Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-35911608-20180619020904

(Note: so after some great feedback from BloodySpghetti, thanks again btw, I worked through the afternoon to fix up this story. I personally feel that this version is MUCH better than the first draft, but then again that's how it's supposed to go right? Anyhow, once again, more criticism is welcome, as it will help me perfect this idea that I've been stewing. Thanks, and hope you enjoy.)

When an exploration team was scouring the jungles of Africa, they found it. Their original purpose for being there was an attempt to find the cause of multiple dangerous diseases that had been sourcing from the region over the last few years, therefore finding a way to reduce the rising number of epidemics. What they found instead was something else entirely.

The “Garden of Eden” that the team had stumbled upon, deep in unexplored territory, was filled with plants and fungi the likes of which had never been found before. Purple ferns and red stained trees surrounded a crystal clear pool of water, with large pitch black roots all drinking from it in many directions. The area was relatively dark and quite humid, enveloped under a canopy of trees. Many fruits of beautiful colours hung from branches overhead, but despite this area being a gold mine for animals or people, there were no signs of disturbance. No commonly treaded paths, no footprints, not a trace. The most intriguing thing about the life forms of Eden was that they were almost all physically interconnected through various vines and growths.

The explorers were astonished by the sight. The head researcher of the group, one Dr. Kenneth Parsons, immediately signalled back to their base for permission from higher authority to change their objective. The proposal was accepted. After a few days of researching the plants in their natural habitat, it was found that these plants were untouched by any known disease to man, and the team decided to return with a broad variety of smaller plants and fungi, to be studied back in America in secret. When the team first began collecting, they attempted to disconnect one of the vines between a plant and fungus. It took a strenuous amount of labor to sever the connection, and upon doing so, the plant dried up almost instantly, and the fungus wheezed out a cloud of spores, to which the researchers stayed far from. After that, all samples were dug up and collected in twos; a connecting plant and fungus, with a supply of water.

Once home, they were set up in a facility by their employers, which contained a massive industrial greenhouse; with steel walls and a glass ceiling, it was built to have the same temperature and the decreased light as their habitat, as well as some rocks and ponds. The government showed some interest in the matter, and gave the group some ample funding. However, the funding was given under the condition that all information was to be channeled through them before it reached the public. Dr. Parsons, having been given the head position for the project, agreed. More people were recruited onto the project, and research continued.

More interesting features of the Eden plants and fungi were uncovered over the days to come. One researcher made note that the plants immediately began spreading their roots towards the closest of the ponds. After water intake was established, the plants began to grow towards the fungi, beginning the vast network of small vines across the greenhouse floor. Further analysis of the connecting vines showed that, upon severing them, a translucent fluid would spill out. Naturally, the substance was collected for analysis.

The “water roots” also perplexed the scientists. In only a matter of days, the roots had grown into complete bark. When they tried to take a sample, the wood could not be splinted with a basic knife. So they grabbed an axe and attempted that, but it too failed to break the wood. A chainsaw was brought in, but just like the others, it was to no avail, as the root ground down the teeth of the saw after only thirty minutes of continuous cutting. Barely a mark was left on the root. They tried burning the root, but it wouldn’t light. Gasoline only burned on its surface, and the fire went out the moment all the fuel was used. The root was not charred at all, but after this attempt, the root seemed to creak and groan, which unsettled some of the more superstitious researchers. Then they remembered the connection vines. They cut a section of one vine that was keeping a plant and fungus together, effectively killing the plant and the fungus shortly after its death burst. In a two-for-one grab, the researchers took the plant and its root, as well as some of the spores of the fungus, to be examined.

Various durability tests were conducted on the Eden root alone, the plant being little more than wilted compost at that point, and the results were astounding. The root was able to withstand incredible forces, surviving through bullets, hydraulic presses, and even an explosive or two, before even showing signs of cracking or splintering. Many of the researchers jumped for joy – if they could collect this wood efficiently, in usable sizes, they’d change the world of construction, hell, the entire market, as well as making a pretty penny on the side. But some of the researchers grew nervous at this sight, calling it abnormal, and claiming that they shouldn’t be messing with nature like this. The researchers with higher authority, including Parsons, scoffed at the worriers, giving them an ultimatum: either continue working on the project and share in the riches to come, or leave. Most of them hung up their lab coats that day.

While the nature of the spores and the translucent liquid were being determined, there was one slight problem that needed to be addressed: the plants and fungi, now referred together as the “Edenites”, grew at an exponential rate, and had begun to dominate the greenhouse. Navigating their way through the area had become quite the hassle, and there were some concerns of overgrowth eventually having a negative effect on lab equipment in the greenhouse. As the researchers were too busy with their work to constantly take care of their ever-expanding garden, due to the recent decrease in participants, they decided to hire someone specifically for maintaining the garden. After receiving permission from the government, an offering was listed, wanting “a gardener or lawn care expert to maintain a government funded greenhouse.” Most people were a little skeptical about signing up for something like that. But after a few days, the group received an application from a man named Adam Stevens.

Adam was, for lack of a better term, just your Average Joe; he had a family of four, worked as the owner of a lawn care service business, and had some practice in lumbering from his father as a kid. He was very kind and gentle, though his use of language was sometimes misplaced or not appropriate for the environment. Regardless, he never used his words to directly hurt anyone, and would always greet people with a smile. But most of all, Adam didn’t complain or ask questions - the exact kind of person Parsons and his team were looking for. After a successful interview, the researchers joked about his name and the coincidence of it regarding the situation. Adam laughed and agreed, then got right to work.

By the time he had arrived, there were a few trees beginning to form in the greenhouse. “In the beginning, there were a fuck ton of trees,” Adam stated upon first entering the garden. The researchers, keeping a peripheral eye on him, laughed as his response was played over the intercom throughout the facility. As a part of the job, Adam agreed to have all of his actions in the greenhouse recorded through camera and microphone, as to make sure he did not damage the Edenites or try anything potentially dangerous. But there was no worry to be had – Adam simply did his job, all whilst talking continuously like a radio host as he trimmed the plants from the doors and pathways, jokingly complaining about “the damn ferns” and “the grass that was tougher to cut than an overcooked boot.”

“Good morning, this is Radio Genesis and I’m your host Adam Stevens, and today we have this cluster of purple ferns to clear out from entrance ED-612…” The researchers, still in a merry trance from the continuing positive results of the Eden root tests, played along and would add music breaks over the intercom to aid in Adam’s narrative. News had also finally been made public, though only in bits and pieces. But hearing the public’s excitement and interest in the garden, especially in the Eden wood’s capabilities, only fuelled the team’s drive to pursue the garden’s truths, and perhaps swelled some egos on the side. Personnel morale was at an all time high, and research was going smoothly.

After a month of work, the team gathered together to hold a meeting to discuss their current findings involving the garden of Eden. Twenty two people from the team sat down at a large circular table, behind a locked door, with no one to eavesdrop on them. They began by reiterating what they had already found, along with many new and interesting, perhaps even shocking, revelations. The secret of the spores had been cracked: they were the ecosystem’s main means of reproduction, explaining why the garden was so secluded. Hidden away in a dense jungle with little wind, and the fruits from the trees showing only a central seed within, added to the lack of interaction with animals meant that the garden couldn’t spread very far. The translucent liquid’s purpose was even more shocking. It appeared that the symbiosis between the plants and fungi were even deeper than expected; the plant delivered water mixed with various nutrients to the fungus, which converted the fluid into energy that was shared between the two, as there was little sunlight for the plant to absorb for fuel – a self preserving cycle of continuity.

Once again, this new knowledge made many of the researchers stand and applaud, some even shout and jump around, but not all were impressed. One researcher nervously interrupted the celebration, claiming that upon studying the spores, they also contained endospores of an unknown culture, and thought the project should be halted, if not outright abandoned. The others, furious at him for spoiling their moment of glory with “unnecessary worries”, began shouting and berating him, one going so far as throwing a punch. Parsons immediately put an end to the riot, and grabbed the group’s attention by announcing the discovery that the trees were found to be made of the same wood as the plant roots. Though they were pleased, murmurs of bitterness still lingered throughout the meeting. Over the next few days, the team sneered and glared at the “traitor”, and the atmosphere of the facility heavily declined into one of hatred. Fearing for his life, the researcher responsible for finding the endospores quit shortly after.

Work continued, but no longer at the impressive rate it once was. Thoughts of a possible disease lingering in the garden, in their sacred grounds, had poisoned the minds of the researchers, ever present in the back of their minds. The pressure of trying to impress the outside world with new discoveries also wavered their ability to work effectively. Nothing new was found about the Edenites for a while; the endospore culture was never identified, and the garden continued to grow faster and larger. Adam continued working inside the biome, attempting to keep the growth under control, but his cheery demeanour was no longer welcomed by the research team, the only ones paying attention were a handful required to do so. Eventually, he only began to talk and sing to himself, as the team spent less time coming into the garden for samples, and more time in the labs investigating.

Five weeks into the project, and there was next to no new progress made. The trees in the garden had grown to a massive size, centralized around one of particularly large size. The growth was so much so that a great deal of natural light had been blocked, and floodlights were brought into the environment. No efficient means had been found to harvest the Eden wood yet, and after a week of constant work with little development, the researchers were becoming agitated. One even screamed at Adam for asking if he should cut down the trees, claiming that he was “unworthy” to even be in the garden, much less touch the priceless trees. Adam was paid a settlement to stay quiet about the incident and continue working, to which he hesitantly accepted.

Another meeting was held, but this time it was only between the upper rank researchers. Parsons entered the room silently and gazed upon his associates. Everyone seemed rather paranoid, with raccoon eyes and chapped lips. Parsons’ gaze caught one biting his finger, and upon eye contact the researcher immediately stopped, but continued staring at Parsons unnervingly longer than needed.

“We need some form of progress, anything! Everyone here and out there is thirsting for knowledge, and we have nothing new to satiate that thirst!” one of the researchers exclaimed. “That bastard… maybe that whole endospore nonsense was just to slow us down, to make us paranoid!”

“Yes, yes! If we don’t act soon, we’ll have a riot on our hands!” another protested.

“The government is breathing down our necks, Ken,” a third mentioned. “If we don’t come up with anything new soon, they’re surely shut us down - or worse, replace us. Just think of all the secrets that garden still has left to offer, that WE can find!”

Parsons nodded slowly in agreement, the heavy bags under his eyes showing his exhaustion. “I’ve… had an idea, for an experiment, for some time…” He explained his proposal to the others, and where most people would have immediately turned it down, in their deprived and almost primal states, they agreed if it meant they could further study the garden.

A few days later, as work was continuing at its declining rate, the researchers that took part in the meeting walked to the greenhouse control room. From there, between the many purple and red leaves covering the window, they could barely make out the figure of Adam working away on a group of Edenites whose vines had been cut. No one else was inside yet. Parsons swallowed, turned his key in a slot on the control panel, and hit a button. Within a moment, all of the doors to the garden were systematically locked.

“H-hey, fellas, whatcha doing up there?” Adam’s voice echoed over the intercom - they forgot to shut it off.

Parsons cleared his throat and answered into a microphone very carefully. “Adam… we appreciate everything you’ve done for us. But, now we need you for an experi-“

“No!” Adam screamed, cutting off the researcher and making the intercom squeal. Even the branches of the trees seemed to flinch slightly. “This isn’t what I signed up for! You motherfuckers, you tricked me… you TRICKED ME! You can’t just lock me up in here!” He began to swing his shears against the door closest to him, and then his shovel. “You bastards! Let me out! LET ME OUT!” Of course, all of this was being broadcasted throughout the facility. Everyone understood immediately what Adam’s screams meant, and a few even ran to the control room to see, as the greenhouse had no other viewing windows.

“Adam, please calm down… All of the basic necessities are in there, you have food, water, warmth, and shelter…We just wish to see the results of an animal living in the garden. We will let you out…” Parsons paused for a moment, trying to think of what to tell him. “We will let you out when… we have sufficient data.”

“YOU’LL PAY-“ Adam began to scream, but then the intercom was turned off. All throughout the facility, the researchers heard of Adam’s fate, as decided by their supervisor. Many began to smile wickedly to themselves, the excitement of this new test’s outcomes thrilling them deep down, and motivating them to work harder. But once again, there were others who were mortified by what Parsons had just done, and, whilst trying to hold back tears and screams, they quit the project too. Only a fifth of the original team remained.

Productivity skyrocketed, despite the low number of workers. People flocked to and from stations, one experiment to the next, all in the name of Adam. They wanted to know if the endospores would affect him; if the fruit or water would change his behaviour; how the Edenites would react to his presence. All outside communications, including sending their findings to the government, was seen as a distraction and a waste of time, taking away from research to write reports and updates. Only small drips of information was leaked out to the government; otherwise, the group was silent. They had no need of the outside world; the facility had living quarters, and enough food and drink to feed them for twenty-five years (in the event of some global epidemic or apocalypse). The blast doors has also been shut, the only true in and out from the facility. But no one else wanted to leave anyways - the knowledge they seeked was just within their grasp.

Parsons now spent the majority of his time observing the garden and Adam from the control room. For the first few days, Adam attempted to break out, cycling between methods of rage and peace; when bashing against the door didn’t work, he’d go back to work on overgrowth or try to persuade Parsons to release him, and when there was no response, he’d go back to shouting and kicking and screaming. Somewhere deep down, agony and remorse struck Parsons’ heart, but his drive for knowledge overwhelmed those feelings, and he continued to record data. After the fourth day, Adam gave up on trying to open the door himself, and instead began exploring the enclosure. This made for slightly more difficult observation, as the branches had continued to grow over the window, since the room was so high up, and a lot of times Adam would disappear from sight. He would reappear every now and then, sometimes seen eating one of the garden’s fruits. Once he looked straight up to the control room window, and gave a gesture to Parsons reflecting his opinion of this experiment quite bluntly.

After the seventh day, Adam became much harder to find, not only from the dimmed lighting and the number of branches blocking Parsons’ view, but also Adam seemingly hiding from his view. When he did appear, each time he looked more raggedy, his clothes more torn up and falling apart, and he was always carrying at least one fruit with him. He would constantly gnaw into the fruit’s tough exterior, and then suck on its inner juice. Parsons wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard Adam mumbling something about “the food of truth.” More quiet ramblings could be heard, but specific words couldn’t be picked out. The Edenites were overgrowing due to the lack of maintenance, and the cameras and microphones slowly became less usable.

On the twelfth day, a researcher visited Parsons. She had come to tell him that she had finally found the identity of the endospore culture: it was a new strain of anthrax, one that only affected plants, which explained the large black roots. Parsons nodded half interested, then sat forward in his chair towards the window. “Doctor… do you see that?” Both of them ran over to the window to see Adam lurking out from behind a tree, nearly naked.

“What is he…” the researcher started before gasping. Adam stepped out further, and revealed the large pulsing fungus attached to his upper thigh. He reached down, picked up a rotten fruit that had fallen weeks ago… then licked his lips and proceeded to devour the fruit whole. The rotted flesh swirling across his lips, juices flowing down his chin, and the quiet crunching of the core could be heard over the intercom. Parsons resisted the urge to gag, looked away, then back when he heard some quiet laughter. “Heh eheh… food, for my, friend…” Adam patted the fungus on his thigh, and then disappeared into another bush.

The next day, Parsons gathered the entire team to discuss Adam’s changes. Upon finishing his report, most of the group appeared to be struck by dread, disturbed by the events Parsons had described to them. Others appeared unaffected, their eyes dreary and dull from an obvious lack of sleep. Parsons gave them a concerning look, a thought of concern crossing his mind for just a moment. A few researchers, sitting together, were chattering unusually eagerly amongst themselves. “Why are you guys so excited about this?” Parsons demanded, almost shouting at them as he came out of his own daze.

They paused, looked at one another, and then one stood. “You claim that Adam ate the fruit? And that he murmured of ‘the food of truth’? This could be it, Parsons. The answer we’ve spent the last two months looking for - the secret of the garden could very well be in that fruit!” Parsons thought for a moment. No one else but Adam had partaken of the Eden fruit, as it was still deemed unsafe to eat untested exotic foods, and it rotted quickly when picked - even when refrigerated, or in its natural climate - so keeping it on the trees was common practice. There were no samples left in the lab at this point, but if the fruit was the key to the garden’s secrets…

“I’m not comfortable about the effects of the fruit happening to myself. Besides, we shouldn’t interrupt the experiment. Adam might be very close to something… extraordinary. It shall continue its course, and when it is done, the fruit will be investigated.” The group slowly nodded, relaxing at the thought that their final goal had possibly just been found.

Adam was only seen once more, on the nineteenth day: protruding from a pond, his skin was stretched to the bone, and his only coverings now were plants and fungi. The Edenites had spread onto his other leg and now on his chest and left arm. And all over his person, connecting him to the Edenites, were vines. After this sighting, the branches grew more and completely covered the window. Parsons tried to make contact with Adam for the first time since the trial began. “Adam? Adam? Can you hear me? What are you doing in there? Why don’t you come out so we can talk?”

There was no sound for a while. And then, suddenly, there was a scratching noise coming towards the microphone. It made a squeak, the sounds of shuffling could be heard, and then Adam responded. “I don’t neeeedddd little old YOOOOUUu, or you know wwwhhhaaatt, interfering in m-m-m… m-my GARDEN, FUCKERS! unworthy… unworthy… no trespassers…” A cracking sound ripped through the intercom, and was preceded by similar sounds in a sequence. The TV screens turned to static. Adam had ripped out the microphones and the cameras.

Unable to continue his observation, Parsons decided that the experiment needed a break, so he ordered for some of the tougher researchers to go in and sedate Adam should he resist coming out, then bring him out for examination. But although he unlocked the door to the garden, Adam did not come out. And when they tried to open the door, it would not budge. They tried to use the controls to open it - nothing. It was assumed that the wood had locked the door somehow, perhaps caught in its mechanisms, and now it was stuck. The same fate was assumed for the rest of the entrances. A strange feeling began to fill Parsons from his head to his rubber heeled shoes. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt anxious.

Everyone was awakened by a loud metallic sound that rattled through the facility a few days later. Outside, authorities were trying to force their way inside the lab. With no word from the research team for weeks, the government began to take action and try to cut, pry, and blast their way in. The doors were strong, but they wouldn’t last forever - perhaps three hours at best, less if they had sent the military. Parsons began to sweat, along with the other researchers - the truth of this strange nature, he almost had it. He sprinted for the control room, all he could think about was getting inside the garden, obtaining the fruit, the food of truth Adam spoke of. He went to the microphone and screamed. “ADAM! They’re coming for us. They’re finally coming in and they’re going to end the experiment. I need in… please… I need into the greenhouse… Let us in, god dammit!” There was of course no response through the intercom, as the microphones there were already destroyed. For all Parsons knew, the speakers inside were dead as well.

Something buzzed in Parsons’ pocket, his cell phone. He opened it and saw a message from one of the other researchers: “the door just opened”. Parsons sprinted back down to the greenhouse entrance, where the others were staring into the open doorway. Parsons joined them, and stood witness to the archway of Eden wood that now surrounded the door, with branches of red and purple, brown and black, extending around, twisting and turning. Moving. One researcher, the one who spoke about the fruit being the answer at the last meeting, stepped forward cautiously, careful not to lose his footing on the forest floor laced with roots for him to trip on. He took one step, another step, one more - before the blood splattered across the researchers’ coats. One of the roots had struck outwards, and pierced straight through his neck. It gushed out like a raging river, and whatever fell into the soil of the greenhouse was absorbed. The root then turned the man’s hanging corpse towards them, and his mouth opened as branches filled the inside of it. In a voice like creaking floorboards, he spoke. “… one mmaaannn… one woomaannn… haaannd in haaannd…” The root then retracted, throwing the drained corpse to the side of the tunnel.

Parsons swallowed and slowly turned to the rest of the team, who had slowly backed away, save the only woman left among the group - the woman who discovered the anthrax culture. A blast could be heard coming from the main entrance. The military was involved. Parsons frantically offered his hand out to the woman. “Please! I need to know! I MUST know, before we’re taken away… I’m scared too, but the unknown is always terrifying. That’s why I have to do this, otherwise… I’ll regret everything I’ve done here. Please…”

His hand shook violently towards the woman, her eyes to the floor but slowly looking up at him. After a deep, shaky sigh, she took his hand, and they stood together in front of the tunnel. “Before we go… your name?” Parsons asked quietly, facing forward.

“It’s Kim… yours?"

“Kenneth…” he replied.

The two stepped together into the tunnel, past the body of their associate, slowly, slowly… Nothing happened. The branches continued twisting, but nothing struck them. Parsons took another step, and another, each one feeling as though his feet were sticking to the ground. Kim seemed to have the same feeling running through her body. Shaking, they entered the garden, and very slowly, a tangle of Eden wood covered the doorway. The other researchers shouted and called for them to turn back, but they ignored them. Even if the way back had been open, there was no reason for them to turn back now.

The two continued into the greenhouse, now a massive, pitch black forest. Parsons looked up, and a chill ran down his spine as he realized something. When he had seen it back in Africa, it was only beautiful because the light came in between the trees, and the blue and greens of the normal plant life made this place vibrant and beautiful. But in here, there were no normal trees, there was no green grass. The trees stretched high above their heads, and now a canopy of red and purple, with twisting black streaks. This was their sky now.

Kim screamed, and squeezed Parsons’ hand hard. He winced, then looked at where she was pointing. There was a plant, roughly the size of a big dog, pulsating, bulging. They moved closer to get a look, and when they could make it out in the dim light of a far off floodlight, Kim turned her head away and threw up, while Parsons only stared. It was a human heart - or at least, a plant shaped like one. And it was pumping. The black roots drew water from the pond nearby, and was then pushed through the heart, into vines, now reformed like blood vessels and intestines. The path ahead had more, and more, and more of this disturbed Edenites. Parsons couldn’t help wondering, why are they forming this way? What is going on here?

Everything twitched and breathed, like real organs, as the two continued through the brush. They felt as though they’d never find their way out again, in the darkness and grotesque of this foul, corrupted garden, but it didn’t matter. Only the truth mattered now. At one point, Parsons thought about calling out for Adam, but decided against it. Only God knew what the hell had become of him in this realm. It was then that both of the researchers realized it: there were no more fruits hanging from the trees, nor were there any on the ground around them. Kim began to panic. “Wh-where are they? Where are the fruits? That’s the only reason we came in here, for the fruits! Where the fuck are they!?” “Calm down, Kim! They’re in here somewhere-“

“I need to find them! I can’t waste this chance!” Kim slipped from Parsons’ hand and ran off into a bush.

“KIM!” He screamed out for her, but no response. He immediately gave chase after Kim, and tripped over one of the muscle vines. He got back up, and continued straight forward. Not too long after, he came out into a clearing.

Two things immediately shocked him: a piercing pain that was shoved into his stomach, and the horrified face of Kim - her mouth agape, blood leaking out her mouth, her eyes wide in fear and staring straight at Parsons. He tried to look away, but when he did, he wished he was still caught in the death gaze. It was the tree, the one that the garden had centralized itself around. The trunk was constantly shifting and churning, like an unruly ocean. The branch that had struck him moved, and he had to look away for a moment, but his gaze was quickly transfixed upon the tree once more. Red, black, purple, all swirling and filling his sight. The Edenites, morphed into those shapes of human organs, all fed into this tree.

And there, bound to the tree, and grown into it, was Adam. Vines bulged and their contents crawled their way from every direction towards his body, now blackened and turned to bark. His torso had split open, revealing corrupted innards still pumping; a black heart beating within his exposed ribcage, yet no blood trickled from him. His eyes stood out more than anything - a milky, bright white, no colours, no iris, simply white. The image horrified Parsons, and in that instant, his greed, his unquenchable thirst for information, was for not. All he felt now was fear – absolute, and total fear before the power that was before him, fear of this abomination that HE helped bring about.

“Parsons…” the tree Adam croaked, his Eden wood face creaking as he spoke. “You came… and you brought an Eve… how marvellous…”

“Enough, Adam!” Parsons said, coughing up some blood. “I-it’s over, the experiment’s through! It’s a failure, and they’re going to d-destroy this monstrosity.”

Adam turned his head slightly, unblinking, watching Parsons with his marble smooth eyes. “Monstrosity…? Oh, no… no no no no nonono… you don’t understand… do you?” A branch descended from overhead, and stretched itself in two directions; one to Adam, and one to Parsons. Before his eyes, a yellow fruit bloomed and grew at the ends of each branch. Adam struggled to stretch out his neck, before plunging his teeth into the fruit and devouring it instantly. Parsons restrained himself from the urge. Here it was - the fruit, the “food of truth”. “What… are you waiting for?” Adam asked, the echo in his voice still prevalent. “This is what you wanted, is it not…? The knowledge… the secrets, of the garden…”

“N-no thanks… not if it means I end up like you,” Parsons spat. Adam chuckled, and the whole garden quaked. Parsons used every remaining ounce of his strength to not black out.

“Foolish man… just submit already. This is no garden of God, nay, it is quite the opposite: it is the orchard of the underworld, with fruit born of the Lady of Hades.” The branches groaned, reacting to Adam who was in, what seemed to be, pleasure. “You see, the more I fed on the food this place offered, the more my eyes were opened, infinite wisdom filled my mind, and thus the closer I came to God… until at last, I stole his secrets, and behold! This garden and I are one, bound forever, through the symbiotic chains that we share!” Adam sighed, confirming his disturbed happiness.

Parsons’ eyes began to close, his vision blurring. There was a brightness in the centre of his vision, a yellow light, surrounded by darkness and blood. “I am the new garden of Eden… my wisdom is infinite, and my body can never be broken… I want to enlighten this world… everyone will join under my canopy, gain the wisdom of the fruit, and become one in the garden… and it’s all thanks to you, for locking me in… Eat of this, the fruit of my body…”

Parsons’ eyes finally shut, a sliver of his strength remaining. This is the end… of my hunt… in the search for, knowledge… we… should’ve known better… but… we fucked with the unknown, and now… well, there’s no time for doubt now…

And he bit into the fruit. 