[Map Update – New Zone Discovered]
ROOTFIRE GROVE
Description: Spontaneous biome generated by repeated Deathless resurrection. Contains soul-thread flora.
Hazard Rating: High (Psychospiritual)
Effect: Draws in unstable players through subconscious memory loops.
The first time we saw the trees, they were weeping.
Not sap.
Soul light.
Silken threads of memory dripped from twisted bark, glowing faintly like fireflies made of pain. The forest didn't hum—it sighed, as if every root had died once and refused to be buried.
We didn't find it on the map.
It found us.
Trinity ran her fingers through the leaves of a low-hanging branch.
They didn't rustle.
They whispered.
A voice from somewhere long gone:
"Keon…"
Her fingers snapped back like she'd been burned.
"That was his voice."
I stared at the tree. My Mark pulsed, reacting.
"It's not just using memories," I said. "It's grown from them."
[Environmental Effect – Rootfire Aura Active]
All players exposed to personal grief echoes. Thread instability rises by 14% per hour.
Warning: Extended exposure may cause thread unraveling or grief paralysis.
Orion held up their bone ward. "This place is like a cemetery someone kept digging up—then built a temple on top of it."
Echo-13 appeared beside a pulsing root node.
"It's worse," she said. "The Rootfires aren't just emotional traps."
She pulled back the bark of a particularly large tree.
Inside, pressed against the core like a fetus in glass—
Was a Player.
Frozen in mid-scream.
Unmarked.
Unconscious.
Still alive.
[Subject: Player Unknown – Status: Deathless Rootbound]
Cause: Repeated incomplete resurrections.
Condition: Memory-petrified. Feeding the Rootfire.
Note: Extracting this player may destabilize the biome.
"It's cocooning them," I said, horror rising. "Turning their unresolved memories into fuel."
Echo nodded grimly.
"Every time someone's brought back without choosing it, the system doesn't delete the leftover pain. It just… plants it. These trees are the result."
A screech split the air.
Something moved in the canopy.
A Deathless Variant—not whole, not corrupted… just lost—stumbled out of the mist and dropped to its knees before the tree.
"I remember her now," he whispered. "I remember what I did…"
The bark opened like a blooming flower.
He stepped in.
Before we could stop him.
Gone.
[Rootfire Absorption Complete]
Memory Sync: Achieved.
Tree Level Increased.
"We have to stop this," Trinity snapped.
"No," Echo said sharply. "We have to use it."
She knelt, code-arm glowing, tapping into the ground's memory network.
"These Rootfires are pain, yes—but pain is still data. And if I can tune it, I might be able to override the Death Engine's identity filter. Trick it into seeing the Deathless as essential code—not bugs."
I looked at her.
"You can rewrite that from here?"
She hesitated.
"I can try. But if I fail, the entire forest will loop—and every soul caught in it will burn."
Trinity met my eyes.
"Trey. What's the move?"
[DECISION: Enable Echo's Rootfire Override Attempt?]
Yes: Attempt to convert the Rootfire network into a memory stabilizer and Deathless shield.
No: Burn the Grove now to prevent further soul absorption.
The trees whispered again.
This time, my voice.
"It was never supposed to be me."
I clenched my fists.
And gave the order.
"Do it."