By all accounts, Lyoko should be regarded as a pioneer paradise. Initially intended to be part of a separate project Waldo Schaeffer was working on, Lyoko is now used as a testing ground for other endeavors. Once he had the money and proper technology, he wanted to expand the virtual world and make it more inhabitable. If anyone else were to judge it, they'd say it was heaven on Earth.

But for Aelita, it was a prison. A barren wasteland with barely any life to speak of. So far, only two sectors were made, and neither of them felt inviting. Whether it be the arid desert or the maze like forest, she felt very much trapped and alone. Whenever she found herself on Lyoko, she would find a specific pool of water in the Forest Sector next to one of the white towers that took residence there. It was one of the few traces of beauty she could find here.

"Hello, Aelita." A soothing, yet mysterious voice pierced through the silence. The voice had taken the form of a black and red electrical sphere that was headed closer to her. This was the program known as XANA, something that Waldo had created long before Aelita was born.

Aelita looked up and saw the program come to her. Like a moth to a flame, Aelita was drawn to him.

"XANA...!" Aelita came closer to him.

"There is something wrong." XANA noticed in her shaky voice. "What happened to you?"

Aelita lowered her hand and bit her lip. "I... I started my cycle today. B-but I didn't know... the other girls started laughing at me and... they all threw things... Oh, XANA, it was horrible!"

"It sounds like it was, my dear." XANA tried to comfort her the best he could. "But this should come naturally to you humans, is it not?"

"Y-yes but... Daddy didn't tell me anything." Aelita confessed. She continued to confide in XANA about everything that happened that day.

"I'm so sorry, Aelita... if I had more power in me, I would set those people straight." XANA's voice began to harden.

Aelita shook her head. "That would have only made the problem worse. Besides, you're probably not that important to lose. It's a miracle that Daddy hasn't deleted you yet."

"Your existence in of itself is a miracle." XANA circled around her. "Waldo thought he was going to lose you."

Aelita wiped away a stray tear. "He did?"

"Why, yes. I was certain that he told you everything by now." XANA responded.

Aelita didn't understand what he meant. "No... what are you saying?"

"Aelita."

Aelita instinctively looked up into the never ending abyss. "Yes, Daddy?"

"I am now going to bring you back to Earth. Stay right where you are."

"I suppose this is goodbye for now..." XANA sounded upset by the girl's departure.

"But, wait! XANA! What were you going to tell me?" Aelita begged as she felt her body disintegrate.

"I'll tell you when we have more time alone." XANA cryptically relayed to her.

Aelita could only nod. "Goodbye, XANA..."

/

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Aelita felt a cool wind brush against her skin when the doors of the scanners opened up. She stumbled a little bit coming out, and found her father still sitting completely still at the main computer. Unlike earlier, he wasn't ready to pounce on her for any kind of error she made. His demeanor now is calm, almost too calm. Before he could try to do anything, the girl thought it would be best to remove herself from his presence immediately.

"I'm going to my room now." Aelita cleared her throat.

"Uh-huh.." Waldo continued staring at his screen.

Before Aelita exited the basement, she slowly walked up to her father and gave him a hug. "Goodnight, Daddy..."

Stiff at first, Waldo eventually warmed up to his daughter's embrace. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

Aelita grinned gently and closed the door behind her. Once she was out of the room, she bolted upstairs into her room, making sure to not make too much noise. Aelita made extra sure to keep her door locked tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The library was mostly barren the following Monday. With only one teacher and two other students inside, it was quiet enough for a gentle breeze to be heard.

Aelita still couldn't get the words that XANA told her out of her head. More specifically, one word: miracle. She didn't think she was anything particularly special, but at least in that moment she felt like she was. She wanted to know why in particular she was seen as one. She whispered the word to herself while touching the spines of various books.

"Miracle..."

She finally found a dictionary. It was a newer edition, so Aelita knew that she would be getting some reliable information. She turned to the "M" section and began searching for the word, "miracle."

"mir·a·cle
/mirək(ə)l/
noun

1. A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency."
"The miracle of rising from the grave."

This felt more like a non-answer to the girl. She decided to check the other meanings of the word.

"2. A highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences."
"It was a miracle that more people hadn't been killed or injured."

This definition was closer, but that wasn't really saying much in the grand scheme of things.

"3. An amazing product or achievement, or an outstanding example of something.""

"A machine which was a miracle of design."

Then Aelita's thoughts began to drift to another theory: was she part machine? Considering how she's been completely left in the dark about her mother and her father's projects, it was a possibility that didn't feel real. But out of a sort of curious urge, she flipped the pages to find that exact word.

"ma·chine
/məˈSHēn/
noun

1. An apparatus using or applying mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task."
"A fax machine."

From this definition, it was clear that Aelita was not a machine. But she knew that something made her different from everyone else within the confines of Kadic Academy. That's when Aelita remembered the lights going out during Saturday's shower incident. Then afterwards, there was the light bulb and computer in Principal Delmas' office. By all accounts, those could simply be written off as pure coincidence. But there was the event in which the stoplight fell straight down onto the sidewalk.

That alone couldn't be explained by coincidence. At the moment she wished for something to happen to Hiroki, it came crashing down. There had to be something more at play here. Was it fate? Willpower? Power? Power.

"pow·er
/pou(ə)r/
noun

1. the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality."
"The power of speech."

2. The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events."
"The idea that men should have power over women."

"Synonyms: ability, capacity, capability, potential, faculty, competence."

Now this felt much more accurate. She wondered what would come up if she looked for 'ability' in this book.

"Possession of the means or skill to do something."

As she began to get pulled in more, she began picking up books relating to the words she was finding.

"Possession-

The state of having, owning, or controlling something.

The state of being controlled by a demon or spirit."

Was Aelita being controlled? Or was she the one doing the controlling? It was too early to tell now, but with some more digging she hoped she could find the answers she needed the longer she snooped around. Aelita eventually found herself skimming through the pages of an old book detailing old myths and superstitions. In that very book was the definition that put her to a stop.

"Telekinesis is more commonly known as the ability to move objects or other living organisms with the power of one's own mind."

Were all those instances examples of telekinesis? Aelita thought it through again, but then decided that couldn't be right. Telekinesis would imply most everything she saw would have some motion.

While Aelita's attention was occupied to her literature, Yumi Ishiyama walked into the library in order to find some books for an upcoming class project. She didn't notice the pinkette was in the same room until she went over to the back section. Yumi could still remember when her Hiroki's life was nearly stripped of him. Did Aelita truly mean to harm him that day? She couldn't even harm a fly, let alone another human being. But there was something about her that Yumi was drawn to, a suspicion that she couldn't comprehend. If she wanted to put that to rest, she had to take the initiative.

Yumi looked over her shoulder before greeting the younger student. "Hi, Aelita."

Aelita jumped a little bit, almost dropping her pencil in the process. Luckily, Yumi was able to catch it in time and give it back to her.

"H-Hey." Aelita put the pencil behind her ear.

"So, uh..." Yumi looked at the stack of books Aelita was carrying. "What 'cha reading?"

"Oh, um, it's about... uh..." Aelita tried to come up with an answer that didn't seem suspicious. "Sewing."

"Cool." Yumi nodded. "Hey, do you mind if I hung out with you for a bit? I totally get it if you want to be left alone, though."

Aelita shook her head. "I don't mind."

Yumi nodded, continuing to search for the books she needed while following Aelita around.

"I heard about what happened last week." Yumi tried to carefully segue in to last Saturday's events.

Aelita's cheeks began to burn red with embarrassment. She gripped the books she had even tighter. "Oh no... does everybody know?"

"Not everyone, thank God." Yumi reassured her. Though she couldn't really bet on that being the case for much longer, she didn't want to dwell on that now. "But I know how you feel."

Aelita stopped walking and looked up at her. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah, except I got mine inside the swimming pool." Yumi couldn't believe she was admitting this, but she figured it would help ease the embarrassment, even if it was by a small amount.

Aelita's eyes widened, mainly out of concern for the upperclassman. "I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like..."

"I can say the same for you." Yumi replied. "From that day on, I never wore a single shred of white again."

Aelita giggled and Yumi smiled, only to be followed by a sharp "SHHH!" echoing across the room. The two moved back down to a moderate whisper.

"My point is that everyone has had at least one really bad puberty moment. It doesn't do anyone any good by dwelling on it." Yumi put a hand on Aelita's shoulder.

"But what about Sissi?" Aelita was still distressed.

"Knowing her, she'll probably move on to whatever thing happens to come next." Yumi shrugged. "Most of the people that do know will likely forget soon anyway."

"Thanks, Yumi." Aelita smiled warmly.

"Not a problem." Yumi finally found a book to use. "And if you ever need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

Aelita glanced at the computers as Yumi began walking towards them. She gulped and shook her head to get her out of her thoughts.

"Yumi?" Aelita found the strength to talk again. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"Can you show me how to do an Internet search?" Aelita's voice quieted, her blush being a faint rose color.

Yumi couldn't help but chuckle. A girl of Aelita's brains being unable to operate a computer was both funny and endearing. She began leading the pinkette to the computer section. "Well, you've come to the right person. It's really easy."

Aelita smiled in relief. At least now, she could get things done much faster. During all of this, Aelita may have just possibly found something she also needed: a friend.

/

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Practice for the boy's football team was just about to come to a close. Mr. Morales was currently scolding one boy for making a foul move on the field. Atop the bleachers, Laura Gauthier sat with her bag on her lap and elbows on top as her palms acted as a cushion for her chin. The only person she had her eyes on was Ulrich Stern, the team's captain. Even with everything that's happened so far, Laura considered herself lucky to be his girlfriend. She admitted to having feelings for him even when he was previously taken, but never imagined that fate would throw her a bone like this. With most of her friends disowning her after standing up to the Queen Bee of Kadic, she knew that she could at least take some solace in him.

Mr. Morales blew his whistle. "That's enough practice for today!"

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, Laura rushed down to the field to meet up with Ulrich.

"Hey!" Ulrich greeted Laura and pulled her into a side hug.

Laura returned the hug with a kiss on the cheek. "I need to talk to you."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

Laura looked around and lead Ulrich towards the top of the bleachers. She wanted to avoid as much of the noise and watchful eyes from the other players. The only person she wanted to listen was the Stern boy. Ulrich was still confused about why Laura had isolated them from everyone else. A part of him was fearing the worst, much like with how Yumi Ishiyama ended things with him.

"Ulrich..."

"Yes?"

Laura paused. "If I asked you to do something for me, would you do it? No matter how crazy it sounded?"

"Yeah, I would." Ulrich shrugged. "Unless you're talking about cold blooded murder or something. What is it?"

Laura looked around her before whispering into his ear. Ulrich's eyes widened.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

"Ulrich, please! It'll really make Aelita happy if you took her instead." Laura set her hand on top of his.

"Yeah, but this is your prom too." Ulrich tried convincing her. "I don't want you to miss out on any of the fun to make someone else feel better."

"Well, what do you want me to do then?" Laura replied exhaustively. "I have to do something for her to make up for... you know..."

"Look, Laura. I understand why you want me to do this. But I already told you, I'm not taking her to prom." Ulrich sighed. Laura lowered her head in defeat.

"But I do know someone that will."

Laura looked back up at him and smiled. "Well? Who is it?"