Hours of playing, the soulpadres were just enjoying the VR park as long as they want to while the two game programmers and Toca were watching them from the control room. "So far so good," Brett said.

"Yes," Crol nodded. "I don't see any problems in the game."

"This is so much fun," March shrieked as he battled virtual zombies with his friends.

"It's very life-like," Leyo replied.

The zombies began to appear more and more which meant that it was getting challenging before they could win or lose the game "okay, I think it's getting harder," Perfida said.

"Just give it all you got and use your power-ups," Vance told her. Leyo was throwing explosives which help lessens the zombies. "Yeah! that's it, Leyo, keep throwing those dynamites."

Perfida just kept fighting and focusing on the game yet she couldn't help shake that the only immobile simulation man just stared at her.

-------

In the control room, Brett saw something in the screen, it was a transparant buldging field by the virtual people "what's that?" he asked, Toca took a look at it and was stunned to see it.

"I don't know," Crol answered.

-------

"Is just me or that guy with a black hoodie is kinda creepy?" Perfida quipped to the guys as they looked around to see what she was talking about but then she saw that he began blinking and his face changed like he was studying her.

"Where?" Leyo asked searching for the guy even though he stood near Perfida that no one could miss it.

"I don't see a guy with a black hoodie," March said.

"Me too," Vance said.

"He's standing right there by the barriers..." Perfida glanced at him again and saw his face was agaped.

"You can see me?" it talked to her which stunned Perfida then he started walking to her.

"It's moving and it's going to the girl," Brett said, he was starting to freak out again when he watched in the computer and it also showed that it was leaving some sort of pixelated footprints.

"You can see me. Please, help me," it begged, the more it moved the more it gave technical bugs.

"Uhm... back away," Perfida was too petrified to respond and just backed away by pointing the virtual gun at him because he was coming closer to her.

"I need your help."

"Perfida, what are you doing?" Vance looked at Perfida was getting away from something, little did he knew that she was.

"It's coming to me," Perfida stuttered

"Should they get out from there?" Toca questioned feeling worried.

"Yes," Brett turned on the communicator to warn the soulpadres. "Guys, there's a problem, get out of there fast."

The four of them activated the holographic remote and took themselves out from the game and they were back to the real world then immediately removed the VR goggles. "Oh thank, goodness," Perfida sighed in relief.

"What just happened?" March had no clue what was going on.

"Is everyone okay?" Brett barged in the simulation room to see if they were all safe and sound along with Toca and Crol.

"Yeah, we are," Perfida panted.

"We saw some malfunctions," Crol said which have the soulpadres gobsmacked.

Afterwards, they all were in the control room to see the bug and where it was coming from "I swear I thought it was just a simulation and then it started to come at me," Perfida explained.

"That's weird, we didn't see that in the computer but we did see something coming at you but nothing of a guy with a black hoodie," Brett said.

They all watched the footage, when they were playing there was disfiguration from Perfida's side, they also saw that she was walking back and aiming the gun at whatever it was. "He was there," she insisted, Perfida was baffled that it didn't show in the footage.

"Say there was one, he'd stand out like a sore thumb, right?" Vance said.

"Perhaps," Crol said back, he was using the other monitor to check the programming. "But according here, nothing shows any defects."

"Again?" Brett expressed in frustrations.

"Again?" Perfida was taken aback that the problem didn't happen the first time. "You mean this happened before? could've warned us."

"Yeah, you should've warned them," Toca quietly groaned to Brett.

"I'm sorry," Brett cringed. "Yes, there were some technical problems but it didn't get this big."

"You better fix it before you open for business," Leyo advised.

"I know, I want this to go perfect to all the potential gamer customers."

"What are we? lab rats?" Vance glared at him since it didn't go perfect to them.

"No, of course not," Brett nervously chuckled. "More like taste testers, the important thing is that it didn't get Void."

"Void?"

"The guy who used to own this. Long story," Toca clarified.

"Again, I'm sorry for the troubles," Brett apologized to the soulpadres. "Anyway, we'll solve this problem even if we have to check every code and every machine."

"Oh dear," Crol sighed, the soulpadres sensed that there were a little tension between the business partners.

------

"They made you play at an untested technology?!" Archie was stunned to hear that after Perfida told her him and Perdita.

"I guess," Perfida shrugged.

"I'm just glad you are in one piece, if not, I'll sue those two nerds and a wedgie."

"Easy, Papoli, they didn't mean for any of that to happen."

"Still, they can't use you like that, if something did happen, I doubt they'll pay for their misconduct," Archie said in a stern tone, Perdita was at the side feeling unease because it reminded her of her actions.

"At least it's over," Perfida then stood up from the couch and started to yawn. "I had a long, fun and nearly simulated death-defying day," she headed to her room and Perdita followed her. "Good night, Papoli."

"Good night, Peach."

-----

Perfida got to her room and just dropped herself in the bed. About some time later, she was dreaming that she was in beautiful landscape with nice fresh green grassed, tall trees and rocky mountains "where am I?" she walked around the place looking confuse not knowing that it was just a dream. Dark clouds were brewing so it started to rain, Perfida noticed that she was not getting wet and that was not the peculiar part, it was the fact was the droplets just went through her. "I don't feel the rain, what is this."

Next thing that happened, the scenery was slow disappearing and Perfida was dumbfound to do anything, she was scared then ran before she was wiped out too.

------

It was morning, Perfida woke up but unexpectedly, she could not move her body and she was having a hard time breathing too, she could feel a hand pulling head, it was like there was a being wanting to put her in danger, she was struggling to fight and gain control of her body. Somehow, she managed to get back control, she can move her body yet she was panting heavily from it, Perfida looked around the room but there was no one to put her in that kind of harm.

Archie was making coffee in the kitchen then he heard Perfida walking in "morning, Peach," he turned to her and had this distraught look in his face.

"What?" Perfida saw her grandfather's face.

"Your nose, it's bleeding," he pointed, Archie held her face and wiped the blood under her nose.

"Again?"

"Just sit down and put your head up," Archie took out his hankerchief and gave to her.

"It happened yesterday too, I think it's just the summer heat."

"Probably, you don't feel any headaches?"

"Nope."

"Okay, good."

"But I did wake up feeling like I can't breathe and I can't move," Perfida explained, Archie was taken aback by this as he listened. "And I have this feeling that something wants to take my soul away."

"Your sister did it again?" Archie snapped.

Perfida didn't understand what he meant "did what again?"

Archie realized that he accidently slipping "nothing, it's nothing." Perfida looked at him in a weird way but just shook it off. "Keep observing it, probably it's a sleep paralysis, we can check that out to the doctors". 

"I hope not."

"Let's forget it about that for a moment, it could happen again and we don't want that. By the way, did you ask your friends about Thoto? do they want to go?"

"Oh! yeah, they all want to go."

"Stellar," he replied, still panicking inside. "I will talk to their parents then and also find something to give to March's dad."

"Please, he'll accept anything that you touch," Perfida scoffed because Archie was a famous playboy magazine publisher of 'TheWolf', a lifestyle magazine for men, now retired after his son's death and decided to move to Ares city to be closer to his grandkids, March's father was a fan of his, could be the reason why he allow his son to be friends with Perfida.

"That's true."

-------

In the VR park, Brett and Crol were examining every nuts and bolts of the place to see what went wrong "is this even necessary?" the Rex questioned. "I don't think the machines are the problems."

"We can never be too sure," Brett answered. "You saw the codings, it's clear, that leaves the mechanics."

"I made them perfectly fine."

"I'm positive you did but who knows."

"You doubt my ability?"

"No. No. That's not what I meant," Brett reassured him but Crol was scowling at him. "It's just... do you hear that?"

"What?"

There was a buzzing noise, it soft at first until it got louder that the both of them heard "it's coming from the control room," Brett gasped and ran to it. Once they got there, one of the monitors were turning on and off like it was blinking uncontrollably and that was where the buzzing noise came from. "What the heck?!"

"I think it's broken," Crol said.

"That can't be possible because I shut down the power," Brett said back with a shakey tone.

------

Perfida was in her room just checking her social media in her tablet, all of a sudden, it too was acting funny, the screen got snowy like the one when you were trying to geting a bad signal when moving an antenna for the television to work "what the frack?" she grumbled. "You can't be broken now. Oh crap no."

It began to make that same buzzing noise, Perfida decided to press the power button to restart ii. The noise was shifting to a different sound which still didn't made her any less peeved because gadget was acting up, Perfida just kept pressing the button but then she heard that it was wailing audible sound "geeet meee," it called. Perfida shriked, she got terrified that she dropped the tablet on the ground. "Geeet meee ooouuttt."

The tablet jumped up on its own about an inch which and jumped again, Perfida dashed to the door but it could not open "PAPOLI!" she yelled, she jiggled the door knob again. "PAPOLI! help me!"

"Leeet meee out!" the tablet was coming by bouncing its way to her.

Perfida was struggling to escape as she glued her back to the wall "get away from me!"

"OUT!!" It was getting closer and closer.

Perfida covered herself and closed her eyes "NNNOOOO!!" she wailed once she woke up from her nap, apparently it was all a dream yet it all felt so real to her.