"Stop," A gentle, melodious voice suddenly resounded from the trunk, making Colonel Norrett jump back.
Colonel Norrett instinctively wore a battle stance, but the tree no longer spoke. Only its odd vitality remained, which the previous word didn't affect.
The Colonel couldn't help but consider whether he was hearing things. After all, the experiments in the underground labs were far from orthodox, so side effects were to be expected.
However, Colonel Norrett had seen his fair share of strange things during his career and had never heard of a talking tree. Sure, Khan's organization was home to many unheard-of and odd events, but that still sounded too much.
Moreover, Colonel Norrett knew those woods and had never seen anything similar during his previous strolls. Something must have changed, so he didn't believe he was ill just yet.