The group hurried to Synergy's room.
"Synergy, we want to know what's wrong with Jerrica."
"All right, Shana. I will tell you what I can."
Synergy told them about the scans and about the fact that Jerrica had asked the computer not to tell anyone. She finished her tale by saying, "However, I believe it is getting to the point where I cannot help Jerrica on my own."
The girls then told Synergy what Jem had told them.
"Ah," Synergy realized, "that explains why the two scans were slightly different."
"But how do we help my sister?"
"I need to run some more tests. You will have to bring Jem back here so I can run a more thorough scan."
Raya wondered, "Do you think Jem will cooperate? I mean, what we're talking about would put her back in the dark place she described."
"Yes, but I don't think Jem would hurt Jerrica," Shana theorized. "I think she would cooperate to help Jerrica."
"But Jem's the one who took Jerrica away, so to speak," said Kimber. "If she was worried about Jerrica she wouldn't have done that in the first place."
"Maybe she just didn't think about it like that," said Aja.
"In any case, we need to go find Jem," said Shana.
The girls split up, trying to think of where Jem and Rio might have gone for lunch. It was Kimber and Aja who found them.
"OK," said Aja, "let's play this casually. We don't want Rio to think anything's up."
"I'll just tell Jem that I came up with a new arrangement for one of the songs and I want to try it out before the concert tomorrow."
"Perfect!"
Kimber's plan worked. Rio went off to run some errands and Jem went back to the house with Kimber and Aja, where they waited for the others to return. Once Shana and Raya came home, the Holograms distracted Jem by chatting about nothing in particular. Jem didn't know they were going to Synergy's room until they were already there.
"Hey, everyone, what's going on?" Jem asked them.
"We need your help, Jem," said Kimber. "I'm very worried about Jerrica. Synergy wants to run some more scans so we can make sure that my sister's OK."
"No!" screamed Jem. "You just want to send me back to the Dark Place. I won't go back. I won't!" Jem grabbed her head and shut her eyes tightly, as if to block everyone out.
"Synergy, can't you just turn off the Jem illusion?" asked Aja.
When nothing happened, Aja questioned, "Um, Synergy..."
"I am sorry. It seems I am unable to remove Jem."
"How is that possible?" asked Shana.
"I suspect it has something to do with this whole situation."
"Please, Jem. I know you don't want to go back to the 'Dark Place', but where do you think Jerrica is now? You don't want to hurt her, do you?" Kimber hoped that Jem would listen.
Jem lifted her head, tears streaming down her face. "I...I didn't think about what would happen to Jerrica. I'm sorry, Kimber. I'm sorry!" With that, Jem ran out.
"I'll go get her," said Raya, as she followed Jem.
"What do we do now?" Kimber asked, now in tears herself. "I want my sister back. I don't understand why Jem won't help."
"It'll be OK, Kimber," said Aja, giving her friend a hug. "We'll figure it out."
Shana added her support. "I'm sure Raya will be back soon with Jem."
"I hope so."
Shana decided to stay with Synergy and look over the scans herself. She was confident that, between the two of them, they'd be able to come up with some sort of plan. Meanwhile, Aja took Kimber to the kitchen for some tea. The Starlight girls would be home from school soon, and she needed to calm Kimber down before then. As they were sipping their cups of tea, Raya came walking into the room, slowly shaking her head.
"I guess you didn't catch her, then."
"I'm sorry, Kimber. She was too fast for me. But she seemed to be heading in the direction of Starlight Music. Maybe we can find her there."
"We're going to have to," said Shana, entering from the hallway. "From what Synergy can tell, the longer this goes on, the harder it will be to fix. It's an especially bad sign that she can't remove the Jem hologram."
"So, what's the plan?" asked Aja, hopeful that there was one.
"Umm..."
Kimber burst into tears again. "You mean you don't have a plan? My sister's life is falling apart, and we're all stuck inside this weird nightmare, and you don't even have a plan?"
"Don't worry, Kimber. Synergy and I are working on it. She's run into a glitch in her programming. Somehow, the Jem program has been corrupted."
"Is Synergy OK?"
"Yes, Raya. Other than this problem with Jem, nothing else is wrong. Right now, Synergy is trying to reset the program. That's why we don't have a plan yet."
Aja took charge. "Alright. Shana, you stay with Synergy in case she needs help. The rest of us will go to Starlight Music and call you when we get there. We'll figure out the next part of the plan then. Maybe by then, Synergy will have fixed her glitch."
"What are we waiting for! Let's move!" Kimber's energy and enthusiasm were back.
