"I'm here to answer all of your questions."
Olivie's declaration made everyone's eyes widen. Or rather, everyone but Aelita's. After the initial shock, doubt settled into their eyes instead.
"Why should we believe you?" Yumi spat.
Olivie sought out Aelita's gaze, unsure whether it was alright to reveal their conversations. She also got the feeling that Yumi wouldn't be glad to know who had her Subsonics CD right now. The knowledge made Olivie's eyes drop to the floor.
"That's what I thought. You know we shouldn't trust you," Ulrich misinterpreted Olivie's demeanour. Before Olivie could decide what to say, Aelita stepped forward. Yumi grabbed her wrist in protest, but Aelita shook it off and placed herself in between Olivie and the others.
"I trust her," Aelita stated. "She's given me zero reasons to mistrust her word. At least hear her out before choosing what to think."
Jeremie was quick to counter her, "Aelita, everything she's done so far gives us reasons to mistrust her."
"Well, you've been too busy badmouthing her that you haven't even thought about talking with her," Aelita snapped back. Only after looking at the confused looks her friends were giving her, she realized what she had implied.
"…You've talked with her?" Yumi asked.
"A couple times actually," Aelita declared with newfound resolve, "And she's been honest about everything. She hasn't threatened me or said a single mean word at me. She's earned my trust and I'll be really, really, mad at you if you don't give her a chance to talk."
Uncertain and conflicted looks were being traded. Yumi, Odd and Ulrich all lowered their guard ever so slightly. Olivie whispered a 'thank you' to Aelita, who replied with a quiet smile.
After a moment, Jeremie broke the silence, "You said you were here to answer our questions, correct?"
"Correct," Olivie confirmed.
"What does XANA do during the eleven minutes a tower's active?"
"XANA contacts me and asks for a report on what I've learned about you, your possible weaknesses, and my own discoveries about being human."
"So, what have you written in the reports?"
"About you, I mainly write what I see you doing during the days. Such as how you interact with other people and if there's a conflict. Over half of the reports consist of my own thoughts. What I've learned about emotions, myself, or the world. Do not worry, I mentioned nothing about my meetings with Aelita or that you opened the box today."
Aelita perked up, "What box?"
"XANA sent me a package and when I found it in my room, it was already open. I surmised it had to be your doing."
Now, Aelita almost glared at her friends. "You broke into her room?"
"Hey, come on! We overheard she got something from her father. Do you expect us to just ignore that?" Odd defended, then turned to Olivie. "Why would XANA send you music stuff anyway?"
"Three days ago, I said in my report that I was curious about learning the flute and listening to more of The Subsonics. I would assume that's why."
"I'm curious about something," Ulrich chimed in. "When we saw you in Lyoko, you said something about the tower not being important and it being just practice. What was that all about?"
Olivie remembered her and Ulrich's fight back then. It had been enjoyable for her to gradually increase her efforts in fighting back to see how much was needed to defeat her opponent. As much as she had grown to like the training XANA made her do with creepers and mantas, it was completely different to fight an actual person.
Olivie returned from her memories and replied, "If I were to observe you on Earth, I needed to know what you looked like. XANA was also curious how I would measure against you in battle. Especially you, Ulrich, since it regards you as the best fighter of the group."
"Not sure if I should be proud about that or not," Ulrich admitted reluctantly and scratched the back of his neck, while Yumi and Odd switched glances.
"We're still missing one crucial detail. Why are you here giving reports in the first place?" Jeremie asked.
"XANA told me that it needed to gain a deeper understanding of humanity." Olivie searched her mind for a moment. "That was the only explanation I received. I'm sorry. I wish I had a better answer."
"It might not be a long answer, but it tells us a lot about how XANA thinks," Aelita tried to comfort Olivie, even though she could practically hear Jeremie telling her not to give any more information to Olivie.
It was Yumi's turn to ask a question, "You've been here for a while. You could've come to us any time within the last couple weeks. Why now?"
"That's because…" Olivie took a couple breaths, "things weren't making sense. I saw a difference between XANA's words and how I thought. After I realized you had opened the package, I decided to ask Aelita about what XANA had done in the past. I concede that I can't fully understand why, but," she placed her hand on her heart, "I got a strong feeling that I'm on the wrong side."
Everyone fell deep into thought, and Olivie saw fit to give them a moment before speaking up again, "Is there anything else you would like to ask?"
"Doesn't seem like it," Jeremie stated after looking at the others. "Now, could you leave us so we can talk about these things."
Olivie nodded. "Of course." She walked into the elevator but turned to face the gang before pressing the button. "See you tomorrow then."
The elevator door closed, and the Lyoko warriors were by themselves again.
"Aelita…" Jeremie started.
"Don't," Aelita interrupted him, "I know what you're about to say."
"Maybe, but I'll say it anyway. Are you insane? What you did was dangerous!"
"I disagree. And nothing happened, so please stop lecturing me!"
Jeremie and Aelita stared at each other, their eyes louder than their arguing. If someone lit a match it might've just made the air around them explode from the tension.
Carefully, Yumi tried to break that tension, "It's getting late. Should we talk about what Olivie said?"
"I don't know if I trust her quite yet, but what she said kind of made sense," Ulrich spoke up.
"My thoughts exactly," Yumi nodded.
Odd stroked his chin in thought. "I guess so. But what if XANA sent her to tell everything to us? Like, try to gain our trust and then stab us in the back?"
"I don't think so," Aelita was quick to refute. "Before you called me here, Olivie really did come to ask me if she's on the wrong side. She wanted to know what XANA had done in the past. She seemed genuinely uncertain and torn. I want to trust her."
A part of Jeremie wanted to argue against Aelita. The rest of him didn't want to stir anything up for the day anymore. Besides, even he could see that Aelita was convinced. He didn't have the heart or energy to try to break her conviction. Not right now anyway. Maybe another day when he had thought about everything thoroughly. For now, it didn't matter. Because if Olivie was telling the truth, XANA was trying to understand human emotions. To Jeremie, that was the most dangerous thing he had heard today.
Olivie walked out of the factory. Everything was still and silent besides her steps on the bridge. Until her steps too came to a halt. She leaned her elbows on the bridge's rails and her head on her hands. The water around the factory mirrored the constellations above. Olivie couldn't wrap her head around it all. How far from her all those twinkling stars were. How vast the endless universe was. How small she was in comparison.
She sighed. The moment made her think of some Subsonics lyrics. You feel alone, you want to cry. That line was repeated many times through the song. Olivie didn't understand the words at first, despite how heavy they made her chest feel. What does it mean to feel alone? Is being alone a sad thing? Why does it make someone cry? Now, gazing at the stars, Olivie had no choice but to admit it to herself. She felt alone.
Her eyes shifted back to the factory and another Subsonics song started to play in her mind. I hope that there will be a day where I could join you straight away. Olivie closed her eyes for a moment. Did she want to join the Lyoko warriors? She was quite sure she didn't want to stay with XANA at least, but beyond that, she couldn't wrap her head around what she wanted. Everything had changed so fast. It was so simple spending time exploring Sector 5 and finding ways to overcome the challenges XANA gave her. No conflictions. Just doing as she was told. No heavy heart. Just existing.
When she had first awoken within a translucent golden sphere, making out some of the blue sector beyond, she had no idea it would eventually lead to this.
Olivie gave the tranquil water one more look, turned her back to the factory, and was on her way. She wasn't sure how long the Lyoko warriors would remain at the factory, but she felt it wouldn't be appropriate if she was there when they decided to leave. However, Olivie didn't take the faster way through the sewers, and opted for a more scenic route.
She wandered trough the streets, constantly looking around her. Which windows showed light. Which houses were completely dark. She wondered what kinds of lives all those people led. Were they carefree or did they have their own worries. Would they ever welcome Olivie, a non-human, into their midst. Even if they would never learn about her true nature, would they still feel like something was wrong about her and cast her aside.
Someone on the second floor of a nearby house switched off the light. A soft light, likely of a night lamp.
"Good night," Olivie whispered, hoping that someone, someday, would say that to her as well.
She let her legs carry her wherever they wanted and soon found herself in the forest. Through the treetops, the stars gently lit her way. It was getting cold, but it didn't matter. Or rather, Olivie didn't care, no matter how badly she was shaking.
She looked at one of the trees. A tall one with a fair number of branches. The intrusive thoughts won, and she started climbing. Her hands grabbed the branches and her feet tried to spring her upwards. She made it off the ground and then a couple meters into the tree. However, she overestimated her own strength, and it failed her. Her hand slipped and scratched itself on the hard bark. Her legs weren't prepared for the impact and couldn't find balance.
Olivie breathed heavily as she laid on her back. Her shoulder ached from the impact with one of the roots. Her feet throbbed. The scratches on her hand burned. She sat up, still befuddled, and looked at her hand. Dark droplets were forming where the tree bark peeled her skin.
She wept. But not from the pain.
She stood up, balled her hand into a fist and punched the tree in front of her. Then again. And again. Until she lost count and her knuckles, too, were bleeding a little. Her weeping grew into wailing. And she now understood why people didn't openly admit to crying, as she hoped no one was near enough to see or hear her.
She cursed everything. XANA. Emotions. Life. It was all too complicated. Why did XANA have to create her with feelings. Why did she have to be thrust into this position of uncertainty where she wasn't sure what to do. Or what to be. She didn't like it.
She didn't like it at all.
The night air cooled her cheeks where her tears flowed free. Olivie blinked in the hopes of seeing better, but it only worked for a few seconds at a time. Finally feeling bothered by the cold, she made her way out of the forest, almost limping the entire journey back to Kadic.
The next morning, Olivie felt awful. She felt like last night's cold was still around her and the blanket did nothing to help. On top of that, her injuries throbbed. Her palms and knuckles looked almost scary with the scratches and dry blood.
Olivie sighed and got up from the bed, immediately noticing that the blanket did indeed help with the cold. She felt freezing now without it. Her right foot wasn't handling her weight well, and she felt weirdly dizzy. She wondered if something was wrong with her head. Luckily, she had heard other students' reasons for leaving class early and had an idea of where to go. The infirmary.
Nurse Yolanda was utterly speechless for a good ten seconds, when she saw Olivie entering the infirmary wobbling and with her hands looking like she had fought with a family of hedgehogs. The nurse quickly walked over to Olivie and helped her walk to the bed. She touched Olivie's forehead. Its warmth made her even more confused.
"What happened?" Yolanda asked.
Olivie opened her mouth to answer but noticed that no words were coming out. She wanted no one to know about last night. Even more so, because even she couldn't find a reason for her actions of wandering around and hitting a tree. But seeing nurse Yolanda's worried eyes, she felt guilty.
"I was outside, it was cold, and I… punched a tree," she said, avoiding the nurse's gaze.
Yolanda blinked. "Why would you punch a tree? Based on your injuries, you hit it quite hard."
"I just," Olivie paused to think, "felt upset, I think. I'm not quite sure."
"Alright, well, next time you feel like taking out your emotions on something, the pillow might be a better option." Yolanda's face softened at the sight of Olivie's ashamed demeanour. "Listen. I don't know what's up, but it will get better. Still, I would expect a doctor's daughter to know better than to get herself in this condition."
Olivie struggled to find a reply. She knew she had to uphold the story but lying to Yolanda felt wrong to her. But staying silent felt even more wrong, so she settled on a vague half-truth, "We don't exactly talk much."
Nurse Yolanda fell silent and nodded her head in saddened understanding. In the following silence, she cleaned up the cuts on Olivie's hands, making the girl wince many times. She also measured her temperature. 38,4 C. Finally, she handed her a glass of water and a medicine pill to help ease her aching and lower the fever.
"Have you eaten yet?" Yolanda asked once Olivie had successfully downed the medicine.
Olivie didn't feel like using her voice, so she just shook her head.
"I'll go get you something small to eat then. I know it's not always easy to eat when sick, but it's important you eat something at least. You stay right there while I'm gone, ok?"
Olivie nodded, and Yolanda left towards the cafeteria, leaving Olivie alone with her thoughts and the ticking of the clock on the wall.
What happened last night? I don't understand anything.
By the time Yolanda returned, Olivie was fast asleep, her chest rising and falling calmly. The nurse set aside the tray with a croissant, piece of toast, and an apple. It was more important for Olivie to rest. She could eat once she woke up. For now, Yolanda went back to sorting out some paperwork, making an effort to be extra quiet as to not wake Olivie up.
During lunch, the Lyoko gang had quite the heated conversation.
"There's no way it's a coincidence that after Olivie comes to us and – according to her words – explains everything, she's absent the next day," Odd accused.
"What if she's in trouble?" Aelita countered. "What if XANA caught wind of what she did and she's somehow in danger?" Aelita was worried. She had already sent Olivie a couple messages asking where she was, but so far, she'd gotten zero replies. So, she started typing another one.
Jeremie shook his head. "You put too much trust in her, Aelita. Yes, she shared some information with us, but that doesn't mean she gave the information to us with good intentions."
"I'm sorry Aelita, but I have to side with Jeremie on this," Yumi apologized. "She seems nice, but there's still too much that we don't know."
Aelita sighed in defeat and pressed send on the message she just finished typing. Why didn't the others see what she saw? It was so clear to her that Olivie bore no ill intentions towards any of them. Or anyone at all, the more Aelita thought about it. During this entire time Olivie's been at Kadic, she's done nothing bad aside from the reports to XANA, which she told them about. At first, Aelita was upset about it, but Olivie's explanation was so earnest, Aelita couldn't help but believe her. And then Olivie came to the factory and shared the truth with all of them. The whispered 'thank you' Olivie had given Aelita, when she came to her defense, was honest. Olivie hasn't done a single move against them. Why was Aelita the strange one for trusting her?
"Do you all think I'm out of my mind?" Aelita hesitated.
The others calculated their next words carefully.
Except for Odd, who stated, "Kinda, but could be a lot worse." Ulrich quickly elbowed him, prompting a 'what' from Odd.
"No, we don't think you're out of your mind. Just…" Ulrich trailed off, not sure how to continue.
"We just think you should be more careful," Yumi finished the sentence for him. "It hasn't been that long since we got you out of Lyoko. We're just worried."
"Well, I appreciate it, but you're a bit too worried. I know what I'm doing," Aelita tried to convince them.
Jeremie countered, "You've said that before and then proceeded to make reckless choices, almost resulting in XANA winning. I don't want this to be one of those times."
Aelita turned her gaze away from the others, onto the half-eaten lunch in front of her. Jeremie was right. She had a history of making bad decisions. There was no use arguing against it.
"Hey," Odd spoke up, "Why don't we do the reasonable thing and go knock on the grim reaper's door? If she's there, we ask why she's skipping class. If she's not there, well, something's up, I guess?"
The others nodded and were already getting up, but Odd interrupted them, "Wait, wait, I haven't finished eating. We have time still, right?"
Yolanda looked at the thermometer and nodded approvingly. "Looks like the medicine helped. Your temperature's gone down a fair bit. How are you feeling?" she asked Olivie.
"I feel dizzy, but I'm not as cold anymore," Olivie replied. "Thank you for bringing me something to eat, by the way."
Yolanda nodded to her and said, "What you need now is more rest. So, please go to your room and lie down. Also, ask someone to bring you something from dinner. You need to eat and drink. I'll give you some more medicine to take with you. Take one pill at 3 pm and another one before going to sleep in the evening. I'll let the teachers know you'll be away from classes for two more days. If you still feel sick after that, or if you get worse, come back to see me."
Olivie's memory had no trouble memorizing nurse Yolanda's instructions, despite her head feeling quite fuzzy, so she thanked Yolanda and was on her way.
"We're not breaking into her room!" Aelita protested. She and the others had just arrived outside Olivie's room, but they'd heard nothing from the room even after knocking several times.
"We've broken in once, what's another time more?" Odd half-joked, receiving a glare from Aelita.
"That doesn't make it any better, knucklehead!"
Jeremie spoke up, "What if she's in trouble as you said, and is unconscious in there right now?"
Aelita was certain Jeremie didn't think Olivie was in trouble but was just trying to get her to agree with them breaking into the room. Still, Aelita was worried, so she begrudgingly accepted defeat.
Ulrich raised his hand to try the door handle, but stopped, gasping, "There's blood on the handle."
They rushed into the room, thanking their luck that the door was unlocked. No Olivie in sight, but all of them except for Aelita instantly noticed things were different from when they came into the room yesterday to look through the package that XANA had sent. Back then, the whole room had seemed fully organized with no misplaced items. Now, the duvet was partly on the floor, the carpet all wrinkled up, and the closet door left open with some clothes on the floor in front of it. On top of that, there were small blood stains on the wall close to the door, on the bed next to the pillow, and along the edges of the duvet. Olivie's phone was left abandoned on the nightstand.
"What happened here?" Aelita stuttered. She walked over to the nightstand and took Olivie's phone. The screen revealed that all of Aelita's messages were unopened.
"This is worrying," Yumi admitted. "Do you think XANA could've gotten to her somehow?"
Jeremie frowned, "I did a manual scan earlier. No active towers after yesterday evening. Whatever happened here, it's not XANA's doing."
"Well, whatever it is, we need to find and help her!" Aelita insisted.
"Where would we even begin?" Ulrich asked. "We haven't seen her since last night. She could be anywhere."
"We could ask around if anyone's seen her. Or go to the police. Or maybe she's at the factory," Aelita suggested.
Odd had another idea, "We could just wait and see what happens. She'll probably turn up sooner or later."
"Sooner or later?" Aelita repeated. "Sooner or later! What if later is too late?"
Jeremie sighed, "I know you're worried, but we shouldn't go all out looking for Olivie. What if someone gets suspicious and we're revealed?"
"We do what we always do. Return to the past, of course."
They were so invested in their conversation that they didn't notice when the door to the room opened. Olivie stared at them for a moment, completely dumbfounded.
"Umm," Olivie started, gaining the gang's attention. "What are you doing in my room?"
"Suddenly, I feel pretty silly," Aelita chuckled after Olivie explained how she'd been at the infirmary since the morning. And admittedly, the whole gang looked more or less ashamed of themselves.
"That doesn't explain the blood, though," Yumi pointed out, crossing her arms.
Olivie, now sitting on her bed under the covers, hesitated for a bit before showing her hands and answering, "I got a little hurt last night when I was walking back from the factory."
She left it at that, feeling too embarrassed to reveal the entire story. Perhaps, she would tell the details to them some other day when she fully understood her actions and feelings from last night. Luckily for her, no one pressed her for more right now.
"We should leave you to rest, then," Aelita said. "Feel better soon."
"After you've gotten better, we have a lot to talk about," Jeremie stated. Aelita threw him an upset glance, but Jeremie barely noticed.
Olivie nodded, "I know."
They were already halfway through the door when Olivie realized something.
"Wait!" she spoke up, freezing everyone in their tracks and making them turn around to face her. "Um, nurse Yolanda said that I should ask someone to bring me some food during dinner. So, I thought, maybe–"
"You can count on us," Aelita promised before Olivie could finish her sentence.
Olivie smiled, "Thank you, Aelita."
Then, they left for real, and Olivie lied down.
I don't want to be on XANA's side.
