Naomi sat in the corner of the recovery room, facing the wall.
She hadn't spoken since being freed.
She hadn't eaten. Hadn't blinked much.
Just rocked—slightly, rhythmically—with her knees to her chest.
Liam entered alone.
The others had wanted to be there—Maya, Artemis, even Lila.
But he knew this wasn't a group conversation.
This was personal.
Because Naomi wasn't just any prisoner.
She had markings on her arms.
Carved symbols.
Rot-etched script in a spiral around her wrists and down her spine.
He recognized one of them instantly.
It was the same chained figure from his visions.
She didn't move as he approached.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Liam said.
"I know," she said softly.
He blinked.
"You spoke."
Naomi slowly turned her head.
Her eyes were two-tone—one gray, one almost violet. Cloudy, as if something spiritual had scorched her retina.
"You're one of the struggling ones," she said, smiling faintly. "Fighting your design."
He sat beside her, close but not touching.
"I'm not a monster."
"No," she whispered. "But your system is."
[System Ping – Naomi Detected: Former Bloomed Cultist]
> Status: High-Risk Bondable
Trauma Level: Severe
Trait Potential: Ritual Empath / Infection Nullifier
Bond Type: Suffering-Driven / Obsession Link
Warning: Progression into Naomi's psyche may expose you to dream contamination
Liam took a breath. Then asked the question.
"What are The Bloomed?"
She smiled again, bitter.
"They're gardeners," she whispered.
"Of what?"
"Of suffering. Of the rot. Of the Red Moon."
She turned toward him fully.
"They believe the apocalypse isn't a curse. It's a harvest. And the infection… is the seed."
Liam felt cold.
"They infect themselves willingly," he said. "I saw it in a vision."
"Yes," Naomi said, voice glass-fragile. "They believe the more you suffer—the more love you feel in pain—the closer you are to transcending flesh. To becoming bloom."
Liam wanted to vomit.
"They call the chained man the First Root," she continued. "He was the first to feel everything. Hunger. Lust. Loss. Rot. They believe when ten hosts bond deeply enough, and spill blood under the Red Moon… the First Root awakens."
[System Notice – Prophetic Chain Updated: 31%]
> Cult Ritual: Ten Deep Bonds. Ten Shared Pains. One Bloom.
Liam's Current Bond Count: 4 (Maya, Artemis, Lila, Sienna)
Status: 40% Compatibility Match with Ritual Conditions
Warning: The deeper Liam bonds, the closer the First Root stirs.
Naomi shivered.
"I heard your system when I was caged," she said. "I felt it buzzing in your blood. Like mine used to."
"You had a system?" Liam asked.
"I still do," she whispered. "It's dormant. But not dead."
She looked at him now, gaze clear and direct.
"You don't have to fight it alone."
Liam's voice caught.
"You want to help me?"
She nodded.
"I want to see if pain can free someone… instead of feeding the Root."
[Bond Opportunity – Naomi]
> Unlock Path: Emotional Link via Vulnerability Exposure
Trigger: First Trust Scene – Skin Memory Ritual
Outcome: Initiates Rank 1 Bond
Passive Unlocked: Rotward Pulse – Slight area-wide infection suppression
Side Effect: Exposure to Cult Memory Fragments in dreams
> Proceed? [Yes] | [No]
Liam selected Yes.
She stood and took his hand—cold fingers wrapped in bandaged wrists.
"Do you want to see who I was?" she asked.
"I do."
She guided his hand to her shoulder and lifted the edge of her shirt.
Carved into her skin were dozens of tiny notches, barely healed.
"Each one is a memory," she said. "When I let someone trace them… they feel what I felt."
He hesitated.
Then slowly, reverently, moved his fingers along the scars.
The room disappeared.
He was in her mind.
Flashes of cultists dancing in blood. A young girl—Naomi—laughing with her sister. Her sister turning. Naomi holding a knife, weeping, forced to end it or become it.
A man's voice whispering, "You are the vessel, Naomi. Let the First Root drink."
Then darkness.
And burning.
She screamed.
And Liam screamed with her.
He opened his eyes to find her crying.
So was he.
"I don't want to be broken anymore," she whispered.
"You're not."
He wiped her tears.
"You're bloody. But not broken."
She kissed him. Soft. Hesitant.
And Liam let her.
Not out of system compulsion.
Out of compassion.
Out of something real.
[Bond Level Initiated – Naomi: Rank 1]
> Trait Unlocked: Rotward Pulse (Passive – -10% infection speed in 10m radius)
Mental Link Fragment Added: "Cult Echo #1 – The Sister's Knife"
Harem Rite Progress: 2/10
Lust Control: 36%
Later, Liam returned to his room.
He collapsed into bed, emotionally raw.
But the system wasn't done.
It pulsed again, cold and hungry.
[System Directive Reminder – 2/10 Females Engaged]
> "Union of Ten" Quest Progress: 20%
Bond Count: 5 Active
Projected Emotional Degradation if failure occurs: Severe
Time Left: 18 Days
He rolled over.
He had saved Naomi.
He had learned something real.
But the clock was still ticking.
And the First Root was waking.