The Symbiont

by Chimerian

The postman rang the doorbell and knocked on the door again, this time more loudly. He knew that the doctor was not always too quick to answer the door with her limp and all. As he stood there waiting he studied the parcel he held in his hands. "Biological Specimens" the label read, "Handle With Care." He noted that this time it came all the way from Australia. Normally he would have just left the parcel in the mailbox down by the main road but this time it was registered and required her signature.

"Who is it?" came the soft voice from behind the heavy wooden cabin door. "It's Homer, the mailman," he replied. "Got a package for Dr. Jean Miller. Looks important."

"Just leave it on the porch," she answered, "I'll get it later." "Can't do this time, Dr. Jean. It's registered. Gotta sign for it, y'know" After a moment the bolt clicked and the dook creaked open. It had been several months since Homer had actually seen Dr. Jean and she was looking quite pale, the burn scars on the left side of her face were looking pink and flushed. As he watched her sign the paper he thought to himself that she must have been a very pretty woman before the accident. Bidding the mailman goodbye, Jean locked the door and carried the package back to her lab, limping as she walked. Reading the return address she was pleased to find it was from Dr. Sarah Wilson, a friend and former colleague. She hadn't seen Sarah in about five years since she was in the hospital recovering.

Jean shuddered as she recalled the explosion in the laboratory that killed her research assistant and left herself burned and crippled, although she still carried two steel pins in her left leg and burn scars on her face and arms as a constant reminder of that terrible day. Sarah had been so encouraging and supportive during her months of recovery. Jean had been engaged to be married to Scott Wilson, Sarah's brother and had planned on starting a family, but the accident changed all that. Because of her scars and injuries, and in spite of the encouragement of her fiance and friends, she still felt herself to be less of a woman and so decided to pour herself into herself into her genetic research and plant science and retreat from social contact. She had recieved a substantial insurance settlement that enabled her to build her mountain retreat that she now lived in alone, and to construct within it her own private high-tech plant genetics laboratory and greenhouse.

Inside the package was a letter and a sealed specimen container. The letter explained that while doing field research in the Australian outback Dr. Sarah Wilson had discovered the remains of a meteorite in the bottom of a deep crater. Apparently it had impacted about three hundred years ago, and when it hit the earth the underlying strata collapsed into a subterranean cavern creating a hole about one hundred feet across and three hundred feet deep effectively isolating the specimen. Plants and animals that subsequently had fallen into the hole were not able to escape creating a unique biosphere isolated from the outside world. Sarah explained that the plants and animals within the hole thrived in a unique state of symbiosis never before seen on this planet. The specimen that she was sending for Jeans study and analysis she believed to be of extra-terrestrial origin. Sarah closed the letter adding that her "study" of the specimen so far proved to be "a unique and exciting experience" and that the organism was definitely of a "friendly" nature. And that of all people that she knew she felt that Jean would have the most to benefit from its study.

Jean took Sarah's analysis of the specimen to mean that the usual precautions of isolation and confinement in dealing with extra-terestrial life forms to be unnecessary. Jean twisted the canister open and removed the lid revealing what appeared to be a large bean shaped pod about five inches long and three inches wide. Jeans eyes lit up. She had never before seen such a beautiful specimen. It's surface was glossy and translucent, colored green and mottled with spots of fuschia. Picking the object up she found it to be smooth, hard and cold but the object seemed to warm quickly in her hands. She noticed that the color patterns almost seemed to change in reaction to her body heat. The pod somewhat resembled a large pomegranite seed

Jean excitedly began her genetic analysis of the pod. Scraping a few cells from it's side she began the tedious process of determining its genetic makeup. Soon all the data was input into the computer and its genetic profile began to unfold on the screen. Jean studied the data and images with a look of puzzlement. The genetic structure of the specimen was not really that different than normal terrestrial plant DNA but one big difference was that many of the DNA strands were only partial and incomplete. She concluded that as such the specimen could not grow to maturity and was most likely unable to reproduce. Jean was disappointed, she had hoped that she could have sprouted this seed and grown it to see what kind of plant it would become, but with such a genetic structure it would not grow much if at all. Turning back to the pod, Jean held it in her hand and looked at it more closely. The color pattern seemed slightly different now, and there seemed to be a cleft or cleavage developing on one side from one end to the other. From the center of the cleavage a small green bud seemed to be developing. Deciding to at least try to germinate the seed, Jean took it into the lab greenhouse and placed it in a hydroponic growing tank carefully setting the temperature on a hunch to the same as body heat. As Jean sat watching the pod, she unconsciously was rubbing her left leg. The pain was increasing. In her excitement over the specimen she had neglected to take her pain medication. Limping slowly back to her bedroom she took her medication and lay down for a while waiting for it to take effect.

It was morning when she awoke. Glancing at the clock she realized that she had slept a good twelve hours, apparently having over exhaused herself with her studies. Arising slowly to give her stiff joints time to move she got up and limped to the lab greenhouse to check to see if there had been any signs of growth in the specimen. She was astonished at what she found. The pod had grown large and had divided in two, and large pinnate leafs were branching from within and stretching upward toward the morning sunlight the shone through the glass windows overhead. A single spike root had formed decending straight down, piercing through the bottom of the hydroponic tank draining the solution and penetrating the concrete floor, it sunk deep and thick into the ground. From among the leaves a cluster of translucent green tendrils was developing and growing as she watched. Growing at a rate of about an inch every thirty seconds the tendrils vined upward and outward wavering slightly as they grew as if searching for something to attach to.

Jean watched in gleeful fascination, she had never seen any plant grow so rapidly. Touching one of the tendrils she found it to be soft and pliable. The tendril leaned searchingly in the direction of contact. Repeating the motion she touched the tendril again and allowed it to spiral lightly around her finger. pulling her finger away it continued to grow in a corkscrew motion. The tendrils were now extending outward now about two feet from the center. The plant structures were semi transparent and she could see the motion of fluid and cells within moving to the tips of the tendrils.

From within the cluster of green tendrils Jean could see another structure developing, green and fuschia in color, budding upward from the center. As Jean leaned forward to see it better, one of the tendrils touched her wrist and began to spiral lightly around her forearm. "I think it likes me," Jean joked to herself as she attepted to shake her arm free only to find it a bit more difficult to do so. The plant was growing more rapidly now and as she freed her left arm another tendril was wrapping around her right arm. Jean began to panic as she realized that she was unable to free herself from its grasp, although it wasn't constricting tight, the plant structures were hardening making it impossible to slip from its coils. Jean's heart leapt as she realized her predicament. She was becoming trapped as tendrils began spiraling around her, creeping up her arms and legs along her skin and under her clothes. Kicking and writhing and trying to pull away, Jean fell back on the ground and struggled desperately to free herself but the more she struggled the more the tendrils stiffened and twisted drawing her still closer to the plant. Soon she was completely engulfed and immobilized. More and more tendrils were snaking about her, creeping up her pant legs anong her skin.Her clothing was tightening as the plant thickened within the fabric and soon she could hear the sounds of ripping and tearing as her clothing fell away in shreds.

No amount of struggling could budge the grip of the plant. The tendrils had hardened to solid woody stems. Jean was at least relieved that she was not being constricted by the plant and had no difficulty breathing. In fact, aside from being totally unable to move she was not in any real physical discomfort. But Jean anguished at the thought that she might never break away from the plant and it could be weeks or months before anyone might come around that could save her, if she should live that long. Jean could only watch helplessly in horror as from the middle of the plant another large tendril snaked toward her, it was mottled transparent green and fuschia and appeared tubelike. The tendril grew snaking searchingly up her legs. The tip of the tendril was soft and blunt and began probing around her groin. Jean gasped as its tip gently separated her labia and pressed upward into her vagina. The sensation was invasive but not altogether unpleasant. Jean closed her eyes and bit her lip as she felt the tightness increase in her vagina. She had no idea what to expect or as to what fate was befalling her, she wondered if she were to become nothing more than food for some carniverous space plant. She could feel the plant probing higher within her, pushing rather painlessly past her cervix into her uterus. Jean opened her eyes and looked to see another tendril probing her. It searched up to her belly and began pressing and twisting into her navel. She winced slightly as she could feel it finally penetrate within. As she watched she could see that fluids and plant cells were beginning to move within the tubes flowing at first into her body and then she could see that her own blood and fluids were also moving out of her body through tubes within the tubes.

Jean began to feel relaxed. Her anxiety left her and she began to feel rather euphoric. "Is this what it feels like to die?" she thought. But soon she realized that she wasn't dying and in fact the plant must be drugging her somwhat to make the experince not so horrific as it was actually beginning to seem rather pleasant. Then Jean realized that the tendrils that constrained her arms and legs were retreating and withering. Soon the massive green tendrils lay limp and lifeless around her naked body forming a soft mat of vegitation on the flloor, leaving her totally free except for the two that still held her by her navel and vaginal orafices. Taking this opportunity to gain her freedom Jean tried to pull away and reach her work table hoping to grasp a scalpel or something to cut herself free. But as she pulled away the tendrils that held her would begin to spiral and twist drawing her back close to the plant. It also seemed that the plant was pumping into her more relaxant as she was losing her will to struggle to escape. Jean could only just lay there in a half-stupor. Thoughts raced through her mind. What was the plant doing to her? Was she being slowly digested from within? She studied the tendril in her navel. It was like an umbilical cord connecting her to the plant exchanging fluids and nutients between her and the plant. Its was firmly affixed and she would never have been able to pull it free, even if she had wanted to. It seemed that the skin of the plant blended smoothly into her own skin and was one with her. Looking at her skin she realized that her skin was taking on the mottled green and fuschia appearance of the plant. Then she realized that she could feel things starting to happen inside her body, it felt like things were moving in her organs, in her muscles and in her bones and under her skin. It felt like things were changing and crawling and growing inside her, like the plant was taking over. She could see movement under her skin and her body was starting to swell. The euphoria increased and the world began to spin. Jean could only lay back on the soft green vegitation and give in to the sensations. Jean began to dream. She dreamed of when she was young and full of vitality, when she was healthy and whole before the accident, she dreamed of the man that she loved and wanted to share her life with. She dreamed of the family that she never had the chance to have. And she dreamed of how the accident took it all away and how she retreated from everything and everyone that reminded her of the dream that would never be. Jean slipped into a delirium that seemed to last for days.

Jean coughed and awoke in a daze. Something gravelly was in her mouth. Sitting up she spit it into her hand and looked at it. It was a gold crown and a few silver fillings. But feeling her mouth everything felt intact. Tossing the objects aside she began to realize other things. The skin on her arms, although colored blotchy green and fuschia like the plant, was smooth and showed no traces of her burn scars. Sitting straight up jean noticed that she was feeling particularly good, no pain, no sore joints. Looking at her left leg she found it to be straight and whole and no traces of her scars. On the ground beside her lay two stainless steel bone pins. Jean picked them up and looked at them in amazement. "This can't be real," she thought. Jean looked in awe at the plant that was still connected to her by the two tendrils, fluids still flowing visibly in the in and out of her body. Jean attempted to stand finding the tubes to be soft and flexable allowing her freedom of movement. Examining her body she was astonished to find herself completely healed of her injurys. More than that, she realized that her body was not merely healed but was completely regenerated from her teeth and bones to her skin and muscles. Jean felt marvelous. She felt stronger and healthier than she could ever remember. Even her sight and her hearing and all her senses seemed sharpened. Jean slid her hands over the contours of her body. She was amazed to find that her body shape had completely changed. Where she once had flabby thighs and boney hips she now found nicely muscled thighs that sloped upward to full wide hips and a taut round ass. From her hips her waist curved gracefully in narrowing smoothly to a tight stomach. But what amazed her most ws where she once had uneven saggy b-cup breasts she now carried high and firm on her chest a pair of dd-cup beauties that would make any woman proud and any man weak in the knees. Her hair had grown long and lustrous and hung down to her waist. Jean approached the plant and looked at it in wonder. She could only guess as to the reasons why a plant would capture and regenerate and restore another life form. Jean wanted to do more tests. Attempting to reach her computer and work area she found that with some gentle persuasion and as long as she moved slowly and without excitement, the tendrils could be induced to grow and lengthen the twenty feet or so that would allow her to reach her equiptment. Jean stood and stared in amazement at the reflection of herself in the full length mirror on the lab door. It was as if she were looking at the body of another woman. Again she caressed herself and fondled her sensuous full breasts as she watched in the mirror. Aside from the color of her skin it was a body of utter perfection. Pulling herself away from her self admiration she turned her thoughts to the task at hand. Jean was soon able to draw a sample of green blood from herself and do a chemical analysis and to run a genetic profile. Soon the computer had processed the data and the results displayed on the screen. Just as Jean had suspected the incomplete DNA of the plant had combined with her own DNA making her virtually one organism with the plant. The reasons for such a combinining of life forms were obvious to her now. All life forms must reproduce, and the plant lacked the genetic structure to do so alone. It has to find a host or victim, and combine its genetics with theirs to reproduce. And by restoring the host first to perfect genetic health it insures the survival of its own offspring. "But what next?" Jean wondered. Am I still destined to end up becoming just a healthy seed pod to be eventually consumed by developing embryos?" Jeans questions were soon to be answered as suddenly she realized that the tendrils were constricting, pulling her back toward the plant. She began to panic, but the plant apparently sensing her distress pumped more of the relaxing drug into her system returning her to a euphoric and more compliant state.

Jean was drawn back to her place near the plant and sat awaiting whatever fate should befall her next. Then something happened. The color of the fluid in the umbilical tube was changing, becoming more pink and was flowing more rapidly. She felt flushed and her heart quickened. She began feeling a pulsing sensation in her vagina that was becoming increasingly pronounced and to her surprise, pleasurable. Lying back on the soft vegitation she began undulating her pelvis in rythym with the throbbing of the plant, and as she caressed and gripped the thick tendril that penetrated her pussy with one hand, she fingered her clitoris with the other. She felt as if the plant was actually making love to her She thought about how it felt so much like when she would make love with Scott. Within moments her body shivered with a series of intense orgasms like she had never felt before. As she lay there resting she noticed a warm fullness that seemed to be developing in her womb. She speculated that her body had just been impregnated by the plant. The pressure in her vagina subsided and to her surprise the tendril that had been locked into her pussy detached and withdrew back within the plant leaving her now only connected by the umbilical tube which was now surging rapidly with fluids.

Jean felt a tingling in her bosom and realized that her breasts were also starting to swell even larger. Sitting up she cupped her hands over her breasts and felt them expand into her palms. She could only guess that the plant after having regenerated her body to perfect health, was now pumping her full of sex hormones and fluids that would further enhance her bodys reproductive capacity to maximum efficiency. Jean watched as her breasts continued to grow full and round, her skin stretching and balooning pale pink and green. Her breasts swelled as she held them in her hands feeling them grow heavy and full of fluid. As they neared the size of watermelons her areolas grew thick and dark pink. Laying her blossoming bosom in her lap she grasped her areolas and squeezed her nipples. Sensations of exstacy plunged her into another orgasm.

Feeling the pressure in her belly increasing she lay back and let her still expanding breasts lay on each side of her. Jean watched as her belly swelled big and round as new life was developing within.

Then she felt somthing strange again in her pussy. Something was coming out from inside of her. Jean could feel something snakelike parting her labia and emerging. Two pink tendrils spiraled upward growing out of her vagina and wavered towards the ends of her now enormous bosom. As she watched them draw closer she could see that the tips of the tendrils were each widening and flaring out into a funnel shape. As she guessed they might, the tubes affixed themselves over her nipples and she could feel them begin pulsing with a rhythymic sucking sensation.

As Jean lay there overwhelmed with pleasurable sensations, the research scientist side of her was still making observations, taking mental notes, and studying the organism that she was now a part of. She summarized that apparently the plant species survives by invading and assimilating the body of the host, reading it's genetic structure, correcting any genetic flaws, healing and regenerating the host's body to genetic and physical perfection and efficiency, and then adapting its own reproductive process to take full advantage of the hosts own reproductive processes. Jean wondered if she would live to ever tell or write about her experience. Jean could feel now a release of pressure within her breasts and a tingling sensation as she realized that her breasts were now lactating and and a copious white fluid began surging through the pink tubes siphoning away from her nipples and into her own body and up into her womb. In a strange sort of cycle the plant was nourishing her and she was nourishing the embryos developing within her. Strangely Jean felt some odd sort of motherly instinct toward the plant babies that she was nursing inside her. Her breasts had finally stopped swelling and were like two very large melons lying on each side of her each about four feet long and two feet in diameter. Her breasts quivered and undulated with the sucking motions of the tubes. Giving in to the euphoria and the sensations, Jean drifted in and out of semiconsciousness. She lay there delirious and half-amused at the thought of what she would possibly name a few dozen plant babies.

It was several hours later when Jean became aware that the sucking sensation had ceased. Opening her eyes and studiying her body she found that the breast tubes were gone, her breasts had somewhat shrunk in size down to the size of pillows, and her belly had swelled enormously large and round to about three feet in diameter. She was still attached to the plant by the umbilical tube but the flow of fluids had ceased. Jean rolled to her side and onto her knees in an attempt to stand up. Lifting her still enormous breasts up onto her belly and then pushing them and her belly forward and rolling up on top of it she managed to get to her feet only to realize that she wasn't going anywhere anyway as she could never possibly lift her belly off the ground. As she sat hugging her belly she felt like she were a giant pomegranite and she wondered if she were ripe yet. She also wondered if she would be doomed to release her seeds as a pomegranite did by splitting open and she shuddered at the thought. So far none of the things she had endured could be said to be painful or unpleasant, aside from the fear of the unknown. Jean expected that childbearing, whether it be human or otherwise was not going to be a pleasant experience.

Suddenly from within her belly there came a rumbling and a movement. The skin over her bloated belly rippled and quivered as things inside seemed to be tumbling and turning. A trickle of fluid began to run down her legs. Then all at once a torrent of fluid gushed with great force from her vagina, flowing for barely a second and then just as suddenly, it stopped, as if suddenly plugged. Jean felt a pressure building within against the blockage, and then feeling a small object push through her vagina another sudden and momentary gush of fluid forced it out of her. Looking back Jean saw a small beanshaped pod bounce across the ground and roll around to her feet.

"My firstborn!" Jean exclaimed to herself. She could feel the next one entering the birth canal and the pressure building behind it. Moments later it too gushed forth with a pulse of fluid. Then in rapid succession several more pods were launched forth bouncing across the laboratory greenhouse floor in all directions. Jean tried to count how many she felt emerge but she lost track at around twenty seven. Soon, after many more births, Jean's belly was softening and shrinking in size. As she lay on the floor she massaged her abdomen pushing and popping out one pod after another. Soon the skin over her belly was soft and nearly empty. With one final push the last two pods emerged with an audible "bloop... bloop". Jean lay resting from her ordeal. "So, I guess now I'm a mom," she mused. Sitting up Jean looked at herself. Her breasts were huge and saggy, her belly stretched and empty. "I guess having kids really takes it outta ya." Then she saw that fluids were flowing again through the umbilical tube. This time green fluids were flowing out of her body and red fluids were flowing back in. She could feel her body tingle all over as the green blotchy patches began to fade. The skin of her belly began to constrict and flatten out and her breasts began to firm up. The plant was retracting from her system and was restoring her body to its previous perfect condition. In no time at all, all traces of the plant seemed to be gone. The umbilical tube ceased its flowing and went limp and fell away from her navel. At long last Jean was free from the plant. She stepped back with a feeling of relief and rebirth, her life had been spared. Part of her wanted to turn and flee from the scene but she stood staring at the plant in awe. The leaves were darkening and withering, the tendrils were turing black and lifeless. It was dying. Jean stepped toward the plant. She felt funny. She was now free from the parasite that held her captive and used her. But it saddened her to see it die. For a long while she had been one with this being and now as it died it seemed part of her was dying with it. She touched the plant and caressed its withering stems and leaves. "Goodbye, lover," she whispered. With one last spark of life one tiny paling tendril wavered forth from the heart of the plant and stretching forth, it stroked lightly against Jeans cheek and then withered away.

"This is no parasite," Jean thought. "This is a symbiont in the truest sense of the word. What evolutionary process could have created such a species as this that preserves its own existance by so wonderfully ensuring the survival of its host." Jean gave herself a thorough examination and concluded that all traces of the plant had left her, except for a pale green scar surrounding her navel shaped like a four point star. Her genetic makeup though had been altered to a state of perfection. She could find no sign of weakness anywhere in her DNA structure. For all intensive reasons she were a perfect specimin of a human being. Her body was strong healthy and with wide hips, slender waiste and a sixty- inch set of mammary glands she was perfectly equipped for maximum reproductive efficiency. Having carefully gathered together all sixty-four of her little bean pod babies into a basket, Jean began making a list of all her friends and colleagues that she thought might benefit from a little "further study" of her "specimens". Jean also decided it was time to give her ex-fiance, Scott, a call. He had promised that he would always be ther for her if she should ever change her mind. "There's a lot of lost time to make up for," she thought as she felt a twinge of longing in her pussy. "Hmm...." she pondered, "I wonder what one of our little bean pods could possibly do for a man."

the end.... ?

The Symbiont copyright 1996 by Chimerian.