[ WP ] '' I do n't think that 's a forest ... I think that 's a machine . ''

The trees were strange. 
 
 Yellow branches and yellow roots. Yellow leaves, shaped like half-formed faces. He stepped between the shadows, following after the hapless, excited scientists. He stepped on a tiny body, crumpled in the dirt. 
 
 His lip curled. 
 
 This place was unnatural. Trees should n't look like they were made out of flesh. Trees should n't be glowing like that and twitching visibly towards the bloated sun. 
 
 The scientists were squawking over some new discovery again, taking samples and pictures over some knobbly glowy stump in the ground. He stood over them, hefting his carbine gun as he scanned the shadows between the trees. 
 
 He saw a pair of eyes. He saw a pointy face filled with razor sharp teeth, creeping towards an unsuspecting scientist. 
 
 He raised his gun and took a shot. 
 
 There was a soft hiss and a flash of light. A small, charred body dropped to the ground. One of the scientists looked around briefly at the sound before going back to work. 
 
 `` Are you alright, Michael?'' 
 
 A lithe figure tapped his shoulder. From the darkness behind him, a slender woman dressed in full body armour appeared, holding a glowing blade. Yellow blood dripped off its edge, curdling in the air. 
 
 `` This place is sick.'' he said, `` Diseased looking. I do n't understand how they can be so happy being here.'' 
 
 She shrugged. `` Bugger if I know. These Scientist types are all flighty like that. I think it might be some quirk of their genetic blueprints.'' she paused, `` Much like we are probably tweaked towards paranoia as Soldiers.'' she laughed. 
 
 `` It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.'' he grumbled. `` I hate places like this. Tiny enemies. So many places to hide. And those godawful trees, I swear, they're more like satellite dishes.'' 
 
 `` Just treat it like a challenge. It's fun is n't it?'' 
 
 Her blade idly stabbed out at a tiny figure, skewering it briefly before she flung it aside. 
 
 `` So optimistic. You sure you did n't get some Scientist gene mixed in when you were born?'' 
 
 She snorted. `` As if.'' 
 
 The forest creaked around them. The scientists chattered excitedly in their own digitalized language. He hated it when they did that. He did n't have the access to their speaker channels. 
 
 `` What is it? What's going on?'' he growled at the closest figure. 
 
 `` Oh, uh, Mr Soldier! The forest is moving!'' 
 
 The ground trembled under his feet, splitting and shifting like a ripe fruit full of worms. `` I can see that! Why is it moving? Is something coming to attack?'' 
 
 `` It's reorienting towards the sun!'' the scientist told him happily. The two other scientists packed their gear, `` We think this whole area is some kind of organic light gathering device for the Wyrm colony in the core of the planet.'' she chattered on, `` The second sun is about to appear so it needs to uproot and shift to a new location. Or maybe they're just annoyed that you killed all their automated sentries, Mr Soldier!'' 
 
 God, he hated Scientists. 
 
 He grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his back, hoisting his gun to grab another scientist, a slight man. His colleague took the other scientist, a flaky looking man that giggled and waved at him as she sped past him, leaping over an opening chasm in the fleshy yellow earth. 
 
 He sighed as he followed after her. 
 
 It was just another day in his life, really.
