📖 Level Up, Lila!
Chapter 12: Welcome to the Glitch Show
Word Count: ~5200
Tone: Upbeat, chaotic, heartfelt, suspicious, team-focused, public vs private tension
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🎉 Scene 1: The Announcement
"Muffin, read it again," Lila begged, bouncing on her heels.
> 📢 "The Glitch Club's First Official Workshop Proposal Has Been Approved."
Location: Grand Atrium – Level 3
Time: Saturday 2PM
Theme: 'Patch It Forward – Learning Through Helping'
Eli squinted. "This is either the start of our rise… or a deeply public failure."
Rin threw confetti.
Junie, ever the realist, pulled up the system risks:
> Potential sabotage: 64%
Attendance fluctuation: High
Council eyes on event: Confirmed
Nilo muttered, "Guess I'll wear pants."
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🔧 Scene 2: Prep Time
They transformed the atrium overnight:
Learning Booths: With holographic Tree projections, patch mini-games, and weirdly edible glitchberries.
Demo Stage: Where Mara and Vess would show live patching in front of a crowd.
Frog Café (Unofficial): Rin's corner with tea, glitch-themed desserts, and educational frogs.
Lila's desk featured a hand-written sign:
> 🪴 "Come Broken. Leave Glitched Better." – Lila 🌱
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👥 Scene 3: The Crowd Gathers
Saturday. 2 PM.
They expected 10 people. Maybe 20.
They got over 300.
Students from every department. Professors watching from upper balconies.
Even a few Treeless kids—students whose Systems had rejected them.
Lila's heart pounded.
Junie whispered, "It's time. You're not the broken prototype. You're the patch that works."
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💫 Scene 4: The Opening Speech
Lila stepped up, breath shaking, and tapped the mic.
"Hey. I'm Lila Everen. And I used to think I was just a bug. Something that needed fixing."
She looked out at the crowd, locking eyes with a girl clenching her Tree like it might vanish.
"But someone told me bugs don't break the system—they show us where to rebuild. So that's what this is. Let's glitch better. Together."
The room burst into applause.
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🛠 Scene 5: Patch Demos Begin
They split into stations:
Junie's Booth: "Dream Dive Debugs" – she helped students map unstable dream-loops.
Eli & Nilo: "SkillTree Strength Sync" – a strength test where you gain buffs by helping a stranger win.
Vess's Stage: MirrorSync – she helped a student confront and edit their reflection Tree.
Mara & Nyx: A surprise "Fear Patch" station where confronting a fear gave you a temporary EXP bonus.
Lila floated from station to station, syncing her HeartTree to boost learning rates.
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😨 Scene 6: Something Goes Wrong
The first hint was subtle.
A student at the mirror station started sobbing—not cathartic sobs, but panicked, overwhelmed fear.
Then another Tree glitched—not in the colorful glitch-fun way, but in a corrupted error-shriek that made several students faint.
Junie frowned. "That's not emotional overload. Someone's injecting unstable code."
Eli's hands shook. "We're being sabotaged. In real-time."
Rin pointed to the terminal booth. "Someone uploaded a virus through the demo gate!"
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🚨 Scene 7: The Glitch Bomb
Suddenly, the projector Tree behind Lila shattered—code bleeding like petals onto the floor.
Everyone gasped.
> 📉 SYSTEM ERROR: Memory Loop Triggered
🧠 Affected: 48 Students
🔒 Safety Lock: Offline
The atrium lights dimmed.
The crowd panicked.
Lila closed her eyes.
> "Glitch bomb planted in the learning net," Nyx whispered. "It's trying to undo what you taught."
Lila stepped into the middle of the mess. Her voice rang out:
"EVERYONE! Link hands. We're doing a group patch. NOW!"
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🌐 Scene 8: The Learning Loop Link
She activated her HeartTree's new skill—Empathy Chain.
It allowed her to sync with every single Tree in the room. For a moment, she felt everything:
The girl with the stuttered memory script.
The boy who never spoke because his Tree punished mispronunciations.
The twin sisters whose Trees were merged after an accident.
She didn't fix them. She amplified their attempts to fix each other.
The atrium glowed in spirals of green and silver.
The system bomb fizzled.
The loop cracked.
And laughter spread like wildfire.
> "We helped each other. That's how we win."
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🎉 Scene 9: Aftermath
The workshop didn't just survive.
It thrived.
Professors applauded. A Tree Council Observer requested a meeting. Even rival clubs were talking about "going glitch."
Muffin printed a final system message:
> 🎊 RECORD: Most Learning-Based Trees Activated in a Single Event
Glitch Club Trust Score: +50
Hidden Network Node: Unlocked
Junie turned to Lila.
"You turned a glitch show into a healing wave."
Lila smiled, exhausted, glowing.
"We're not the patch after the damage. We're the bridge to the next version."
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🌳 End of Chapter 12 – Growth Summary
> 🌳 HeartTree of the Rewrite – Level 13
XP: 630 / 600
🌟 Skill Gained: Empathy Chain (Link multiple Trees for group patching sessions)
🌟 Glitch Club Popularity: 🧠📈📈📈
🌟 Network Node Unlocked: ??
🎁 Bonus Patch: "Echo Feedback – The more you help, the deeper you connect"
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