Drifting over the glass dunes of Vectis-4, Ara adjusted the sensor array on her skiff. A xenobotanist by trade, she cataloged the luminous flora that pulsed beneath the sand. But today, something was wrong—the signal beacon at Outpost Nine had gone silent.
As she neared, Ara found the station half-buried, its solar panels shattered. No footprints. No tracks. Just the wind whispering through broken vents. Inside, logs flickered: air pressure had plummeted in minutes, yet no distress call had been sent.
Then she saw it—a tangle of crystalline roots threaded through the walls, pulsing like a slow heartbeat. The plant had devoured the air, consuming it for energy. She hesitated. Wiping it out would prevent more deaths, but was this not a new form of life?
Ara made her decision. Sealing the habitat, she rerouted oxygen lines to coexist. Not all survival required destruction.
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