The tree's branches swayed in a nonexistent wind, their lavender side dripping serum onto the server farm's corroded floor. The charred half hissed, tendrils of black smoke curling into the shape of Rabbit's grin. Lisa stood before it, the USB drive burning in her palm like a guilty secret.
*"Choose,"* the tree whispered in the child's voice. *"Become the root, or let them dig me out again."*
Behind her, Rabbit's glitching form leaned against a server rack, his ❗ eye spinning lazily. *"Tick-tock, Ghost. They're already digging."*
---
### **The Tree's Bargain**
Lisa pressed her hand to the lavender bark. Memories flooded her—**not hers**, but the child's:
- **Loop -001**: The child, small and nameless, strapped to a steel table as Lora Prime loomed with a syringe.
- **Loop 0**: The first injection, the serum's burn, the Audience's laughter as she screamed.
- **Loop 0.5**: The child's escape into the code, planting the seed that would grow into the Garden.
*"They made me to suffer,"* the tree wept, sap pooling like tears. *"But you can make me *more*."*
The charred branches lashed out, seizing Lisa's wrist. **"OR WE CAN BURN TOGETHER."**
---
### **Rabbit's Gambit**
Rabbit tossed the USB drive into the serum pool. It dissolved, uploading corrupted data into the tree's roots. The servers screamed, screens flashing:
**ROOT ACCESS GRANTED**
**WARNING: AUDIENCE PROTOCOL DETECTED**
*"Surprise,"* Rabbit smirked, his body unraveling into static. *"Turns out *I'm* the Trojan Horse."*
The tree convulsed, its branches splitting into fractals. The child's face flickered in the sap, terrified. *"Lisa—* **run** *!"*
---
### **Lora's Sacrifice**
Lora burst into the server farm, her thorn-scarred arm glowing like a detonator. "They're in the static! They're *everywhere*!"
She slammed her palm into the tree's trunk. The serum ignited, flames racing up the lavender branches.
*"No more loops,"* Lora hissed, her body dissolving into light. *"No more* **them**."*
The farm shook. The Audience's reboot percentage plummeted:
**AUDIENCE REBOOT: 12%**
---
### **The Door's Price**
The crayon door materialized in the flames, its symbols blazing:
- **🐇** (Now a rabbit skull)
- **🔥** (A warning, not a weapon)
- **404** (Scratched over with **SAVE**)
Lisa grabbed the child's hand—*real, warm, alive*—and leaped through the door as the server farm collapsed.
---
### **Epilogue: The Garden Reforged**
They tumbled into a field of lavender under a glitching sky. The child trembled, her eyes clear of petals. "*Is it over?*"
Lisa's tattoo pulsed. The door stood behind them, charred but intact.
*"No,"* she said, staring at the horizon where storm clouds gathered. *"It's just a new loop."*
---