System: Sins of the Dead

The Gardener moved like wind trapped in a robe.

No sound.

No breath.

Just a creeping presence, like vines twisting beneath your skin.

Behind it, the garden pulsed—blooms opening and closing in time with my heartbeat.

Every flower a forgotten guilt.

Every vine a memory I wanted to kill.

> [FINAL TRIAL: THE GARDENER OF GUILT]

Status: Phase One Engaged

Objective: Sever the roots. Reclaim memory. Reject erasure.

---

"Spread out!" Harper yelled.

Adrian moved left, ducking under a vine that shot from the ground like a whip. It lashed the air, tearing bark from a memory-tree. The tree bled ink, not sap.

> "These aren't just roots," Harper said. "They're scripts. Your past rewritten by the System."

I looked around.

Every tree, every flower, every thorn—it was written.

Words in my own voice.

> "She was safer without me."

"He never needed my help."

"It wasn't my fault."

Lies.

---

Then the Gardener raised its arm.

The vines surged—not at me, but at Harper.

They wrapped around her ankle and yanked.

I dove, slashing through with my shard-blade, but more kept coming—dozens, maybe hundreds, sprouting faster than I could track.

Adrian tried to cut through them but was tossed aside.

"YOU WON'T PROTECT THEM," the Gardener hissed.

"YOU COULDN'T EVEN PROTECT HER."

---

> "Emily," I whispered.

The Gardener stepped forward.

And its face—its faceless form—warped.

A new mask grew across its head.

A girl's face.

Familiar.

Young.

Scarred.

Emily.

But wrong.

Eyes hollow.

Mouth split ear to ear.

Voice sharp as a blade.

> "You watched me scream. You walked away.

What makes them any different?"

---

> [WARNING: GUILT CORRUPTION RISING]

Emotional Overload: 81%

System Voice Suppressed

Path Stability: COLLAPSING

---

Adrian was pinned to the ground by thorned vines.

Harper was choking, blood at her lips.

The Gardener's limbs split into dozens of flowered tendrils—each carrying a voice I'd buried.

> "You lied to survive."

"You let the fire start."

"You made the System need you."

Wait.

That last one—

> "You made the System…"

I froze.

What did that mean?

---

I staggered back.

The System buzzed.

Static. Words scrambled.

But one line came through:

> [SEED MATCH DETECTED]

System-Origin Thread: User Kai Turner

Error: User contains Seed Code

Warning: Contact with Root Entity may trigger Reconnection Event

---

> "I'm part of this," I breathed.

"The System… was grown from me."

The Gardener stopped.

Its mask split open—showing hundreds of eyes inside.

> "You're not just a sinner," it said.

"You're a root. One of the first. And the System still feeds on you."

---

I activated Mirror Break.

And this time, the mirror didn't reflect me.

It showed a hospital lab.

A basement room.

A child in a tube.

Dozens of wires feeding into a machine labeled:

> EMOTION-BASED PUNISHMENT SYSTEM: PROTOTYPE 4.

And inside the tank—

Me.

Young. Hooked. Screaming in silence.

---

> [REVELATION UNLOCKED: SEED CODE CONFIRMED]

You are one of the first System Hosts

The guilt you carry powers others' trials

Your survival threatens the System's control

---

Rage filled my chest.

Not fear.

Not guilt.

Defiance.

> "Then let's burn the whole garden."

I called every memory back.

Every sin.

Every scream.

Every moment I buried to keep walking.

They answered.

The trees shook.

The vines screamed.

The flowers bloomed in fire.

I screamed my sister's name.

> "EMILY!"

And brought the blade down on the Gardener's core root.

---

It erupted.

Not in blood.

In light.

---

The garden caught fire.

The path cracked.

The System shrieked in my skull.

And for a moment—just one—

I saw a map behind the world.

Nodes.

Layers.

Lines of red and silver.

And in the center—

My name.

---

> [TRIAL COMPLETE – THE GARDENER OF GUILT DEFEATED]

[Layer 4 – Cleansed]

Sin Level: 0.5 → 0.4

Trait Gained: "Seed of Rebellion – Path Split Access Unlocked"

Kai's System Status: Unstable (Root Access Fragment Detected)

Special Condition Triggered: System Override Potential – 1%

---

Adrian and Harper stood beside me.

Bloody.

Shaken.

But alive.

"You good?" Adrian asked.

"No," I said. "But I'm awake now."

Harper touched the edge of a scorched petal.

"Then we better keep moving before it realizes what you just did."

---

We turned toward the next gate.

Above it, scrawled in burnt vine:

> Layer 5 – The Hall of Bargains

And beneath it—

> "Every sin has a price. Time to pay yours."