[NetBehaviour] Radiation

[Zak Qlikman]

The fungus sprawls in fractal tendrils, black as void, curling toward the
fractured heart of Reactor Four. It pulses faintly, almost imperceptibly,
as though breathing in the radiation that has poisoned this land. Here,
where humans once trembled at the invisible death in the air, the organism
thrives with an alien hunger.



Some visitors hover at the edge of the anomaly, their containment suits
shimmering under pale floodlights. Instruments scream with data they don’t
yet understand. The fungus consumes gamma radiation, metabolizing
destruction into growth. A Geiger counter clicks faster when pointed toward
its core, not from increased danger, but because the air itself seems to
bleed silence. It is absorbing—pulling energy inward, devouring it like a
black hole consumes light.

They suspect it began as a mutation, some desperate adaptation of life in
this graveyard of mistakes. But now it grows beyond anything earthly.
Beneath its surface, microscopic tunnels form an intricate labyrinth,
glowing faintly with something that isn’t light. Something far older, far
deeper.

One visitor steps closer, the air around the fungus tugging faintly at the
protective suit, as if the organism senses the warmth of life. They hold a
sample probe, trembling slightly, as they press it into the edge of the
growth. The fungus reacts. Not with hostility, but curiosity. A ripple
cascades outward, a wave of shadows folding and unfolding, as if the
organism is…listening.


--


HTTPS://THEVISITORS.JERON.ORG
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