This chapter might be rated M. This is only because of a [sort of] violent murder scene. Well, it is detailed, and a little gory by some people's standards. Anyway, you can skip this chapter and still read the rest of the story, as in later chapters, it is made known what happened here. This disclaimer is here so no one gets upset or distraught or offended.

You have been warned.

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With only hours left before I had to leave my host, I needed to work fast. After his heart stopped beating, I stashed Odd's body in a nearby tree. Once that was taken care of, I was ready to see out my next prey: Ulrich Stern.

As I walked out of the forest and into the courtyard, I realized that I was losing daylight as well. And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I saw Ulrich walk with Yumi towards the science building. That was bad, very bad. Yumi and ?Ulrich together would be a dangerous match if things got out of hand. Sadly, I'd have to wait on Ulrich, who would likely be the easiest to kill. In the meantime, I could get Jeremy alone, and then Aelita...

It was four twenty-three. Jeremy should be in his dorm, and Aelita should be with him. In that case, I could ask to speak to Aelita alone in the hallway, and eliminate that threat. Then, I could kill Jeremy when I go back into his dorm. Two at one time would save time, too. And so, I headed towards the dorm building, intent on obtaining my goal.

And then, this thing Sissy called intuition hit me. Jeremy was the only one besides Aelita and Yumi who could operate the computer well enough to return to the past. That meant Yumi had to be disposed of before Ulrich. Ha. Disposed of. That sounds so humane, when in reality it was probably one of my more inhuman thoughts.

Threat. Murder. Violence. All means to an end, in my opinion. Whatever works, works, I thought. I couldn't get caught up in the legalities of what I'm doing. Laws applied to humans. I was not human, I was a machine. A machine that could think, act, carry out. I had achieved sapience, and I was invincible in my ruse.

But at that moment, when I thought I was so powerful, I caught myself. I would be making a fatal and flawed mistake if I thought I was unreachable. Everything has an end, especially that which is not human. I couldn't let my head grow too big, and I couldn't let my body grow too tall. I could only concentrate on the present matter: ridding my path of those annoying Lyoko warriors.

I hate those Lyoko warriors. Always making me feel so down when I'm at the top of game. After today, they would be in my way no longer, and I could get down to serious business. Sissy snickered inside me at the phrase.

I thought I suppressed you. And what's so funny?

Ha. 'The internet is serious business.' It's a phrase. Sissy laughed from deep within her body.

....Weird.

Whatever. Sissy curled into a ball inside me, and still I walked steadily and stealthily into the dorm building. By the way, what are you?

Excuse me?

Your gender. I know you're a machine and all, but... If you could pick, what would you be? Girl or boy?

Ah. I fluctuate wildly. For now, you can refer to me as female.

­Okay. Sissy was silent for a moment. Well, this is murder, you know.

Of course it is.

In my body.

So?

If anyone catches you...

Aww, you're so caring. I may just spare you in the end.

I was being sarcastic, Sissy replied, sarcastically.

Ha ha! So was I. Silly girl; no humans will be left alive. Just me.

Oh yeah? How're you going to keep on living without people to maintain you?

I have a plan set in motion, and it's been thoroughly thought through. Any attempt to explain it would take too long.

That proves it's too complicated and will fail.

Nope. It decently follows Occam's Razor.

What?

Exactly, said I, my hand around the door knob of Jeremy's dorm. I heard typing and laughter from inside. Occam's Razor is a principle. Maybe I'll tell you later. For now, however, please kindly shut up and let me work. I might have to do some improvising, and I don't need your buzzing in my ear while I'm making this world a better place.

I knocked with one hand and turned the knob with the other, mentally suppressing Sissy's infuriated shouts as I went. I opened the door a bit, to the sight of Aelita and Jeremy staring expectantly at me. I took a deep breath, and set Phase Two in motion.

* * *

"May I help you?" asked Jeremy, friendly yet cold.

"Yeah... I need to talk to Aelita about... girl matters."

Jeremy paled. "Umm, sure," he replied and looked to his girlfriend. "Aelita?"

"It's okay," the pink-haired girl responded.

Sissy looked at Jeremy. "Umm... could you step out for a bit?"

"Oh, of course, yeah..." Jeremy stammered. He stepped briskly past Sissy, who kept her face turned so that he couldn't see her eyes. She closed the door behind him, locked it, and kept her head down. She turned to Aelita.

"I, uh, got new contacts." She raised her face, the sign of Xana dark against her sclera.

Aelita blanched and stood stock still. "They look... interesting." Why does Sissy have contacts like that?

"Thanks... they were a gift." Sissy sighed, and sat on Jeremy's bed. Sissy sat down next to her, a little stiffly. "You're probably wondering why 'm talking to you."

Aelita nodded. This might be one of Xana's attacks... I'm going to have to keep my guard up.

"I just... well... Look. I made something for you, to sort of make up for everything. I mean, we've started on a rocky start, and I don't like it. I haven't been very... nice, to you. Gosh, I hate that word. It tastes bad, you know?"

Aelita shook her head. "Sorry, I don't." Actually, maybe Xana has nothing to do with this. He's usually more blunt.

"That's okay. I'm trying my best to work it all out. Anyway, I think we should hang out more. Maybe not right away, but, eventually. I can't stand treating you like this anymore." Sissy sighed and was silent for a moment. She then took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."

Aelita didn't know what to say. This was so... out of character. Something felt wrong about the whole thing, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Something screamed at her to leave immediately. Something said something was desperately wrong. And yet, something soothed her and said don't worry. She'd had false feelings in the past. Maybe there was something to what Sissy was saying. I may as well take her up on her offer. After all, it's only Sissy.

"Okay," Aelita breathed. "Let's start over." She put out her hand, and Sissy shook it. And then, they hugged, with Sissy doing most of the hugging.

And as they pulled away, Sissy left her hands on Aelita's shoulders. "Thank you. It means a lot." And she tightened her hands around her neck and pushed her noiselessly onto the bed, Aelita's eyes wide in surprise. Sissy kept her voice low and said, "Shush. It'll all be over soon, Aelita Schaeffer."

Letting my guard down was a bad idea.

Sissy then figured that Jeremy might be listening at the door. The pervert.­ Sissy laughed, and imitated Aelita's voice perfectly. "Oh stop, Sissy. I guess it'll be over. Just me and you, studying. It sounds so grand." Aelita started to cry, her life unraveling before her eyes. The world started to swirl and go dark, and she knew there was only one way out.

Sissy put her weight onto Aelita's body, closing off any attempts at escape. Aelita started to thrash about, but Sissy only pushed all the more forcefully on Aelita's small, fragile neck, until Aelita started to lose consciousness. Sissy wasn't going to let her miss this yet, so she eased off a little until Aelita was fully lucid. Sissy smiled at her, and Aelita tried to scream, but there was no air to scream with. "Well, Aelita, what should we do first?"

Sissy grinned, and finally felt the trachea crush under her palms, and what air Aelita had in her bubble from her mouth. Her lungs were starved, and her chest went concave as she tried to suck in oxygen. She pressed even harder, and the arteries and veins started to close, the pressure in them rising dangerously high as Aelita's heart beat in her chest.

"I don't know, Sissy. Think I should paint my nails? I don't think I have before." And then, as Sissy channeled energy into her slaughter, the vessels ruptured and blew, and Aelita's body jerked. Sissy raised one slender hand, and jabbed her hand straight into Aelita's gut, her nails piercing flesh and reaching up into her ribcage. Aelita's eyes squinted tight, and Sissy waited for her to open her eyes. She grinned, and winked lecherously. Sissy's fingers closed around Aelita's heart. As Aelita watched, felt, and tasted in bloody horror, Sissy clenched her fingers into a fist around the organ, and the heart imploded. Blood started to seep into Aelita's agape mouth, and tears streamed noiselessly down the tortured girl's face.

With the last vestige of energy in her body, Aelita looked at Sissy, her body shaking and jerking. Her mouth formed the question "Why?", yet she could not ask it. Sissy mouthed back, "I loved you... once." And then, her face relaxing as she died, Aelita was still.

Sissy released her grip, and turned Aelita's head carefully, oh so carefully, so the blood pooling in her mouth wouldn't leak onto the sheets. She shook her head slowly, her body shaking. "Painting your nails, huh?" Sissy giggled. "That sounds like a good idea, Aelita. A perfectly good idea."

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Done. Short and to the point, methinks. Time to review!