. ‡‡ Networld, GUMI Mainframe ‡‡

Because of Alys, Gumi was absentmindedly monitoring the flow of data across and out of Europe; her mood had started to be murky for the entire time she was seated alone at her domain. She knew that if she was able to kill Strauss at that particular moment before Alys could interfered it, her mind would be at peace and all she needs to do was to look after Maika through the report of the Asian Admin Teto - the most troublesome Administrator of all.

Since her original plan was completely jeopardized, the aces she had at her hand was now starting to vanish one by one; only adding a sick feeling for the European Administrator: Strauss was alive; Maika's whereabouts was still unclear; Alys was watching over her actions after she confronted Maika's creator and Admin Teto was constantly causing headaches to all of them.

She was slowly spinning the glossy diamond-shaped pixel by the tip of her index finger while looking at it coldly; recollecting her conversation with Alys when Maika arrived at her domain - before Strauss could even delete her child into existence.
----
(Four days earlier)
‡‡ Networld, GUMI Mainframe ‡‡

Alys had arrived at Gumi's domain with a puzzled mind. She was not used to be called by the European Admin out of the blue without explaining what she needs - except for two things: security issues and intelligence purposes.

From a distance, she could recognize Gumi when in that moment was fixing something laid at her chair; black and red cables were also scattered across the domain's dark floor and all of it were merging at Gumi's chair.

"I wonder why she wants me to go here, it feels kinda strange seeing the European Admin busy on something else besides of looking after data traffics." she thought to herself, approaching Gumi.

When Alys gone close, she was confused, she saw someone laid unconscious at the chair and all of the cables were attached to it: two cables at the head; at the arms, hips and feet; single red cable connected straight at the 'heart' of it.

The program that was laid at the chair was a female. Her skin was dry and black; long and short cracks were scattered all over its body. She had a white hair with gray and black streaks that was average in length. Her chest was also cut open down to her abdomen, leaving her heart - a purple hexagonal illuminating core - exposed.

Gumi's absolute silence adds more mysticism to what was really happening so Alys asked her. "What are you doing with this kind of program?"

"I am fixing her, don't you see?" Gumi said, entering some codes at the rectangular pixel - floating user interface - hovering above her table.

She looked the darkened face of Maika. "It is so damaged and I think it has no chance to be repaired. This is a total junk. "

"I can fix Maika... I can fix my child. Whatever it takes, I will bring her to life. One hundred seventy-nine years of waiting for her to come was enough. I cannot lose her..."

"What do you mean by that Gumi?" Alys asked, her hand was trailing the left cheek of the damaged program. "And why are you calling her 'your child'? What is so special about this junk?"

She stopped and turned to face Alys, giving her a stare like she was insulted. "She is my child and you don't have the right to tell me that Maika is a junk! She was created here in Europe and she is a special program. Can't you see? This structural composition of this data, the appearance, her face.. It's just like us Admins." then she went beside the program, holding its damaged hand and fingers. "She resembles human aspects. This kind of program is very rare - or even impossible - to find and since I am able to save her with all my might, there is no going back. I'll take her as my child.."

"What you are doing right now is too dangerous and you know that when humans finds out about having a foreign data at our system domains would cost our lives." Alys said, looking at the program's miserable state.

Gumi adjusted the thick red cable attached at Maika's heart."I know that in the first place so... I called you here... I need your help at this matter and I'm certain that you are the right Admin I can talk about this."

"And what are you planning to do to her?"

"Help me send her to the human world..." Gumi said, Alys was surprised.

Even though the reaction was not manifesting at her face, Alys had remembered someone on Gumi's statement.

"...In the human world I know, there she could be safe. She could be safe there until I am ready to take full responsibility to her. Right now I don't have the time to make her stay long enough here at the Networld and I overridden the system so humans can't see her here at my domain."

Alys looked at Gumi. "Let me think of it."

"For how long Alys, how long could you -"

Alys turned away her sight. "To be honest, I am not optimistic about your proposal of her sending to the other side.... and just like any other game, you are gambling all of us Admins and the future of the Networld."

"I am aware of that Alys.. " Gumi said, going back at the interface and finishing the reprogramming and appends of her child. "...but how many programs could you endure to see being killed, dumped and destroyed by some stupid humans? How many Alys, how many more lives could you swallow before you could see the real thing?"

"I am an Administrator of America and Canada; I am designed to protect and fight for the interest of my area of responsibility. I can't disobey their orders and I will only act according to their righteousness." Alys stated.

"Like my child, we are all programs also.." Gumi said, "..but our difference among them was already a given the moment they were created. We Admins have specific tasks to do - and you know what am I talking about Alys.."

"Yes, I know...to destroy the enemy, to destroy their fellow human being. That was the 'primary objective' of why we are existing," Alys said, "but when the war had passed, we now only serving them as guards for their entertainment, for their digital cravings, for the nation's security, keeping an eye on malicious files and malware that will ruin the human economic and technological grids."
----

"Indeed Alys, we really do lived to kill..." Gumi said softly while the pixel was disappearing slowly. "...we are prisoners of our own; can't break free, can't bend fate.... can't pick for ourselves."

Afterwards, she stood up and placed her fingers at the edge of her table. She took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

"Mainframe, please set the connection to automatic, I will go somewhere..."

"Setting connection to Automatic...." the system said.

The floor of the domain had started to turn green and Gumi was walking away, carrying those feelings of anxiety towards the future.

ㄖ ㄖ ㄖ

On the other hand, the daylight was starting to die at the city scape; Synca had already arrived at Strauss' house and heading towards the bedroom, to where the computer of his was located.

Inside the dark unlighted house, she instantly found his room, the one that was left open, somewhat conveys that someone was hastily gone out of the room for a very important reason and not bothering closing the door.

Moving closer to it, a bluish light was mirrored at the wall opposite of the open door; the computer that was left open since Strauss had gone out and the only light that was shining at the entire house.

Without a second thought, she entered the room, she sat down and faced the monitor of the computer. Afterwards, she pulled a piece of tissue paper from the right pocket of her pants and laid it flat just below the keyboard.

"He had helped me and Guzzel a lot when I needed help. This favor was nothing compared to what he had given to me and my daughter; I can't fail him... I can do this no matter what. I must bring back his generosity to us through this and I pray that Mister Strauss would be fine at the hospital." Synca thought to herself while looking at the texts that was written at the thin sheet of paper.

She held the mouse and looked at the first instruction.

Then, she returned her glace back at the monitor and minimized the opened tabs.

She was about to close the last tab, which was Notepad named 'MAIKA.txt', when she noticed the content of it. After reading it, she had remembered what Strauss had said to her years ago when she was employed as a security guard at the company where Strauss was working that time.

----
(Ten years ago)
‡‡ Office Entrance, 5:30 PM‡‡

"Remember the program that I was making last week?" Strauss said, his sling leather bag was being inspected, placed above the guard's small table.

While looking at the content of his bag, she replied, "Yeah.. You mean Maika, right?"

"I don't know why but I feel strange about her..."

She returned back his bag and confusedly looked at Strauss. "Nah, don't mind that Mister Strauss, maybe you're drinking too much coffee and your mind was playing tricks on you."

"I mean.." he said, letting a sigh of confusion. "... strange things had started to happen at my computer after I made her like..."

"Like...."

"Like my reports, everyday I wake up in the morning to review my spreadsheets, it was filled with different kinds of colors - like it was done by a child. Also, my reports on MS Word, they're all sparkling and filled with glitters."

She tapped the stick she was holding to the wooden table. "Indeed strange Mister Strauss.. Maybe, you didn't block the pop-up ads at the computer and those pop-up were altering your files."

He looked down, very confused. "As far as I can remember, I already did that so... that can't be possible, the pop-up ads are not the one to blame.."

"Well, if its not the suspect... then..." Synca said, " maybe Sir Eizen was the one who did it.."

Strauss made a stare that he was convinced at Synca's guess. "Maybe.. you are right... that moron Eizen. Ugh.. He will have a piece of me tomorrow!"

----

Synca tapped her fingers at the computer table, her sight was overshooting the monitor and her thoughts were floating. "His data and reports had started to have some problems when he created Maika... Hmmm.. 'She was not an ordinary program' according to him..." Synca said, trying to piece together all of the facts she had at hand. "And now, Mister Strauss told me that he had a conversation with her...."

----
(Two hours ago)
‡‡ Hospital ‡‡

"I know that I will have a hard time to pass this problem that I created and I don't have enough time to spent so I want you to go at my house and do as I say, understand?"

"B- but-"

"No more of that, please..." Strauss softly said, "Just follow my instructions and promise to me that you'll do it no matter what happens." Strauss said.

"I will Mister Strauss, you can count on me." Synca said, "What should I do?"

Strauss had opened his eyes and sat down at his bed. "Give me a piece of paper - anything that I can write on..."

Synca scanned the room and found a small tissue paper that was stuffed between the metal bed frame and the soft foam above and gave it to Strauss.

Then, using a pen, he wrote something.

"Miss Synca, you have to find three things for me. One, please find the address of Miss Alyssa Newman from Ottawa, Canada - the one who got the free Vocaloid at the Thanksgiving party last night. Two, find in my computer this particular file, the name of the file is 'Estupidó.exe', you have to find it and put it at a disc. Lastly, you have to open 'Vocaloid CV03.zip' at my desktop and finish it. I placed an instruction there on how you do it."

"Mister Strauss... I am just curious about these things that you want to be done. Why do you want the address of the winner of the free Vocaloid?" Synca asked, "Was there anything that you need from the winner?"

He temporarily stops writing, then looked at her gravely. "I do need something from Miss Alyssa. I... need... to get... back... Maika, my very first program."

"Sir, I'm very confused," Synca said, "According to the guests that attended the party, the giveaway Vocaloid was a male one named 'Utatane Piko', and not your program Maika."

"I know, I know..." he insisted, "but.. just find the address its a long story and I need to get her back as fast as possible. I will tell you why when you obtained the address. My reputation and my remaining pride was on the line here. I want Maika back. I need to apologize to her...." then his tears had started to pour down. "Please.... I want to talk to her again.... I want her back...."

----

Synca continued, ".... So this could only mean one thing.. Maika was not indeed an ordinary program... It is not far from reality that Maika was the one who did those strange things at Strauss paperworks and reports of his at that time - same as she did at this text file."

She opened the internet browser and searched 'Alyssa Newman'. When she pressed 'Enter', a list of results were listed down and Synca's searching for the address of a single person had gotten a little closer to none..

----
Googol.com

Search Results for "Alyssa Newman"

• • •

ALYS - Algorithm Line Yielding System
"The central directory of all you need to know about The Americas!"
AlysProject.net/MainDomain_02

ALYS - Algorithm Line Yielding System
"Learn new things with Alyssa, your guide to everything! from........"
AlysProject.net/AlyssaNewmann-Profile/index04

ALYS - Algorithm Line Yielding System
"ALYS is now Available in Canada and Hawaii! Click here for more information!
AlysProject.net/Canada-Hawaii-Link99

• • •
----

Synca was astounded on her findings. "This is not good. I better tell him about this.." she said, "Alyssa Newman was not a person..."

‡‡ Networld, ALYS Central Archives ‡‡

"Archive Update Complete!" the system notified, Alys was delighted.

Afterwards, the green illumination at the floor had started to settle; returning its original color to white. All of the aisles of data had returned to its proper place and Alys returned at her seat.

"Arizona.." Alys said.

"Miss Alyssa, please enter command..." the system replied.

"Play 'Star Spangled Banner', and set the connection to normal. Were back to business of accepting bookworms and curious little children at our domain."

"Affirmative.. Initiating System Commands...."

After three beeps, the music had started to fill the entire space and Alys had rested herself with a smile casted at her face. She laid back at her soft large chair while her eyes were closed, enjoying the music that compliments the serenity of the moment.