Code Lyoko: Washed Away
William Penn
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Moonscoop, Canal J or Taffy Entertainment. I am a writer using the Code Lyoko universe in a fan fic. This story takes place in the third season.
Weathering the Storm
The weatherman said the storms would continue for the next week. The wind and rain made it difficult for the Lyoko Warriors to remain covert. The access tunnels were flooded and they had to travel over ground in the rain in their galoshes to reach the Factory. Unknown to them, their day was going to get a lot worse.
"Whoa!" Odd Della Robbia exclaimed." Either Xana's monsters are getting stronger, or we're all wet!" He finished emptying the water out of his galoshes. Aelita Stones, who happened to be the nearest, just shrugged, too exhausted to respond. The others suited up in their rain attire while Aelita looked out the window and suddenly woke up. She watched and noted a few factors and did some quick figuring.
"The crabs were 50 stronger this time and the Megatanks showed signs of intelligence." Jeremy Belpois explained. "This weather is terrible!"
"Jeremy, I think we have a problem!" Aelita spoke up nervously. "I think the wind is hurricane strength and the river is likely to overtake the bridge any second…."
"What the..." Ulrich Stern said looking out a different window. The river level was just two feet below the bridge. "Einstein, if we don't cross soon we'll be trapped here!"
"We have to go together holding on to the rails." Jeremy suggested.
"I don't think..." Aelita protested. She pointed back to the lab.
"If Jim finds out we're not there, again, we'll get expelled!" Jeremy explained to her.
"Besides, another few feet and the water will be where we are standing." Yumi Ishiyama added.
Aelita still looked unconvinced gazing out the maelstrom outside and shuddered.
"Hey! Is the lab in danger?" Odd exclaimed.
"No, it's insulated against flooding. The doors are watertight." Aelita said putting on her meager raingear, which consisted of a pink poncho. Her boots were already waterproof.
"It feels like one of Xana's tricks!" Ulrich sighed.
"I doubt it. You guys took out the necessary monsters and Aelita got the only activated tower." Jeremy retorted.
"Jeremy's right. The Weather Channel has been predicting this storm long before Xana did anything. Xana usually uses the element of surprise." Aelita explained.
"Not to interrupt this intellectual discussion." Ulrich interrupted politely. "But, we really need to cross Now!" The water became visibly closer to the bridge.
Ulrich went first, followed by Odd, and then Jeremy. Then Yumi went out on the bridge. Aelita looked at her present path and sighed.
"I really have a bad feeling about this!" She muttered then gulped and adjusted her hood then followed Yumi. The five Lyoko Warriors made slow progress on a bridge that normally took seconds but most of their efforts involved keeping the hurricane strength wind from knocking them into the river. They picked up some speed. Ulrich and Odd made it across and scampered to the half ajar gate after gazing longingly at the tunnel access, which now had water overflowing out of it in gushes. Jeremy followed.
Yumi and Aelita still foraged their way across the bridge nearly across when Yumi tripped and fell flat on her face. Aelita, who was blinded by the water the wind drove into her face, plowed into Yumi as she tried to stand. Aelita landed on her.
"Oh, sorry!" Aelita exclaimed climbing off Yumi. Aelita knelt down and tried to untangle Yumi's foot from the cable wrapped around her ankle.
"Don't worry about it! I've got it! Get going!" Yumi tried to untangle her own feet.
"Unwrap it the other way!" Aelita advised helping Yumi unwind her foot.
Just as Ulrich ,Odd and Jeremy reached the gate, Ulrich turned around.
"Jeremy, Aelita and Yumi are still on the bridge!" Ulrich warned.
"Something's wrong! We got to go back!" Jeremy replied.
"You stay here! Odd and I will go back!" Ulrich retorted shouting to overcome the roar of the wind.
"Let the more athletically inclined go!" Odd smiled patting Jeremy on the back. "We'll see what's going on!" Jeremy reluctantly agreed watching a light pole weave like a reed in the wind. Odd and Ulrich ran back to the bridge.
Aelita leaned back in satisfaction after helping Yumi free her foot. Yumi looked concerned.
"What is it?" Aelita ask immediately realizing the storm had slowed. Then they heard the roar like a jet engine as Ulrich and Odd ran out onto the bridge and helped Yumi to her feet. They all paused as the tornado settled over the river.
Jeremy came running to the bridge screaming "Run!" over and over again. Odd, Ulrich and Yumi ran toward Jeremy while Aelita stood dumbstruck at the waterspout. Then, she ran to the others tripping on the very wire from which Yumi had been freed. Yumi realized that Aelita had tripped and started back to her to help. The others stopped in confusion looking at the water spout which seemed too close for comfort. Yumi made it to Aelita in time to realize it was too late. They embraced as the water spout came closer.
"Get down!" Yumi pushed Aelita down in a last minute effort for safety. The water spout sputtered then ceased. Aelita and Yumi were flat on their bellies with their eyes shut expecting the worse as the twister stopped. The twister dropped the water like a waterfall. They looked up in time to see the large wave two seconds from the bridge. Their momentary relief turned to horror.
"Oh no!" Aelita said. Yumi pulled her down again. As the wave hit, it caught Aelita and Yumi cringing halfway across the bridge as Ulrich and Odd raced to their aid. Jeremy had just made it to the edge of the bridge after stumbling over the tunnel access, then whoosh! Aelita and Yumi were gone and Ulrich flew over the hand rail on the opposite side. Odd embraced the wave and disappeared as Jeremy wound being washed back up to the tunnel access almost where he started. The wave laid him out like a castaway washed up on the beach. The day went well--if you were Xana.
All Washed Up
Jeremy awoke after having a vision of chasing a white whale over a distant virtual ocean. Only, this whale had Xana's eyes and radiated raw lightening. Jeremy gasped and opened his eyes.
"This is a bad week to be studying Moby Dick in Literature class" Jeremy grumbled holding his head. "Xana and Melville don't mix!" Jeremy looked around and realized he was alone.
"Guys?" Jeremy rose to his feet noting the complete collapse of the storm. The sun appeared through the thinning clouds.
"NOW, it clears up!" Jeremy said sarcastically." Ulrich! Odd! Yumi! Aelita! Can you hear me?" Jeremy yelled cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify the sound.
"I hope they waterproofed their mobiles like I told them!" Jeremy said feeling stupid he didn't think of it sooner. He began dialing mobile numbers.
"Hello!" Ulrich answered sounding annoyed.
"Where are you?" Jeremy asked as he looked down stream.
"Right behind you!" Ulrich emerged from near the gate. "I scaled the bank farther down stream and wound up here." He shrugged.
Jeremy sighed in relief and dialed Odd's number.
"Have you seen anyone else?" Jeremy asked while the mobile rang. They heard it at a distance, but couldn't find it.
"Hello!" Odd pleasantly.
"Are you alright?" Jeremy asked while they tried to locate him.
"Oh, I'm fine!" Odd smiled without-a-care-in-the-world. "I'm just hanging around!" Jeremy and Ulrich looked over the side of the bridge and saw Odd hanging upside down by a loose cable. Odd looked up (or down from his perspective) and waved smiling uneasily.
"We really must secure those cables!" Jeremy shook his head sighing.
Jeremy and Ulrich helped Odd back onto the bridge.
"Talking about a wipe out!" Odd commented shaking the water out of his hair.
"Have you seen the girls?" Ulrich beat Jeremy, who was about to ask the same thing.
"No, nothing but muddy water!" Odd sighed.
"I could only get their voice mail." Jeremy sighed.
"Looks like we have to do this the old fashioned way!" Ulrich sighed. Jeremy sighed in recognition.
"We have to split up to cover more ground faster. Odd go with me. Ulrich you check the opposite bank." Jeremy explained as Odd looked upstream. "We need to focus our search downstream!" Jeremy explained as Odd switched directions. "Remember, they could be hurt we need to hurry!"
They started to search but Yumi showed up emerging from the Factory.
"What's the matter? Not taking calls?" Ulrich chided as Yumi frowned at him.
"My mobile is toast!" Yumi sighed and saw Jeremy about to lecture her." The case was waterproof, but not shock proof!" She presented a vinyl mobile case with no structural integrity and emptied the fragments on the bridge. "I guess buying discounted merchandise didn't help."
"Unless they offered a mobile case made of Kevlar, I don't think it would matter!" Odd reassured.
"Have you seen Aelita?" Jeremy asked.
"No, we were separated. It was like being creamed by a bus. I think she was nearer to the other bank before I lost sight of her. Have you tried calling her?"
"Yes, but if her trip was as rough as yours her mobile's probably toast, too." Jeremy sighed. "I hope that's all it is." He lowered his voice to a whisper.
Out of the Frying Pan...
In the void, a silent empty except for jagged memories and darkness, Aelita found herself floating without strength. In her thoughts, she realized she must be underwater. She felt oddly at ease just floating drifting with the current. Suddenly, she wasn't finding any air. She struggles to find the surface, but it eludes her. She can't see. It's like looking at the world with her eyes closed and they won't open. The pressure builds in her lungs which scream for air.
'I must get back to Jeremy! And my friends! They need me!' She finally exhales the rest of her air in one exhausted gasp...
...then, she gasped coughing as she sat up in horror. She relaxed when she found the air her lungs desperately required. She looked around feeling the warmth of the sun. She didn't even see the river, but she could hear it.
She found herself in some sort of crude camp apparently near the river. She was lying out in the sun drying like a beach blanket. The place was a disaster area surrounded by junk and bare dirt with dead trees. She found a ratty blanket on her feet apparently covering her until she sat up.
'Someone must have helped me.' Shethought looking for tracks
She saw a ragged man with layers of tattered clothing approaching her.
"Thanks for helping me. I must be going now!" Aelita tried to sound pleasant but became jittery. The man approached her like a zombie. She got a look at his face. She didn't know his face, but she recognized the eyes.
"No! Please! Let me go!" Aelita tried to get up but her legs felt like rubber. With unnatural speed his scooped up her struggling form. Red lightening coursed into her form making her still. The ragged man slung her still form over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
...into the Scanner
After two hours of searching, the rest of the Lyoko Warriors minus Yumi gathered back at the bridge.
"I don't understand." Jeremy stated striking the handrail with his fist. "It's like the river swallowed her whole!" The day turned sunny and humid as to mock their situation.
"Don't worry, Einstein, we'll find her." Ulrich consoled.
"I've been up and down this river so much; I can remember every piece of debris on the shore!" Odd sighed. "Where could she be? Now we lost Yumi!"
"Yumi wanted to check something out she found strange." Ulrich explained.
Yumi returned sadly meandering to where the others were.
"I'm sorry, Einstein, It doesn't look good." Yumi presented a battered pink mobile and handed it to Jeremy, who started weeping." The weird thing about it was it was nowhere near the river."
"How did you find the trail?" Jeremy looked at the mobile wiping the tears from his eyes.
"I found tracks too big to be Aelita's. On a hunch, I followed it to a real run down junk zone and I found Aelita's mobile. I lost the trail"
"Hey, this mobile is half melted!" Jeremy examined it closely.
"This does not bode well!" Odd sighed.
"Well, it bodes better than the alternative!" Ulrich retorted thinking of the faces on a milk cartons.
"You got me there!" Odd replied.
Jeremy's laptop beeped. He opened it and stepped back when he saw Aelita's virtual face on the monitor.
"Jeremy, Help!" Aelita, in virtual form, cried out and the window closed.
"That could've gone better!" Odd commented.
"At least we know where she is." Yumi smiled. "All we have to do is go get her."
"I want you guys to remember that using the scanner more than once in a day can be hazardous. The supercomputer might not even allow it." Jeremy cautioned.
"She's our friend, too" Ulrich replied.
"Yeah, letting Aelita having a sleepover with Xana would be a disaster!" Odd added.
"I'm not going to hang her out to dry!" Yumi added the others looked at her. "Sorry, bad example!"
"I'm going to try to disable the safety protocols and recalibrate the scanner to see if I can mediate the side effects from scanner exposure... I don't want this to be your last mission." Jeremy added." Or more likely one that will give you the something like the flu for a week." The others agreed to give it a try.
Jeremy worked on the Supercomputer an hour writing a program that carefully removed the safety protocols.
"Man! It looks like Franz Hopper really meant it when he put these protocols in place! It is even hardwired into the scanner itself." Jeremy sighed.
"Can you do it?" Yumi asked.
"Sure." He shrugged. "It should be a matter of selective re-wiring--a bypass or two. I'll fix it when I recalibrate the scanner"
"How long is it going to take?" Ulrich asked.
"Normally a half hour, but we don't have a half hour so I'll do it ASAP." Jeremy left his console and went to the scanner room.
Fifteen minutes later, Jeremy reemerged from the scanner room relieved that no one followed him down to pester him. Aelita was more than a friend to him. He didn't need reminding.
"It should work now! Granted I had to cut a few corners. The digital relays took longer than I thought to calibrate." Jeremy explained taking his seat behind the monitor.
"We need to locate Aelita fast." Jeremy keyed in a search of Lyoko. "She is not anywhere on the four sectors. I'm checking Sector 5." A small beep came from the console. "I get a faint signal from Carthage and an activated tower. I can't clean up the signal until you guys get closer."
"Let's take the plunge!" Ulrich and the others ran to the elevator.
The Gauntlet
Ulrich, Odd and Yumi virtualized in the forest region and descended to the ground with a leap.
"We really need a faster way to get to Sector Five" Yumi sighed joining in step with the others as they went toward the border.
"'I'm still working on direct access to Carthage." Jeremy replied.
"What and miss all this fun?" Odd retorted with gentle sarcasm pointing out the army of Crabs all around them.
The three Lyoko warriors scattered as three crabs caught each other in their own crossfire. Multiple explosions ensued when the slower crabs didn't move out of the way in time.
"Have the transporter ready, Einstein! This could get bumpy!" Ulrich warned. He jumped on top of a crab and hit the bull's eye with his sword and leaped off.
"I'm on a roll!" Odd exclaimed jumping from one crab to another laser harrowing their bull's eyes. Five crabs exploded. "Pass the tartar sauce!" Yumi shook her head as she took out two more with her fans.
They fought their way to the border and the transporter came to them, but not before Yumi took a nasty shot to the back. She threw a fan at the crab hitting it but the transporter picker her up before she could retrieve her fan.
"I lost a fan!" Yumi groaned inside the transporter.
Xana's Layer
The transporter coursed through Lyoko to its very heart at the speed of light. The eye shaped transporter deposited them in the Arena and vanished from sight.
"If Xana didn't kidnap Aelita and want to conquer the world, I'd say he can keep Carthage!" Odd said fighting back a wave of nausea.
"You have three minutes to trip the key!" Jeremy warned.
"I've got it!" Yumi charged ahead of the group and threw her remaining fan as two creepers flanked her with laser fire. She flipped forward dodging one shot while landing in the path of the second, which knocked her over the side. She devirtualized on the way down. Her fan hit the key and the chamber shifted and the creepers retreated.
"Good shot!" Odd said after a moment of silence.
"Is she okay, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked hurrying to the exterior hallway and the Alistair system, the lift that never stops.
"Yumi's alright. She's a little queasy about now." Jeremy replied. "I'm programming your vehicles for you. They should be waiting on you when you get to the perimeter.
"I'm not going to be eating Sushi for a while!" Yumi said loud enough to be heard through the mike.
The two remaining Lyoko Warriors mounted their vehicles and took off heading straight for the tower. As they spun around the circumference of Carthage they entered the tower's zone.
"Xana seems to have forgotten his manners!" Odd cautioned. "Not so much as a Manta to welcome us!"
"It feels like a trap!" Ulrich guessed. "I'd feel better when we find out where Aelita is!" He dropped a huge hint for a response from Jeremy.
"Aelita's too close to the tower to pin point an exact location. There is an awful lot of energy being used in that area! It's interfering with my scanners." Jeremy continued to key in various variables to try to clean up the signal. "Her signal is weaker some how--I almost lost it!"
"This just keeps getting..." better and better. Ulrich started to say when laser fire erupted from behind the tower. Odd and Ulrich broke formation and began evasive maneuvers.
"Creepers!" Odd reported. "Who invited them? Their manners need work!" He fire three laser arrows in the general direction of the incoming.
"I'm sorry guys. I can't even see them. There's something big going on over there. You are on you're own for now." Jeremy informed them. "Aelita's disappearing again!"
Odd flew by the array of creepers, two of which faded out of existence and the others became transparent. "Something weird is going on with the creepers. Xana just lost two and we didn't fire a shot! The others, for a second, I could see right through them!"
"Whatever's going on here seems to be draining Xana, too. I think I just saw the tower flicker." Ulrich observed.
"This doesn't look good! Find her quick!" Jeremy warned.
"I saw an opening right behind the tower near the creepers across the chasm on that far wall." Odd tried to point out a general location. Odd and Ulrich hovered behind the crimson tower using the tower as a shield.
Ulrich drew his sword and gave Odd a sly glance.
"Just the way I like it! Direct and to the point!" Odd smiled readying his laser arrows. They split up and went around the tower as the creepers fired a little too slowly to catch them. Odd advanced in front right toward the opening and tipped his board up like a shield as one of the two sentry creepers fired at him as he flew toward it. The shot hit the board devirtualizing it and Odd fired three shots pelting the attacking creeper as he passed it. It staggered around pathetically and exploded as Odd went flying by into the opening waving at the other sentry.
Ulrich flew in right behind him, but took a hit from behind knocking him off the overcycle and flipping him forward into the opening as the overcycle careened into the remaining sentry guaranteeing mutually assured destruction.
The diving manta pulled up and flew back around the tower.
"That's not nice, Clarice!" Odd shook is fist at the manta as it flew away. Ulrich shook his head wondering why Odd keeps naming the mantas.
The opening emptied into a much larger tunnel that went into the darkness. A dim light shined like a beacon in the distance. The two Lyoko Warriors carefully made their way to the source of the light. Odd carefully peeked into the lit opening and saw a vast cavern. That was all he saw, except for the flash of light cutting the cavern in half heading in his direction. Odd threw up his arm shield, a feature he hadn't been forced to use in a long time. The beam hit his shield knocking him back into the tunnel. As he flew passed Ulrich, Ulrich did a double take.
"They didn't tell me it was a private party!" Odd said picking himself up and dusting himself off." I would've brought my invitation!""
Ulrich made hand signals counting down and Odd went beside him as Ulrich readied his sword.
The zero count ended and Ulrich and Odd charged into the opening. Odd fired three shots not really aiming anywhere but in the general direction of the Megatank.
"Super sprint!" Ulrich exclaimed as he raced behind the Megatank.
Odd's last shot hit the bulls-eye and it shut its hemispheres and rolled then exploded.
"Wow! You are really on a roll!" Ulrich laughed.
"Do me a favor, Ulrich! Leave the bad jokes to me!" Odd sighed.
"Holy cow!" Ulrich exclaimed pointing to the back wall.
"What's..." Odd trailed off. He saw Aelita inside of a guardian, but she wasn't alone. A dark purple Schipizoa was stuck into the ground like a stake, next to Aelita, who floated in the air suspended in a mock jumping jack position with her head down and eyes closed. Four of the tentacles penetrated the guardian's membrane. Two of the tentacles were positioned at angles to her temples inches away. The other two positioned at similar angles from underneath.
"What's going on?" Jeremy asked keying like mad. "This Schipizoa is building a lot of energy. She's fading again."
The tentacles began to glow radiating from Aelita to the Schipizoa as if drawing energy from her.
Aelita cried out in her comatose state. The Schipizoa started to glow red.
"Is Aelita on a diet?" Odd asked. Ulrich shook his head wondering. "She's getting thinner!" He pointed as she faded into transparency.
"It's trying to absorb her completely! If it does she'll be gone!" Jeremy shouted.
"That's it! Time to put a stop to this!" Ulrich threw his sword at the Schipizoa and it severed the top portion of the tentacles as it rotated it severed the bottom tentacles where the four came together close to its body. The sword went through the guardian and stuck in the back wall.
"Look out! It's going to ..." Jeremy started but trailed off.
The dark purple Schipizoa, bloated and wounded shrieked rising from the ground and exploded sending a shock wave in all directions. The guardian collapsed dropping Aelita like a discarded doll. Odd and Ulrich tried to picked up Aelita one on each side, but the shock wave moved faster knocking Odd, Ulrich and Aelita down like bowling pins just as they made it to their feet. Ulrich managed to place himself behind Aelita shielding her from the blast. The blinding light washed over everything and then --darkness.
Endgame
Ulrich awoke. "Wow! I'm still here!" He shook Odd awake and tried unsuccessfully to rouse Aelita.
"Look out Ulrich you only have 15 life points left!" Jeremy cautioned.
"At least I'm almost unscathed." Odd sighed.
"You only have 50!" Jeremy corrected. "Aelita has 75. The damage must have been deflected by one of you and her distance to the ground. Look out you have company, four creepers!"
"Oh great!" Ulrich retrieved his sword from the wall and sheathed it.
"I was starting to get bored!" Odd yawned. Ulrich proceeded to try to wake Aelita again. She did manage to moan after two attempts. He started to pick up Aelita as the laser fire whizzed over his shoulder. They retreated to a pile if rocks near the back wall. The shots started to bounce off their cover. Ulrich set Aelita down.
"We are cut off!" Ulrich exclaimed grimacing at the sound of the shots eroding their cover.
"Energy field!" A familiar though weakened feminine voice exclaimed. Aelita sent her pink energy sphere from where she was lying and it hit one of the creepers in the leg. It staggered back more annoyed than hurt.
"Well, Princess did you have a nice nap?" Odd smiled. Aelita smiled back weakly and shook her head.
"I feel so worn out!" She replied trying to stand unsuccessfully. She then rubbed her neck like it was sore. "I'll be alright in a moment."
Ulrich scooped her up in a threshold. They ran to the entrance of the tunnel as the creepers fully emerged from it on their side.
"Are you ready, Aelita!" Ulrich smiled and Aelita nodded realizing the next move. With a battle cry, Ulrich tossed Aelita up in the air like a pizza and unsheathed his sword in one deft motion using his super sprint speed to hit the nearest creeper devirtualizing it while Odd shot the one next to it. Aelita shouted "Energy field!" In mid air, rotating downward, she sent not one but two energy spheres at the second wave of creepers, the remaining two. She hit them covering them in pink energy. The two creepers staggered into one another as they exploded. Aelita landed behind Ulrich and Odd in a crouched position with her left leg extended. She stood up and rolled her eyes apparently rising to fast for her condition and feeling the worse of it. She shook it off and joined her friends.
"Good Job!" Jeremy began. "Aelita, are you alright? I'm showing some corruption of your source code."
"I'm okay. I'm more concerned about the tower. I need to deactivate it. "Aelita replied.
"She was interstellar!" Odd chimed. She smiled in response.
"Hey! I was the one who tossed her!" Ulrich chided softly. "Let's get that tower!"
They emerged in front of the chasm that surrounded the crimson tower.
"Jeremy we need our..." Ulrich started before a shot from above hit him and devirtualized him.
"Look out!" Odd pushed Aelita down before another shot hit where she had stood moments before.
"That's it I've had just about enough of your shenanigans, Clarice go to your room!" Odd took careful aim as the manta made a return run. Odd fired four shots in rapid progression hitting it four times as it spun around it detonated. Aelita stood up and just stared at him.
"What? Was I too harsh?" Odd asked rhetorically. "Come on!" He motioned for her to come to him.
"Airborne Express!" Odd proclaimed. "Now boarding!"
Aelita shut her eyes, shook her head and sighed. "I need wings!" She then broke into a sprint. Odd caught her by the wrists and began swinging her around like a merry-go-round, building speed to send her across the chasm. After the third rotation, Odd released her right at the tower feet first.
Aelita cried out "I must be crazy!" She quickly rolled herself into a ball flipped and then straightened up and flew right through the tower boundary like Superman, or in this case Supergirl.
"It's good!" Odd raised both of his hands like a referee.
"Odd!" Jeremy sighed. "Aelita's not a football!"
"Just be glad I didn't miss! I was getting dizzy." Odd replied.
"I don't know whether to pat you on the back or hit you!" Jeremy lamented.
Aelita walked toward the center of the tower lighting up the rings. She looked up, shut her eyes and began to glow. She flew to the next platform above her. She walked across that platform lighting up the rings and summoned the terminal with a wave of her hand. Then she put her hand on the screen.
USERNAME: AELITA
Then she typed in the password: LYOKO.
"Tower deactivated!" Aelita reported. As she looked down, the tower powered down in a flurry of glowing rectangles falling like a house of cards
"Aelita we are going to wait awhile before launching a return-to-the-past. I'm not sure what that would do if your code is compromised." Jeremy informed her light of heart. "We really missed you; I really missed you. It felt like forever."
"I will be home when you're ready, Jeremy!" She said jovially. "We will have the whole day to make up!"
Odd started giggling. Laughter erupted from behind Jeremy who turned bright red, forgetting this wasn't a private line. Aelita started giggling, too. Laughter ensued.