Notes: Thank you for continuing to read this so far. This means so much to me. I hope you enjoy.

Additional Notes: Edited as of 10/12/18. Check back to chapter one's notes to see what has changed.

4. Aelita

They were running. In a full on sprint, she followed her father through the sewers. They had to get somewhere, like her father said. But where?

Without uttering a word, his father stopped his sprint and gripped at a metal ladder. Turning his face, Aelita understood what he meant. She quietly followed him up the stairs, and they fled inside the factory from the bridge they came to be on through the manhole. Going down a floor and entering a elevator, she finally spoke up once they entered a weird room with a giant computer and a weird circular thing next to the computer. The room was colored an eerie green and the wires, they gave her the chills, "Where are we?" She finally asked her father.

"In my laboratory." Hopper replied, typing at the keyboard for a second. After that, he got off of it and grabbed her hand, dragging her down another floor, "Come on."

"Where?"

"To a world where you and I will be safe, forever."

With a swallow, she entered a yellow cylinder thing on the right side. Her father looked conflicted at the other two, only for a moment before choosing the left one. He ran his hands along it for a second, muttering something she couldn't understand under his own breath. He took back his arm, staring directly at her, "See you in a minute, honey."

"Alright, Daddy." The doors of the weird cylinder slid shut with her words. Winds blew up from below and a weird feeling consumed her. It was like she was empty as her vision turned black. After a moment, she found herself staring at a place that reminded her of the forest around her home. But the trees were much taller and the leaves that had didn't appear on them. She landed on the ground, stumbling for a second. She couldn't feel the hardness of the landing, nor smell the earthy soil. After a moment, she gently tried to claw at the ground to pull out the dirt... it didn't work.

Then she finally took in her outfit. It wasn't the one she came in, but she dressed in pink and white instead. She touched her hair, wondering if it was still the same shade of pink as her mother had the last time she saw her. Then her fingers traveled to her ears, which she found pointed instead of the usual curve. Was she an elf?

Another thought hit her, where was her father? "Daddy?" She called, "Daddy, where are you?"

"Here I am, Aelita." Beautiful white orbs appeared around her, giving off a soft tune that reminded her of the piano he played.

"Daddy!" Why wasn't he like her? Like a elf-human?

The different colors of light seemed to dance as her father's voice echoed out of them, "I can't materialize myself into human form yet as you can Aelita, I still have more work to do on Lyoko. This world needs to develop more." Weird noises popped up behind her and when she looked, weird small creatures skittered close to them.

"Daddy, there are some strange looking creatures over there."

Red glowed in front of each of them as her father's shout warned her, "Run Aelita! RUN!"

She spun herself around, running away as fast as she could, "Daddy!" She cried as she ran, fearful of the strange monsters that chased after her. They shot off their red lasers and finally, one hit her shoulder. She shrieked as she fled into the big candle-looking thing. She slid into the weird white thing, straining her body against the wall to make sure it didn't push her back. Soft noises echoed around her as she tumbled into the middle of a platform.

"Aelita!" She gasped, pencil dropping out of her hand, "You know young lady. Most of us go to sleep at night." Children erupted with laughter as the teacher stared her down with a exasperated smile.

She ducked her head, "Ah, I'm sorry Mr. Fumet."

"Scandinavian mythology says that a natural disaster brings to the end of the Norse Gods world, scorching the Earth before a new peaceful world can arise from the ashes. It was called Ragnarök."

Odd perked up lazily from his seat behind the two Einsteins, "The two people that help repopulate the world after Ragnarök are Líf and Lífþrasir, right?"

Mr. Fumet smiled, "Ah, yes Odd... but we haven't gotten there yet," He waggled his finger, "Right now we'll be focusing on the major Norse Gods that had perished during the events of Ragnarök."

"How'd you know about those people, Odd?" Jeremie asked. The gang sat at one of the benches around campus, near the vending machines. Aelita leaned on the other side of the bench, rubbing her head. The memories kept playing on repeat. . .

Odd shrugged, "I like to study up on mythology sometimes. That's why I'm passing his class right now with a B because this semester he's focusing on the mythology of the Norse. Mr. Fumet just adores me. . . when I actually talk about the subject at hand, of course."

Yumi rose an eyebrow, "So how was History class?"

"Who cares," Her boyfriend shrugged, a silly smile on his face, "It's history now."

Sissi's voice rose from the many kids around campus, "Well Mrs. Einstein better get a good nights sleep! A super brain like yours needs a little shut eye and most of us, as you know, go to sleep at night!"

Odd grinned from his spot on the bench, "Come on Sissi, is that taunting or actual advice? Right now you're just begging me to make a comeback at you," When she didn't respond, he laughed, "You wouldn't have that problem of going to sleep at night, 'cause your brains are in your feet!"

She grunted, leaving over to Herve, "Isn't Odd a riot when he's acting like he's the best?" Her voice was downright mocking him, "Look who's got the nerve to mock my feet, especially after what Heidi told me about yours!" Pinching their noses as they laughed, Herve and Nicholas walked away with Sissi.

Frowning, Odd peered at his feet, "Do they still really stink after I got some stuff from Yolanda?"

Ulrich snorted, "I have to open a window when you put that stuff on. It smells worse than your actual foot stench."

"Hmph," Odd crossed his arms, "I'm never going to get rid of that part of my reputation." He then shrugged, "No big deal. All the woman still like me."

Yumi looked at her friend, "Are you so sure? The last time I seen you with someone was about a month ago, and that was with Emily."

"Well, I haven't been dating much since Sam," A blush found its way onto Odd's face, "But I only do it to help to make the girl better these days. I just have the right mindset, that's all," Standing up, he stretched, "Well, I'm off to bug William and show him the newest character I created on my laptop, see you guys later!" He ran off, a little skip in his step.

Ulrich leaned back on the bench, frown on his face, "I swear, whenever he thinks he has a chance to hang out with William he goes and leaves us behind. . ."

Sighing, Yumi gave him a look, "Ulrich, don't be like that. You guys already made up. . ."

Jeremie looked at the brooding brunette, before adding, "Well it's lunch time. Why don't we get something to eat?"

With a nod, the gang left the bench to head to the lunch room. Aelita followed along quietly, mind stained with the memories of her past.

The thing she entered inside, it had beautiful panels of white numbers flashing up and down. "Aelita." Her father's voice boomed from somewhere, but where?

"Daddy." She responded.

Her father's beautiful white lights fell downward towards her, surrounding her with their wonderful tune, "Aelita I have to make contact with XANA and persuade him that we can live in peace with him."

"Who's XANA?"

"A multi-agent computer program I created. It has achieved self-awareness in autonomy and is trying to eliminate us now."

She tilted her head, "But why Daddy?" Instead of replying, the orbs that were her father disappeared like they hadn't been there before, "Daddy?"

This time her father's voice echoed around, like he was there in front of her, "Whatever you do, don't leave this tower."

"Daddy?! Daddy! DADDY!"

"Aelita?" Jeremie snapped her out of it, shaking her shoulder gently, "Hey, what's the matter? Is anything wrong?" Concern flashed on the blonde's face. She looked down, she hated to make him concerned over her.

"No I-" She sighed, "I was daydreaming I guess."

"Hey guys!" Odd beamed as he sat down next to Yumi. Ulrich took one look at him before gazing towards the window. The purple-loving blonde dug his fork into his spaghetti, slurping it down like he was starved.

Yumi shook her head, wrinkling her nose in disgust, "Did you not eat this morning?"

"As a matter of fact, I didn't." He gasped in mock horror, dropping his folk to place his hand over his stomach, "That's why it sounded like a dying animal!"

Ulrich immediately lost his brooding mood, "But Odd, you did eat. I was there with you."

Jeremie also looked puzzled, "Yes, so was I."

Placing a hand underneath his chin, Odd looked thoughtful. "Oh! Then I must have forgot!" Laughing it off like it was nothing, Odd went back to eating.

The samurai looked past his girlfriend to glare at his best friend, "I swear, sometimes your memory is spotty." Odd continued to gobble down his meal, completely disinterested with the conversation. Most likely he didn't care that he couldn't remember, the blonde with a purple splotch in his hair never really seemed to mind his mental health until Ulrich would get on him about it. Or at least, that's what Aelita noticed when Odd threw out he couldn't remember simple things of the day and the brunette would make him swear to go to the infirmary if a big chunk of memory seemed to disappear.

Yumi chuckled awkwardly, picking up her tray, "Well I'll leave you guys to dispute to Odd that not remembering little things of the day isn't okay," She looked exasperated, "It's a battle that has no one as a winner," She then leaned down to peck Ulrich on the cheek and walked away, "I'll see you guys later after my math test!"

Blushing heavily, the chocolate eyed boy lightly glared at his best friend, "Remember our deal? You promised."

"I never break a promise," Odd managed to say through the chewing of his food, "You know that," He took a break to steal Yumi's seat, sitting next to the brunette. He then continued to devour his food without a care in the world, "But not recalling that I ate isn't big though. So I win this time."

Aelita twiddled her thumbs, wondering to even ask the question. She couldn't help but blurt it out after a moment, halting Ulrich from starting an argument with his best friend, "Do you think my father's alive?" She asked quietly. Jeremie let out a surprised noise, like he was confused why she even asked that, "My father, Franz Hopper. Do you think it's possible to re-materialize him?"

Crystal blue met apple green, "No," He bit his lip, "What I mean is... well, there's no way to."

"But he managed to survive when XANA captured him the first time." She tried to reason, "Why not a second time?"

"Your father sacrificed himself for you Aelita," A sad smile made its way on the Einstein's lips as he turned to face her, "And he had to have used whatever little strength he had left in him to bring you back to life."

"I know, but I thought there might be hope." She frowned, "That maybe you could find a way."

She had to prove him wrong, she couldn't give up her father now. She didn't want to be alone with her memories anymore, she wanted someone that could understand them with her. A cold fear gripped at her body as Jeremie pressed on,"Impossible. I checked every inch of Lyoko and there isn't the slightest sign of him." He took a breath, "Aelita, I've been working hard in a way of getting into the world wide web so that we can fight XANA," He then grabbed her hand gently, like she was a fragile piece of glass, "And you should think the way I think. I mean, think about the future."

Aelita yanked her hand back, rage replacing the utter fear that bubbled inside her before, "And just forget my past, huh!? You think it's easy?! You didn't spend ten years of your life as some sort of computer software!" She stood up, storming off away from the table, "I wish I never recovered my memory!"

It had felt like a while since she spoke with her father. "Daddy!" She called, running to what looked to be the only exit of the tower she was in, "Daddy! I'm coming Daddy!" Her body slipped through the tower, but as always she added a bit of pressure to make sure her body fully went through. Weird creatures flew through the air, shooting down the white lights that were her father. Lasers slammed into him and fear grew inside her. Why were these flying bugs attacking her father? "Daddy!" She cried, terrified for his well-being.

"No, Aelita! Get back to safety in the tower!" The monster's wings flapped, leaving echoes as they continued to shoot at her dad. She whimpered, staring at the scene in front of her. She had to turn away for her father's sake, she had to! "You have the keys to Lyoko, Aelita. XANA must never get his hands on them! Do you understand?" They continued to shoot down her father, completely ignoring her, "It's over, Aelita. XANA is too powerful, he's become a threat to all mankind. I got to shut down the supercomputer!" She fled into the tower, finally able to look away.

She ran to the middle of the platform before she fell down, "But does that mean we'll die?" She questioned, voice quiet. She didn't want to die. . . she didn't. She didn't want her father gone either. She wanted her father to be okay, she wanted everything to be okay. Why couldn't that work out?

"No!" Her dad finally said, voice firm, "But you mustn't forget me, ever! Never forget, Aelita!"

"Daddy. . ." She sobbed, curling up into a ball. She failed the one thing that he asked for, she couldn't remember him once the supercomputer turned on. He gave his strength to her to allow her to remember, and that hurt.

"I knew I'd find you here." Odd's voice was soft, calming to the storm of emotions that swam in her head. Aelita pulled her head away from her knees, feeling the warm liquid of tears streaming down her cheeks as she turned away from him and scrubbed at her eyes, "You know, our good buddy Einstein may be a computer wiz, but when it comes to emotions he's a-"

"A total lame-o!" Aelita spat.

"But he really likes you." Odd murmured, setting his foot against a broken dresser. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before plopping down on the ground of Aelita's old room, "You know that."

"And I really like him too," Aelita confessed, "But I wish he would just understand that my father is all that I have left of my past life."

Odd looked at her, "Even if he did Aelita, he can't spend all his time just on locating your father. He's trying to look out for all of us. He doesn't want anything bad to happen now that XANA is out of the supercomputer and it wants to destroy the Core of Lyoko to get rid of us."

She crossed her arms, "It sounds like you're on his side."

"I'm on neither." Odd denied, "Because I want you to be happy. And I want Jeremie to be happy. It sounds silly but out of all things with Lyoko and XANA, I just want everyone around me to be happy. Remember Ulrich and I got into a big fight because of XANA making a clone of your father to get your memory?"

"Yeah," She easily recalled their verbal fight, then she easily recalled the other fight, "Ulrich had to physically fight you to get you to talk with him. Then you both had detention for a week with Jim. I heard you two sat on opposite ends of the room and glared at each other during most of the detention time."

Odd chuckled bitterly, "I know he was acting like a big jerk because of XANA-Hopper, but I didn't see it at the time. I was just so tired that I didn't notice the facts were staring right at me. Yolanda gave me some pills to take to help with sleeping problems, she thinks I have insomnia." He placed his hands in his lap, "But anyway, one night I confronted Ulrich and we talked about it. We apologized to each other and it was like water under the bridge. The reason I did that was because even with Yumi, he wasn't happy. He wasn't happy because I was acting so upset about the whole thing and refused to talk it out. I acted like he was the bad guy and never tried to resolve the conflict. The mind can be a dangerous place when you're really tired."

"Were you happy when you confronted him?"

He nodded, "Definitely. I hated staying with William because I didn't want to be a bother. No matter how much he insisted I wasn't, I still couldn't help but feel like I was. He was a good friend that listened to my problems, though I couldn't tell him much because of Lyoko and all. . . I hang with William sometimes to forget that I'm different. Even if I really love Lyoko and fighting XANA and being a hero, sometimes we all need a break. Ulrich and Yumi have each other, those lovebirds. Then you easily get Jeremie out of his room to hang out in town on the weekends whenever he isn't working on getting us into Sector Five. I want my own escape and that comes in the form of William. I got a laptop from my parents so I could make a video game with him, the art teacher really adores that we're working on a project that others can enjoy," Odd paused for a moment. He turned to Aelita, allowing apple green to clash against bright amber, "But Princess, what I mean by telling you this is that I want everyone happy, especially you and Jeremie. This fight of yours isn't helping the situation."

Aelita closed her eyes, "I know I know, but he gave up so easily on my father that it hurts."

"I wish I could understand," The cat-boy softly spoke, "But I can't. The best I can do is be a good friend and hear out your problems."

She sighed. Thoughts swam around her head. If Jeremie didn't want to look for her father. . . then, "I have to go to Lyoko." She stood up, looking at her friend. Odd blinked, surprise quickly flashing through them, "To Sector Five. I want to find some trace of my father."

Odd frowned, "Well that might not be too easy. You heard what Jeremie said. He's not very anxious to help."

"So? We don't need Jeremie do we?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Odd made a motion between her and himself, "We?"

"Just us! Just you and me, okay Odd?"

"Okay," Without hesitation, the svelte teen nodded and stood up, "Whatever you say Aelita."

Making it to the factory was completely easy, heading down both the rope and later the elevator. There wasn't really anything to be concerned about, XANA wasn't attacking so there was no rush. Aelita fled the elevator once they reached the supercomputer room, briskly walking to the monitor and began typing away at the keyboard of the quantum supercomputer, "Okay, I'll launch the procedure which'll automatically virtualize us in the Desert Sector."

Odd placed a hand underneath his chin, plopping down on the rim of the holo-sphere, "You'll also give us a countdown to reach the edge of the sector and meet Scipio to head to Sector Five?"

"Of course," She smiled at Odd, "We have one minute after virtualization to meet up with the transporter."

"It'll be a piece of cake!"

"Sometimes I wonder why don't you fess up to Jeremie that you understand some of the supercomputer," Aelita threw out casually as the ran back into the elevator.

The cat-boy grinned, "Well Princess, I'd think he get mad that I know so much and didn't help out." It was obvious he was joking, even Aelita knew that he rarely knew anything at all. It was that he understood the basic things of the computer, like the self-virtualization process and the entering of the code Scipio to enter Sector Five. He didn't understand the actual coding that came with it, sadly enough.

Immediately once they reached the scanner room, Aelita took to the right scanner. Odd continued to walk forward until he reached the middle scanner which was always his choice in scanner. The doors slid shut in hers and in a quick second winds began to pick up. Her vision of the scanner door disappeared for a moment, then in turn the Desert Sector's orange-yellow plain appeared instead.

They both landed, taking off to head over to the edge of the sector. They didn't share a word throughout the process, all until they reached their goal, "It couldn't have been a minute since we got here," Odd noted with a smile, "We probably arrived a bit early."

Aelita beamed, "Well at least we made it with time to spare, look!" She pointed up to the large, white orb. It spun in its usual pattern as it reached out to the desert land and snatched them up. It ran off with them inside, before dropping them off in the Arena.

Odd immediately placed a paw over his stomach, a grimace on his face, "I knew I shouldn't have had the second helping of spaghetti..."

Dismissing his complaint, Aelita waited for the room to stop its spinning. Once it did, she lead the way, "Let's go!" The blonde nodded, lingering behind her as they went. They reached the beginning of the ever-changing sector, watching its doors slide open.

"This place always gives me the chills. Even with XANA not in the supercomputer anymore," Odd murmured from behind, "It's like it left its mark here, that it knows every inch of the place for being here so long."

Aelita frowned, "XANA is a program. In its memory it could have recorded every inch of this place. Much like the rest of the sectors well before they began to be deleted. That's how it knew how to control the lands with fog, and even in the Desert Sector where it turned the plateaus into weird angles to stop me from deactivating the tower."

Sighing, the cat-boy looked away, "Sorry, that must have slipped my mind."

She resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands, "I'm sorry if that came off as rude, but we don't have time to discuss those things." She then smiled once they reached the Core Zone. She looked around, then pointed upward, "There's the key!"

He saluted, "Don't worry Princess, I'm all over it!" He ran towards the wall, digging his claws into it as he heaved himself to the next blue block.

Grooooan. Grooooan. Groan!

Aelita winced as a laser smacked her in the shoulder, "Looks like the Creepers found us." Energy fields in her hands, she began flinging them at the creatures, "Energy Field!"

Odd looked back for a moment, tearing off one of his paws to shoot off his ammo at a Creeper, "Laser Arrow!"

Groaning, the Creepers looked to be regaining their bearings, "Bizarre," She muttered, continuing to throw her pink weapons, "You think they were surprised to see us." Odd continued to head on up to the key, looking back every now and then to make sure he wasn't under fire. Whenever a stray Creeper laser would head to him, he would twist himself around to meet the laser and throw up his lilac shield.

"Maybe they are. After all, XANA wouldn't know about us heading on in here." Odd added from above, closing in on the key, "We're out of this place, Aelita!" He then flung himself off a block, slamming his fist into the key. The door nearby slid open, finally granting them access to the rest of Sector Five. He hopped down, carefully making sure he didn't lose any life points from the fall. Aelita noted that she was hit once, but Odd took no hits from any of the Creepers.

Taking off down the hall, they were so close to the Celestial Dome when everything they went through became ruined, "Aelita! Odd! I know you're there!" She clenched her hands at her sides, a frown on her face. If only they had a little more time, then she'd be able to enact what she wanted to do. But no, they were too late, "For your information, while you're out there having a blast, XANA happens to be attacking. Ulrich and Yumi are already there on the spot."

Odd stared at her for a moment, his eyes softening. He took a step forward, resting his paw on her shoulder, "Right now, it's your mission. You call the shots, not Jeremie. What do you want to do, Aelita?"

She stared down at the blue flooring of the Sector, glad that there wasn't a program for tears to appear. Miserably, she knew where her priorities had to lie at the moment, "Let's go." The elevator met up with them and both took the jump, landing on their speeding ride.

"As soon as you get to the dome I'll program a vehicle and then I'll open a tunnel. The activated tower is in the Mountain Sector, okay? Now get going."

The Elevator stopped, the door to the Celestial Dome opening. Aelita took off, Odd following along behind her. When they reached it, Odd ran to the programmed vehicle, the Overboard, and hopped on. He quickly caught Aelita, allowing her to adjust to the slim purple ride. She swallowed as Odd took off, circling around in the Outer Sphere. The Overboard flew close to the giant walls of binary code and Aelita let her gaze fly over the large area. Her eyes widened at the sight of Mantas circling around the south pole of Sector Five, "Look, Odd!"

The cat-boy peered over, eyes widening at the sight, "They aren't attacking us! It's like they're guarding something over there..."

"Jeremie, we just spotted some flying Mantas at the south pole of the Dome! They seem to be guarding the entrance!"

"Now that is not a good sign. Hold on, I'll check it out," Swinging back around, Odd stopped the Overboard in the air, "Uh oh, looks like you were right. XANA's attacking the Core of Lyoko! The tower in the Mountain Sector was just a diversion!"

Odd drove off towards the Mantas, "Okay, we'll take out the Mantas and stop the attack!"

"That's a suicide mission, Odd!" Aelita cried, "There's too many Mantas!"

He laughed, "You're kidding, Aelita! There isn't enough Mantas!" He took aim, sweeping around the screeching Mantas. He quickly shot, smacking one of the Mantas, "Laser Arrow!" Grinning as one of them exploded, he turned the Overboard back around and continued to fire. He suddenly winced as a shot hit his tail, "Ugh, sometimes I can't get a hold of where they shoot."

Aelita smiled, "Maybe you should throw one of your shoes? That'll get them to stay away." She held out her palm, throwing an energy field towards the lingering monsters. It exploded in a bright pink light, offsetting the Overboard just for a moment.

Rolling his eyes, Odd sarcastically laughed, "Ha ha, very funny." He craned his head around, holding his paw to the two Mantas chasing right behind them, "Laser Arr-ah!" He screamed as he was shot off, one of the two Mantas behind exploding as well.

"Odd!" She cried, fear in her eyes as she watched the boy fall in the Outer Sphere. The other Manta that closed in on her bucked away, chasing down the flailing cat-boy. With wonder and a tad bit of fear, she watched as the Manta caught him.

"Whoa!" Odd dug his claws into the back of the creature, "I guess I have to thank you?" It screeched, taking off away from the entrance to the Core of Lyoko, "Okay, never mind! No thanking you, Manta!"

Aelita guided the Overboard towards the southern pole, "Odd! Do you need some help!?"

"Don't worry Princess, I can handle this! Just go stop XANA from destroying the Core!"

She nodded, flying into the entrance, knowing that Odd would be fine. They've all been through worse in this Sector. "The first Shield to the Core has just given away!" She ran off once she made it through, jumping up the many blue blocks to reach the top. Three Mantas were shooting at the second shield. Most likely Creepers were lingering around, shooting at it as well, "Aelita! Where are you?"

"In trouble!" She shouted, continuing to hop along the blocks. Taking aim, she shot off one of her pink orbs at a Creeper. It curled up on impact and exploded into bits of data. The Mantas surrounding the Core screeched, flying away from it to head towards her. Their lasers were quickly absorbed by her energy fields that she combined together. The two blue and white creatures nearly hit the ground before they turned around, heading back to the top to repeat their attack once again.

"Hang on Aelita! Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi are almost there!"

Aelita created another energy shield, allowing the lasers to hit the pink orbs. With Jeremie's words echoing, she could hear footsteps from down below. Yumi paused on one of the blocks, bringing out her fans to deflect the lasers heading her way. She then hopped onto a Manta, allowing her tessen fans to slice through the creature. She hopped off once it exploded, grabbing her fans as they flew.

Ulrich on the other hand continued to hop on the blue blocks, stopping to quickly stab his katana into the Creeper. He then deflected lasers from other Creepers, easily taking them out from afar. His chocolate brown eyes caught sight of a Manta shooting towards her and he used super sprint to reach the pinkette, deflecting the lasers shot at her, "Did we miss much of the show?" Ulrich joked.

She shook her head, "No, just the opening act."

"And here's the grand finale!" Odd called, flying in with the Manta that had caught him earlier. He buried his claws deeper into the blue and white creature, directing it straight into the other Manta. Both creatures screeched at one another before Odd threw himself at the nearest platform, the flying monsters exploding into bits of data, "Woo!" He stood up, buzzing with excitement, "Let's do that again!" A Creeper groaned behind Ulrich which the samurai quickly responded by stabbing it.

In the mic, Jeremie let out a sigh of relief, "Nice work everyone. Aelita, you know that you still have a tower to deactivate. But if you want to stop at the interface first to collect some new data on Franz Hopper I wouldn't mind. . . . Uh, I mean, if you want to."

Aelita placed a finger under her chin, trying to dismiss the wide smile that was growing on her face. "Yeah, why not?"

Jeremie typed away at the keyboard in his room, as what he usual did on any night. Aelita stood next to him, trying to keep herself from hovering over his shoulder, "Any luck?" She finally asked. She couldn't help it, she wanted to know if her father was out there. Jeremie had finally agreed to look for him and it felt like a weight off her shoulders. Her father could be back with her sometime soon if Jeremie can figure out a program for finding him soon.

Her leaned back in his chair after he finished typing and began clicking at his mouse, "No, nothing," Sadness tried to drag her down in a wave and feeling tears pool at her eyes, Aelita began to to walk away, "Wait a second... what's that?"

The pinkette quickly turned around, "What have you found?"

"A fragment of a DNA code sequence that belongs to... Franz Hopper. You're right, Aelita!"

Flabbergasted, she murmured, "My father might still be alive somewhere on Lyoko!" Smiling, Aelita looked at Jeremie. Crystal blue met apple green and he too, smiled back at her.