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After the seed-vault door seals itself with three slow knocks, Fern opens the unnumbered envelope she found and reads a note in her grandmother Judyth's hand: the first bed of the garden never had a number, and it lies buried under the poured floor of Main Aisle 40. With Wren she breaks through to a dry cellar - the buried Mother Bed - guarded by the warm ghost of the founding keeper, Mabel Heron, who did not die with an unfinished promise but sealed herself in to keep the founding seed safe for an honest steward. Fern reads the founder's letter, plants the pale founding seed with the trowel and watering can, and a night-bloom rises. Mabel, satisfied, hands Fern the master key before fading. Cliffhanger: a rank of hundreds of numbered doors now stands slightly ajar along the Spine Corridor's far wall, and the blank brass tag in Fern's hand slowly impresses the numeral 05 under her thumb.
Page 1
The buried seed vault, night. The amber door eases shut by itself and Fern turns sharply, the unnumbered envelope in her hand. Two panels. Caption: The door just shut itself. Fern: Someone's still in here with me. Close on her hands opening the envelope; a blank brass tag slides out. Fern: No number on it. A blank tag. Caption: Knock. Knock. Knock.
Page 2
The seed vault. Fern holds her breath, palm flat to the wall where the knocking comes from. Two panels. Fern: Three knocks. Steady as counting. Close on the note in her grandmother's hand. Caption: Not every bed has a number. Caption: The first one never did. Caption: Dig where the wall meets the main aisle, and count again from zero.
Page 3
The seed vault, night. Three panels. Fern lifts the note, soft and startled. Fern: That's Granny's hand. Flashback in warm light: a young girl counts numbered garden beds with her grandmother Judyth. Caption: She was the last one who could see them. Fern: She never told me about a zero bed. Wren appears at the doorway with his lantern. Wren: You'll catch your death again, Fern. Fern: There's a room under the main aisle. I think it's the very first bed.