To you, an outsider, Evelon is almost frighteningly beautiful. A first glance reveals nothing but a dense tropical forest. The colors are deep, rich, and dark. The leafy trees form an umbrella over the world, but shards of light poke through here and there. There's a light mist three feet above the ground. There's something alien about this familiar habitat. Something makes you take a second look.

      You reach out and gently stroke the the green leaf of a large flower. The surface is firm and cool, almost dead. You try to pluck the leaf from it's stem, but it seems to resist. You pull harder, and finally, with a soft crackle and a brief stream of sparks, the leaf comes off whole in your hand. You hold back a gasp of wonder. What is this?

      You turn it over and over in your palm. The leaf looks real, but a closer inspection at the base of the steam reveals wire where there ought to be veins - small wires made of what appears to be a highly conductive, pliant, but breakable metal. It seems organic, but your mind rejects the thought. That stream of sparks was electric - and in all your travels, you've never, ever seen a plant that carried electricity.

      Your thoughts turn back to the flower you plucked the leaf from. You reach for the place where you removed the leave from the stem, but it is gone. The plant is whole - if this is really same plant, it has grown a new leaf in the short time you stood there.

      "I wonder why we can't do that yet," she whispers.

      You turn your head sharply to face a beautiful girl with clear, light skin, rosy cheeks, dark blue eyes, and dark pink lips. "Do what?" you ask.

      "Regenerate, silly. Grow new limbs or new lungs or new spirits like the plants can." She speaks without emotion, but her lips tremble a little, and her eyes are sad.

      "But.. it's not real, is it?"

      She seems genuinely puzzled. "Of course they're real.." she begins, then stops. She shrugs. "I don't know anymore."

      "Why not?"

      "The lines are hazy. I didn't know that life originally meant purely organic. I just figured life meant having a spirit, like we and the plants and the animals do."

      You say nothing. She shifts a little, evidently uncomfortable in the silence.

      "You're probly wondering what I'm doing away from the palace?"

      "The palace? Who are you?"

      She shrugs slightly, and her chin lifts a little. "Don't you know me? You're not from here, are you?"

      You shake your head. "I know you're beautiful."

      She shrugs again, disinterestedly. "I'm the governor's daughter."

      "Oh."

      "Aren't you impressed?"

      "I don't know who the governor is."

      She snorts, a slight light appearing behind her eyes. "Goodness, you are from far away. He's over all of us. He makes the laws and such.."

      She reaches inside her pocket and plucks out a slim wire with a pointed end. She makes two short jabs to the skin on her wrist, and two beads of blood come up through the surface. She stows the wire back in her pocket and holds her whole hand out to you. You place the leaf in her hand. She gently untwists the wire-veins at the base of the leaf, and inserts each one into the pinholes in her arm. The blood disappears and she gasps softly. Your eyes widen. She pulls the leaf away from her, holding it as far away as she can. The leaf changes before your eyes. It straightens, stiffens, and constricts, then extends like a telescope into a wand of green in her palm. Roots spring from the base. She drops it, and instantly the roots penetrate the dirt. It continues growing until there is another flowering plant in the ground at her feet.

      The girl grins, her eyes catching the astonished look in yours. A soft laugh bubbles from her lips.

      You can only stare.