Mara spent the next three days trying not to look at the Moonvine.
She failed.
Every morning, she checked it.
Every evening, she checked it again.
By the third day, the single silver leaf had become six.
By the fourth, there were twelve.
And by the fifth—
“That’s not normal.”
Evelyn Carter stood beside the greenhouse with her hands on her hips.
Mara looked at the plant.
“No.”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
“Is it supposed to do that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Mara glanced at her.
“Why is that good?”
“Because if you’d said yes, I’d have to start worrying about you.”
Mara smiled.
The Moonvine climbed the wooden frame they’d installed for ordinary beans.
Its leaves were green at the edges and silver toward the center.
Tiny veins glowed faintly when the sunlight struck them.
Evelyn touched one.
It immediately curled around her finger.
She jumped.
“Oh.”
Mara laughed.
“You’re the one who touched it.”
“It moved.”
“Plants do that.”
“Not like that.”
“No.”
They stood quietly.
Then Evelyn pointed.
“That flower wasn’t there yesterday.”
Mara looked.
A pale bud had formed at the top of the vine.
She frowned.
“Definitely wasn’t.”
The mirror inside the greenhouse flickered.
Mara sighed.
“Of course.”
Elias appeared.
His hair was damp.
There was dirt on his face.
And he was carrying a wrench.
Mara smiled.
“You look terrible.”
“You look worse.”
“I’ve been gardening.”
“So have I.”
“That explains the dirt.”
He looked behind her.
“Is that the Moonvine?”
“Yes.”
“How much has it grown?”
“Too much.”
Elias studied it.
“Anything unusual?”
“It reacts to us.”
“Us?”
“Both worlds.”
He frowned.
Mara explained what had happened.
Elias walked closer to the mirror.
“Can you show me?”
She held the camera toward the plant.
The Moonvine’s leaves slowly turned.
Not toward the sunlight.
Toward the mirror.
Elias went still.
“That’s new.”
“Very.”
The flower opened.
Inside was a dark center.
Then a faint silver pattern appeared.
Four circles.
Elias whispered:
“The anchor symbol.”
Mara nodded.
“But look closer.”
He did.
There was another marking beneath it.
Two interlocking circles.
His expression changed.
“That’s ours.”
Mara looked at him.
“Apparently.”
The flower released a tiny puff of silver dust.
The mirror flashed.
BIOLOGICAL CROSS-RESPONSE
STABILITY: 12.1%
Elias stared.
“That’s going up again.”
Mara nodded.
“What happens if it reaches one hundred?”
Dr.
Vale answered from behind him.
“We don’t know.”
Mara sighed.
“Everyone really likes saying that.”
That afternoon, Mara harvested potatoes.
Not many.
Only a few baskets.
But they were hers.
She carried the first basket into the kitchen and set it on the table.
Agnes Holloway arrived ten minutes later.
She took one look at the potatoes.
Then smiled.
“First harvest.”
Mara nodded.
“First real one.”
Agnes picked up a potato.
“Your grandmother would have been proud.”
Mara smiled.
“I hope so.”
Agnes examined it.
“Good size.”
“I’ve been growing potatoes since before your mother knew how to walk.”
“Fair.”
Agnes put it down.
“What are you going to do with them?”
Mara looked toward the mirror.
“Share.”
Agnes followed her gaze.
She didn’t ask questions anymore.
That was one of the things Mara appreciated about her.
Some people needed explanations.
Agnes simply accepted that Mara’s life had become strange.
“Then cook them properly,” Agnes said.
The first meal was simple.
Boiled potatoes.
Butter.
Salt.
Fresh herbs.
Mara added a little roasted chicken.
Then she placed one plate beside the mirror.
Elias appeared.
He stared.
“Potatoes?”
“First harvest.”
His expression softened.
“You grew them.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Enough for today.”
Elias smiled.
“That’s enough.”
Mara transferred the recipe through the mirror.
Not the food.
The recipe.
Then the growing instructions.
Then photographs of the plants.
Then notes about soil.
Elias studied everything carefully.
“We can grow these.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
“Good.”
He looked toward the camera.
“Thank you.”
Mara leaned against the table.
“For potatoes?”
“For more than potatoes.”
She smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
At Blackridge, Elias planted the first Veyran crop.
It wasn’t potato.
It was a hardy root vegetable Selene had found growing near a dead zone.
They called it blackroot.
It was ugly.
Nearly black.
Twisted.
And it tasted terrible.
Rowan took one bite.
“This is a crime.”
Elias looked at him.
“You said you’d eat anything.”
“I lied.”
Selene laughed.
Tobias took a bite.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
“Needs salt.”
Rowan stared at him.
“You’ve got the survival instincts of a brick.”
“Bricks survive.”
Elias smiled.
For the first time in years, Blackridge sounded like a community instead of a bunker.
People argued about food.
They complained about work.
Someone had started humming while repairing tools.
Children had begun playing near the greenhouse.
It wasn’t much.
But it was alive.
The next morning, Elias brought Mara something.
He held it up to the mirror.
A small wooden box.
“What is that?”
“Open it.”
“You know I can’t.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I forgot.”
Mara laughed.
“Try harder.”
Elias smiled.
Then he placed the box on his side of the mirror.
Inside was a collection of seeds.
Dark blue.
Almost black.
Mara leaned closer.
“What are they?”
“Veyran grain.”
“Can it grow in Aurelia?”
“Maybe.”
“Why send it?”
“Because you sent me potatoes.”
She smiled.
“That’s not how trade works.”
“I know.”
“It’s supposed to be equivalent.”
“I know.”
“So why?”
Elias looked at her.
“Because I wanted to give you something.”
Mara went quiet.
The words were simple.
But somehow they meant more than the box.
She looked down at the seeds.
“Thank you.”
They planted them beside the Moonvine.
The first day, nothing happened.
The second, nothing.
The third— a shoot emerged.
Dark green.
Elias watched through the mirror.
“It worked.”
Mara smiled.
“Your turn.”
“For what?”
“Grow something.”
He looked toward his greenhouse.
“We already are.”
“No.”
She pointed at the screen.
“Something that’s yours.”
He looked at the little plant.
Then back at her.
“I’ll try.”
Two weeks later, Blackridge had its first harvest.
Blackroot.
A handful of Veyran grain.
Several medicinal herbs.
And three enormous blue tomatoes that nobody could explain.
Rowan held one up.
“We should sell these.”
Tobias shook his head.
“Nobody will buy something that looks like a heart.”
Rowan frowned.
“It doesn’t look like a heart.”
“It has veins.”
“Everything has veins.”
Selene took the tomato.
“You’re both idiots.”
She sliced it open.
The inside was bright blue.
Mara stared through the mirror.
“Is that safe?”
Selene tasted a tiny piece.
Everyone waited.
She chewed.
Swallowed.
“Yes.”
Rowan immediately grabbed a slice.
“Then it’s food.”
Elias laughed.
The sound carried through the greenhouse.
Mara smiled.
She had heard him laugh before.
But never like that.
Not guarded.
Not brief.
Real.
She realized she wanted to hear it again.
Often.
That evening, Mara sat outside the farmhouse.
The sun was setting over Bellwood.
The fields beyond the property glowed gold.
Elias sat on the other side of the mirror.
Neither of them spoke.
They simply stayed connected.
Eventually Elias said:
“Do you remember the first time we talked?”
Mara smiled.
“You pointed a rifle at me.”
“You broke into my station.”
“You were in my house.”
“I was in another world.”
“Still rude.”
He laughed.
Mara looked at the sky.
“I thought you were going to disappear.”
“I thought you were going to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone disappears eventually.”
The words were quiet.
Mara looked back at him.
“You don’t have to.”
Elias met her eyes.
“I know.”
For a moment, neither looked away.
Then the mirror flickered.
Both turned.
The Moonvine was glowing.
Not silver.
Blue.
The same color as the Veyran tomatoes.
A small symbol appeared across the glass.
Then another.
Then another.
AURELIA BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE
VEYRA BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE
CROSS-WORLD ADAPTATION
Mara stood.
“What is it doing?”
Dr.
Vale rushed into view.
“Don’t touch it.”
Mara froze.
The Moonvine’s roots began glowing beneath the soil.
Lines of light spread outward.
Through the greenhouse.
Into the garden.
Across the earth.
Elias stared from the other side.
The same thing was happening at Blackridge.
Every plant in the Veyran greenhouse began glowing.
The two gardens seemed to answer one another.
Mara whispered:
“They’re connected.”
Dr.
Vale shook her head.
“No.”
She stared at the readings.
“They’re synchronizing.”
The mirror displayed one final message.
BIOLOGICAL NETWORK INITIATED
FIRST HARVEST COMPLETE
NEXT STAGE: ADAPTATION
Mara looked at Elias.
Elias looked at Mara.
Neither of them knew what the next stage meant.
But for the first time, the message didn’t feel like a warning.
It felt like a beginning.
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO