Professor Schmidt tapped the mic. Thumping echoed through the empty auditorium. Satisfied, he cleared his throat, and began to speak in a dusty, wheezing voice.

"Plants are much more intelligent than we have ever given them credit for." He paused, smiling, anticipating laughter. "Oh, yes, I know you've heard this before and the evidence to go with it. Plants reacting to recordings of caterpillars eating leaves, responding to the danger of being dropped and then learning there was no danger and not responding. But, believe me, when I say I have new evidence of true, human brain-like intelligence in plants. All that potential just waiting to be released."

A thump echoed in the hall. It was heavier than then the mic noise.

Then boom.

Professor Shmidt waited, head cocked to listen. Nothing.

Boom.

Nothing.

"All that potential waiting to be released. If we could harness that intelligence and set it free, the plants could save this planet for us. What we have ruined, they could restore."

Boom.

"Professor Schmidt!" Dr. Janet Clementine cried from the doorway. She stared at him, frowning. "What are you doing? We're under attack."

"I have to practice my presentation." He lifted the cards. Obviously—the conference was tomorrow.

"You've got to be—"

Boom.

Boom.

Boom. A crack appeared above and debris rained from the ceiling. She grabbed the professor, and dragged him bodily from the stage to the hallway.

Soldiers ran by, shoving them against the wall.

"Eric!" she shouted and one swerved. "Which way?"

"The enemy is hitting from the North, the main entrance. Go to the cafeteria, you'll be sorted," Eric said.

"Try the shells." She put her hand on his black textile armor. "Try them."

"We already are. These fighter units are...tough. Their attack strategy is like nothing—"

Boom. The building shook and the three fell sideways, Eric shielding Janet against the wall.

Professor Schmidt shook the white dust from his head. "We don't have to fight over the Earth. The plants will save it for us and there will be plenty of food for everyone. Plenty. The plants..."

Eric helped Janet stand. Face blotched an angry red, he hissed, "Civilians to the cafeteria. Now."

She nodded.

Eric's com buzzed and a crackling voice yelled, "They have a sort of shield up. They have a shield, and they absorb the shells. Godamit, they absorb the shells and revert the energy back. The harder we hit them the harder they hit us."

It crackled and buzzed, breaking up the next part.

Janet shook her head. "No. No, they can't know our technology so fast. Or they bugged us?"

"Fuck." Eric shook his head. "Fucking bugs. I have to go. Get to the cafeteria."

"I don't understand," she said. "We were so clean, so careful."

A thunderous boom rattled the walls, shook the floor and broke the concrete in the ceiling above them. Eric grabbed Janet to run with her.

"Wait! Get the professor, his research!" she shouted.

"Damn the professor to hell, I'm getting you out of here." Eric hauled her with him, arm protecting her head.

"But the plants will save the planet. We don't have to fight," Professor Schmidt whispered. The gaping hole in the ceiling darkened. "If we can unleash their intelligence..."

Monstrous tentacles snaked downwards, sensing, seeking, finding. The tough hide was a bright, springtime green for new growth.

"So much intelligence," he said. "So beautiful."

The tentacle wrapped around his neck. He felt it tighten, then tug. Then nothing.