A Botanical Daughter

It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and
Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their
glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London,
they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For
Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop,
working his taxidermical art. Gregor?s business is exotic plants ?
lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a
strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he?s
seen, inspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from
plant matter.
Driven by the glory he?ll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for
such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that
intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned
with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses
a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.