This was probably several steps below her usual paygrade.

But Klo had been asked by a friend to help secure a top secret laboratory, and she owed them a favor.

The wolf would be asked about entry and exit points, mostly in terms of how someone could, hypothetically, get in and out of labs. Specifically, how possible INTRUDERS could get in and out.

Klo had to raise an eyebrow at how specific they were being. But she wasn’t paid to question it. She just would do her damn job.

==

This lab was something else.

Klo had never seen so much greenery in such a heavily hidden place that wasn’t a forest. The lab had walls that were solely dedicated to showcasing specific types of ivy, as well as small hanging gardens. The plants were nothing like anything the wolf had ever seen, many looking entirely too alien to be anything but plastic. Yet upon touch, the plants reacted, squishing back or releasing small puffs of pollen into the air… the various labs looked more like greenhouses, with intricate lighting and watering systems helping to ensure the plants within were maintained and kept healthy…

However, their destination was one specific greenhouse-lab.

The lab in question was home to a massive… beanstalk? It looked like a beanstalk anyway. The plant itself rose up and out of the room, through to upper floors and out of sight… a yellow circle was painted around the planter, at roughly 5 feet all around…

The corgi that had called Klo in to help would excitedly explain that they were going to try and raise this plant to help alleviate the need for large scale farms and such. However, Klo was already looking around and seeing weak spots. A few vents here and there, as well as some decorative window walls that could be broken.

“I think I’ll need more access to this room.” The wolf said, striding up to inspect some of the vents. “As well as blueprints on this room in particular.” She mostly meant the freedom to inspect and scale the walls, but really, she just wanted to move around without disturbing the scientists…

“Oh! Alright!” The corgi professor waddled after her, smiling. “You can do as you please, but we have to ask you to stay outside the yellow circle, okay?”

“...why?” Klo looked a bit confused. 

“Ohhh, the plant doesn’t like people it doesn’t know being in that circle.”

“....Uh huh.” The wolf just nodded, disregarding that little explanation as superstition. “Either way. I'll need clearance into this room after everyone leaves for the night. That way I don’t interrupt your research.”

“You got it!”

==

It would be hours later that Klo would finally be able to hear herself think.

She walked through the halls towards the Beanstalk room, entering and getting to work. 

Inspecting blueprints and maps of the sector, she began mapping out and marking which vents needed reinforcing, or what walls would need extra defense in order to keep them intact… she took her work seriously… so seriously that when she spotted a large drainage grate around the back of the beanstalk, she’d instinctively head towards it to mark it off.

A mistake on her part.

She gasped as a shadow descended upon her,a thick vine grasping her throat. She gagged and kicked out, struggling to try and loosen its grip on her neck. The wolf clawed and bit at whatever she could reach, trying to hit away any approaching vines. But of course, there was only so much she could do as the air was slowly squeezed from her.

She kept her head up, trying her best to get away as one bold vine grabbed at her ankle, wrapping around it tightly to settle her. Slowly but surely, the vines would grab all her limbs, pulling them against her body. Klo gasped and panted, eyes wide as she shook her head. 

The vines, having restrained their prey, started to close in. They slowly started to wrap her up tight, lifting her off the ground and constricting her more and more. Her gasps and pleas fell on deaf ears, the plant uncaring as it drew her in towards the base of the beanstalk… the fight was slowly leaving her, as she struggled to even inhale from how tight the vines were. The original vine was still wrapped around her muzzle, holding her head steady as she tried to pull herself away…

No amount of squirming and struggles would help her, no matter how hard she tried. Only a few patches of fur were visible, along with her head and tail. The plant would leave her to dangle a few inches above the floor, the cold tile tantalizingly close… the vines had discarded any weapons or identification on her person, and she was left on display, a perceived intruder caught and strung up…