Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

Secrets Revealed

The group was standing outside the cafeteria, shortly before their first class. Yumi suddenly remembered what Carl had said just before going back in time. "Hey guys, I think there's something weird about Carl."

"You mean other than the fact that he's a great fighter?" Jeremy asked.

"When I found him, he was behind a tree talking about activated towers."

"And, your point is…?" Odd's voice trailed off.

"And, just before the return-to-the-past, he knew it was coming." Everyone's eyes bulged. "And he said 'We'll talk later'. I think he knows about Lyoko."

"That's impossible," Jeremy said, shaking his head. "And even if he did, he probably won't remember anything now."

"There's still a chance, though," Aelita pointed out.

The bell rang. "Let's all meet back here after class."

Yumi walked into the room; Carl was sitting in the same spot. He had the same palm pilot out and was typing away. She sat down with William. "You see the new guy?" she asked softly.

"Yah." he said back. "But he's been writing in that thing he has ever since he arrived in class."

The teacher, Mr. Benzie, wearing his usual red and black scarf, took his place at the head of the class. "Class, we have a new student with us today. Carl, would you please introduce yourself?"

The boy simply looked up from his palm pilot and remained seated. "I'm Carl Philips." With that, he simply turned back to his tiny computer.

"O…K. Where do you come from?"

Again he simply raised his head. "I'm from America, Maryland to be exact."

"Fine," Mr. Benzie said. "Since Carl is new, would someone like to show him around after class?"

Yumi raised her hand. "I will, sir."

"Why thank you Yumi. Carl, see Yumi after class. And pay attention, you have a lot of catching up to do."

After class, Carl walked up to her. "Hey. So were do we go from here?"

"That's a nice introduction." "Before we go to the next class, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine."

Carl shrugged in a "sure-why-not" sort of way.

They walked down to the cafeteria. Everyone else was already there. "Hey Yumi," Odd called. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Carl. Carl, this is Jeremy, Aelita, Ulrich, and lastly, Odd."

Carl gave Odd a strange look. "That's clear, but what's his name?"

Everyone broke out in laughter. Odd started glaring. "So what do you like to do?"

"Basic stuff. Video games, reading, soccer."

"Oh, video games. You mean, like virtual reality?" Odd put a major emphasis on "virtual."

"Sort of…" he replied.

"By the way," Yumi chimed in. "That was some great style you showed earlier."

"What?" Carl's face twisted into a very confused look.

"You know, when you were fighting Xana."

His face changed into an unreadable expression. "What?" he asked in a low tone.

"I told you he wouldn't remember anything," Odd shrugged.

Carl held up his hand. "Shut up." He turned back to Yum. "How do you know about Xana?"

Everyone gasped in shock. That was certainly unexpected. The next bell rang. Jeremy walked over to Carl. "I've got a lot of questions for you," he stated, straight into his face. "We'll meet at the man-hole cover after school."

Everyone nodded agreement and walked off. "Fine," Carl said. "But you better have some answers for me, too."

It was around four o'clock when Carl and Yumi arrived in the clearing. Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita were sitting against a tree; Jeremy hadn't shown up yet. Carl was firing questions at Yumi, but she remained silent. "You're not going to get an answer out of her," Odd said. "She's probably going to wait for Jeremy."

Right then, Jeremy came jogging into the opening. "Hey, everyone," he panted lightly. "Sorry I'm a little late, but Jim was following me."

"Who?" Carl asked.

Ulrich stood. "Jim. Definitely a guy you want to stay away from."

"Uh-oh. Looks like you'll have to meet him now." Odd pointed off into the woods. Sure enough, Jim came running in their direction.

He slowed to a walk before coming completely out in the open. "So, what are you kids up to now?" he asked as he crossed him massive arms over his chest.

"Nothing, sir," Yumi said. "We're just studying."

Jim turned to Carl. "And who are you?"

Yumi answered again. "This is Carl. He's the new guy from the American east coast."

Jim let his arms hang. "Alright. But you stay out of trouble," he said pointing a large finger at Carl's face. "'Cause I'll find you if you don't." He turned and walked off.

When he was out of earshot, Carl said, "O…k. Weird guy."

"You don't know the half of it," Aelita said for the first time.

Jeremy walked closer to Carl. "Alright. Start explaining what you know and how you know it."

Carl paused, thinking about what to say. "I know that Xana's a virtual being from another dimension bent on taking over the world. I also know how to stop him. That's all you need to know."

"But that still doesn't explain how you know all of this," Ulrich pointed out.

"I just do, alright."

"That's impossible," Jeremy said. "Unless…" The idea suddenly struck him. "Unless there's another factory?"

Everyone gasped in shock. "So I assume that there's a factory here, as well?" Carl asked.

"Well, of course. How do you think WE know about Xana?" Odd shrugged.

"This explains the ghosts I found," Jeremy said thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich asked.

"I was going back through our previous trips to Sector 5, looking for more information on Aelita's virus. But I found these strange signatures, like outlines of bodies and voices. I just thought it was a glitch, but if my theory is correct, then Carl is the ghost."

"Sector 5?" Carl asked. "Do you mean Carthage?"

"Well, this explains how he saw Xana earlier," Yumi pointed out.

"Hold on," Carl said. "I only just met you."

"You don't remember fighting Xana here?" Yumi asked.

"No."

"Xana attacked earlier this morning. After a return to the past, that is," Ulrich explained. "According to Yumi, you saw Xana and knew about the return-to-the-past. But if you do this as well, why did you forget?"

"It must be because of a different system," came a suggesting from Aelita. Everyone turned to her. "Well, perhaps Carl forgot because he's not used to our return-to-the-past. He has only used his own."

"If that's the case," Jeremy said, "Then we should probably get you into our system. You can help us out here." Carl nodded.

"Well, we can't do it now," Odd said. "I've got homework to do. And, it's taco night."

"We'll eat at dinner, then go to the factory," Ulrich said. "Does that please his highness?" he asked Odd mockingly.

Odd formed a big grin and nodded with an "It does."

Odd and Carl were in the cafeteria when Jeremy and Ulrich found them. Jeremy waved them over to the door. As they walked off into the woods, Carl commented on Odd's eating. "This guy eats more than Bradley does."

"Who?" Ulrich asked.

"Bradley. He's one of the guys on the other team. Big stomach. There's also Evan, who's sort of the comedian of the group."

The group walked into the clearing where Yumi and Aelita were waiting. Yumi pulled out the cover and Carl stared down. "This is how we get to the factory," she explained. Carl nodded and climbed down the ladder. Shortly thereafter, everyone was standing in the large sewer.

Ulrich grabbed his skateboard. "It's about a quarter of a mile from here. Should we walk?"

"If that's all it is, then I can run," Carl suggested.

"Can you jump?" Odd asked.

"Yeah," Carl said. "Don't worry."

"Alright." Jeremy and Aelita got on their scooters and the rest got on skateboards. Carl ran a short distance behind them. He was able to keep a very good pace and jump the only gap. When they reached the factory, he was breathing lightly. The others put their small vehicle against the wall as he started to climb the ladder.

Carl stepped inside the factory and looked around. When the others joined him, he asked, "How do you get down?"

Odd came last, running from the back, and leaped off of the balcony, grabbing a long rope in mid-air. He lowered himself to the floor and looked up. "That's how."

Carl took a standing leap and copied Odd's example. He stepped away from the ropes and looked around. "So, where's your computer?" he asked.

Jeremy landed and walked over toward a large elevator. "Follow us." The others stepped in and Jeremy pressed the "Down" button. The door slowly closed and the elevator moved. The door opened into the large computer room. A large hologram of Lyoko hovered over the center.

Carl walked slowly into the room, jawed dropped. "Wow. It's almost exactly like ours." He walked over to the computer screen. "Hello," he spoke to the blank screen.

"What are you doing?" Odd asked.

"Don't you have some kind of person in the computer to run the systems? We do."

Jeremy walked around him and sat in the chair. "Oh, we don't have an A.I. I run the main operations."

"Cool." Carl swung his head around. "The transporters are below this right?"

"Yep," Yumi said. "Let's head down."

Carl, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita returned to the elevator while Jeremy warmed up the scanners. When the elevator arrived, Jeremy's voice came over the intercom. "Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi will go through first. Carl and Aelita will go in after them." The three friends took their places in the scanners. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi." The scanner doors shut and began to whurr. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization."

The three appeared in a triangle over the forest region. The bodies slowly formed and fell to the ground. "We're good, Jeremy," Ulrich said. "Send the others through."

"Alright, Carl," Jeremy said into his mic as his hands flew across the keyboard. "Your personal information should automatically be entered as you're scanned. Just step into the scanner and I'll do the rest."

Carl took a step into a scanner as Aelita entered another. Jeremy went through the process again. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer new." The doors closed on both scanners. On Jeremy's screen, a new file opened and Carl's DNA information appeared in a few seconds. "Scanner Aelita. Scanner Carl." Carl watched as the scanner bars slowly moved up and down. But he wasn't scared. It was exactly like home.

"Virtualization."