Chapter 116 – "Day One: The Choice Beneath"
> "Some flowers open only once—right before they die."
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Scene 1 – "The Countdown Begins"
A broken sun rises through the dome. Levi stares at the sky that isn't sky.
> Narrator: "Three days. That's all he has. Not to save the world. Just her."
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Scene 2 – "143 Names"
Jakku reads the death count aloud. One hundred forty-three Rootlings in twenty-four hours.
Reen crosses out their names in her log. She doesn't speak. Neither does anyone else.
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Scene 3 – "Peace is Heavy"
In her dream, Seed lies in a bed of velvet leaves. Warm air. Gentle music.
She whispers:
Seed: "I don't want this."
The Root Body replies:
Root Body (soft): "Then don't want. Just be."
She closes her eyes. Not to sleep—but to stop feeling.
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Scene 4 – "The Empty Garden"
Levi walks among the Rootlings' graves.
He sees their soft faces, buried beneath flowers.
No pain. Just silence. Too much of it.
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Scene 5 – "Azula's Memory"
Reen replays Azula's words through an old data sphere:
Reen: "It used to be two. Now, it seems to be three. Three souls. One shell. One end."
They realize—this is no longer Levi becoming the Root.
This is Levi, Seed, and the Root Body… becoming one.
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Scene 6 – "The Dream Deepens"
Seed sits beneath a glowing tree. Her eyes are glassy.
A child version of herself hugs her in the dream.
Seed (soft): "I know you're not real."
The Root Body answers through the child:
Root Body: "But the comfort is. Isn't that enough?"
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Scene 7 – "Preparation Room"
The crew gathers in the war chamber.
Maps. Mind-scripts. Glyph fragments. Azula's sketches. Ether blades.
Matthew: "If they merge, the world resets."
Reen: "No. It becomes something else. A god who doesn't need permission."
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Scene 8 – "Levi and the River"
Levi stands beside a synthetic stream.
He cups water in his hands, unsure if it's real.
> Narrator: "He could dive in and forget. Or step back and remember. Both would drown him."
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Scene 9 – "Seed's Choice Blurs"
Seed now hums the lullaby of the Root Body. She doesn't realize it.
The dream pulls her deeper.
A garden grows from her feet.
She doesn't want to stay.
But she no longer knows how to leave.
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Scene 10 – "A Name Fades"
Gift finds a Rootling who no longer remembers their name.
Gift (gently): "You're still someone."
Rootling (smiling): "No. I'm peace no–."
He dies before he finishes the sentence.
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Scene 11 – "Theory of the Merge"
Reen writes furiously in her journal:
The Voice: Levi
The Soul: Seed
The Body: The Root
Reen (thinking): "If we can break one, we stop it. But which one wants to be broken?"
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Scene 12 – "The Dream Glows"
Seed is crowned in the dream.
The Root Body whispers:
Root Body: "You were always the heart. Now become the pulse."
Seed's breath slows. She almost accepts.
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Scene 13 – "Maiku's Hypothesis"
Maiku presents a wild idea:
Maiku: "If Levi speaks to her from inside… if he merges just enough… maybe he can pull her back."
But Levi knows what that means: He may not come back himself.
Matthew: "It's too dangerous. I don't think we should take that route."
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Scene 14 – "A Letter Never Sent"
Levi opens an old message he wrote for the Seed.
It reads :
> "If we lose each other, find yourself. That's how I'll find you again."
He almost burns it. But doesn't.
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Scene 15 – "Echoes in the Den"
The Root Body speaks through every speaker in the city.
Root Body: "Do not fear the Merge. It will not end you. It will finish you."
No one resists.
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Scene 16 – "Levi's Dilemma"
Reen: "We can save you. Or her. But not both."
Levi: "What if she doesn't want to be saved?"
Jakku: "Then at least let her say that herself."
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Scene 17 – "Seed's Final Smile"
In the dream, Seed laughs gently.
The trees laugh with her.
But a tear rolls down her cheek.
And another.
And another.
Seed (whispers): "Why am I crying if I'm happy?"
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Scene 18 – "The Choice Begins"
Levi closes his eyes.
He's made the choice.
He walks away and says nothing. He moves to the Root Body's location.
Reen : "Where are you going !?"
Jakku: "Stop! Come on we need you."
Gift(to Jakku and Reen): "Stop there's no use. He's been through a lot. Let's let him be."
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Scene 19 – "The Root Body's Reflection"
He watches both Seed and Levi on twin dream panels.
Root Body (smiling): "Voice, Soul, Body.
Soon, peace will have a face."
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Scene 20 – "Closing Image"
A clock made of petals ticks down in the dream.
Three days.
Two left now.
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To Be Continued...
Narrator (Closing Monologue) :
> "The first day does not shout.
It tiptoes in, gently, like dusk pretending it's still day.
But this is how it always starts — not with the collapse,
but with a choice no one sees being made."
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"He stares at a sun made of lies.
Three days left.
Not to save a world. Just a girl.
But is she still just that?"
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"Every name is a gravestone now.
Silence isn't peace — it's grief without a mouth."
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"Seed is drowning in velvet.
She says she doesn't want it.
But the Root Body doesn't need her to want — only to stop resisting."
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"Graves with flowers are still graves.
Levi walks among them,
quietly learning that beauty can still suffocate."
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"Three souls.
One shell.
One end.
Not a prophecy—
a formula."
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"The lie loves her like a mother.
And that's what makes it work."
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"Plans are drawn, blades are counted—
but none of it matters if the soul is already kneeling."
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"He's always standing between forgetting and remembering.
Both hurt. Both flood.
There is no dry ground left."
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"She hums the song of her captor.
Not knowing she's doing it.
That's when it's almost too late."
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"He dies mid-sentence.
Still smiling.
Even language gives up here."
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"Reen writes it down: Voice. Soul. Body.
If one breaks, the shape collapses.
But which one is most willing to die?"
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"Crowned in stillness.
Seed becomes the pulse.
Not through force. Through affection."
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"Pull her back… by becoming part of the monster?
Levi may be the cure.
But poison kills cures too."
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"He once wrote her a map.
But now he fears even she is lost inside herself.
Still, he keeps the letter. That means something."
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"The Root Body calls it 'finishing.'
Not ending. Not killing.
Just… completing.
Words can be so cruel in their softness."
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"They say he must choose.
He's already chosen.
That's why it hurts."
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"Laughter with tears.
The body knows what the dream hides.
The truth leaks from her anyway."
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"He walks toward the Root Body's heart.
Not as a savior.
Just as someone who's too tired to do anything else."
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"He watches them like children.
He calls it peace.
But what he builds is a god who does not ask."
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"One petal drops.
Then another.
Time moves like sorrow here — beautiful and unforgiving."
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Narrator – Final Whisper:
> "Day One is done.
The poison does not spread with violence.
It grows like a garden.
And every flower is a lie."