The shadow the gigantic mech being lifted in the air casts down on Carmen making it appear pitch black for miles around her. Yet the only thing on her mind was the taking of the ginormous robot meant.

It meant she lost.

“No fucking way. He took it,” says Carmen in horror as she stared at the robot with wide eyes filled with dread. She noticed something moving towards the mech and pulled out binoculars to see the object more closely. She zoomed in on the object and saw it was a pod containing Killian inside. She cursed out in frustration before pausing as she saw a stream of cargo vessels entering on another side of the mech. She soon grinned as she got an idea.

Carmen opened the storage in her gauntlet pressed on an icon of a hover bike caused it to materialized right in front of her. She proceeded to use it to locate the are were the cargo vessels were leaving from. She found herself in an open field a few miles away from the palace. After returning her hover bike back into her gauntlet she hid behind a boulder near the launch site. She went to press the invisibility mode icon on her gauntlet only to find it broken.

‘Of course. He hacked into my controls. I still can’t believe he was able to do that.’

Carmen reminded herself about the tech issue before she opened up a panel to the sims code and proceeded to inspect it.

In the real world she could be seen typing strings of code on her laptop with her VR headset on. Piles of sheets could be seen scattered across her desk. Designs for buildings and entire environments were pinned on her wall. One of them was the very palace that was now turned into a pile of rubble.

“Finally. I’m in control again,” says Carmen, relieved. She could now use her control panel inside the sim.

“Now to get inside there.”

After pressing the invisibility mode icon on her gauntlet again her avatar turned hollow. She slowly walked over to one of the cargo vessels that soldiers were filling up with power crystals she had invented called, Star quartz, and jumped inside before they locked its hatch. After spotting a nearby create she went to sit behind it and wait for the cargo vessel to land inside the ship.

It didn’t take long for the cargo vessel to land inside one of the mechs many hangars. When they opened up the vessel she was in she silently sneaked away and found herself in the middle of the hangar. She opened up a panel for the design of the mech which was titled Pantheon. After scanning around for anything useful she spotted an air vent that she could use as a way to get around. She turned off the panel and rushed over to the wall were the air vent was in. After pulling out a blue potion bottle from her gauntlet she started to poor the substance on the air vent causing the metal to deteriorate rapidly. Once she was done she slipped inside the vent and checked the map of the mech on her gauntlet which was her only source of light in there.

After a while of crawling inside the vents she found herself looking out a vent into a dark empty hallway. Not seeing anyone nearby she proceeded to check to see if she still has any more of the melting potion only to find out she has just used the last one. Sighing in frustration she proceeded to try kick the vent repeatedly until it gave way allowing her to leave out.

“Seems like the coast is clear. Now time to get that-,” Carmen was cut off when she heard the sound of someone turning on the sound speakers that were placed on the walls.

“Attention personnel. We have located the princess. We’re taking her ship in at the moment. Be on high alert for any infiltrators,” spoke a soldier through the intercom.

“They got Leilani. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!,” yelled Carmen, exasperated. She held her head in her hands at the worsening situation. She quickly searched for a nearby security panel before finding one at the end of the hall. After opening it up she pulled out a connector from her gauntlet and inserted it into one of the panels port. After hacking into the mechs security system a panel showing camera feed popped up and one of them in the hangar located in the mechs head appeared to show a large white ship that looked like a space wale was being brought in.

“Looks like I have to go to the lions den. Now how do I exactly get there?,” questioned Carmen. She scanned the hallway she was in. She walked around the hallway for a bit until she found what appeared to be a supply room. After unlocking it with a one of her gadgets from her gauntlet she finds a transport machine used to send goods across the mech. She got an idea and decided to place an empty crate inside the tube of the machine before finding the machines user panel and ordering it to send the create to the hangar at the head of the ship. As the machine started up a twenty second timer for supply launch Carmen hopped inside the create and closed its lid. The timer soon his zero and shot the crate through the tub causing Carmen to whelp at being tossed around in the crate.

Three minutes passed by before Carmen found light peering through the cracks of the wooden crate. She peered out to find herself traveling inside a glass tub at the ceiling of the hangar were the whale ship was. A couple seconds later she felt herself dropping downwards inside the tube before landing harshly among another pile of crates. After rubbing her head a bit she peered out from the cracks again to check if the coast was clear and quickly hopped out of the create. She soon went to put on the invisibility cloak again before scurrying off to hide behind one of the small ships next to the white whale ship her friend Leilani was in. When a group of guard passed by her she rushed to the side of the whale ship and searched for an opening. After finding a circular window at one of the ships bottom levels she went over and pulled out suction cups from her gauntlet to climb her way up the side of the ship before stopping in front of the window. She soon pulled on the windows handle and opened it before jumping inside and closing it behind her.

“Can’t believe that worked. All I need to do now is find the ship control console. Good thing I invented this ship in the first place,” says Carmen.

She pulled up the ships map and used it to find her way through the web of hallways. Once she found herself in the control room she spotted her friend laying dormant in a cryogenic sleep pod at the area in front of the ships console along with a few other people. She walked over and placed a hand on the glass of Leilanis pod.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get us out.”

After turning on the console she managed to find the engine controls and turned them on causing the personnel on the floor to look at the ship in confusion. Red light soon illuminated the hangar as an emergency alarm started to blare loudly.

“Attention personnel. We have an infiltrator inside the Ark ship. Capture them at all costs,” a soldier on the intercom commanded. Carmen could see guards trying to break themselves into the ship.

“Looks like that’s my cue to get the hell out of here,” says Carmen anxiously. She frantically took the ships controls and started to fly the ship out of there. Panels appeared over her showing enemy ships have started to chase after her. She soon turned on the ships portal generator and directed it to send the ship to the most safest planet in the universe at the moment which was planet Earth.

“I guess it’s time for me to go home.”

She launched the portal which appeared before the ship and flew right thru it before closing it to make sure no enemies followed her to Earth.

As Earth came into view Carmen managed a small tired smile before laying her head on the console in exhaustion.

Warm yellow light shined on the cryogenic sleep pod. Its occupant, Leilani, still sleeping. Suddenly, the pods glass casing dissipated and the person inside started to stir. After a couple of seconds the persons eyes fluttered open and spotted an unfamiliar ceiling painted dark green. She sat up slowly only to find herself in what appeared to be a cozy bedroom. It was decorated with plant print wallpaper and large brown shelves stuffed with books old and new.

The peaceful environment was soon ruined by a loud snoring. She turned to see Carmen leaning back on a red sofa in a deep sleep and seemed to be the source of the snoring.

In the real world Carmen was fast asleep on her office chair. She appeared to have fallen asleep while waiting for Leilani to wake up. The time on her small clock placed at her desk showed it was 3:18 am back in the real world.

“Wake up little birdie,” whispered Leilani as she tapped on Carmens shoulder.

The touch transferred to the sensory pads on Carmens shoulders leading her to jump in her seat at the sudden feeling.

“Who goes there?! Show yourself!,” yelled Carmen. She quickly put on a fighting stance before realizing that Leilani was awake.

“Lei lei!”

Carmen gave Leilani a big hug which was immediately returned. She soon let go and started to feel regret sink in to her stomach.

‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t know anything was wrong before I got a distress signal from your father. I couldn’t make it in time. Everything’s now gone and its because I couldn’t control what I created.”

She continued to apologize for a bit until Leilani put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s not your fault and you know that,” says Leilani.

“Then whose fault is it? Who else is responsible for the sim being on fire except the creator themselves!?”

Carmen stood up and started to pace for a while as she rambled on about how messed up things got in the sim after she left it alone for a whole day. She was away at the park with her family during the time so she didn’t know the absolute disaster that was going on until she went online again that night.

“It’s nobodies fault besides Killians. Even tho you created him, he had free will like everybody else and decided go down a path of darkness. You didn’t intend for any of this to happen. The only thing you can do now is to go and fix this. Panicking won’t solve anything,” said Leilani.

Leilanis words brought Carmen to a halt. After contemplating her words for a moment Carmen softly chuckled before turning towards her friend.

“You know for a virtual character I may have created you may be a bit too smart. Never imagined I would get sage advice from a virtual character,” complemented Carmen. Leilani just smiled before turning towards to glass door at the wall next to her. The sun was rising on the virtual Earth world and the yellow light turned a blood orange color which illuminated the two of them.

Carmen stared at the sun rise before a gaze of determination appeared on her face.

“I’m going to fix all of this. I promise you I will,” promised Carmen.

“I know you will,” responded Leilani.