Author's Note: Thank you once again to all my reviewers! Thank you, Beverly, Vulcan Princess for reading and reviewing my other story "Mayhem Squared". That was sweet of you! As for the spies coming to Lyoko, that's kinda weird for me so I'm keeping them in their respective worlds. But the spies will be part of it soon, as you will see, and they will fit into the grand scheme of things. Thank you again for my reviews! (Can I have my cookie now, mornstar?) Now for the chapter...


My virtualization pod opened up. I stepped out of it wonderingly just as Ulrich did the same from his. We greeted each other with grins, and then we both sprinted for the elevator, as if we were racing the other to see who could get there first.

"Jeremy, Jeremy!"

"It works!"

Jeremy looked at us skeptically from behind his big computer. Ulrich and I each ran around the circle, which was projecting a holographic view of Lyoko. Jeremy broke into a grin himself when he saw us. "I'm glad. After I make a few more adjustments to make the transition less bumpy, Aelita can come visit us."

Aelita smiled as Ulrich and I whooped with joy. Odd, who had been sitting in the corner eating some chips, came up and cheered also. Then when we all quieted, he looked from me to Jeremy to Ulrich. "What are we cheering about again?"

"Odd!" we all said at the same time, giving Odd exasperated looks.

"What?" he said innocently, spreading out his arms in question.

Jeremy, as usual, was the first to become serious again. "But I still don't understand how Xana can employ false pulsations. It's not like him. We have another thing to worry about now: if the pulsations are real or fake."

I sat on the ground next to Jeremy's chair. Ulrich came over and sat next to me. "Maybe Xana is redoubling his efforts at trying to destroy us," he mused. "I mean, we'll have to go to Lyoko every time he creates pulsations, just to be sure and then he'll take the opportunity every time to try and bombard us with monsters."

I turned to Ulrich. "Well, that's a pleasant thought."

He shrugged. "It could be true."

I turned to face Jeremy again. "Hey, Jeremy. Do you have anything on those other humans we encountered?"

Jeremy typed furiously at his super computer but shook his head slowly. "Nothing. I can't find anything on them. But I don't think they're with Xana."

"Then what are they doing there?" I said angrily, remembering again my broken fan. "And why did they attack us?"

"Maybe they're confused," Odd suggested.

Ulrich gave Odd a smug look. "Like you?" Odd smacked Ulrich on the head. Ulrich rubbed his head resentfully while giving Odd a glare.

"Actually," Jeremy said, never looking away from his computer screen, "what Odd said could be possible."

"Nope, not possible," I said resolutely. Odd and Ulrich stopped trying to hit each other to look at me and listen. "Remember what they said? They were waiting for us. Waiting for us to fight them. All three of us," I said, turning to look at Ulrich and Odd. "They even asked about you, Odd. They wondered why you weren't there."

"Wow, I guess I'm more popular than I thought," Odd said, grinning jokingly.

"Yeah...with the freaks!" Ulrich said, leaning back in satisfaction. Odd tried again to smack Ulrich on the head.

"Guys, cut it out," I said as Ulrich tumbled into me, the result of ducking away from Odd's swing attempt.

"Well," Jeremy said, turning once again back to the computer screen, "whatever they are here for, it doesn't seem like good news. I think I might have to have Aelita check it out."

Suddenly, a ring tone I had never heard before sounded in my pocket. I froze, along with my friends and they all turned to look at me. With a tremendous thud, I realized what it was. My compowder. In the silence of the factory, the ring was even louder than normal.

"Uh..." I finally started, fishing in my pocket and getting to my feet. "Excuse me, for just a moment..." I didn't wait for them to say anything in response. I took off for the elevator and once I was safely inside it on my way up, I reached into my pocket and snapped open the ringing pink compowder.

"There you are Yumi. I've been trying to reach you for five minutes."

Five painfully long minutes, I added in my brain. "No kidding."

Jerry's face contorted as he raised an eyebrow. "Where are you?"

"Uh...at school. But once I get outside I'm sure you can just WOOHP me away."

Jerry crossed his arms disapprovingly. "You'd better hope so. We have a serious crisis on our hands."

Suddenly the screen was shifted violently with much protest from Jerry and Clover's angry face appeared on the compowder screen. "Where are you?" she screeched. "We have been waiting for ten minutes! Do you know that it is very rude to be late to an appointment?"

I winced. "Sorry, Clover. Look, I'll talk to you later."

"What? No one hangs up on..." I switched my compowder shut just as the elevator neared the top floor.

I staggered outside and leaned against the wall for a bit. "Don't I ever get a break?" I asked to myself. Then I ran across the bridge and into the manhole.

A few minutes later, I was out of our sewer passageway and in the forest. I ran to the main road and ran out of the school. As soon as I touched the sidewalk, it shivered and opened up underneath me. Even though I should have been expecting it, I screamed as I dropped in.

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"About time," was my greeting as I landed with a bounce on the pink landing couch. I had dropped out of the ceiling and landed right next to Clover (just my luck). I glanced up at the furious Clover and gave her a weak smile.

"Gather around, spies. Something odd indeed has happened."

All four of us got up and made our way over to the couch in front of Jerry's desk. I made it a point to make sure I sat between Alex and Sam. Once we were all seated, Jerry cleared his throat and continued. "It seems two criminals broke into a U.S. military base. The base is a very important station, considering there are scientists down there working on national defense and artificial intelligence. The base is highly protected, seeing as if anyone stole anything from the base they would be considered highly armed. But, it seems that the criminals broke in and somehow disappeared, not stealing anything."

"That's weird," Sam said, cocking her head to her side in thought. Her red hair had been brought up in a sweeping ponytail with two strands hanging loose to either side of her face. "Usually you break into a place to get something and get out. Does anyone know where they went?"

Jerry shook his head. "Unfortunately no. They were not reported to have left the building though a thorough search of the entire base turned up nothing either."

"And where do we fit into all this?" Alex asked, getting straight to the point.

Jerry nodded at her, acknowledging that that was a good question. "Base officials think that the criminals might be probably after a highly guarded and experimental artificial intelligence chip. With the chip, you could undoubtedly create a large army of highly capable robots at your service, with which you would then conquer the world." He placed his hands on his desk and leaned on them. "Your job, girls, will be to guard the chip until further notice."

Before he could continue, Clover leaned back in her seat in disapproval and crossed her arms across her chest. "You mean, we are going to be guards for this mission? How totally lame."

"I'll have to agree with Clover on that one, Jer. Don't they have an abundance of muscle heads to guard that place?" Sam interjected more peacefully.

Jerry leaned forward even more. "Girls, I'm asking you to do this as more of a favor than a mission. I am very worried." His usually calm face was wrinkled with worry. I exchanged questioning glances with Alex and Sam. He sighed and adjusted his tie. "Believe me, I'm doing what I think is best."

"Okay, Jer," I said soothingly. "We'll do it for you."

"Who asked you?" Clover mumbled softly, but I had already made the decision for all of us.

"Thank you," Jerry said, genuinely relieved. Again, we all exchanged glances, this time with worry. Obviously, the emotion of worry was contagious. Then he looked up, adjusted his tie again and resumed his official, businesslike voice. "And now for the gadgets."

Alex rubbed her hands together in delight. Jerry's desk surface descended and then came up again with an array of things on it. "Today, you will be utilizing the crime scene scanner watches, laser lipsticks, expandable cable bungee belts, Ice Queen perfumes, hairpin high-jumper extender poles, manicure kit with press on sticky fingers in electric blue, nano-technology eye shadow, and your trusty jet pack backpacks which now come in colors to match your suits." He picked up the things as he said them and when he finished, he threw us each our packs. "Now have fun, girls, and good luck. And by the way, I suggest you drink a lot of coffee to keep you awake, as you will need the caffeine. Ta ta."

With a flip of our couch, we were on our way.