Aelita paced across Yumi's large bedroom floor; she was panicking.
"You don't think they'll jump to any decisions, right?" She stopped and looked hopefully at her Japanese friend.
"No... they wouldn't do that, they're not like that."
"What's going on with everyone?"
"We're just... stressed out and frustrated. We were so close to getting William back, then we found Mina. And now she's here, but still no more William."
"Everyone was so ready to shut off the supercomputer with William still on Lyoko," she snapped. "Is this what's happened? Every man for himself? I'm not sure I can do this anymore, Yumi." Tears sprung into her eyes. These weren't the people she was friends with.
"Aelita, don't worry, no one's getting rid of anyone, okay?" Putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she smiled. "We'll talk to Jeremie and Ulrich tomorrow, okay?"
"What are we going to do about our classes? I think it'll be too obvious to clone Odd and Mina."
"I'm not sure... But come on, let's get you back to school, it's getting late."
The next morning, Yumi and Ulrich sat alone in the lunch room. It was oddly quiet between the two. Tension rose from their still bodies.
"Did you find anything?" She mumbled without looking at him.
"No. I have to check the forest sector still."
"Nothing in sector five?"
"I said no!" He snapped. Yumi slumped farther down into her chair. Taking her hand in his, Ulrich turned towards her. "I'm sorry. I just- they're gone, Yumi. I can't find them."
"We'll find them though, we've never given up."
"What if we have to?"
"We won't. I want to go with you to Lyoko after classes, and I'm bringing Aelita."
"Is she still mad at me and Jeremie?"
"Yes. But maybe she can help, she does have more access to information than we do."
"Alright, maybe we'll get lucky." Squeezing her hand, he gave her a soft peck on the mouth. Seeing Yumi smile made Ulrich's mood flutter to a high. Smiling back, he rose from his seat, and left for his first class.
Sitting in Science, Ulrich couldn't concentrate. Every few seconds he'd glance at Jeremie, scribbling down notes, and huffing repeatedly. Once the bell rang he leapt from his seat, and out the door, hoping that by moving fast, his classes would speed through.
Finally, the last bell rang. The brunette rushed straight for the sewers, where he was met by Yumi, Jeremie, and a distant Aelita. Without speaking, they descended into the .
"I hope we find something," Yumi mumbled. No one responded.
"Get to the scanners." Jeremie quickly said. As he transported his friends, Jeremie didn't quite know how to take all of this. He barely avoided confrontation about the missing pair, but he knew they needed to find them, and fast.
The trio landed on the hard ground of the forest sector. Stepping gingerly on their vehicles- Aelita on the overboard, they decided to split up, to save time. Aelita immediately took of towards the direction of the tower, determined to find something.
"Are you sure Ulrich checked all of the ice sector?" Aelita called up.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, I'm going back." She drove herself into the tower, over the side, and was soon on her way back up and out of the tower into the ice sector.
"Aelita, this is dangerous, go back!"
"No, Jeremie, I need to find them!" She jumped off of the overboard and began her search on foot.
"The board is faster."
"We don't need fast, we need thorough." After a few minutes of slowly walking around, she stopped and sighed.
"Are you-"
"Sh." Dropping to her knees, she put her hands in her lap, and began to hum. The ground lit up beneath her and covered the entire sector. Wrinkling her nose, she focused. Familiar pulsations rippled through the virtual ground. Opening her large eyes, she stood. The ground dimmed to it's original color, but the pulsations were still there. "I can feel them." Running down a narrow path, the pulsations were stronger.
"How did you do that?" Jeremie asked, astonished.
"I'm not sure, get the others over here!" She continued running, smiling as the vibrations got even stronger. Skidding to a stop at the edge of a large ledge, she gasped. Behind her, Yumi and Ulrich approached, having gotten there in record time. Looking down towards the digital sea, she saw the pulsations continuing through the water.
"How do we get down there?" Yumi asked.
"What about the Skid..."
"No Ulrich, you know how unstable that was." Jeremie scolded.
"I'm not leaving until we get down there," Aelita stated.
"Yes you are," Jeremie told her, "we can't have Odd, Mina, and you missing from school."
"It's okay Aelita, we have time before we have to go back." Yumi put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"If they're safe down there, I should be too." Aelita mumbled.
"Don't even think-" the pinkette dove for the surface of the sea before Ulrich could even finish his sentence. "Aelita!"
Yumi stared at her falling friend until a dim white light surrounded Aelita, Yumi brought her back up to the surface.
"Aelita, are you crazy?" Jeremie yelled, "I'm bringing you all back in!"
"Jeremie no!" Aelita pleaded.
"He's right, you're going insane over this." Ulrich said, keeping a tight grip on Aelita's arm as they were all virtualized.
As the three stumbled out of the scanners, Yumi grasped Aelita's shoulders. Looking her in the eyes seriously, Aelita looked scared and hopeless.
"We're going to get them back, Aelita. But we need you to stay calm."
"This is all my fault." She said, tears pooling over the edges of her eyes. Yumi pulled her small friend in for a tight hug.
"We'll get them back."