"There's got to be something we're missing." Sora picked at the pancakes Aeris set before him and rubbed the fatigue from his eyes. "I mean, Ansem was a genius or something, wasn't he? He's gotta have answers somewhere."

"Problem is, he was too much of a genius," Riku remarked. He threw one arm over the back of his chair and gazed absently up at the ceiling. "He came up with so much crap that we don't know where to start."

Sora nodded and yawned enormously; he hadn't slept more than a few hours last night, and that was only partially because of his anxiety. When Aeris had said she knew a place where they could stay, she really meant she had some room in her little house. Aeris shared the home's sole bed with Kairi, leaving the sofa and the floor for the two boys. Sora had insisted that Riku take the couch, and while it satiated his conscience, his muscles were starting to complain.

Kairi, much better rested than either of her friends, began slathering butter on her pancakes. "The biggest problem is that we don't really know what we're looking for. If we had a more specific idea, then maybe Tron could narrow the search for us. Pass the syrup."

Once she was sure everyone else had their food, Aeris grabbed her own plate and sat down next to Riku. "Actually, I'm not sure how much Ansem's computer will help you. Though he did most of his research in secret, I'm pretty sure he focused mostly on the heart – not what the heart leaves behind." She looked around the table and winced slightly. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to be such a downer!"

"No, it's okay," Sora said. He took a giant bite of pancake chewed thoughtfully. "There's gotta be answers in there. I know it."

They'd finished eating and were helping Aeris with the dishes when Sora was suddenly struck with inspiration. "I've got it!" he cried, almost dropping a plate in his excitement. He handed the plate to Aeris and bolted for the door, Riku and Kairi following close behind. Though he got a little turned around at one point, Sora quickly found his way to the castle and to the computer room.

"What is it?" Riku asked as he watched Sora activate the terminal.

"I think I've figured out how to narrow everything down to what we want, but it'll be too hard to do here. I'll do it from the inside."

"What – inside the computer?"

"Yep." Sora hit a final key and stood back. From the wall behind him, a red laser shot out and, bit by bit, he disintegrated and his data was imported into the computer system. There was a moment's disorientation as the transfer was completed, then Sora's head cleared and he looked around at the familiar blue-and-gray surroundings. "Tron? You there?"

"Of course," Tron replied in a disembodied voice. "Hold on a microcycle, Sora. I'll construct a temporary interface for you." From all around Sora, thousands of tiny points of light – bits of data – came together and coalesced into the Tron that Sora remembered. He rolled his shoulders as if a little stiff. "Nowadays I usually operate without any redundant functions, but for old time's sake I'll forgo a little efficiency."

"Umm... thanks." Sora was pretty sure that was a good thing, anyway. "Listen, is there someplace where we can look over all of Ansem's data on Nobodies at once?"

"Yeah, sure. Some subprograms were just putting the finishing touches on a data-organization system. It's by the I/O tower – we can head over there now."

Sora followed Tron to a large structure next to the I/O tower, half-expecting Heartless to attack at any moment. However, the virtual world was now safe, and they soon reached the data-organization system. The structure was one massive room, like a warehouse, that stretched away for hundreds of yards. Right inside the door was a bank of controls, which were manned by three programs who bustled around as Tron and Sora entered.

Tron called out to one of the programs, "Rec, is the system functional yet?"

"Ready whenever you are, sir," the program replied, entering a few more keystrokes before turning to Tron. "We should be able to handle anything you throw at us."

"Hear that, Sora? What do you need?"

Sora, who had been staring in awe at the massive room stretching out before him, jumped back to attention. "Oh yeah! I want you to call up everything in the system on Nobodies."

"So the search keyword is 'Nobodies'?" Rec asked, quickly typing the search commands. Large gates that lined the walls of the structure snapped open and streams of data began pouring in. Sora stared in amazement at the myriad shapes and sizes of the data – long, streaming tendrils of text; giant, glowing cubes; brilliant pinpoints of light; amorphous blobs of information. Soon the building was teeming with a zoo of data. Rec looked up at Sora. "Here it is."

There's so much! Ansem probably forgot more things then I've ever known! Sora tore his eyes away from the spectacle floating before him and tried to gather his thoughts, to remember the sequence he'd figured out. "Okay... now show me only the stuff that has both 'Nobodies' and 'Heartless' in it." Only a few items disappeared, and Sora frowned. "Now just the stuff with 'Nobodies,' 'Heartless,' 'Hearts,' and 'source of.'" This time most of the data vanished, though there were still a hundred-odd files left floating in the air. Sora turned to Tron and asked, "Is it all right if I walk up to them?"

"Sure – access them all you want."

Sora slipped past the control panel and walked out onto the main floor. He gazed up at the data, most of which was floating out of reach, and wondered, How am I going to get to it? Do I just reach up...? Hesitantly, he held up his hand and pantomimed grabbing a rope and pulling a spherical file towards him. To his surprise, the file lowered obediently to his height. "Well okay then," he muttered. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface, little tremors like electrical shocks running up his arm as the data uploaded directly into his mind. It was just a brief touch, so Sora heard only whispers of the file's contents; he pressed his palm flat against the sphere and was nearly floored by the sudden rush of information flooding his brain. He yanked his hand back and staggered back a few steps, eyes wide.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Tron called out. "You have to watch out for data overload!"

"Uh... yeah. I'm fine." Sora shook his head to clear out the last traces of data. Definitely not what I'm looking for... He sent the file away and pulled down another, this time being careful not to access the entire file at once. It was closer, but it still didn't answer what happened to Nobodies when they died. Sora went from file to file, casting some aside entirely while keeping others close by to look at again later. A pattern soon began to appear, or at least Sora thought there was a pattern. Ansem's earlier files treated the heart and the shell like two discrete parts, but his more recent work seemed to show that there was some connection, however tenuous, between heart and shell even when they were separated.

The idea of a connection between a Nobody and its missing heart lifted Sora's spirits. That would explain why he'd had deja vu in Twilight Town – it was because Roxas's memories were "leaking" into his heart. Maybe that leak could work both ways, meaning that some of Sora's emotions – or his ability to have emotions – might have seeped into Roxas. And if there were connections between Roxas and his heart, then maybe Axel...

"Excuse me," Rec interrupted. "Two more Users are entering the system."

That'd be Riku and Kairi coming to see what the heck I'm doing. Actually, that would make things easier; then Sora could show them what he'd figured out right away. "Where are they?"

"At the I/O tower; I'll message them to come here right away."

Sora nodded and returned to his search. It was going much faster now that he was accessing the information directly and not through a medium like a keyboard; he'd gone through almost all of the files already. Maybe he'd get Riku to help go through the ones he'd pulled aside in more detail; Sora's head was starting to ache, and he'd never been known for a good attention span anyway – this research stuff wasn't really his style, no matter how important it was...

Perhaps it was because his mind was starting to wander that Sora didn't register right away when he heard Tron say, "Hi guys! Long time no see!"

"Gawrsh, it's good to see ya, Tron." That voice Sora recognized instantly. He froze, succumbing to the primitive instinct of if I don't move, they won't see me.

"Where's Sora, Tron?"

"He's right over there, going through some of Ansem the Wise's old files."

...Well, damn.