The moment he arrived, he saw a small gathering at the board member's conference room, he was astounded by the meeting he had witnessed. He went in with an overwhelmed expression at his face and small beads of sweat were forming at his forehead.

Upon glancing far at the heavy atmosphere of the room filled with big named personalities of the company, she saw Leonard seated at the right side of the small stage; other three persons at the right and Isabela, being the host of the scene.

When Isabela noticed his arrival, she made a sparkling smile at the guests. "Please welcome our special person for this event, Tyler Strauss!"

Strauss made a smile back paired with handwaving at the guests while walking at the side, towards at the stage. He stopped just two feet beside Isabela's left and bowed down in front of the people, then making a quick look at Leonard, the old man bent his head a little and smiled a bit.

Isabela raised her hand. "Let's have a round of applause for Mister Strauss'." and so they did.

When the applause had settled. Isabela looked at Strauss. "Thank you very much. Please be seated. Mister Strauss will make a speech." Isabela said, handing over the microphone to him while the guests were taking their seats.

He cleared his throat and his first words came out with a shaky and uneven tone. "Uh... What should I say.." Strauss said, looking at Isabela worriedly.

"Say to our guests about what you want to achieve after ten - or merely eleven - years now. And what was your plans for this year." Isabela said, then looked at her red long glittering dress.

His grip at the microphone became a little bit loose and he shakes it a bit. "I.. I wish you all to have a great year ahead and expect this early December, I will unveil the latest appends of Miki and Iroha together with a new Vocaloid release." Strauss said, then looked at some of the guests at the back. "You.. know that I'm not that kind of a good speaker so.. I just say let's have a great night ahead and I hope the best years to come to this company," then he looked at Leonard, "to this business," then he looked back at the guests, "and for all of the fans all over the world."

The secretary get the microphone to Strauss and said to him, "Mister Strauss, please take your seat together with Sir Leo." then she speaks to the guests using the microphone. "Thank you very much for that wonderful speech, Mister Tyler."

At the back, Strauss asked Leonard, "Sir, what do we have here at the moment. I'm quite confused and you never notified me about this gathering."

"Today we were draw the lucky winner of Piko." Leonard said, Strauss was surprised.

"I- In front of them?" Strauss wants a confirmation from him.

A flat screen in a stand and a table with the Vocaloid and a red button - both with wheels - were pushed in the scene and placed at the center stage.

Strauss' stare at the Vocaloid and on the button was somewhat dreadful and he can't help himself to play along his hands - grabbing something to hold to at his coat's pocket even it was empty. Each red flash of light that the button was manifesting was synchronized at his heartbeat, making the surroundings for him an uncomfortable one.

Leonard patted Strauss' back two times while looking at Isabela. "Let's find out whose the lucky winner of you finest work."

"Indeed S..ir." he replied, still looking at the Vocaloid.

The old man returned his hand back and said, "I know you would not disappoint this company, this would be your Vocaloid that will make your name immortalized."

He smiled shortly and uncertain at Leonard's statement. "Yes.. Sir, I will never let you down. You know me."

Isabela stood at the back of the table. "Today the company had decided to have an event in celebration of Mister Strauss' ten years in the industry and today we would like to say thank you to all of the fans and supporters who made Vocaloid be a successful one. And as you see in the table, we will give an exclusive and limited edition Vocaloid that was a male - indeed a first and an exclusive one for our lucky winner - so in a matter of minutes, we will name the person who will get this magnificent piece of work by our handsome developer Mister Strauss." then she made a bright smile and clapped, the guest followed and applauded.

After a brief moment, Isabela looked at him. "Can we please call the presence of Mister Tyler here on stage, please join me here at the center stage."

Strauss stood up slowly and went beside Isabela, parallel to where the button was situated.

"Looks like our handsome developer is nervous about this." Isabela joked, then she waived her sight to the guests. "Let's cheer him up!"

The crowd chanted Strauss name several times and afterwards, Isabela instructed him to place his two hands - on top of each other - just above the pulsing circle.

"Let's begin the raffle, shall we?" Isabela said vividly to them, then she went at the left side of the screen and placed her hand at the uppermost corner of the screen. "As you can see here at the monitor, we collected all the names of the people who purchased Vocaloids in the past years and compiled them here. It randomly flashes thirty names per second and it was supervised by a representative from a security software of Geneva. So, when Mister Strauss will push that button, we will know whose the winner of our mini event. The winner would be notified and his or her prize will be shipped off immediately." then she looked at Strauss when in that moment was still at his place. "Sir Tyler, can we have the name of the lucky winner?"

He nodded.

"So in a count of three, push that button, alright?" Isabela said.

"Yes." Strauss replied, then he looked down, preparing himself. "Please be the winner is out of Europe..."

Isabela started the dreaded countdown.

"Three..."

"Two.."

"One."

"Push!" Isabela said lively, Strauss closed his eyes and picked.

After pushing the button, a name emerged from the screen together with its location.

"Is it done already?" He uneasily said, looking to Isabela.

"Let. Me. Check." She said, then went in front to see the name. "The winner of our limited edition Vocaloid Utatane Piko is from....."

The heat was rising up on Strauss' stressed face. "Out of Europe... Out of Europe... Out of here.."

".... Ottawa, Canada. Congratulations to Miss Alyssa Newman. Her prize would be delivered in two days from now...."

The crowd made an applause to the winner and to Strauss.

He sighed in relief. "Thank God, it's in Canada. I'm spared....." then he bent his body and gave respect at the crowd. He then returned to his seat together with Leonard.

While the screen and the Vocaloid was being carried out of the stage, Isabela finished her statement. "... This draw would be posted to the company's official website and the winner would receive an additional prize from Sir Leonard himself. Again, we say thank you to all of the participants and all of the supporters that made this wonderful event successful. And on that note, let's enjoy the celebration. Cheers everyone!"

The crowd raised their glasses in response and the party went in motion.

‡‡ Networld, GUMI Mainframe ‡‡

Meanwhile, Gumi was seated with crossed legs while looking at a certain system blueprint; she have acquired a spare time to relax a little because the Networld was at its off-peak hours and majority of the users were asleep in Europe.

In front of her were three green semitransparent screen that was arranged in a concave manner. In the first screen, a system of a certain device of an anonymous user was flashed; the second displays the global grid of intercontinental data links and on the third screen displays a list of names of some sort.

She keenly looked at the lines and the routes at the second screen, the data that travels across the globe, trying to find a way to fix some problems.

-------
••• Red Line (Asia & Oceania Admin Teto)
--→ Status: Busy
--→ Traffic: Low

••• Blue Line (North American Admin Alys)
--→ Status: Busy
--→ Traffic: High

••• Green Line (European Admin Gumi) [Default]
--→ Status: Idle
--→ Traffic: Low

••• Yellow Line (South American Admin Neru)
--→ Status: Busy
--→ Traffic: Moderate

••• White Line (Atlantic & Antarctic Admin Haku)
--→ Status: Available
--→ Traffic: Low

••• Orange Line (African Admin Sonika)
--→ Status: Idle
--→ Traffic: Low
-----

The moment she saw the Asian Admin's status, she tapped her fingers at the armrest of the glass-like chair and made an irritated look at the second screen.

"Hm.. Low data traffic but still busy... Heh, maybe she's on her siesta again..."

She pressed a line at the second screen and said, "Admin Haku, can you help me 'find' the Asian Admin. It seems like she's doing something at the moment."

"Affirmative comrade, I'm on it." Haku replied over the line.

"Thanks." Gumi said, then let go of her index finger at the line.

She placed her hands near her face, being her elbows rested at both sides of the chair's armrests, making each tip of her fingers met the other but her palms were not in contact.

"Let's begin..." Gumi said, making the dark floor glow white and had streaks of purple lines all over it.