As she got close to the entrance, she looked around to ensure there were no others before approaching. Quickly she ran to the tree which put her in the room she had told it to create. It was small and smelled of blood, sweat, urine, and feces.
This dark room contained a broken body. It moaned in pain as she nudged it with her foot.
"Rakshas, I presume?" she said as she tried to disguise her voice by making it lower.
She heard him spit more than saw the simple motion. "Who wants to know?" His voice was raspy. She assumed he'd been calling for help in his alone time.
"A friend of Blaine."
She heard a scoff, "Monsters like him don't deserve friends. You have no clue who he is."
Lana bent forward and grabbed a handful of hair, locating his head through sound. "I know who he is. If you truly did, you'd stay out of his way. Hands Off. You can't handle the consequences."
The tree showed her the sequence of events of exactly what it did to Rakshas as it gently placed her on solid ground. She touched the tree, "wither".
Chekof watched Lana run to the tree, enter it and leave again. He then smiled when the broken body hit the ground as her tree turned to dust. He didn't have much time to enjoy it, however, because she was on the move again. She definitely ran faster than a human. He was hoping the boy may appear if she appeared to be alone. So far, he failed to notice anything that would indicate she was in danger.
Lana raced back to room 2307. Paul had asked for her so she got there as quickly as she could. She let herself in and he was surprised she still didn't have Blaine at her side.
"I talked to my parents. They want to market the kitchen and have you do the commercials. Are you okay with that?"
Lana smiled, "of course!"
She had it with her as she always carried her bag. The kitchen had simply replaced her other bag. They set it up and he recorded the whole process.
She asked what he needed of her and followed his instructions. They used technology to put her in different clothing that would suit the expected market. On film she appeared to be in monster gear and had a Hunter's Tag. The Tag showed how strong you were, 1-10 with 10 being the strongest, like the badge with the ability levels. Her tag displayed a 6.
Lana demonstrated opening and closing the kitchen a few times, the cleaning process, how durable the plates and cookware were, she even added in that one tank of water can do two full cleanings. After an hour, they were done and Paul sent the footage off to his parents' company to see what they thought.
Lana also learned about another feature. The bag and kitchen were both made from chromanthium, the same thing the buildings on the military base were made from. This meant they could have their appearance changed like camouflage to blend in with their surroundings.
That night, she lay in bed, finally setting her books aside. She closed her eyes and her mind replayed what the tree shared with her.
It was violent. Far worse than she thought possible. It had done its job swiftly and proficiently as it listened to the students talking. It learned who its target was.
Rakshas told his friends to go inside. He was waiting for someone specific to beat up. The tree's branches snatched Rakshas from the ground in a swift swooping motion. Rakshas' ability was super strength but he wasn't strong enough to overpower the tree. The vice-grip-like branches crushed his appendages with one quick motion while wrapping branches around his mouth to keep him silent.
The action reminded her of ancient movies where professionals took out opposition for their employers. The tree threw its victim into the tiny room it had created. Rakshas' back hit the far wall and he slid down, moaning in pain. The tree sent a message and waited. Had anyone been watching, it would have looked like the boy was simply swallowed by the tree. It was over in 3 seconds with the tree appearing as if nothing had happened.
Lana slept peacefully and dreamlessly that night.
The next morning at breakfast, Blaine sat next to her before getting his food.
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away," she replied curiously.
"Rakshas. I heard his friends are saying he was beaten up by a tree. Would you know anything about that?"
Lana chuckled, "how could I beat up someone I've never laid eyes on before?" Under her breath she continued, "and if he hurts you again, it will be worse."
Blaine just made out the words and smiled.
"I'm going to go get my food now. Behave!" He grinned as he left the table, just as Dobin sat down.
"Did I miss something?" Dobin asked.
Lana chuckled, "no. How's the studying going?"
He shrugged, "it's going. Alto told me you fed him your food in the infirmary yesterday and he was able to get enough energy to return to our room."
Lana nodded, "I also made him stay until I was done, though, so I could walk him back."
"Something needs to be done. We can't live like this."
"I know. I'm working on it."
Just then Alto sat down with his plate accompanied by Almin and Kattie. Technically, level 3s were targeted as well but they were focusing on 0, 1 and 2 at the moment, it seemed.
A few moments later, Blaine, Chekof and Karlen all arrived together. The friends enjoyed breakfast together, talking about their plans. Alto, Almin and Dobin were going to the game again. Kattie decided to go with them once she was done with Sven's outside time, so they decided to all go to the park together, first.
Lana had received a message from Paul, so she needed to go back up to his room.
"I need to go talk to Paul."
Blaine nodded. "Come to our room once you done? I need to get my laundry done. It's been a bit … busy lately."
Lana chuckled. "Sure."
After they finished, Karlen went to his roof and Blaine and Chekof returned to their room.
Lana let herself into Paul's room.
"You needed to see me?" she asked.
Paul nodded, "they liked the footage but asked for a few other things. Can we set it back up and get a few more shots?"
"Of course!" 30-minutes later, they were done.
Paul smiled, "perfect! Also, my parents told me to give you something else. May I see your badge, please?"
She held out her wrist. Paul touched her badge. He typed on his computer. A few moments later, she could see a phantom message in front of her again.
[Paul Techno wishes to transfer 15,000 credits for Payment for Commercial Services. Does Lana Plantwell accept his Payment?]
[Yes/No]
Lana confirmed [Yes]. She heard her badge ding and looked down.
[15,000 credits deposited, transfer from Paul Techno; MEMO: First Commercial Payment.]
Upon hearing her badge ding, he knew the transfer went through.
"I need you to sign this contract then payments will be automatic."
Lana nodded, read the contract, then signed. She then hugged him. "Thank you!"
[Quest Update: Progress Toward Friendship: Lana Plantwell 100%]
Paul smiled. "Thank you as well. I've never had a friend before."
"You do now. I also know the feeling. I don't want to disturb your work too much, so I'll pack up and let you get back to work. I'll see you at dinner!"
Her next stop was room 2217. She knocked on the door and waited patiently.
Blaine answered the door with a smile, "come in. What did you need to see Paul about?" he asked as they headed to have a seat on the edge of his bed.
"I was asked to do some filming for the kitchen I have. His parent's company has decided to market it."
"OH! Moving up in the world, are you?" Blaine had a big smile on his face. "See, there are people who value you. I know what you …. What is it?"
With no warning, Lana was seeing spots. There were green leafy splotches as well as dot colored red, light-grey and green. These were hovering over her normal vision, see-through and annoying. She was confused. Chekof was sitting on his bed, almost done reading his book. He observed out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to get involved just yet but he was concerned.
"I… I think I'm seeing an overlay?"
She tried moving her head around but the translucent image remained in her field of vision. She groaned in frustration.
"I hate this damned ability!"
She decided to closely examine what she was seeing because this had to have a reason for happening. She realized the leafy images were of trees. Two different species to be exact. One species only had one tree which told her it was the one she planted. There was also a big red X. Blaine and Chekof were staring at her. Blaine had a mixture of fear and concern in his eyes.
Lana blinked her eyes then bit her lower lip and said "Wait a second…"
On her badge, she called Dobin. "Are you under my tree?"
"Yes, we decided to hang out here for a bit. Why?"
She saw four green dots in that area and was putting two and two together. The red X was flashing all over, hard to follow.
"Okay, I thought so."
"Wait, what's going on?"
"Um, give me a minute. Something odd. I'm trying to figure it out."
She observed the red X appeared to move erratically. It stopped blinking right next to a red dot.
"What's with the dots? Is it Christmas?…" she said to no one in particular then sighed.
Chekof and Blaine shared concerned looks.
She wondered if there was a designation of good, bad and neutral. Video games were beyond her reach. She had spent her time trying to control her powers, never having time for leisure. Had Dobin been able to see what she was looking at, he could have explained.
"Dobin, turn the volume all the way up on your badge so I can ask the tree a question." She waited a few moments. "Are there people in the area who wish to harm my friends?"
The word "yes" appeared above her tree in her overlay. Got it. Red means enemy. "Place my friends in your branches and go into Lock Down." She waited for a few moments, "Can you confirm that, Dobin."
"It's done but some are afraid of heights…"
"Understood. I'm working on it right now."