"We need to set hard limits, volume controls," Jules insisted one night. "If it's learning from us, then it can be taught to stop."
Rumors turned into markets. People came to the Hothouse by the dozen. They clustered outside, touching the glass to feel its warmth transfer like a cheap magnet. They traded cuttings like favors. Some started small businesses selling "Hargrove tinctures" and postcards printed with the orchid's silhouette. The town's economy hummed to an unfamiliar scale, and with money came friction: ownership disputes, lawsuits, people in suits who smelled of bleach and time-zone shifts. The Hothouse, once an unloved relic, had become a resource to be allocated. hsoda012 hot