Chapter Seven

-Odd's POV-

"Jer, are you sure you got that right?" I questioned. "Xana's a program. He can't have children."

Jeremie didn't answer my question and just stayed silent like everyone else did. I looked at Allie from the corner of my eye to see her scared, a look of horror in her eyes. She just cried her eyes out only hours ago; she can't handle this. I thought in my head.

"That's not true." Allie suddenly spoke up.

Everyone looked at her; well Jeremie, Aelita, and I just looked stunned, Ulrich and Yumi were glaring at her, a guarded look on their faces. "Elaborate on that please." Jeremie spoke up.

"You basically explained to me that Aelita was a human being turned virtual. Well…what if Xana was human?" she spoke up.

"My father created him as a program." Aelita explained nervously.

"Yeah." I spoke up. "We have no proof if he was human or not. It says in Franz's diary that he created Xana."

Allie continued to stare at Jeremie. "But are you positive of that?" she questioned stubbornly. "Like Odd said 'you have no proof'."

We were silent again; thinking of what she had said. "I got to say…she has a point." Yumi announced; we all turned to her. "It would make sense why he wants to take over the world."

"How so?" I asked.

Yumi sighed. "Let's say Xana was human." She said, stepping forward. "And Franz originally meant to create Xana as a program. If the person got stuck in the scanners at the same time Franz was creating 'Xana'…well, there you go."

"But why would he, or she, want to hurt either one of us?" Aelita asked; indicating to herself and Allie.

"To get revenge on Franz but hurting or killing you, Aelita, Franz Hopper's only daughter." Yumi offered.

"W-What about m-me?" Allie stumbled. She can't handle this… I trailed off as she began to speak up again. "W-why would a father w-want to h-hurt his daughter." I could see her eyes begin to glaze with tears.

"Let's not make any predictions yet." I spoke up. "Let's investigate first, to see if our theory if true first."

Ulrich looked over to me surprised. "That may have been the smartest thing you've ever said." he joked; I glared at him.

Then in an instant, Allie's figure ran out of the room and into the elevator. She pressed the button and, being close to the elevator myself, I hopped in before it could close all the way. She sank to the floor, tears streaming uncontrollably.

I quickly ran to her side and pulled her into a hug for the second time today. We shouldn't have talked about this in front of her. I thought angrily. "Shh, it's going to be okay." I muttered softly.

"H-How can i-it?" she cried out. "M-my mother is d-dead; which I w-wouldn't be s-surprised if i-it was Xana, m-my b-b-brother's close to d-death, and now I h-have an e-evil f-father." She sobbed more; I felt helpless, there was nothing I could say or do. "I-I should be in C-Chris's place."

Chris…that must be her brother. I thought to myself before gently pulling her off of me. Her head stayed down and I pulled her face up so her eyes would meet mine. "Don't ever say that, you got that?" I said sternly.

"But-" she started to protest.

I shook my head. "No Allie. No Protests, No Nothing." I conquered. "I don't know what happened to your mother and brother, but if your brother is that strong to survive whatever happened, he's strong enough to heal and be there for you."

She hung her head in defeat. "Why does this always have to happen to me?" she asked.

I sighed, not knowing what to say. Instead of saying anything, I stood up, helped her up and started dragging her out of the factory. "We're going to do something to get your mind off of this." I informed before she asked.

"What about classes?" she asked; I laughed. "I'm serious!"

"You're funny Angel." I said, still laughing.

She pulled out of my grip and crossed arms. "I'm serious Della Robbia; I've never ditched class before." She said defiantly. "And don't call me Angel!"

I smiled and laughed at the same time. "Well; there's a first time for everything." I said and grabbed hand before she could protests. "You gotta live a little, Angel."

She didn't do anything, just huffed, as she let me pull her off towards town. "Where are we going?" she asked.

I smiled. "Somewhere with food." I admitted with a cheeky smile.

She looked shell shocked. "B-but you just ate. How can you be hungry again?" she blurted.

I just shrugged. "My, or our, friends are still trying to figure that out." I admitted.

She just rolled her eyes. "Only you, Odd." She said, actually following me, forgetting the fact that class was going to start soon. "Odd; c-can I tell you something?"

I nodded. "Sure." I said. "It's about what happened to your brother, isn't it?" she nodded. "Okay, take your time."

We ended up going to the ice cream parlor. She got a cotton candy flavored ice cream while I got vanilla.

"I always thought you were the one to get the crazy flavors, not me." Allie informed me.

I laughed. "Oh, I like crazy flavors, but you always should enjoy vanilla here and there." I said.

She laughed as a song started coming through the parlor's speakers. "You're the master of taste." She laughed. "Praying won't do it. Hating won't do it. Drinking won't do it. Fighting won't knock you ou…t of my head."

"You sing?" I asked; she smiled and continued the song.

"I love this song." She said. "My brother always sung it to me when I was depressed. It has a good message." I nodded. "Do you know the name of it?"

"Umm." I rubbed the back of my head. "I have no clue."

She chuckled. "It's All Time Low by The Wanted." She said.

"So when you gonna let me, When you gonna let me out, out?" she continued singing softly. "And if you know. How do you get from an all-time low? I'm in pieces, seems like peace is the only thing I'll never know. How do you get out, get out?"

"You have a wonderful voice, Allie." I said, stunned. She smiled shyly, looking down.

"Everybody says that." She said.

"But you really do!" I protested.

"What about you?" Allie suddenly asked, getting up to put her bowl in the trash; I followed her.

"What about me?" I asked confused.

He pushed me slightly. "Can you sing, smart one?" she asked.

I shrugged. "A little, but I'm a better dancer." I said proudly.

She laughed. "Sure, whatever you say." She said as we arrived at the gates. School was out already so kids were swarming around the courtyard. "See you later than."

I nodded. "Yeah, see you." I said back.

Allie smiled before coming closer to me and giving me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for cheering me up." She said quickly and before I could blink, she was gone. I smiled all the way to my room…