He Who Calls

Chapter 36

Journal of Aelita Hopper

Woke Up Early

I woke up early to get a chance to write. That was the funniest party I've ever been to. But I haven't been to too many. I think the reason everyone went to such lengths is because it was a collective party for Odd, Jeremy, Yumi, and Ulrich. Their birthdays passed, but we didn't have time to celebrate until now. But even while we have fun, we know we're close to wiping out Xana once and for all. And another Man in Grey might be active by now.

Milo sat up in his sleeping bag and wiped a gummy worm off his forehead.

"How the hell did that get there?" he wondered aloud.

"Odd's Gummy Worm Post-Midnight Madness," said Aelita. She was sitting up in bed. She snapped a book shut and looked around. The floor was completely covered in gummy worms. "He woke us up at two in the morning, we all got sugar high from eating three bags of gummy worms each, and then we all passed out from sugar crash."

"How come you remember that and I don't?"

"No one else does except Odd. It's because we lost our sugar highs before we passed out."

"That explains your gummy carpet."

"If any maid we hired wasn't likely to be the Man in Grey, I'd hire a maid."

Juanita poked her head in through the door.

"Milo, Aelita. You're up. Xanadu and Troy are complete."

"And," Franz added. "There's a very interesting way through to the internet which we think you can use to annihilate Xana."

"Should we wake everyone else up?" asked Milo.

"No, let them sleep. You two are the expedition team."

"Me too!" said Odd. No one had realized he had woken up. "Milo and Aelita can't cope on their own. They have no vehicles."

"I can flip off myself and fly indefinitely," said Milo.

"I have wings," said Aelita. "But we're still glad to have Odd along. And maybe you should send the Overwing and the Overbike too. You never know if they'll be useful."

"All right. Get in the Mini-Scans." They did. "Scanner, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Transfer, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Translation, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Virtualization."

Milo appeared already sitting on the Overbike, Aelita on the Overwing, and Odd on the Overboard. Three landmasses seemed to be touching under them. In a triangular gap between, there was a swirling vortex.

"Those islands are Xanadu, Troy, and Lyoko," said Franz Hopper's voice. "You have to go into the gap. That'll take you to 1Base."

"And that is?"

"The first of six of Xana's bases. He keeps sixths of his essence in each of them. Each base is designed so that only one person's attack can destroy the Fragment. That person has to make it to each base. And it's always a different person for a different base, except for 6Base which we know almost nothing about."

"Who do we have to keep alive this time?"

"Odd. Get him to 1Base. Xana doesn't know we know, so hurry. Through the Rabbit Hole." They all dove down on their vehicles into the misty triangle.