Shivering, Father Obregón looked around the mountain meadow, staring at the larger clumps of puffballs, the shadows of the distant toadstool treeline. He wondered if he was being watched by something with intellect and malice.
What troubled him most, though, was the possibility that sentient native lifeforms had taken action all over the world. That the reason no one but Naima had answered his calls was that the lifeforms had murdered them all.
"Are you safe?" Father Obregón said in his mind.
He panicked briefly when no answer came...but then Naima spoke. "I've sealed myself in the lab."
"What do they look like?" said Father Obregón.
"See for yourself," said Naima. "You have my permission."
Father Obregón's pulse quickened. "You mean...you can see them? They're with you?"
"In
