She had made a terrible mistake.

No sooner than Monica James had her files lined up and ready to send to the feds, blowing the whistle on her employer NanoBody Inc and their illegal human experimentation, that corporate security burst into her office with guns drawn. Next thing she knew she had a bag thrust over her head and was forced into the back of a vehicle for an hours long drive.

At some point the drive clearly went off road because when they finally stopped and the bag removed she saw they were deep in a forest. One of the goons thrust a cold gun barrel into her back, leading her to exit the vehicle, and there in a small clearing she saw the CEO. One of seemingly many tech billionaires who act as if the rules don't apply to them. He cast a disinterested eye in her direction and theatrically sighed.

"Miss James, you wound me." He says, motioning for the goons to lead Monica over to a patch of fresh, bare soil. "Bad enough you would try to go to the authorities and shut down the good work we're doing for the world, but that you actually thought you had succeeded in bypassing our encryption is just insulting. As if our security was so lax that it could be outsmarted by any wannabe activist trying to make a name for themselves. We cracked the human genome, Miss James, we're not about to put our secrets in the digital equivalent of a school locker."

Monica tried to steel herself, readying for anything. This was what she had always dreamed of, to be the hero standing up to the worst of humanity. Even if it meant her end she would die knowing this was worthwhile. This mattered. She straightened up and looked the depraved man in the eyes. "You're conducting human experimentation, turning people into... into horrible twisted creatures, all for--"

The CEO silenced her with bored wave. "I don't have the time this evening to listen to your sanctimonious prattle. I'm sure you believe what you tried to do is very heroic and 'for the good of humanity', but all you really succeeded in doing was wasting my time. So let's get this over with shall we?" He slowly places a hand inside his coat pocket, reaching for something. "Strip."

Suddenly Monica's bravado evaporated, more due to shock than anything. She was prepared to die for this, true, but she had not thought the CEO would be so nakedly depraved. She clutched the buttons on her blouse, as if holding them closed would keep the clothes on her body. "What?" Is all she's able to stammer in response.

The CEO merely glanced at one of the goons, who cocked his gun and aimed squarely at her head. "This evening ends with you either alive or dead, Miss James. It depends on your compliance. I'm not going to repeat myself." He sighed and rolled his eyes, as if realizing an annoying fact. "Rest assured there's nothing sexual in store, this will simply work best with you disrobed."

His assurances did nothing to dispel her fears. But knowing a gun was aimed at her head made the choice rather stark, no matter what happened right now she could find some way to expose the truth if she could just survive the night. Taking a deep breath she spun around, facing away from them, and removed her clothing as quickly as he shaking hands would allow. No sooner than she tossed away the last of her undergarments that she sensed the CEO right behind her. Before she could even react to that, though, she felt a sharp jab in her neck as he injected her with something. Startled, she spun around to face him, seemingly forgetting her modesty in the moment. "What did you... did you..." She started to say but suddenly found the entire world spinning. She immediately grew lightheaded and feared she was about to collapse. Wondering if that was some sort of sedative she tried to balance herself, but when she attempted to shift her feet to steady her footing she found that her feet couldn't move.

Balance suddenly felt like less of a concern as it almost seemed like her body was being supported by some unknown force. She even felt her legs and back straighten slightly, and suddenly she couldn't even bend her knees. Her muscles tensed all over and she strained to look down. Her vision was still blurry but it almost looked like the skin on her lower body was darker, and rougher. It was then she heard a faint cracking sound, like splintering wood, as she felt a creeping sensation crawling up her body. It was as if she was being squeezed slightly, like she was becoming encased in something. She tried to shake off the dizziness and squinted to finally make out what was happening. It was just in time to see tree bark quickly covering her chest.

"What?! What's happening to me?!" She panics, looking to the impassive faces of the goons, and the confident sneer of the CEO. The fight or flight sensation kicks in and she desperately tries to run, but her legs could only barely wiggle having been encased in rough plant matter, her feet now literally rooted to the ground. By this point the bark had reached her shoulders and she found her arms forcibly raised in the air. She tried to lower them but couldn't overpower the transformation. "What did you do?!" She looks at the CEO plaintively.

"Come now, Miss Jones, you're a smart girl. Think about it. We mastered the human genome, we specialize in nanotechnology, and after you tried to sabotage all our good work by selling us out to the authorities I had you brought to the middle of a forest and injected you with.....?" He trials off, leading her to finish his sentence.

Monica ignored the fact that he got her name wrong, it was just another layer of condescension. "Your... nanomachines? Like your other human experiments?" Confusion and fear gripped her, she wasn't aware their experiments had reached a point where the nanomachines acted THIS fast.

"Someone give the woman a prize." The CEO says, idly checking his phone for the time. "Now then, you have just a few more moments where you can still speak. Anything you need to say?"

Monica blinked in confusion, but then realized she had been feeling the bark quickly crawling up her neck. She could no longer turn her head and now it was working its way up her chin. "No wait, wait! You can't do this! This isn't right, it's not--- mmmmph!" She couldn't even finish her sentence before the creeping bark covered her lips, sealing her mouth shut. Monica desperately struggled, trying to shake her head and pull her mouth free but it was no use. The bark was seemingly fused with her skin and it was just continuing to crawl up her face. "Mmmm! Mmmmm!"

"Tediously sanctimonious to the end." He said, pocketing his phone again. Noticing the growing panic in her eyes as the bark nearly envelops her nose he smirks. "Oh don't worry about suffocating, by the way, your body will quickly adapt to its new physiology and you will no longer need to breathe air into your lungs. Though it might be unpleasant for a little while as your brain attempts to process all the new and alien signals it has to interpret. It took us many attempts to find a way to make the human body compatible with plantlife in this manner, but that's what tests are for. Those very tests you so objected to are ultimately what's keeping you alive and conscious now. Why our first attempted human plant hybrids ended rather messily, and gruesomely for the subjects I must admit."

Fear, anger, and rage possessed Monica all at once and she flailed and struggled with all her might against her ever more restrictive tree body. "Mmmmn mmmmph! Mmmm mmmmmm!" She grunted and moaned and tried desperately to break free, as if it were possible to break out of her tree bark shell, but all she succeeded in doing is slightly shaking what was left of her arms, the newly growing canopy rustling as if disturbed by a breeze.

"Now then, I think that will be all. I trust you'll make no more trouble for us. And don't worry about being found, this is private land owned by one of our shell companies." The CEO turned to walk away, further angering Monica who was nevertheless completely helpless to stop him.

"Mmmmph mmmm mmmnnn!" She tried to cry out, the bark of her body uselessly swaying around as what was left of her human muscles underneath tried desperately to move.

"Do call if you need anything my dear." The CEO says, motioning to the goons to collect her belongings and getting back into the vehicle. "Good evening!"

Trying one last time to will herself out of her predicament, as if she could just shed the exoskeletal-like bark as easily as she shed her clothes, Monica mustered all her strength to try and move even an inch, but to no avail. She was left there, literally rooted in place, her own body transformed into a sort of prison.