LIONEL'S POV.
It was 10pm in Paris and I was in my study waiting anxiously for a call or a text.
"Mr Max." A nervous voice called me.I looked up to see Theo.
Theo Baume is my secretary, he is a 30 year old French man having brown hair and blue eyes.
He was wearing a navy blue suit and white inner long sleeved shirt.
I looked at him with tiredness in my eyes and saw that he looked so nervous.
I immediately stood up.
"What happened, is everything okay?"
"Sir, they… they…"
"They what?" I anxiously said immediately I saw how nervous he was.
"Sir, they…"I clenched my fist, sighed and sat down."I won't eat you, what is it?"
"Sir, your supposed daughter disappeared this morning at 11am according to time in Florida."
"What?"
UNKNOWN POV.
"What?"
"It's like you heard, we lost her." The voice from the other end of the call said.
"How is that possible? You lost her 24 years ago because the society's trails were about to be found, how is it possible that you lost her again?"
"You asked for the developing transport mode." The voice continued to say remaining indifferent.
"So?""Like I said developing, it still has a lot of glitch."
"So it's still developing, then why did you present it to the share holders and made us invest on a project that hasn't been made perfect?" I angrily said.
"This is on a need to know basis."
"I need you to locate her immediately, I'll…"
I was interrupted by the sound of an ending call.
I smashed the phone against the wall.
I turned towards the door as I heard someone's hasty footsteps.
I reached the telephone which was on the shelf beside me and dialed some numbers.I put the phone on my ear.
"Housekeeper Joe, find out who's trespassing."
"Yes sir."
NIKKI'S POV.
"Why do you look angry?" My brother, Noah asked me collecting my luggage.
"I'm not." I said walking as fast as I can so he can't catch up to me.
"But anger is written all over your face."
I stopped, turned around and looked at my brother.
"Why are you so late?" I said at the top of my voice.
"So that's it!" He said indifferently.
"I shouldn't have said anything." I said and continued walking angrily.
"Nikki… I admit, I shouldn't have been late."
"And…" I said as I crossed my arms against each other.
"And… Sorry for responding to you rudely."I looked at him and he smiled at me.
"You promised to personally hand over my birthday present at the airport this year."
"Of course." He said giving me a medium sized box.
"That was quick."
"Won't you look at what's in it?"
"It's either a necklace or a bracelet, I don't need to…"
"It's different this time, just check it out."I stopped walking and opened the box and what I saw blew me away.
It was a white jade necklace.
This jade necklace was our family heirloom I had lost years ago.
Tears ran down my cheek.
With a teary tone, I said "Brother, how did you find it?"
"How could I tell you, it's my little secret." He said with a naughty smile on his face.
"If you don't tell me I'll get mad."
"Go ahead, no one's holding you down."
TORY'S POV.
I looked around confused.
Why was I in a walkway?
"Don't look around, you won't still get it." I heard an indifferent female voice say.
I turned around to see if anyone was there but couldn't find anyone or thing,
But the cars which were moving on the road, waste bin and a black colored luggage beside me.
"Who's there?" I said in hope for a response but didn't get one.
Could I be imagining things?
I sighed and started looking around again trying to figure out where I am.
"Didn't I say you won't understand, why bother?" The voice said indifferently.
"Why should I listen to you when you don't even show yourself?" I said looking for who's talking and my jaw dropped open when I saw who it was.
It was a girl wearing a technological looking jumpsuit with brown hair and a weird eye pattern.
What freaked me out was that she was the size of a doll and she was flying.
I was so freaked out that I fell backwards.
She flew towards me and said "You were the one who asked me to show myself, why are you so scared after seeing me?"
I was too shocked to utter anything but I noticed something.
The weird flying doll girl looked familiar.
I stood up, dusted my body as I tried to rack my brain for answers, then I got it.
"Are you the doll those children gave me?" I asked with a hint of doubt.
"I'm no doll, I'm a…"
"Were you really made by them?"
"Excuse me, I…"
"Are you really going to help me write my novel?"
"Would you ask a…"
"Why…"
I was interrupted by a screeching sound in my ear.
I hadn't realized that I was wearing a headphone.
I immediately took off the headphone.I looked at the weird girl and she seemed to be saying something.
I couldn't hear her, but I could hear her when the headphone was on me.
I put the headphone back on.
"Were you the one who made the screeching sound?"
She just nodded.
"Why?"
"You keep on asking questions, trying to answer them might make me overheat.So to avoid hurting my system, I'll just make that sound when you ask many questions."
"Okay, you'll make my ears hurt anytime I ask too many questions, I got it. Don't you come with a manual or something?"
"My original program was to be a virtual assistant but my creators wanted to help someone so they turned my program into an inter-space traveling android."
"Inter-space traveling android, how does this concern me?" I sarcastically said.
"I am programmed to take the program user to an imaginary world either for fun or entertainment that's why I was named Star."
"So we are in an imaginary world now?"
"Affirmative."
No wonder I felt something was off.
"You said the program user enters with a purpose, what's my purpose?"
"Aren't you supposed to know better?"
"I don't remember agreeing to enter into an imaginary world, how could I know why I am here?"
"Your siblings which are my creators had specifically changed my program designs to help you write your novel.Naturally, we are here to do that."
"Is that possible?"
"It is."
"How does it work?"
She looked at my hand and I looked at my hand, a phone was on my hand.
I raised my hand towards her and she flew towards it and opened a app.
It was an inter-space traveling tracker.
"Tracker?"
"Hmm, it tracks and records the vital things that happens in the imaginary world."
"Oh, so that's how the program can help me write my novel, gosh the designer is so smart."
"Sure."
"If the tracker records everything, why are we here?"
"You're the writer, everything here is set according to the novel setting my creators gave me."
"You haven't still answered yet?"
"Although the novel is set and some characters life has begun, it hasn't begun for the main characters.
Besides the novel won't last the third chapter because you aren't manually writing anything.
Novel characters need to find what keeps them going, without a writer."
"Okay, but what am I doing here?"
"You're here to get points."
"Huh?"
"I had thought you'll tell me to continue my neglected duty as a writer and support the characters so they could play their roles.
What are you talking about?" I said astonished by what she had said.
"There are more than thirty minor characters, you're just a person inside this world, how are you going to support them all?" She indifferently said.
"That makes sense, why don't you explain what you meant."
"Points in your terms is money."
"I still don't get it."
"Point is a tender that can only be used for purchases between the ISTA and the program user.
The program user gets point by accomplishing important missions given to them by the ISTA.
And the program user exhaust points by buying information from the ISTA about things or people in this world.
They can also use points to get things like exchanging points for money, teleportation etc.
And also if the program user is a writer writing his or her novel through this world, he or she will have to use points to keep the novel going.
If the program user don't have enough points to keep events in the novel going, the whole system will shut down and it's progress will be lost."
"Wow, seems like it isn't any easier than writing manually."
"It isn't, you can quit now because you'll have no opportunity to quit again."
"It seems interesting, I'd like to give it a try."
"Sure."
"Do I have an identity in this world?"