Humanity Strikes Back! Plant Invaders Flee Ucora!

A beep sounded in the receptionist’s head. A notification popped into her field of view, blocking out the text on the screen.

Unproductive Thoughts Detected.

The receptionist, Fleurette Beringer, signed up for this when she was fourteen. Ten years had passed since then. She and her fellow executive administrators worked longer hours than any other position in the company. They were paid in company credit, and they worked a little more than 80 hours a week. Despite its hardships, Fleurette didn’t regret her decision. At that time, it was all she could do to make sure her family would be cared for.

An elevator dinged behind the reception desk. When the door opened, Fleurette could hear the middle of a conversation between a middle manager and his boss. She turned to face them, only to see that there was a third person behind the other two. It was another executive administrator, Rabia Grahn. She approached the desk and drummed her fingers against it impatiently.

RSG: You should probably clock out and leave before Stephen gets down here. He’s pretty pissed. Have fun on your day off.

Fleurette clocked out using her brain implant’s connection to her terminal, then logged out for Rabia to take over for her. She stood and stepped to the side for her coworker.

FLB: Thanks. It was my fault for letting the news get to me. Hope your shift is easy.

A few floors up, the elevator doors opened to a small open office with five other executive administrators. All but one was a woman. In the back, in his own office, a balding man dug his fingers into the side of his head while he read a memo. He looked up to make direct eye contact with Fleurette. She stared back for a moment. He broke his gaze and looked back to his monitor. Fleurette let out a relieved sigh.

Fleurette didn’t waste any more time retrieving her things from her locker. She had already made plans to go visit her family for the rest of her free time. After collecting her things, she made her way back to the elevator and returned to the ground floor.

It was a warm evening outside. The summer sunset had turned the sky warm shades of orange and pink. Even though the company owned the bus service, the nearest bus station was outside the security gate and a city block down the street. It was inconvenient, but Fleurette didn’t mind the walk. After sitting all day, it was nice to stretch her leg. Sitting all day had made it stiff. Thinking about it was starting to make her arms stiff too.

The bus ride to her family’s home was uneventful, if a little crowded. Fleurette as close to the front as possible. A few kids on their way home from their shift at one of the factories were bickering about which character would win in some cartoon or comic book. 

The bus stop was a couple blocks from the Beringers' apartment, but they always came out to greet her. Today was no exception. Fleurette’s mother and father stood side by side next to the bus stop bench, while her older brother sat on the bench and played a game on his tablet. When he saw his sister start to disembark from the bus, he locked the screen and stood up.

“Fleur!”

Fleurette’s father, James, lunged forward and embraced his daughter in a tight hug. It took all of his willpower not to lift her off the ground. He had spent a year trying to perfect his hug so that he could embrace her tightly without disturbing her prosthetics. Fleurette reciprocated his hug, and buried her face in her father’s chest.

Fleurette’s mother, Elaine, waited for her husband to finish his hug. Instead, she elected to stroke her daughter’s hair and smiled down at her. Fleurette reciprocated with a gentle hug.

Cameron, Fleurette’s brother, was the last to greet her. His hug was more stiff than his father’s. There was an awkwardness between them. It had been there ever since Fleurette’s accident when she was younger. Today he struggled to make eye contact though. 

After the family exchanged their greetings, they walked back to the family’s apartment. The family apartment was small. It didn’t have any air conditioning, so the family had gathered all of their fans into the living room, and had every window in the apartment opened. Outside, in the parking lot, the dumpster was overflowing with trash. It looked like it hadn’t been emptied in months.

As soon as they were inside, Fleurette collapsed onto the couch. She had done this every weekend for the last few years. There was a time when her family had tried to hold small traditions with her, but Fleurette had lost the energy for those a long time ago. Now they sat around the living room or the kitchen, catching up and spending time together.

“Is everything okay at work Fleur?” Elaine asked.

She asked this every week, and Fleurette almost always had the same answer.

“Yeah. As okay as they can be. I’ll be fine though,” Fleurette said.

She had a lot of complaints in reality. The hours were unreasonable, the company was performing the bare minimum upkeep on her prosthetics and health, and-

Unproductive Thoughts Detected.

The alert went away again. Stephen was going to chew her out tomorrow evening when she returned to work. Two thought infractions in an evening would be a sign that her performance was slipping. She might lose time off, or get a temporary pay cut until her attitude improved.

“You read the news this morning?” Fleurette changed the subject abruptly.

“Yeah. Even if the rest of the Terran Accord gave up the good fight, it’s reassuring to know that Arboria is confident it can keep Ucora free,” James said.

“I can’t believe anyone would really agree to be a human pet. It’s just wrong,” Elaine agreed.

Cam unlocked his tablet screen and started texting someone on it. Fleurette just nodded along with her family. She wasn’t sure being a pet would be that bad. It would be better than a life of 80 hour work weeks and unending debt. Fleurette forced herself to think about how much more fulfilling work was instead to keep the thought compliance monitor from going off again.

The conversation petered out and changed to other current events. Fleurette enjoyed hearing about the local community. She always asked how her childhood friends were doing. She had mostly lost contact with them after her childhood accident. It sounded like most of them were working hard. Most stayed in factory work, but a couple had made it into middle management positions at the company.

Elaine put a tray of frozen dinners in the oven, then returned to the living room to be with her daughter. They were nothing special, but Fleurette always looked forward to them anyway. They had become a comfort food for her. Even if they were only a small step above cafeteria food, she had come to associate these frozen dinners with her family.

When dinner was finished, the family sat down at the small table next to the kitchen and ate. They idly talked between bites. Elaine and James talked about their jobs a little. Cam didn’t have much to say about his job. If Fleurette had to guess, he wasn't happy. Given his general silence, he seemed to be struggling with a depressive episode. 

After dinner, James worked on cleaning up the dishes while the rest of the family migrated to the living room. Fleurette offered to help, but her father refused. This was her single day off a week, and he was going to make sure she took as much time to relax as she could. She decided to join her mom and brother in the living room. Her mom had turned the television on. She had turned on an angry talking head show ridiculing the Terrans who had chosen to go live among the Affini. 

Cam was entirely focused on his tablet. Fleurette could tell something was bothering him, but she wasn’t sure what. She composed a quick message through her brain implant’s internal messaging app, then sent it along to her brother’s tablet.

FLB: Hey, is everything okay?

Cam looked up from his tablet. He cast a quick glance to his sister, then his mother. He began tapping out a reply.

CFB: Uh…

    Can we talk later?

FLB: Of course! Just let me know when you’re ready okay? I don’t need to go back to work until tomorrow evening.

Fleurette drifted off shortly after her messages to her brother. She found her mom’s news show incredibly boring, and she had been awake for about thirty hours anyway. She needed the rest. None of her family had the heart to wake her as they began to wind down as well. She looked too peaceful. Before Elaine and James went to bed, they made sure to give her a pillow and drape a soft blanket over her sleeping form. Cam decided to stay up a little while longer.

After he heard the door to his parents’ bedroom close, Cameron got up from his seat and nudged his sister’s shoulder. Fleurette murmured and started to roll over, but he gave her another nudge.

“Wuh?” Fleurette mumbled as she sat up.

She squinted at Cam with still heavy eyes. Cam anxiously looked back towards the bedrooms, then back to his sister. The apartment was dark now. The only lights in the living room came from the street lights outside and the passing vehicles.

“Could we talk now?” Cam asked.

“Uh huh,” Fleurette babbled and nodded.

Fleurette was starting to return to lucidity as her brother quietly pulled open the front door to their apartment. She stumbled to her feet and followed after him. Cameron was trying not to make any noise. Fleurette hadn’t realized that, and was making the usual amount of noise she made. Her brother winced, and ushered her out the door. He led her by the hand out to the parking lot. He sat down on the curb and invited Fleurette to do the same. Fleurettte was starting to feel a little more awake now, but she rubbed her face a few times for good measure.

“So um-” Fleurette started.

“I’m leaving!” Cameron’s tone was urgent, but his voice was still hushed. He didn’t want to wake anyone else up.

Fleurette blinked.

“Wh- huh? Where are you going? Did you get a job offer off planet?” She asked.

Cam shook his head. “N-no. I’m not leaving for work. I- Fleurette, I can’t keep doing this anymore. I can’t keep wasting all of my life in a factory or an office. I’m going to join the compact. I don’t know if I’ll be some plant’s pet, but it’s got to be better than this.” 

Fleurette wasn’t sure what to say. She nodded, but she felt like Cam deserved more than just an acknowledgement of his departure. 

“I- I’ll support your decision,” She said before trailing off. “When do you leave?”

“Tonight,” Cam replied. “In an hour or so. I just wanted to see you one more time before I left. I’m sorry-”

Before he could finish his thought, Fleurette wrapped her brother in a hug. He stiffened and froze.

“Don’t apologize for anything. Nothing that’s happened to our family has been your fault,” Fleurette said.

“But-”

“No buts. I want you to promise me you’ll go out there and make yourself happy, okay? See what the universe has to offer besides our shitty little company planet.”

Unproductive Thoughts Detected.

“But what about you? I… I can’t stand what they’re doing to you Fleur. You barely eat. When you’re with us all you do is sleep. Fleur… If you come with me, you won't have to keep destroying yourself for Arboria anymore.”

Fleurette winced. The red text covering her vision was starting to give her a headache. She had some reservations, but it was hard to deny how inviting the offer was. Caleb reached out to offer some balance but faltered. He assumed the implant must be giving her trouble again.

“You don’t have to say anything. Whatever you decide, I’ll make sure you have a chance to choose before we leave, okay?”

Cameron was a good brother. Fleurette loved him so much. He would probably never realize how much he meant to Fleurette. If he left now, it would be impossible to tell how long it would take before they saw each other again. Space was a big place, and it was impossible to tell how far away he would be by the time the Affini finally occupied the planet. Fleurette was able to create countless circumstances in which she wouldn't be able to see her brother again. She didn't want to wait. She had the chance to shape her future how she wished. It was tempting to take that.

“Mom and Dad will be okay until this planet is occupied," He reminded her.

Fleurette knew he was right, but she wasn’t able to think any further about it. That awful text was still blocking her vision. Fleurette doubled over and pressed her palms into her eyes. She whispered a mantra about how well the company had treated her after her accident, even if she didn’t believe it. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually, that text began to fade. Her head still hurt, but she was able to focus on other things besides the glaring red text blocking her vision.

A breeze started to pick up as the text finally vanished. Fleurette wasn’t paying attention to where the wind came from. Cameron tapped his sister on the shoulder. A spacecraft no bigger than a bus had landed in the parking lot. Fleurette watched as a hatch opened. A humanoid figure composed of writhing vines was visible through the light of the ship. Cameron looked back at his sister. She stood up and watched for a moment.

“Fleur,” He started.

“Cam. I’m- I’m coming too. You’re right,” She said.

She took a single step toward the Affini craft before text appeared in her vision.

Loss Prevention Mode Activated.

“Fleur!”

Cameron didn’t care about being quiet anymore. He had just watched his sister collapse like all of her prosthetics had spontaneously broken. The figure in the Affini shuttle lunged out into the parking lot. Cam knelt next to his sister and checked her head. She wasn’t bleeding. It didn’t look like she’d suffered a hit to her head. Her lips were moving like she was trying to say something, but she could barely manage a whisper. He lifted one of her hands next.

“Fleur, if you’re okay, just take my hand,” He instructed.

She couldn’t. Her fingers wouldn’t move. She couldn’t feel him through the synthetic nerves. Fleur opened her eyes, but she could barely see out of them. Everything was so dark and blurry. Cameron looked to the Affini that had come to collect him for help. They snaked some vines beneath Fleurette’s limp body and lifted her off the ground. Fleurette tried to speak again, but nothing came out. She could only breathe.

“It’s okay Fleur. Hang in there,” Cam repeated.

The Affini carried Fleurette into the shuttle, then ushered Cameron in after. As the door closed Fleurette finally heard the plant person speak.

“Is your friend sick?” They asked.

The Affini’s voice sounded mostly gender neutral. Their pitch leaned more towards a feminine voice, but their tone was more on the masculine side. Fleurette wondered how they were able to speak if they were just a bunch of vines and leaves and flowers.

“She’s my little sister,” Cameron explained to the Affini. “She- she has this brain implant. It must be acting up. It does that if she… Shit!”

Cameron was starting to realize why his sister had become so unresponsive. The Affini set Fleurette down in a seat toward the back of the shuttle. The shuttle began to move. Fleurette had always expected a spacecraft to feel more shaky when it took off, but this Affini shuttle was surprisingly smooth. She wished Cameron could be more excited about this. He sounded so worried.

“Fleur, are you okay? They’re not using the implant to hurt you, are they?” Cameron asked.

Their Affini chauffeur glanced back at the siblings. They didn’t hear if Fleurette responded. With a hand formed from some vines, they plucked a flower from their body and offered it to Cameron. They needed to keep their attention on flying until they were out of Ucora’s atmosphere.

“Place the flower against her mouth and nose. It will ease her pain,” The Affini instructed.

“It’s not going to hurt her, is it?” Cameron asked.

“Of course not little one. It will just numb the pain until we’re able to treat her properly.”

Cameron couldn’t tell if Fleurette was in any actual pain right now. If she was, he couldn’t just let her suffer. He placed the flower against his sister’s face and watched her breathing slow. Her eyes soon closed, and she smiled a little bit.

“We’ll figure out what’s wrong Fleur, I promise,” He told her as he removed the flower. He just hoped that was a promise that could be kept.