✧ Prologue ✧

"What is a star?"

Those were the words of a small child who was visiting the Pearl Planetarium for the first time. She wore an azure dress robe that stretched down to her knees. An imprint of ten white stars with outlines of different colors were spaced out and stacked upon one another in a way that formed the imaginary shape of a triangle. Holding her hand down the hall was Dr. Hellen Decker, someone who had been studying and looking after the kid for a while now. She didn't have any plans of becoming a parent. Yet it was sudden, that after working for around thirty-three years at her job, this new project assigned by the company's CEO made it as some sort of way for this to peek in. This made her curious.

Her thoughts were less than genuinely thrilled about the current situation, but she didn't want to come off as irritated since being professional and nurturing was going to be more important for what was about to happen next.

"Well, it is a ball of light formed by certain gases in outer space… Its actual purpose is generally unknown, but it keeps the world we live in alive. It reminds me of a song called 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' that sings about how wondrous a star is. I can play it pretty well on the piano inside the auditorium. Matter of fact, there is someone here around your age that has been practicing it for some time now. Would you like to meet her?"

The girl nodded a precarious yes as they continued to walk further until approaching two doors that led them down a spacious dark room filled with empty red seats. There on the wooden stage, an incandescent spotlight shone above another little girl who was sitting on a red stool. She looked to be about two years younger than her. Her auburn hair had a layered ends lob style to it and this yellow hairband to top it off. As for the clothing, she wore a sandy pressed shirt and a hickory dress whose color matched that of her Mary Janes. Upon hearing footsteps echo across the floor, she smiled while running down the steps to meet them up close in a joyous manner.

"Âllo! Je m'appelle Vanille. Comment tu t'appelles?" she greeted with glowing excitement.

Dr. Decker could see the girl holding her hand had a blank stare towards the start of this conversation. She decided to handle the issue by translating the miscommunication back to the other girl that had been onstage.

"Elle ne connaît pas le français."

There was an awkward pause, suggesting that there was a misunderstanding being uncovered between the two.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know she doesn't speak French!"

Dr. Decker wasn't really worried about this frantic behavior. Attempting to resolve it calmly was what would be at the utmost necessary.

"That's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh. Alright. Hello, my name is Vanilla. What is your name?"

The unknown girl didn't actually know what her name was. Such a strange feeling. It was hard to make out. Dr. Decker could see she was a bit shy, but there was a slight truth to this interaction. This girl wasn't actually given a name. They were told not to get too personally attached to their test subject either. Just to give her a sense of safety and addressing health concerns where it was needed. In fact, this very walk in the planetarium was part of a bigger procedure. Why exactly? They claimed it was confidential. To her, it sounded like a terrible excuse for their actions. Vanilla, who was insightful enough to consider the unknown girl's feelings, decided to switch the topic to something she found more fun.

"That's okay. I have an idea. Can we go see the space show Dr. Decker?" she asked with glowing bright green eyes.

Looking at the time on her watch, the doctor agreed since it was starting in about ten minutes. When they reached the main spectacle of the building, the unknown girl was mesmerized by the lit pearl-colored walls, doors, and floors. A huge projector took up the center of the attraction, its lens pointing towards the dark dome above to create a stellar solar system. Meanwhile, blue comfy seats with cup holders surrounded it. The place contained a toasty smell of butter popcorn and hotdogs, yet there was no way for her to identify what this even tasted like because she never ate anything that gave off a scent like this before in her recollection of memories. All she could remember was having three hard pills and a glass of water per day.

Suddenly, Vanilla began to ask a question that had been intriguing her for a while.

"Do you mind if I call you Star? You seem to like them a lot."

Star nodded in agreement as she started to look up, stunned by the twinkling stars that danced across the ceiling. Vanilla decided to continue to try and start a conversation.

"Stars are so beautiful. They remind me a lot of back home when I celebrated Christmas last year. All of the colorful shiny lights. Wonderful singing. You get that warm fuzzy feeling inside when you're with your family. What do the stars remind you of?"

Star was quiet and uncertain. Stars gave her a feeling of endless wonder. Rather than being shut in a tight cold room where her brain became numb from feeling it, this inviting place offered something different that she couldn't describe. That was until she looked at Vanilla's warm smile. The answer began to come to her. When she spoke, a towering voice suddenly cut off her soft speech.

"Greetings everyone. My name is Ambit, your digital host for today's spectacular event in the most notorious place on your planet. Pearl Planetarium is home to one of the best space shows on Earth! UVOCA holds these facilities to teach past and future generations of what lies beyond our little world. Get ready for the greatest full-length feature of all time."

Vanilla was looking at the way Star was acting. She seemed depressed and confused. That was it. Enough was enough.

"Dr. Decker, I don't understand. Why is she acting this way?" asked Vanilla, insisting that she wanted to help Star.

Dr. Decker became anxious. As truthful as it would be to tell her the real reason she was like this, they were watching. Cameras contemplating every single word that was being said. She got tired of lying like this. Yes, it was true. Anyone that worked here would get shut down if they disobeyed. Nothing could change that now. These reactions overheated inside her so much to the point where her eyes started to blink heavily. In a final burst of true emotions trying to silently override the operation that was about to occur, the body started to shake. Her brain was firing signals of pain that started to rush a cold feeling down her spine.

Without warning, the projector shut off as a noticeable thud hit the floor as the doctor tried to stand willingly before blacking out from the fall.

"No! Dr. Decker! Wake up! What happened to you?" exclaimed Vanilla as she nudged her many times to no avail.

Star turned to see the doors had been opened automatically to a dim hallway, but the doctor was still lying motionless on the ground. Suddenly, upon closer inspection, a squad of bulky robot soldiers called VCDs came from out of the darkness to retrieve Dr. Decker. Vanilla started to block the entrance, keeping them at bay by stretching out her arms.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" she asked.

The VCDs started to speak, simultaneously echoing their response.

"HELLEN DECKER HAS FALLEN SHORT OF AN ILLNESS. YOU WILL BE GIVEN A NEW CAREGIVER."

"Caregiver? What do you mean?"

"FATHER'S PROTOCOL. SHE IS NOT WELL."

"I've never seen you before! Don't come any closer!"

The machines passively shoved her to the side. As they were about to take the doctor away, Star ran from her seat and started to hug Dr. Decker as tight as she could, even though this was a frightening choice to make.

"INTERFERENCE DETECTED. TEST SUBJECT Z IDENTIFIED. FATHER'S PROTOCOL: SEDATE SUBJECT."

From behind the scenes, a dark room with many different screens encapsulated footage of every location within the planetarium. It included what was occurring right now. There, a figure dressed in a black suit and tie stood unfazed at what was happening. Whirring noises could be heard each time it took a step away.

"Send them all to TR-45."