3-5: To See or Not to See?

So sad! Oh, I think there's something in my eye.

(((-5-)))

Ulrich hugged her tight. "Please say something, Yumi!"

The girl in his arms blinked her pale eyes and stared straight through him. "I can't see anything," she whispered before collapsing with a pained whimper.

Everyone else was in the same shape, crying and wailing that their eyes hurt and they couldn't see. Jeremy stood watching them. He turned to Odd.

"You were really lucky. You were only affected partially, probably because you got out of your room quickly and closed the door. Unfortunately since you can still see slightly, you'll be in pain until we can fix this thing."

Janika looked over. "Wait, I don't understand how this is happening. How can X.A.N.A. attack us like this?"

"I can't be completely positive, but I'm guessing everyone's retinas were bleached, and the only way for that to happen is through exposure to high-intensity lights. These kids' eyeballs were just suntanned to the point that they can't see anymore." He rubbed his chin. "He might have been testing it on Sissy with the Xerox machine to see if it worked well."

Odd tried to stay steady on his feet. "I'd say it works pretty darn well!"

Jeremy nodded to himself. "It's dangerous, clearly, but not necessarily lethal. I would have expected something more deadly, actually. It just confuses me that X.A.N.A. would do something like this."

Ulrich, sitting beside Yumi, turned to his friend angrily. "Jeremy, in our particular line of work, not being able to see can be deadly. Especially for you since your job is completely visual. We might be able to make do since Aelita is never exposed to light bulbs in Lyoko, but if you can't see, we're goners. How would we even be able to get to Lyoko in order to protect her?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "We'll just have to get there and shut down the tower before X.A.N.A. tries to strike us directly."

They left Yumi at the school. They had no choice.

(V)

The factory was quiet and no other buildings in town had blazed to life, blinding anyone else. The school was the only target. So far. With all speed, the four friends reached the elevator. None of them had spoken since they left Yumi behind.

Jeremy connected to Lyoko and found Aelita promptly. "Aelita, we have an emergency."

"You mean X.A.N.A. has attacked? I haven't felt any pulsations in the Mountains. He has been attacking more constantly now, hasn't he?"

"I'll run a scan to figure out which one he's taken over this time. You go find a Tower. I want you safe." The blonde boy looked back at his friends. "I'll take care of everything here. Go on down there so I can virtualize you guys. Odd, you're not going."

"Yes I am!" he shouted. "I can see just fine. It's a little blurry and my eyes hurt a lot but I can really help. You're not going to turn me away now just because I'm slightly purblind."

"I'm impressed you remembered that word from the spelling test."

Odd clenched his teeth. "Don't make me hurt you. I'm not in a good mood right now. Just virtualize me."

Heaving a hopeless sigh, Jeremy nodded. "I'll do it, but don't say I didn't warn you. I found the activated Tower in the Desert region. Aelita is going there now."

"Thanks," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

They got on the lift and were lowered to the scanners. The lights were dim, but Odd refused to take off his sunglasses, saying any light was intolerable. The doors opened and all three children stepped inside.

Just as they were beginning to relax, the light bulbs grew fierce and unbearably bright! Janika shrank against the scanner's wall, hiding her eyes while Ulrich gaped and backed away. The doors closed and the kids realized nothing was happening. Jeremy couldn't send them to Lyoko without being able to see!

Could he?

(V)

Jeremy groped for his sunglasses but it was too late already. Oh, if only he hadn't taken them off to see the screen! He hadn't thought about the light bulbs at the factory because they were usually so dim.

Despite the incessant hammering in his skull, the blonde boy managed to feel his way along the keyboard, slowly but determinedly. One at a time he scanned his friends into Lyoko without the use of his eyes. They were virtualized now, and it was all up to them.

Imagine trying to type without seeing what keys you're pushing. I think it would be pretty difficult, but it's Jeremy we're talking about! Boy-genius! Besides, I'm not that good of a typist.