Zax had an agitated night, writhing from the questions twirling in his head. For better or worse, nothing happened. The day came, and for the first time in a long while, the three friends left on their own.

Aran had used her mandatory rest day to laze about in the shop and follow Zax and the doctor's advice, but she wasn't closer to an answer. She had lived so long one day to the next, it had never dawned on her what a stable life meant. She could actually plan a future now. But how? She had sent an updated resume to answer a few jobs offers, just in case, but she didn't expect or anticipate much.

SG went to the shop, on foot as using light road was so inconvenient. Recently, she had taken to eschew footwear, too. It only served to blend in, which didn't feel as important anymore. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

Zax gathered the gear he had prepared and went to find Kamin at her station, in the Circle. The lawyers had yet another NDA and other papers for him to sign, and they were off to investigate. When the dotter asked the detective about the short delay, she could only assume the same thing he had: strings had been pulled. It made her uneasy; there was no free lunch in this world, but nobody had claimed it.

"As good as any other guess." She shrugged when Zax mentioned the unnamed Civilian. She hadn't risked asking who he was.

They took an Enforcer vehicle to the victim's office. On the way, Kamin explained what she could about them. It was a branch of a larger, cross-bubble pharmaceutical company, using this bubble mostly to spot and recruit talents. The office was close to the centre of the bubble, where rent was the highest, to show they were not small players. A common practice.

Their main activity was the production of medicine made from mutations' byproducts. Mutated blood, sweat, milk … if there was something to make with anything, they would find it, refine it, and sell it. Rumour had it most of their raw material came from a single family. Some said this family had founded the company, others claimed they were prisoners milked and pressed for everything they had, day after day. Silly hearsay and baseless urban legends, not relevant to the case. But it was true they had started as a small family business, who had later joined the Arya Family famous for their more subtle mutations, and grown exponentially since.

"Arya Family, yes, their mutations focus mostly on body chemistry." Zax recounted. It was the basics for a hobbyist. "They leave little to no visible effect, but they are more about giving the tools to change instead of changing directly. Mutated adrenal gland, meaning altered hormones that make you stronger for longer, or make you fall in and out shock more easily. Mutated testosterone who makes gaining muscle – and other things – a breeze. Gives the illusion of a dud activation, then of a delayed mutation, but it really is an instant change that takes time to manifest."

"I didn't know it worked like that." The detective raised an eyebrow. "So they need to work hard to activate, and then they need to keep working hard to gain something? Poor guys."

"Everyone is like that; if you stop working, you stop improving. There are pros too." Zax countered. "Instant improvement usually means stagnation until the next activation. Arya-types can keep improving even if they never activate again. The stat boost is replaced by a growth boost, basically." Aran got me too used to speaking in gaming terms. "Possibly without cap, either."

They arrived on the site of the sabotages. The building was tall and blocky, like all others in the area. Many companies occupied it, some of which had been victims of the same mischief. Currently only one was and the investigators were only allowed to contact them. It still left them with one full floor to visit, in the middle of the building.

They were greeted with pleasant professionalism and customer service smile, but their guide never gave them any name. Not even hers.

Zax pulled his equipment, basically a customized scanner, and followed her to the different issues. She presented them in chronological order, for some reason. A lot of back-tracking was involved. Every office printer had their own issue, from mixing colours to randomly faxing to multiplying copies to giving copies of old documents. Snack and drink distributors, some with actual reconstituted food inside! In the dot, it would be an extravagant expense; here, it was a normal employee benefit, when it didn't throw its product to the employee's face. Showers, breakrooms, ceiling light. All with varied gravity, timing, or annoyance.

It really was everywhere, but no trace of nano-technology so far. Very little bio-technology too, for a large company in the Circle. The dotter was surprised but didn't comment on it.

They discussed with a few employees; supplies manager, site manager, regular users, maintenance workers… Varied amounts of cooperation, some colourful mutations and/or personalities, but none stood out.

The position and frequence of the incidents weren't as random as advertised, however. Zax had mapped a model of the floor as he went, marking the affected devices, frequency and gravity of incidents, and whatever relevant information he could think of. Seeing everything at once, the issues seemed more frequent around specific points in the map. Not more severe or damaging, and some incidents didn't fit within the pattern, but it was worth investigating.

The map showed them as empty spaces, so it was something he had missed or dismissed as unimportant. Some of those points seemed to overlap their area of effect, making them harder to pinpoint. It showed a limited range, though. Their distribution was irregular, but not random. Larger rooms, or those with more traffic, had several of those points, but not at the same time.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Good news?" Kamin asked when Zax stopped walking to tap away at nothing in front of him.

She didn't have much hope; his scanner displayed a constant jumble of signals and he hadn't reacted to anything so far.

"Maybe." The expert answered. "Let's keep going." He ordered when he was done.

One more back-tracking and the existence of the points was confirmed. Not their content, however.

"What is usually here?" Zax asked their guide, pointing to an empty corner of the small break room they were currently in.

A lighter circle in the floor showed the spot was usually not empty. Other rooms had similar marks.

"Hmm… Not sure. A pine, I believe?"

"That's it." An employee refilling their tea cup confirmed. "Lasts longer than most. Smells pretty nice too."

"Where is it now?" Zax continued. Kamin frowned, not understanding his insistence.

"It died yesterday, so we placed it with the others."

"Ah, right." The guide nodded as if it explained everything.

"Sorry? Died? The others?" The consultant was confused.

It turned out, the Circle's offices insisted in having greenery and potted plants, but not in taking care of them. It was common practice to have them replaced when they died. Only hobbyists bothered taking care of them, and not every company could boast having one. Zax didn't need to be told to figure the supplier purposefully didn't give sturdy or mutated plants, to maintain demand.

"Bring me where you store them, please."

"What does dead wood have to do with our sabotage?" The detective asked as they moved.

"The incidents are more frequent around certain places, which could hide a probe. A plant laced with nanites could do that. Protect them from disruptive fields. If that's the case, the dead wood should have remnants, at least."

The green disposal room, common to the whole building, was at the first basement level. It was larger and a lot more plants than Zax expected. Some were not even dead yet! Which wouldn't last, considering the room was not lit most of the time. The mix of smells was strangely distressing.

The pots were simply put where there was room, so they couldn't tell which came from which company, but it didn't matter. Zax only needed a few seconds per plant to detect what he needed. The number and variety of plants meant he could be there a while though, with the detective and the guide stuck with him.

It was tedious, but one hour later Zax found what he was looking for.

"Wow, for real?" Kamin and the guide were shocked.

"No doubt. Every flower in this pot is infused with nanites." He pointed to a once colourful assortment among others in a shelf. "Some still have a bit of energy, so I can tell they are fully infused, all throughout their bodies. Most likely, the water they were fed was laced, and the passengers were absorbed with it. Wasteful. Even if the soil has enough micro-organisms to dampen disruption fields – not my expertise – the load would just follow the water. No way those plants absorb it fast enough. That means many watering sessions, over a long period."

"For what purpose?"

"I don't know. There's not enough left to rebuild their software or their orders. I can tell they are poorly made though."

"What do you mean?"

"As far as nano-technology is concerned, those are huge. Like, humongous. Definitely not made with discretion in mind, a basic scanner would have picked them up, if they knew what to look for. Not medical applications either; I don't think the hosts would have survived a lot longer even if they had been taken care of."

"I see." The detective sorted the information in her head, making sense of the situation.

"Considering the chronology of incidents, I don't think the culprit has a specific goal either. They make do with what they can reach because they don't know what plant will go where, or what will be around it. There's never been more than two active points at once. It all fits."

She wordlessly acknowledged his conclusions.

"Now, will that be enough, or do you need me to find more probe plants?"

"Hmm." The Enforcer was still thinking when their guide had an idea.

"Er, if I remember well, the new batch will arrive later today. Maybe you can talk to the delivery guy?"

The visitors turned to her at once. How convenient.

Zax passed time looking for new tampered plants. There were a few, but he didn't learn anything new. When the delivery vehicle arrived, Kamin apprehended the driver. His mutation was definitely centred around using a vehicle, but surprising fact; he had a pet with him. An authentic grey wolf, an adult of diminutive size. Maybe from a mutation, but beasts tended to get larger, not the opposite.

The man didn't seem aware of the sabotage, he looked confused at the mention of nano-technology, and he didn't seem bothered at the suspicions thrown his way. No accusations yet, but Kamin asked him to come to the station with them for a more complete deposition. He agreed, but asked to finish his current job first, as he was paid by the completed order. He either didn't realise his situation, or he was an incredible actor.

The detective had Zax examine the fresh batch, which immediately confirmed they all had at least a bit of nanites in them. Only a few had enough to make something out of it. Some had so much in the soil itself, the last infusion must have been extremely recent. As in, minutes ago.

After the man's round had started.

He paled, but didn't raise a fuss even as Kamin officially arrested him. The same couldn't be said of the wolf, but his owner calmed him down easily. Kamin called for backup to take care of the proofs while she left with Zax and the now official suspect.

From his behaviour, Zax didn't think the man was the culprit, so he tried to appease him. He broke the ice by asking about the canine. This man apparently had social issues, not related to any mutation, and the furry critter was specially trained for emotional support.

"Original choice." Zax stated. From what he had heard, dogs were more commonly used. "Can I pet him?"

The man exchanged a glance with his friend and nodded.

The dotter received a notification as he brushed the fur between his finger:

[ Connecting ]

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