Chapter Six
-Allie's POV-
Aelita and I were in our shared dorm room, laughing about my scene earlier in the lunch room while I unpacked my single duffel bag. Aelita was looking through her science book; probably studying, which I admired her for.
Yeah; I'm smarter that Sissi, but I have trouble concentrating when you're just looking at line after line of tiny letters.
Suddenly; I heard Aelita's phone start to vibrate. She quickly picked it up and looked at the caller id before answering it. "Hello, Jeremie?" she cooed. "Okay; I'll meet you there." And with that she hung up. "Jeremie and I are going to work on an extra credit assignment."
I raised an eyebrow at her statement. "But you two have the highest grades in the school." I questioned her.
She shrugged nervously as I put my empty duffel under my bed. "It's mainly for fun. You know how we geeks can be." She said; I rolled my eyes.
"Get out of here, geek." I teased her only to have her leave the room in a matter of seconds. I shrugged and stood up from my kneeling position.
Now, what do I do? I finished unpacking… I kept thinking of things I could do but nothing came to mind until I realized that I needed go to the bathroom. Grabbing my dorm key, I opened the door, stepped out, and then closed it before locking it. I walked further down the building until I came across the girl's bathroom and opened the door as I put my key into my shoes, so they'd be safe.
After I exited the stall, I went to the sinks and quickly washed my hands. I dried them and exited the bathroom. Trying to memorize all that I had learned today in class, I exited the dormitory and just enjoyed the fresh air.
"Miss. Harbor." An older voice called out; snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to see Jim coming towards me, but something seemed different about him.
I turned towards him. "Yes Jim?" I asked, looking him directly in the eyes. "What's up?"
Jim didn't talk until he was in front of me. "I need to talk to you." He said.
I nodded. "Are you okay Jim?" I asked as I followed him. "Do you have a cold or something? You voice seems scratchy."
Jim didn't answer as we rounded the back corner of the English building. "Alison Harbor." He said.
I looked at him weirdly. "That's my name." I muttered.
Suddenly my feet were inches, maybe even feet, off of the ground and the top of my dress was scrunched up. I scratched at his hand that was holding me up. "Jim; what they heck are you doing?" I nearly shouted.
Jim smiled evilly just as a symbol flashed in his eyes. I froze. Where have I seen that before? I thought.
"Well my dear," Jim's voice was now completely different. "I'm doing what I should have done earlier."
I started scratching at his hand again. "What are you talking about? I don't know you?" I said, scared.
Remembering my self-defense class I took a couple years back, I started moving my legs, trying to kick him anywhere. I was able to kick his legs a couple of times but he was strong and his legs refused to buckle under the pressure. "Now you wouldn't hurt your own father, would you?" he said.
And in that instant, I froze and fell to the ground at the same time. I stayed frozen as I heard commotion coming only inches from my spot. "I'll see you later, my dear." The strange voice said before I heard a collapse.
Only seconds passed before the person that had gotten me out of his grip came to my side. "Allie; are you okay?" Odd's familiar voice asked urgently; I just nodded absently as he helped me up. "What did he say to you and what did he mean by that last sentence?"
I just stayed speechless. My father? But that's impossible. Jim can't be my father. I have no resemblance to him. I debated in my head while Odd was ushering me to move somewhere, but I had no idea where.
"Jeremie; don't do a return yet…" Odd was talking to Jeremie on his cell phone but I didn't bother to listen in on the conversation.
Then my mind reminded me of the difference between Jim this morning and Jim just now. His voice was different…He was stronger….And that symbol in his eyes…Where have I seen that before? I was trying to remember where I had seen the symbol before when Odd and I came across a sewer hole.
I just looked at it blankly. "You're going to have to trust me." Odd's voice said; he must have caught my gaze, but I just nodded as he opened it and let me go in first.
I got to the bottom of the ladder and Odd came seconds after. He started running down the narrow path beside the stinky water and I reluctantly followed him, not bothering to ask where we were going.
By the time we Odd had finally stopped running, we were at another ladder and I was panting, trying to catch my breath. He climbed the ladder first and I hesitantly followed after him. The light from the sun briefly stung my eyes since I was in a dark sewer.
Odd stuck out his hand and I grabbed it, still in my trance as he helped pull my body up. Once I was up we went into an abandoned factory and entered an old elevator. "I-Is this s-safe?" I questioned.
Odd gave me a small smile. "It's fine, trust Me." he said as the elevator started, going down.
When the doors reopened, I saw a computer with a dome without the top, but what shocked me the most was to see Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi standing inside the room.
"Odd; first of all, why did you keep all of us here, and second, why did you bring Allie here?" Ulrich grumbled.
Odd looked to Jeremie for assistance. "It wasn't all Odd. It was partly me as well." Jeremie said. Everyone, including me, looked at him. "Let me explain Lyoko to Allie then Odd and I will tell you why we are doing this."
Ulrich and Yumi grumbled but nodded. "Allie I'm going to explain some complicated things that seem science fiction but you need to listen and trust me on this, okay?" Jeremie asked; I nodded for him to continue. "Okay so Lyoko is a virtual world created by Franz Hopper and is contained in this supercomputer. Franz originally created Lyoko along with Xana for a military project. Xana was originally supposed to be good, but it unexpectedly turned evil on him."
"Hold on, hold on. What's Xana?" I questioned.
Jeremie rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah; forgot that." He said.
"Says the Einstein that saves Aelita from his clutches every day." Ulrich grumbled; I ignored him and turned my attention to Jeremie again.
"Xana is a malevolent artificial intelligence that seems to only exist to take over the world. It has the power to launch attacks, like controlling electricity and possessing people, but can only do this by activating Towers in Lyoko." Jeremie explained; I nodded. "Well; Aelita is the only one to counter the attacks that Xana started by deactivating those towers and Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd protect her from Xana's clutches."
"Why does 'Xana' want Aelita?" I questioned.
"Because I have the keys to Lyoko. If he gets those keys, then he is free from Lyoko." Aelita explained herself. "I got the keys when my father virtualized both of us on Lyoko…which was created 10 years ago when I was 13."
"But if Lyoko was created 10 years ago; then you'd have to be 23." I said.
"It's because Lyoko stopped the aging process for me. So all the years I was here until Jeremie found me and virtualized me onto Earth again, I was still the same age I was when I was first virtualized." Aelita explained.
I nodded; trying to process all this information. I already had a hard time learning but this was just getting ridiculous. "Okay, hold on. This doesn't make any sense." I argued. "What does this have to do with me?"
"I'd have to agree with her Jer." Yumi said.
Jeremie and Odd sighed at the same time, which was starting to scare me. "AllieisXana'sdaughter!" Jeremie said a little too quickly.
Ulrich and Yumi stood up confused. "What?" Ulrich, Yumi, and I said simultaneously.
Jeremie took another deep breath. "Allie. Is. Xana's. Daughter." He said each word with the correct amount of pronunciation. Everyone but Jeremie froze.