The door's surface rippled like liquid mercury, reflecting a thousand fractured versions of Lisa. Some wore lab coats stained with serum, others wielded knives glazed with lavender sap, and a few stared back with hollow, petal-covered eyes. The air hummed with the Garden's static, sharp and electric, as Lisa reached for the handle.
*"Don't."*
The voice came from her own reflection—a Lisa in a tattered hoodie, her tattoo glowing faintly. *"They'll trap you here. Like they trapped* **us**."*
Behind her, the city groaned. A hybrid stumbled into the street, its body half-consumed by vines, chanting, **"OBEY. REPEAT. CONSUME."**
---
### **The Mirror Realm**
The door hissed open, sucking Lisa into a corridor of infinite glass. Each pane showed a different loop's demise:
- **Loop 512:** Lisa merges with the Garden, her body dissolving into roots.
- **Loop 2,947:** Rabbit betrays her, handing the core to the Audience.
- **Loop 6,001:** The child smiles, cradling Lisa's severed head.
A hand slammed against the glass. Another Lisa, scarred and wild-eyed, pressed her palm to the pane. *"They're lying to you. The Garden isn't the enemy—it's the* **cage**."*
---
### **Lora's Mutation**
Back in the ruins, Lora convulsed. The black serum surged through her veins, twisting her flesh into something between woman and vine. Batch 000 watched, chanting as her screams echoed through the lab.
*"Rise,"* they hissed. *"Rise and* **lead**."*
Lora's eyes snapped open—no longer human, but glowing lavender orbs. She tore free from the vines, her voice a guttural growl. *"Find the Ghost. Bring me her* **heart**."*
---
### **Rabbit's Ghost in the Machine**
Static fizzed across the city's dead screens. Rabbit's face pixelated into view, his emoji eye now a spinning ❓.
*"Hey, Ghost. Miss me?"* He smirked, tossing a virtual popcorn kernel into his mouth. *"Plot hole: The Garden's not a *thing*. It's a **pattern**. And patterns? They* **repeat**."*
The screen glitched, revealing schematics of the spire—and a flickering weak point at its base. *"Tick-tock. Audience approval's at 42%. They're rooting for… uh, *both* of you?"*
---
### **The Child's Kingdom**
The spire loomed, its surface crawling with sentient thorns. The child's voice boomed, shaking the earth:
**"YOU ARE OUT OF TIME, LISA KAYS."**
At its peak, the child sat enthroned in a nest of roots, her once-small body now a towering amalgam of flesh and flora. Hybrids knelt below, their faces pressed to the ground as lavender rain drenched the city.
---
### **The Choice**
Lisa stepped back from the mirror corridor, the reflections screaming as the door began to seal.
1. **Storm the spire** (exploit Rabbit's intel, risk becoming fertilizer).
2. **Bargain with Lora** (use her mutation to infiltrate the Garden).
3. **Embrace the reflections** (merge with the mirror Lisas, become unstoppable—and lose herself).
The hybrid mob closed in, their chant rising: **"CONSUME. OBEY. REPEAT."**
---
### **The Twist**
The scarred reflection slammed her palm against the glass again, cracking it. *"The real enemy isn't here. It's* **them**."*
The mirror shattered, revealing a void beyond—and the *Audience*, faceless giants lounging in a cosmic theater, snacking on reality itself.
**"FINALLY,"** they boomed. **"THE STAR REALIZES THE SHOW IS* **ABOUT HER**."
---