When Xi awoke he was in a hospital bed, covered in bandages with blood being pumped into him. The room was bright and he lifted his arms to block the light. He heard a voice and turned to see a curtain and two doctors standing behind it talking.

" Poor kid, fourteen years old and loses both parents in a week. What about the brother?"

" He died three hours ago. He was bleeding internally. What about the mother?"

" The mother, she was dead when we arrived at the crash. Somewhere in the crash she broke her neck. The kid only lived because he was on the right side of the car."

" I have to check on him, and... tell him as well." One of the doctors walked out from behind the curtain and saw Xi awake and said, " Oh your awake Xi. How do you feel." Xi shook his head as if saying, ' What the hell do you think.'

" Well you broke two of your right rips, and one of your left. Also your lower right arm was fractured and you suffered a concussion. You'll be in bed for a week but you'll live."

" What about my brother and mother?" he asked, hoping after what he saw and heard, he saw and heard wrong.

" I hate to tell you this, but they both died in the crash. Now if you have any questions we have a psychiatrist who will be happy to help you."

" I don't need a psychiatrist. Who's paying for my treatment?" Xi asked, figuring with his parents dead someone had payed to keep him alive.

"A man named Odd Della Robbia. We have a lawyer here who has to ask you questions about who you'll be living with after you leave Kadic." A man with a briefcase walked in and the doctor left the room. His parents lawyer.

" Good afternoon. After your parents deaths we have to know who'll have legal custody over you until your eighteen." He pulled out a few sheets of paper and continued, " It says here your parents filed your godparents as Jeremie and Aelita Belpois correct?"

" Yes," Xi answered, he knew that much.

" Now do you have any closer relatives like aunts and uncles?"

" I have an uncle who lives in Japan, but I seriously don't want to go to Japan. My mother's parents are there as well, and my father's parents are in Germany."

" Have you decided on the Belpois'?"

" I guess, give me the sheet so I can sign it." The lawyer handed Xi the sheet who looked at the writing then signed it were it said child's name.

" Alright, one second I need to have the Belpois' sign as well. Jeremie, Aelita we need you in here." A moment later the two walked in and Xi saw that they had both been crying. Two friends in a week. " He has decided to hand his custody over to you, if you wish to take him, sign here." They both signed and the lawyer stood up and said, " That's that. Good luck, and I'm very sorry." The lawyer left the room and Odd senior walked in. His usual smile was missing and replaced with a sad expression.

" Are you going to be alright," Aelita asked, looking at Xi who was laying up with his hands in his lap.

" The bones will heal," He answered keeping his down.

" I meant emotionally." He didn't answer. Just kept his head down looking away. That answered her question.

" I'll manage." he said aloud looking up finally. " When can I get back to school?"

" When your physically able to," Jeremie said. " Until then, rest. If you need anything, we're a call away."

After a moment they began to walk out before Xi asked," Why was my father shot?" They all stopped not expecting this question so early. They all looked at him. Xi could tell they all knew the answer but wouldn't tell him. " Great, if my mother wouldn't tell me, why should I expect you to. Just go forget I asked." Jeremie wanted to tell him, but couldn't force himself to do it so walked out.

They all got into the hallway and Aelita said,"He has a right to know. The crash wasn't an accident either. He's not stupid he knows something isn't right."

" Aelita. You remember when we shut down the computer and xana with it. We all swore in the future we would never bring our kids into this," Jeremie said turning to face her.

" Of course I remember. But xana killed his entire family, it's a little late to say he isn't involved."

" I agree with her Jeremie," Odd began, " We can't leave the kid in the dark on this."

Jeremie began to pace around thinking of a reason why they should hide the truth, he found none. " I'll tell him, but not now. I want him to at least be in the lab when I tell him." Aelita nodded. They walked away from Xi's room and Jeremie began to run through his head how he should tell Xi. This wasn't going to be easy.


The next morning Xi rang for a nurse and asked if she could get him a newspaper. She came back a minute later and he looked an the front page and saw it right away. On the front page next to an article about the blackouts, was one about the crash.

" The crash killed two people, the mother Yumi Stern age forty-four, and her eleven year old son, Justin Stern. Fourteen year old Xi Stern had survived because the truck struck the left side of the vehicle, and he was on the right. The family was reported to have been ironically leaving from the father's, Ulrich Stern's funeral. The family had the right of way and the truck hit them going sixty mph. One piece of information that has the police baffled, is that after they checked the camera placed on the traffic light, no one was seen in the driver seat of the truck before or after the crash."

Next to the article was a picture that showed both cars moments before the crash, and sure enough the driver seat of the truck was unoccupied.

Xi returned to Kadic a week later, still beat up but able to walk on his own. Odd dropped him off at the school, and said he had to go to a hotel for the time being until this situation was under control. He limbed across the campus, with people staring at him as he walked by. They all had read the newspaper and knew what happened to his family. No one approached him because no one would know how to start a conversation, he didn't mind because no one really approached him anyway.

" Xi!" Odd jr shouted as he ran towards him. Soon he was standing next to him. " How do you feel?"

" In which way?"

" Both?"

" I'll be out of the casts in two weeks, the other I'm not sure. Time will help I guess." Odd jr hugged him quickly and said,

" Life isn't very fair, but at least we still have you. Let's go to class, these people starring at you are freaking me out. And my dad is very nice isn't he. Didn't even say hi."


A month later, Xi was no longer the number one topic at Kadic. The entire school still felt pity for him though, but for the most part, people talking about him stopped and rumors died down. He was free of the casts and was exercising again. Xi found it strange that Odd jr still was dating Julie after so long.

It was a Thursday when during third hour the bell had just rang and the class was leaving when Jeremie asked, " Xi, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Him and Odd jr were at the door then Odd jr said," Meet you there."

The classroom was empty except the two and Xi stood there waiting for Jeremie to begin. " Do you still want to know what happened to your parents?" He asked. Xi heart began to beat faster, finally some answers. He nodded. " Then meet me at the abandoned factory after school. You can't leave the campus without permission and the administrator won't give me it. So in the park near the wall of the gate is a manhole. Take that down and follow the arrows on the walls. Climb up and you'll be right outside of the factory."

" Why don't you just tell me now?"

" I need to show you as well. You can go now." Xi walked out of the room still questioning but at least knowing he'd find out later.

The final bell rang and Xi ran to his dorm and quickly put his stuff away and ran to where Jeremie had instructed. He found the manhole easily so climbed down, checking around first to be sure no one was watching. Following the arrows sounded easy enough, but he was surprised to see three rusty skateboards and two scooters laying next the wall. He found the skateboard in the best condition and used that. Soon he was climbing up a ladder and removing the sliding door. Jeremie was right and he was now outside of the factory. He looked around and saw Jeremie's car parked across the street.

Xi walked to a ledge, looked down and saw Jeremie waiting for him next to an elevator. He saw a rope dangling from above and took a running start, jumped, grabbed the rope, and swung down landing next to Jeremie.

" Do you have any idea how much you're like your parents?" Jeremie asked after Xi swooped down. " Come on." They walked into the elevator and Jeremie pushed the button and they started to descend down.

" Where are we going?" Xi asked leaning against the wall.

" You'll know soon enough." The door opened and Jeremie stepped out and typed in a code next to another door. The door slid open and Xi took his first step into the lab. He stopped and tried to think about what it looked like. Xi looked at the roof then the floors, the walls, the computer terminal and the large holosphere in the center.

" Where are we?" Xi asked still admiring the room.

" This is the lab. When I was teenager this is where we fought him, or it I should say."

" Fight who?"

" Xana. Before you ask, Xana was a program, a virus. About forty years ago a man named Franz Hopper built this computer and a alternate world with it. The world is called Lyoko. Lyoko and Xana were created to stop a government military program called Carthage, which could dismantle communications. Over the years xana grew stronger and smarter, soon acting on it's own."

" Wait a minute you fought xana? It's a computer?" Xi asked, thinking it sounded strange.

" I understand why this is unusual to you. Eventually the government found out about his operations and came to arrest him. He ran to the scanners, another program he created to physically enter Lyoko. Hopper and his daughter hid out in Lyoko until the government found the computer then shut it down."

" So why is that a problem now?"

" Ten years later, Odd senior, your parents, and I found the computer on accident, and turned it back on. We would have turned it off, but we met someone who was in the computer but couldn't get out."

" Hopper?"

" No, Aelita."

That surprised Xi. He looked at the holosphere then back at Jeremie. " Wait, your wife Aelita?"

" One and the same. I didn't want to shut it down, I'd lose her. That's when things got complicated."

" Let me guess. Xana."

" Correct. During their hiding Xana took control of Lyoko and eliminated Hopper. So we had to fight Xana from th inside as well. We used the scanners to enter Lyoko." For the next two hours, he told Xi everything about the computer. About trying to materialize Aelita. How they managed to materialize her, but the virus that kept her linked to xana, and left off were they found out it wasn't a virus.

Xi was almost laughing at the irony of looking for an antivirus for so long only to find out it wasn't a virus. " So when you were fifteen, the team managed to trap xana in the computer and shut it down."

" Yeah, it was over we finally won. We began to live normal lives again. It was good timing we all had a few more years together before high school was over. Without xana bothering us we had time to notice other things."

" Like each other?"

" As an example yes I suppose. We already noticed each other it was only then we had time to do more than notice."

" Alright. Do you have any idea how bullshit that sounds."

" I'm quite aware."

" Just checking. So xana killed them, both of them."

" Yes." Xi took a deep breath trying to get the thoughts of death out of his mind.

" Tell me more about lyoko." Xi said looking at he image the holosphere was projecting.

" I could tell you. Or I could show you."


Xi was in the scanner room a minute later waiting for the scanner to open. A moment later it opened and Xi was greeted by a bright light from the inside. " Step inside, and try not to move." Jeremie's voice said over the intercom. Xi stepped in and the doors shut behind him. The scanner grew very bright and Xi could feel himself lifting off the ground. It grew even brighter, making Xi close his eyes.

Xi opened his eyes when the sensation stopped and he fell to the ground. He looked around the area he was standing in and thought, ' impossible.'

" Welcome to lyoko. Your in the desert sector one of the five. The others are the forest, ice, mountain, and lastly sector five." Xi heard Jeremie and then began to look what he was wearing. Black tights neck and down under an yellow/orange tunic that went half way down his thighs. Around his waist was a belt that held a sheath and a katana.

" What am I wearing?" Xi asked looking at himself.

" That's what your father wore when he was virtualized into Lyoko. It should have randomly uploaded something for you, but I guess the system thought you were your father. Are you good fighter?"

" I practice. Why?"

" I can simulate a battle for you. You could have some fun release some frustration."

" Do it."

" Difficulty one through ten?"

" Ten." Jeremie wanted to convince him otherwise but knew he wouldn't change his mind.

" Things to look out for. Lasers; don't let them hit you. Your target is a symbol that looks like an eye and your powers in lyoko when in that form."

" What powers?"

" You can move at super speed, and clone yourself. Be carful with the clones you lose one life point per clone, unless you fuse them back together. To clone yourself shout triplicate. To make them come back shout fusion. Got it?'

Xi stood there listing to a voice without a source explain to him these things. " Yeah I got it. Simulate."

" Get ready, you have a hundred life points make the most of them. In five, four, three, two, one." Three large black spheres appeared and had trapped Xi in a triangle.

" That's it?" Xi asked a little disappointed.

" No of course not. Four crabs, twenty hornets, and four tarantulas come with the package."

" Four what?"

" You'll see. And look out, the tanks are about to fire." As if on cue the three tanks split and began to charge for a blast. They fired and Xi dove out of the way of all three as their beams hit where he was standing. He drew the sword on his belt and held it horizontally in front of him to watch the movement of enemies behind him. The tank closest to him began to charge and Xi began to charge it. It fired and he spun around the shot and jumped, surprised at how high he could and stabbed the tank in the eye of xana. It blew up and Xi stood there looking at where it was.

"Hey I did it." He was hit in the back by a laser from a tarantula, knocking him to the ground. Xi flipped to his back and began to deflect the beams from the tarantula. One beam he deflected hit it square in the eye and it blew up as well.

" Carful you have eighty life points left." Another tank fired and Xi was hit hard and fell into the digital void.

Jeremie watched from the computer as Xi was hit into the void and shouted, " Shit." He desperately type as fast as he could without error and was mumbling to himself, " Please still be here, please still be here." He found the program he wanted to and activated it quickly. Placing the head set on the on the keyboard he ran to the elevator and took it to the scanners. Xi was sitting on the hatch in the center of the room with his arms hanging down.

" Did I just get a game over?" Xi asked standing up.

" Next time, stay away from level ten." He checked his watch and said, " It's getting late, you should get to your dorm before they start patrolling the campus." They took the elevator to the surface and parted at the bridge. " Xi, you can't tell anyone about this. The computer, lyoko, xana, any of it."

" Who'd believe me?" he asked as he moved down into the sewer and shut the sliding door behind him.