Chapter One: Feeling Lost:

Juni Cortez sighed as he sat down at his computer to check his email. Seeing no messages in the inbox he quickly logged out. As he stared out the big window overlooking his home, he allowed his mind to drift. It had been 3 months since he and his sister Carmen were successful in shutting down Game Over. He knew he should feel proud right about now, it was a big accomplishment, especially after also protecting Washington DC once the Toymaker had brought Game Over into the real world. As Juni continued to sit and ponder he also thought, about what it meant for his grandfather and that whole cascade of events. Juni had been unaware when he brought his grandfather into the game, that the Toymaker was the person responsible for putting Juni's grandfather in the wheel chair. Throughout the time within the game Juni repeatedly begged his grandfather to not take revenge. Of course what Juni did not understand, was his grandfather wanted to release the Toymaker so that he could forgive him. Juni smiled for a moment remembering when his grandfather and the toymaker emerged together comrades again. But just as quickly as the smile appeared it was gone.

Juni sat there almost in trance and asked himself, "why am I feeling this way". Of course in his heart he knew exactly why, but this was not exactly the type of thing you tell people about. However, the downside to not telling anyone about how you feel meant that you had to hold all the burden and pain by yourself. Juni closed his eyes and gently allowed his mind to once again drift, but this time, he thought about a girl he left behind in the world of Game Over. He thought back to the girl in dark purple fighting attire and dark brown hair, the one whom he fought and beat in the robot arena, the one that helped him find his sister. His eyes snapped open. "Demetra", he whispered. It was so quiet it sounded more like a prayer than a longing which is how Juni truly felt. He thought about Demetra and how she was ultimately the reason level 5 was unwinnable. He remembered punching his glove through her, and just seeing a flash, of lights symbolizing her status as a computer program. He remembered her last words even as he pleaded for her to come with them "I can't hold it open forever Juni." That was the last thing he heard and saw, because not a second later one of the robot money's hands was caught and stuck in the door lock. Juni looked up and saw some of the papers on his desk were wet, he had not even realized that he had started to cry.

Composing himself he took a few deep breaths to steady himself, then resumed his current project on his computer. He had only basically just started working again when he felt another presence enter the room. He did not even have to turn around to figure out it was his older sister Carmen. "Hey Juni" she said, "how have you been"? "Fine", came Juni's almost instant reply. Of course Juni seemed to forget even, though, his sister drove him crazy a lot of the time, there was no one who knew him better than her. "Stop lying Juni" says Carmen, "I know you are torn up about something, but I cannot figure it out, are you sure you do not want to talk about it." Carmen looked at her brother and realized tears were quickly gathering in his eyes. Juni took a deep breath looked his sister right back square in the face and said "It is about Demetra". Carmen's face changed as she processed the information. A whole mess of thoughts began flying through her brain. Demetra she thought, the girl who was the deceiver of Level 5 from the Game Over mission. "Alright", Carmen said after a minute, "what is bothering you about Demetra?" "I miss her and want to see her again", came Juni's reply. "Juni she is a computer program, she is not real", Carmen tried to say as gently as she could. "I know this must hurt a lot, but my advice is try to forgot about her, it will save you from additional pain." Carmen knew Juni rarely took her advice, and with something as big as a possible feeling toward a relationship, there was almost no chance at all, but she still felt she should give her younger brother some advice. As she turned to leave the treehouse she said to Juni, "I hope things get better for you soon little brother."

After Carmen left Juni closed his computer, but still continued to sit in his chair, wondering if somewhere in the great realm of cyberspace a certain computer program was thinking about him too…