After a long nine hour shift at work, Anthony had only five more laboratory corridors to inspect before he could return back home to his apartment. Walking through the chrome-coated hallways he arrived at corridor DT-34.
"Oren you here? It's me, Anthony I just need to make sure you're not burning DT down or starting any biological contaminations before I leave for my shift."
A decently tall, slender male walked out of one of the rooms to report to Anthony. He was slightly disheveled with a big perky smile as he exited from one of the magnetic doorways. He had a sky blue lab coat with a utility belt of an assortment of tools that Anthony could only assume what they were used for.
"Hey Tony how's it going. I'm just wrapping things up around here; not too much left to take care of."
Anthony anxiously followed Oren around the various labs along the corridor waiting for him to hurry it up so he could get back home and have cup of tea and a nap. The labs were somewhat disorderly as equipment was scattered at times while other haphazard situations were observed by Anthony. Despite this, Oren had been acquainted with Anthony who knew how passionate Oren was of his work so he always deducted points loosely from his logbook when haphazard situations were observed in the lab.
Both men entered the second to last room on the left which opened into a larger chamber that housed a select few organisms collected from various ecosystems from the local planet Esnorix. There were a couple vials along the walls which were cryogenically frozen containing various micro-organisms collected from the planet's surface and were being tested on to see if they were hostile, benign, or beneficial in some aspects. A distinctive glass containment case in the back of the room was holding a large, lavender colored plant-like organism. It consisted of a large enclosed bulb that looked like it would blossom soon but was still dormant. It was tall enough that some of its stalks and leaves reached up to the ceiling of the enclosure. A thick residue of moisture and a slick substance coated the glass walls making visual observations a bit more difficult.
"Okay so this specimen was just brought to me a couple days ago by a team exploring the surface of Esnorix who found it located in the depths of one of the planets tropical forests. They were able to easily capture it and my hypothesis is that it is not just another plant due to the composition of the organism; it might be more of an animal than a plant. It's one of the most interesting specimens we've had the chance to capture and well, doesn't it just look magnificent!"
Oren was beaming with excitement over his new house plant as Anthony, feeling vexed, continued to listen to him reluctantly.
"I hate to sound negative Oren but, I've just had a very tiring day and still need to return back to my room which is all the way over in sector L of the station. I'd love to hear more about your findings, I really do, but right now I just want to go home please."
"Oh I'm sorry Tony, you know how exited I can become about new findings. I do have a tendency to run my mouth. Let me get the rest of my log information so you can get going."
After a few moments of typing in the information to his logbook, Anthony and Oren headed to the entrance of the room so they could lock up the corridor and head home. To their surprise the entrance to the room was locked as their key cards were not responding.
"Hello this is biology sector D Lab Supervisor Anthony Roland does anyone copy?" He paged through his radio.
"Hello Roland we copy you. We are just experiencing a minor generator issue for sector D right now and we should be back online in about 10 minutes. Our apologies for any inconveniences but if you need any updates or questions until we get power back on then just radio back to us."
"I understand you, Roland out."
"Well since we are now going to have to wait I'm going to go check my side office since I believe I left my water bottle there. Anthony walked around the lab to pass the time as he inspected the different containers of specimens. He walked back over to the large lavender plant and sat on one of the lab chairs as he observed it carefully. It was quite an impressive organism and was pleasant to look at. It must have been a botanist's dream catch.
Anthony continued to pass the time by scrolling through his logbook checking his records and making sure they were all saved and ordered properly. A loud crash startled him as he turned around to notice the glass casing enclosing the specimen had fallen over and shattered. Anthony did not have time to react to the situation before a sharp jolt of electricity had ripped up his spine causing him to collapse onto the floor now partially paralyzed.
"AGH! O...OREN HELP, AH!" He cried out in despair.
"There's, been a containment breach!"
Oren's office door slammed open as he bolted out into the lab, his jaw agape in disbelief at the events unfolding in front of him. Anthony was incapacitated as the plant was gradually inching its way towards him by moving itself out of its holding unit. Anthony shifted his eyes towards the incoming predator, screaming in terror as it closed in on his immobile body. Oren ran for the intercom but suddenly had passed out just as he was about to reach it. A large tentacle spouting from the specimen had struck him from behind.
A half-hour passed before Oren was now conscious again. Feeling hazy with his eyelids half-open he gazed around to try to recall what had happened to him. His head was hanging down as he opened his eyes fully seeing he was kneeling on the lab floor. His lab attire was now missing as and there were these strange lavender colored tentacles binding his ankles and calves together. Realization quickly dawned upon Oren remembering what had happened and why he was passed out. His arms were ensnared behind his back by an additional tentacle, holding his wrists tightly against his spine. The large plant-like alien was only a couple feet away to his 2 o'clock. A shadow was cast over his body as the plant-like creature hovered over him intimidatingly. This was definitely no plant but more of a mollusk like creature that took the resemblance of a plant Oren soon realized.