The group returned to school in silence. The implications of that morning were grave, not even Odd attempted to make a joke. "I need to talk to mother." Gwen said at last. "I'm not sure how to bring it up with her."

"Then don't." Replied Jeremie. "Somethings are better left unsaid."

"Jeremie…" Aelita said softly. "I… er… I wanted to talk to you… and I hope that you'll accept what I say."

"Aelita I would always accept you." Jeremie replied.

Aelita sighed and pulled Jeremie to the back of the group, out of earshot. "I…" Aelita stammered. "I think I like girls… as well as boys… I mean… oh I don't know what I mean! I'm kinda mixed up…" Aelita sighed. "I still don't totally understand about relationships. I really don't!"

Jeremie turned to look at his friend, and in many ways his girlfriend. "Aelita…" Jeremie reached over to give Aelita a hug. "It's okay! I'm not upset! Really I'm not!"

"And it's not… wrong?" Aelita asked worriedly.

"Not at all!" Jeremie said fervently. "It's just not very common." Jeremie explained. "People who like both genders are bisexual, people who like the same gender are homosexual, and you already know about people who like the other gender."

Aelita nodded, taking this all in. "I shouldn't tell anybody should I?"

"Not unless you /really/ feel comfortable telling them." Jeremie looked up at the morning sky. The sun was slowly rising on the eastern horizon. "It's a secret Aelita, a secret close to your heart, only share it with somebody special, somebody you really trust."

"You mean the way I trust you?"

Jeremie flushed. "Er… something like that…" She can't know, not yet… but I want to trust her so badly!

"Hey! Einsteins!" Called Odd happily. "Let's get going or we'll miss breakfast!"

Jeremie sighed disgustedly, but was secretly glad that Odd had just solved his problem for him. "Coming! Come on!" Jeremie grabbed Aelita's hand and laughing the two of them made it back to the group and came through the gates just in time for everybody to be getting breakfast.

Gwen's mother was waiting for her by the gates. "Gwen…"

"Mother." Gwen replied.

"I wanted to talk to you, about this morning…"

Gwen was suddenly frightened. "Later mom." She said, suddenly shy and ducked behind Yumi.

"Gwen it can't wait forever…" Gwen's mother said, suddenly concerned.

"I'm sorry mom I can't!" Gwen turned and ran into the cafeteria.

"Mrs. Hopper, let us take care of it." Aelita replied and ran with the others back into the cafeteria.

"She knows." Ulrich said simply.

"No." Yumi said simply. "All she knows is that Gwen chased two XANA monsters into the woods and that we followed her. My guess though, is that she was about to tell us the truth."

"Tell Gwen at least." Jeremie replied. Gwen was shaking. "Are you alright Gwen?"

"A little frightened. She was about to tell me the truth, but suddenly I didn't want to hear it."

"Truth about what?" Sissy asked as she came forward.

"Can't you /ever/ keep your nose out of our business Sissy? Or are you so catty that you can't help yourself?" Yumi demanded over a mouthful of bacon.

"Mrow." Odd teased. "Mrow morooooon morooooooon…" He yowled as he mimicked a cat.

The rest of the group laughed.

"HERE!" Sissy pinked and jammed six tickets down on the table. "These are to the anime club's Pizza social tonight. All of you are invited, and I'll expect you to come." She said and flounced off.

"I dunno, sounds fun." Yumi said as she picked up a ticket.

"Yeah, but what if XANA attacks."

"You know what I think? Since today's Friday we party tonight and have an entirely XANA free weekend." Odd suggested.

"Can't happen." Jeremie replied. "For me at least. I have too much to do to not take advantage of a weekend. But I will come to the party."

Aelita sighed. "And I'll probably be helping Jeremie."

"I'm curious about Lyoko. I can't wait to go for the first time." Gwen said happily.

"Once you've been going there everyday for a month I doubt you'll agree." Odd replied with a mouthful of sausage.

"That's for me to decide." Gwen replied, suddenly totally serious.

Aelita smiled a wry smile that was totally out of character for her. But she understood in an instant what the other members of her team did not, that here was a mercurial, whimsical character, who's mood could turn from spunk and lighthearted humor to grave seriousness to passionate fervor in a heartbeat. And for Aelita this was the only person to whom this smile would appear.

"I still say that we should count Aelita as Gwen's closest relative." Jeremie replied. "I'm certain that XANA planted his DNA and the monster DNA in you for a reason." He said, pointing a roll thoughtfully at Gwen. "I think we should call this sequence the XANA codon shall we?" Jeremie asked.

"Um… one question Einstein, what's a Codon?" Asked Odd curiously.

"Picture DNA as a ladder." Jeremie explained. "A Codon is a sequence of three rungs on the ladder. Each codon stands for an amino acid and each amino acid is part of the protein that builds a cell. The term isn't particularly accurate, but even one codon off can have disasterous consequences for the creature or person it's altered in. We still don't know what effect this will have on Gwen. If it's alright with you Aelita and Yumi I'd like to run a scan of your DNA. Aelita yours is the closest thing we can get to a baseline, and Yumi's DNA sequence would provide a control, so that we know what a normal human's DNA is supposed to look like." Jeremie anticipated the others questions.

"You have everything all planned out." Ulrich commented.

"Not quite, in addition to finding the antivirus we now need to find a way to reverse the XANA codon, or if its permanent." Jeremie's brain ground to a halt. "Wait a minute, there's an approach that I forgot to take to the antivirus, something I haven't tried yet!"

"What is it Jeremie?" Aelita asked curiously.

"I forgot to take into account the nature of a virus." Jeremie replied. "Viruses multiply by taking over a cell and using it to make more viruses. They're classified according to the manner in which they multiply. But there are some viruses that don't multiply at all. Their DNA stays dormant in the cell, causing all kinds of nasty effects. If I can do a scan of Aelita, and if this virus changes into a normal virus when Aelita's in the real world, then more research on that type of virus might give me an idea for something to help."

"I'd suggest you start at the CDC's website." Gwen suggested. "I /love/ biology."

"Wait a minute." Ulrich held his hand up to indicate time out. "What's the CDC?"

"Center for Disease Control." Yumi explained, "It's the part of the American Government dedicated to medical research and disease prevention."

"They research everything from better flu vaccines to even more dangerous viruses such as Ebola and HIV. They're bound to have something to help." Gwen explained.

"And what are you all up to?" Jim's massive bulk descended on them. "What's this about American Government?"

"We're discussing topics for a biology paper. Jeremie wanted to do viruses so I suggested he look up the CDC." Gwen replied innocently.

"I see, as long as you six aren't causing trouble." Jim stalked off with his tray, headed for the teacher's dining area.

"Whew…" Gwen sighed in relief. Then she saw her mother outside the window. She just stood there, watching her daughter.

Jeremie was already logging on to the CDC site. "Wow, they do have a lot of information here. Everything from disease classification to outbreak ranges and steps for prevention. Nothing specific though." He sighed. "But there's some classified sections that I can try and break later that might have more info. For now I'm just going over basic biology, to refresh my memory."

"Jeremie… maybe I should go to her… but I was so afraid." Gwen replied softly.

"If you're uncomfortable talking about it then don't force information on yourself that you aren't ready to handle." Yumi told Gwen comfortingly. "Now, we'll be late for class if we don't hurry!"

Gwen turned out to be in her mother's class. And her mother's eyes were slightly bloodshot. She certainly looked tired as she walked in.

"Now children, this year we'll be starting with the history of genetics. My name is Himiko Hopper. Call me Mrs. Hopper or Hopper-sensei if you prefer."

"If I may ma'am, you don't look Japanese in the slightest." Sissy sneered.

"Young lady, I am married to a Sansei, a person of third generation Japanese descent. This does, therefore, make me a sensei." Replied Himiko with calm serenity.

Jeremie sighed and raised his hand. This was going to be a long class. "Ma'am, I'm specifically interested in the genetics of viruses, after class could you recommend some reading?"

"Certainly er…"

"Jeremie." Jeremie replied.

Aelita flashed Jeremie a wink and a whispered, "Thanks."

Class passed and to Jermie's surprise Himiko had an entire genetics library, taking up two whole bookcases in her office. "So, I'm glad that you've befriended my daughter. She needs more friends in her life." Himiko was rapidly stacking books in her arms. "So tell me, what do you think of Lyoko?"

Jeremie almost choked, falling over. "What makes you think…?" He began.

"I followed you to the factory. I used to go to Lyoko as well, but there weren't any monsters then. I know the sewers like the back of my hand." Replied Himiko. "I take it that this research has something to do with XANA?"

"Yes it does, thank you." Jeremie sighed in relief as he took the armload of books from Himiko.

"If you need any more information let me know okay?" Himiko asked. "And Jeremie, take care when you send my daughter through those scanners. Lyoko is hers by birthright."

Jeremie put the books in his room and practically ran down to the arches where the group tended to loiter between classes. Sure enough, there they were. "You guys… Himiko followed us to the factory! And she knew about Lyoko!"

"You're kidding!" Odd exclaimed, with his impish grin.

Ulrich groaned. "The fewer adults interfere with us the better." He said with a sigh.

"What did she say?" Asked Yumi, flicking an eye in Jeremie's direction.

"She asked how I liked Lyoko. And she said that it was Gwen's by birthright and that I'd better take care sending her through the scanners!" Jeremie was almost laughing.

"This is a new situation." Aelita commented. "We've never had an adult around that understood Lyoko the way that Himiko appears to."

"Himiko probably isn't her real name." Yumi commented. "It was the name of the first empress of Japan. There's a story that she could see the future, and used that power to save the country. That's the reason why shrine priestesses are called Miko. And because of the legend Himiko isn't a very common name in Japan." She explained. "It's very likely that she originally had an American or French name and changed her name to Japanese. If you like I can dig up the legend from my father's library. I don't think he'd mind my poking around the old legends in there."

The bell rang before any of the crew could react to Yumi's disclosure. But Jeremie made note of it, and to his surprise, this insight would become very helpful when the time came.