Nг–vг‰nyek - Pt.3

Elena reached out, her fingers trembling, and touched the smooth, warm surface of the leaf.

"Atmospheric breach," the computer's flat, synthetic voice droned. "Air lock 4 compromised."

I can't do it alone, she thought desperately, her vision blurring at the edges. NÖVÉNYEK PT.3

A low, resonant hum suddenly filled the chamber. It wasn't the sound of machinery. It was a vibration, deep and grounding, coming from the earth beneath the metal grates.

She looked up at the vines. They didn't retreat. Slowly, gently, a single, slender tendril reached out toward her. It didn't attack. It hovered just inches from her hand, pulsing with that same calm, green light. Elena reached out, her fingers trembling, and touched

Elena froze. Air lock 4 opened directly into the dead zone of the city. If the toxic smog outside flooded the Conservatory, decades of delicate work would be wiped out in minutes. The plants of Part 3, still tender and adapting, would wither and die.

She didn't think. She grabbed a portable breather mask from the wall, slammed it over her face, and ran toward the far end of the bay. A low, resonant hum suddenly filled the chamber

They reached the air lock in seconds. Elena watched in stunned silence as the heavy, pulsing vines wrapped themselves around the manual wheel. They coiled tightly around the steel frame of the door, filling the gaps where the yellow gas was leaking through.