Author's notes: Thanks everyone for the reviews, I'm glad you're all enjoying my hard work.

tranquilitygal95: Your review just so happened to make my week so thank you.

--

Factory, Computer lab, 7:10 PM: Odd had his master plan ready. Herve had been, after a little persuasion, kind enough to create a drug to briefly knock out Yumi and Ulrich in the chemistry lab. With that taken care of he convinced Yumi that Aelita wanted to talk to her at the computer lab. Then he talked Ulrich into meeting him at the computer lab. William had apparently agreed to give Yumi her space but just to be safe he got William detention for a prank he didn't pull. Jeremy and Aelita would have pulled the plug on his little operation but since they were on a date he had no reason to fear interference from Lyoko's guardians.

He did regret that they refused to help as they would have made the whole thing much easier. But since he had been forced to endure a short lecture and then apologize for the suggestion when he brought it up he wouldn't feel guilty when he interrupted their date so they could separate Yumi and Ulrich. He expected it to be a quick procedure as the two geniuses probably still had the program they used to separate him from Kiwi. The memory of that caused him to shudder, he could still remember exactly how some of the less edible things Kiwi liked to find tasted and smelled. He expected Yumi and Ulrich would have more pleasant memories of what was about to happen.

Now, as he settled into the big chair and waited, he went over his plan. He would drug his two friends, drag them into the same scanner and virtualize them. They would arrive on Lyoko, feel each other's love and announce that they were a couple. Then he could call in Jeremy and Aelita who would separate the pair and thank him for saving Yumi and Ulrich's relationship. He smiled, looking forward to holding this over all of their heads for a while. He expected it would earn him a nice vacation or a free pass on a few pranks. It was the ultimate win-win situation.

Ulrich entered the computer lab to find Odd sitting in the computer chair. After a short chat he accepted Odd's offer of a drink and then collapsed shortly after consuming it. Odd pulled Ulrich's body into the elevator and then wrestled it into a scanner, all the while wishing he had convinced Ulrich to go to the scanner room before offering him the spiked drink. Once Ulrich was inside the scanner tube he hurried back to the lab as he realized it was just about time for Yumi to arrive.

She entered and immediately knew something was wrong because Odd was there instead of Aelita. Without waiting for an explanation, she told him exactly where he could shove his plans to get her and Ulrich back together. Odd, looking quite contrite, spoke with practiced ease. "This isn't about Ulrich. I wasn't sure what William would do if he found out I was asking you this and both Jeremy and Aelita disapprove, saying you need time but I figured you might need someone to be more than a friend right now and I've."

Yumi cut him off with an astonished yell. "Wait! You tricked me into coming down here to ask me out?"

"Well, yeah." Odd lied. He added quickly, "I guess I don't really expect you to say yes, at least right now but." At the look Yumi was giving him he changed track. "Yeah sorry, I should've known better. You want a soda on me for the trouble?"

Yumi looked him over, trying to decide if he was sincere or trying to pull some sort of prank. Finally she simply accepted the drink and asked what he was trying to pull. Odd made up an answer and backed away as Yumi's face contorted in fear and anger as the drug took effect. She was out before she could really do anything and Odd began the process of dragging her to the scanner. That look on her face was the first sign that this may have been a bad plan and he cursed both Jeremy and Aelita for making him do this solo.

Once back in the lab he brought up Yumi's profile and tried to virtualize them only to have the process stop with an error which he disregarded without reading. He tried again using Ulrich's profile and got what might have been the same error. Seeing no other option he deleted both their profiles and tried to create a new one from scratch. The procedure failed again and, now frustrated and fearing that he was running short on time he tried to find a list of commands. Eventually he found a program labeled 'scan object to Lyoko'. Ignoring the warning that it was for test purposes and obsolete, superseded by what he recognized as the normal transfer program, he ran it. He began to panic after the program reported a successful transfer but didn't create any profile cards.

He ran down to the scanners and found all three empty then raced back to the lab's terminal, trying to control his deepening state of panic. Frantically he typed in half remembered commands for a detailed sweep of Lyoko and, after over a dozen attempts, got it to run. The program found nothing alive on Lyoko. His next thought was to run a return to the past but in his panicked state he couldn't remember the password. When he got the 'enter correct password or else' screen he gave up, pulled out his cell phone and called Jeremy. After explaining the situation he heard Jeremy yell "YOU DID WHAT! NO! DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE, YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH. We're on our way." Jeremy hung up without another word, leaving Odd to consider what he had just done and whether or not Jeremy and Aelita would be able to undo it.

--

Kadic City, 7:48 PM: "What was that all about?" Aelita asked very concerned as her attention snapped to the here and now.

"Odd may have just killed Yumi and Ulrich by trying to virtualize them together, in the same scanner." Jeremy barked out.

"That's, It's not... I mean after... we" Aelita started off scared and a little dazed.

"Odd found a way so let's get to the factory and see if we can undo his mess," Jeremy interrupted in a hard, commanding tone. Aelita nodded, regained her focus and then took off running alongside Jeremy.

--

Factory, Computer lab, 8:03 PM: They arrived and went straight to the terminal, completely ignoring Odd. A quick look at the command logs showed the pair what Odd had done and the program he used to do it. The next thing they did was pull up the program, the grim expression on their faces as the read over the code telling Odd just how badly he screwed up. After getting to the bottom of the program they began discussing what they had read and how it compared to the normal transfer procedure.

Odd used a thoughtful lull in the conversation to ask: "So we just run a return to the past right?" He sounded and looked hopeful even though he understood none of the techno babble he had heard.

"Only if you want two dead friends." Jeremy responded angrily.

"Why would they be."

"Because you used the supercomputer to do this to them." Jeremy replied harshly, cutting Odd Off.

Aelita threw an icy almost deadly glare at Odd as she thought, this is a waste of our time. "SHUT UP AND LET US FIGURE THIS OUT." Aelita snapped. "NO, BETTER YET LEAVE AND LET US FIGURE THIS OUT."

Odd turned away and walked solemnly to the elevator. As Aelita heard the elevator door begin to shut she added "DON'T BOTHER COMING BACK."

Jeremy put a hand on her shoulder, "Aelita, I know your upset but focus. I need your help to save Yumi and Ulrich." He used the closest thing to a gentle voice he could manage but it still came out as a command. Aelita snapped her attention back to the monitors, silently thankful be called upon to help. As she looked over the program on the monitor an idea flashed through her mind.

"Can we materialize them using the code Earth software you made for me?" She asked.

Jeremy's expression turned thoughtful then sad as he rejected the idea. "They're not an active program and they don't have virtual DNA to work on so no." The idea did get him thinking along a different line though.

"Jeremy, I can see you thinking, talk to me. I need to help." Aelita said, sounding a bit like she was pleading. She really did not want to feel useless right now.

"They're not programs." Jeremy said. "But everything that defines them is on Lyoko, in the supercomputer's memory. Nothing more than a whole bunch of data describing, to an almost perfect level of accuracy, their bodies."

"How does that help us, we can't just send them back to the scanners."

"True," Jeremy agreed. His face brightened as he came up with plan so crazy it just had to work. "But maybe we can send the scanners to them," Jeremy said excitedly.

Aelita thought for a moment. "You think we can manually work through the virtualization process in software, restore their normal profile and then de-virtualize them as if nothing had happened." Aelita asked, a bit of doubt present in her voice.

"Why not?" Jeremy asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We have everything we need in memory and the scanner schematics and control programs are more easily available now than when I made your code Earth program."

Aelita thought for only a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that he was right. Unfortunately, there was a possible problem and while she hated to dampen the mood she knew that this was a complex undertaking and that they couldn't stay hidden forever. "That may take too long, what if it takes longer than we can cover with a return to the past," she asked solemnly.

Jeremy's face fell and he thought for a while then asked, "How much CPU time do you think the computer wastes in idle mode?"

"Why?" Aelita demanded, exasperated at the sudden change in subject. Then she realized and her face brightened. "You want to speed up Lyoko, make it run faster than real time with the cycles that currently go to waste."

"Yup." Jeremy replied, happy to know that Aelita was on the same page he was.

"We'll need the terminal in sector five to accomplish that." She made no attempt to hide how she felt about that considering how her last trip there went.

"Yes." Jeremy answered as he set up the delayed self transfer programs. He got up and put a hand on each of her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "This time will go better than the last. We will get them back." Jeremy said confidently.

--

Lyoko, Celestial dome, Sunday 5:00 AM (32 hours spent on Lyoko): Aelita put the finishing touches on her program while Jeremy reset the simulation to run at normal speed. Then Jeremy redirected the active tower's resources to the programs that he and Aelita had made and together they tapped the virtual button that launched the sequence.

First it reformed atoms and then molecules and finally cells within a special simulation bubble and allowed Jeremy to define the boundaries between the two human forms within. Next the drugs that Odd had given to Yumi and Ulrich were filtered out of their systems and discarded. A third program sprang to life, analyzing the collected data and forming a map of both subjects DNA. The forth program came on-line and found Yumi and Ulrich's brain, reconstructed their brain waves from the position, concentration and travel direction of the electrons contained within then mapped their neurons into a format that the human mind simulator could use. Finally a fifth program used the DNA to encrypt the two profiles in the same manor that the scanners did.

After five hours of impatient, worried waiting everything was ready and both Jeremy and Aelita ran to the arena. Jeremy used his wrist interface to bring Yumi and Ulrich's profiles on-line. He reached out and took Aelita's hand, flashing her a hopeful, reassuring smile when he realized that squeezing her hand was useless. A familiar sound caught their attention and together they watched as two wireframes popped into existence and were filled with familiar textures.

The first thing Yumi realized was that she was falling, which made no sense. Her situation made even less sense when she hit the ground and felt nothing. She inhaled, thinking she had been holding her breath and noticed that there were no scents in the air and, in fact, no air at all even though she knew she was breathing. She surveyed her surroundings, finding herself in a round, white and blue room. Her vision was perfect, every detail razor sharp but the colors were oversaturated and unreal looking. She tried to figure out how she got here and where here was but her memories were hazed, disjointed and jumbled. Two slightly familiar looking forms were baring down on her and some form of combat instinct took over, causing her to fall back then take an aggressive fighting stance. With a chi-think sound she pulled and opened her fans, instinctively knowing how to use them. She didn't have time to wonder about that as she fell down, suddenly feeling dizzy and disconnected as her mind reprocessed memories that she should have already had.

The first thing Ulrich noticed was that he was falling, which made no sense. His situation made even less sense when he hit the ground and felt nothing. He looked around his surroundings and jumped to his feet, feeling a sudden, overpowering need to protect the girl who was unarmed and standing ready for a fight. He charged toward her attackers and called out "supersprint!" The next thing he knew he was on the other side of the arena laid out on the floor and remembering everything.

Jeremy and Aelita rushed forward towards Yumi and slowed, shocked as she retreated then turned and took up a fighting stance. She reached around behind her and pulled out her fans, preparing to throw them even though she looked confused over their presence and function. Then came the yell of "supersprint" and Jeremy froze, hoping that Aelita would too since they still had a few things to check before attempting to materialize Yumi and Ulrich. He watched as a yellow blur raced past and crashed into the wall on the other side of the arena. Aelita froze at the familiar yell but instead of watching Ulrich race past, she watched as Yumi fell to the ground.

Jeremy went over to Ulrich and helped him pick himself up while Aelita did the same for Yumi. Both Yumi and Ulrich allowed themselves to be escorted to the center and then they turned towards their rescuers and demanded to know what happened. Jeremy and Aelita looked at each other then at their two friends. Jeremy spoke, "promise me that after we tell you what happened you won't de-virtualize either of us."

Yumi, remembering that she had been drugged by Odd after he asked her out, glared at Jeremy "Being de-virtualized will be the least of your worries if you don't start talking right now."

Aelita looked Yumi in the eye "If you de-virtualize yourselves it could kill both of you" she said harshly. "Jeremy and I will explain what happened to you but you both need to keep your cool, you won't like what you hear and neither Jeremy nor I are certain you can be safely de-virtualized right now." Aelita's calm, measured tone didn't quite hide the terror behind her words. Neither Ulrich nor Yumi seemed impressed by her attempt at diplomacy and neither of them heard the undercurrent of fear in her voice.

"Why the hell not!" Ulrich yelled after processing the revelation and his own memories, "What happened to us while we were unconscious!"

"Odd tried to send you to Lyoko in the same scanner." Aelita answered. "It didn't go well."

"What did that do to us." Yumi demanded. "When I arrived I was dazed and confused. My memories were distorted, damaged or missing." After a short pause she added "I remember being drugged so you two had better have a damn good explanation for this."

After hearing that Ulrich decided he needed to add something and held his sword to Aelita's neck, "So help me if anything happened or happens to Yumi because of this I'll put you through worse." He turned to Jeremy, "and when I'm done with her I'll start on you."

The unbridled rage and protectiveness startled everyone and Jeremy only barely stopped himself from blasting Ulrich with the energy fields that he didn't remember summoning but was now holding in both hands. Yumi put a restraining hand on Ulrich's shoulder "let them explain before you start making threats." Ulrich pulled his sword away from Aelita who stepped back, needlessly rubbing her neck. She looked at Jeremy and he nodded then bolted, grabbing Yumi and Ulrich's attention. As they followed him Aelita sang and Lyoko responded by trapping both Yumi and Ulrich behind a shimmering, pink barrier. As they tried to break free Jeremy started tapping on his interface, freezing Yumi and Ulrich in place. Aelita's song rang out again and the barrier dissolved.

Now with a captive audience Jeremy explained."Odd drugged you both and tried to virtualize you into one profile. He wanted to force you two to share each other's mind like Aelita and I did after our first fight. He put both of you into one scanner and found an old, obsolete virtualization program. He had to use it because after the incident with Kiwi we modified the normal virtualization program to detect multiple living beings in a single scanner and abort. Then, when Odd didn't find you alive on Lyoko he panicked and tried to run a return trip. He forgot the password and called me. Aelita and I just spent the last thirty seven hours separating you and restoring your profiles. I should tell you that we sped up the simulation rate, it's only been thirteen hours on earth."

"And why couldn't you just de-virtualize us?" Ulrich asked, his annoyed and angry tone still carrying an unspoken threat.

Jeremy sighed, "If we did that your bodies would be reassembled in the scanner and nothing more."

Aelita elaborated, "The reason you feel so bad when coming out of Lyoko is that the reassembly process is difficult and complex. First the computer calculates how to change the structure of your brain and brainwaves to store the new memories you create here. Then you're reassembled, atom by atom. The process is precise but tends to scramble all of the electrical activity in your body. That means no heartbeat among other things. Using a process we haven't quite figured out the scanners superimpose order, restoring normal electrical activity to your body after its been completely reassembled. It's not pleasant but it's better than being dead."

As soon as Aelita was finished Jeremy started, not letting Yumi or Ulrich get a word in edge wise. "How do you feel now? Do you remember anything about when you arrived? Or before?"

"I remember meeting Odd in the computer lab, he gave me a glass of pop and I started to feel funny then passed out. I came here, not knowing where I was, how I got here, or where here was. I saw you two charging at Yumi, who I didn't recognize at the time but felt I had to protect since she looked like she was ready for a fight. When I used my supersprint I blacked out and then came to sprawled on the floor, able to remember everything." Ulrich answered, beginning to calm down.

"Same story. I didn't recognize my surroundings or either of you. You rushed at me and I felt the need to defend myself. When I recalled how to use my fans something snapped, I felt disconnected for a moment and when I came back I could remember everything."

Jeremy turned to Aelita and spoke to her in low hushed tones for a few minutes and then turned back to Yumi and Ulrich. "Ok, we think the combination of the drugs we removed from your system combined with using calculations from the captured data messed up the initial mapping of your brains. When you accessed a powerful memory that coincided with a supercomputer function Lyoko was able to adjust for the inaccuracies. I think that..." Jeremy struggled a bit for the right word before continuing "process is what you felt. Now if you two will promise to behave and come with us to the tower we'll make some final scans and calculations then get you back to earth. OK?" Jeremy said with an almost casual authority.

"Yes," Ulrich replied. Yumi signaled her agreement by nodding.

Aelita nodded towards Jeremy, "go ahead and release them."

Jeremy tapped a few commands on his interface and unfroze his two friends. He was a little surprised and very relieved when they didn't attack and instead fell into step behind Jeremy and Aelita as they walked towards sector five's tower. "Jeremy, Aelita? Did either of you have anything to do with this?" Yumi asked, desperately hoping that the answer was no.

"No. Odd told us about the scheme, minus the drugs, and we thought we had talked him out of it." Aelita answered.

"We were also pretty certain there was no way for him to go ahead with it without our help." Jeremy added.

Aelita finished, sounding angry, "and if I thought for even a second that he'd try something like this I'd have locked him out of the lab."

"Um... What... would have happened... if Odd had run a return trip?" Yumi asked, sounding very nervous.

"We don't know. Odd deleted both your profiles so it's possible you would have returned alive, well and with no memory of what happened." Jeremy started.

"But it's equally possible that since you were essentially dead bodies in the supercomputer when Odd would have run the program, you would have stayed dead." Aelita added.

"And there's a third option, you would have remained in the computer, waiting for us to recover you." Jeremy finished.

Yumi and Ulrich looked at each other, "So Odd could have killed us?" Ulrich asked.

"I suppose, in a way, he already did." Jeremy replied solemnly as they arrived at the tower.

Aelita sang a few notes creating a bridge to make entering the structure easier. All four ascended to the tower's top level and Jeremy, with Aelita's help, worked on simulating Yumi and Ulrich's materialization. The simulation came back with a green plus sign, showing that it would be safe for all four to leave Lyoko. Before Jeremy could access the commands to send them back to earth Ulrich looked around nervously and said "I need to tell you guys something and I owe you all an apology." Ulrich directed his attention to the floor and continued: "Last night, Yumi and I fought over a report that I was supposed to do but didn't. After wandering around for a while sulking I went back to my room and was met by Sissy who claimed to have pictures of Jeremy and Aelita having sex."

That got a surprised gasp from the two geniuses. It wasn't so much the concept of them doing it that was disturbing, it was the idea of Sissy knowing and being able to hold it over their heads. Yumi, Ulrich and maybe William knowing they could probably handle but Sissy was another story, and so was the rest of the school body. It was another dimension that they might need to consider later. Yumi gave the couple a sideways glance that was laced with disapproval.

Ulrich continued on, not having noticed their reactions. "She said she would delete them if I went upstairs to her room to talk and give them to the principal if I didn't. What she actually had was Aelita asleep on Jeremy's shoulder while Jeremy was resting his head on top of hers. When she saw how depressed I was she immediately deleted the pictures and asked me what was wrong. She was so full of concern and it seemed sincere and I was so tired and upset." Ulrich's voice faltered and when he continued speaking it was broken. "I cried myself to sleep in her arms after telling her how I had failed you guys after all the effort you put into trying to keep me here."

Yumi didn't notice the shame in Ulrich's voice or posture. All she noticed was that he had chosen Sissy to go to for emotional support. With her worst fears confirmed she started walking towards the edge of the tower platform. Aelita broke away from Jeremy and went to Yumi, stopping her. Jeremy looked over to Ulrich and asked "why Sissy?"

"I... I didn't choose Sissy. She was just the one present when I broke." Ulrich stopped for a breath he didn't need then continued, raising his voice to be sure Yumi heard him. "And I'm sorry for that. It should never have happened, I should have been stronger than that. Afterwards, when I realized what I had done, I was so ashamed of myself and felt so guilty for dropping everything on Sissy's shoulders to bear... I hoped I could erase it. I thought I could find it in myself to be the man you deserve Yumi, and to be the strong warrior all of you expect. But I couldn't, I'm just not good enough. My... My father's right about me. I'm nothing, just a burden on everyone around me." Ulrich turned away from the group and began walking towards the edge opposite of Yumi. Jeremy stopped him with a grip in his shoulder.

Aelita was moved to tears that she couldn't shed and turned to face Ulrich. She was about to say something when Yumi spoke, her voice full of sorrow. "You could have told me Ulrich, all those times I asked how you were doing. I know you well enough to know you were lying to me when you said you were fine."

"No I couldn't." Ulrich shot back as if defending himself from an accusation. He didn't turn around, feeling unworthy of facing Yumi. "You said yourself how much work you were doing just to help me. How was I supposed to ask for more? What would you have thought of me, crying on your shoulder like some little baby? How could you ever love someone so weak, how could anyone love a failure like me."

Aelita was shocked that Ulrich could feel as poorly about himself as Jeremy once did. Based on this conversation Ulrich rather desperately needed help, help that she hoped he was ready to receive. She had helped Jeremy and while she couldn't offer that same level of support and comfort to Ulrich, she had to do something. "Ulrich, we know you're not a failure and we know you're not weak." Aelita's gentle, reassuring voice broke into the conversation. "We know because we've all seen you fight for us. We've all relied on your determination and strength to achieve our victory over XANA. And now we're all willing to work just as hard for you as you did for us. And we do love you, flaws and all. Yumi won't think less of you for leaning on her for emotional support when you need it, in fact she would prefer that to watching you suffer." That caught Ulrich's attention and he turned to face Aelita, directing a questioning look at her. She added "I know from my own experience with Jeremy."

Ulrich looked around the tower, now thoroughly confused. As his eyes scanned past Jeremy the young man nodded, confirming Aelita's statement. After completing a sweep of the room he settled his gaze on the large circle at the center of the tower and tried to comprehend what he had been told. It was totally at odds with what little he had been taught about relationships by his father. But it made a certain amount of sense. Crying into Sissy's shoulder had felt very good and it had produced a closeness that he was glad she couldn't remember. He looked up and at Yumi's back, having come to a decision. He wanted to feel that way with Yumi and if it meant baring his soul to her then so be it. He had taken the first steps already. He decided to finish explaining then ask her for another try. He refused to consider that she would say no.

"There's a little more to what happened between me and Sissy that I need to share. This morning she snuck down to my room and wanted to sleep with me. I told her no and she tried to get back to her room but couldn't make it undetected. I still didn't let her sleep with me and since Kiwi wouldn't share Odd's bed she slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. In the morning she tried to kiss me. I didn't kiss back, I told her that I still had hopes of being with you, Yumi." Ulrich paused then continued when he didn't get a reaction out of Yumi. "After that she pulled up her shirt a little and placed my hand on her belly. It felt... amazing. But as the initial shock faded there seemed to be something missing. I don't know... I can't describe it any better than that. I think... I think that whatever was missing, I'd find it with you."

Ulrich took a short pause then continued, sounding contrite and a little ashamed. "I didn't understand how relationships were supposed to work, I thought I had to be strong and hold everything in, I thought if I showed you any weakness, any sign that I wasn't the perfect man you'd run and never look back. I didn't realize how much it was hurting you. I promise I'll do better this time, Just one more chance." Now he was begging "Please."

Yumi turned to face Ulrich, her face practically radiating uncertainty. He had finally given her what she needed, but was it too little too late? It had taken a near death experience to rattle him enough to talk to her like this and she wasn't sure how many more of those she could take. She had her own limits and if she wasn't there yet she was far too close for comfort. If he couldn't live up to his promise she wasn't sure she would be able to handle the heartbreak.

But on the other hand it wasn't his fault that his father had so badly screwed him up. If he now truly understood then they could start again and they could make this work. What Aelita had said was on target, she did still love him and didn't want to see him waste away. Ideally she would tell him the same thing she told William earlier, that she needed time to regain her strength before starting over. But she wasn't sure if Ulrich would or even could accept that answer. She wasn't the only one nearing their limit for emotional stress.

Yumi looked into Ulrich's eyes and spoke firmly "Ulrich, I want to believe you. I want to love you, have you love me but I've got so little left to give. I need more than words spoken in the turmoil of a near death experience."

Ulrich met her gaze. "I understand." Ulrich replied sadly. He turned to Jeremy, "can you recreate what happened between you and Aelita? What Odd tried to force on Yumi and I."

"Absolutely not!" Aelita yelled. "You would both be open books, there would be no way for either of you to filter or break the connection."

"Can it be one way? Can you give Yumi access to my mind without giving me access to hers?" Ulrich asked forcing himself to use a calm tone.

Jeremy looked thoughtful, clearly considering Ulrich's request. Aelita was about to scold him when Yumi asked "What do mean open book?" The look on her face suggesting she was actually considering this.

Jeremy answered before Aelita could get over her shock. "She means exactly that. Anything you wanted to look at in Ulrich's mind you would get. Every memory, every emotion, every thought would be there for you to see if you ask. The thing is, Ulrich would be powerless to refuse. When Aelita and I were joined it was impossible to avoid picking up on each other's feelings and we shared a few scattered memories as we tried to exchange ideas to get me out of the digital void. But I stayed out of her mind and she stayed out of mine though I admit it was extremely difficult to resist. Of course Aelita had an advantage, she could cut the connection if she wanted to. I, on the other hand was totally at her mercy, anything she wanted out of my mind she could have taken and there was nothing I could do about it."

Aelita nodded in agreement and added, "It was just as difficult for me to avoid stealing some of your memories Jeremy." Addressing both Yumi and Ulrich she said: "But I did and I'm glad because I've learned that there are memories and thoughts that should remain private, things that are best left alone. And I think it's best that you learn about each other the normal way."

Ulrich looked to Aelita, "You heard what Yumi said, I don't have that option." He sounded angry and Aelita, having a flash of earlier, created two energy fields to defend herself with. Ulrich continued without noticing. "She can have everything, whatever she wants from my head. I want Yumi to understand how I see her, how much I love her and that I now understand how to make this work. That I mean it when I say I'll let her help me in the future."

Yumi threw an apologetic look to Aelita then turned her attention to Jeremy, "Can you do it, let me have access to Ulrich's mind without giving him access to mine?"

Aelita glared at Jeremy, silently telling him not to accept. Ulrich threw a pleading look at Jeremy, almost begging him to accept. Yumi looked passively at Jeremy, seeming to be undecided. Addressing Yumi he asked, "Is it fair, you having total access to Ulrich's mind while you remain completely closed off?"

"You can't be considering this Jeremy, it's rape!" Aelita yelled.

"Aelita," Jeremy started off calmly, "If we've learned anything it's that our little group can do the impossible with only the desire to get it done. I agree with you, it's stupid and absurdly dangerous for both Yumi and Ulrich but it's safer if you and I are involved than if we're not."

Aelita watched Jeremy as he spoke and realized that he had no intention of allowing this to happen, he had a plan in mind and she wasn't helping. That short circuited her temper and allowed her trust in Jeremy to assert itself. Changing her position and responding gently she addressed Yumi saying, "this isn't the way to solve your relationship problems but Jeremy's right, if both of you want this then we can make it happen." Now that she had played into whatever Jeremy had planned, she desperately hoped it would work. She noted Jeremy's quick look of appreciation.

"Aelita's right, it will probably create more problems than it solves. Do you honestly think that knowing his every thought about you will make your relationship better? Are you ready to see his inventory of Sissy's good qualities? Do you really want to see Ulrich's fantasies?" Jeremy challenged.

"No! All I'll look at are his future intentions." Yumi said in her defense.

"And the next time you have doubts?" Aelita pressed. "Will you believe what he tells you or will demand to be scanned into Lyoko so that you can see for yourself?"

"And what about Ulrich's needs. When William propositions you, and I'm sure he will, will you allow yourself to be subjected to this procedure to satisfy Ulrich's jealousy?" Jeremy demanded.

Yumi looked down at the floor, suddenly unsure of herself. She didn't see the smile that Jeremy flashed to Aelita. She did notice that when Aelita spoke, she sounded wise far beyond her years. "I know the two of you are tempted and I realize this seems like such an easy solution but it's not. This procedure won't solve any of your problems. Ulrich, it may seem like you're not giving up anything but you are, things you came up with in anger or frustration would be laid bare for Yumi to see. How long would it take you to justify every unpleasant thought?" Ulrich's face fell as he considered what has been hiding in his mind. Thoughts of Yumi, how he sometimes saw the rest of his friends, they weren't always flattering.

"And Yumi," Aelita continued uninterrupted. "It's easy to say you'll limit yourself but you can't. I know you wouldn't go fishing through Ulrich's mind but the computer would do that for you. Memories are associative and you can easily get a string that leads to something you didn't directly ask for but can't avoid receiving."

"Aelita, how old are you?" Yumi asked suddenly, surprising Aelita. Without waiting for an answer she continued "You sound too wise for a fourteen year old girl. Your points are well taken but I need to know Ulrich's intentions, I can't handle this cycle anymore." Now pleading with the younger girl Yumi asked "will you help or not?"

Aelita, though scared over what her two friends seemed intent on doing, managed to hold onto her faith in Jeremy and answered yes.

"Then do it. How long will it take?"

Jeremy motioned Aelita over and whispered "trust me." He turned to Yumi, "Aelita and I need to use the terminal in the celestial dome, you two need to be in the tower so that we can alter your profiles when we're done. Give us an hour, we'll signal you when we're ready."

Ulrich looked to Jeremy then to Aelita, "thanks, you have no idea how much this means to me."

Jeremy and Aelita left the tower, walking a short distance apart and not holding hands. Yumi watched them go and realized that she and Ulrich were the cause of their current rift. She knew Aelita really did not want them to go through with this and figured that Jeremy was somehow making her. The thought didn't sit well with her, she had no right to demand this at the expense of Jeremy and Aelita's happiness. Another thought crossed her mind, Jeremy didn't want them to go through with this either, he only was because he feared that they would try on their own like Odd did.

She stole a glance at Ulrich who was now sitting at the platform's edge with his feet hanging over the side. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that she wouldn't want Ulrich, or anyone else, to go rummaging through her head. Although Aelita's comment about unpleasant thoughts was directed at Ulrich she had a few that she would rather keep to herself as well. And did she really have the right to demand from Ulrich what she wouldn't give in return? Isn't that how they ended up here to begin with?

Ulrich stared down into the abyss that was 'below' the tower's lower platform. He had made his choice and made the offer. However scared he was that this would turn out badly, as Aelita and Jeremy seemed certain it would, he would stick to this path. But the more he thought about it the less appealing and romantic it seemed. He began hoping that Yumi would let him off the hook but steeled himself in case she didn't.

Jeremy walked beside a clearly steamed Aelita and said nothing the entire way to the dome, the silence and distance between them actually causing him pain. When they got to the dome Jeremy simply stood there and stared out into the ever changing sea of data. Growing impatient Aelita made a hand gesture to summon the terminal and turned towards Jeremy, her voice overflowing with impatience and irritation "you planning to write this program or do you expect me to do it?"

"Actually I was planning to sit here and stare out into virtual space with my clearly ticked off girlfriend." He turned to face Aelita and spoke more softly, "I have no intention of allowing them to go through with this. I hope they'll come to their senses before we have to do anything but if not we toss them out of Lyoko, go back as specters and escort them out of the lab then change the codes and hope they eventually forgive us."

Aelita's face softened, "I should have known." She walked up to Jeremy and wrapped her arms around his waist, "you couldn't have warned me?"

"I'm sorry, but it looked more real this way. So how long do you think it'll be before they decide to give up this crazy idea?"

"Much too long." Aelita said, regretting being unable to feel the hug she had Jeremy in. Said boy nodded in agreement for the same reason.

--

It took twenty minutes but Yumi finally approached Ulrich and tapped on his shoulder. She watched as he looked up over his shoulder to acknowledge her then pull himself up to stand and face her. "Are they ready?"

"No, are you?"

"Yes" Ulrich answered, putting much more confidence into his answer than he felt.

"Having second thoughts?"

Ulrich considered lying but that didn't seem like the correct course of action right now. "Yes... It's not that I don't trust"

Yumi shushed him. "If not that then why?"

Ulrich was a little surprised, there was no malice in the question, it was just that: a question. He answered honestly. "I have thoughts, memories that I'd rather you didn't see. Some about you, some about our friends. Some are memories that I'd like to forget."

"Tell me something that you'd rather I didn't know." Yumi said softly.

Ulrich looked into her eyes as he considered her request.

Speaking slowly he began, "My first report card with actual grades, I didn't get straight As. After that I was an embarrassment or not working hard enough. The only time I wasn't was when it mattered that my dad showed off a happy family that... that he... was."

Yumi, thinking she had the picture stopped him, her voice overflowing with compassion, "Let's get out of here, back to earth."

"I'll finish this first if you want." Ulrich said, his voice almost broken and sounding relieved to get the break.

"Jeremy, Aelita? Can you hear us?" Yumi called out towards the tower's ceiling.

"We're here. The program." Jeremy responded but was cut off by Yumi.

"Can you de-virtualize us? I know what I need to."

"Yeah sure. Jeremy and I are going to go first so we can be there when you come out. See you in... say ten minutes" Aelita called out. She pulled away from Jeremy and tapped at the interface, causing both her and Jeremy to dissolve. They came out of the scanners feeling very sick and suffering from a severe headache which got worse as they tried to move their unfamiliar, physical bodies. They crawled out of the scanners and towards each other, meeting in the middle and picking themselves up off the floor, each using the other for support. They made the trip to the elevator and then to the terminal and had to rest. Fifteen minutes later they were both back in the scanner room, waiting for Yumi and Ulrich to materialize. The worst of their problems had past but the headache and tiredness persisted.

Yumi and Ulrich crawled out of the scanner tubes and were helped unto their feet by Aelita and Jeremy who then helped them make their way over to each other. As soon as they were close enough they collapsed into each other's arms and held on to stay standing. Jeremy and Aelita assured themselves that their two friends were ok then made a not so discreet exit via the elevator. Ulrich, now alone with Yumi, continued his story. "My father actually had to pretend he was proud of me," Ulrich said as if the words were poison. "To my father the only measure of success is what you can show off to everyone else. I remember 6th grade, it was the end of the school year and my grades were all low Bs and a few Cs." Yumi listened intently, tightening her hold on him as he continued.

"There was a party and rather than let me mingle with the guests and their kids where I could possibly mess up and admit to such a failure he locked me in a spare room and told everyone that I was on a trip with my grandparents. After the party he told me he would find a school that was fitting for his family legacy but far enough away that nobody would know when I failed out."

"Ulrich," Yumi asked gently "why line up a job for you if he thinks so little about you?" She had recalled the phone conversation that had, in a way, started this whole situation and was curious.

"Because that's what's expected of him. He can't be the big shot he is if his son doesn't have a great job lined up." Suspecting that Yumi still didn't understand the situation fully he told her one more thing, "when I failed my first test here, he told me he hoped I had an accident and died so that he wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of me not being able to take the job he had lined up." By now he was crying on Yumi's shoulder and struggling to finish. He could feel Yumi stroking his back and supporting more of his weight.

"It's ok Ulrich, I won't ever think that way about you, neither will the rest of the gang." Yumi soothed. She had no idea what else to say, her own parents were strict but didn't actually hate her or her brother. She just continued to hold him, waiting until he regained his composure to even consider moving.

Jeremy and Aelita used the security cameras to steal an occasional glance at their two friends, just to assure themselves that Yumi and Ulrich were really ok after their botched virtualization. The what little remained of their attention was directed to a review of the resources used by speeding up the Lyoko world clock. Doing that had definitely screwed something up but neither she nor Jeremy were making any headway into how to fix it. Their headaches and very slow, muddled thinking weren't helping matters so they turned their collective attention to setting up a return trip and determining just how far back they could go.

When Yumi came up her face immediately became a mask of concern. "Are you two ok," she asked "you look like the living dead."

"No." Aelita replied. "We spent over thirty seven hours on Lyoko and I don't think we should ever do that again."

"I couldn't agree more. When the return to the past ends, Ulrich and I will call you to let you know we're ok. Then you two are going straight to bed" Yumi ordered.

"Agreed" Jeremy and Aelita replied in unison.

"Seven o'clock Saturday sound ok," Jeremy asked.

"Fine, just remember you two go straight to bed." Yumi answered.

Aelita hit the button and everything went white.