"So, you're telling me that X.A.N.A. possessed me?" Olivie asked Aelita, Ulrich and Odd who had just explained to her what had happened in Lyoko. Of course, she knew very well what had happened since originally it was her plan to make it seem as if she was possessed by X.A.N.A..

For X.A.N.A.'s part, Olivie's plan worked perfectly, for the Lyoko gang… not so much. Both, Jeremie and Yumi had disappeared without a single trace left behind and they had no idea where they were right now. Even Olivie didn't know.

"You definitely had the mark in your eyes," Ulrich said, "We all saw it."

"But why would he do that?" Aelita asked. "Is he suspecting you?"

Olivie shook her head. "I'm not sure. To me it seems like X.A.N.A. planned the whole thing," she said. "Odd, you said that the mark disappeared almost immediately after Aelita got devirtualized, right?" she asked.

"Yes. And then you seemed quite confused and all," Odd answered.

"So, do you mean that X.A.N.A.'s plan was to devirtualize Aelita?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Olivie said. Except that it was my plan but otherwise that's correct, she thought, I wonder where X.A.N.A.'s hidden Yumi and Jeremie. He's being really quiet at the moment.

"But what do we do now?" Odd asked. "None of us have the slightest idea where Yumi and Jeremie are."

Odd was completely correct. They were all so worried that even their thoughts were fuzzy. Ulrich was still on guard in case whatever it was that took their friends came back. Although he was getting the feeling that it wouldn't come if they were together.

"Whatever we do, we can't split up," Ulrich said, "Both Yumi and Jeremie were alone when the thing that took them came."

Olivie nodded. "You've got a good point there," she said. "But we really can't stay here either. Is there any place nearby that X.A.N.A. might have took them to?"

Odd, Ulrich and Aelita were all kind of surprised. They remembered their first encounters with Olivie and to them, she seemed somehow different now. She seemed more serious than before, she wasn't nearly as worried as before, and then there was something none of them could put to words; she was – just – different.

"Maybe X.A.N.A.'s taken them somewhere in the factory?" Odd suggested.

They all imagined the factory in their heads. It was true that there were many places there in which Jeremie and Yumi could be. To them it seemed reasonable to search the factory first. Although they were all frightened about what could happen. What if it was already too late for their friends? What if X.A.N.A. in the end got them all? What would happen to Earth then?

Aelita, Odd and Ulrich were all thinking the same; If they get through this, they won't let X.A.N.A. pull the same trick on them. No tower after this will be left active. At least, they hope so.

"Maybe we should split into two pairs," Ulrich suggested, "We could search faster and we wouldn't be alone." The others agreed by nodding.

"So, boys and girls?" Odd said, "Aelita and Olivie will be one pair and me and Ulrich the other."

Ulrich and Aelita agreed to that but Olivie was slowly shaking her head.

"What's wrong, Olivie?" Aelita asked.

"I don't want to take risks," Olivie responded. "If X.A.N.A. can possess me so easily in Lyoko, what if he can do it here too? If he does that, Aelita's the last person I want to be paired up with," she explained.

"Oh, yeah, completely forgot about that…" Odd said kind of embarrassed.

Olivie smiled a bit. "It's okay Odd. Don't worry about it," she said to him.

"So how should we split up then?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita got an idea first. "If Olivie gets possessed, which of you has a better chance against her?" she asked Odd and Ulrich who gazed at each other immediately.

"Umm, I'm not so sure," Ulrich said, "I managed to hit her during the practice but Odd beat her in Lyoko."

Odd seemed to be really thinking about it. "Well, Lyoko and Earth are two completely different places. You did better on Earth so I think you should go with Olivie," he suggested.

The others nodded with agreement.

"Just one more thing," Olivie said, "I don't know if X.A.N.A. suspects me or not, but if he notices that I'm actually helping you I have no idea what might happen after that," she explained.

Aelita smiled at her. "It's okay. The main priority is to get Yumi and Jeremie back," she said, "Let's worry about that later."

Yes, you probably will worry about that later… Olivie thought, But you're not the only ones who're clueless here. Even I have no idea what's going on.

"What if Odd and I searched the machinery rooms and the corridor while Olivie and Ulrich check the factory floor and all its rooms?" Aelita suggested.

The others nodded.

"If something happens, we'll call immediately, right?" Ulrich asked, "Wouldn't be too nice to wonder around searching for Yumi and Jeremie if they're already found."

For the first time in a while they actually laughed a little. The situation was dire still, but a little cheerfulness brought then hope of finding their friends. And with that, they took the elevator up and separated starting to search for Yumi and Jeremie in this maze called the factory.

Aelita and Odd headed for the machinery room. They both remembered how X.A.N.A. had used it to make a nearly indestructible robot a couple months ago. So it wasn't so nice for either of them going in there knowing that X.A.N.A.'s practically acting without limits. At least they were both on guard.

"I never realized how creepy all these machines were," Odd said.

"Well, they wouldn't be so terrifying if X.A.N.A. didn't have an active tower," Aelita said. She too was nervous around all the machinery. X.A.N.A. could, in theory, control them at any possible moment. And what would happen then? Aelita and Odd have nearly no chances against the machines. They didn't even want to think of that.

"I'm not sure if this is the right moment to talk about this…" Odd started, "But, do you notice something different about Olivie?" he asked.

Aelita turned her gaze to the floor, thinking for a while.

"Yes, she is different than when we first met her," Aelita admitted, "But keep in mind that there's a lot happening with her right now. Clearly, she's mad at X.A.N.A.. She thought that he was the good guy here. And now she has to play a role for him in order to not be possessed. Knowing that X.A.N.A. possessed her today doesn't help her situation at all…"

Odd thought about that. While, of course, at the same time looking around in case X.A.N.A. was trying to surprise them somehow. So far he saw no signs of X.A.N.A.. At the same time, he was glad that X.A.N.A. seemed to ignore them but that made him worry too.

"What you said, does make sense," Odd said, "But there's just something that bothers me…" he continued.

Noticing that Odd wasn't going to go on, Aelita asked:

"Do you want to tell what's bothering you?"

Odd took a deep breath before saying anything.

"You see…" he began, "I've been thinking about what Jeremie said back then when Olivie first came to Earth: 'There's one flaw in Olivie's story, and it's flawlessness.' And it kinda makes sense to me now." He took a minor break again thinking about what he should say next. Seeing that Aelita was waiting for him to say something, he continued.

"And in Lyoko earlier today… When X.A.N.A.'s mark disappeared from Olivie's eyes she seemed so surprised…" he said struggling a bit with words here and there.

"But, wouldn't you be surprised if you suddenly noticed you were in Lyoko?" Aelita asked. She didn't really see the point in what Odd was telling her.

"Of course I would," Odd admitted, "But my point is that Olivie wouldn't. During that training with her, she told us that we shouldn't leave openings; like – to not show weaknesses. Being that surprised and showing it outside seems just too much against what she said," he concluded.

Aelita was at first lost with words. She now saw what Odd tried to explain and started to realize that she had noticed something like that herself. And she now started to think everything over. Was Olivie actually just fooling them? She didn't want to believe that but she couldn't ignore it either.

"Wow Odd, that was a lot of smart words from you," Aelita praised him.

Odd gave her a small laugh. "I can surprise people with my hidden intelligence sometimes," he said getting them both to laugh.

"But I kinda agree with your points, Odd," Aelita said, "As much as I wouldn't want to believe Olivie being against us, we should keep a close eye on her."

Odd nodded seriousness written all over his face but slowly turning to eyes filled with worry.

"What is it, Odd?" Aelita asked.

"What if Olivie is with X.A.N.A.…" Odd started, "And Ulrich's there all alone with her."

Aelita's face got filled with worry too.

"Let's not come to a sudden conclusion yet," Aelita said, "I'll call Ulrich and check if everything's alright."

She took her mobile, looked up Ulrich's number and made a call.

"What is it, Aelita?" Ulrich answered, hope sounding from his voice. Clearly, he was hoping that Odd and Aelita had found Yumi and Jeremie.

"We haven't found a single clue of them yet," Aelita said, "We just wanted to make sure nothing's happened to you."

"Ah, I see. Nothing yet, neither Yumi, Jeremie or X.A.N.A. related," Ulrich said. "But we haven't searched nearly all of the rooms and corridors here."

"Okay. Call if you find something," Aelita said and ended the call.

Odd sighed with relieve. "So, I guess we should continue the searching."

On Ulrich and Olivie's side...

"What was it?" Olivie asked Ulrich, "Did they find anything?"

Ulrich shook his head, "No, they just wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to us."

They hadn't really talked during the whole time, but now that Aelita's call opened up the conversation the continued with it. Besides, Ulrich had a couple things he wanted to ask.

"This is something that happened a good while ago, but what happened to that diary of yours?" Ulrich asked hoping that he wouldn't regret saying it later.

And I hoped that they would forget about it… Olivie thought, so dumb of me!

"After Jeremie found the diary, X.A.N.A. ordered me to get it back instantly, threatening me with possessing me if I didn't. So I got it back and since then it's been in a hiding place in my room," Olivie explained.

"Is it okay, if I ask how you open it?" Ulrich asked, "We had no idea."

"It's got a voice lock," Olivie said, "All you need to open it is the correct word."

"Oh, so that's it," Ulrich said, "I'm actually kinda surprised that Jeremie didn't think of that. And, by the way, does X.A.N.A. know what's in there?" he asked.

Olivie shook her head. "No, X.A.N.A. doesn't have the slightest idea about what I've written there," she said. The best part is that I'm not lying at all, she thought smiling a bit inside.

"Soo, why did he want you to get it back from us, if he doesn't even know what's in there?" Ulrich asked.

"Haha, for the more reason to get it away from you," Olivie said with a smile, "What if I had written all X.A.N.A.'s secrets in there? Even if you had no idea how to open the diary and X.A.N.A. had no idea what's in there, that's too big of a risk."

"Ah, I see," Ulrich said, "That does make sense. So is it filled with X.A.N.A.'s secrets?" he asked.

"It's mostly just a regular diary but some things in there X.A.N.A. would definitely not want you to read," Olivie explained, "But like I said, it's a normal diary mostly filled with my personal secrets so I wouldn't really like anyone to read it."

That, Ulrich understood pretty well. Oh, what a nightmare it was when Sissi found his diary and blackmailed him with it. So yes, Ulrich understood perfectly that a personal diary is something you wouldn't want anyone to read. Maybe he should get a lock too, like Olivie, he thought.

Just as they were opening a door to one of the countless small rooms in the factory floor, they heard a sound from the opposite side of the hall.

"Did you hear that?" Ulrich asked.

"I did," Olivie responded, "What do you think it was?" she asked.

Ulrich shook his head, "No idea," he said, "I'll call Aelita and let's wait for them before we go there."

Olivie nodded. "Okay, good thinking," she praised.

"Aelita? We heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. Come to the factory floor as soon as you can. We'll wait for you here," Ulrich spoke to his mobile.

"Okay, we'll be there," Aelita said and with that, ended the call.

Ulrich and Olivie waited for a few minutes in complete silence. They were both listening carefully for any other sounds.

Even Olivie was curious about what was in there. She was having a lot of mixed feelings again. She knew that whatever it was that X.A.N.A. wanted to do to the Lyoko gang, wasn't good for them at all. They might even end up losing their lives. As much as Olivie was supposed to be on X.A.N.A.'s side, she kind of didn't want that to happen. But, again, she had no other choice than to act for the good of X.A.N.A..

"Ulrich, Olivie!" Odd called out.

Odd and Aelita both breathed heavily as they got to Ulrich and Olivie.

"So, where did the sound come from? And what did it sound like?" Aelita asked still gasping for air after the run.

"From that room there," Olivie said pointing to a door on the other side of the hall, "We're not sure what made the sound. I'd say something fell down," she explained.

"What if it was nothing? Wouldn't be so nice to know we ran all the way here for nothing," Odd said trying to joke around as usual.

"Don't you ever think?" Ulrich scolded, "We're taking no risks here."

"Hah! If you only knew how smartly I thought earlier!" Odd defended himself, but opposite to what he said, that wasn't so smart.

"Well I'd be glad to hear it," Ulrich said challenge in his voice. Only now Odd noticed what he had let slip out of his mouth.

"Um…" he struggled with words for a couple seconds and came up with something to say, "It's so smart that you don't deserve the honor to hear it!" He was quite proud of that even though he never said it.

"Haha, I kinda expected that answer," Ulrich said, his interest went down and he forgot the whole thing almost immediately. Olivie's interest did peak up and she made sure to not forget what Odd had said. She being who she was, couldn't exclude the chance that they were talking about her.

"Could you guys stop arguing?" Aelita scolded Odd and Ulrich, "Let's focus now and think about Jeremie and Yumi."

Odd gazed to the door. "So, who goes first?" he asked.

"I think I should go first," Olivie said.

While Odd and Aelita were now suspicious of Olivie, they agreed that she should definitely go first. Just in case the thing that took Yumi and Jeremie was behind the door. Since, it would most likely do nothing to her so it would be safer for the rest as well.

Olivie neared the door slowly. Before opening it she glanced at the others behind her, seeing they all nodded, she opened the door. Although her face was covered with worry, her curiosity was at its peak.

Olivie entered the room. She heard a worried but at the same time relieved gasp behind her. On the floor in the middle of the room, Yumi and Jeremie lied unconscious.

Aelita, Odd and Ulrich started to hurry towards their friends but Olivie stopped them and gave them a short glance, indicating that she should still go first.

So, she entered the room, walked next to the senseless Yumi and Jeremie while glancing around. Seeing that no one else was in the room she asked the others to come in too.

They all knelt down next to their friends and made sure they were okay.

"Yumi, Jeremie, wake up!" Ulrich said while trying to shake Yumi awake while Odd was doing the same to Jeremie. After a few seconds he ended up slapping him.

"Odd!" Aelita yelled at him, but to their surprise, Jeremie came to his senses after that.

"Huh, what happened?" he asked confused.

"Jeremie!" Aelita gasped and hugged him immediately.

Meanwhile, Odd was going to slap Yumi too.

"Don't even think about it," Ulrich said as he caught Odd's hand in the air. Fortunately, the slap wasn't necessary since Yumi woke up quickly after a few more shakes.

Since the others weren't thinking so clearly at the moment, Olivie ended up being the one explaining what had happened to Jeremie and Yumi.

"So X.A.N.A.'s free to do whatever he wants for about 10 hours still?" Jeremie confirmed.

Olivie nodded. "What was it that took you?" she asked them.

"I didn't see it," Jeremie responded and glanced at Yumi. She shook her head.

This is quite interesting. What are you going to do, X.A.N.A.? Olivie thought with high curiousity.

"Shouldn't we get out of here?" Odd suggested.

Before they could even stand up, the door behind them closed loudly.

Odd was the first to stand up.

"Well ain't that the most cliché thing to happen," he said.

"Odd!" the others yelled at the same time.

"What do we do now?" Yumi asked.

My question is, what will X.A.N.A. do now, Olivie thought.

They didn't receive that much time to think, since they heard a voice above them.

"Good, you're all here."

Thank you for reading, and if you want, leave a review on what you thought about the chapter. It's been a while since the previous chapter, since something happened last week and I didn't feel like writing because of it. But that's slowly being left behind even though it's still heavily in my mind. With that, I'll be back with a new chapter sometime soon and for now; I hope you all have a very merry Christmas ^_^