Chapter 14: Dreams of the Subconscious

I'm surprised by all the positive reviews from the last chapter. I was honestly expecting you guys to flame it to death. But I'm still glad you guys liked it.

Insert disclaimer here.

Carter's POV:

When I opened her eyes, I was back home.

It looked exactly the same as it did all those years ago. My bedroom window still overlooked the ocean, and the little garden of sand and sea shells was under my window. The walls of my room were purple, and my bedcovers were a nice green color. My desk was made out of teakwood, filled with books and pictures and music sheets. My closet was open, and my old drum set was in the corner.

I got out of bed and looked in the mirror. My hair was a rat's nest, my pajamas wrinkled. But what surprised me the most out of my appearance was the fact that I was teenager.

This isn't right, I thought. I should be seven or eight now. Something's wrong. Where am I?

I walked out of the room. Everything from my old home was still there: The pictures of family vacations on the walls, the small table with the flower base, the soft carpet… Yeah, everything.

And when I walked into the kitchen, my mind was completely blown.

My mother was standing over the stove, making breakfast, her long, blond hair in a French braid. My dad was still in his pajamas, sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. His hair had been recently cut, showing his handsome face.

I couldn't breathe. My parents were alive. Emotions that I hadn't felt in years washed over me. I could feel tears well up in my eyes as I stared at the people I loved.

Finally, my dad noticed me. "Hey, Carter, what are you still doing in your pajamas? You have school in a few minutes." He gave me one of his mega kilo-watt smiles.

"Don't forget that your friends are coming to pick you up soon," my mother said, putting a tray of breakfast for me on the kitchen table.

"Friends?" I said meekly. I still couldn't absorb what was going on.

My dad looked at me, confused. Then he laughed, a deep, warm noise that made me even happier. "You know, sweetheart, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremy? Do any of those names ring a bell?"

Now I was really confused. "But what about Uncle Henry? Where is he?"

"Wake up, sleepyhead," my mother said sweetly, the trace of her French accent still in her voice. "Your uncle Henry is still in Afghanistan. He won't be back for a while. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah, now I do," I lied. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I had been in a lab, and I learned about the project… What was it, exactly? And what lab? A science lab? What was I talking about?

Despite the blank in my memory, I just went along with everything. I was sure that all of my questions would be answered soon enough. Besides, something was telling me that I shouldn't question this.

I hurriedly ate my breakfast of blueberry pancakes, brushed my hair, put on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and grabbed my school stuff, and was soon out the door. My parents shouted their goodbyes as I ran outside.

I didn't have to wait long for my friends. A few minutes later they showed up, laughing and smiling and basically acting like a close-knit group of friends. When they saw me, they immediately let me into the circle, and we were soon walking to school.

For the first time in a while, I felt truly happy.

The Lyoko Warriors

Since Odd was the first person to get virtualized, obviously he would be the first person at the San Diego lab. He was horribly disoriented after the trip, and when he looked at his hands, he noticed that they were actually paws.

"Yep, I'm definitely not on Lyoko anymore," Odd said as he stumbled out of the scanner. He waited impatiently for the others. As soon as they were all accounted for, they called out to Jeremy.

"Thank God I can contact you guys," Jeremy's voice rang from above. "I have the entire layout of the lab and I think I know where Carter is."'

"Well, what are you waiting for, Einstein? Where is it?" Odd demanded to know. "Calm down, Odd," Ulrich said soothingly. "If we rush this, we could botch the whole mission."

"I know that, but I can't just stand here while those crazy scientists are dissecting Carter or whatever it is that crazy scientists do to their victims!"

"I seriously doubt their dissecting her, Odd," Aelita said. "Aelita's right, " Jeremy concurred. "She's most likely in a room where the pod-like chambers are."

"Pod-like chambers?" Yumi repeated.

"I can't really tell from the map, but they seem to be storage tanks specifically designed to hold humans for long periods of time."

"Do you think Carter was in one of those things when she went to sleep for ten years?" Ulrich asked.

"Most likely. The pod room isn't that far from your location. Be careful, guys. We don't know how strong these guys are."

"Well, we're in our Lyoko forms, so this shouldn't be too hard," Odd said, now reassured that they were going to save Carter. Ulrich, the ever optimist he was, had this to say: "We should still be careful, though. These guys are probably trained to kill. And who knows what they did to Carter. They probably brainwashed her to fight against us." Odd instantly paled at that. He hadn't even thought that would happen.

Yumi and Aelita both punched him in the ribs. "Ow! What was-" And then Ulrich noticed Odd's expression. "Oh! But then again, we got here almost as soon as she was devirtualized here. I doubt they could brainwash her fast enough," Ulrich quickly said to make up for his mistake. The words were completely lost on Odd.

"Maybe we should actually do the rescue mission now," Yumi concluded, leading the others out the door. The door led to the screening room where Carter first ended up. Strangely, there was no one in there.

"Where is everybody?" Aelita asked. "Does it matter? If they're out, then we can get Carter and the other two out of here faster," Ulrich said, looking around.

"I think I know where they are," Odd said, getting out of his stupor. He pointed to a small screen- which was pretty hard to do when you had freaking paws for hands- where all the scientists were milling about. The room was filled with computers and one single super computer, that looked like the super computer back in France.

"I think we found the other Lyoko," Ulrich stated. "So does that mean Carter's on that Lyoko right now?" Aelita asked.

"What'll happen if we pull Carter out of Lyoko before she's devirtualized?" Odd asked Aelita. She shook her head. "I have no idea, but I don't think we should try it."

"Forget that! Carter's two rooms away from you! Get going!" Jeremy ordered. They were taking way too long at that computer screen.

The next room was some sort of break room, but it was cold and heartless, so it didn't seem like much. No one was in there, thankfully, so all they had to do was go into the pod room.

The pod room was totally empty, save for the three kids trapped in cyber cradles. "Ok, so how do we get them out?" Yumi asked.

"I could try hacking the system a bit, try to open these up without destroying the people inside," Aelita said, a hand hovering over one of the computer screens surrounding the pods.

"Since when can you do that?" Odd asked. He was trying to find the one that held Carter.

"Since shut up!" Aelita snapped as she hacked into the system. "You didn't have to say it like that," Odd mumbled as he located Carter's pod.

The window of it was foggy, so Odd had to wipe it off. He saw Carter with wires connecting to her temples. Her arms were folded in her lap like she was praying. Her lips were slightly parted, like she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful, and Odd hated the idea of having to wake her up. Odd could only imagine what she was dreaming.

Carter's POV:

It was now lunch time at school. My day had been great so far: My friends were in most of my classes-Yumi, being the oldest, obviously wasn't in any of them- and we were having the time of our lives.

Obviously, someone had to ruin it.

Lydia, one of the girls who absolutely loved to torment me, was walking up to our table with her little cronies. Her smug look instantly made me want to punch somebody.

"Having fun at the freak table?" Lydia said in her annoying voice.

"Yeah, we're having a blast," I retorted, and tried to get back to the conversation at hand.

Lydia, not used to being ignored, tried to pour her soda on me, because that's what mean girls do (on TV, anyway). But Odd saw what was happening and, being the complete gentleman that he was, tore up a piece of paper, put it in his mouth, stuck his milk straw to his lips, and fired a spitball at the idiot girl.

It landed on her forehead, and looked like a disgusting zit had just erupted on there. Lydia, overcome with horror, failed to notice me pouring my milk over her shoes. Lydia shrieked and, with her little cronies fussing over her, ran away to fix herself up.

I high-fived Odd. "We make an awesome team," I said, absolutely beaming. "Damn right we do. Did you see her face? Please tell me someone got a picture of that!" Odd cheered as he watched his friends laugh.

I was deliriously happy. My parents were alive, there was no XANA, no Lyoko, no one trying to kill me. I was just a normal student having the time of my life with her friends.

If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.

Okay, so no epic showdown scene just yet. I just wanted to explore Carter's subconscious, see what she really wants. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but you'll definitely see what else Carter wants in her life in the next chapter.