trying to GROW handheld bioweapons???

What the hell had Sheena been working on?

I scanned, but all of these... plants? If you could call them that anymore. Some of them had been genetically spliced with different animals, and one looked suspiciously like it was spliced with HUMAN DNA.

But they were all long past dead.

The emotional circling kept up, and I noticed the further into the office I went, the stronger it got.

I moved to the back wall—I was amazed that Sheena’s neighbors hadn’t complained about the stench—and the emotions got much more intense.

I felt along the wall and realized that Sheena had painted over a door. If you didn’t put your hands on the wall you wouldn’t know.

I knew it was here from the fresh-looking brush strokes in the paint.

I pressed a bit and the door gave way, revealing a whole other apartment... that had been gutted of all furnishings and extras.

But that wasn’t what got me.

It was the overwhelming amount of UVC lights and heat lamps that were shining directly on a raised dais that supported one tiny little withering shrub.

I could tell it used to be green and had some sort of purple flowers on it... with spines.

But it was currently withered and almost dead. The brown had faded to black in multiple spots, and it was very definitely the source of the deadened smell.

This thing smelled like a rotting corpse.

I entered the room and looked around for any bodies that were decomposing just to be sure and thankfully found none.

The thoughts were so loud in here, and the emotions were almost unbearable.

All that from this little thing.

I felt terrible.

Why would Sheena do such a thing to a little plant?

And with such precision.

I gagged and started to back out of the room when I heard—felt—a call.

HELP. HELP ME PLEASE. I DON’T WANT TO DIE. HELP PLEASE HELP ME.

And those thoughts looped in my mind.

I looked at the shrub.

I hesitated.

Sheena wasn’t cruel or mean. There had to be a reason why she would do this.

HELP. PLEASE HELP ME. I’M DYING.

I moved to the dais.

On instinct I extended my hand to the shrub and it flinched away from me.

I rubbed my eyes.

“What are you?”

I felt a little silly, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.

A high-pitched note came from the shrub, and in my mind I saw images—

hurtling through the stars

falling to Earth

landing in a field

happiness

putting down roots

home

then men with guns came all in black

beings in white coats running around me

one being in a white hazmat suit pulling me up by the roots

screaming

being stuffed in a see-through box and in some sort of transport

the next image was of a laboratory and more people in hazmats and white coats

then an image of Sheena in a white coat and she was crying

Sheena pulling me up from the table and putting me in her messenger bag

and then being in the dark

then being here left to die—

no food

no water

just heat and light that burns.

I stared down at the shrub.

It was sentient and had just communicated with me.

“So that’s what happened. What are you?”

It closed in on itself.

I crossed my arms.

This seemed off.

If Sheena was going to bring something home then she wouldn’t let it die.

She knew plants better than most people.

UVC lights killed plants... so did excessive heat.

She was intentionally killing this thing.

The question was why.

“How can I help you?”

Immediately an image of water came to my mind.

Despite my reservations, I went to the tap and ran a cup of water for it.

I brought it and watched as the little thing stretched itself to attempt to get at it.

I then poured it all around the roots of the thing.

The soil was bone dry.

MORE. MORE!! PLEASE.

I nodded, ran another cup, and poured it over the roots, although I almost didn’t get the chance as the roots rose up and went for the cup.

MORE PLEASE.

Less desperation and more base in its tone.

I shook my head.

“Where is home, and what are you?”

Frustration colored its thoughts and an air of indignation... and entitlement.

That was at odds with its earlier pitiable state.

I pulled back.

Then a tendril shot out of nowhere and sliced the fingers holding the cup.

I jumped back holding my hand.

Then a deep voice came from the former shrub.

Now it had grown to the size of a large dog.

“Well, it was enough. Now for food. Then spare parts!”

Another tendril lunged at me as I jumped out of the way.

I felt its glee.

It wasn’t helpless at all, nor was it pathetic.

It was an actor.

And a good one to be able to fool me.

Its tendrils flew out to the plant specimens in the glass, cracking the domes and digging deeply into the soil of each... soaking up the dead plants.

“Jin!”

Sheena was staring in horror as she took in the scene.

“Sheena, I’m so sorry, I thought it was dying!”

Her eyes widened, anger leeching into them.

“IT WAS!! Damn it, JIN!!”

She ran in to grab me and haul me out, dodging the tendrils expertly.

She got to me in record time and we hugged each other.

“What is that thing?”

She shook her head.

“It’s what I’ve been working on.”

I looked at her with nothing but questions in my mind.

She rubbed her head.

“This is why I took the job, Jin. I saw this thing and the stuff that they were trying to make... bioweapons, Jin. Tons of bioweapons. I knew the future that was coming... and I knew that the Tetrizane were inbound. I saw it all before graduation!”

“The Tetrizane?”

She nodded.

“Yes. They were called here by what we were making. The Tetrizane are sentient plants, and they can adapt and absorb any plant or animal... any living matter that will help them. They are a predator species. They have absorbed multiple species, and Earth was to be their next stop.”

My eyes went wide.

“The oceans.”

She nodded again.

“Our oceans have the right composition to keep them alive. Their home world is no longer able to produce enough of the right kind of water to keep them alive... but our oceans are perfect. Combine that with the experiments that Linadyne has been conducting and we were a prime target. I had to stop it.”

I nodded in understanding.

“So you got the job and have been sneaking any experiments out that showed promise... because you kill plants! You’ve been sabotaging them for years!”

She nodded.

“Yes. And this was the last piece of the vision. After this thing was dead I was going to quit. I hate this job. It’s taking over my life and might be killing me... but I couldn’t let what I saw come to pass!”

I stared at her realizing the weight she had been carrying all alone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I just didn’t know how. How do you talk about the end of the world?”

She just looked sad.

We were interrupted by the Tetrizane.

“Thank you,” it hissed at us.

And then its tendrils burst out of the living room and through Sheena’s apartment to spread till it found a window.

The glass shattered as we stared.