Ulrich's walk to his first class was writhed with concerns about the morning developments. A part of himself liked the fact that he would be back on Lyoko. It meant getting to feel like a hero again. But the news of the Replikas being repopulated in greater numbers sounded more of a chore than an adventure. The task wasn't something they would obviously do manually, but if the multi-whatever program didn't do the trick, or didn't even apply to this new situation, what then? He was starting to enjoy the normal life; he didn't want to spend another two or so years on Lyoko. Then there was Yumi and William; this was their last year at Kadic. If this were to last as long as X.A.N.A., it would be just him, Odd, Aelita, and Jeremy left to fight.
As he plumped down onto a table and set up his stuff for English, his friend, Odd, joined in.
"Hey, Ulrich. You remember Urma, right?" whispered Odd, "She was the one who helped us out with the spectres."
"What about her?"
"Well, it appears she was at the Factory."
And Ulrich's life keeps getting better.
"Odd, if this is another lame joke,-"
"No, it's not. She's started drawing a map of the Factory. She said it herself. Don't know why thou."
Immediately, Ulrich perked up and looked around the room. As he turned his head, his eyes find Urma, sitting in a corner and visibly keeping to herself.
"We need to tell the others." Ulrich paused for a moment, "Do you think she remembers?"
"She probably has an explanation. It's best not to jump to conclusions."
Before Ulrich could interject on how many red flags are being raised, the teacher had cut the conversation off by starting the class.
"We'll talk about this later, Odd."
The morning consisted of Urma avoiding the Lyoko Warriors throughout the halls. Her one little slip-up had placed her in a silent but nervous state. It didn't help that every class she had was with at least one of Odd's friends. As the lunch period rolled around, Urma planned to blend into the first crowd she saw. As she sighted her objective out in the courtyard with the vending machines, a voice piped up behind her.
"Hey, Urma."
The frightened student jumped back to find Odd standing right next to her.
"Don't you know you shouldn't sneak up on people like that?"
"Says the one who snuck out in the first week of school."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"The Factory. That place is a ways away from the campus. For someone who said they were scared about boarding school, you definitely know how to make a bold move."
As Urma scanned her surroundings, she saw the gym teacher, Jim Morales, getting close. Acting on her feet, she dragged Odd away from the general traffic and started to move towards the cafeteria. Urma knew this was her chance to give a convincing cover story. If she kept avoiding Odd's friend group any longer, they would start to suspect her.
"What do you want?"
"I just want to know what got you so interested in that old place. I've been there before, it's nothing special."
"Well, I decided to have a taste of that freedom you were talking about."
"And you took that as a sign to sneak off."
"My parents did say that going to this school was a 'prime opportunity' for new experiences."
"Urma, you sly fox. I'll say it again, I didn't think you had it in you." "But that still doesn't answer my question, why the Factory? It's so far away."
"I just saw it as a good, quiet, and cool place to explore. Is that wrong?"
"No, but the Factory can be dangerous with it being run down and all. Like the elevator for example. The whole thing is broken and there's just a big hole you could fall down."
"I'll be sure to be careful then," Urma replied in a playful tone.
By then, they had arrived at the cafeteria. Past its doors, Aelita, signaling Odd over, sat with her friends.
"My friends are calling me over."
"Okay, see ya."
As Odd joined his close-knit friend group, Urma could not help but think about she presented her cover story. She felt too confident- no, prideful with her answer. She never considered herself a rulebreaker, but the natural delivery of the fib and the hint of glee she got from twisting words told her something else. It must just be the adrenaline from all the sneaking around and all she needed was lunch to calm her down.
After grabbing a tray of food, Odd sat down with his friends to, most likely, discuss Lyoko affairs.
"Ulrich told us what's going on," said Jeremy, "How bad is it?"
"According to her, she snuck out last night and came across the Factory. She's going to continue exploring the Factory, but she will stay away from the elevator."
"This is just great," bemoaned Jeremy, "I mean, who just goes out at night to dig around some abandoned factory?"
At that moment, Jeremy looked towards his peers to find them giving him a gallery of stares, with the exception of William, who took a moment to look at everyone before joining in. It wasn't until Aelita gave him a smirk and a raised eyebrow that Jeremy folded.
"Point taken. I'll just check the security cameras whenever she enters for now."
"I don't know why we have to be so on edge," questioned Odd, "It's been only a few months since we got rid of X.A.N.A. It's not like an army of Replikas have sprung up in Digital Sea since then."
All it took was an awkward pause and turned heads to tell Odd.
"I was just joking. But… wow."
The sun cast its heat across the track field. Students huddled around by the bleachers, amongst the class Jeremy, Aelita, Ulrich, Odd, and Urma are present.
"Alright! Pipe down," roared Jim, "I want two laps around the track on the double! Move, move, move!"
"Jim seems to be in a bad mood," said Aelita.
"Hey, Jim," Odd called out, "Is there something you rather not talk about?"
"A third lap for the whole class." The class steadily got up and began to sprint, cursing Odd under their breath. After the first lap, Ulrich was in the lead, a usual outcome due to all his Lyoko adventures. But as soon as he turned his head, he noticed Urma was right behind and closing in on him. Ulrich, being a bit competitive, sped up. The race was neck and neck as they dashed across the turf. By the third lap, they began to overlap the herd. Urma nimbly zig-zagged her way through the crowd and made her spot in the front. At that point, Ulrich couldn't keep up and Urma was the first to finish the third lap.
"Your pretty fast," panted Ulrich as he caught his breath.
"You too," Urma said as she began to rest her hands on her knees, "The name's Urma by the way."
"Ulrich. I'm a friend of Odd," said Ulrich, "Pleasure to meet you."
"I've seen you around. Nice to meet you as well."
"You had some really good reflexes. You easily slipped through the crowd."
"I guess, I could never really sit still when I was a kid."
Students began to pass as the two continued to chat. Lagging behind, Jeremy was briskly jogging with Aelita keeping him company.
"You know, I'm still wondering who could be behind the Lyoko attack. If it's not X.A.N.A., then who is? You think someone else just simply… found the Supercomputer?"
"You're just being paranoid," reassured Aelita, "Just focus on rebuilding the Skid so we can quickly end this and go back to our lives."
Jeremy let out a heavy sigh, "Fine. I'll be at the factory tonight if you need anything."
"Actually, I was thinking," said Aelita as she leaned in, "Why don't I help you out?"
"What- no," blushed Jeremy, "You don't have to do that."
"No, I insist. Consider it a date," the pink haired girl said with a soft smile that convinced Jeremy that maybe, just maybe, that future events won't be so bad.