Chapter 10. Normal POV.
Jeremy refused to fall asleep.
The computer screen cast a bluish glow on his otherwise dark room, twisting shadows of ordinary items such as books or desks into unrecognizable shapes. It illuminated his tired, half-open eyes and slender, usually fast flying fingers that had slowed to less than fifteen words per minute. He'd been working on finding Aelita's missing fragments that would free her from Xana for… what, over four hours straight? It was about 11:00 when he stumbled upon the discovery that there was no virus, only a so-called 'key' in Aelita and a fragment of her memories that Xana had stolen. Without the fragment, she would remain linked to Xana. Elated by his findings, it was all Jeremy could do not to wake anyone up for the news. He had begun the search for the fragment then but was quickly losing energy. The digital clock beside the computer now read 3:37am.
His head stubbornly refused to fall asleep while his brain and body begged for rest. Colton slumbered soundly behind him, tempting Jeremy to give into the begging, but he refused. There was simply too much work to be done, and sleep, he had decided long ago, was a waste of time. For about a month, Jeremy hadn't gotten more than four, sometimes five hours of sleep a night. Aelita chided him for it, and at times, he was extremely tempted to just stop working and crawl under the warm, soft covers.
Jeremy shook himself, rubbing his eyes. He would not fall asleep.
After a few moments, he decided to search Franz's diary. Maybe something in there would be interesting enough to keep him awake. After a minute or so of sifting through the typed diaries, he clicked one labeled To Lyoko…? and began to read.
January 22, 1993,
I'm in more danger than ever, so much so that Aelita is now in danger as well. I'm hurrying to finish Lyoko in hopes that it can serve as a safe haven for us when they come for me. But ANA—
Though he had seen many of these words, Jeremy assumed it was a typo of XANA.
—is acting odd. I hope it's nothing more serious than a few minor bugs, because the places where we can be safe are more and more limited. I fear that soon, Lyoko will be the only place to go.
Interesting, but Jeremy had known that already.
Hmph. A few minor bugs, he thought. What about the drive to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth? Does that count as a bug?
He kept reading, but nothing more of interest showed up, and with it the battle of staying awake began to waver. His eyelids drooped more and more until Jeremy had fallen asleep completely, head hung with his chin against his chest. However, his glasses slowly slid down his nose until they fell off, bouncing off of his lap before clattering to the floor.
The noise of the plastic-framed spectacles hitting the floor wasn't particularly loud, but in a room that was completely quiet, excluding breathing, they seemed to echo loudly.
Jeremy snapped awake with a small gasp, mouth instinctively forming the word Xana as he scrambled for his phone and keyboard. After a moment of frantic searching he stopped and blinked, seeming to notice that he had only just dozed off. Jeremy relaxed visibly, tension draining out as he searched around blindly for his glasses. After several seconds, he found them and went back to work, but not before taking the last caffeine pill from a packet stored in his drawer.
Second time tonight I dozed off.
It was also the second caffeine pill Jeremy had taken that night. His hands had begun to shake with exhaustion, but a small rush of energy from the caffeine stilled them. He knew that they would only keep him awake so long, but that was good enough. Scrolling through files typed up before the earlier one, he clicked one that was labeled ANA VS. CARTHAGE: Project X.
Project X... The name sounded slightly ominous. Jeremy mentally shrugged, dismissing the feeling, and began to read.
October 31, 1989,
ANA has recently been finished. Even with the minor bugs I need to work out, it is vastly superior to CARTHAGE: Project X. I'm very satisfied with the knowledge that ANA has been preforming exactly as I planned and is suiting its purpose very well.
Which was what, exactly, Jeremy was wondering. He half-squinted at the screen and continued reading.
However, I'm becoming slightly worried. Project X has been under construction for over fourteen years, yet it shows little to no promise. Why? They've done so much better before. If I make predictions off of their past work, Project X should be just as good as ANA.
Jeremy frowned at Franz's lack of mentioning who "they" were.
Why would they neglect to work on it until Project X reached its full potential? There must be a reason, I'm sure, but it is hidden, and I have not yet found it. This is what worries me. The initial reason for Project X was supposed to be convenience—an efficient, intelligent, powerful, and vastly superior AI to assist people in managing advanced technology, something very similar to ANA's own design. But I sense an ulterior, possibly dangerous motive.
For every key I find to solving this mystery, another ten mysteries pop up. Soon I will be surrounded by dangerous secrets that will swamp me and slowly pull me down, down, until I am drowned by my own ignorance.
I've been in danger for over a decade. But, for the first instance in that length of time, I'm beginning to feel truly afraid.
Truly afraid.
Jeremy's now awake mind buzzed with thoughts. He ran over the words in his mind and moved his jaw around, as if he could taste them.
He's truly afraid.
Jeremy's face twisted into a frown. The words didn't taste very good, apparently.
He's truly afraid because of Project X.
Though Jeremy had never actually met him, Franz Hopper didn't seem like a man who scared easily. If he was afraid of this AI, Project X he called it, then it had to be dangerous. It might have been even more dangerous than Xana.
That scared Jeremy. The thought of something more dangerous than the insane AI, a power-hungry murderer with limitless access to government weapons, deadly diseases, and more, terrified him. For a while, something more dangerous than XANA wasn't considered. Even if it was, the thought would be dismissed as a nightmarish fantasy or something that simply didn't exist. But now, there was a possibility of it. If Project X was similar enough to XANA—or ANA, Franz called it for some reason—then it could turn self-aware and evil too.
Then we'd have another Xana on our hands.
The thought lodged a pit of dread in Jeremy's stomach. It was very possible they could have another Xana.
Already, we can hardly manage the first one; I'm not especially eager to see if we can juggle a second.
He tried to browse through the other files, hoping to find more about Project X, but sleepiness soon took over completely. Jeremy's head was propped up by his arm on the desk, but it slowly slid and collapsed, bringing his head with it. The blond teen was simply too exhausted to care and allowed his eyes to slide shut, using the keyboard as a pillow. It was 4:00am when Jeremy crossed the border from dozing to completely asleep, too tired to dream. He slept soundly the rest of the night.
The next morning, Colton couldn't help but smile as he saw Jeremy asleep at his desk. He walked over, draped a blanket over his shoulders, switched the keyboard for an actual pillow, and gently took his glasses off as he'd watched Aelita do so many times.
Then his smile turned into a frown as he saw the empty packet of caffeine tablets. This was his fifth packet he'd used this month.
Jeremy, Jeremy. When will you learn that you can't stay awake on just caffeine? You have to actually get sleep, too.
Colton sighed to himself as he dressed and headed to breakfast. The others were seated around the usual table. Odd was animatedly shoving food into his mouth while Aelita munched a croissant and Ulrich had coffee in hand, but was only half awake. Star was absent and Yumi hadn't yet arrived. When Colton went to the table alone, Jeremy's absence was noted immediately.
"Where's Jeremy?" Aelita was the first to inquire and the only one who looked able to do so. Ulrich was practically asleep and Odd had a mouthful of food.
Colton gave a half smile as he sat across from her and next to Ulrich. "What, no 'good morning', or even just 'hi'? What am I, chopped liver?"
His smile disappeared at Aelita's worried look. Around a full mouth Odd muttered, spraying crumbs everywhere, "Hey, tha's offenshive ooh shopped liver."
Colton made a disgusted face at him and turned to Aelita. "Jeremy's out," he said.
"Out?"
Odd began to speak, but Colton held up a hand, signaling for him to eat first. The blond compliantly chewed for several seconds before swallowing, then said, "I think what he's saying is that Einstein slept in."
Colton snorted as he inspected the murky brown of his soup. After a moment, he picked up a croissant instead, seemingly deciding not to risk the unseen contents of the soup. "Passed out is more like it. I woke up sometime during the middle of the night—probably 2am or something—and I heard him typing. But when I woke up this morning, he was passed out on the keyboard. I also found an empty pack of caffeine tablets."
"Again?" Aelita asked in dismay.
Colton nodded as he took a bite of his croissant, careful to chew and swallow before talking. "Yeah. The only way your body will get real energy, not just a sugar or caffeine rush, is sleep. All that caffeine isn't good for your system and you can't keep yourself up on it alone. In fact, if he keeps swallowing them at this rate, he'll get seriously sick soon. Also, where's Star?"
"Couldn't wake her up," Aelita answered with a shrug. "She sleeps as heavy as Odd does."
Odd made a seemingly indigent comment that was lost in his full mouth while Colton laughed. Once Odd was able to talk again, it appeared that he was going to repeat the comment when he noticed Yumi coming through the doors. A cup of what presumably was coffee in hand and her usual black bag slung over a shoulder, she quickly found the table and headed toward it.
A grin suddenly stretched Odd's, for once in his life, empty mouth.
"I don't like that look," Colton muttered.
"Look, Ulrich's girlfriend has arrived!" Odd announced cheerfully. After a moment, he glanced at Ulrich, disappointed in his lack of a reaction, then grinned even more when he noticed that the brunette had dozed off.
"Ulrich's girlfriend has arrived!" Odd repeated, almost yelling. He said it so loudly that people as far as two tables over turned to peer curiously at him. One of them was William, but Ulrich was too busy snapping awake to notice.
"Wha? What about Yumi?" he asked instinctively, cup jerking in his hand while Odd began to laugh.
"You see! You see! I have witnesses! Ulrich just admitted that Yumi was his girlfriend!"
Yumi had apparently heard it as well. Her face was flushed brightly, and her normally calm look was replaced with a glare. She walked toward Odd while the poor brunette struggled to make sense of the situation.
"Hey, quiet down, Odd. We don't need any rumors spreading, you hear?" Her voice was quiet, but in the kind of quiet that made the tone more serious and… deadly. That's what it sounded like to Odd. Her smoldering eyes and strict tone promised punishment for the joker if he continued. Not quite restraining a smile, Odd nodded vigorously, and she slid into the chair next to him.
"Where's Star? And Jeremy?" the Japanese girl asked, quick to notice the two unfilled chairs.
"Star's probably still asleep, unless she's rushing a shower. Colton says that Jeremy fell asleep at the computer again."
Yumi nodded while Odd suddenly peered over Ulrich's shoulder. "Speaking of, here comes sleeping beauty."
Jeremy was quite a sight. The fact that he hadn't gotten much sleep over the past month was obvious in the dark bags under his eyes and haggard appearance. His laptop was tucked under one arm and red keyboard markings stood out on his forehead. He walked slowly and stiffly, as if he were half-dead, and didn't look too far from it. His eyes, however, were full of life.
"Good morning, guys," he said as he slid into the seat next to Aelita. "I have some great news."
"You've decided to become a zombie," Odd guessed instantly, then frowned. "Wait, that wouldn't really be good, would it? But you do look like a zombie, Einstein."
Jeremy scowled at Odd, and when he received only an unfazed grin in response, the young genius looked at the others.
"What's the good news?" Aelita asked kindly, deciding she'd chide him about his sleeping habits some other time.
"Aelita's antivirus no longer needs to be found."
Surprised exclamations and mutters were heard around the table.
"You mean, you've finally found it?" asked Ulrich, who had woken up enough to listen to the conversation.
"Well, technically, no." At their disappointed expressions, he hurriedly continued, "but that's only because it doesn't need to be found."
"What do you me—oh, hey, Star's here!" Odd said suddenly as a blond haired girl with a streak of green in her hair rushed through the double doors.
She was clad in grey shorts, a lime green t-shirt with yellow and white striped sleeves that reached to her hands underneath it, and plain blue sneakers. The only obvious signs that she had a rushed morning were the tag sticking out of the back of her collar and her frizzy hair, which spilled messily onto her shoulders. After getting a tray, she slid into a spot next to Odd and greeted them breathlessly.
"Good morning."
"Ran a mile before breakfast?" Yumi asked while Ulrich said bluntly, "Your shirt is inside out."
Star glanced down at her shirt, reaching behind herself to feel the tag, then shrugged. "Okay. I'll fix it later."
"Your hair looks like it was done by a raccoon," Odd commented after a few moments.
"Says the boy with hair that looked like it was blown back by a turbo fan." She childishly stuck her tongue out at him, while Ulrich whispered "Burn!" at an indigent Odd. "Can't you guys just say 'good morning' or something?"
"I know exactly how you feel," Colton muttered.
Star picked up a croissant and began to take a bite, but then she stopped and sniffed it cautiously. "This smells a little weird… what's in this?"
"Cinnamon," Odd replied through his once again full mouth. "Ish deliciosh."
Star moved the croissant away from her and set it back on the plate with slow and careful movements, as if it were a bomb, then pushed her tray to Odd. "All right then." No one questioned the strange behavior.
"Have you tried the croissants with chocolate chips?" Odd inquired to both Aelita and Star, now eating her croissants. "They're even better than the cinnamon."
"No, but that sounds really—"
Jeremy cut in, speaking in disbelief. "Did the topic actually go from Aelita's antivirus to the different flavors of croissants?"
Star seemed to only just notice him. "Good morning to you too, Einstein. You seem pretty cheerful this morning. For a zombie, I mean."
While Jeremy only rolled his eyes, Odd grinned and said, "Wish I would've thought of that."
Star returned the grin, satisfied with herself, when Aelita interrupted. "Okay, guys, I think we've talked enough about how it's obvious that Jeremy isn't getting enough sleep." She shot him a glance and muttered, "Though I certainly plan to talk to him about it later."
Colton stirred the soup with his spoon but didn't eat any. "Aelita's right. Jeremy, what were you going to say about her antivirus?"
The genius cleared his throat, obviously glad to have the conversation back on topic, and said, "Just that there will be no antivirus, because Aelita doesn't have a virus."
Yumi frowned in confusion. "But I thought that was what linked her to Xana? It's the virus that's not letting us shut down the supercomputer, right?"
Jeremy put his laptop on the table and opened it, beginning to type. "Well, no. It is true that Aelita is linked to Xana, but she's not linked by a virus. It turns out that Xana didn't implant something in her, but rather stole something from her." He turned the laptop around so the others could see its screen. "He stole a fragment of her."
"Stole some of me?" Aelita asked. "How does that happen?"
"Well, Xana didn't steal a physical part of you; he stole a mental part of you. This is the good side of your DNA strand." Jeremy pointed to the computer.
"Good side?" Colton asked. "How can there be a good side of your DNA?"
"I described it the wrong way. It's not a good side of your DNA; it's a side that shows your good qualities. As you can see, Aelita's good qualities are shown here, such as her image, mental capabilities, musical and technological talents, and more, all of which are quite high." He smiled at the pink haired girl, whose cheeks were, at the moment, darker than her hair.
No one said anything. Then: "Jeremy," Ulrich said slowly, "I know you think you're explaining yourself, but you're really not. Translation, Aelita?"
She was still blushing. "He's saying that the information in my DNA is showing me as talented and intelligent."
"Don't forget beautiful," Odd said with a wink as he elbowed Star, who grinned. Now it was Jeremy's turn to blush as he continued.
"Yes, it shows her beauty too." The unintended compliment won the blushing blond a shy smile from Aelita. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and pointed to something on the screen. "But, do you see this?"
"No," said Odd.
Jeremy ignored him. "This is a gap. It's where her memories should be, but they're gone. This is the part that Xana stole."
Brows creased and mouths frowned, but Aelita was the one to ask, "Okay, so Xana stole my memories. How do we get them back?"
Jeremy laced his fingers together. "I'm not sure," he admitted after several seconds. "But I think a good place to start looking would be sector five."
"That sounds good," agreed Yumi. "But why would Xana send the scyphozoa again and again if he already had Aelita's memories?"
"Because he didn't get what he wanted," Jeremy said. "Allow me to explain. When Aelita was going to be materialized for the first time, Xana knew that as soon as she was, we'd turn the supercomputer off. That meant the end for him. Well, I'm assuming he panicked and took Aelita's memories so she'd be linked to the supercomputer. But that wasn't the entire reason."
Seven people listened intently. Six were sitting at the table, and one was a raven-haired boy, two tables away, who was more confused than ever.
"Aelita, like Franz, holds one of the keys to Lyoko." Before anyone could ask anything, he continued. "The key is located in Aelita's memories. That's what Xana wants."
Everyone was silent for a few moments.
"What would Xana want with the keys to Lyoko?" Odd asked.
"What he's been wanting," Aelita said quietly, drawing all attention to her. "To escape from the supercomputer."
Her father's car had bullet holes.
Twi frowned at the stain she was trying to scrub off of a plate. Warm water swished around in the sink and washed over the plate, making it hot to the touch. She had just shoved the picture back between the cushions before her grandmother needed the dishes washed.
Bullet holes. There are bullet holes in his car, and he died of heart failure? A healthy man in his early thirties? I hardly think so.
Twi scrubbed harder. The sponge rasped against the plate and soap bubbles popped. The stain didn't disappear.
She grimaced, fighting a sense of nausea.
He was murdered...
Twi shook herself. She could simply be jumping to conclusions. There was no guarantee that the holes in the car were bullet holes. Even if they were, wouldn't people have noticed? Wouldn't they have asked questions or said something about it?
Yeah. I'm just being paranoid. It's not like Jerry was trying to look at the car because there were bullet holes in it.
The stain was coming off, but Twi scrubbed as hard as ever. She bordered on the edge of relief and nausea, full of uncertainty. Doing the dishes gave her plenty of time to choose which side to cross over to, but until she had proof of the truth, she'd stay uncertain.
After several seconds, Twi was unable to bear being with her thoughts. She'd ask Jerry and settle it there. He'd never lie to her. Leaving few dishes unwashed, she dried her hands and was getting her phone when a beep sounded from the living room. It was followed by a squeal.
"It's okay, grandma!" Twi said hurriedly as she walked into the room. "It's just an email." An open, silver laptop sat on a wooden coffee table that was across from the couch her grandmother was sitting on. The old woman's eyes were wide with surprise and fear behind her wiry spectacles and her wrinkled face was scrunched into a frown.
"Email. Huh. For the life of me, I couldn't believe anything other than the fact that emails were created to frighten folks like me." The last part came out in a sigh.
Twi eyed her grandmother for a few moments. The woman was short and stout, with a pinched face full of wrinkles. Constantly paranoid, hazel eyes peered over the rims of thin glasses, giving her the appearance of a librarian. shoulder-length, curly hair that had gone through phases of white and silver since age six fell onto her shoulders, explaining the reason for Twi's unusual hair color. All in all, she appeared to be a normal grandmother. Inside, however, she was... Twi preferred to call it a spiraling sanity. It slipped through the normal appearance most often when she was exposed to technology. She'd once screamed repeatedly at a Siri display in a store, convinced that someone was trapped inside the phone. Twi and her grandmother had been kicked out.
She knelt down next to the table, wincing as she remembered the incident. It had been quite embarrassing.
Twi shrugged it off and opened her father's old email.
When her father had died—though it had happened at a young age, Twi remembered it as if it had been recorded and stored permanently in her mind—she had taken his old laptop and kept his email. Though it was protected fiercely with several seemingly impenetrable firewalls if one tried to access it on a different computer, on his laptop, it only had one, simple pass code lock that had taken no time to figure out. Twi thought that it must've carried important information, since he went to great lengths to protect it and constantly carried the laptop around. It had stated clearly in his will that the laptop—and all it held—was enclosed to her.
It was one of the oldest, slowest models, compared to modern laptops, but it was something to hang onto from one of her parents, and Twi wouldn't dare throw it away.
Bursting with curiosity, she had completely checked his—no, hers, now—laptop, and had long ago admitted to herself that she'd been disappointed when all she'd found were a few odd files and his email address. However, a steady stream of strange yet interesting emails had started to fill the inbox. Twi hadn't replied to any of them, but read all of them.
Though they didn't make any sense to her, she noticed oddly familiar and frequently repeating words: CARTHAGE, Lyoko, supercomputer, and once or twice, something called X.A.N.A. What the letters stood for, she didn't know, but the word gave her a strange feeling. She didn't know what X.A.N.A was, but if felt like she should've. The word caused a strange sense of foreboding and a stirring, as if something buried deep within her memories was struggling to show itself.
Twi pushed the feeling down, telling herself that they were only words, and that it was silly to feel like that way. But the feeling floated back up, along with a nagging voice that said they might've been just words, but they could've carried considerably important information. She mentally froze her thoughts and pushed them to the back of their mind so she could read the email, knowing that it would be only so long before they unfroze and pestered her.
Twi scanned the contents of the inbox. Her brow creased as she saw the sender of the email. The previous ones had come from a user named CARProjectX, but the new one had been sent by GS12. She felt a small tingle of curiosity as her hand hovered over the mousepad. This was from someone new, and it could explain a lot more than the others had. Her heart thudded in her chest as she attempted to slow it, unwilling for her hopes to be raised pointlessly. It was probably just another email of gibberish.
Come on. You'll never know if you don't actually read it, a part of her brain snapped.
Twi gave a small nod, as if agreeing with herself. After releasing a small breath, she clicked the email and began to read.
Dear J,
I am unaware of your whereabouts, but I am in need of your assistance. You must go to Kadic Academy immediately and tell no one. It is of the utmost urgency. But tread with great care, for our worst fears have come true. X.A.N.A has re-awakened.
Twi shivered. There it was again.
X.A.N.A.
The frozen thoughts and feelings pushed at her impatiently, as if they had something to say, but she shoved them back. The feeling of foreboding had returned. Whatever X.A.N.A was, it was awakening.
No, Twi thought. re-awakening. So it must've been awake before.
If it was re-awakening—if X.A.N.A even was an it—then she hoped it wasn't dangerous. Her hopes were shot down and crashed as she kept reading, frowning at the screen.
It's all my fault. I know I went too far, but this isn't the time to talk about that. I have much to say in limited time.
Going to Kadic will put you in great danger. Yes, I'm well aware that both of us have been in danger for years, but the danger has increased. Not only are we in danger, but so are the staff and students of Kadic Academy, both of our daughters—
Twi's stomach did a small flip as her frown deepened.
—and simply anyone that X.A.N.A. finds in its way as well.
So X.A.N.A was an it. Her heart had sped up now, mostly with fear, but with a sprig of excitement as well. Trying to decipher various things, her brow furrowed even more.
For fear that this will be intercepted, I will say no more. Alert me once you have reached Kadic and I will send you another message with further instructions. Best of luck,
GS.
By now, Twi was squinting furiously at the screen, as if it might divulge information is she stared hard enough. The screen, however, had nothing to give, and she soon gave up with a small sigh.
This new email meant new information, but all of the information on the laptop (including the recently received email) seemed to be linked with something else. That something else was big, and it was the base for the bits of smaller information that extended outward, acting like branches that stretched out from a tree trunk. Twi became frustrated as she realized that, without the base, she couldn't figure out the details, or smaller secrets. It would be like trying to assemble a giant puzzle that was completely white, a pointless attempt without the color. In other words, she wanted the big, important chunk of info that was the missing key to unlocking the smaller secrets.
But she didn't have it. And without the key, the secrets would remain locked away and useless—for the time being, at least.
Twi scowled at the computer screen for a moment, then composed herself. She reread the email, and then, more carefully, reread it again to see what information she could glean. After ten minutes of reading, thinking, and mentally compiling and piecing together what she knew, Twi had a little more to go on.
The sender of the email was a colleague and possibly taught, or was currently teaching at Kadic Academy. He or she had a daughter and knew what X.A.N.A was; maybe they knew about CARTHAGE and Lyoko. They were connected in some way, Twi thought, by the way the person said "It's all my fault. I know I went too far." They were afraid of it.
And, of course, it obviously stated that they needed help. But it didn't explain why. She'd just have to reply sometime and hope the return email answered why.
There was X.A.N.A. It was obvious that the thing had an objective, and whether it was a person, animal, or some kind of technology, it was awake and fully prepared to kill people to fulfill its wishes. The thought sent shivers down Twi's spine.
There were mentions of danger to various people: her father, the sender of the email, their daughter, herself, and anyone unfortunate enough to be in X.A.N.A's way. But it had also said that the sender and her father had been in danger before. It was an unusual concept; He had never given off the impression he'd been in constant danger.
Then there was the fear of interception. Even though it inspired a stirring in her memories and a thrill of curiosity, the email hardly made sense to Twi. But then again, it wasn't intended for her; it was intended for her father. It seemed that, however, someone else wanted or would not hesitate to hack the information enclosed. Or, multiple someones. And if that were the case, the information—X.A.N.A, also—had to be important and highly classified. Why else would interception be a problem?
These and other thoughts swirled around in Twi's head, sometimes bumping into each other or interlocking, but never fully making sense. She allowed herself to be swept in and subconsciously assumed the vacant expression she always wore while in thought. Though it took a few minutes, she was able to pull herself out of the pool of her confusing thoughts.
It's not much, but it's more than I had before.
Twi considered setting up a password to protect the email, but something told her that if whoever wanted the email knew where it was located, a simple password wouldn't do any good. She set one up anyway, and when finished, turned to her grandmother.
"Grandma?" she asked.
"Yes, Twi?"
The girl hesitated as her feelings of caution and curiosity started to battle. Caution told her that she didn't know what she was getting into and made her reluctant to do anything dangerous. It said she'd be asking for trouble if she impersonated her father and answered whoever GS12 was. On the other hand, curiosity pressed and tempted her, saying that the emails and files could finally start to make sense. She could uncover a huge secret—or a lot of huge secrets. It would add some spice to her life. They pushed and pulled at each other, both making good and bad points.
Her grandmother sent her a prompting look, and at once Twi was sure that the battle was over. But she was unsure whether the following decision would be horrible or wonderful.
"I... I want to go to Kadic Academy."
Curiosity had won.
Spyrofan: I'm so sorry. I know I told you that it'd probably be ready by Friday, but that was about two weeks ago. A lot of things popped up, and I became quite busy. I hope you still enjoyed reading it.