Chapter 21: At the State Arboretum of Virginia

Spring – 5/07/65

Early in the morning, at around 7:30, the four of us had gone to the State Arboretum of Virginia, which was a satellite facility of the University of Virginia. It had only been a thirty-minute drive to get there from Front Royal. We had taken Ella's car.

It was presently 8:06. The morning was fresh and clear. The air was cool, and the sun bright. Wispy clouds were strewn across the blue sky. We walked with light spirits across a wide, grass field between the historic quarters and the Blandy Garden for the Community. The pleasant drive to get there, during which we had stopped at a local bed and breakfast to eat, had already delighted us, but the beauty of the arboretum increased our joy even more. It seemed to be abandoned.

Adele, being an avid botany student, had recommended that we visit the arboretum the day before. The news report two nights ago had made us want to go on an adventure. On that night, our group at Skyland Resort had been watching the news in the dining room. We had learned that the swarm had regained much lost ground in an explosive offensive about a week after having been pushed to the coast in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware by respective elements of the USRC. We wanted to distract our minds from thoughts of war and enjoy our freedom from work, school, and urban life. I was, I believed, a resilient person, so my time as David's prisoner had long been forgotten. It was easy to forget that day when I was around my friends and when I was amid quiet nature.

Presently, we sat under a maple tree. The green leaves swayed in the light breeze. We had a view of the grass field from our position. In the line of trees about 200 feet away, I spotted two white-tailed deer foraging in the underbrush. We sat in silence for a long time; we had no responsibilities tugging at our hearts then. I imagined that the early wandering monks in ancient India had sat with such joy 2,500 years ago. My thoughts were stilled as I watched the branches around us continue to sway despite the ongoing war. Why should I be afraid then?

"Would you guys go to Colorado?" Adele asked amid the silence. "I mean if the swarm comes closer to the park."

"I would," said Ella matter-of-factly.

"I've thought about that too recently," said Ada. "We might have to go further inland eventually."

"I think the military's gonna keep the fighting near the coasts," I said. "They won't let the swarm get this far inland."

"But Sophie told us that they'll probably be coming closer. Way closer. She knows what they can do," said Adele.

I pondered the subject for a few moments.

"Don't worry," said Ada, rubbing Adele's knee. "We'll leave whenever we need to."

"Zero Dawn will be coming soon," I added.

"Sophie jokes about that often. As if Zero Dawn, whatever it is, will take a long time to finish," said Adele.

"Sophie's a blunt person," I assured her. "Most ex-soldiers are like that."

"Yeah," said Ada. "She wants it to come as much as everyone else."

"But she was in the army, she knows stuff that we don't," said Adele. "She might be right. Maybe it will take a long time before it's completed."

Ada grabbed Adele's hand to console her. Ella put her hand on her friend's knee.

"Stop worrying so much," said Ella with a lighthearted tone. "We're here. They're all the way over there."

Adele looked solemnly across the verdant field.

"Yeah. I just wanted to bring it up," said Adele with a short sigh. "I'm not that scared."

Ella simply hugged her close. Adele blushed a little and smiled. Ella then got up.

"I'm gonna follow the trail around," she said. "You guys wanna come with me?"

With that, we all got up too and headed for the maple trail, which went around the whole arboretum. We passed by the two white-tailed deer on our way to watch them. They continued to forage amid the underbrush without any apparent fear. They simply chewed on the grass, looking at us once in a while. As we watched, Adele approached the nearest one slowly while holding her right hand in front of her. It watched her for a few moments, then resumed its foraging. There were a few acorns in her hand. After a minute or so, the deer disregarded the plants that it had been eating and approached Adele. Its ears moved back and forth. Then, it took the acorns from her hand into its mouth one by one, slowly chewing on each. The simplicity of the interaction made me smile. Ada and Ella were smiling as well. The moment was a stark contrast to the state that humanity had brought itself to.

—

After we had walked the entire maple trail, we headed for the historic quarters, which Adele told us was used as a research laboratory. We wanted to look inside every building at the arboretum. There was no one to stop us.

"Have you been here before?" I asked Adele.

"No. It's too far from where I live. I've been wanting to come here, though."

Some time ago, she had told me that she and Ella had lived in West Springfield before the invasion.

On reaching the brick-walled quarters, we walked through the archway in the center and onto the grass enclosure, which was enclosed on three sides by the building. We went to the western section of the quarters and tried to enter one of the two doors on that side, but it was locked. We then tried the door to the left, which was unlocked to our surprise. We entered. The interior lights weren't on, but the large windows were open to the sunlight, which offered sufficient illumination. That section of the quarters held a library. On the walls were various posters with information relating to botany and nanobiotechnology. One poster detailed the anatomy of a virus-targeting nanobot while another one detailed its function. According to the latter, it worked in the following way: first, it disrupted a viral capsid's ability to bind to its target cell, thereby preventing the transfer of its genome. Secondly, it attracted immune cells to the virus to speed up its removal. On one of the shelves, I spotted an old book titled The History of the Nanorobotic Phytophage. Another book on the same shelf read Microbivorous Nanorobots in Medicine on its spine. I had learned a bit about the intersection between cell biology and nanorobotics as a second-year undergraduate.

After we were satisfied with looking around the library, we exited and entered another section of the quarters. There was no opening inside the library to the adjacent room. Gradually, we entered the rooms that were unlocked. We went inside the dining room and gift shop, but the offices and main office on the first floor were inaccessible. Then, we went up the stairs to the second floor, but none of the rooms were unlocked on that level. Afterward, we left the quarters and headed for the herb garden. Once there, we admired the various plants exhibited in the garden and greenhouse. It was a quiet time. My mind conformed to the silence of the place. For about an hour we wandered together among the arboretum. Occasionally, we would separate to immerse ourselves in our own observations.

As we rambled about, we suddenly spotted a lone gray car driving along the road into the arboretum. We watched it with curiosity and a bit of apprehension. We relaxed when we saw and old man and woman inside looking at us with curiosity. Shortly, they parked in the lot near Ella's car and got out. The old man had gray hair and wore denim pants and a plain button-up shirt, which was tucked in. The woman had short, gray hair as well and wore denim jeans with a simple blue shirt. They looked at us for a few moments before waving at us and walking toward us. We waved back and approached them. As we neared, they called out to us.

"Hey there!" Said the woman with a polite smile. "We weren't expecting visitors."

"Hey," Ella replied. "We'd just decided to stop by this morning. Do you two work here?"

"Yes, we've been working here for 23 years. We do research over here for UVA."

"We didn't mean to trespass," said Ella with a meek tone.

"Oh, no. You're fine. We don't mind visitors. We're open to the public."

We stood in silence for a moment.

"Anyways, were the researchers here," said the lady. "Feel free to hang out if you wish, we'll be in our little lab over there."

The old man nodded with a polite smile.

"Are you both botanists?" Adele asked.

"We are, Loral and I," said Warren, the old man, with a smile. "A bit of nanorobotics in the mix too."

"Awesome. I'm studying botany, or I had been," said Adele. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you guys researching?"

Loral, the woman, and Warren looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at us.

"We're…currently studying the effect of various plant modifications on plant-eating nanorobots, particularly the nano-haze used by the swarm," said Loral. "Hopefully, it will eventually help the war effort."

"That's interesting," said Adele with a smile. "I won't hold you guys any longer. I know you have work to do."

"Oh, our work is going slow anyways," said Loral, with a smile. "Unfortunately, the nano-haze sample we have is more sophisticated than their commercial counterparts. If you're interested, we can show you our current research. Are the four of you students?"

Ella, Ada, and I told them our majors and our progress as students. They seemed impressed by the fact that we were, or had been in Ella's and Ada's case, biology undergrads.

"Think of it as lab credit," said Loral with a kindly smile.

With that, we walked with them to the small building nearby that held the research lab. On the way, they talked about the nano-haze and its properties. Shortly, we were inside their lab. There were a few short plants on the counter between two fume hoods. Excepting the plants, the lab looked like a typical research lab at my school, but on a smaller scale. They brought us to the counter with the plants.

"Noticed anything odd about these ferns?" Loral asked of us.

We studied the potted ferns for some time.

"No. They look like normal ferns," said Adele, intrigued.

"You're correct," said Loral with a smile. "However, we have covered them in a chemical that slightly alters the individual cell walls, which enables them to avoid detection by the nano-haze's sensory capabilities. It cannot distinguish the fern as biomatter, and it does not go after it."

We were impressed by their claims, but I had my doubts. As if they had read my mind, Loral and Warren offered to demonstrate the efficacy of the chemical coating. Loral applied the chemical to one of the ferns with a spray. Then, she placed that fern in the fume hood with another fern, the latter of which Loral didn't apply the unknown chemical to. Meanwhile, Warren had went on a nearby terminal and was manipulating its interface. Momentarily, a compartment was opened within the back wall of the fume hood, from which a small container about six inches squared emerged. Warren informed us that the container held a small sample of the swarm's nano-haze, which had been provided by Faro Automated Solutions. According to them, FAS had offered to provide full support to ongoing military related research efforts.

"These nanorobots are different from any other phytophages," said Warren, eyeing the small container. "As you know, they don't discriminate between plants and animals. They devour them all the same. However, they are governed by the same basic principles."

With that, Warren pressed something on the interface, after which the container within the fume hood was opened by a small robotic arm. After about five seconds, a small cloud of the nano-haze rose above the container in a seemingly lethargic manner. I was mesmerized by that dark cloud, which could ravage entire countries. Then, in perfect unison, the haze gravitated toward the ferns. However, instead of enveloping both of the ferns, the black cloud only covered and gradually devoured the uncoated fern.

"Wow," said Ella and Ada.

"They're not even interested in the other one," said Adele. "It's amazing."

I was enthralled by the demonstration and simply stared at the empty receptacle, which had only a moment ago held a healthy fern. I felt a swell of hope as well. After a minute or so, Warren pressed another button on the interface, immediately after which the nano-haze cloud flew in unison toward a black decahedron about the size of an apple on the ceiling of the fume hood. The decahedron seemed to absorb the black cloud.

"How did you get them to go to that thing at the top?" I asked.

"Oh, it mimics the nano-haze storage unit on Chariot robots," said Warren matter-of-factly.

I looked back at the empty container that had held the fern moments ago, then looked at the untouched fern.

"Has the military used this chemical of yours in the field?" Asked Ella.

"Not yet," Loral replied, looking at the lone fern behind the glass. "It's still imperfect. To be effective, it would need to thoroughly coat most of a plant's surface. We would need thousands of planes to dump the chemical across the continent. The USRC would rather dissolve entire forests with phytophages. It's easier and faster that way, at least for now."

I was aware that the scorched-earth policy in Europe had entailed the use of phytophages to deny the advancing swarm access to plants for fuel.

"How will you improve on this?" Asked Ada. "I think it's amazing."

"Thank you. We have another idea in mind that we've tested a couple of times, but nothing substantial yet," said Loral. "It involves a few types of genetically modified invasive plant species that, when digested by commercial phytophages, produces a chemical byproduct that can internally disrupt the biomatter-to-fuel process."

"Unfortunately, our counterparts from the University of Virginia are looking to devise more direct solutions, particularly low-yield EMPs and EMPs packaged on nanobots," said Warren, still focusing on the digital interface of the terminal. "Despite our differences, we all believe that the solution lies in attacking the individual robots in the nano-haze. Destroy their little biomatter gatherers and they won't get very far."

For a while, the two scientists discussed the mechanism by which phytophages, some on the scale of micrometers, detected biomatter. Adele was excited by the potential for genetically modified plants to help bring an end to the war. Loral and Warren showed us their collection of genetically modified, invasive plants, which included hydrillas (Hydrilla verticillata), common reeds (Phragmata australis), and wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius). They were chosen because of their ability to spread rapidly, which would make a military application feasible. I was mostly ignorant of the biology of these plants. Ada, being interested in genetics, talked with Loral about the genetic modifications to the plants that contributed to their potential to disrupt the biomatter-to-fuel process in the swarm's robots. When the digital clock on the wall read 11:45, Loral and Warren invited us to eat with them at the dining room in the historic quarters. On exiting the lab, I saw five USAF winged transports flying eastward in the distance. The USRC hadn't bothered to replace the USAF symbol on old manned aircraft with the USRC symbol. Not that such a thing would have any priority whatsoever in a military leader's mind. On bringing my gaze back down to the arboretum, I saw a lone white-tailed deer walk on the grass field toward a line of maple trees. A couple of woodpeckers flew from one tree to another.

—12:22—

After the food was prepared in the kitchen with the help of a humanoid bot, which had been stowed away in the locked kitchen, we decided to eat outside, each of us carrying our own folding chairs. We ate in silence for the most part, all of us admiring the grass fields and green foliage of the small groups of trees nearest us.

"Are you guys from around here?" Asked Loral after we had finished eating.

"We're staying at the"—Ella and Adele looked at Ada. I didn't because I'd forgot about Sophie's rule—"I mean Front Royal. We've been there for over a month."

"Are you guys originally from there? I understand a lot of people have evacuated from their homes in the past few months."

"We came from Fairfax County," Ada replied. "Ella and Adele had left a few days before me and Michael."

"Will you all be heading further inland?" Continued Loral. "Not many have stayed in these fringes of the warzone."

We considered her question for a moment.

"We…haven't discussed it yet," said Ella. "But after recent events, we might consider it more."

"I've been told that the USRC wants to draw their forces away from the coasts to lure the Horus machines onto land. My brother, who's a major in the army, told me so," said Warren, who gazed at the clouds. "Their having pushed the swarm to the coast meant that the queen bots had retreated to the depths of the sea. And they can still breed underwater!"

"Your brother's a major? What else did he say about the war?" I asked.

"He doesn't say much. I know he's limited in what he can say," he answered. "He tells me that they're doing well in fighting off the swarm. Two weeks ago, his regiment had witnessed the destruction of two Horuses near Edgewater, can you believe that? They were bombed for nearly half an hour! He'd said that it was an amazing spectacle."

"That's awesome. Did he give any more details?"

"The last I heard from him is that his regiment is pulling back from the bay to lure the Horuses," he replied. "It's a smart strategy. If only dealing with invasive plant species was as simple as eradicating a queen plant."

We were silent for a while, watching another white-tailed deer ramble in the distance.

"I'd recommend that you guys go to Colorado or some safer place," said Loral. "There's a lot more people in those states. My grandson, he's 23 years old and he's continuing his education in Missouri with the University of Central Missouri. He'd been with George Mason University before the war. A lot of universities in the central states are accepting temporary enrollment for displaced students, especially online classes that will count toward your degree."

"Really?" Asked Adele. "I didn't know that. Are all universities accepting enrollment?"

"Most are. Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, except the coastal states of course," said Loral. "I'd continue my education if I were you guys. Who knows how long this war will last?"

"She's right," said Warren. "I'd take advantage of this opportunity. Tuitions discounted for displaced persons. Oh, and if any of your parents are currently in the USRC, tuitions free, so there's that."

Ada, Adele, and I told him that our parents were serving, or in Adele's case, had served, in the USRC. Of course, Ella was left out because neither of her parents were in the USRC, but she joked about it. I asked him if taking online classes with one of those universities would require us to be living in the state of that university. He told us that we could take the online classes anywhere, but that we'd first have to enroll at an education center that provided enrollment for the university that we wanted to take classes with.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Adele. "Free tuition is always nice."

With that, we got up and brought our folding chairs back into the dining room. We left our plates with the humanoid bot, who brought them into the kitchen. Afterward, Loral and Warren went to walk along the trails. We informed them that we would be leaving soon, and we exchanged farewells. They told us to visit whenever we wanted to and encouraged us once more to head further inland. Then, the four of us went on our own excursions around the arboretum for a while more, visiting the gingko grove. The idea of heading to Missouri or Colorado remained in my mind, but I was unsure. I enjoyed the quietness of this place near the warzone and was unwilling to return to the crowded cities. If my friends were pondering the idea too, I didn't know. I knew that they enjoyed Shenandoah and its surrounding areas as much as I did; they had said so many times before. However, Adele had been worried about the advancing swarm ever since the news report two nights ago. I felt a bit concerned too considering the recent successes of the swarm. Before we left, we approached another group of white-tailed deer and enjoyed their company for some time in silence. We were simply drawn to their calm nature.

—

On the drive back to Front Royal, the clouds were heavy and gray. Shortly, rain began to pour. The temperature had dropped to 42 °F. After about ten minutes, the rain gradually began to transform into snow. It was the middle of spring. The snowflakes melted shortly after touching the windshield and there was no buildup on the road, which was wet. We looked at the falling snow with wonder. It snowed for about twenty more minutes, then it stopped suddenly. It was replaced by a light downpour, the drops of which the windshield wipers were clearing away.