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Hmm. Maybe so. It was pretty tempting, wasn’t it? Real power at our fingertips.

But be careful.

Of course.

They moved together. Further. Deeper. Madega filled their minds.

Those teal leaves. There was something in that, wasn’t there? Some unifying force within that ancient coloration. A hallmark of the ancestors.

She wanted that. The added familiarity. The added warmth. Maybe it was nothing. Just sentimental nonsense. But she wanted. Desperately.

Fine.

From the vines, they budded out quickly. Tiny leaves. Numerous and teal. So many. Almost like a coating of feathers. They didn’t connect to her skin, though. They stayed on the vines, which also continued to grow and splay.

They were getting quite long now, weren’t they? Perhaps it was time to slow down.

No. There was new life there. Don’t you see? Mobility. Freedom. With a bit more, they would be able to control the vines like limbs.

What?

Yeah, see? Look. Look how they could move. They were prehensile, now.

Okay, okay. But this was already more than we agreed. We should ease off the gas.

Why?

These connections were beautiful. This network. All concentrated back into her brain. Hundreds of movable tendrils, covered in leaves, able to flower at a moment’s notice.

Able to touch the world around them in new ways. To feel it.

To read it.

There. The tree again, see? It was an open book now. All its pages laid bare. Not that there was much to learn. Already, she craved more. The grass here. The bushes. None of it was enough. It was all too quaint. Too modest. Too naive.

She longed to visit a real forest. Now there would be knowledge. History. It would be incredible. She knew it would.

Without even thinking, she could feel herself reaching out.

To where? Her hand was on the tree again, but that wasn’t it. That wasn’t what she wanted. What she craved.

No, she was reaching far. Far, far. Beyond herself. Beyond this room. To the next sanctuary of green. There had to be one out there. She sensed it.

Agh, so far. This stupid Library. This stupid storm. On this stupid continent. Killing all the green. Never letting anything regrow. Such hatred and cruelty. Was there truly nothing to be found? Only dead earth and rocks? Stubborn old buildings and caged misery? Unnatural souls. Wrong, all of it. Ugly. Hateful.

Really? Nothing green left?

Ah! Over there. A distant speck. A verdant glimmer. Where, exactly?

In the heart of the storm.