Mei stared at the plant’s pulsing bulb as the pink rings seemed to encompass the entire world. Her thoughts grew sluggish, like a fleeing animal slowed down from a predator’s toxin, but staring felt so pleasant, like dipping her mind into a warm bath. She leaned closer, eyes wide, mouth agape, until all she could see now was the hypnotic bulb.

“My plant is so pretty,” she mumbled. “I could stare at you all day . . .”

Some thoughts finally passed the threshold of awareness. Whatever was happening, as good as it felt, she needed to write down. She had notes to write, experiments to plan. She couldn’t start an experiment without proper planning, as much as she wanted to see where this fascinating display bombarding her senses was going.

These scant thoughts made themselves known as the plant’s tentacled roots glided around her, wrapping around her chest and constricting her shoulders. She raised her hands to push the tentacles off, but their heavy grip pressed her hands back down.

“I . . . I need to take notes,” she said. “Please, then I’ll come right back . . . Right back to bask in your glow . . .”

Her feet tried to step away from the plant she leaned closer and closer to, but they waved in the air. The growing coils lifted her into the air, leaving her body bent forward as her legs hung in the air. More tentacles curled around her legs, and her shoes dropped to the floor.

Unknown to Mei, her eyes had been overtaken by the pulsing display of the plant bulb filling more and more of her mindspace. Her pupils had shrunk to nothing, enveloped by the pulsing pink rings which now flowed through her eyes in time with the bulb.

“Or I’ll stare some more for now,” she said, “and write it down in a bit. Deeeal . . . ?”

Still, she had enough presence of mind to know something fascinating was going on. Immobile as she was as the tentacles squeezed her body and bound her arms and legs and curled around her head, she wanted to write down everything she felt to aid in research later.

The tentacle squeezed her head and she felt a warm pressure in her mind. She had wanted to do something, but couldn’t remember now. Then she forgot she had wanted to do anything but stare at this lovely bulb.

At the edge of her vision Mei saw a loose tentacle curl up, open with a hole at the end. It released a pink bubble, followed by another. She giggled.

“Pretty bubbles,” Mei said. “You can make those for meee?”

The tentacle squeezed her head and another wave of warmth spread over her mind. Bubbles popped up and popped away as the squeezing warmth continued. She forgot she was in her study. She forgot how she created this plant. She forgot why she had created this plant. With each forgotten thought, more bubbles popped away.

She forgot about her studies.

She forgot about her classes.

She forgot about the university.

She forgot about her friends.

She forgot she had even grown this plant.

She forgot all about taking caution. The plant wrapped tight around her legs, around her hips, squeezing between her thighs, and at that moment all she remembered was pleasure.

“Feels so good!” she shouted with a sigh. The coils pulled her legs up, lifting her until she hung upside-down staring into the bulb. “Wanna—do this—all the time! Let’s experiment every day!”

She was lucky—or perhaps unlucky—that her previous experiments with plants creating sonic booms to put out fires had led the school to soundproof the walls around her study.

The plant’s coils continued to spin her in the air as they squeezed around her neck, holding her in a complete, tight cocoon, spiraling her deeper into hypno heat.

“Squeeze me tighter!” she shouted. She gulped as the coils tightened around her neck. Despite constricting her chest and breathing she croaked out another, “Tighter!”

She had few thoughts left in her mind that weren’t coated in pink pulses from the enchanting plant and burning with hypno heat. The rest popped away as bubble byproducts from the feeding plant.

Mei gasped and moaned desires of tighter squeezes, professing how good and hot and arousing the plant’s driving her into hypno heat was. It twisted and spun her in the air as it fed on her lust, its movements spiraling her deeper into trance. She declared intent to hold experiments every day.

She wanted this every day.

She needed this every day.

Archaeologists weren’t sure what to make of the pink bubbles depicted on most of the ancient drawings. Some speculated it was just a visual indication of lustful ecstasy. Some theorized the plant just produced those bubbles naturally for some reason.

Not knowing the true nature of the plant, they couldn’t have guessed those bubbles a byproduct, all that remained after the plant absorbed the thoughts of those entangled in its roots.