Odd smiled at Jeremy. "Don't we all? Jeremy, get some sleep."
The lights suddenly turned off.
Odd's dog climbed into his lap. "Power outage. The usual. You go to sleep too Kiwi!"
The next day at gym, Jim was coaching soccer practice.
"Now, everybody get in an orderly line. Time for pegs!"
Someone in a soccer goalie shirt got in front of the net.
"You go first, Tamiya!"
Tamiya looked really jittery. "Ok."
She just kinda stood there for a while, rubbing her neck like she was hot.
Jim asked, "Is there a problem, Tamiya?"
She pointed to her head, shaking her hands. "I can't seem to remember how to play…"
Jim pointed to the next person on line. "You! Next!"
The gym teacher walked over to Tamiya, who was still standing in the same place, rubbing her neck. "Tamiya, go to the infirmary."
She just nodded her head and jogged to the entrance to the main building.
"From my computers logs, cross-referenced with Aelita's readings, I've determined that XANA's using the electrical transformers on the power lines to drain power dramatically from anywhere it's affected."
The gang was in the factory, and Odd stared at Jeremy, baffled at what he just said-understanding only a little-and asked, "What's being affected right now?"
"So far the northern hemisphere."
Yumi almost laughed. "That's a little over our heads, don't you think?"
Ulrich leaned forward. "What does it do to us?"
Jeremy shook his head gravely. "Keeps us from reaching REM sleep. That means rapid-eye-movement. The time when we actually sleep and regain our strength is when we dream. That's when there's REM sleep. We're not getting it because the power-lines are draining sleep, making us tired and-"
Ulrich raised his voice in daunting recognition. "Draining our judgment and sense of reality!" Yumi crossed her arms. "That would explain the loss of power, too."
Jeremy nodded. "The power is being drained into the transformers before we can utilize it."
Yumi seemed confused. "Where is it being drained?"
Jeremy moved back in his chair. "That's just it. After the transformer gets full, it transfers its energy to the wires, overflowing and getting neutralized in the rubber of the power lines."
Ulrich put out his hands in question. "Can't the authorities handle cutting down the electricity that gets to the transformers?" Jeremy shook his head. "The authorities don't even know about this."
Odd smiled. "Well at least the hallucinations haven't happened on us!"
Jeremy shook his head again. "They may have already.""