Freyr chuckled. “Yes. Who’d have thought it? Visiting Rothia was actually high on my to-do list before...well, everything.” She peeled off her surgical gloves and put them into a bin attached to the portable surgery table. “No that’s quite alright, you stay put. I’m just finishing up here and then my team and I will make our way to Port Angharad. Will you be joining us on the voyage, as our liaison and cultural guide?”

Just then, the lights in the operating theatre flickered. Freyr and some of the other scientists peered up at the banks of lights on the ceiling, hands shielding their eyes from the intermittent glare. After a few moments, it stopped and the lights returned to normal. They all shared knowing looks. This usually meant one thing; and everyone remained motionless and waited for it.

Suddenly, the floor underneath them began vibrating, and a deep rumbling groan emanated from all around them. The surgical table began moving about on its own, and some of the screens arrayed around the specimen rattled violently. The lights began flickering again, much faster this time. “Don’t move!” Freyr commanded, holding her arms out for balance as the whole room vibrated. “Vreta, are you there?” She shouted over the din, but all she could hear back through comms was white noise.

“Everybody get down!” A man shouted. Freyr turned and saw four CraSec guards bursting through the operating theatre doors. “Wait, stay where you a-” Freyr yelled, but it was too late. In the blink of an eye or a flash of the lights, the whole room changed. The clean white walls were suddenly covered in green-brown trunks, like that of a rotten tree. Vines flecked with faint purple veins covered most of the floor and ceiling. The lighting lost its sharp edge and changed in hue, becoming a much fainter orange glow. Shadows collected in the corners of the theatre and pooled on the floor. The vibrations appeared to stop, or at least subside temporarily.

Three of the soldiers, driven by their directive to protect the high value asset at all costs, stopped at Freyr’s command. But one of them carried on rushing forward. He shouted out as his left foot and ankle fell into a large gaping mouth with many teeth that’d just opened up in the floor before him. The mouth promptly snapped shut and Freyr heard a crunch of bones. The man fell awkwardly to the floor crying in pain, and vines began moving to wrap around his body.

Freyr could hear bubbling, and through the gloom could see various mounds of organic material beginning to appear on the floor and in the corners. A rancid smell swept through the room. “Shoot them!” She pointed. The soldiers obliged, walking more carefully into the room and firing energy bursts at the small gurgling shapes.