The Arctic wind screamed through the facility's skeletal remains, its jagged metal ribs groaning under the weight of ice and time. Lisa's breath crystallized in the air, each exhale a fleeting ghost. Beside her, Rabbit fiddled with a stolen thermal scanner, its screen glitching under the Garden's influence.
"Signal's coming from Sublevel 5," he said, teeth chattering. "Either the kid's down there, or this place is serving up one *hell* of a decoy."
Lora kicked open a rusted door, her breath steady despite the cold. "Decoy or not, we're out of time. The Garden's roots are breaching the perimeter."
Below them, the facility hummed—not the sterile whir of machinery, but the low, predatory growl of something alive.
---
### **The Descent**
Sublevel 5 was a tomb of frozen screens and shattered glass. The air reeked of burnt wiring and something sweetly organic—lavender, thick and cloying. Lisa's tattoo pulsed in sync with the flickering emergency lights.
"Stay sharp," she muttered, stepping over a vine coiled like a sleeping serpent. "It knows we're here."
Rabbit snorted. "Oh, it *definitely* knows. Check this out." He tapped his scanner. A holographic map erupted, showing the facility's layout—and the Garden's roots, glowing violet as they pulsed toward their location. "We've got ten minutes before this place becomes a floral smoothie."
---
### **The Child's Whisper**
They found her in a chamber lined with dead monitors, her small frame encased in a cocoon of bioluminescent vines. The child's eyes snapped open—one blue, one blooming with lavender petals.
"Lisa…" Her voice fractured, human and static warring for control. "*Don't let it…* **consume**."
The walls shuddered. Roots erupted, snaking toward them with vicious intent.
---
### **Rabbit's Gambit**
"Plan B!" Rabbit lobbed a makeshift EMP grenade—a jury-rigged slushie machine battery—into the fray. Sparks erupted, freezing the vines mid-lunge. "Go! I'll hold 'em off!"
Lora grabbed Lisa's arm. "We need to extract the core. Now."
But Lisa hesitated, staring at the child. *Loop 248 flashed—a different girl, same plea. Same failure.*
---
### **Lora's Secret**
"You knew," Lisa hissed, rounding on Lora. "You knew the serum bonded us to the Garden. That's why you're immune."
Lora's gaze hardened. "I knew survival required sacrifice. You want the truth? *You're* the prototype. The rest of us? Expendable drafts."
A root speared Lora's shoulder. She didn't scream—just yanked it out, black sap spraying. "Choose, Ghost. Her or *us*."
---
### **The Core**
The child's cocoon split, revealing the Garden's core: a pulsating orb of light and teeth, its surface reflecting every loop Lisa had lived—and every death she'd caused.
**"ERASE US,"** the child begged, human voice fading. **"BECOME US,"** the Garden demanded.
Lisa's tattoo burned. The facility groaned. Rabbit's EMP sputtered.
---
### **The Choice**
1. **Destroy the core** (kill the child, end the Garden).
2. **Merge with it** (control the narrative, save the girl).
3. **Let Rabbit decide** (wildcard ending).
---