Stephanie swiped her key pass over the door lock, scowling as her backpack slid off her shoulder to catch at her elbow.
"Oh, Damn no!" she said twisting hurriedly as the weight of the bag threatened to drop the extra-large coffee she was carrying, leading to a mad scramble as the lock clicked open, reaching awkwardly across to turn the latch before it cycled locked again.
Struggling valiantly Stephanie managed to twist the latch and catch her foot on the door before swinging it open. With an annoyed breath she stepped into the hallway leading to the botanical research center.
Stephanie had been working at the applied botany center at unseen university for several months now as a grad student, working through the hours she needed for the semester. Pulling a night shift wasn't her usual plan for a Friday night, but she had agreed to a switch with Amanda who had a party she wanted to get to.
At the end of the hall Stephanie tapped her pass on the door again, this time pushing the door open with her foot to enter the control room. Stepping inside she entered to the monitoring room letting it click shut behind her.
"Hey John," Stephanie said as she dropped her bag on a chair by the door.
"Oh! Hey Steph, I thought Amanda was coming in tonight."
John was a good-looking guy, Stephanie always thought, shorter than her with close cut brown hair. He obviously worked out a lot, Stephanie remembered hearing something about weekend competitions in something but never worked with him enough to learn more.
"Yeah, she had something come up so asked me to cover her for the shift tonight. Anything to pass along for the hothouse?"
John shook his head distractedly, glancing at the monitors and back at Stephanie as she turned away. John's eyes drifted down her back to the tight jeans over her the full curve of her butt. She wasn't as busty as Amanda, he thought with a slight feel of disappointment, but he knew the baggy shirts she always wore had to be hiding some charms.
"Hothouse, yeah no, been same old, I guess. Quiet day in botany."
"I know, right," Stephanie sad as she took the other wheelie chair and pulled up to the monitor bank. "Wow, it looks like there was a lot of activity today, John! Specimens 42, 43 and 45 are all showing an increase of mobility. You didn't notice that?"
"Yes, I noticed," John replied half sarcastically. Wheeling his chair over to her side, he took a subtle breath, tasting her scent. Ok maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. "But it is all well within parameters, some slight deviations but nothing swaying the baseline to much. Barely makes a twitch in the median of behavior indictors."
John leaned back in his chair, hiding his sense of excitement. For the last few weeks, he had been injecting an experimental stimulant on the misting system for the hothouse, the same days showing in Stephanie's report. For most the plants it had spurred some growth but for three samples in particular it had caused an almost purposeful activity, especially in the vines.
"Check the camera," she said without looking at him, "It looks like some are active now! This is so awesome! Have you gone in?"
"Can't," John said with feigned sadness, "Still restricted after that cold I picked up last week."
"That's stupid," Stephanie said, only half paying attention as she brushed her hair back from her face, "As if a cold could contaminate a plant specimen."
"Lab rules," John replied as he felt a sense of excitement building. He was disappointed when Stephanie had showed up, but looked like she was going to wander into the very trap he had planned for Amanda!
"Whatever," she said standing, "I'm going in to check it out!"
"Sure," John said with a wave of his hand, "I'll wait here and monitor."
"Yeah, do that."
Stephanie left the control room to a prep room leading to the hothouse entrance. The temperature in the hothouse was high at the best of times, but with the humidity the air usually felt thick. The students always joked it was probably set up so the academic staff could get a free show of the half naked students, although at the moment Stephanie didn't care.
Quickly undressing she slipped on her shorts. John wasn't wrong about Stephanie's baggy top and she let out a satisfied sigh as she unfastened her bra and put on a bikini top. before walking barefooted to the door leading to the hothouse.
In the control room, John was working manically. Once Stephanie left, he programed a release of the stimulant, smiling as the gages showed it was being released. He had been priming the room all day so knew with the extra dose something would start moving. He had already run experiments a few days ago and knew the dosing to get the vines active. It had been a little nerve wracking since he had to expose himself to the vines, but after his experience the chance to see them in action with Stephanie wasn't one he was going to miss! He managed to re-route the cameras to show a loop of the empty room just as the door opened. Leaning back, he got ready to enjoy his experiment.
Stephanie cycled the door and stepped into the room. The blast of moist heat making her head spin, tasting an odd minty scent in the air that wasn't there the last time she was in the room. Shrugging she started down the padded walkway to specimen 43 which had been showing the most activity from the control room. Her bare feet making slight squishy sounds on the mats between the rows of plants.
"John, can you hear me?"
