“A drone.”

  Benjamin and Evantra crouched to the ground after the rootsnake departed. Evantra tugged it from behind a stalk of produce that was obscuring it.

  The drone was rusted, its chassis long eroded away by the passage of time. She could see that its interior components had been exposed to the elements, and much of it was missing. She noticed a single protrusion jutting out from the front of it.

  A stun appliance?

  “Security drone. An older model, from the looks of it. Very outdated. Could be one of Demeteria’s. Makes sense if they’re trying to reduce costs while implementing some form of roving surveillance in the greenhouses—”

  “It isn’t Demeteria’s,” Noelle’s voice came through their comms with a degree of certainty.

  “Oh?” Benjamin said, turning the drone over in his hands. “How can you be so certain?”

  They heard Noelle clear her throat over the comms, and Evantra resisted the urge to squeeze her temples at the smile dancing across Ben’s lips.

  She’s way too obvious.

  “Just some of the information I stumbled across digging around Demeteria’s servers.”

  “You certainly are a proficient hacker, Twig,” Evantra said, frowning as she turned the drone over in her hands. She paused when she noticed something underneath it.

  Slowly tilting it forwards, she winced at the foul smell and sight she was greeted it. What looked like the remains of a teethling peeled off the underside as she raised the drone.

  “Looks like the teethling got a little too ambitious taking on the drone,” Ben said, humming as he considered the corpse. “It still had some fight left in it.”

  Evantra lowered the drone and rose to her feet. With a nod towards Benjamin, they pressed further into the greenhouse. Eventually, they reached the wall separating the outermost section with the temperature-controlled crops.

  There was no guard standing at the entrance, and Evantra and Ben waved their passes to gain entry, watching as the metallic door opened, granting them entry. Evantra immediately noticed the change in temperature and humidity as she entered. The was greeted to crisp, frigid air that felt refreshing to inhale.

  The crops in the temperature-controlled section were far more neatly organised, unlike those in the outermost section. There were clear paths through the plots, and Evantra and Ben gravitated towards some buggies that they could operate with the use of their passes. They drove through the plots, heading steadily deeper into the facility.

  “The gnomes were sighted in section 3E. The third ‘circle’, in section E. It’s one of the blackout greenhouses – blocked out from sunlight altogether. They usually house fungi or species that aren’t dependent on sunlight to subsist.”

  “Makes sense, they’re known to be able to conceal their heat signatures. Figures they’d hide somewhere dark.”

  “WAIT, you remembered my advice?”

  Evantra’s lips twitched at the sheer incredulity in Noelle’s tone that evoked another chuckle from Ben.

  Before long, they had finally arrived at their destination. While the second ‘circle’ of the greenhouses was uninterrupted and a single, holistic section, the third circle was divided into separate plots.

  Section 3E sported immense opaque glass panels which loomed far above them. They blocked all visibility into the section. Ben and Evantra retrieved their night vision goggles and fastened them before they entered the section with their security passes.

  [Darkvision]

  [Conceal]

  Subtly switching off the night vision functionality of her goggles, Evantra saw the environment come into focus and detail with an acuity that the goggles lacked. The environment wasn’t entirely dark. The roof of the section was arrayed with dim blue lights that barely illuminated the ground level. Even without her skill or goggles, she could make out the silhouettes of the “produce” housed within section 3E.

  Similarly to the second circle, the produce was arrayed neatly in different sections. That was where the similarities ended. Much of the ‘fungi’ housed in section 3E was far larger than Evantra recalled their organic counterparts being. There was also a verticality to section 3E which the second circle didn’t possess, with some of the produce situated on higher terraces.

  Evantra and Benjamin strode under mushroom caps, walking under gills that housed millions or billions of spores. With a quick gesture to Ben, the pair made their way towards one of the higher terraces, climbing a ladder to access the higher level.

  Benjamin lay prone at the edge of the terrace, fixing his sights on the section beyond them, while Evantra quickly scanned his flank for movement.

  They’ll be drawn towards Ben’s body heat.

  We may not be able to see the gnomes coming directly, but we might have a shot noticing their passage.

  She crouched, silent and waiting.

  “Contact. Three O’Clock,” Evantra whispered.

  Barely two seconds after her callout, Benjamin’s gunshot pierced the din. She saw his shoulder buckle, the sniper rifle unleashing the round into the terraces below where she had shone her laser pointer. She watched as the lead gnome’s head exploded in a spray of black blood, as its pair of compatriots panicked, rushing off in different directions.

  “I’ll cover the right.”

  Evantra’s Nagantra lit up as she traced the arc of the gnome that she targeted. She cursed internally as her bullets flew wide, her machine pistol losing its accuracy past a certain point. She watched as the creature took cover behind a large mushroom.

  “It took cover,” Evantra said, pointing her laser pointer towards the stem of the mushroom.

  Benjamin unleashed his second shot, and Evantra watched as it obliterated the gargantuan fungi, boring through its stem to reach the gnome crouched behind it.

  “Mine ran into a stairwell before I could sight it.”

  “I’m on it,” Evantra said.

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  Instead of heading in the direction that Ben had indicated, Evantra made her way to the terrace above them, climbing the ladder and moving to a higher vantage point.

  It won’t be long until it climbs up and tries to make its way around to us.

  What it doesn’t know is that it isn’t the only creature capable of disguising its heat signature.

  It’s a good thing night vision doesn’t pick up on thermals, otherwise I’d give myself away to Ben.

  She continued forwards at a crouch, and it wasn’t long before she made out the form of the creature crouched and creeping towards Benjamin’s direction.

  Evantra let out a short burst of rounds, watching as they flew true at the shorter range. The gnome barely had the chance to exclaim before she silenced it.

  She carefully examined her surroundings before turning her attention to the lower sections of the greenhouse before her.

  “Demeteria sighted approximately six gnomes. Stay alert, they may be more in your area.”

  Evantra and Ben relocated before scanning the rest of the greenhouse at a crouch. If there were other deceiver gnomes around, the racket they caused had likely caused them to flee.

  As she idly examined the rest of the dark greenhouse, Evantra’s eyes locked onto something unexpected in one of its recesses. Beneath the bottom row of the terraces lined up against the opposite wall, she noticed that the wooden scaffolding holding up the first layer seemed to have been destroyed.

  “Ben, they might be hiding underneath the terraces. Let’s go.”

  With a nod, they both made their way through the greenhouse towards the location. Evantra frowned as she considered the damage to the terraces. Whatever had inflicted it seemed to have concealed the wooden boards.

  Do gnomes have the intelligence to do this?

  Evantra peeked through the wooden boards, quickly examining the underside of the terrace and frowning when she found it devoid of gnomes. What she did find, on the other hand, was what looked like the remains of a makeshift camp. She motioned to Ben to join her, and they quietly crept through the gap, examining the area. She noticed tarpaulin, along with what looked like rubbish and the remains of some rations.

  Just how desperate are the squatters to be taking up residence in a damp, dark section of the greenhouse dedicated to overgrown fungi? Not to mention the fact that they would have had to have made their way through two layers of security to make their way in.

  Just what is going on in here?

  “Noelle, have you heard anything about squatters taking up residence in continental greenhouses?”

  “It isn’t uncommon. The easy access to food, and the sheer size and scale of them mean that both Veilcreatures and people desperate enough slip through the cracks. What’s wrong?”

  Evantra’s eyes lingered on the camp before she eventually turned away. She briefly described the scene to Noelle, but after explaining her findings, neither her nor or Ben were stumped as to what they had found. Eventually, they exited the section under the terrace, returning to their main objective.

  “Let’s keep pushing in. Are we within range of the Volatile greenhouses?”

  He nodded, extracting a pad from his backpack. Still keeping an eye out for stray gnomes, they made their way to the far side of the enclosure and exited through another electrical door leading to the fourth ‘circle’ of the greenhouse.

  Evantra deactivated her [darkvision] and felt warmth wash over her skin. She looked around with wide eyes, as she realised that the fourth circle, while a mirror for the second, seemed to house the organic produce. She could see fields of flowers of different colours spattering the area, as well as fruit and vegetable gardens housed in the massive enclosure.

  Beyond them were the collection of installations in the innermost section of the continental greenhouse – the volatile greenhouses which housed Demeteria’s more sensitive experiments or produce. The innermost section was an amalgamation of buildings covered in opaque, dark glass which housed laboratories and smaller greenhouses which supported Demeteria’s more covert experiments.

  “I’m not getting any signal, Amitabha. It is possible that Demeteria have located and destroyed the tracker if they located your item. Alternatively, it could be in the hands of a Veilcreature that’s taken it elsewhere. This is only a small section of the greenhouses, after all.”

  Benjamin gave her a sad smile.

  “I’m afraid it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was a good plan, Amitabha. Perhaps we can take on other bounties and slowly comb the area in the meantime. But assuming the tracker is still attached to the artefact, there aren’t any signals coming from the volatile greenhouses.”

  Evantra let out a slow sigh before nodding.

  They returned to the enclosed greenhouse where they hunted the gnomes. Then, she heard a soft sound from above them.

  A rattling coming from the ceiling.

  “GET BACK!”

  Evantra yanked Benjamin backwards as the ceiling came crashing down. Rubble landed where they had been standing just a second ago. They watched as a creature came crashing through the ceiling into their section of the laboratory.

  “Evantra? What’s happening? Are you guys alright?”

  From the floodlights of the room above, Evantra could make out the outline of the creature. It was a root snake. Just the same as the tiny veilcreature they had glimpsed near the defunct drone. Only this creature rose almost up to double her height, and had an unfortunate laboratory worker in fangs that its smaller counterpart lacked. The root snake thrashed, attempting to free itself from the rubble. In the process, it flung a laboratory worker’s body in their direction. It landed on a terrace behind them.

  “Wraith, we aren’t equipped to deal with this. Noelle, a giant rootsnake fell through the ceiling from a laboratory above us.”

  “Shit, shit, shit! Get out of there, you don’t have the firepower to deal with it!”

  Evantra stared at the rootsnake before gritting her teeth and giving Benjamin a reluctant nod.

  “Help! Help, please!”

  They saw a researcher pinned under the rootsnake’s tail. They were just barely hanging on, and from the blood that dripped from the corners of their lips, they wouldn’t last much longer without intervention. Evantra turned back towards the rapidly thrashing head of the root snake. She could see the rubble pinning it down and immobilising it, slowly beginning to shift.

  “Ben, I’m going to lure it over there. I’ve got an idea.”

  Benjamin followed her eyes before he nodded his approval. The monk ascended the ladder a distance away to reach a better vantage point on the terrace above them.

  [Conceal]

  Evantra crouched, sinking into the foliage while attempting to avoid the root snake’s line of sight. The root snake’s efforts were gradually dislodging the slabs of rubble that had pinned it to the ground. At any moment, it could get loose and wreck havoc on the laboratory.

  Evantra finally reached the researcher, who seemed to be hanging on. They body was wedged firmly under the root snake, and she knew that the only way she could get them out was once the root snake moved.

  “Hey, can you hear me?”

  “Y-yes.”

  Evantra gestured to an irrigation ditch a short distance away from them.

  “I’m going to lure it away. Once your body is freed, I want you to roll into that irrigation ditch. When the snake is free, we’re both going to be flattened into a paste if it starts thrashing.”

  The researcher nodded her understanding.

  Evantra bit her lip.

  It wasn’t the perfect plan.

  There would be no guarantee of the researcher’s survival if the movement of the root snake completed the job, crushing the woman entirely. But attempting to pull her out from underneath it was a fool’s errand.

  Without sparing another second, Evantra aimed and let out a burst of rounds towards its head. She watched in satisfaction as the bullets raked the side of its face, before releasing [conceal]. The rootsnake snapped towards her, and started redoubling its efforts to free itself.

  “Evantra? Evantra! What are you doing?”

  “We’ve got this, Noelle. Shoot well, Benjamin…” Evantra muttered under her breath.

  All hell broke loose.

  The root snake’s thrashing finally dislodged itself from the fallen debris, and it surged towards Evantra. Two mounds of dirt bunched up on either side of it from its furious passage. Evantra sprinted in the direction of her gambit, avoiding large mushrooms and other growths that stood in her way.

  Finally, she reached her destination – the far corner of the room.

  She raised a hand, standing still.

  “A little longer…”

  The enormous veilcreature slithered towards her in a frenzy, its jaw opening in anticipation.

  “NOW BEN!”

  Evantra lunged out of the way of the root snake, falling into a roll. She felt the slam of the creature colliding against the concrete wall of the laboratory at full speed in its blind rage. The impact shook the room and ground beneath her. The root snake let out a hiss of pain that sounded more like the rapid expulsion of air than the organic sound generated by its animal counterpart.

  Benjamin’s sniper shots rang out.

  Evantra watched with a wild grin as they sank into the partially collapsed floor above her, further dislodged by the impact. Withdrawing her Nagantra, she quickly sent a hail of bullets towards the same spot.

  “Come on, come on,” she mumbled, casting a quick glance back at the root snake.

  CRACK.

  The rubble fell free.

  Slabs of concrete floor tumbled free from their precarious position above, crashing down upon the root snake’s skull.

  The creature finally stilled.

  Level up: Level 10 [Imp]

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