The group stood in front of the scanner as it hummed with life. Ulrich was the last to arrive, walking up behind the group but not pushing his way forward to get a better look. Everyone else seemed almost excited about what would emerge from the scanner. The fact he was the only one on edge didn't do much to soften his concern. If anything, it made it more prominent. If no one was ready to react if this was a trap, he'd at least be prepared to act.
The humming began to slowly fade until it arrived at a complete stop, and the room was quiet. After what seemed to be an eternity the doors finally opened. Mist poured out, and the group collectively held their breath in anticipation. Nothing seemed to be there at first glance. Their eyes all glided to the floor of the scanner. They weren't sure what to expect, but the moment they saw what was there, the boys immediately stepped away from the scanner to avert their eyes, and the girls jumped in front of it, Yumi with her arms fully extended outward.
"Why is she naked?" Odd asked aloud immediately.
"Alright boys, back it up," Yumi said, taking charge of the situation. She looked over her shoulder as Aelita squatted next to the scanner and tried to shake the girl awake.
"It doesn't look like she's even alive," Yumi said and looked down as the girl began to twitch. "Never mind, she's moving."
"That takes a lot out of us, and we're used to it. The first materialization is rough. Probably rougher on her," Aelita said.
"She could have at least had the decency to materialize clothes," Odd said and looked over at Ulrich. "Are you done worrying?"
"No," Ulrich said and Odd groaned.
"Someone needs to go get some clothes," Yumi said and Aelita agreed. "Boys?"
"You want us to get her clothes?" Ulrich asked and Aelita nodded. "Why not one of you?"
"We're not leaving her alone with you guys," Yumi said.
"How little you think of us," Odd teased with his hand on his cheat, faking a grievous wound. Yumi raised her eyebrow. "Fine, I'll go."
"No, I'll do it," Ulrich groaned and started to walk to the elevator.
"You sure?" Yumi asked.
"No, but it at least gives me a chance to think about this whole situation," Ulrich said without turning around. He pressed the button and heard footsteps hastily pursuing him. He turned his head and saw Aelita extending a key to him as the doors opened.
"I have some stuff that might fit her. Hurry back, we'll try to keep her warm in the meantime," Aelita said. Ulrich took the key and started to pull but she held it for a second. "Don't do anything weird in my room, okay?"
"Okay," Ulrich replied sardonically and Aelita released her key. Ulrich stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind him a few seconds later.
"You cool with Ulrich snooping in your girlfriend's room?" Odd ask Jeremie who seemed to ignore him. Aelita walked back toward the group and looked at Odd. Odd looked around himself, then back to her.
"What? I'm kidding, he's too uptight to snoop." Odd said. Aelita extended her hand out and flexed her fingers toward herself. "What?"
"Give me your sweater," Aelita said, and Odd looked around. He was the only one wearing an additional layer, so sighed and yielded to her request. "Thank you."
"I want that back at some point," Odd said.
"Help me sit her up," Aelita said to Yumi who rolled her over and pulled her to a seated position. The girl slumped over, and Yumi held her upright until Aelita was able to slide the sweater onto her torso. Thankfully it was large enough to conceal down to the middle of her thighs.
"Let's move her out of the scanner," Yumi suggested and Aelita nodded. Together they picked up the girl and carefully carried her to the other side of the room. Aelita sat down and rested the girl's head on her lap and Yumi kept her feet warm by keeping them off the cold floor.
"Now what?" Jeremie said, and everyone looked over at him. "We have an unconscious orphan on our hands now."
"Why a kid? Why didn't she skip the boring stuff and go straight to adulthood?" Odd asked.
"I understand that perfectly Odd," Aelita said. "I would have felt cheated if when I came out of the computer I had aged accordingly." Odd shrugged, seeing her point and leaned against one of the scanners. Chronologically, Aelita was in her mid-twenties, but stepped out of Lyoko the same age she went in. "Also, you owe me ten euro."
"I get my allowance next week," Odd promised.
Ulrich looked both ways down the hall before stepping onto the girl's floor in the dorms with his backpack over one shoulder. He stopped at Aelita's door and listened before sliding the key into the lock and turning. He took one last look before opening her door and closing it behind him. Ulrich was always jealous that Aelita and Jeremie had their own room without a roommate. He had been stuck with Odd and his feet for two years.
Ulrich double checked to make sure the door was latched before he took a moment to look around. He wanted to find the clothes, but not have to linger longer than necessary. There was something intrinsically unusual about being in a girl's space, even if he had permission to be there. He didn't know where to begin, as every time he thought about where he would put what clothing items, he figured a girl probably didn't do it the same.
"That's where I'd put underwear, so that should be safe," Ulrich said and crouched next to the drawers under her bed. He pulled the first one back and immediately slide it shut when we saw something more delicate than he bargained for. "Wrong drawer." Turns out they weren't so different.
Ulrich found her jeans, shirts, and sweaters. He laid out a few outfits on the bed and thought about what would look best. He didn't want to get this wrong. The colors clashed. Long sleeve wasn't really in season. He laughed at himself when he realized he was taking too long. It was a temporary problem. Sweatpants and a hoody would work. The sweatpants had a draw string for her to tighten it up if needed. The shoes were trickier, but he grabbed Aelita's flip flops for the shower.
"Should be good," Ulrich said to himself softly. He reached for the door handle but paused for a moment. "Does she need them?" Ulrich turned around and looked at the drawer again. What was worse, the reaction when he didn't bring them, or the reaction if he did but didn't need to?
'Don't do anything weird in my room, okay?' Aelita's voice said in his head.
"Stop making it weird, everyone wears underwear," Ulrich exhaled and opened the drawer, grabbed the first pair without looking and placed it into his bag. He hovered at the door again. "Bra?" he asked. He looked at the drawer again and thought about the girl in the scanner. Probably too young to be an immediate issue.
Ulrich opened the door slowly and listened for anything in the hallway. After he heard nothing, he quickly stepped out, locked the door, and quickly made it to the stairs before anyone knew he was there.
Ulrich took the elevator all the way to the scanners and stepped into the room with his bag slung over his shoulder. Aelita looked up from the girl on her lap and smiled at him. Odd was asleep next to the scanner, but Jeremie and Yumi were absent. Aelita had taken off her shoes and placed her under the girl's feet.
"The elevator made her wiggle a little, but she's still sleeping," Aelita said in a hushed volume. Ulrich dropped the bag from his shoulder and placed it on the floor next to her. "Thanks. Find everything okay?"
"I guess," Ulrich said, sitting on the other side of the bag. "Sweats are fine, right?"
"We'll take her to a store as soon as we can, this is just to get her through the day," Aelita said and Ulrich nodded, figuring as much. "Did you grab underwear?"
"Found the drawer, didn't look, grabbed the first pair and closed the drawer," Ulrich explained.
"Thank you. I just realized how awkward that probably felt."
"Where are the others?" Ulrich asked.
"Yumi had to go home, and Jeremie is looking over the data at the terminal," Aelita explained. Ulrich nodded in understanding and looked away but turned back when he felt Aelita had kept looking at him. "Thank you."
"For what? The clothes? You already did," Ulrich said in a confused tone.
"Not that, but thanks for that again. I'm thanking you for taking the chance," Aelita said with a grin. "Looks like she took your hair."
Ulrich tilted his head to look at the girl asleep on Aelita's lap. Physically she appeared a few years younger than them, making her biologically no more than twelve. Her hair was mostly brown, but a slightly different angle of light made the sheen more reddish.
"I'd say more auburn," Ulrich said. "And I'm not convinced yet."
Aelita's expression sunk into what he only saw as disappointment.
"Don't tell me Ulrich Stern is worried about this little girl," Aelita teased while moving a strand of hair from the girl's mouth. She then used her sleeve to wipe away some drool.
They both heard Odd groan and slowly wake up. He rolled to his back and stretched his body out before rolling backwards over his shoulder to get back to his feet. He momentarily took the pose of a gymnast after the dismount.
"Ten out of ten, crowd goes wild," Odd said proudly.
"Morning," Aelita said to Odd then looked at her watch. "Or, evening, whatever."
"Where'd Yumi go?" Odd asked.
"Home. Unlike us, people wait up for her," Aelita said.
"Einstein?" Odd asked, and Ulrich pointed straight up with one finger. "I'll check on him."
Odd started to walk to the elevator, but Aelita gestured for him to stop.
"Please take the ladder, I don't want the elevator to wake her up."
"Fine," Odd said, doing a perfect about-face mid step. "If I slip and break my neck, I'm haunting you."
"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice…" Aelita started.
"…don't say it three times," Odd said and started up the ladder.
"Beetlejuice?" Ulrich asked.
"I said don't say it," Odd said.
Ulrich looked at Aelita who contrasted his confused expression with her own look of amusement.
"He had me watch it the other day. When I first came out of Lyoko, I asked Odd for some cultural homework. At first, he gave me cinephile stuff, but that was too niche."
"8 and one half is a masterpiece, and Fellini is a genius, not my fault you don't get it," Odd said when halfway up the ladder.
"We're in the American cult classic phase of my education," Aelita giggled.
"No friend of mine watches tripe," Odd said as he reached the top and disappeared.
Odd stood up in the lab and found Jeremie at the computer screen. He stepped behind him without being seen and looked at data streaming upward.
"Might as well be Arabic," Odd said, making Jeremie flinch from not noticing Odd until he spoke. "You really get tunnel vision, huh?"
"Yeah, sorry," Jeremie said, adjusting his glasses back into place after the small jump made them slide awkwardly down his nose. "Are you heading back to the academy?"
"Nah, I'll sleep in class," Odd said, and Jeremie chuckled and resumed looking at the data. "What is all this?"
"It's how you turn a multi-agent artificial intelligence into a person," Jeremie explained, and for Odd that was the same as saying nothing.
"Right," Odd said to save face, but he knew that Jeremie knew that. "Anyway, what's going on?" His tone suggested a change of subject, but Jeremie didn't catch the tone.
"Well, this section of code is our brainwaves during virtualization and materialization, which is adapted best it could to translate from AI calculation protocols. It's how it constructed its mind…"
"…don't care," Odd interrupted. "You and Aelita. What's going on?" Jeremie stammered for a moment but closed his mouth and sighed. "That bad? You guys break up?" Odd asked.
Over the last month the group had noticed Jeremie and Aelita slowly drifting apart. They were almost never alone together anymore. During their school meals they never sat across from each other. X.A.N.A. was more active during this period, but this was the first time they recalled them being this way regardless of issues external to themselves. This time it felt permanent.
"I mean, you kind of have to be dating in order to break up," Jeremie said, and turned the chair away from the monitor. They had never called each other boyfriend and girlfriend, but everyone, even themselves, considered that something that didn't need to be said. Now it seemed like never labeling the relationship made it harder to decide when it was over and what to call it afterwards. He looked at his lap and timidly played with his thumbs. "I guess we're, on a break, I guess."
"That's what I tell a girl, so I don't have to actually break up with her, and she eventually just kind of leaves on her own. Makes her think the breakup was all her idea, so she feels bad about it, and my conscious stays squeaky clean."
"That's…evil," Jeremie said, and then couldn't help but exhale a laugh trying not to express he thought it was a little funny. Odd shrugged innocently, but then changed his face as if asking Jeremie to explain his own situation in more detail.
"The last few months haven't been great between us," Jeremie admitted. The group was only aware of the last month, so this took time to grow into a problem the others could observe. "I think we just grew apart. Have you ever stayed with a girl longer than you should have because the relationship was convenient?"
"Anything after a month," Odd declared.
"I think that's where we found ourselves," Jeremie said, and Odd nodded, truly understanding the explanation. "We tried, and, uh, yeah…" Jeremie said, pausing to figure out of the best word. He couldn't figure it out, so repeated, "…we tried."
"That sucks man," Odd said and Jeremie nodded. "I just wanted to hear it from one of you. We all noticed that you two seemed really tense. We all thought it was nothing at first, and we'd give it a week to see if you two just worked out whatever it was. Three weeks later, no one had asked yet. I guess we all assumed someone else would ask first."
"Thanks for asking," Jeremie said and turned the chair back to the computer. "I don't want to be selfish. I want her to discover who she is, but I don't want to dictate where I fit into it."
"Very mature," Odd said and mangled Jeremie's hair. "Proud of you."
Jeremie laughed and knocked Odd's hands away from his hair. "Alright, alright, stop."
"I'm heading back. Aelita will probably stay with her until she wakes up like a hen sitting on her eggs. Ulrich isn't taking a chance with her, not yet at least," Odd said. "Just make sure you guys get back in time for class."
"I'll call if we can't," Jeremie said.
Odd walked to the elevator and pressed the button.
"If you noticed me and Aelita, did you notice the other thing?" Jeremie asked, and Odd turned around. "Her and Ulrich?"
Odd had noticed but thought nothing of it. He didn't see it the way Jeremie feared.
"Ulrich is a knight, and he sees a wounded lady. You're seeing something that isn't there. Yumi isn't worried, so you shouldn't be either."
"I guess," Jeremie replied. The elevator door opened and Odd walked inside and pressed the button for the factory. "See you later." Odd gave him a comical military salute as the doors closed.
Ulrich was forced awake by someone shaking his shoulder and saying his name. His eyes fluttered awake, and he looked left and right to gather his bearings.
"Ulrich?" Jeremie asked. "You up?"
Ulrich had fallen asleep and slouched over at some point, laying on his side and curling up on the floor. He straightened out his body and lifted himself up slowly, using the wall to help himself return to his feet.
"Is she up yet?" Ulrich asked. Ulrich looked around, and gradually came to the realization that Aelita and the girl were gone. X.A.N.A. was gone.
"Where are they?" Ulrich asked in a mild panic. "Jeremie, where are they?"
"I don't know, I just came down," Jeremie said. "We have about an hour before school starts."
"Forget school, where are they?" Ulrich asked, and when Jeremie didn't reply, he looked at the scanners. "She took her."
"What?" Jeremie asked.
"X.A.N.A. wanted us vulnerable, and she took her into Lyoko," Ulrich said and ran toward the ladder, thinking it was faster to climb than to wait for the elevator. "Come on."
"Ulrich, no one has gone into the system. Like I said, I got here a moment ago. The elevator did go to the factory a few minutes ago."
Ulrich paused at the ladder with his hand on the rung but let go and walked back to where he was sleeping. He opened his backpack and saw that the clothes were gone.
"See, she got dressed, and…I don't know after that," Jeremie admitted.
"I'll call her mobile," Ulrich said pulled his phone out of his pocket. His battery was dead. "Oh, come on."
"I got it…" Jeremie said, but his mobile rang in his hand the moment it left his pocket. "It's Aelita," Jeremie said and answered. "Where are you, because Ulrich is freaking out."
"I'm not freaking out," Ulrich said, exactly like someone who was freaking out.
"Okay, we'll be right up," Jeremie said and ended the call.
"Well?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie walked to the elevator and called it down to the scanner room. "Jeremie?"
"Relax," Jeremie said and boarded the elevator. Ulrich stepped in after him "They're playing tag upstairs."
Ulrich pressed the button for the factory floor.
"Top floor, lobby, sewer entrance, and the girl from the ring," Ulrich said.
The elevator docked at the top and they were greeted with the sound of girlish laughter. Aelita was currently it and was chasing the girl, intentionally running slower to give her a chance. The girl was in the sweatpants and Odd's hooded sweater, running with enough force her hair was flowing behind her. The girl was looking over her shoulder and not ahead of her. Ulrich stepped out of the way, and she ran straight into Jeremie, knocking them both over.
"Morning guys, she's very energetic," Aelita said and stopped in front of them. The girl hissed through her teeth on the ground. Ulrich stood and watched, not lifting a finger to help her. Aelita gestured for Ulrich to assist, but after his silent refusal, she sighed in frustration and helped the girl herself.
"That hurt, that actually hurt," the girl said. Aelita kneeled next to her and saw that the palms of her hands were scratched when she fell. Ulrich helped Jeremie to his feet while Aelita held the girl's hand to look at the damage. Her palm had a small amount of blood oozing from the wound. "I'm bleeding."
"Not bad though, it's just a scrape," Aelita said and smiled.
Aelita helped the girl up. She dusted herself off and looked toward Jeremie and Ulrich.
"Hello," she said.
"Hi," Jeremie replied, still amazed she was real and in the flesh. He knew it was theoretically possible but seeing her right in front of him was another matter entirely.
Ulrich felt Aelita's glare and looked to the source of the discomfort. Aelita pointed with her head toward the girl, like a mother trying to force her child to be kind to a stranger. Ulrich rolled his eyes, tilting them down the girl in the process.
"So…X.A.N.A?" Ulrich asked.
"Technically, yes," the girl said with a smile. "I would like to leave as much of that existence I can behind me. Please, call me Danielle."
"How did you decide on that name?" Jeremie asked.
"I decided it before I left. Everything about this body was randomized, even my sex. However, I needed a name to put on the documents I created while still just another program. I stuck with names that were moderately gender neutral or have nicknames that were gender neutral. I had plenty of calculated reasons, but now that I am here, I just…like it. I do not know why I do, nor can I explain why. I just do."
"That's something you can't calculate," Jeremie said.
"Okay, Danielle," Ulrich said. "What now? As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you're a penniless orphan in hand-me-downs."
"Ulrich," Aelita said, aghast, but Danielle didn't seem offended.
"No, he is correct," Danielle said. "Well, partially."
"Partially?" Jeremie asked, curious as to what part wasn't wholly accurate.
"I calculated…" Danille started, but didn't like how mechanical that phrasing sounded. It amused her somewhat she didn't know why it bothered her. "I thought of that before I left the digital world. My medical records need to be recreated because of a convenient flood that washed them away, along with things like my birth certificate. Everything a person needs to prove they exist, without anyone ever assuming I was born yesterday."
"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Jeremie asked.
"Just the practical stuff."
"Money?" Ulrich asked.
"I opened an account, made it look like it had been there for years, and the money was accrued from an interest rounding error from other accounts. Nothing extravagant. Just enough to cover room and board and secondary education."
"Room and board? Where?" Ulrich asked.
"I start at Kadic in three days," Danielle said, and Ulrich groaned. "I am sorry, should I not have done that?" she asked with sincerity. She didn't assume any of them would be opposed to her being at their school.
"Morning," Yumi said after landing from the rope swing. "Danielle, I presume?"
"You presume correctly," Danielle replied with a warm smile.
"This should tide you over until we get back later," Yumi said. She handed Danielle a bag of food.
"Thank you," Danielle said. "I am hungry. What a weird feeling."
"We have to go to school, but we'll be back," Aelita said, and Danielle nodded in understanding.
"I would not mind playing some more," Danielle said, and Aelita agreed it would be fun.
"Let's also work on your speech. You sound like a computer that wasn't programmed how to use an apostrophe," Aelita teased, and Danielle nodded.
"I will work on that," Danielle said, and Aelita tilted her head. "I'll work on that?"
"There it is," Aelita said. "We'll play tag later."
"Alright. Ulrich can be it."
Everyone laughed. Except Ulrich.
"I'm not it. You're the it," Ulrich said and walked toward the bridge.
"Ulrich!" Aelita shouted after him, but he kept walking. "How long will he take to come around?"
"I don't know, but let's not push him faster than he's comfortable with," Yumi said, and Aelita reluctantly agreed.
"So you know I'm coming back," Aelita said to Danielle who leaned on her toes to hear her. Aelita poked her forehead and started to run away. "You're it!"
Hiroki sat in his first hour biology class looking out of the window. Even though he had eaten breakfast no more than an hour ago, he was still hungry and could already hear his stomach gurgle. He thought of his packed lunch and smiled at the thought of the rice ball with a plumb that awaited him. Lunch couldn't come soon enough. At least he was the only student without a lab partner. It meant the table was all his.
"Everyone," he heard from the front of the classroom. He turned to the board and saw Principle Delmas at the head of the room with a girl he had never seen before standing next to him. "I'd like to introduce you to our newest student. Please give her a warm Kadic welcome."
The teacher thanked him as he left the classroom. The eyes of the room were all on the new girl.
The girl was a few inches shy of five feet. Her hair was straight, auburn, and tied back into a ponytail that draped to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Two long bangs hung at the sides of her face almost like ant antenna. She was pale like she wasn't in the sun much. Her cheeks were rosy, but it was hard to tell if they were naturally that way or she was simply shy from eyes on her. She had a few freckles on both sides of her small nose that was nestled between her eyes. Even beneath her thin glasses it was visible from across the room she had heterochromia, one eye being emerald, the other being light brown. Her clothing was understated, a simple blue shirt with no logo and jeans with plain white shoes. Over her shoulder was a messenger bag overfilled with all her books and school supplies. It was so heavy it was noticeably taking her slightly off balance.
"This is," the teacher said while reading the note Mr. Delmas gave her. "Danielle Grey, she just transferred from…" she asked, trying to read that part on the note. "…where are you from dear?"
"I just came from Lyon ma'am," Danielle replied. Her voice was shaky and monotone, hardly having the nerve to speak loud enough for someone standing a foot away from her to hear.
"Please, go ahead and introduce yourself."
"I…" Danielle started as she turned to the class. So many eyes. So many faces, and not all of them appeared kind. Her hand was shaking, and she didn't know why. She closed her hand to control it, but it only sent that nervous vibration to her entire body. Everyone was looking at her. She looked at her feet and spoke quietly.
"Can't hear you," a boy said from the front row.
Danielle picked her head up and tried to gesture with her hands. The change of orientation caused her bag to slip off her shoulder and thud to the ground with her supplied spilling across the floor. The classroom was now filled with restrained snickering during the few seconds there wasn't painful silence.
"What a spaz," the same boy said.
"It's okay, we have all year to get to know you…" the teacher said after it was apparent this wasn't going to end well. She scanned the classroom for an empty chair and saw one next to the window. "The seat next to Hiroki is open."
"Where?" Danielle asked and looked around.
"Hiroki, tell her who you are," the teacher said. Hiroki groaned at the idea of his table being shared, but still waved to get her attention. Danielle picked up her bag and took nearly a fully minute to gather her supplies. Hiroki remembered being the new kid, so was the first to leave his seat and help her. Danielle looked up at the person assisting her and saw a soft smile.
"Welcome to Kadic," Hiroki said.
"Thanks," she timidly replied.
Aelita's room needed to be rearranged to accommodate another bed, wardrobe, and desk. Aelita didn't mind her new roommate. Danielle had moved all her stuff in already. She had already bought her own clothes and school supplies and took Yumi up on her offer to have some of her old clothes.
After showering they both had changed into pajamas, Aelita in her extra-long shirt and Danielle in shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Danielle hadn't said much since school ended. She sat on her bed with her knees to her chest thinking about her day. Aelita wanted to give her the space to process everything, but eventually walked across the room and sat down next to her, pulling the hair tie out and letting her hair tumble down.
"So, how was your first day?" Aelita asked and Danielle sighed into her knees.
"I don't know, but I know not good," she said. Catastrophe was certainly a word going through her head.
"Why? What happened?" Aelita asked.
"In my first class the teacher asked me to introduce myself and I...I couldn't talk. It was like I was choking but I could still breathe. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, and then I dropped my bag and people laughed at me. I didn't want to look at anyone because they were just staring at me. All of them. Is that...normal?" Danielle asked, desperate for anyone to say it was normal, but also dreading that normality. Aelita was already impressed with her speech, having encouraged her to make it less formal.
"Unfortunately, yes," Aelita said understanding Danielle's dilemma. "It's called, you were nervous. It's like a mild version of fear. And when you dropped your bag and didn't want to look at anyone because they were laughing, that's called embarrassment. You don't know what to think because you haven't felt those yet. Not all emotions are as enjoyable as laughter and fun. It can get tough to process them all. And there are a lot more."
"How many?" Danielle asked.
"A lot," Aelita said and walked back to her side of the room, "Too many to list, and too complex to explain."
"Don't even get me started on gym class then," Danielle said and Aelita smiled.
"What happened in gym?" Aelita asked.
"I said don't get me started," Danielle said, not understanding that was a commonly used phrase as a jumping off point for someone to inquire about something.
"You brought it up. What happened?" Aelita asked.
Danielle took a deep breath and exhaled it fast and harshly.
"I walked into the boy's locker room by accident. I stepped on my shoelaces three times. I asked if anyone wanted to play tag, and they called me a baby." Aelita felt somewhat responsible for that one. "And a couple of girls in the locker room were laughing at me. I don't know why, but it had something to do with mosquito bites."
"No wonder you said don't ask," Aelita said and laughed, "We do need to talk about that mosquito bite comment though."
