Disclaimer: No…
Author's Note: Hey guys! It's been awhile! Sorry…Dumb guys…I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter. I'm really getting into this story and I've got some good ideas, but if anyone else has ideas please mention them in your review. Odd will be in this chapter more, sorry he hasn't been in here much.
Thanks for reading! Thank ya azn DREAMER xD and Bighoggi14 for beta-ing this chappie for me! Luv ya guys!
This whole story is dedicated to the wonderful, amazing aZn DrEaMeR xD and ANiMEBUbbLES and awesome Bighoggi14! You guys rock! I hope it's up to your expectations!
A.I. Need You
Chapter 4: Missing in Action
Ulrich walked into the tall, student-filled building, still holding the beautiful oriental girl's hand, and looked around at the millions of glares that seemed to be directed at them. He smiled sheepishly and made his way to the cafeteria, explaining a few things to Yumi as they walked down the hall, trying to ignore the on-lookers.
"So…what purpose is this…locker?"
Ulrich smiled. "It's where we keep our books, so we don't have to carry everything around with us. You'll understand once you start attending class."
"Oh," she muttered, staring with wide, ebony orbs at everyone and everything that passed by. "Why's everyone staring at us, Ulrich?"
He shrugged one shoulder and pushed open the large cafeteria doors. "I'm not sure, Yumi… what are you hungry for?"
She looked with wonder at the rows of food, then cringed as the smell reached her nose. "What…is that?"
"I've been wondering that since I got here," Ulrich joked, laughing a little. He led her to the lines and dislodged their hands. "Either way, it's better than starving."
She nodded and looked at the food. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to one of the trays of food, earning a rude glare from the lady behind the counter.
"They're hot dogs," Ulrich whispered in her ear, avoiding the cook's eyes. He grabbed two of them and some fries and hurriedly walked to the table.
Yumi sat down and looked down at the food before her. Her stomach growled loudly and she jumped.
"What was that!" she almost screamed, but managed to lower her voice in time. She looked down at her stomach with wide eyes and an agape mouth.
Ulrich laughed. "It's your stomach growling. It means you're hungry. Go ahead and eat."
She nodded and picked up the hotdog, hesitantly taking a small bite. She smiled, and took a larger bite. She made a small "mmmm" sound and wondered what other surprises Earth had in store for her. ((A/N: haha! Thanks Jenn!))
--
Aelita walked out into the bright sun and shielded her eyes, smiling widely. Theo looked at her with a slight smile, muttering about how cute she was. She looked to the bright sky then to the boy next to her.
"Where are we going, Theo?"
He smirked and took her hand. "You'll see. I know you'll like it."
She nodded and walked off campus with him, staring at everything with wonder. Theo noted this and furrowed his brows.
"Where did you say you were from?"
She looked at him and smiled. "Jeremie's laptop."
He backed away a little and looked blankly at her. "What?"
"I mean," she laughed uncomfortably, remembering that Jeremie had told her to try and blend in and not let the fact that she was an A.I slip. "I'm from…Canada!" she yelped quickly. "I've known Jeremie and his family for awhile so…when my parents had to leave the country for the military, I was sent here." She made up the lie on the spot, but was quite proud of it.
"So…what does his laptop have to do with that?"
Aelita smiled uncomfortably. "Nothing! Nothing! Nothing at all! I think the hunger is getting to me. I'm sorry," she stammered, almost tripping over her words. She covered it up with a smile.
"It's fine," Theo said. "Well, if you're hunger then we better hurry."
She nodded and slowed their pace, still looking around with marvel. Theo smirked at her, thinking up the perfect scheme in his head.
She'll fall for my charm. I can't believe that she likes that stupid nerd. I'll just have to show her how great I am. I'll break them up soon enough…
--
Jeremie woke with a start, jumping up into a sitting position on his bed. His glasses were askew on his sweaty face and his heart was pounding. He calmed as he looked around then thought back to his dream.
"Ae…lita?" he muttered, looking around. He noticed she was gone so he jumped out of bed and slipped on his shoes, fixing his glasses as he darted out the door. He couldn't believe that his dream had been true. He couldn't help wondering where she had gone.
He pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed Ulrich's numbered, slowly dying inside each time it ringed and Ulrich didn't answer. Finally, he heard his friend mutter a quick hello.
"Hi Ulrich. Is Aelita with you?"
Ulrich furrowed his chocolate brows. "No. I thought she was with you."
"Damn, that's what I thought. I don't know where she is. Can you and Yumi meet me outside?"
Ulrich nodded despite the fact Jeremie couldn't see it. "Yeah. We're on our way."
Jeremie hastily thanked them and hung up his phone, darting through the halls and outside. Maybe he was overreacting? Aelita was an A.I. that didn't understand the outside world and wanted to learn new things. She could've just gotten curious and decided to go out and look around. But…his dream seemed so real.
He made it outside and hunched over for breath, muttering something about how being a computer nerd really sucked sometimes, though he reminded himself it did bring him Aelita so he quickly changed his mind. A few seconds later Ulrich and Yumi showed up.
"Hey Jer. Are you sure you don't know where Aelita is? Maybe she went for a walk or something…" Ulrich suggested.
Jeremie pushed his glasses further up upon his nose. "That's what I would've guessed, but I had this strange dream…like she was kidnapped…at least, that's how it appeared…"
"She wasn't kidnapped," a familiar voice muttered. Both boys jumped and noticed a blonde and purple haired boy walk over to them.
"Hey Odd. So you know what happened to her?" Ulrich asked hopefully. Odd nodded.
"She went somewhere with that Theo guy from science. I woulda sworn they were a couple if I didn't know better."
Jeremie cursed under his breath. "Where did they go?"
Odd pointed off campus to a diner. "Over there I think. So what's going on? I know you guys are hiding something…"
"Nothing!" they yelled at the same time and the silent Yumi just smiled angelically.
"Uh huh," Odd muttered as the three ran off campus towards the diner. "Somehow, I don't buy that…" he muttered under his breath.
--
Sissi walked to her dorm, swishing her dark hair over his shoulder as a slut would do. She smirked at the guys gawking at her, giving them "you know you want me" looks and glaring at the girls that muttered choice words at her back. She made it down the hall and noticed a guy standing in front of her door. He was tall, wearing mostly black with dark hair.
"Hey William. You're early."
He shrugged one shoulder. "What was so important? You made it seem like you were dying."
"I am!" she replied dramatically. She opened her door. "Come in." He gave an unsure look but she just smiled. "My Daddy's the headmaster. Don't worry."
Sighing, he gave in and followed her into her over-pink, girly room, a strong aroma filling his nose and making him cough. How much perfume did she use?
"So…what did you want?" he managed to spit out, trying not to breath in the over-sprayed, perfume-filled air.
"You like getting to the point, don't you? Well…" she sat down on the bed and patted the place beside her. William chose to stand.
She sighed, rolling her dark orbs. "Whatever. I know you have a thing for that new girl, Yumi…"
He looked surprised by her conversation starter but didn't deny it. "She's cute. What's your point?"
"Well, that bonehead is all over my man, Ulrich, and I don't like it. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
He narrowed his gaze. "You want to break them up."
She smiled. "You're sharp. So, do you want to help me? If you do, I'll make sure Yumi finds you to be a much…better man for her than Ulrich."
He thought about it a moment, then turned to the door and put his hand over the knob. He didn't look back at it as he opened it and walked into the hallway.
"Fine, I'll help," he muttered, closing the door behind him. Sissi smirked and fell back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Everything was going according to plan…
--
Jeremie pushed open the diner door as quickly as he could, making a lot of sound and probably starting a scene, and looked around at the many eyes staring back at him. He tried to locate Aelita but couldn't find her.
"Dammit…she's not here…"
Ulrich looked around and noticed that, too. "Well, they couldn't have gotten too far. I'm sure Odd would've said something if it'd been too long ago."
"Maybe," Jeremie replied sadly back. He left the restaurant, much to the manager's delight, and stared down the street. "Who knows where she is by now."
"Two hundred meters north," Yumi spoke suddenly, smiling. Ulrich looked to her and noticed her eyes went from looking distant to their usually warmth.
"You can track her!" Jeremie practically yelled.
"Uh huh…" Yumi said, not understanding why he was angry. She turned north and looked down the street.
"Why didn't you tell us!" Jeremie cried out again, rushing up the street, ignoring the pain in his chest. He ran as fast as he could, looking everywhere for the A.I.
"Well, you never asked," she muttered to his back in a confused, small voice. "Ulrich," she said, looking up at him ((A/N: he's taller)). "Did I do something wrong?"
He smiled slightly. "No. Come on, let's catch up."
He grabbed her hand and ran after Jeremie, pulling her along with him, though she quickly caught up and ran past him. They caught up to the Einstein reincarnate and looked around.
"Do you see her?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie slowly shook his head.
--
"So Aelita," Theo muttered, taking a sip of his shake.
She looked up with a smile, finishing her fry. "Yes?"
"What really is the deal between you and that Belpois guy?"
"You mean Jeremie?"
He sighed, but quickly covered it with a smile. "Yeah."
"The…deal?"
"Like, are you two an item?"
"No…we're people!" she said happily, eating another fry, her ditsy remark making it apparent she didn't understand.
He slapped his forehead. "I mean, are you two dating. Like, in love!"
"I…don't think so…" she muttered, her heart suddenly speeding up. She couldn't figure out what he meant. I wonder if he asks these funny questions to everyone…
Theo took a bite out of his hamburger. "So, you're single?"
Aelita, still not understanding, picked up her hamburger and took a bite out of it as well. "Wow! This is really good!"
"You've never had a burger before? What do you guys eat in Canada?"
She just smiled and slowly chewed her bite to avoid his question. He took another drink, trying to think of how to word his statement.
"So, if you're single, do you, maybe wanna date?"
"Date?" she asked after swallowing her bite. Humans say such funny things.
He sighed. "Like, you know, be my girlfriend!" he spoke slowly and enunciated most of his words so she'd understand.
Well…I am a
girl…and he seems nice. I don't see why we can't be friends!
"Sure! That'd be fun!" she said, looking around at the empty burger joint and noticing they were the only ones there. Theo smiled at her from across the table.
"Good…" he muttered under his breath, placing his hand atop hers. She smiled and didn't move it; she'd held hands with Jeremie a lot of times, so she didn't know it actually meant anything. Though usually when Jeremie and her held hands, there was a spark or something…
Theo smiled and leaned across the table, preparing to kiss her…
--
Odd snuck down the halls, looking like a spy trying to infiltrate an important building. He pressed himself against a wall and peered around the corner. Not seeing anyone, he quickly ran down the hall, finding his destination.
Making sure the room number on the door in front of him was correct, he opened it quickly and let himself in, looking around. A desk was right in front of him holding a nice laptop with something weird on the screen. He walked over to it and squinted his eyes, trying to discover what it was.
"'A.I. program 26 and 27 running… what the hell?'" he muttered, reading the screen with surprise. "Like, a computer program A.I.?"
He noticed a box at the bottom on the screen and clicked it, not knowing what he was doing but wanting to discover the secret the two other boys were hiding. A loading screen appeared and the bar filled up quickly.
"A.I. Program(s) 26 and 27 are now shut down." The screen before him said. He looked at it closer.
"So…he really has A.I.s…" he murmured. Then the realization of what had just happened hit him.
He had just shut them down!
--
Yeah, I know. I'm evil. I left a lot of cliffies huh. Oh, and I fooled you guys in the last chapter. The jealous on-looker was William, which was how Sissi knew he liked Yumi, just in case you guys were confused. Anyway, Odd's discovered their little secret and accidentally shut down Aelita and Yumi! Sissi and William are working together to break the happy "couple" up, and Aelita has just agreed, unknowingly, to be Theo's girlfriend!
Ulrich and Jeremie are in deep shit!
Hehe. Review and I'll update ASAP! Thanks for reading!
Fox Kitsune
P.S. Sorry this chapter was so short! I promise the next will be longer! Lots is going to happen:)
