Altered (Male Reader-Insert)

[16]

 You catch up to Lin and weirdly find him standing still. You notice there are posters on the wall telling you to turn back because the vent is unstable. Looking over Lin's shoulder, you can see that parts of the vent are still unfinished as there are construction tools in front of Lin.

 Suddenly the fan to your right turns on. Lin then sneezes very hard causing pieces of the vent floor to fall down. You try heading back but a vent piece falls off making you unable to leave. Standing beside each other you hope that the parts you're standing on won't collapse.

 They somehow didn't, you realize that you're stuck now until you both fall as the vent tiles give way. You fell through some vines, landing on a huge bush. You get up while looking around for Lin. You then look up only to look away immediately. Lin has gotten stuck from the vines but the way that he's hanged forces him to raise his butt.

 Feeling your body a bit more cooler, you look down and quickly realize you're naked. You look up again and see your briefs hanging from a vine. Somehow as you fell through the vines your briefs managed to get stuck.

 You jump up and grab them and quickly put them on while hiding inside the bush. Luckily Lin is facing away from you so he can't see what's going on. As you adjust them you hear Lin fall, you go to check up on him and when he assures he's fine you begin to explore the new room you fell in.

 To start off, the room has much more color now with the walls and floors being colored brown. They're painted to look like wood yet they're still the same material like before. There's now more plant life with bushes, grass, and vines just from this room. The room also smells like a garden now.

 You hear static coming from somewhere. Looking around, you see Lin in front of a cyan speaker that's attached to the wall.

 "What an awful fall, subjects. Your black latex pet didn't even notice that you fell. It's in a hurry running to the generator room. You two can't count on it this time. But do you really need its help?

 It didn't manage to help you in any way before. Look at how clumsy it is. It must have been so nervous about your arrival. But I have to admit one thing about it. The way it crawls around the ventilation duct is so funny.

 Atmosphere-easing over. Back to the subject. Let me see how your unhealthy and thin bodies are doing."

 A blue laser comes down from the ceiling hitting the two of you directly. It scans both of you before turning off.

 "It's absolutely flawless. You both fell from a height of ten meters, yet you're completely unscathed. Such an amount of luck. Like the protagonist of some adventure game or novel would have.

 No internal injuries or sprains, not even bruises. Is this good or bad news? You two can keep making trouble. But for me, it means that the hazards you bring will continue."

 You hear the door unlock.

 "You two can keep going. Staying here will not advance things. Explore this greenhouse area. I happen to have some free time before dinner. You will have to be with me for a while. I will try to be a good guide. Simultaneously, I will meanwhile try to find an opportunity to turn you two hazards into two cute and docile good goo animals.

 When your body becomes one with them, they gradually spread all over your body. Reason and mind melt away little by little, they are reconstructed and you begin to feel joy. Kneeling on the floor, happily accepting the transformation into a beast. I will applaud both of you.

 Right now, let's go."

 As you enter the next room together you hear the doctor muttering to himself before explaining what the room is.

 "The shrubbery, originally planted to purify the air, grew out of control due to lack of pruning. There might be something hiding in those lush bushes. Let me see what I can do for you. Found it. That's it."

 Something clicks on the other side of the speaker before music plays throughout the room. The doctor compliments it before turning off the speaker. Lin tries to look over the bushes but he says he can't see anything.

 The room is similar to the one before. The walls and floors are painted to look like wood and there's greenery everywhere. In the center is a pile of bushes with oranges hanging from them. Wait, don't oranges grow on trees?

 You look to the right where the window is. The sun is at the horizon with visible rays coming through it causing you to squint whenever you face it. Now that there's windows the room feels more warmer now.

 Feeling Lin hold your hand you look back to him while he says that he's just making sure you won't get separated. Just as you both step inside it the speakers turn on.

 "The orange. What a wonderful fruit. Delicious, juicy, and rich in vitamins. These oranges growing here, while they don't taste good, the yield is very stable. This place has naturally become the latex beasts' orange farm."

 Something moves within the bushes making an orange fall.

 "Oh. The orchard's 'Farmers' have already noticed your arrival. Don't be shy. Say hello to them."

 Hearing the speakers turn off, Lin steps to the side and you can hear the rustles getting closer. Already having a plan you tell Lin to lead it to the corner so when you walk on the other side there will be distance between you.

 He does as you say and before you enter it Lin holds you hand again to make sure you're still near him. Your plan works as you easily exit the bush. There's a clipboard on the other side of the room and a note near the door. For some reason you both decide to read them together.

 "Although the photosynthesis efficiency of algae is higher, we don't have that many pure water resources, and we can't control the growth of algae properly. For the sustainability of the internal resources of this building, we ultimately chose other plants."

 "Just like the choice between algae and plants, we have all had better solutions, but none of us had a choice. Hey, shorts-wearer. Did you know, you and those other subjects were kidnapped and brought here as arranged by the upper layer.

 None of the researchers agreed to this. But if there are no subjects, research can't continue."

 You take this chance to ask anything about why you're here.

 "This might come as a surprise, but you actually came here to be tested on. You were one of the people who signed up for the human test trials. Unfortunately, that's all I can say, as I mainly worked on the cure and rarely worked on the vaccine.

 What I can say though is that there were no kidnappings for the vaccine as they had a surplus of willing subjects. Quite the opposite with what we had with the cure."

 You then pick up the clipboard to read it.

 "The supply chain from the outside world has been completely broken, so we can only pick cans from the warehouse. But it's so miserable to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. I've almost forgotten what normal food should be like.

 In order to avoid scurvy, all our researchers are required to take one 'orange' produced here every day. I strongly suspect the acidity of the 'oranges' here is enough to melt any test tube or beaker. I would rather eat the oranges from the bonsai trees in the library!"

 "You two truly are good boys who love reading. As we all know, oranges don't grow on bushes. These shrubs are specially cultivated dwarf orange trees. The carbon dioxide of the whole building will eventually be recycled here.

 After the photosynthesis of these green plants, it becomes fresh oxygen, and is transported to the whole building to continue the cycle. These dwarf trees require very little nutrients. The chlorophyll content is the best among plants of this kind.

 Naturally they become the plant of choice for the oxygen circulating system. But the price is the fruit of the dwarf orange tree. The taste is very unacceptable. Your pet has tried the dwarf orange fruit tree here. After a bite, he never dared to come here to pick any fruit."

 Having read those two you enter the door to the next room. But before you do, the speaker turns on.

 "Don't you want to merge with the latex beast in this room? It's okay. After this there are still so many latex beasts that come in all varieties and colors. You can take your time to pick one."