Lily instinctively retracted her hand. She was shocked. The earlier sensation had felt like a curse. Knowing the wilfordi root's potent toxicity, and recognizing this as a mutated specimen, she knew she shouldn't have touched it. Yet, she'd been compelled to reach for it—a disturbingly strange feeling. Snapping back to reality, she looked toward the source of a voice. A man in a hazmat suit; she could only see his eyes. She didn't recognize him, yet he felt oddly familiar. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

"You don't need to know," he replied, "but leave immediately." He turned and left.

Puzzled, Lily wondered if he'd come only to warn her. Before she could react, he was gone, disappearing around the corner. She chased after him, catching only a glimpse of a hurrying figure. Despite the hazmat suit, he seemed familiar. Frowning, she followed, but he vanished after rounding the corner.

The hallway was empty, all paths leading nowhere. It was as if the man had never been there—as if she'd imagined him.

'That's impossible! He was real, I'm sure of it.'

With her combat skills, sensing someone's presence should have been easy. Earlier, her fixation on the wilfordi root could explain her lapse in awareness, but not later, not when she'd chased him from the room. Why couldn't she sense him anymore?

'Two possibilities: I hallucinated, or he's highly skilled.'

Such talent wasn't unexpected within this organization. What was strange was that he seemed to have warned her—perhaps even saved her life. Yet, why leave after the warning? It was as if his sole purpose had been to save her.

Lily searched for him, but to no avail.

'How bizarre was that?'

Returning to the lab, she found others already back at work, ignoring her completely. None resembled the man.

'Who was he?'

Lily stood before the wilfordi root again, staring but keeping her distance. Now she understood the circular protection; proximity seemed to induce an irresistible attraction. She wondered about the mutated wilfordi root's powers.