She had never seen a real flower before. Only in the old books and videos that her grandfather kept in his dusty library. He told her stories of how the world used to be, full of life and color and beauty. How people used to grow their own food from the soil, and how animals used to roam the land and the sky and the sea. He said it was a paradise, until the wars and the plagues and the climate change wiped out everything.

Now, the only living things left were humans, and they survived on artificial food produced by machines. Everything else was dead or synthetic. The air was polluted, the water was toxic, and the land was barren. There was no hope, no joy, no meaning.

But she had a secret. She had found a seed, a tiny speck of life, hidden in one of the books. She didn't know what kind of plant it was, but she knew it was precious. She had planted it in a small pot, and watered it with her tears. She had hidden it in her room, away from the prying eyes of the authorities, who would destroy it if they found out.

She watched it grow, day by day, with wonder and awe. It sprouted a stem, then leaves, then buds. She waited patiently for the buds to open, to reveal the miracle of nature. She dreamed of the colors and the shapes and the scents that would fill her senses.

One day, it happened. The buds burst open, and she saw them. Flowers. Real flowers. They were small and delicate, with five petals each. They were white, with a hint of pink. They smelled sweet and fresh. They were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

She cried, and laughed, and hugged the pot. She felt a surge of love and gratitude for the plant, for her grandfather, for life itself. She felt something she had never felt before. She felt alive.

She decided to call it a rose, after the name she had read in the book. She decided to keep it as her treasure, her secret, her joy. She decided to share it with no one, except her grandfather, who would understand.

She didn't know that the plant had a hidden function. She didn't know that it was a spy, a weapon, a trap. She didn't know that it had a microchip embedded in its stem, that transmitted data to a satellite, that triggered a missile, that launched a warhead, that carried a bomb, that contained a virus, that killed all humans.

She didn't know that she had just destroyed the last species on Earth.