Chapter 14:

It wasn't long after the end of the little squabble that the elevator doors began to close again in response to someone calling it from up top, and considering that Jonas was still sitting inside, he just waved calmly to the rest of them as he let it take him there.

Yumi gasped in slight shock when she saw him, but otherwise didn't comment on his presence.

"Zup?" He proclaimed as he got to his feet and calmly walked past her.

"What happened?" She asked, indicating his lip.

"Now Yumi, I know I'm handsome, but Ulrich wouldn't approve." He joked, making her blush profusely and he laughed. "I'm fine," He finally answered, before heading for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" She demanded as she watched him ascend to ground level.

"I've got a few things to take care of." He called back with a wave over his shoulder, not even looking back as he walked out into the early morning.

"But –" She tried to continue, however, he was already gone, leaving her to glare at the entryway sourly before getting into the elevator and rode it down to the lab. "Where is he going?" She asked as the doors opened to find everyone sitting about in a general sense of boredom.

"He didn't say." Ulrich answered calmly.

"Did he tell you any –" She began again as she moved to exit to the machine only for something under her foot to crack and she quickly pulled back to look down at a tiny black device on the floor, which she quickly picked up and inspected to insure she hadn't broken it. "What is this?" She revised, causing Jeremy to look at her.

"Wait a minute," He proclaimed, before jumping out of his chair to snatch the thing from her hand. "This is what he used to erase his data from the supercomputer."

"Are you sure?" Odd put in curiously.

"Yeah, I recognize it from the video." He announced as he rushed back to his computer and made to plug it in, only for Aelita to grab his hand before he could.

"Jeremy, we can't." She attempted. "There could be something on there that we shouldn't know."

"Or there could be something that could help us in the long run." Ulrich put in, through he wasn't as forceful about it as he had been previously.

"What's got you in such a good mood all of a sudden?" Yumi countered, causing him to shrug.

"Me and Jonas had a little talk, and well –" He started, before looking up at her. "I'm just finally convinced that he really is Odd. That's all."

"Oh?" She stated questionably as she folded her arms and glared at him. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the split lip he had earlier, would it?"

"Now, why would you think that?" He proclaimed with a smile making her shake her head at him, however the conversation was quietly interrupted.

"Wait – he still had it?" Jeremy put in suddenly, causing everyone to look at him.

"Yeah, why?" Yumi answered with a raise eyebrow.

"Because he's a specter, if he received an injury it should have completely disappeared by now." He explained truthfully, leaving them all to go quiet as they considered the truth of those words.

"Come to think of it – he wasn't very active when he was here, was he?" Ulrich pointed out.

"What does that mean?" Yumi demanded worriedly.

"I don't know, but if his specter looses it's power he could die." Jeremy proclaimed sternly, before turning back to the little device in his hand then back at the pink-haired girl still standing next to him. "Aelita, he may not know that he's losing energy, we need to know how to help him."

"Okay," She finally relented, allowing him to stick the thing into one of the ports on the side of the screen and started typing again in an attempt to hurriedly find the correct data.

"We should try to find him." Yumi commanded again leaving everyone else to look at her as they absorbed her words.

"She's right," Jeremy agreed distractedly as he continued to sort through the information on his screen. "I'll call you if I find anything."

…

Jonas's movement was slow and calm as he walked the quiet pathway through the woods, taking in the sights, the sounds, the smells and the textures that he had been unable to sense for so many years, and even though he was very aware that he no longer had the energy to fight off the ninjas he knew were currently stalking him from the shadows; he was at least glad to have been able to experience the trees of his home world – one last time.

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