Rain clouds continued hovering throughout the skies. The thunder had only let up a little. It was still an unpleasant day for anyone who wished to be outside. Inside, the clock beeped again. It was eight thirty in the morning.
Yumi Ishyama opened her eyes and yawned. Where am I? She shifted her head to see whose shoulder she was leaning on. Jeremy still had the laptop in his lap, but he was fast asleep. Startled, Yumi sat up quickly. What just happened? Yumi got up slowly, trying not to wake Jeremy from his sleep. She left the room and headed down stairs.
Yumi stretched her arms out. It was uncomfortable to fall alseep sitting up. At least she got some sleep. Just then, the doorbell rang. Who could that be? Yumi walked to the door and opened it. To her surprise, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita were all standing there. Odd was carrying a box or two of doughnuts and Ulrich had store bought coffee.
"Uh...wow, you guys are here early," Yumi said.
"Yumi?" Ulrich asked, puzzled. "When did you get here?"
"Some time ago..." Yumi answered as she let them in.
"Where's Jeremy?" Odd questioned.
"Asleep."
"Then how did you get in?" Odd asked again, this time with a doughnut in his mouth.
"I...I came over last night, to check on him. I guess I forgot to leave."
"Uh huh," Ulrich sighed.
"Ulrich, don't be mad at me. It was an accident, I was just trying to help him out," Yumi pleaded and then turned to Aelita. "You're not mad at me, are you, Aelita?"
"Mad? No, why? Should I be?" Aelita answered.
"I guess it's just jealous Ulrich, isn't it?" Odd laughed.
"Shut up, Odd! I am not jealous!" Ulrich snapped.
"Alright, alright," Aelita interrupted. "Come on, Ulrich, there's no reason to be mad or upset. Try and calm down, ok?"
"Sorry," Ulrich told Yumi. "I must be tired."
"Must be," Yumi responded.
The stairs squeaked and the gang turned their heads to see Jeremy coming down them. He rubbed his head and yawned, then removed his glasses to rub his eyes. He looked up and jumped slightly, not expecting to see his friends standing in the middle of his living room.
"Good morning, Einstein!" Odd shouted, a smile on his face.
"Whoa," Jeremy rubbed his head again. "You're all here."
"Hello Jeremy," Aelita said.
Jeremy smiled at Aelita. "When did you guys get here?"
"A few minutes ago," Ulrich told him.
"Look," Odd pointed. "I brought doughnuts! Ulrich also brought coffee."
"Sweet," Jeremy smiled again.
"Awesome! Let's eat!" Odd rushed to the kitchen.
The kitchen had a nice, big table that everyone could sit around. Odd sat at the front of the table, Jeremy next to Aelita, and Ulrich next to Yumi. Jeremy got back up to go and start the coffee. Odd shoved another doughnut in his mouth.
"So, do anything interesting last night, Jeremy?" Ulrich laughed.
"Interesting? Well, as a matter of fact, yes," Jeremy answered.
Ulrich coughed for a second. "Like what?"
"I explored the factory some. And, get this, I found the base of Project Carthage."
"Really?" Aelita asked with excitement. "How did you manage to do that?"
"I, uh, tracked them. The base is in Primorsky Krai," Jeremy replied.
"Where's that?" Odd asked.
"Siberia."
"Gee," Odd wiped his face with a napkin. "That's far away."
"I also figured out that Xana has another source, one which he is using to access the real world. The only problem is I don't know what or where yet."
"Is that why he's still after Aelita?" Ulrich asked.
Jeremy nodded. "Apparently Aelita still holds the key to stopping his attacks."
"What if there's another Lyoko?" Odd suggested.
"How would we get there if there was?" Yumi questioned.
Jeremy's mind played through more images. Mist, wires, lab coats. The eye of Xana. Suddenly, the scanners opened. A giant armored creature steps out. Jeremy blinked once or twice to come back to reality. The scanners.
"Hold on," Jeremy said. "I think Odd might be onto something."
"Really! ...What?" Odd asked.
Jeremy finished pouring coffee for everyone and then leaned against the counter.
"The scanners..."
"What about them?" Ulrich questioned.
"Well, the thing that's been trying to find Aelita, it came from the scanners."
"What's your point?" Odd asked.
"You see," said Aelita. "The scanners aren't capable of producing an object, living or non-living. They are used to transport things, mainly human beings, from one world into the next. In our case, from earth to Lyoko."
"Exactly," Jeremy replied. "So that means Xana transported it here. Now, whether or not it's Lyoko, I don't know. But think about it...The scanners are still linked somewhere. Otherwise Xana could not have brought anything to earth."
"Oh, wow," Yumi said. "That's incredible."
"Yeah," Ulrich agreed.
"So, what do we do now?" Odd asked.
"Well, the scanners are still at Project Carthage," Jeremy answered.
"Which means we'll have to make a trip, I'm sure," Aelita smiled.
Jeremy smiled back. "It's the only way to get one step closer to figuring out how to defeat Xana."
"Going into Xana's base? Chances of being killed? Count me in," Odd said.
"Me too," Ulrich grinned.
"Me three!" Yumi smiled at Ulrich.
Ulrich blushed and turned to Odd. Odd nodded and smiled, then he turned to Aelita.
"How about it, Princess?"
Aelita looked at Jeremy, then she smiled. "I'm in."
"Looks like the rest of the break will be spent in Siberia," Jeremy laughed.
The plane ride was long and tiring. Ulrich was tired of flights and especially airports. The air was cold, even for spring time. Siberia was covered in a thick forest and outlined with snowcapped mountains. The scene was worth the trip. But they all wondered if the mission would be. Could they handle Xana at his own base? The game seemed to be in the computer's favor.
Jeremy drove the Nissan Altima through a small forest area. The gray clouds rushed overhead and every now-and-then Odd would shout "snow." The dirt path was smooth and narrow – and it seemed to lead into the heart of nowhere. Aelita sat in the passenger seat, laptop in hand. She was using the tracking coordinates Jeremy had found yesterday to help find the base. Odd sat in the middle seat in the back, with Ulrich and Yumi on the window sides.
"Are we there yet?" Odd squeaked.
"You asked that like ten minutes ago," Ulrich sighed.
"Not yet," Aelita told him. "It's an all-day drive, Odd."
"What? Why didn't anyone mention this before?"
"Because you would be complaining, like you're doing now," Ulrich said.
"Why didn't we just arrive in the Primdorky Krill airport?" Odd asked.
Jeremy just laughed. "It's Primorsky Krai, Odd."
"Oh."
"We're trying to be as sneaky as possible," Yumi explained. "So that means not being too close to the enemy. If Xana expected us at all, he would expect us to come as close as possible."
"Ok," Odd mumbled. "But we're in the middle of nowhere."
"Welcome to Siberia," Ulrich laughed.
Minutes seemed like hours and hours like days. They all could have sworn it had been at least ten hours, when in reality it had only been about three. All of the trees were identical and Jeremy thought he was going in circles. Even the small villages looked the same. Odd fell asleep on and off during the last few hours. His snoring was obnoxious, so Ulrich didn't get any sleep. Yumi read a book and listened to music, but was bored with both. Aelita told Jeremy where to turn and how far to go, yawning occasionally.
Night fell on Siberia. The temperature dropped and this time there was actually snow. Odd woke up and looked out the window.
"Wow! Take a look at that!" he shouted.
"Not so loud, Odd," Ulrich complained. "We see it."
"So," Yumi said. "How much longer?"
"A couple more hours, I think," Aelita yawned.
"I think we should stop for the night," Ulrich suggested.
"Yeah," Odd agreed. "But where?"
"There's a town up ahead," Jeremy told him. "We'll stop there."
The town was a bit older, but some of the buildings were newer, which was normal. But what wasn't normal was the lack of people. The signs of life were scarce. It was very strange, even to the group. Jeremy pulled the car into a hotel parking lot – apparently it was one of the newer structures in the town. They unloaded the car and made their way into the hotel.
"Hello," the man at the desk greeted them. He was older and had a short, but thick beard and a strong Russian accent. "How may I help you?"
"Uh," Ulrich went to the front. "We reserved two rooms."
"Name?"
"Stern."
"Ah, yes. Well, Mr. Stern, your rooms are 360 and 358. Here are the keys. Enjoy your stay. Oh! Uh, do you need someone to get your bags?"
"No thank you," Ulrich told him.
After unloading their luggage, they headed back to the lobby. Other than the man at the desk, there was probably only one other worker. Nothing seemed to be right in this small town.
"This is really weird," Odd whispered to Ulrich.
"Yeah, it is," Ulrich whispered back. "Where is everyone?"
"I don't know...But let's go find something to eat. I'm hungry!"
The diner appeared to be crowded; there were several cars in the parking lot. Perhaps it was the only restaurant in the town. Maybe the food was excellent. But when Jeremy opened the doors there was a lack of life in the dark diner. There were two workers, a man and a woman, and about three other people present.
Odd looked around in surprise. There were so many cars outside... Ulrich walked to one of the booths and the others followed. Odd pulled up a chair at the end of the table, since the booths could only hold two people on each side. The waitress was older than they were, probably in her thirties or so. She had blondish hair and was of a medium build. After taking their drink orders, she went back to the kitchen.
"Alright," Yumi spoke up. "This is officially creepy."
"I'll say," Odd shivered. "There's no one here!"
"It's strange," Jeremy said. "That's for sure. It's as though people have just vanished."
"But why?" Aelita asked. "People usually don't just disappear without reason."
"Do you think it's Xana?" Ulrich asked.
"It's very possible," Jeremy answered. "We're close to the base."
"But what would Xana want with a place like this?" Yumi questioned.
"It's definitely a puzzle," Aelita said.
"Like hitting a wall," Jeremy commented.
The waitress returned and handed out the drinks. She appeared perfectly normal in her composure. But they could all see some worry in her eyes. Perhaps it was time to find out what was going on. Jeremy decided to say something.
"There sure are a lot of cars here."
The waitress looked at him for a moment. "Ah, well there are a lot of people here."
Jeremy looked around and then back at the woman. "Not unless everyone here drives more than one car."
"Look, you kids don't want to go looking for trouble, I know. Don't bother with it."
"With what?" Yumi asked.
The lady looked around and then leaned in closer. She nearly whispered, "There are strange things happening around here. I mean really strange."
"Such as?" Odd asked.
"Creatures, big ones. Nothing is normal. This town is being watched...by something terrible. You don't go looking for it and you certainly don't oppose it. Do you understand that? They've tried..." she looked out the window to the parking lot.
"Can't you leave?" Ulrich questioned.
"Only if I want to end up like them," she pointed to the empty cars. "As far as I know people should just live their lives normally and everything will be fine. Once you're here you can't get out."
"Is this the only place being watched?" Aelita asked.
"I don't think so. It's like a pleague...spreading until everything is taken over."
"This sounds like a lovely situation," Odd joked.
"If you were wise, you'd leave it alone."
With that she went back into the kitchen. The gang turned their heads toward each other, each with the same knowing look on their faces. Xana. It was getting worse and they knew time was even shorter than before.
"What do we do?" Odd asked.
"Yeah," Ulrich said. "You heard her, we can't leave. Xana's watching this place."
"But we're running out of time," Aelita reminded them.
"You're right," Yumi agreed. "But what can we do?"
Jeremy leaned back in his seat and thought for a moment. "Well, I can only think of one thing we can do..."
"Oh boy," Odd sighed.
"We play the game."