A/N: Happy New Year! Enjoy a super-long chapter.

XANA stepped out of the scanner.

Aelita's heart was pounding in their chest, something that never would have happened if he'd been the sole one in control. He would have smothered all the body's hints of fear-it was distracting, and beyond that, weak. But he had more important things to handle than an errant heartbeat.

The Green Phoenix lackeys were distracted, he saw instantly-some were surprised by the complete, sudden disappearance of interference, as he'd predicted, but more were throwing nervous glances at the door and ceiling. One was speaking rapidly into a radio. None of them had noticed the scanner opening, so caught up in their preoccupations. What caused that, he wondered? It wasn't as he'd predicted, but he could work with it.

Whatever the reason, it was to be their downfall.

He extended Aelita's hands and sent out several arcs of lightning. The humans screamed as it crawled across them. Their bodies twisted, jerked, and fell to the ground. Spasms shook their limbs. To XANA, they looked like fish flopping on a beach...not that he'd seen such things personally.

He let the lightning continue to crawl across bodies for a few more seconds-just to be sure-then shut it off. XANA surveyed the room. Every single technician who had been in it was sprawled dead on the floor. It had only taken a second or two. Sometimes he forgot how vulnerable human bodies were to lightning, Lyoko had imbued the Warriors with more resistance to it than the rest of their kind...

"They're dead!" burst out of Aelita's lips. XANA furrowed her brow in confusion. Yes, they were; it was obvious. Why was she stating that?

[Yes, they are. What's the problem?]

"The problem? You just-I just-How can you be so calm?!"

Was that what was bothering her? [I don't understand. You knew there was a statistical probability we would have to kill during our escape.]

"Yes, I knew, but I didn't…" Her voice cracked. Tremors shook her body. Too late, XANA realized it might have been kinder to keep her unconscious for this part.

[Do you want me to put you under?]

"What kind of question is that?" The smells of burned flesh and hair were filling Aelita's nostrils, and XANA felt her gag. He located the olfactory function in her brain and temporarily turned it off.

[An offering of mercy.] She would be better off unconscious, he decided. But he'd already given his word not to knock her out. That likely wasn't worth much to her, but still…

"Mercy? You think I care about-" She broke off and shook her head. "Sometimes I forget who I'm talking to."

XANA scowled, stung. Fine. She can smack my hand away if she wants. I don't care.

The technicians had set up several tables around the room, crammed with computers, portable chargers, keyboards, and other electronic equipment. Selecting a laptop at random, XANA pressed Aelita's palms against it. In a few seconds, he was inside the network of cameras the Green Phoenix had strung up around the Hermitage. Now, let's see what's going on…

The inside of the Hermitage was chaos, pure and simple. Soldiers running everywhere, ducking behind barricades, opening fire, dragging wounded comrades to safety. Ah...now that he listened closely, he could faintly hear gunfire. That explained the technicians' distraction. If there was a battle going on, there had to be focal points. He ran mental calculations based off the soldiers' movements even as he scanned the different windows…

Ah. There, near the stairwell. Green Phoenix soldiers were backpedaling up the stairs even as they traded fire with a squad of men in black. Scorch marks on the walls and bloody corpses suggested the work of a grenade-in such close quarters, it'd be devastating. Of course, a greater problem was the Hermitage's stability…how much damage could a grenade do to a house? Enough to destroy it? He knew so little about human weaponry.

As if in answer to his thoughts, on another screen-this one actually displaying troops in the basement-a grenade flew down the hall. Soldiers dove out of the way as it rolled across the ground. A few seconds passed; then, an explosion. Even from here, XANA heard it.

He braced instinctively in case of debris, but the Hermitage didn't groan or shake. So he supposed the structural integrity was fine.

[It would be wretched luck, even by my standards, if your friends' 'rescue' brought this place down on our heads.] Error. He hadn't meant to speak out loud, nor let so much bitterness seep into the words "your friends".

Aelita responded with an equally hard edge in her voice. "I'm sure that won't happen. All the soldiers know what they're doing, surely."

[Belpois is supposed to be a prodigy in quantum physics, and the majority of his programs are still bugged. 'Humans know what they're doing' is not a ringing endorsement.]

Aelita didn't answer, so he returned his focus to the screen. Calculating options… A rescue attempt from the children and the men in black opened many, many possibilities. And questions. Could the men in black triumph over the Green Phoenix? How distracted were the terrorists? How liable were XANA and Aelita to be caught in the crossfire? What locations would see the most battle? What would they need to survive all this?

He glanced at the feed from the external cameras, only to be greeted with an indiscernible wall of snow and wind. The blizzard was still up, then. That meant they would need to hunt for warmer clothes...

Could they retreat to the Mirror and wait it out-no. Absolutely not. He'd already killed the technicians; it was all or nothing now. Perhaps staying down here was safest? But there was only one exit; relocation was a more logical choice…

As he was considering his options, Aelita spoke in a much more subdued tone, taking him by surprise. "XANA, I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you, before. I know if you hadn't...done what you did, we'd have been captured again. I just…"

He stopped cycling through the security footage and tilted her head. She was...apologizing?

Her eyes were starting to water. They weren't his, but XANA still swiped at them in annoyance. Tears were the ultimate weakness. "I've seen death, but maybe it's different in the real world, or maybe it just reminded me of Daddy… I don't know."

Oh. She was apologizing. His anger drained away. Mollified, XANA shrugged. [It's fine. I suppose I can understand falling victim to a passing moment of hysterical emotion.]

She smiled.

[What do you think our next move should be?] he asked, and laid out what he'd come up with.

Aelita pursed her lips. "Well...it might be wise to grab another jacket just in case, but I don't think we should go outside unless we have to."

[Agreed. Too many variables. The blizzard might shield us from sight, but it would be a double-edged sword. It'd be too easy for a stray bullet to hit us.]

"Yeah, exactly. But I don't really want to wait it out. Your powers could help the men in black-"

[Absolutely not. A straight fight is a last resort for us.]

"But if we took them by surprise-"

[No. That scenario has too many risky variables.]

He felt her take a deep breath in a pointless calming exercise. "Can we at least stay nearby? So we can watch and jump in if we're needed?"

XANA pondered that. As far as he was concerned, there was no scenario where he and Aelita had to stick their necks out for the men in black. But he wasn't sure how much time they had left before they became enemies again. He didn't want to waste it arguing. And as far as compromises went, it wasn't bad.

Compromise…

Since she'd first made her argument about compromise in the Mirror, he'd diverted some of himself to dissect it again and again, just on principle. He still hadn't reached a conclusion.

Aelita thought his refusal to change was because he was afraid, and then dared to point out that his other half was. The very notion was so bizarre, so illogical, so outrageous, that he still couldn't completely comprehend it. Perhaps the other him was afraid, but he had already accepted his past. He was Aelita's childhood friend and confidant just as much as he was the Guardian of the First City and Master of Lyoko. What did he have to be afraid of?

Imprisonment. Death. Betrayal. Things you can't control.

Well, he already knew the answer to that. With power came control. And he was the most powerful being on the planet. He would have power over everything, and thus control everything. Once he did, there would be no need for a trifling emotion like fear.

"That life would be far more dangerous, and lonely. I'd be constantly looking over my shoulder, constantly on edge. That's not living. That's surviving."

Right?

"XANA?"

He shifted his attention outward, away from the parts of himself still analyzing. [That's an acceptable compromise.]

He unplugged the laptop he'd been using. As he was about to fold it closed and tuck it under Aelita's arm, something on one of the screens caught his eye. The soldiers who had been fighting in the basement were fighting no more. The men in black lay scattered across the floor, bloody and still. The Green Phoenix soldiers were racing...back towards them? But why? With an attack on their base, one would expect their attention to be focused on meeting the external threat, not-

XANA glanced at the technicians' bodies again and saw it. The radio that one technician had been using. He quickly began connecting the dots.

The technicians were down here, ostensibly, to crack open the Mirror and take whatever they found inside to Mago. But that couldn't have been their only role. Mago must have known the Hermitage was a place of great interest to all parties involved; why else had he taken steps to set it up as a new base for the Green Phoenix?

The technicians hadn't just been amaetur hackers. They'd been the security central. Of course soldiers would come investigate when their eyes were blinded.

"They're coming," Aelita whispered, seeing what he had. Sweat was beading on her forehead. He wiped it away.

[Yes.]

Leaving the laptop where it was, he left and walked up to the entrance of the first secret room. He studied it. It was so low, people had to crawl to get through it. The soldiers would be vulnerable...assuming they didn't throw a grenade in first. He'd seen it happen several times on the screens, so it was logical to assume it was tactic they'd follow again.

XANA returned to the room hosting the Mirror and pressed Aelita's body against the wall, craning her neck so he could just barely see out. Sparks of electricity crawled across her fingers. [Aelita, do you want me to put you under?] He asked again. Then, remembering her previous misunderstanding, he added, [I'm asking this to spare you the sight of more deaths.]

She shook her head. "...Thank you, but no. We're in this together, to the end."

Together to the end…

What a nice sentiment.

Outside, boots stomped. A small, round shape rolled through the entrance. XANA pulled Aelita's head back.

"The walls are thin!" she cried out suddenly, pushing them away from said wall.

They were almost too late. If she hadn't remembered, they wouldn't have moved. If she'd remembered but forgotten to speak, XANA wouldn't have known to help her. If he hadn't helped her, she never would have made it. But she did remember, and she did speak, and he did help. He flooded her veins with every ounce of adrenaline he could and threw them across the room. The grenade exploded. Even moving as fast as he was, XANA still felt stray debris hit Aelita's back, cushioned by her bulky pink jacket. The force of the explosion combined with the suddenness of his run meant XANA couldn't stop himself from slamming into the far wall. Pain flooded Aelita's entire front. Her head bounced back. Blood spurted from her forehead and nose.

Her injury sparked fury in him. He spun on her heel and surveyed his surroundings. The whole wall had fallen in a storm of plaster, merging the two secret rooms into one. Through a cloud of dust, he could just barely see humans crawling through the entrance, one at a time. Aelita's ears were ringing, but when he pushed them, he could just barely hear surprised exclamations and coughs. The soldiers hadn't known the wall was designed to be easily demolished.

He didn't wait for them to get their bearings.

Stepping forward, Aelita's hands full of lightning, XANA attacked.

Fox kept an eye on the stairs to the basement as he reloaded his pistol. Through his infrared goggles, he could see several bodies cooling on the floor-but no more soldiers approaching.

From their preliminary intelligence gathering, Mago had stationed a platoon of about thirty soldiers at the Hermitage. The blizzard had forced them to abandon their outside watchposts, which meant Fox and his men had crossed the yard unhindered, though not without their own share of dangers. The sewer entrance was only ten paces away from the Hermitage's back door. Impossibly ten paces away, when you couldn't see shit.

Steinback was the most familiar with the Hermitage's backyard, so he'd decided to put her at the head of their procession. It was a huge responsibility; they would be tied together with rope, so if she missed that door, they all would. And then they would probably all die from exposure.

But fortunately, her course had been true, as had her aim. She'd thrown open the garage door and shot the two soldiers lounging near it before even knew she was there. They'd quickly dispatched the rest who came running, untied themselves, and settled in for a bracing firefight.

The garage was, unfortunately, connected to the living room (by stairs) and basement (by hall). That meant there were two entrance points to watch. Fox had decided in advance that staying in the garage was strategically unwise, and that they would push through as soon as they got the opportunity. Once it had come, he'd sent a squad of five down the basement hall, while the rest of his twenty soldiers-including Agent W and Steinback-had pushed to take the rest of the Hermitage, fighting room to room.

Now that he was assured there were no more threats, he surveyed his squad. Agent Owl was clutching his leg with a grimace, and Agent W was white as bone and shaking, but no significant injuries. "Go patch up Owl's leg," Fox told Agent Bear. "Owl, good job."

Owl acknowledged the compliment with a nod. As his comrade crouched and rummaged for a field first-aid kit, Fox's radio crackled. "Front door cleared, sir," said Agent Osprey from the other end.

"Roger," he said, clicking a fresh magazine in place. "No report from Charlie squad. It's safe to assume they've been killed. Alpha squad, follow me. Everyone else, hold your positions."

When Bear finished, Fox led his squad, sans Owl, towards the basement. They slowed as they approached the stairs. The Hermitage's stairs had been hard to take; they were narrow, had thick concrete banisters, and spiraled, a bad combination for people trying to go up or down. They'd had no choice but to rush up in the opening blows, and the element of surprise had helped, but now that the Green Phoenix knew they were here...

He pulled out a smoke grenade, pulled the pin, waited three seconds, then opened the door just long enough to throw it down. A moment later there was a boom.

They streamed down the stairs. Nobody shot at them and Fox's infrared wasn't showing anyone nearby, so the grenade had been unnecessary after all. He'd gladly take that.

Wordlessly, he signalled with two fingers for everyone to fan out. Hopper's basement wasn't so much a basement, Fox knew from studying the layout, as it was a massive network of underground rooms and hallways. They moved slowly down it in a rough circle, backs to each other.

About halfway to the secret room, they found Charlie squad. At the sight of their bodies, Fox closed his eyes for the briefest of moments. There was no time to give them more than that, he knew. The enemy was likely nearby. But on the inside, failure, guilt, and determination stewed.

A rapid patter of panicked footsteps approached their destination. They all raised their guns. About ten meters ahead, a soldier tore around a corner, face contorted with terror. She gasped when she saw them. A stream of panicked, foreign words flew out of her mouth. Unfortunately, it wasn't in English, French, Mandarin, or Russian. "Die gnade! Es bringt uns alle um-"

There was a bright flash of light, a sound like thunder, and the woman suddenly arched back, screaming. There was fucking lightning all over her. Fox jumped backwards, an unprofessional "fuck!" leaving his mouth.

The body fell. The smell was awful. Behind him, Agent W started retching.

More footsteps came, light and soft. A short girl with a pink pixie cut stepped into view. Blood ran down her face. Her palms were aglow with electricity.

In a few seconds, when his brain caught up with his body, Fox would kick himself for not going for an EMP. Who knows how things would have turned out if he had? As it was, he and his squad saw Aelita Schaeffer throw lightning-the act of an enemy done by an ally. The contradiction made their fingers hesitate on their triggers. She raised her hands, not in surrender, but in threat.

Silence fell. Nobody moved. Tension crackled through the air. His chest constricted.

That was not Aelita Schaeffer.

That was XANA.

Which could travel faster, bullets or lightning? He didn't know.

Stalemate.

Fox wet his lips-damn that habit-and assessed the situation. Agent W was frozen in place, hands on knees. His men were steadily awaiting his command. Trusting him to get them out of this.

I can't fail.

"Something's not right," Steinback said. It was low, but in this absolute silence, she may as well have been shouting. "Aelita's bleeding. The kids said spectres can't bleed."

"Yes," XANA agreed. "They can't. This is really Aelita, physically and wholly."

Son of a bitch. This just got even more complicated.

"You'd use her as a human shield?" Steinback's voice shook with anger. "I knew you'd sunk low, XANA, but I didn't know how low."

Green eyes flashed. "She's not a shield. I don't want those guns aimed at her anymore than I want them aimed at me."

Suddenly, jarringly, XANA spoke again. "Professor, listen to him! We're working together. I let XANA possess me. It was the only way we could escape the Mirror."

Everybody blinked.

What in the...

Fox's mind raced through possibilities. The AI had suddenly shifted personalities. Had it gone crazy? It was crazy, by all accounts. But not in this manner. Was it trying to bluff them by pretending to be Aelita? Even after what they'd just seen? It must know they would never fall for that. Or...could there actually be truth to its words? The very thought seemed impossible, yet dismissing an unexplored possibility was foolish.

He licked his lips again and pulled his thoughts back into order. What would Lone Wolf or Dido do? They would...gather information. "Do you have proof?"

"Proof? No. You wouldn't trust anything I offered you anyway."

"Then why should we believe you?"

Frustration etched itself onto Schaeffer's features. XANA spat its next words out. "The other XANA betrayed me and locked me in the Mirror. I want to get even with him. Revenge is a language everyone speaks."

"Other XANA? There's only one of you."

"He might be telling the truth."

They all turned. Steinback was staring at XANA, a frown on her face. "Waldo designed XANA as a multi-agent program," she said slowly. "I'm not familiar with the specifics, but the way he described it...well, it was something like XANA has multiple minds."

XANA nodded. "I'm comprised of millions of agents. It's how I handle multiple tasks at once. When I split myself, I'm just supposed to accomplish something and then return. But I started drawing different conclusions from the rest of myself. That created an internal division."

It sounded bizarre. If it had been just XANA claiming this, Fox would have thought it was lying. It had no proof and a history of untrustworthiness. But Steinback had worked with Hopper first-hand. Her interests were aligned with theirs. XANA had murdered one of her friends and tried to kill her students, including the daughter of said friend.

In short, there were a dozen reasons why she would never support XANA, unless she genuinely thought there might be some truth to its words.

Still, she'd admitted she wasn't certain of the specifics of how XANA was programmed. For that, they'd need…

He turned to the closest agent-Agent Lynx. "Get Belpois. We'll check his knowledge against this thing's."

After countless minutes, or maybe hours, someone came to get them. It was a tall, unfamiliar female agent, with a bland, forgettable face and bland, forgettable hair. "Belpois," she said, coming down the steps. "They-what are you kids doing here?!"

"What, did you really think we were gonna sit around and do nothing?" Odd quipped.

The agent ignored him, addressing the adults. "Why didn't you send them back?"

"How could we make them?" Mr. Ishiyama asked. "They escaped once, they can do it again. It's better to keep them with us, where we at least know they're safe."

The agent opened her mouth once, then closed it. Her bland face became blank, like all her emotions had just shut off. Creepy, William thought. She pulled out a radio, took several steps away, and began whispering into it furiously. Trying to look inconspicuous, William craned his neck in her direction.

...No good, she was speaking in-was that Mandarin? After a few moments of conversation, the agent turned back to them. "You three, come with us," she said in a clipped tone. "There's a situation we may need your expertise in."

William felt a smile cross his face. Odd pumped his fist. "See?" he said to Mr. Belpois and Mr. Ishiyama. "I told you we'd come in handy."

They just shook their heads as the group followed the agent up the stairs. "We tied a rope to the door handle," she informed them. "Just hold onto it and you can cross the yard safely."

"Um…" Sissi glanced at the box of equipment the two adult men held. "How are they gonna get that across if they have to hold onto rope?"

"Very carefully," Mr. Ishiyama said dryly.

"Kids, go first. Then Belpois and Ishiyama, moving slowly, and I'll bring up the rear."

They all nodded. Odd, who was in the front, opened the door. Cold wind and snow blasted William in the face. He swore as a snowflake flew right into his left eye. Dammit, we should have grabbed snow goggles.

No use wishing now. Squinting, eyes watering, he fumbled his way to the guiding rope and took careful steps outside. The world was completely white. His foot and leg sank into a foot of snow. Hail punched him mercilessly. Wind screamed. Even though he was right in front of him, William couldn't see Odd, or hear anything but the storm, as he moved along. If it weren't for the rope under his rapidly-freezing hands, he'd lose all sense of direction.

I can't imagine how they made the crossing the first time, going blind. His respect for the agents and Professor Hertz went up a notch.

On his next step, his sight abruptly came back. William blinked and looked around. He'd entered the Hermitage. The door was open, letting in wind, snow, and a staggering Sissi. Odd was standing nearby, pulling off his hat and shaking out his hair like a dog. Huge clumps of snow covered the ground.

Sissi moved aside to let the adults in, looked up, and screamed. William spun around, and-

Oh.

Bodies.

Blood.

He stared. He wanted to stop.

His eyes wouldn't obey.

The dead soldiers-and men in black, there were some of them too-were lying in various positions. Some were sprawled on the ground. Some were twisted like pretzels. Some had faces permanently frozen in pain, anger, shock, whatever emotion had been passing over them as they died. They'd been alive a couple hours, maybe minutes, ago, and now they were...

"Guess they all missed their shots, huh?" Odd said in a shaking voice. Nobody scolded him. Nobody could.

A hand fell on William's shoulder, and he jumped about a foot. The agent was staring at him, her face sympathetic. "Now do you know why we tried to keep you away from this?"

He nodded numbly.

The agent went around the room, speaking to the others in a low voice; then, she ushered them down the hall connected to the basement. William looked around. Mr. Belpois and Mr. Ishiyama both looked like they were going to be ill. Odd kept looking over his shoulder. Sissi was trembling uncontrollably. Absently, he put an arm around her.

They turned a corner and halted. Halfway down, there was a small group of agents, including Fox, Professor Hertz, and Ulrich's dad. There were more bodies and a pile of vomit on the ground. The air was heavy with the smells of ozone and...burned meat?

Aelita was standing at the end of the hall, hands extended. Blood trickled from her nose and a cut on her forehead.

"Aelita!" Sissi exclaimed. A genuine smile lit up her face, and William blinked. For the first time, he noticed she had a pretty smile. He shook himself. Is this really the time to think about stuff like that? "You're okay!"

She ducked out under his arm and stepped forward to hug the girl. Fox stepped in front of her, barring her way. "That's XANA."

Two words. Two words was all it took for memories to transport William back. To nightmares of being out of control of his body, to being used as a tool to hurt his friends. And to memories of Aelita, comforting him. Sharing her own nightmares of the same things.

Now he took in the rest of the scene-the guns pointed at his friend, the uncharacteristic contempt on her face-and rage on her behalf flooded him. "You bastard!" he yelled, storming forward. Professor Hertz grabbed him and, with surprising strength, held him back. William kicked, trying to wrest free so he could wring that monster's neck-

"Wait, that's XANA?" Odd asked. "But Aelita's bleeding. Spectres can't bleed. What's going on?"

William paused in his struggles. Looked again. And now the blood on her face registered. He'd seen it, but he hadn't thought about what it meant. How was Odd the one who had?

If he strangled XANA, would he hurt Aelita also? The thought took the fight right out of William. Slowly, as if suspecting a trap, Hertz released him. "That's what I said. We've pressed XANA, but all he repeats is that she's not a spectre."

"She's not. She's physically here."

"Then how are you possessing her?" Odd asked. "For the matter, how'd you possess me?"

XANA snorted. "You can't really think I'll spill all my secrets, can you?" Then, abruptly: "XANA, stop antagonizing them!"

XANA looked at them and smiled. "I'm so glad you guys are okay."

What. The. Fuck.

"And that's the other thing," Fox said. "XANA claims Aelita's still active. That they worked together to escape the Mirror. But we have no way of verifying those claims."

That's a crock of bull if I ever heard one.

"Well, I hope you don't plan to ask us about them," Odd said, laughing nervously. "Because I have no clue."

"We weren't planning to. We had no idea you kids had escaped, and trust me, we will have words about that later. I was actually calling Belpois in to ask him about something else."

Mr. Belpois blinked. "Me? I'll do what I can, but...I don't know what good I'll be against XANA."

"None whatsoever," XANA said. And again: "XANA! Mr. Belpois, I'm sorry. He's just...it's a defen-"

XANA slammed Aelita's lips shut, eyes narrowing.

Ignoring this, Fox said, "XANA claims that it had an argument with itself, and now parts of it are at odds. Steinback said that it's a multi-agent program, so it has multiple minds, or something like that, but she's not one hundred percent certain. As you're the expert programmer, I need to hear your professional opinion before making a decision. Is that plausible?"

William wanted to scoff. Of course it wasn't plausible. XANA was a monster, evil to the core. This was another trick, like what he'd used to lure Aelita into the Mirror. God, William was never going to forgive himself for leaving her there.

But when he looked over, Mr. Belpois was just rubbing his chin, expression thoughtful. "Well...a multi-agent system has different kinds of computer agents: passive, active, and cognitive. Each has a different purpose; the cognitive agents are the ones that handle complex calculations, which in an artificial intelligence, would include the decision-making process. Now, theoretically, if something in some of those agents changed, they could calculate differently from the rest, which-"

"Uh, in French, please?" Sissi asked.

"He's a hive mind that started infighting. Quite the paradox. I would love to study his codes…"

"So you're saying XANA is telling the truth?" Fox said sharply.

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't think so...but then, XANA doesn't seem to be an ordinary program. So I'd say yes."

Mr. Belpois' declaration caused a visible ripple to travel through those gathered. William shook his head in disbelief. They couldn't really be considering allying with this monster, could they? "So what if he did start infighting, or however you put it? That still doesn't make him trustworthy. Who's to say he won't stab us in the back as soon as we let our guards down?"

At that, XANA smiled strangely. Looking directly at Odd, he said just three words: "Remember the Marabounta?"

"Those are the inner firewalls," XANA said, peering over Mr. Belpois's shoulder. "They were designed as part of the original Project Carthage to isolate infected sections of the city; ostensibly in case of viruses, really for human intruders. The military didn't want anyone using Hopper's new virtualization technology to attack their pet project, so while the firewalls are up, people can only be virtualized inside the quarantine zone. Keeps everything nice and contained."

XANA pointed at a part of the screen, where two little green dots were blinking. "That's where Ulrich and Yumi are."

After Odd's story had proven that XANA could be allied with, they'd reluctantly made the decision to work with the AI...for now. Another conference had been held to discuss their next step, where XANA (and Aelita, if you believed him) shared what they'd come up with in the Mirror. At least something good had come of their decision to sneak out, Sissi thought. William and Odd could help Aelita and XANA in the First City.

But the only thing I can do is cheer...unless...

Her eyes slid back to the scanner involuntarily.

Mr. Belpois answered XANA with a curt nod. His initial fascination with the AI's codes had lasted up until Odd started explaining "the Marabounta situation"; then he'd remembered that XANA had tried to kill his son numerous times.

"So your whole genius plan is to get trapped with them too," Stern said sarcastically. He seemed determined to be especially asshole-ish to make up for the sight of him chunking his guts.

XANA lifted Aelita's chin, fixing the man with a haughty stare. "It's an almost perfect defense, but it has one weakness the military couldn't do anything about: the castle. It functions similarly to the waytowers on Lyoko. You can enter it just by walking through the walls, and exit into any section of the city you please. All we'd have to do is step out into the section hosting the gate. From there, I can return to Lyoko in seconds and defeat the other me."

"Conveniently putting you in place to pick up where he left off." William growled. Sissi was honestly impressed with his self-control. If XANA had done to her what he'd done to William, she'd either punch him in the face (uh, when he wasn't in Aelita) or never leave her room again.

XANA shrugged. "I can promise you I'll be destroying Mago, and maybe a few more of his higher-ups. You'll be in a better position than you are now."

"Better? We'll still be facing you and the rest of the Green Phoenix!"

"I didn't say it would be by much."

At the same time, Fox said, in a tired tone, "We already discussed this, Dunbar. It's not ideal, but it's our best-"

"Everything's ready," Mr. Belpois said, loudly. The three stopped arguing. "I can't put you right on top of Ulrich and Yumi, but I can get you nearby. Who's going first?"

"Not XANA," numerous voiced chorused instantly.

He scoffed. "I'm the Guardian of the First City. I can shape it to my will, and so can the other me. Without my protection, the other XANA will have you completely at his mercy. You need me to go in first."

"I'll take my chances," William spat, marching towards the scanner. Sissi held her breath as the doors closed around him. There wasn't smoke or flashing lights or anything.

"Transfer, William… Scanner, William…"

Well, except that. She leaned in to Odd, who was standing nearby. "Does it hurt?" Sissi asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh, the virtualization? Nah, unless you're stupid like we were the first few times, and try going in right after devirtualization. Then it hurts like a bitch!"

"Virtualization."

The doors opened. And-William was gone. She glanced anxiously at the screen to see a third green dot. Mr. Belpois leaned back. "A perfect transfer."

Sissi exhaled slowly.

XANA shoved his way into the scanner, going second before anyone could stop him. "Idiots," Sissi heard him mutter. It was so weird to hear that in Aelita's voice, see the scowl on her face.

"Transfer…" Mr. Belpois's mouth moved wordlessly, uncertainly, for a moment. "Aelita? Scanner, Aelita… Virtualization."

The doors opened. Empty again. Sissi's heart pounded erratically. She craned her neck. There was now a fourth dot on the screen, but...shouldn't there be two? One for XANA, one for Aelita? "Is she okay? I mean-XANA's possessing her. What if that messed something up?"

Mr. Belpois tapped a few keys. "Aelita? Are you alright?"

"She is," Aelita's voice said. "So am I, thank you for asking."

"Why are you still possessing her?"

"If you'd waited a couple of moments, I wouldn't be. I just landed."

Odd rolled his shoulders as he strolled up for his turn. "Well, I can't let XANA be the only sarcastic asshole in that city. There's only one man for that, and his name is Odd! Della! Ro-"

"Wait!"

Everyone looked at her.

She mustered up every bit of her courage. "I want to go next."

"You?" Odd said in disbelief. "You were terrified of the scanner the first time you saw it!"

"Yeah, well, that was then, this is now." Not that she could remember discovering the supercomputer. "I want to help, and this is the only way I can."

Professor Hertz was shaking her head, though her tone wasn't unkind. "Sissi, I understand that, but your friends have experience on Lyoko. You don't, and you won't have time to gain it."

"Well, you need all hands on deck, and it's not like you have teenagers lining up outside." She refused to be useless. She looked at Fox pleadingly. "Besides, I can improv!"

The agent pursed his lips in contemplation. "Last time we left the kids behind," he said slowly, "they followed us anyway. I say we let her help. She won't really be in danger, and if she gets devirtualized, she'll just come out here."

Apprehension and relief twined through Sissi in equal measures. "Thank you!"

Professor Hertz nodded, though she still looked unhappy. "Be careful," she told Sissi. "And listen to your comrades. A soldier's squadmates make up for her own deficiencies, and she makes up for theirs."

Sissi was tempted to make a witty comment, but it died before it reached her lips. She didn't want to test their magni...magnanimi...good-will.

Stepping away from the scanner, Odd gave Sissi a bow, arm extended. It was joking, but she thought there might be some genuine respect in it. "All yours."

Sissi walked up to the scanner and peered inside. It was smooth, metallic, ordinary. She swallowed and crossed the threshold. The doors closed behind her.

"Scanner, Sissi…"

She squeaked as intense air pressure blew from below, lifting her into the air. She wanted to flail her arms, but some sixth sense made her hold still. The inside of the scanner began to brighten.

"Transfer, Sissi…"

The light was too strong; she squeezed her eyes shut. And where was that wind coming from? Her hair was flying like a ribbon.

"Virtualization!"

A/N: I know Evolution says they can't be virtualized until 12 hours have passed since their last trip, but that contradicts the show at a few points (notably "Common Interest"). Since I'm ignoring Evolution anyway, that retcon has been...well, retconned. Instead, I made a distinction between being devirtualized (where their life points are reduced to zero, which could be construed as a system suddenly being shut down) and rematerialized (where they're just pulled out, which would be analogous to the 'safe' shut down process). Going back in too soon after being devirtualized poses risks, while dematerialization poses no such problems.