And yet, Tracy found herself unable to resist nonetheless.

The sight of a secretive cave was just too tempting for the woman to listen to her inner voices. Her rational senses warned her about the possible dangers of the unknown. What could be lurking in the lightless depth of this place? He had no idea what the wildlife on this planet could look like. Inferring from her previous findings would not do her any good. While there seemed to be a distinction between vegetable and animal life - similar to the one on earth - it came without saying that the term alien could explain her findings best. Most of the botanic life she encountered appeared to live a carnivorous lifestyle. Yes, she had seen carnivorous plants on earth, but the ones here were - different. These behaved as if they actively scouted their surroundings for prey, something earth-plants never did.

For example, Tracy could still remember this one life form that had left a lasting impression on the awe-inspired brunette. Strong, thick vines climbed an elastic, surprisingly flexible trunk-like body. On top of it rested something she could only describe as a head. There were no visible eyes or ears on the flat surface of the massive spherical structure with strong jaws. Nevertheless, the creature had reacted to its surroundings as if it possessed all human senses without limitation. Its head had moved in a strange, hypnotic rhythm while its car-sized leaves on the bottom of its body twitched occasionally. When another beast or noise entered its periphery, the plant's head had reached out into the disturbance's reaction.

There was a certain grace to its movements that had made it hard for the biologist to look away. For a moment, she even felt watched while the tip of the monster's snout had lingered on her hideout behind the boulder. Had it been able to reach over and grab her in some way? She had not seen it feed on other creatures - but there was no doubt that it did. Why else would its head sport such muscular jaws? Yes, the plants in this place had mammalian muscles. Upon watching them close and open repeatedly, Tracy had immediately thought of a hippopotamus' maw crushing watermelons with ease. This plant probably could have snapped her like a twig if it caught her. The woman's throat tightened when thinking about it - but it also sparked this insatiable thirst for knowledge and the sheer unfightable urge to find more of these creatures.

It was the same urge which had forced her into this cave.

If Tracy could pick out a nickname for herself, then it would be Daredevil. Not only was she a comic nerd, but this trait distinguished her from the rest of her crew. While swinging over a chasm by a thick vine, the woman remembered training for moments like these. Even in school did she never turn down a dare. Her recklessness had quickly made her majorly popular among boys. She would be the one to jump the puddle of mud that looked impossible to clear. Or roll down the mountain in a tractor wheel. She would be the one to go cow-tipping, and in military training, she dared the boys to beat her up. And then, she would get knocked down as expected. But coming home with ruined clothes, hurt emotions, and broken bones never held her back. No, quite the contrary.

For one, there was the attention that the others gave you - both in success and failure. No amount of bullying could make Tracy stop trying to impress her peers. All the cheers she would get fired up her systems and rewarded her with the adrenaline rush necessary to keep trying out new things. And whenever she got injured, whenever someone made fun of her for losing, or when she did not clear the mud puddle, there was this lingering question in the back of her head. It grew like a tumor before killing any attempt at rationalism from her conscience: What if I manage to? What if I succeed? This question was enough to keep her spirit up. And it made her outpace her female peers. Nothing toughened you up like falling from the monkey bars, breaking a leg, and brewing before it for months, plotting your revenge.

Now, there was nobody left to grace her recklessness with attention. Nobody cared if she contracted a lethal disease from one of the plant's fruits or in an animal attack. Or if one of the planet's inhabitants killed her for sport.

The utter lack of feedback left a painful hole in her pride and her happiness. In her first few days without a crew, Tracy had felt like she was going through rehab. Constantly asking a non-existent partner for validation after an empty joke, it did not take her too long to break down crying on her first day.

But soon, Tracy discovered her inner voice's true power. As an extrovert, the woman had always relied on her peer's opinion rather than the words inside her head. And even if her two motors hadn't been in balance, they had always managed her as a dyad. Now that the former was gone, the latter grew in power and completely took over her mind. She began abusing it to cope with the loss of her primal power source, gradually trying out how far she could go before unnecessarily dying in a horrible accident.

Now, this moment seemed closer than ever before. The air surrounding her was growing thicker, while Tracy's eyes locked onto the weak shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. There had been more oxygen on the outside of the cave. Why didn't she just turn around and head for the exit? The luminescent twines growing on the walls already resided in plastic bags inside her backpack. Nothing was holding her here that justified possible death by choking.

Nothing but the screaming desire to find out what the hell was glowing so desirably over there. Her legs resented listening to her sanity which begged her to turn around and run to safety. No, she had to see it. At least catch a glimpse. But that's what she said about the vast maw-flower.

But hadn't she lived? The carnivorous monster had not snatched her up, even after noticing her.

With every step, the yellow luster brightened. It also changed its complexion over time. And to the woman's surprise - it blurred. That was the warning sign that she should have taken. Her breath had started to race, and her chest, which usually had no business with her breathing process, suddenly rose and sank in alarmingly quick succession.

Tracy started panicking. Nonetheless, she kept running. The air started smelling like a mix of salt and chlorine, and the light's color looked more and more purple than yellow. By the time she tripped over her own feet and landed on the ground, the woman's senses had already dulled to a point, where she did not feel the pain anymore. No. Stand up. This can't just end here. At least find out what this light is ...

"Rise!"

A loud, deep voice woke Tracy up. Her limbs felt numb and her vision reduced to a blurry circle. Quickly, she noticed that the ground beneath her was not the same as before. It was softer and almost felt like skin. No rocks or pebbles were digging into her skin and despite feeling a sharp pain in her ankle and knees, Tracy could not locate any injuries on her body. So nothing was holding her back from obeying the command that the voice had given her.

Hold on.

Tracy rubbed her eyes. Everything about this last thought concerned her. Where did this voice come from? It was far too deep to belong to her - not even the voices in her head were that deep. And while it felt like one of them, she recognized a few distinct factors about this voice: It sounded clearer. Whenever Tracy conversed with herself in her mind, the vocalizations were dull. And sometimes, she would miss what her mind told her.

But this resonated in her mind as clear as a clean, running river. It was as if someone from outside had spoken to her. But her ears only absorbed the chirping of birds and the splashing of what she supposed to be a nearby stream.

This voice was foreign. And instead of speaking to Tracy in a stream of consciousness, it intruded her thoughts with a demand. An alien demand. This thought did not belong to her. And for some reason, Tracy felt alluded to meet its demand.

And when the back of her hands finally cleared her vision, Tracy's breath hitched.

The ground beneath her seemed lively because she was sitting on a gigantic leaf. And looking down on her was another one of the monstrous head-plants. Its front moved in an enticingly slow rhythm that matched the other exemplar that Tracy had seen. And despite the distortion of its color scheme by the pleasant, purple light that filled the cave, it looked almost identical to that one.

Tracy opened her mouth, but it felt painfully dry. Nothing would come out of there anytime soon.

"I can hear your thoughts. And you can hear mine. The seeds are planted."

Tracy's eyes locked with the half-open maw and followed it as it moved from right to left and back. How big was this plant? A small house? No, think straight. You are in mortal danger! What are these seeds?

"The seeds are in your head. You inhaled them, they are growing. I can talk to you thanks to them."

For some reason, the voice conjured up a female image inside Tracy's mind. It was blurry, and she could not quite make out what exactly the woman looked like. Was she black? Or Hispanic? What kind of woman would fittingly have a deep voice like this? But she was rather voluptuous. Not outright fat, but there had to be some mass behind a baritone like that.

What was she thinking? Why was it impossible for her to stay on the task? She had to defend herself! Or at least figure out what was going on! Tracy commanded her wobbly legs to stand up on the uneven surface. Resist whatever was going on!

"Your kind intruded this place. I saw you behind the rock. You did not die like the others."

So many questions. Tracy's heart sank to a dangerously low level. It almost dropped into her pants. What the hell? Were the attacks on her crew planned? No accidents? Was this monster behind it all?

And it was interesting that this thing was able to see her from inside this cave. From her position, Tracy could not make out any outlooks from which the plant could have watched her. Unless the plant Tracy had seen earlier was not ... another member of its species but rather - the same animal.

Wait, she was angry at this thing! Why did her mind wander whenever she wanted to resist this thing?

"What are you doing to me?" she thought back at it. It was strange to talk like this and Tracy was unsure whether she was doing it correctly. Was she supposed to form words in her head? It felt like this was what the plant was doing. Its ongoing, monotonous movements did not give her an answer at all.

"The world must be kept safe. You are danger. When the seeds grow, you will not be a danger. The world is safe again."

That made sense. Why hadn't they done something like that on earth? Hold on, no! It was controlling her in some way! That's why! It violated her free will, no stop! Could it read her thoughts? Could it feel her emotions? Tracy took a deep breath. Her shoulders clenched at her sides uncomfortably while her entire body tensed from the comfortable - no! - traumatic experience. The air was even thicker, and it felt like the woman breathed in pollen which made her cough heavily.

"More breath means more air. More air means more thoughts."

What? What was this thing talking about? Involuntarily, Tracy's shoulders relaxed and she sat down, unable to think of anything she could do at this point. Despite being awake, her senses felt dumbed down and dulled, as if she was sleepwalking. Her head fought with the intruder constantly, and the battle wore down her inhibition threshold. Maybe she should just let it happen.

Should she?

No. Or..?

"I don't want the seeds to grow," she thought while raising her head. Her complaints almost sounded childish to her.

"You are danger. After seeds grow, no longer danger." I am no danger! "Yes, you are. You destroyed your own home. Our home is forever. You will be part of it."

That did not sound too bad.

No.

Please. I need to find a way.