A/N: So, I had a few things going on in real life. Hence, the delay. My apologies for the longer wait. The schedule should resume as before. I've been thinking about a way to notify you all, which is why - from now on - I'll post a message on my profile page if I won't be able to make the deadline, with some sort of explanation xD.. I hope you'll enjoy the read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!

When the communication with the laboratory had been switched off, Yumi eyed Ulrich warily. "If this is a joke, you may end it now," she sharply told him. "I need to talk to you," he said. She shook her head. "And that couldn't have waited until later?" Ulrich stared at her, a mixture of a glare and determination.

"I would have done that, if you hadn't been so stubborn this week." She crossed her arms, one eyebrow raised. "What are you implying?" She asked. "You have been avoiding me to a certain extent," he claimed. "So? Has it occurred to you that I don't want to talk?" Ulrich sensed that she was trying to get him to back off. "Yumi," he gently began, "don't you think we have the trust needed to be able to share pretty much everything with each other?"

She was a little taken aback by that statement. Yumi hesitated. "If it's about my concentration at work, it'll get better soon." Ulrich scoffed. "You seriously don't need to worry about focus. You'd probably be able to get the same amount of work done as others with ten distractions around you. No, Yumi. This is about you and most likely a specific person that I can't stand," he revealed.

"Since I guessed that already, I thought my lack of interest in talking about my current personal life was a clear sign," Yumi replied. Ulrich sighed. "I'm only concerned about your well-being Yumi." Yumi uncrossed her arms and absent-mindedly opened and closed her fans repeatedly. "Thanks, but it's not welcomed," she harshly told him.

Ulrich just stared at her. "That's a lie," he said. She averted her gaze. "Look, at least let me confirm something. That Tuesday you went out to dinner with William, right?" He quickly asked her, not giving her a chance to retort. Yumi was surprised. "How do you know that?" She asked, facing him again. "I was there as well. Business dinner with my uncle and my father… and Sissy, Mrs. Delmas and that secretary Jonathan. That was hell by the way. But, when I went outside to get something out of the car, I met William on the way back to the restaurant. He didn't look happy – not that I've ever seen him satisfied or content. He was being very vague and he wouldn't speak about you like he usually does," Ulrich finally got in the starter of the conversation.

"Your point?" Yumi remained hesitantly distant. Ulrich was dumbfounded. "Well, what happened for him to be that weird?"

"We broke up," she said with an unexpectedly soft tone. Somewhere in her mind she wondered whether she should have said 'I broke up with him'. Then she recalled the moment all over again and decided it was a proper way to bring across the message.

"You broke up..," Ulrich understood the meaning of those words. He just couldn't react normally. His first thought was "finally", but he couldn't say that aloud. His second thought was about William's behaviour, which seemed to make sense now.

"Yes," she suddenly felt nervous. Yumi had tried to keep her sensitivity hidden. She didn't want to fret about the details. She didn't want to be reminded. Was this going to be the moment to lay open her heart for him to see?

Ulrich wanted to chicken out and almost wished for Jeremie to switch on communication again. However, seeing Yumi awkwardly fidgeting with her fans held him back. This was also not easy for her. "Why?"

"Huh?" Was that usually the question you asked in this situation? "Uhm, I…," she trailed off and stepped back. Ulrich stepped forward in sync with her, silently encouraging her to tell him. "It was too hard to keep up our relationship. I felt like it was too strained," Yumi settled on an answer she hoped would put an end to their talk.

"Did he hurt you? Or do anything else?" Ulrich was concerned.

"No," she frantically waved her fans in front of her. "He didn't. I believe it was more the opposite of that." Yumi let the remark slip and she stilled, pressing her lips together. She saw him waiting and felt like she was being taken apart.

"William and I just weren't on the same page and it was difficult to cope with the constant discussions and fights between us," Yumi continued. "He requested me to sort it out with him, but I believed it was time for me to draw a firm line. One that couldn't be crossed or erased. There is a limit to how much one can take." She frowned. It was easy to say William was the main cause. However, her inner self did not agree and Yumi struggled with that fact.

"Okay," Ulrich paused and looked at the ground. "I won't ask anything else. I hope you're okay, thanks for telling me." His curiosity hadn't been stilled, but he figured it wasn't right to pry any further than this. Yumi was quiet once more and he eyed her serene form. She nodded and wanted to speak up again, but stopped when Ulrich held up his katana.

"Listen," he said. Yumi focused and heard scuttling noises from behind.

"What do you think it could be?" She whispered, feeling the need to lower her voice.

"Monsters," Ulrich confirmed as he cast a look over Yumi's shoulder. "And it's not a small bunch."

"Great, did they activate something in the lab?" Yumi asked the question, but knew there was no answer. "Hey, Jeremie, can you turn on the…," she got cut off when a monster jumped forward. Yumi stumbled and fell on the ground. Ulrich stepped in, buying her enough time to get back up. He sliced the monster in half. "Why are they so big? The others were smaller," Ulrich said. "Also, Jeremie and Aelita cannot hear us. Five minutes aren't over yet."

Yumi frowned. "We don't really have any other choice," she said, throwing her fans at two other monsters. "These creepy beings are just larger versions of the ones we fought before," she noticed. He saw it too. Two monsters inched closer and swiped wildly and randomly at them. Both Yumi and Ulrich weren't able to keep up with its quick pacing and were stung by its claws. "Ouch," she rubbed her arm, "this thing's fast."

Ulrich upped his game and skilfully moved behind the monster to stab him right in the middle. "There," he said and rubbed his arm afterwards. "Ulrich!" Yumi shouted.

"What's wrong?!"

"You disappeared for a second," she told him. He stared at her.

"So did you…"

"This is too strange," she commented. "Let's devirtualize each other."

"Agreed, on three," he started counting when Yumi nodded in approval. "One, two." They attacked one another, but nothing happened.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ulrich said. "For now, we need to stay out of sight. Let's go," he decided and took her hand. Before they ran off, they heard Aelita's voice.

When the communication broke off a few moments later, Yumi panicked. A stream of thoughts was going through her head as Ulrich pulled her along to a supposedly safe place. He had quickly found a cave for them to hide. She went to the back of the cave and sat against its wall, while Ulrich checked the entrance. He blocked a large part of the gap with two big stones.

After that, he sat beside her and whispered reassuring words. Yumi couldn't help but feel safe instantly, despite their dire situation. "Why does this have to happen to us?" She asked him. Her head lay on his shoulder. "I don't know. If someone has really sabotaged this, then I'm worried about who the target is," Ulrich shared, as he stroked her hair. "I guess XANA's return would be less of a shock than this. At least we would know what to expect," Yumi said. Ulrich had no reply to her statement.

Silence hung in the cave for ten minutes. Yumi took a deep breath. "I never truly wanted to start a relationship with William," she carefully spoke up and felt Ulrich stiffen. He didn't respond. "I was on the verge of breaking apart. At the time, there were so many conflicting feelings. But I couldn't bring myself to open up about it. Eventually, it all built up. Kind of like a pile of paperwork that couldn't be ordered anymore. Instead of working it all out, I chose to set myself apart from everything in hope of finding a solution. But I guess asking William to help me with that was just me being a hypocrite. Even though I knew it was unfair, I still agreed to become his girlfriend so I wouldn't be alone," she paused to breathe in and out. She was shaking, but felt Ulrich's grip on her tighten.

It gave her courage to continue.

"I understand that it was extremely selfish. Why would I do that, when I had four best friends who would always listen to me regardless of whatever topic I would want to discuss? Of course, I didn't want to hurt you all and of course I desperately hoped I would be able to solve it all by myself. The truth is, I was merely afraid. If I had done that, I would have felt so vulnerable. It meant having to accept a reality that would never play itself out."

Ulrich was gently holding her closer to him.

"We had a deal, Ulrich. Good friends, that's it. However, I wanted to be able to break that agreement more than anything else. Each time I envied someone else or was jealous of someone else, I stopped myself. Or I should say, I stopped myself from considering it. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it was never going to happen and I just.. gave up. You were never going to go back on your word and I hated, yet loved, that you were being so mindful of me. It created such a whirlwind of emotions in me, especially at certain points in the past. It was a turmoil I couldn't escape from at the time. It led to a stupid decision and I came to regret it almost immediately afterwards."

"But I lived through it. It was my decision after all. I really tried to move on, calm myself, give William a chance. I couldn't do it. The memories were haunting me, the pain was constricting me, the guilt was gnawing at me. Distractions can only do so much, Ulrich. I was miserable in secret. William was understanding, but it wasn't enough because he had his own wishes. We were never as close as you guys were with me. I was really disappointed, in myself, in my life. There was even a period I was intensely hating myself, to the point of almost breaking down again."

She wanted to cry, then felt like that wasn't going to be of any use and steeled herself. "And then, you returned. No, I should rephrase that. We met again. I was so surprised. It was one of those moments where you'd want to pinch yourself to see if you weren't dreaming. The shock was enough though, so I didn't do that. One of the first things that came to mind while you were standing there in front of the desk was 'I'm sorry', combined with 'will there be a chance to make it up to him?'. Honestly, it's still hard to believe how easily we had fallen back to being such good friends. I had missed that comfort more than I was willing to admit. Next to that, I'm so glad that I was able to meet all of you again. I am thankful, because all of that caused me to think again on what I've been doing with my life. To see the better perspectives, the ones that could get me on the right track. I feel sorry for William, but I had to make the truly better choice for myself this time. And it makes me happy, to know that my severe stupidity is being forgiven by the people who are my only true friends."

Yumi was quiet again, giving Ulrich time to process her story. "You're right about the 'being forgiven' part," he eventually said. "Most of me doesn't want to blame you for anything that happened. There is a small part of me that does though. Like you said, there were many others you could confide in, but you chose him. That alone was a painful thing to deal with. Moreover, all those unanswered questions you left us with. Left me with," he sighed.

"It will probably take me a while before I'll be able to fully accept everything, Yumi." She looked at him and straightened herself, lifting her head from his shoulder. "I'm not angry, nor am I disappointed. Just a little sad and lost, I guess. I feel responsible for this outcome as well and it has been bugging me for a long time. Why did it have to come to his?" The question was not directed at her.

"I don't know," Yumi whispered, more to herself than to him.

"Yumi, Ulrich, can you hear me?" They heard Jeremie's voice again.

"Jeremie!" The two of them exclaimed.

"We've managed to put a hold on the bug that caused your hologram like state. I'll program weapons, so you can devirtualize each other immediately," Jeremie explained.

"It is very likely you won't have much time before it starts again. Please be as quick as you can," Aelita warned them.

"Okay," they both answered. Several seconds later two swords appeared before them. Yumi picked up the left one, Ulrich the right.

"Ready?" He asked her. She nodded. Ulrich did the counting and they hit each other on three once more.

"They've been successfully logged out from this session," Jeremie notified the other two in the lab.

"That's great Einstein!" Odd shouted.

Once everyone had gathered together in the lab, the atmosphere was tense. "How did this happen?" Yumi asked, her tone a little harsher than intended. "Someone accessed the network our devices are connected to and hacked into the game," Aelita stated. Jeremie shook his head. "I don't understand this at all. There is only one way to bypass our security systems. And that is if you've already manipulated something from within," he explained.

"Which means?" Ulrich inquired after the details.

"Either the computers or the devices have been sabotaged," Aelita answered. "But it cannot have been the computers, because they go through a weekly check-up for to keep security intact. The most recent one was yesterday. We are always present when it happens, in case somebody does something weird. We also looked into the game's programming. Nothing is wrong with it. That only leaves these newly developed devices," she gestured towards the frisbee-like electronics.

"Doesn't that mean there is a spy in your company?" Odd asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as to call the culprit a spy," Aelita said.

"But that's exactly what it is. At least, I think so. Someone from the previous company? A rival company?" Odd said. "You have to think along those lines, if you want to prevent further intervention."

Ulrich nodded in agreement. "Was it only possible to create this disturbance while the game was active? If so, was it only possible because we used the testing devices instead of personal ones?" He provided them with another important point to take into consideration.

"I also have another question," Yumi announced. "Why would the culprit choose this precise moment to reveal his or her plans? It would make more sense to act when the game is officially released, right?"

Jeremie and Aelita were deep in thought. "They are all valid points guys," Jeremie started. "Yumi certainly has a good point. We have ran several test runs before we decided to have this final test, where all the basic functions are working and present. Nothing happened then. These devices performed just fine. We have constantly used the same five devices."

Aelita cut in. "Except for the one Ulrich used." They all looked at the seemingly innocent gadget on the desk. "What are you talking about Aelita?" Jeremie sounded a little annoyed. "I switched in the one Ulrich used yesterday, because the other one had water spilled on it. That one has had its reusable parts removed and the remainder has been thrown away," Aelita nervously replied.

"Who handed you this one?" Ulrich asked as he picked up the device he used. "Our newest recruit," Aelita recalled the events of the day. "I had asked him to hand me a new device. But he couldn't possibly have sabotaged it. All electronics are kept in lockers. Only Jeremie, a few others and I have the key card that can unlock them. I was there when he took it out," she told them.

"So, your newest recruit is out to get you then," Odd claimed. "Call him over. We'll make him speak up," he said, punching his right palm with his left fist.

"No, I ran a test out of precaution. I entered the game myself and it ran normally," Aelita shook her head. "I just told you the story, because they haven't all been in constant use."

Jeremie sighed. "I should have tracked the location. The hacker probably knows we're onto the problem at hand, since we debugged the hologram issue. Therefore it's useless to try it again."

"That might not necessarily be the case Jeremie," Aelita tried to analyse further. "The hologram bug was caused by a virus which the hacker was only able to plant through the network. I think it was a one-way street for him. We wouldn't have been able to take control otherwise. The main problem is, which device has been triggered and how?"

"In other words, we can only find out if we play again?" Yumi didn't like that.

But the two geniuses confirmed her question with the grim expression on their faces. "Isn't there another way? Now that it's like this, it's obviously not safe anymore," Yumi shook her head. "I'm afraid of the consequences."

"We are as well, Yumi," Aelita said.

"Let's go through with this," Ulrich spoke up again. "Do we need to test all five of them?"

"That won't be necessary. Only the three you have used, will suffice," Jeremie replied, while getting ready for the trial. "I'll make sure you won't be in hologram mode, if you guys make sure to survive," he told them.

"Wait!" Yumi exclaimed. "Ulrich and I got stung by two of those mutated monsters. That must have caused us to be able to holograms in the first place," she remembered.

"That's right," Ulrich agreed.

"Okay, I'll still be keeping an eye out for it, because it doesn't mean it cannot be activated using a different tactic. Just in case, be sure not to get hit…," he warned them.

"Easy for you to say, Einstein!" Odd found it incredulous. "Are we all going?" He asked.

"For now, let's have Yumi and Ulrich play," Aelita looked apologetically at them.

"It's okay. It did happen when we were still there after all," Yumi glared at Ulrich. He caught her glare. "Hey, I had no way of knowing this would happen!" She crossed her arms.

The others were worried. "Don't kill each other in this process huh," Odd warned them. He tried to joke but got two glares in return.

"Let's not delay this. The hacker might think we've gone home for the day. Get ready guys," Jeremie ordered.

Yumi and Ulrich went in-game again and were waiting to see if anything would happen. "Look, Yumi. I'm sorry. Are you angry?" He asked. "No, I'm worried. I know it's not your fault," Yumi replied. He stared at her for a few seconds. "Don't worry, I'll have your back," he assured her. "Okay." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

After fifteen minutes of fighting off monsters, Jeremie's voice jumped in.

"Guys! I've got it!"

A/N: Yay for cliffhangers :)! See you next time ~