Chapter 4
AN: The entire purpose of this chapter is to express relations between characters. Again, it is long, but please read and review.
(Alex first person)
I woke up in the control room, sitting next to the elevator door. Ulrich sat in the chair in front of the computer.
"Wow, I never thought you would wake up. There is food if you're hungry." Ulrich said. I could see the food, but I was still too tired to move. I teleported to it. Ulrich looked at me as if I was a ghost or something in a horror film. He quickly changed his expression. "How did you do that?" he asked, astonished that I could use my abilities outside of Lyoko. I picked an apple out of the paper bag that sat next to his chair.
"When Jeremie makes a spector, it has heightened abilities, such as strength and speed. I function the same way as a programmed spector, except I am no longer tied to Lyoko. The only difference is Jeremie doesn't quite know how to program the abilities that we have on Lyoko into a spector, so I keep the same abilities, speed and strength that I have on Lyoko." I explained. I took a bite out of my apple. I established another sense. The taste seemed to cause a vibration of happiness through my body. I wasted no time to finish the rest of the contents of the bag. Two sandwiches, three apples, a bowl of soup, and a croissant. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes.
"You eat faster than Odd," he said. We laughed. I wiped my mouth.
"I have a question for you. Why are you the only one here? Where are the others?" I said.
"Jeremie wanted someone to watch you. Let the others know when you woke up. It just so happened to be my shift."
"And who supplied the food?"
"Each of us gave a little."
"Remind me to tell them 'thank you'." Ulrich laughed.
"It was no problem."
After another thirty minutes, I gained my strength to stand. "I want to look around," I said. "See the lab."
"Well they won't get out of class for another half hour, so why not?" Ulrich said as he stood. He walked to the door of the elevator and opened it. First he took me to see the scanner room. It didn't seem to meet the numerical requirements with, now, six people who had to travel to Lyoko, making a total of two trips. Next we went to the computer room. It set me on edge and made me uncomfortable. It was the prison for me for over ten years. He took me to see the factory. About that time, Jeremie and the others slid down their ropes.
"You're early," Ulrich said.
"Yeah, we got out of class early to meet him," Jeremie responded. "Where were you guys going?"
"He wanted to see the place," Ulrich said. "I was just showing him around."
"Do you like it? It isn't the most professional workplace, but I think it looks better this way. It keeps away wandering civilians." Jeremie said.
"I agree. But I think it is a nice place," I said.
"Well, ready for your first day of school?" Ulrich asked turning to face me.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I told him. We walked back out to the bridge in an unofficial two person wide line with Odd pulling up the rear, alone. Jeremie stood by Aelita, Ulrich by Yumi, followed by Crystal and me. The rest of the group told me of how to act around other people. About how to eat, (at which Ulrich commented about my messy eating) how and when to speak, and other things like that. Occasionally on the walk back, my hand would brush against Crystal's. I looked ahead and observed Jeremie holding Aelita's hand and Ulrich holding Yumi's, hidden slightly behind their backs. I considered this as normal and grasped Crystal's. I turned to look at her. She smiled back at me, slightly tightening her grip. We reached the ladder out of the sewers. I followed the rest of the group out and towards the school. We reached the principal's office and Jeremie pointed to the door, indicating for me to follow Aelita in.
"Ah, you must be Aelita's brother, Alex. My name is Mr. Delmas. Aelita and Odd have told me so much about you." He said, sticking his hand forwards. Knowing what this meant from my research on human behaviors, I grabbed his hand and shook it. "Well, you will be bunking in Jeremie Belpois's room," he said releasing my hand and sitting back down. "Here is the room key. Aelita please inform Jeremie to show Alex where he will be staying and tell Jim to bring a bed into Mr. Belpois's room." Aelita smiled at him and I bowed, in order to express his authority, before we walked out.
The rest of the group waited outside of the office. "Let's show him around. I need to go to the gym to tell Jim to bring a bed to your room. Might as well show him the whole place while we are at it." We walked by the gym. Jeremie reminded me not to use my excess amounts of speed and strength in here. Next we walked to the cafeteria. I told the group that this would most likely be my favorite room. We continued to walk around the school, showing me my classes on my schedule. Afterwards, we walked back to my and Jeremie's room. Another bed, similar to Jeremie's, was against the wall opposite his. I laid back on it. Each person took a seat, some on the beds, some in the floor, and Odd sat in Jeremie's chair. We talked for a while. Mostly about how my classes would be and about the school. When the subject of the gym arrived, I remembered that only Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich had known about my abilities. In order to explain about them, first I had to change the subject. I teleported to the other bed. Odd nearly fell backwards out of his seat. They each began to question 'What just happened' or 'How are you able to do that'. Jeremie explained that I was still able to use my abilities freely outside of Lyoko.
"What else can you do, Alex?" Odd asked.
"Well, I can outrun you for one," I said. Everyone laughed, except Odd. "And I can see anywhere, which is how I was able to watch you all on Lyoko."
Night came and the others left to go to their dorms or, in Yumi's case, home. Jeremie turned the lights off and we climbed into our beds.
I awoke the next morning, feeling no longer tired as I was the last night. Sleep also seemed to bring relief of the previous day's stress. We walked to the cafeteria. The group was perfectly timed and walked through the line together. I took some of everything, as did Odd. We each sat at a table. Odd picked up his fork and looked at me.
"You may be able to outrun me, but can you eat faster than me?" He said challenging me.
"Let's find out," I said, accepting his challenge.
"Winner gets the pot," Ulrich said, putting his apple in the center of the table. Each of the others followed suit and put something in that they weren't going to eat. "GO!"
I picked up my food, not bothering to take breaks for breathing. I was half way done when Odd had just finished his first apple and started on his croissant. "Having trouble, Odd?" I said, taunting him.
"No, are you!?" He yelled, throwing his fork at my wrist. I immediately dropped my spoon. I picked up his fork and tossed it back at him hitting his croissant back down to his plate. I quickly gulped my tomato soup, finishing my food. Aelita pushed the pot toward me. I ate as much as I could, still leaving a single apple. Odd eyed my prize. I rolled the remaining food toward him. He picked it up, smiling a "thank you" at me, and took a bite out of his apple.
"Well, I am going to go back to my room to work on Aelita's antivirus. Coming Aelita?" Jeremie said.
"Sure."
"I'll come, too," Crystal said.
"I have to go to French class," Yumi said. "See you."
After they had left, Odd, Ulrich, and myself sat at our table. "I have a question," I said after the others had walked through the doors. "You seem to have a pretty good relationship with Yumi, right Ulrich." He blushed. Odd laughed.
"Umm, sure, why." he said, his face turning a deep red.
"Well, I wanna saysomething to Crystal, but I'm not exactly sure how," I said.
Odd laughed. "You don't want to ask Ulrich about girls, he gets nervous just thinking about Yumi. I'm your guy."
"You mean you have a successful relationship?" It was Ulrich's turn to laugh.
"Well... No..." he said.
"Then I think I would rather have Ulrich's advice." I said.
"Well, I don't think you need any advice. You seemed to do well on your own," Ulrich said.
"Okay," I said, thinking about how easy it was to just reach for her hand.
I walked back to my dorm. Jeremie was working on his computer. Aelita and Crystal were working on their laptop. I sat next to Crystal.
"Umm, Crystal... Would you like to... umm... Have something to eat with me for lunch..." I said, knowing I sounded really nervous. Jeremie knocked something over on his desk and Aelita almost dropped her laptop.
"Are you asking me on a date?" She asked, attempting to hold in a smile.
"Umm... Yeah..." I said.
"Sure. Where?"
"I'm not familiar with any places to eat around here. I was hoping you would know of a place."
"Okay. Pick me up at my dorm at noon," she said. She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I liked her lips. They gave my cheek warmth.
"Umm... Okay..." I stood, nearly falling over, and walked to Odd and Ulrich's room.
"I think I did it..." I said when I had arrived.
"Good. You are already doing better than Ulrich. Ulrich can never bring himself to say the words." Odd said with a grin stretching his face.
(Crystal third person limited)
Alex walked Crystal back down the girls' dormitories.
"That was fun," she said. "Thanks." She leaned over and kissed his cheek again.
"You're welcome. I had fun, too." he told her, smiling and rubbing his cheek. "I have to go get ready for gym chemistry now. Bye."
"Me too. Bye." Crystal walked into her room. She looked around and noticed Aelita wasn't there. She fell backwards on to her bed, smiling thinking about Alex, his pure white hair and his dark blue eyes. She got ready for class and walked to the chemistry room. She sat in her assigned seat, next to Aelita.
"How did it go?" she asked, a small smile on her face.
"Better than I could have hoped," she responded. "At least for a program." Both of them smiled from ear to ear. Aelita knew she had more fun than she was willing to admit.