Chapter 5
It took all three men forever to calm Aelita down enough to get her to listen to them. Even then, it was a chancy thing, since she continued to sniffle and every now and then a tear would trail down her face.
"Listen, Aelita, it isn't what you think," the third man said, trying calm her. "We didn't kidnap you to hurt you or anything, but to protect you."
She just looked at him.
"Protect me from what?" she demanded, wondering if he knew about Lyoko and Xana.
"From the agents who were after your father," he said. "We don't know what happened to him, and we didn't know where you were, but when we found you at Kadic, we were elated."
"My father?" Aelita echoed, surprised. She didn't have a father. What was this man talking about? "I don't understand."
"Do you remember your father at all, Aelita? Do you remember me?"
She shook her head, too confused to speak.
"I'm your father's brother, your Uncle Jules. I haven't seen you since you were small, but I knew you when I spotted you. These two," he said, motioning to the driver and Campbell, "are colleagues of mine. This is Roger Campbell, and Evan Mantrell. They agreed to help me get you here to talk to you."
Aelita began to get angry. "Couldn't you talk to me at school, then?" she snapped, getting to her feet. "I don't believe you. Not one word. You're going to take me back to school right now, do you hear me?"
"I'm not done explaining yet, Aelita," Jules said, putting a hand on her shoulder and coaxing her back into her seat. "Hear me out, will you? Do you remember what happened to your father? According to what I've heard, he disappeared the day you did."
"I don't have a father!" Aelita said, too frustrated to say anything else. "I don't have any family!"
"Then where did you come from?" Jules pointed out patiently. "If you can convince me you are not my niece, I'll take you back to Kadic myself."
"I'm Odd's cousin from Canada," she said, glaring at him.
"Odd Della Robbia? No, he has no cousins, and you don't have a Canadian accent."
"How would you know?" Aelita asked, surprised. She hadn't expected him to know anything about Odd. . .
"I tried to learn about your friends. They're Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama, Jeremie Belpois, and Odd Della Robbia. According to school records, you're Odd's cousin from Canada, and you are at the top of your class. Your grade point average is 95.2. Teacher observations in your file say that you are quiet, well-behaved, studious, and very well-read and well-informed. Well done, I'm impressed."
Aelita only stared at him. "You read my files?"
"Yes."
She tried to think. "You said 'agents' before. What agents? Of what? What would they want with me?"
"They'd want to ask you about your father and his work. You say you don't remember anything?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Aelita admitted, feeling her throat close with tears again. This was all so confusing! "I don't remember having a father!"
"What do you remember, Aelita?"
The tears came, but instead of sounding frightened, she sounded broken-hearted. This man was claiming she had a past in the real world when she didn't! She couldn't remember having parents; all she could remember was being in Lyoko! It wasn't possible that she had been born here in this world!
"It's all right, Aelita," Jules said, sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders. "It's all right if you don't remember. Perhaps something happened to you in Lyoko. . ."
Aelita felt her entire body go rigid. This man knew about Lyoko? But how? Against her better judgment, she turned and looked at him.
"Maybe I should show you your father's letters to me," Jules said, getting up and going to a desk. "Perhaps they'll help you understand. . ."
He returned with a bunch of letters wrapped up in brown paper. Unwrapping them, he handed the first one to Aelita, who opened it and read.
Dear Jules,
I hope you are enjoying Canada. I heard that TechLabs is a fine place to work. We are all fine here. Aelita asks about "Unca Joo" all the time; I think she misses you. We missed you this Christmas. Aelita loves Mister Puck, and thank you for suggesting our getting it for her. They are inseparable. I'm working with a new concept that I've called "Lyoko." I'll let you know how it goes. Write to us soon, all right?
Your brother,
Franz
Aelita felt a cold ball of ice settle in her stomach. She kept reading the letters, and every letter mentioned her and a woman who was supposedly her mother. There was one letter that described her mother dying, and Aelita wondered why she didn't feel more upset. Perhaps it was because she was too close to hysterics already.
Franz's letters became more frantic, less neat, and more erratic. She watched Lyoko go from a simple program to a world that actually existed, and Franz learned that by transforming the body into a digital code, it could be visited or inhabited. Xana turned into a monster from a simple defense program, and the people he worked with in a government building had stopped talking to him. He became worried, especially when people above him at work began asking him questions and telling him he'd better "toe the line."
The final letter told Jules what he was planning to do. Should the agents come for him, he and Aelita would be taking shelter in Lyoko, where they would be safe from anyone who wanted them.
As she finished the last letter, Aelita felt herself crying again. She sank so far down on the couch that she slipped to the floor, where she kept sobbing. It couldn't be true! It just couldn't be! If it were true, why didn't she remember? Why?
Jules looked at the girl kneeling on the floor and sobbing as if her heart had been shattered into a thousand little pieces. There was no way he could undo her new knowledge, but he could help her to feel a little better.
Picking her up, he carried her upstairs to the room he'd had decorated for her. It was pink and white and blue, and it was full of books and stuffed animals and big, overstuffed chairs and cushions to curl up on. He deposited the still-crying girl in one of the chairs and found a night dress for her.
She didn't even register being dressed for bed or being tucked underneath the blankets, but he stayed by her side until she calmed down and looked around. She stared at the pictures and toys and books, and gaped at the bedside lamp with its rose patterned shade. She looked as if she didn't believe where she was.
"Where. . .?" she began, but her voice died in her throat.
"This is your room, Aelita. I made it up for you so it would be a place where you could be comfortable. I know you're feeling very mixed up and confused right now, but I think that after a night of sleep and some breakfast in the morning, you'll feel better. Do you want to talk about anything?"
She shook her head.
"All right," he said, just as someone knocked on the door. It was Campbell, and he was carrying something white in a glass. Jules took the glass, thanked Campbell, and shut the door again. He carried the glass over to Aelita. "Why don't you drink this?"
"What is it?" she asked, eyeing the glass dubiously.
"It's warm milk with chamomile, nutmeg, and vanilla," Jules said as she took the glass. "Your father and I grew up drinking this when we were upset about something, and it helps you sleep."
Aelita sniffed it, sipped at it, and then began drinking it in great big gulps. It tasted so nice! Finishing it off, she handed the glass back to Jules and let herself sink into the pillows, suddenly too tired to sit up.
"If you like, we'll call your friends in the morning to let them know you're all right," Jules said, turning out the lamp and switching on a very small light instead. The lamp began to spin, throwing images of clouds on the walls and adding to the sleepy atmosphere of the room. Aelita burrowed into the covers, turned over, and sighed, falling asleep. Jules left, closing the door and smiling at the little girl who was sleeping so peacefully.
Space
Ulrich had fallen asleep, and Jeremie was still at the computer, working feverishly to find Aelita. She wasn't in Lyoko or anywhere else, that was for certain, and it wasn't possible that Xana had. . .deleted her or anything like that. The only problem was, where was she, and who had taken her?
Jeremie wasn't willing to give up. He'd find out what had happened if it was the last thing he ever did.