Lena

*Sector 45, plant 82. Current status: operational. Diagnostics checks show no errors. Power Output remains at optimal levels. Control systems: functioning. Maintenance: online* Every half hour of every day,the same broadcast played, after a while it became background noise. But today, something seemed off about it.

*Tick… … … … Tick … … … Tick … … Tick… … … … … … … Tick … … … Tick Tick… … … … Tick … … … … … …Tick* The noise disrupted Mary’s thoughts

“I’ve never heard the device make a ticking noise like this before or this fast. What do you think it means Mary?... Mary?

Mary stared ahead. The forest gave way to a large, expansive plain full of beautiful, vibrant flowers. The trees were sparse and judging from their size were much younger than the ancient trees which made up the forest surrounding them. “It signals danger. We have been told the faster it gets, the more danger is present and the closer we are to approaching death.” Her voice was as soft and quiet as always. She looked down towards Lena who now stood up past her waist. Both of them were wearing the same, heavy looking, brown pants, the same sturdy, green-grey, hooded coat, even the same dirt colored hiking boots and goggles which they both wore on their forehead, though everything Lena wore was far too big for her. Mary knelt down and put her hand on Lena’s head who looked concerned. “Do not worry too much.” Mary smiled. “We will still be able to safely explore the area and gather some plant and soil samples, but be careful and stay right next to me just in case.” She stood up.

“Ooookay!” Lena responded enthusiastically as the two began to leave the forest.

“We will still need to hand everything we get from here over to the researchers before doing anything else with it.”

“Why?”

Everything near the forest entrance should be fine and possibly even beyond that but I can not tell Lena, she would get the wrong idea. Mary thought. “We have no idea how safe anything from here will be to have near people or how safe it will be to use in anything. We might even end up needing to dispose of it all.”

“But it doesn’t look dangerous. It’s verrrrrrry pretty actually.” Lena said as she flailed her arms for emphasis.

“That does not mean it is safe. There are a lot of things that look safe or pretty but can and will hurt you. You even have hands-on experience, remember when you gave that rose a death grip.”

Lena looked at her hand, the scars were still there. “I wouldn’t have done it if I saw the thorns.” She pouted.

“Exactly, some things are not visible or avoid our detection so we need help from tools like this.” Mary stopped moving and lifted up the device strapped to her hip. It was a large rectangular box with a handful of attachments on each side. On its outward facing side, buttons marked by various symbols flanked a screen which displayed fluctuating numbers in the corner. Mary knelt down and pressed a button on the top edge of her device which caused a handle to pop out. She then lifted the handle revealing a long thick needle which she pressed into the dirt as deep as possible before pushing a button on its side and pulling it out. After which, she inserted the needle into her device causing multiple lines and words to appear on screen each followed by a series of dashes.

“What’re you doing?” Lena moved her face towards the upward facing device.
“Testing the soil.”

*Beep*

The series of dashes were replaced by an array of numbers and units unintelligible to Lena.

“The soil only seems to be slightly contaminated and only at surface level.” Mary mumbled

“What’s that mean?” Lena asked her face now directly in front of Mary’s.

Mary stood up. “It means everything from here should be mostly safe, but it would still be a good idea to check everything in with the researchers as an extra precaution.”

“I know that’s important, but it’s sooooooooooo annoying.”

“The annoying things are the most important in this line of work. They are what keep you safe… What keeps everyone safe.” Mary’s voice slowed down and quieted as she stared off in the distance. “I have never told you this, but… when I was as old as you are now there was a girl from another nearby settlement who I would hang out with during excursions with mom. She was an orphan who was sent out to explore nearby areas. Mom felt bad for her and would always keep an eye on her and help her out when she needed it and I would as well. We had never heard of the settlement she was from and just assumed they must be struggling. Whenever we asked about where she was from, she would not say which direction it was in or even give us the settlement’s name. One day we decided to follow her back. We walked up to a massive, man-made clearing and realized we could not go further undetected. We could still see her settlement but mom used her telescope to get a better view of things and even allowed me to look. There were plenty of others like her but her settlement had no indication that it might be struggling so we left. The following day we asked her what she was looking for and she was clearly unsure if she would be allowed to tell us, but decided to anyway. They were looking for black rocks or a thick black liquid. We were able to find a lot of what she was looking for and she ran back to her settlement more excited and happier than I had ever seen her.” Mary paused for a moment to see if Lena was still listening. 

“Why would they need those things?” Lena asked.

“Apparently that is what was used to power their settlement, though we never found out any more.”

“Oh. why not. Can I meet her?”

“About a week later… our mom and I found her dead…”

Lena’s expression sombered as her nervousness grew a visible and excessive amount. “R…realy. I..I know you don’t make jokes, but p..please tell me you decided to start.” She began fidgeting as she attempted to smile nervously.

JOKE… WHY WOULD I EVER JOKE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE YOU INSENSITIVE MORON! Mary subconsciously took a deep breath as she listened to the calming sound of birds chirping and branches swaying. “I know this sort of thing makes you uncomfortable. It makes everyone uncomfortable, but I am telling you this so you take things more seriously.”

“I…I understand.” Lena looked down and grabbed each of her arms, tears beginning to flow from her eyes.

“If it makes you feel better, I promise, now that I am a fully fledged elite ranger I will do my best to not let anyone die. So cheer up okay. Being sad does not suit you.” Mary hugged Lena with one arm as she patted her head with the other. 

“O…Okay.” She wiped her tears on Mary’s jacket, “Pinky promise.”

“Double pinky promise.” The two interlocked both of their pinkies and shook their hands before starting to move again. “The other reason I told you what I did is because a similar broadcast to the one we hear had been playing in the area of her village. Before we found her, that broadcast was no longer encrypted and began transmitting a frequent warning. The area near her village was no longer safe to travel in either. Because of that, the rangers decided to take action and investigate our broadcast to prevent the same thing from happening to us.” Mary thought for a moment. “I am also telling you this so you stop sneaking out so much, it is not safe.”

The pair continued on their journey until they came across a hill which dominated the horizon in each direction. “Lena, I need you to stay here while I investigate, I will signal you if it is safe to follow me, do you remember the hand signs?”

“Of course, I remember everything you teach me.”

“That’s good to hear, but you should do a better job at remembering things other people teach you.”

“But they’re sooooo boring though…” Lena slumped over in an exaggerated fashion.

“What I said earlier about annoying things applies to boring things as well.”

“Finnnnnnne.”

Mary jogged up the hill. The sight at the top was one unlike any she had ever seen and was immediately met with her disgust. A sea of thick concrete barriers stood where trees normally would. The dirt had been replaced by a once non-permeable tarmac. Off in the distance, Mary saw 3 concrete cylinders which stretched into the sky surrounded by a lake on one side and an array of buildings on the other. The hill she now stood on top of stretched even further beyond as it surrounded the structures and trapped the lake.

Mary’s face shifted from disgust to seriousness as a loudspeaker blared with a robotic voice in conjunction with the encrypted message on her radio. “*Sector 45, plant 82. Current status: operational. Diagnostics checks show no errors. Power Output remains at optimal levels. Control systems: functioning. Maintenance: online*” The loudspeaker continued after the broadcast ended. “Security measures: online and operational, no unknown entities or threats detected, defense systems: offline but operational, radiation levels are normal.”

*Tick Tick Tk Tick … Tick … Tick Tick Tk … Tick … Tick Tk Tick … Tick … Tick Tk Tk Tk Tick … Tick Tick… Tick*

Mary checked her device. Something is very wrong.