The day started out like any other day,except it wasn't going to be a normal day.Lincoln woke up,brushed his teeth,drank his usual,hot chocolate with a lot of milk.He had a date planned with Stella,his girlfriend,today.The only thing was,he was more concerned than happy about that.Stella wasn't her normal self lately.She had a business meeting last week with someone Lincoln didn't know personally.Both Lincoln and Stella were 22 at the time,she works as a manager at a grand local firm and Lincoln was a master computer programer,and also a brilliant hacker.The good thing,he wasn't using his skills to do harm,quite the contrary,everyone knew he was a hacker and everyone respected him for that.Lincoln and Stella were a couple since highschool.After middle school their group got separated,but the two of them ended up in the same class in high school.They didn't give themselves a chance until the graduation prom.Both of them came alone to them prom,but after just one dance,they felt irreversibly in love with eachother.Since then,they went out on their dates almost every night,everything until last week,since then,Stella has grown distant and finally,she just didn't respond to his calls and messages at all.

Lincoln just finished his breakfast and went into the living room.He turned on the TV,power on his laptop and was ready to start working until something disturbed him.He heard knocks on his apartment door,but they weren't sounding like usual knocks,they were hard knocks,almost sounding like banging.He answered the door but was astonished to find nobody there.He exited his apartment to check the stairway to see if someone played a joke on him.The result was the same,he looked downwards and upwards,but not a single soul was in the stairway,nobody except him.He made his way back to his apartment,but accidentally stepped on something just before entering.He looked down to find something that looked like an envelope.He picked it up and noticed that it contained something hard inside,in the form of a rectangle.

He took the envelope inside and carefully opened it as to not damage its content.He was shocked by what he found inside.The mysterious device was actually Stella's phone.He recognised it immediately,because it had a star shaped sticker on the back of the phone with her initials engraved on it,SZ.

He turned the phone on and was met with Stella's usual security levels.He knew the code perfectly.1502.Stella's birthday.After unlocking it,Lincoln noticed something isn't right.First of all,the phone's battery was full which meant it was charged not to long ago.The second thing was that the phone was acting really weird,glitching all the time,almost not being able to hold itself together.All it took was one touch on the homescreen and everything vanished.Stella's beautiful face from the wallpaper was gone,everything turned to darkness except for the gallery app.Lincoln was already getting the chills,but nothing could prepare him for what was to come.He opened the app with an already shaking hand.He was met with 99 folders,all of which contained 99 files.When he opened one of the folders,he saw that,all the files were actually the same,same length,same thumbnail.He opened one of them and a video started.The video showed Stella,but not the normal,charming Stella he knew.It was a distressed Stella,she was almost crying.He couldn't make out all the words she was saying,but he could make out a few.

Stella:"Thing.If you look into my eyes,you can see it looking back!(glitching) Can you see it?(Screaming) I DON'T WANNA TAKE ANYONE ELSE!!(glitching) My name is Stella(glitching).My name is Stella,My name is Stella.He is watching. If you're seeing this,don't come find me(glitching) Don't Don't (screaming and glitching) DON'T".

The video ended suddenly,leaving poor Lincoln with lots of questions.

Lincoln:What the hell have I just watched?"

Still in a state of shock,he decides that he has to help his girlfriend by all means.The first thing he does is inspect the phone.It didn't seem to be damaged apart from a few scratches on the back.When he looks back at the screen,the phone was back to normal.He tries to check a few things and already notices something odd.

Lincoln:"Hmmm,SIM OS,what operating system is this? I am in the business for a few years,but i have never seen this OS version"

Right as he finishes his sentence,a message comes in.

Lincoln:"Hmm,a message,Stella,if you are seeing this,i am sorry,i am not the jealous type,but if you are in danger,i need to know"

He opens the messaging app and notices a message from her friend,Sam,it reads:

Sam:"Hey Stella,how is it going? Did something happen? Did i do something bad to you? Please,tell me"

Lincoln decides to respond:"Hey Sam,it is me,Lincoln,Stella's boyfriend,i have her phone now"

Another message comes in seconds away from the last one

Sam:'Why,did something happen to her?"

Lincoln:"This is what i am trying to find out.I received an envelope this morning and her phone was inside it.I unlocked it and then something strange happened"

Sam:"What,what happened?"

Lincoln:"The phone glitched out and it showed me a video of Stella freaking out,i am extremely concerned for her,but i am trying to hold it together"

Sam:"What,let's call the cops,then"

Lincoln:"I don't think we want to do that,we don't know what happened to her nor if someone has her or something.I will try to look through the phone and see if i find any clues to her whereabouts.If i find anything i will let you know"

Sam:"Ok,i am waiting"

Lincoln leaves the conversation and starts checking her messages.He made sure to read all of them.Nothing out of the ordinary happens in most of them,just conversations with her mom and a few of her friends,but one of them stood out above the rest,but there was one with one of her co-workers,a guy named Murv.This guy was a creep to say the least,he kept asking if she is still with Lincoln,calling him lame or dumb or sometimes even idiot,but the worst part is that he was pretending he was actually Stella's boyfriend,calling her pretty or even adressing her as "Babe"

Lincoln:"Oh,Stella,why didn't you tell me,i would have sued this creep"

Although their conversations were weird,Stella didn't mention anything about him crossing the line of physical decency and she also mentions that he never talks to this guy face to face and also never meets him in person.Lincoln decides to go back to Sam to ask her about this guy.

Lincoln:"Hey,Sam,do you know who this Murv person is?"

Sam:"Yeah,he is one of Stella's colleagues that has been making moves on her,she also told me that she wants to quit her job because of him"

Lincoln:"Was he the guy Stella met last week?"

Sam:"Not a chance,Stella told me she met a guy she didn't know,she said it is a guy she found on the internet that promised her to help with an application for a better job"

Lincoln:"Ok,first of all,so Murv doesn't have anything to do with Stella's disappearance? And two,she really did just meet a random guy on the internet,why would she do that?"

Sam:"Yeah,i don't think Murv would do anything to her,she told me he is trying to hold onto this job as much as he can,and if he would do something to her,that would get him fired for sure.And,about the second thing,yeah,she said it is a guy that had really good reviews,but i don't know his name or where they met"

Lincoln:"Ok,thanks for the info"

After the conversation ends,Lincoln notices another conversation that he didn't see so far,but when he tries to open it,an error message comes up.It reads:"Sorry,this conversation is not available,some of this phone's data has been deleted or intentionally damaged".After that he tries a different strategy.If the phone data can't be accessed,then,maybe she has some data back-up drives on her phone and if he installs them,he may be able to get the data back.He was actually right,she had a drive installed and it showed two ongoing packs of data trying to be installed.Lincoln decides to check them,but gets another error.The error said he needed to activate two security nodes to trigger the backup.One at her computer at home and one on her computer at work.As he sees that,he decides to go back to tell Sam what he has discovered.

Lincoln:"Sam,i found something.I think there is more stuff on the phone than i can see now.I found two data packs but i need to reach Stella's computers.Do you think you can head to Stella's apartament to trigger the first backup?"

Sam:"Yeah,i can,i live closer to her anyway,i will go right now,but still,it may take a while,so stay put"

Lincoln goes into the kitchen to grab something to drink but right as he pours some water into the glass,he hears another set of knocks on the door.He puts down the glass and goes outside to check,but once again,he finds nobody there.He gets really freaked out,he goes back to the kitchen,gets his water and goes back to Sam.

Lincoln:"Sam,i think someone is watching me"

Sam:"Oh,no,why do you say that?"

Lincoln:"This is the second time today when I hear knocks on my door,I go outside to check and nobody is there."

Sam:"I don't know what Stella got herself into,but she is my best friend and i won't give up on her,not even if it kills me"

Lincoln:"Neither will I,Sam,I love her too much!"

Sam:"Ok,i will get there in a few minutes,i am in the subway now,so hold on just a little longer"

Lincoln:"Are you sure you can get the first data pack from her computer at home?"

Sam:"Well,if you tell me what to do,I am sure I can do it."

Lincoln:"I don't know,Sam,but be careful,we don't know what we can find up there"

Sam:"Ok,i am at her door,but something is wrong,there was this sound,or a voice,i will try to record it"

Lincoln:"Is she there?"

Sam:"Nope,but her place is a mess,there is stuff all over the floor.She is usually very careful and organised.I don't think the apartament has been robbed,her computer is here,and other valuable stuff"

Lincoln:"Ok,Sam,did you manage to record the sound?"

Sam:"Yeah,listen for yourself"

The next message that came in was a voice message.Lincoln was afraid of what he would hear but he had to know,so he hit play.The voice was really mumbled and distorted,but it was definitely talking.Lincoln decided to run the audio file through a voice synthesizer,so he could hear what it was really saying,the words were:"I am you and you are I,we will never be separated".Lincoln was now completely freaked out,who would say such a thing and why.

Lincoln goes back to Sam:"Ok,Sam,you are not gonna like this,i ran the file through a voice synthesizer to clear the voice out,and this was the result"

Sam takes a while to listen to the file but when she comes back she is even more freaked out than Lincoln was.

Sam:"Lincoln,what is going on here?"

Lincoln:"I don't know,Sam,but let's do what we came here for,first,power on the computer,than,search for the drive in the files,activate the backup and we are done"

Sam:"Ok,done and done,the only problem,it requires a password,what do I do?"

Lincoln:"Try LCLSTZ1112"

Sam:"Wow,it worked,how did you know?"

Lincoln:"It was a code that me and Stella worked together.LCL stands for Lincoln Loud,STZ stands for Stella Zhau,11 is the age we've met and 12 is the age when she joined our group.Ok,the backup started"

Lincoln met with a loading screen,restoring some of the phone's deleted files.In a few seconds everything was done.Lincoln tried to go back to confirm to Sam that he got the backup but when he touched the messaging app,the phone glitched again.It didn't even show Stella's wallpaper anymore,it showed a default wallpaper like the phone would have went through a factory reset.

Lincoln:"Oh,no,please don't tell me all the data is gone,i just got the backup"

He touched the screen one more time and the phone started glitching again,when it became quiet,Lincoln notices a message came in,the picture was completely distorted,so much you couldn't even make out if you were talking to a human,but the name was clear.It displayed the name AULNER.

Aulner:"YoU,yOu.ArE yOu SaFe?"

Lincoln:"What,who is this?"

Aulner:"Don'T YoU reCogNizE Me? It'S VoiCe.IT'S VoiCe.DO noT BeliEve It.YoU muSt ResIst It'S wOrdS!"

Lincoln:"Who's words?"

Aulner:"ThE OnE,THe ManY,It's voiCe.YoU neEd tO TunE It oUt.SomEThinG iS WrOng.YoU aRe Not SteLLa"

Lincoln:"No,I am not,I am her boyfriend,who are you?"

Aulner:" I CaNNot ReMemBer"

Lincoln:"Ok,can you help me,how do I find her?"

Aulner:"FInd Me,fiNd iT,i Am nOt It,IT Is Not mE,FiNd mE,FiNd It"

The phone glitches out again and after that,everything goes back to normal,Stella's wallpaper appears again,and a few unread messages from Sam are shown.

Sam:"Wow,it froze for a bit,did you get it?"

Lincoln:"Yeah,I got it,but something weird just happened?"

Sam:"Oh,God,what happened?"

Lincoln figures that Sam was already scared enough and he didn't want to add to the pressure.

Lincoln:"Nothing,i think i passed out for a bit,there is one more backup at her work computer,but i can't risk you getting into more trouble,i will work with what i have and i will figure out a way to get the second backup"

A few more unread messages were recovered and they were from a previous chat with Sam,weird,why would Stella delete those,Lincoln asked himself.He went through all of them.Most of them were of them talking,Stella complaining about her job,telling Sam she wants to quit,but she briefly mentioned something about the guy she was meeting,not a name or anything,but she mentioned that they talked pretty frequently for a couple of days and he seemed to know quite a few things about Stella,even if she didn't mention telling him anything.The messages end in an abrupt way:

Stella:"I am going to meet him,i need his help"

Sam:"Stella,I don't know if that is a good idea,he knows things about you even if you haven't told him anything,doesn't that sound a bit creepy?"

Stella:"I don't know,Sam,but i really need his help,sorry,but i don't have a choice,i am leaving now"

Sam:"No,Stella,wait……"

This is not a normal way to end a conversation,Lincoln thought to himself.Seconds after that,another notification came in,it wasn't the messages this time.It was one of Stella's social networks,her Jabbr.After opening the app,Lincoln is shocked by what he found,Stella just made a new post.It was a picture of Stella taken in her apartment.Immediately,Lincoln noticed 2 things that were wrong with this post.First of all,how could Stella take a picture and post it in her apartment if Sam just checked it and saw she was not there.Secondly,how could Stella take a picture and post it if Lincoln has her phone.He gets out of the app and goes back to Sam.

Lincoln:"Sam,something weird just happened,look at this picture"

Lincoln sends her the picture.Sam takes a few seconds to analyze it.

Sam:"But,that is Stella's place,how is this possible? I was there,I swear,Lincoln,she was not at home,I swear I am not lying!"

Lincoln:"Sam,calm down,i know you are not lying,and i trust you,but now,i need you to go rest a bit,stress is getting to you"

Sam:"Maybe you are right,but i doubt i will be able to sleep until Stella is home,safe"

Lincoln:"I know,but,please,try it,i will get to the bottom of this.If i will need your help again,i will just give you a text"

Sam:"Ok,but how are we going to get the second backup?"

Lincoln:"I will think about something,maybe we can call someone at her office to help us"

Sam:"I think,actually i may be able to go get it,the guys there know who i am,they can let me do it"

Lincoln:"Sam,no,i don't wanna involve you in this case anymore,there must be someone at her office we can call"

Sam:"What about Murv,the guy who was harassing her?"

Lincoln:"Brilliant idea,thanks,Sam,but what can we use as leverage?"

Sam:"Well,he was harassing her,you can use that against him.But,try pretending you are Stella,first,maybe that will work better"

Lincoln:"Sam,you are a genius,i will get started"

Lincoln starts looking through the conversations and finds the one with Murv quite fast,so he gets to work immediately.

Lincoln(pretending to be Stella):"Greetings,Murv"

Murv:"Hey,Stella,how is it going?Where have you been,the entire office has been looking for you!"

Lincoln(Stella):"Oh,no,i am fine,don't worry"

Murv:"I heard you were leaving us,that is a shame,but I do hope it goes well with you,how has your meeting been?"

Lincoln(Stella):"Wait,you know about that?"

Murv:"Well,yeah,people are talking,you told somebody,that somebody told another somebody and that somebody told me"

Lincoln(Stella):"It went fine,but can you do something for me first?"

Murv:"Sure,what do you need?"

Lincoln:"I have a data pack on my computer at work,i need you to activate it"

Murv:"Using another employee's PC is against policy,why can't you do it yourself?"

Lincoln(Stella):"I am stuck at home,i am sick and i can't come"

Murv:"That can't be right.Crap,you are not Stella,are you?Ok,we are done"

Lincoln:"Hold on,Murv,you are right,i am not Stella,i am her boyfriend.I saw your conversation,I saw how you talk to her,and if you don't activate the backup,the HR will know about this too"

Murv:"Oh,NO,Ok,i will do it,i don't wanna lose this job,i am on my way to her PC,and man,i am so so sorry for how i treated her,i swear i won't do it again"

Lincoln:"Ok,as long as you don't,just go,and,next time,if it happens again,you won't get away so easily"

Murv:"Ok,i'm at her PC,but i need her password,i can reset it,but HR will text her phone to verify.You have to pretend to be Stella,just as you did with me"

Lincoln:"Don't worry,I will do it!"

Murv shared a contact with Lincoln of a person named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth:"Hey,Stella,I received your password reset request.Are you ok,though? I haven't seen you around lately"

Lincoln(Stella):"Yeah,i got sick and i couldn't come to work,I even sent a letter to the boss to confirm it"

Elizabeth:"Well,i haven't seen it,but i am sure the boss got to it,hope you feel better soon,but,now that you have mentioned the boss,we have a problem"

Lincoln(Stella):"Oh,what is the problem?"

Elizabeth:"It says here that you are reporting Murv for harassing you.I talked about this with the boss and he says you should seriously think about this.We received a deal from a bigger firm,they would want to collab with us and we can't afford to get into a scandal right now"

Lincoln(Stella):"That's ridiculous!"

Elizabeth:"His words,not mine.He says he will have a talk with Murv if you let this thing go,but if you want,you can let the report go through,but it will definitely upset the boss"

Lincoln takes a while to think about this.If he reported Murv and made him get what he deserved,he may not help him anymore,but if he protected him,he would basically protect a bad person.What does he value more,justice or his girlfriend.Him made his decision immediately after that.

Lincoln(Stella):"Anything for the boss,hold back the report".Lincoln decides that Stella's life is more important to him than catching Murv.

Elizabeth:"Ok,but,if you ask me,you have to protect your dignity,but,i understand what you are going for.Oops,i almost forgot,i just reset your password.See you soon"

Murv then replies right back:"Ok,got the password and,I'm in"

Lincoln:"Still clear on your task?"

Murv:"Yeap,activate the backup.It just started,did you get it?"

Lincoln met with the same kind of loading screen telling him that the phone is recovering data.It didn't take more than a few seconds.But,after the backup was done,the same thing happened as earlier.The phone glitched and went back to fresh new or after a factory reset,and after a few seconds,the same person greeted him again.AULNER.

Aulner:"HaVe yoU FouNd HeR yEt?"

Lincoln:"I am getting closer"

Aulner:"ShE iS RUnnIng OuT Of tIMe,yOu nEEd to HurRy!"

Lincoln:"I am trying,but,can't you help me?"

Aulner:"She MeT ME,sHe mEt IT,I Am NoT It,iT is nOt Me.FiNd Me,FinD It"

Lincoln asks him in a desperate way:"Is she still alive?"

Aulner:"TIme Is ShOrt,If YoU fAil,She Will shArE My FaTe"

After that,Aulner sends Lincoln a corrupted photo.Lincoln manages to restore it.It was an image of a building top,from there you could see a highway and other buildings on the sides.What could this mean,Lincoln asked himself.After that,the phone goes back to normal one more time.Murv messages him back the moment he got reception.

Murv:"Hey,are you still there,did you get the backup?"

Lincoln:"Yes,i did,but something weird happened"

Murv:"Look,i was in the middle of something when you messaged me,i derailed from my schedule,can i go back? I thrust you that you will keep my chat with Stella a secret"

Lincoln:"I will only if you promise to leave her alone for good"

Murv:"I swear I will!"

Lincoln decides to go back to see what the phone has recovered.The thing that stood out the most was a conversation with a person named James.He goes through the messages but on his way down,he already notices some odd stuff.First of all,there were some obscure entries such as:

James:"Why are you still hanging around at your job?You hate it right?"

Stella:"Yeah,but how did you know?"

James:"And,has that guy given you any troubles again?"

Stella:"Oh,James,how did you know? I haven't told you anything about him"

James:"I read something online about him.Murv,wasn't it?"

Stella:"Yeah,but have any news been already published,i reported him,yeah,but nobody told me anything so far"

James:"Well,your boyfriend should be able to deal with him,when you will tell me,of course"

Stella:"Wow,are you spying on me,how did you know i haven't told him,and how did you know i had a boyfriend in the first place?"

James:"Well,you are a pretty sweet girl,it would be obvious you have a boyfriend,and you also seem the kind of person that likes to deal with problems herself.I just took a guess"

Stella:"Well,you have an unnatural talent of guessing my backstory"

James:"There was no need,Stella,you are like an opened book and so easy to read,i just connected the dots"

Stella also asked him if he has helped other people with job applications,and he responded that he has helped another girl named Cassie.He also shared her Jabbr account.She did say James was a bit weird because Cassie was a star on Jabbr,but he helped her with application for a real job,since she said she wanted to quit being an influencer.The conversation ended with James wanting to help Stella with the application for her new job,he told her to meet up at her workplace to discuss and Stella agreed.Lincoln decided to go back to tell Sam what he has discovered.

Lincoln:"Hey,Sam,can you talk?"

Sam:"Yeah,sure,I just woke up,what's up?"

Lincoln:"Does the name James ring a bell?"

Sam:"Yeah,that is the guy Stella met,Aulner,James Aulner"

Lincoln:"Did you say Aulner?"

Sam:"Yeah,that was his name,why?"

Lincoln:"When we got the backups,a guy names Aulner kept messaging me,his picture was distorted and he kept speaking in a weird,glitchy way"

Sam:"Oh,no,you think he is involved?"

Lincoln:"I have no idea,but,i know how we can find out.He shared a link of the website to the place he works at and he also said he has helped a girl named Cassie before Stella"

Sam:"Cassie,from Jabbr,i know her,she seems to be ok,but,i think you should ask her about James and maybe call his workplace,for a second opinion"

Lincoln:"Good idea,Sam,i will do that,you just hang tight until i come back"

It really didn't matter what Lincoln would do first,so he decides to try to track down Cassie first.Since she is a celebrity on Jabbr,he decides to start his searching there.He goes through all of her posts from last to first.Eventually,he comes across a clue.In one of Cassie's previous posts,she decided to do a special AMA(ask me anything) for reaching 300k followers.She mentioned that in her upcoming posts she will reveal a hidden phone number and if you call her,you can ask her something.The posts themselves didn't seem to reveal much,but all of them shared something in common.All of the posts either contained a number or had referenced a number,so Lincoln figured this was it,he writes down all the numbers from the following posts and the result was:9238140.After dialing the number,Lincoln knew it was correct,since Cassie's picture showed up,as if she was already one of the contacts.The answering machine picked up,revealing the point of the AMA and telling Lincoln to wait his turn.It didn't take long for Cassie to reply with a text message.

Cassie:"Hello,i am Cassie,but since you've called the secret number,you know that already.It is your turn for the AMA,so,please,ask away"

Lincoln:"How well do you know James Aulner?"

Cassie:"Say what,him? How do you know about him?"

Lincoln:"He is a key person in a disappearance,my girlfriend is the victim"

Cassie:"Oh,my,are you serious,i can't believe it,i could have been kidnapped.Look,i don't know what you heard but this sounds seriously f-ed up.I will tell you anything,but one condition.My account is close to 350k followers,and i don't want them to know who the real me is,so we keep this between us,ok?"

Lincoln:"Sorry,but there are other people helping me and they need to know"

Cassie:"Ok,but please,don't tell them any personal info about me,please"

Lincoln:"Ok,deal!"

Cassie:"I met James through an internet add,i usually reject those immediately,but everyone said he had really good reviews.I only needed him to help me with the application for a job,nothing more.We started a chat,everything was normal,until he started "guessing" things about my real life.I haven't told him anything,because i was afraid he would reveal real things about me,but he managed to always guess right"

Lincoln:"No way,he did the same to Stella!"

Cassie:"What was weirder,he managed to text me exactly the right time i woke up.I have some sleeping problems and frequent night terrors,since,before i started my Jabbr account i went through depression and i still have nightmares,but somehow,James texted me exactly the right time i woke up and his answer was the same every time:What was the nightmare about this time,I am listening.Does he ever sleep?"

Lincoln:"Ok,that is really odd,i think he was doing the same thing to Stella"

Cassie:"The final thing,he knew almost everything about me,my name,and even my address,if he is not a hacker,something is really wrong about him.I blocked him and never talked to him again"

Lincoln:"Ok,thank you,that is everything i needed to know"

Cassie:"You know,i read somewhere that psychopaths try their best to fit in,i feel that James is kind of like that.Hope you can find your girlfriend,good luck"

Lincoln then goes immediately back to Sam:"Sam,i talked to Cassie!"

Sam:"And?"

Lincoln:"This James person did the same thing to her,he could predict her every move,knowing way too much about her"

Sam:"So he is either some next level stalker or there is something to him that we don't know yet.Ok,one more to go,you still have to call his workplace,do it quick,please,i am growing more and more concerned by the second"

Lincoln:"Hold on,Sam,this will all be over soon"

Lincoln knew what had to be done now,he goes to Stella's conversation with James and searches for the link to the website James was working for.He clicked the link and it took him to an website owned by a firm called Phresh Ideas.There,they described themselves and what they do,but,on the front page,James was nowhere to be found.At the bottom of the site,however,there was a registry where you could fill in your name,email and phone number.They were apparently hiring people.Lincoln figured that may be the only way to talk to any employee there.He was about to fill in the last bit of Stella's phone number when something disturbed him.There was a third knock on his door accompanied by a series of footsteps running away.Lincoln stood up,unlocked the door and ran down the hallway to chace whoever kept knocking on his door,but with every step he took,the sound of the footsteps became more and more distant.By the time he reached the stairs,the sound was already gone.He was lucky though,nobody else was in the building so he went down to the ground floor to check the CCTV.He rewinded back to when the incident happened but all he could see was static.He did hear the footsteps in the background,but all he saw was a flash and then the cameras cut to static.Something fried the circuits of all the cameras in the building just moments before the first knock on his door took place.He went back more scared than disappointed,the only thing he remembered about the footsteps,besides them running away,whoever was,was wearing hills.So was it a woman? Lincoln asked himself.Stella usually liked to wear high hills during our dates.A disturbing fact came to Lincoln's mind,was it Stella all along,but,why did the cameras work just until the knocking and why would she run away,was she trying to warn him about something?

All questions and no answers,but Lincoln could not lose time,he filled in the application and sent it.In just a few minutes a new text came in,from a guy named Phill.

Phill:"Hello,is this Stella Zhau?"

Lincoln(Stella):"Yes,it is me"

Phill:"Cool,my name is Phill,from Phresh Ideas.Or Phill Phresh as some buds call me,get it,"Fell Fresh"? Anyway,this is just a preliminary chat,save it for the big interview tomorrow,but,before that,it is company policy to ask some questions first,so are you ready?"

Lincoln(Stella):"Yeap,ask away!"

Phill:"Cool,in 10 years,what do you see yourself doing?"

Lincoln(Stella):"I think,develop the skills to manage other people"

Phill:"Going for the manager,huh,well,we are a tiny firm,anything can happen in 10 years.Second question.Why should i hire you?"

Lincoln(Stella):"I am skilled in both computers and writing and many more"

Phill:"Oh,i am excited to see what you would be able to do.Third question.Why do you want to work here?"

Lincoln(Stella):"James Aulner spoke highly of you guys,do you know him?"

Phill:"James,haven't heard that name in a while,sorry,pal,why are you asking?"

Lincoln decides to play smart a bit:"I hired him to help me with writing an application for a job,we were supposed to meet last week but he didn't come"

Phill:"Wait,did he tell you to meet him?"

LIncoln(Stella):"Yeah,of course,why?"

Phill:"Because he has gone missing last month"

Lincoln's heart froze at this point,he was beyond scared.Lincoln decided to get more info though:"What do you mean he has gone missing? He didn't show up for work?"

Phill:"Well,James was a guy with not too much pride,he was not sure even he can be the best writer.He went on the internet to search for somebody to write him the application,he met somebody and since that day,he was coming at work late,he grew distant,then one day,he just vanished.No calls,no mails,no messages,nothing,so we terminated him."

Lincoln:"Have you contacted him since?"

Phill:"We tried but everything we have done has been a dead end."

Lincoln(Stella):"Can you at least tell me how his last day was?"

Phill:"Well,he come in at 11 AM,works starts at 8,by the way,he decided to stay only a few hours.At one point,he went into the bathroom and didn't come out,when we checked on him,we heard a strange noise.I even recorded it,listen."

The next message was a voice text.It was the same mumbling voice from before.Lincoln did another run of the audio file through the voice synthesizer,but not even that was successful this time,all he could understand was the words:"Everything" and "Will become".Everything,even after that was unintelligible.

Phill:"We then went into the bathroom to check and nobody was there"

Lincoln(Stella):"Ok,that is really weird"

Phill:"What is weirder is that,later that day,we found his phone on his desk.We tried checking it,but i think it was broken because it kept glitching out.Some people say they saw him on Jabbr,some friends even saw adds promoting him.Whatever happened to that kid,i think he needs help,professional help."

Lincoln(Stella):"Thanks for the interview!"

Phill:"Wow,sorry,went of tangent there,thank you,we will tell you if you've got the job"

Lincoln immediately goes back to Sam:"Sam,i called his workplace,you will not believe what i found out."

Sam:"Tell me,what?"

Lincoln:"It appears James went missing as well."

Sam:"No way,that kind of confirms what i found too.I have been also doing some digging and i came across this."

Sam sent him a link to a newspaper.It was talking about various crimes that go on the internet,but nobody mentioned the missing crimes.It then showed a list of missing people.From what Lincoln could see,all the victims shared something in common.They all were aged between 21 to 25,they all wanted to quit their job and are looking for help about that and they all seem to be bookworms of some sort.There also seemed to be a gender patter girlguygirlguy.

Lincoln:"Sam,do you think this will keep happening?"

Sam:"Most likely,but we have the ability to stop it,for Stella and for all the others"

Lincoln:"What do I need to do to get Stella back?"

Sam:"We have to bait this creep and somehow beat him in his own game.Go on the internet,pretend you are a girl that wants to quit her job and need help from someone to write you the application.Watch and click on every single add you find and when you find him,set up a meeting and we will catch him"

Lincoln:"Wouldn't it work better if you do it,since you are already a girl?"

Sam:"We will both do it,together.I will come over to your house and start searching"

Lincoln:"Ok,Sam,let's finish this,for Stella and for all the other people"

Sam arrived to Lincoln's house in just 30 minutes.In the next few hours,Lincoln and Sam posted on all their social media that they are in need of someone to help with a new job application, they have watched all the adds they came across but didn't find anything.It was already 5PM and it was getting late.At one point,Lincoln noticed something peculiar.One of the adds had capital letters inside its words.It seemed just as the way Aulner was talking to him before,but Lincoln had the idea to put the letters together.He got a little freaked out when he discovered the hidden message was:"HE IS NEAR".After one more hour,Lincoln was on the verge of giving up,he decided to watch 3 more adds and then take a break.The first 2 turned out empty,like all the others but the third one,had the same kind of speaking as before,capitals inside words,but this time the message was:"HE IS HERE".Lincoln knew this was it,he clicked on the add which made the phone glitch out again.

Lincoln:"Sam,come here,I found it!"

Sam took a closer look,after clicking on the add,it took them to a website.The entire site was red and had words written all across it.The first sentence was:You've found it",then,"I am no longer of this world","She still can be saved","Do not trust its words","Nothing is what it seems".It then took them to a chat with Stella.

Stella:"Hello,is anyone there?"

Lincoln:"Stella,it is me,Lincoln!"

Stella:"Lincoln,oh God,i can't believe it,you have to help me?Everything i remember,i was going out,i met James,then i blacked out"

Lincoln:"Where are you now?"

Stella:"I don't know,a warehouse,a building,it is dark,i don't know"

Sam notices something is odd.The entire screen was turning black and white and something appeared in the middle of the screen,something that was changing its form every couple of seconds.

Sam:"Lincoln,i don't think that is really Stella?"

Lincoln:"What makes you think that?"

Sam:"Look at the screen!"

A few seconds took Lincoln to actually realize something is wrong,so his next message was:"You are not Stella!"

Stella:"What are you talking about,of course I am."

Lincoln:"Then how are you talking to me if I have your phone?"

Stella:"I found a phone somewhere in the building,it has James Aulner written on the back,it must be his phone"

Lincoln:"You're lying,Aulner's phone was found on his desk by another employee."

Stella:"Oh,it must be someone else's phone then.It doesn't matter,i think i can help myself now.I will just get out and get help.Thanks for not giving up on me,i should go"

Lincoln remembered a quote that Aulner kept telling him so his next message was:"Nothing is what it seems!"

It took the person on the other side some time to reply,but their message was:"He told you,didn't he"

Lincoln:"Reveal yourself!"

Stella:"As you wish.I am her as she is me.If it is me you wish to see.Then so be it"

The thing in the middle of the screen actually came to life and started talking in a deep,glitchy doubled voice"

Stella:"Impressive.A worthy pretender.My prevention fails to deceive you.You have seen through my maks"

Lincoln:"Who are you?"

Stella:"I am the Simulacra,beyond your glass screens,behind your black mirrors.Is a reflection of your reality,I am that reality"

Lincoln:"So you are basically the software,how advanced are you really?"

Stella:"I am the new order,an existence perfected.I am society reshaped.A simulation destined for ascention.A hyperreal existence"

Lincoln:"What about Stella,where is she?"

Stella:"Stella is a worm,in a perfect image,that needs to be eradicated.A weak individual that only laments.A stronger individual would simulate a better one.In my world.In the online world"

Lincoln:"What are you going to do to her?"

Stella:"Weak simulacrums fade into obscurity.A waste of precious space.I assimilate them momentarily.Make them stronger.Seek other worms for removal.Delete the original source from the material world"

Lincoln:"By delete you mean kill,right?"

Stella:"Stella,Stella,Stella(glitching) like James,before her,will cease to exist.The next worm,Sam,the next one to be culled,you will not delay my assimilation of her any longer"

Lincoln turns his head over to Sam.

Sam:"Lincoln,what do we do?"

Lincoln:"The easiest answer would be to simply delete the software,but i have another idea,we will make it suffer just like it made Stella suffer.I am going to hack the software and break it bit by bit."

Stella:"That is not going to work,i am a higher being remember,my firewalls will protect me."

Lincoln:"Your firewalls are no match to my skills."

Lincoln connected the phone to his laptop and started doing what he did best for a few years.

Stella:"What are you doing?"

Lincoln:"I am infecting your software with a trojan virus,you can't either block it,nor hide from it,after your defenses are down,you will be at my wil.l"

Stella:"You know it is impossible for you to do that."

Lincoln:"Too bad,i already did it and it worked out perfectly!"

Lincoln then started the process to connect to the software,he already rendered his defenses useless,so all he had to do was to destroy it.

Lincoln:"I will now search for your source code,after that,i will shatter it and destroy you piece by piece."

Stella:"No,NO! You are destroying my world!"

Lincoln was a bit confused by what he found in the source code.It was a list of encrypted files.Lincoln didn't know what they were at first but judging by the simulacra's reaction,they were important.

Lincoln:"Oh,what are these?"

Stella:"No,don't touch those!"

Lincoln:"Oh,these must be the people you've killed so far.Well,now that i know this,i will break every single encryption.That should set them free."

Stella:"NO!Ok,i will give you your girlfriend back,just,please,leave those alone!"

Lincoln:"Oh,no,pal,you are not getting away that easily,you took Stella away from me,now that is your punishment!"

Lincoln broke every single encryption in the source,after that,shattered it and completely erased Simulacra off the face of the Earth.Right after that,the phone powered off,and shattered its entire screen by itself.Lincoln threw the phone on the ground.After a bright flash engulfed the room,Lincoln and Sam were shocked to see poor Stella passed out on the floor.It took a few minutes for her to wake up,but when she did,she almost started crying when she saw Lincoln,they both hugged and kissed for some time.After such an adventure,they needed that.

Real Stella:"Lincoln,I can't believe you saved me.How did you two manage to beat that thing?"

Sam:"Not we,Stella,Lincoln did it."

Lincoln:"Oh,come on,Sam,you helped a lot too,but it really doesn't matter,the thing that matters is that you are safe."

Real Stella:"Not only me,Linc,all the people that were there,they are free,they are back to their bodies and they can go back to their families.You've saved us!"

Lincoln:"Stella,before i get you back home,there is something i wanna ask you.You see,i know you've just come back,and it is not the perfect time,but i really didn't realize how much i love you until I was on the verge of losing you"

Lincoln got on his knees and asked her the question:"Stella,love of my life,will you marry me?"

Stella:"Oh,Lincoln,you've saved my life and i still love you from the bottom of my heart,so,yes,Lincoln,I will marry you"

They both kissed and took Stella home.

THE END