He Who Calls
Chapter 3
"Xana, huh?" asked Milo. "Okay. But nice lie. I nearly missed it."
"What lie?" asked Aelita, heart racing.
"I know my memory will be erased if we return to the past without me going to Lyoko," said Milo. "If not everyone would remember everything that happened. Who came up with the plan to try to fool me? It's actually quite good."
"Ulrich," replied Aelita, and then slapped her hand to her forehead. "Odd was right. I am a terrible liar."
"A liar's not a good thing to be," said Milo. "I'm an expert at sifting the truth out of people. An expert liar would have told me eventually. Besides, you were convincing enough. You just have to work on not being fooled by a casual tone." Aelita groaned.
"The plan's ruined now. What am I supposed to tell the others? 'Um, hi guys, our plan's completely ruined because I can't keep a secret?' I'm lousy at this."
"For the last time, no you're not," said Milo firmly. "Anyone would've fallen for that." Aelita actually smiled at that.
"Okay," she said. "We have to virtualize you know. Jeremy was talking as though you were just smart. You're brilliant!" And sort of cute for a twelve-year-old, she thought, although she wouldn't have said it out loud under threat of death.
"It makes sense now," Jeremy said. "The Digital Sea is a portal to the internet. Xana was trying to get all of Lyoko on the internet! Why didn't I see this before?"
"Um, Jeremy?" asked Milo. He and Aelita had walked in five minutes before. "Did you know you were talking out loud?" Again, that strange tone. He wasn't mocking Jeremy, he honestly wanted to know.
"Yeah, I did," admitted Jeremy. "It just makes it easier to think." Milo nodded.
"Well," said Aelita. "Milo guessed half of our secret and saw through the plan. So he has to be virtualized, because he won't let us return to the past until he has been."
"He can't really stop us," said Jeremy. "Everyone needs to vote."
"I won't let you return to the past until he's been virtualized," said Aelita stubbornly. "He's unnaturally smart. We need him."
"All right," said Jeremy. "But we should still vote. I'll call everyone."
In Odd and Ulrich's dorm room, they were discussing Yumi.
"What if I don't want to say I like her?" asked Ulrich. "What if I don't like her at all?"
"What if, huh? That sure would be crazy," said Odd, deliberately misinterpreting. "So when are you going to tell her?"
"The same time you admit to Aelita," said Ulrich dryly. "Everyone knows she and Jeremy got over each other a month ago."
'No rumors have been confirmed about my love life!" said Odd, blushing. "Unlike you." That was when Ulrich's cell rang.
"Yeah. Okay. Can we phone-vote? I say yes." Ulrich looked over at Odd. "Odd, let the new guy in?"
"Yeah, sure," said Odd. "It'll be good for him and better for us!"
"Odd says yes."
"So did Yumi and Aelita," said Jeremy. "He's in. But Yumi and Aelita had seen proof he was good. You sure you don't need too?"
"At this point, no," said Ulrich. "See you later."