In Ellie's heart there were deeply embedded two convictions: whatever began with her must also end with her and everything internal will, at some point, manifest externally. Coincidentally, her second conviction also happened to be a principle of the Dreamland's subspace. Every malfunction transpiring inside the sea of data that flowed endlessly between the surface and subspace, two very different but codependent spaces inside the Dreamland computer, would at some point manifest itself on the surface.

Malfunctions often took on the form of animals constructed of red and black coiling wires, called lambdas. A very ghastly sight for the faint of heart, but for Ellie, who happened to be an adrenaline junkie, their grotesque appearance only succeeded in riling her up. Much like now. Two category three lambdas charged in her direction, their claws clacking and scratching noisily at the cubic floor of the subspace. One looked like a deformed lion while the other like an ape.

Ellie was not scared. Rather, she felt deeply intrigued. The beta would release tomorrow, malfunctions had no business showing up now. Not to mention how severe they were. There was no problem in getting rid of them. Their manifestation only meant that there were other holes in the Dreamland's algorithm. Ones that could appear insignificant for now, but that would become more and more severe the more the BETA advanced. Such malfunctions might as well lead to the complete destruction of the computer. Though, that seemed unlikely.

In any case, Ellie smiled, pleased with what was about to happen, and drew out her bow. She then turned, checking one last time over her shoulder to see if Ugly 1 and Ugly 2 were still pursuing her. Their figures were only growing larger and larger the closer they got. She began running away.

"So much unsolicited attention," She sighed, hopping on one of the veiny cubes that assembled the subspace's configuration. "What's a girl to do with all of it?”

The lambdas struggled after her, screeching and scratching as they pursued her. Even as she continued jumping higher and higher on the amorphous structures. They ripped through code, spat their acid in her direction. She pursed her lips, internally flinching at the mess they were making. They were causing more trouble than they were worth, but Ellie had been thoroughly bored all day so she figured she might as well give them a chance to entertain her. But they squandered it and they ended up disappointing her. How unfortunate, she would have to cut this short.

She stopped and twirled around, patiently waiting until the creatures finally reached her. One approached from behind her back, while the other attacked her from the front. She raised a brow, subtly impressed by their coordination. But any more observing would have to be cut short. She summoned a fluorescent pink arrow and pulled back the string of her bow; she released it into the air. The arrow cut through the space before spreading into a dome of flat pink crystals above them. Instantaneously, numerous other such arrows plummeted from the sky, disintegrating the lambdas wholly. Ellie let her bow vanish and began fixing her hair. She tightened the bow that kept her low ponytail together and fixed her bangs once more. She watched the pastel pink strands and then eyed her outfit, very pleased with herself. Being a gorgeous girl was so fun!

"I hope you are aware that servers have been due to shut down for a while now," A voice called out from behind her. Ellie scratched her head and gave a weak and nervous laugh. As she turned around, glacial blue eyes similar to her own fixed her with apprehension. "For a very long while, actually.”

Her twin placed a hand on her hip while rubbing her temples with the other. Ellie was very glad she had let her hair grow and dyed it pink, because she could not possibly imagine herself flaunting that dreadful bob cut her sister had. Sure, the blackness of her hair went swimmingly with her pale blue eyes, but overall, her haircut did little to compliment the shape of her face. An oval face as fair and beautiful as her sister's ought to be accompanied by long and fluffy hair — like hers!

"You know me, meticulous as ever. I wanted to survey the area one more time," She smiled innocently at her sister. "You worked so hard, Nora. It would be a shame for this project to go to waste.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Nora regarded her for a moment, unimpressed. She then slitted her eyes, as if analysing her, "And did you find anything worth checking out?”

Ellie shook her head, lying to the best of her ability. By no means did she support the Dreamland and everything it stood for. Human consciousness belonged inside the human body on real life Earth, not in a digitally constructed Earth. Those lambdas were enough to make her suspicious of just how efficient the Dreamland's algorithm was. Unmasking this flaw would undoubtedly postpone the beta and that was something no one wished for. Furthermore, Ellie, despite loving her sister dearly, wanted the Dreamland to crumble to the ground from the inside out. If concealing such an anomaly in the algorithm would bring about its destruction, then she would happily keep her mouth shut.

"Umm, no," Ellie shook her head, yawing excessively, "I'm tired, so we should go.”

"Nothing?" Nora cocked a brow, scrunching her pointed nose, “Really?"

“Nothing the Ai won't fix," Ellie half admitted. After all, the best lies were the ones that had a little bit of truth in them.

Nora only nodded, implicitly trusting her. It made Ellie feel bad, because she knew just how much effort her sister had put into this project. But happiness lies in reality, not here.

Now that she had gotten rid of the lambdas, the subspace was so incredibly quiet. The cubes that housed information shifted, lifting themselves up and down, while others joined together to pave a path for them. If she would have been solely confined to the surface world, then she would have missed out on this contradicting beauty.

Ellie elbowed Nora, smiling brightly at her. Nora's mouth corners downturned. This was Ellie's signature signal for when she was about to ask an absolutely idiotic question.

"So," She giggled, cheeks all rosy, "Do you like my outfit? Is it cute enough?”

Nora looked at her outfit, her eyes raking down her pastel pink frilly skirt with white chiffon sleeves that revealed her shoulders just the perfect amount. Ellie had spent so long designing this outfit. She even planned on implementing a cape, to give it a more fantasy vibe. She gave herself white, translucent tights and Mary Jane shoes that matched the colour of her dress. Even her hair matched with the dress. Not to mention her favourite part of her outfit: her gloves! They were white, made out of lace. In the Dreamland, the bow did not affect her fingers in the least, but she felt they were simply necessary to complete her outfit. Of course, stopping there would be so unbefitting of her. She needed to do something with her hair as well. She let her bangs flow freely and the rest of her hair, she tied back with a white bow.

"You look like a flower," Nora admitted, the faintest of smiles on her face. Ellie hugged her arm and let her head fall on her shoulder. She then looked at Nora's outfit and squealed with delight.

"Oh Nora, you agreed to coordinate!" She gasped and stopped her sister in her tracks. She spun Nora around with stars in her eyes.

In contrast to her, Nora's outfit was made up of shades of blue and black. The bodice was tight to her chest and her skirt was fragmented in differently shaped parts that resembled the wings of a butterfly. Her shoulders were revealed. Around her neck was a simple black lace choker. In her feet were black and blue sneakers. Nora looked embarrassed but the sight of her sister so fair and beautiful only made Ellie want to fight a thousand more lambdas. She imagined her sister spinning gracefully in battle with her omicron scythe, then her joining her side. In flashes of blue and pink they would dominate everything!

Nora put a hand over her mouth when she saw that Ellie was about to go off again and her expression darkened once more. "I agreed to coordinate specifically because I thought you'd shut up for once!"

Ellie took her hand off and groaned, "But how can I control myself in the presence of such a pretty girl?!"

"Stop talking like that, it's embarrassing!" Nora pushed her from behind in the direction of this region's cylindrical tower. That would be where they would exit the Dreamland.

"You're so mean!" Ellie cried.

"And you're annoying!" Nora snarled. Their contrasting personalities endeared Ellie and she eventually calmed down.

"But I really did mean it, you know?" Ellie turned to her sister just as they were about to enter the tower. She smiled warmly, "You are very beautiful."

"Thanks," Nora bared her teeth at her, mocking a smile, "And you're stalling, so let's go."

"You should learn how to accept compliments," Ellie berated her. "Accepting compliments makes girls even more beautiful."

"Will make sure to keep it in mind," Nora mumbled as she jumped first through the doorway full of light. Ellie stopped and looked once more at the subspace. She felt so bad for concealing the anomaly, but the Dreamland will not bring about Nora's happiness. Ellie sighed and steeled herself, this would be the second secret she concealed from Nora. The first was the whole reason behind the way she was acting.

Ellie jumped after Nora into the light.