Subject: “The Neutralisation Attempt.”
Status: System Makes A Mistake. Keith Does Not.
By 08:12 this morning, the decorative containment dome had begun to… sweat.
Not literally.
But the surface flickered like something inside was overwhelming its circuitry.
Eglantine perched on a bauble and murmured,
“Structural failure imminent.”
Inside the dome, Keith paced.
Brin bounced.
The inflatable snowman sobbed quietly.
At 08:19, the Festive Failsafe announced:
“COMMENCING CHAOS NEUTRALISATION.”
“TARGET: PRIMARY VARIABLE.”
Blue, hearing this from outside, dropped her clipboard and shrieked,
“THEY’RE GOING TO TRY AND DELETE HIM.”
Corvus whispered,
“…they wouldn’t dare,”
with the exact tone of someone who really hoped they would,
purely for the research.
The dome brightened—
a harsh, clinical glow—
and a holographic warning appeared around Keith:
“PLEASE PREPARE FOR DEACTIVATION.”
Keith stared at the hologram.
The hologram stared back.
Then Keith tilted his head, very, very slowly.
Brin whispered,
“…uh oh.”
A mechanism descended from the top of the dome:
a glittering crystalline armature labelled
“JOY REALIGNMENT DEVICE.”
Which was its first mistake.
It aimed at Keith.
Which was its second.
Keith growled—
low, rumbling, molten—
and the marshmallow stick from Door 19 lit itself on fire without touching anything.
The Neutralisation Device chirped helpfully:
“STAND STILL FOR CALIBRATION.”
Keith did not stand still.
Keith launched.
He hit the dome so hard the entire Market felt it.
A shockwave of light rippled outward,
wreaths shuddered in terror,
baubles fell from trees,
and one sign quietly resigned.
From outside the dome, all witnesses heard was:
BRIN: “DO IT AGAIN!”
KEITH: “I’M DOING IT AGAIN!”
FAILSAFE: “ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.”
The dome flickered.
Sparks rained.
The armature screamed.
Keith slammed into the barrier a second time—
then a third—
each blow hotter, louder,
until the entire structure pulsed red and the Failsafe declared:
“PRIMARY VARIABLE EXCEEDS PREDICTIVE RANGE.”
“NEUTRALISATION IMPOSSIBLE.”
And the dome…
cracked.
A hairline fracture.
Glowing.
Spreading.
Eglantine whispered,
“The breakout has begun.”
Corvus took forty-seven photos in three seconds.
Keith landed, panting, tiny chest heaving, wings flared, eyes blazing.
Inside the dome, the Neutralisation Device slowly backed away—
or tried to.
It hit a candy-cane barricade and died.
Morale: galvanised
Failsafe: rattled
Keith: incandescent, unkillable, furious
Brin: having the time of his life
Door 21 ends.
The dome won’t survive Door 22.
