Fandomweekly Challenge 103 - Overrun
Jul. 8th, 2022 09:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Overrun
'Bollocks,' Gwen swore as she slipped through the narrow gap left by the cogwheel door. It was normally all the way open, but it was clear to her that someone had been forced to override the electronic lock on it and force it open by hand. That was no easy task. She'd had to do it herself on occasion and could safely say that it wasn't a door designed to be opened when it wasn't meant to.
And she could understand its reticence to open. It was about the only thing preventing the stairwell from being completely overrun by a plant of epic proportions. It couldn't possibly be that thing they'd found yesterday. It had been barely a seedling, almost on the verge of dying. They'd tried to discover what it was from their database but it was too under-developed to get a match on anything, and perhaps wasn't even in their database yet. It sure as hell would be now, she decided, assuming they ever managed to stop it from taking over the planet.
Were it not for the fact that it had turned the hub into a veritable jungle, she might have thought it pretty. It had long curving vines that intertwined themselves elegantly around anything it could find. She realised that the hub provided the perfect environment for a climber, what with all its many metal gangways and railings. Not to mention the enormous water tower that ran a hundred feet up to the pavement overhead. And it was now stiflingly humid.
It didn't possess flowers, but there were enough shades of green to provide a spectrum of colour, and large tubular shaped growths that looked capable of swallowing and digesting a person whole. She'd give those a wide berth just in case her suspicions turned out correct. She only hoped no one else had already tested the theory.
'Oi!' she yelled out, unable to see anything apart from the vast swathe of curling green.
There was a distinctive rustling sound coming from somewhere to her left. Leaves shuddered and shook as something suddenly began to break a path through them. She caught the glint of a large silver machete and then the arm holding it, before Ianto finally broke through, looking a little dishevelled in his suit.
'Only cut this path clear ten minutes ago,' he said in greeting.
'I thought you said we had a problem?' That was the text Ianto had sent early this morning.
Ianto grimaced. 'Probably the wrong choice of words,' he confessed. 'We're still in the present tense phase of actually being in the midst of said problem.'
'I can see that. The others here?'
'Just Owen. He's,' Ianto thumbed over his shoulder at the greenery beginning to converge once more, 'somewhere back there. His medical bay is at least mostly jungle free, apart from the stair railing. Trying to keep it that way,' he added. 'If it finds its way into the morgue lift, it's going to fill up all the lower levels as well. Not to mention disrupting the dead, which in my experience is never a good thing.' He passed her a second sharp looking machete. 'Head that way and just follow the signs of previous butchering. You should find him.'
'Wait, where are you off?'
'Orders from Owen,' he said, without elaborating, beginning to hack a path in the opposite direction.
Gwen forged her way through the dense vines and leaves, calling out Owen's name and hearing a muted "down ere!" Her machete eventually hit metal and she knew it was the stair railing.
'What the hell happened?' she demanded to know.
'It's gone berserk is what's happened,' Owen replied. 'When it looked like it wasn't going to survive I gave it a bit of that enhanced solution.'
'You what?'
'It was one drop! Tiny. Didn't think it'd even work.'
'Well, I think we can debunk that theory,' she replied sarcastically.
He sighed vexatiously at her. 'Well, the good news is that from what we can tell, it hasn't put down roots anywhere.'
'Really?' She knew she sounded skeptical. It looked very much to have taken root, and then taken over.
He nodded. 'All of this appears to be stemming from the original plant up in the hothouse. It just kind of… spread itself out. And it's using the rift pool as a source of water. The high sodium levels don't bother it. Probably some kind of tropical mangrove plant that's accustomed to seawater.'
Sometimes Gwen preferred it when Owen wasn't so interested in botany, and specialised only in smart arse commentary. 'Brilliant.'
'Coming through!' Ianto called out. Gwen sidestepped just in time as he dropped a huge box at their feet. 'This is everything I could find.'
'Nice work,' Owen said.
Gwen frowned. Ianto had stockpiled an arsenal of sharp objects, fuel cans and flame torches, some from his recent return, others looking like they'd been collected from earlier trips. 'Are you sure you need all of that?'
'Gotta kill this thing at source or it's going to keep on spreading,' Owen replied. 'If it can grow this much in twenty four hours, there'll be no stopping it.'
'And if you burn down the hub in the process?' It wasn't something she wanted to have to explain to anyone, let alone Jack if he ever deigned to come back.
'Look, it's me who ballsed up and caused it to take over, so it's on me to find a way up there and put a stop to it.'
Gwen nodded. 'Insane, but okay.' It was a bad plan but all they had. 'Only you're not going alone.'
Owen shrugged. 'Suit yourself.'
Ianto sighed. 'Great. We might never be heard from again. Eaten by a giant alien plant.'
Gwen studied the equipment they had, then raided the cupboards, finding an electric bone saw and a large bottle of concentrated acid. 'Let's try this first. You know, before we set the thing alight and burn the whole place down.'
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Gwen, Owen, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none
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Summary: Outside, Cardiff is cold and miserable, but inside the hub, it's become a veritable jungle.
'Bollocks,' Gwen swore as she slipped through the narrow gap left by the cogwheel door. It was normally all the way open, but it was clear to her that someone had been forced to override the electronic lock on it and force it open by hand. That was no easy task. She'd had to do it herself on occasion and could safely say that it wasn't a door designed to be opened when it wasn't meant to.
And she could understand its reticence to open. It was about the only thing preventing the stairwell from being completely overrun by a plant of epic proportions. It couldn't possibly be that thing they'd found yesterday. It had been barely a seedling, almost on the verge of dying. They'd tried to discover what it was from their database but it was too under-developed to get a match on anything, and perhaps wasn't even in their database yet. It sure as hell would be now, she decided, assuming they ever managed to stop it from taking over the planet.
Were it not for the fact that it had turned the hub into a veritable jungle, she might have thought it pretty. It had long curving vines that intertwined themselves elegantly around anything it could find. She realised that the hub provided the perfect environment for a climber, what with all its many metal gangways and railings. Not to mention the enormous water tower that ran a hundred feet up to the pavement overhead. And it was now stiflingly humid.
It didn't possess flowers, but there were enough shades of green to provide a spectrum of colour, and large tubular shaped growths that looked capable of swallowing and digesting a person whole. She'd give those a wide berth just in case her suspicions turned out correct. She only hoped no one else had already tested the theory.
'Oi!' she yelled out, unable to see anything apart from the vast swathe of curling green.
There was a distinctive rustling sound coming from somewhere to her left. Leaves shuddered and shook as something suddenly began to break a path through them. She caught the glint of a large silver machete and then the arm holding it, before Ianto finally broke through, looking a little dishevelled in his suit.
'Only cut this path clear ten minutes ago,' he said in greeting.
'I thought you said we had a problem?' That was the text Ianto had sent early this morning.
Ianto grimaced. 'Probably the wrong choice of words,' he confessed. 'We're still in the present tense phase of actually being in the midst of said problem.'
'I can see that. The others here?'
'Just Owen. He's,' Ianto thumbed over his shoulder at the greenery beginning to converge once more, 'somewhere back there. His medical bay is at least mostly jungle free, apart from the stair railing. Trying to keep it that way,' he added. 'If it finds its way into the morgue lift, it's going to fill up all the lower levels as well. Not to mention disrupting the dead, which in my experience is never a good thing.' He passed her a second sharp looking machete. 'Head that way and just follow the signs of previous butchering. You should find him.'
'Wait, where are you off?'
'Orders from Owen,' he said, without elaborating, beginning to hack a path in the opposite direction.
Gwen forged her way through the dense vines and leaves, calling out Owen's name and hearing a muted "down ere!" Her machete eventually hit metal and she knew it was the stair railing.
'What the hell happened?' she demanded to know.
'It's gone berserk is what's happened,' Owen replied. 'When it looked like it wasn't going to survive I gave it a bit of that enhanced solution.'
'You what?'
'It was one drop! Tiny. Didn't think it'd even work.'
'Well, I think we can debunk that theory,' she replied sarcastically.
He sighed vexatiously at her. 'Well, the good news is that from what we can tell, it hasn't put down roots anywhere.'
'Really?' She knew she sounded skeptical. It looked very much to have taken root, and then taken over.
He nodded. 'All of this appears to be stemming from the original plant up in the hothouse. It just kind of… spread itself out. And it's using the rift pool as a source of water. The high sodium levels don't bother it. Probably some kind of tropical mangrove plant that's accustomed to seawater.'
Sometimes Gwen preferred it when Owen wasn't so interested in botany, and specialised only in smart arse commentary. 'Brilliant.'
'Coming through!' Ianto called out. Gwen sidestepped just in time as he dropped a huge box at their feet. 'This is everything I could find.'
'Nice work,' Owen said.
Gwen frowned. Ianto had stockpiled an arsenal of sharp objects, fuel cans and flame torches, some from his recent return, others looking like they'd been collected from earlier trips. 'Are you sure you need all of that?'
'Gotta kill this thing at source or it's going to keep on spreading,' Owen replied. 'If it can grow this much in twenty four hours, there'll be no stopping it.'
'And if you burn down the hub in the process?' It wasn't something she wanted to have to explain to anyone, let alone Jack if he ever deigned to come back.
'Look, it's me who ballsed up and caused it to take over, so it's on me to find a way up there and put a stop to it.'
Gwen nodded. 'Insane, but okay.' It was a bad plan but all they had. 'Only you're not going alone.'
Owen shrugged. 'Suit yourself.'
Ianto sighed. 'Great. We might never be heard from again. Eaten by a giant alien plant.'
Gwen studied the equipment they had, then raided the cupboards, finding an electric bone saw and a large bottle of concentrated acid. 'Let's try this first. You know, before we set the thing alight and burn the whole place down.'
