Code Lyoko: The New Girl (BK 1)

Chapter 10

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Aelita held half a tuna sandwich to her mouth as she watched Odd and Ulrich laugh with Saphire about something. The smell of raw fish made Aelita's eyes water, or at least that was the lie she told herself.

A sister. The thought bloomed up in her mind. I have a sister?

Aelita had remained pretty quiet for the entire time Saphire had come out of the tower, introduced herself, convinced the group she was harmless, devirtualized onto Earth, fell unconscious, nearly passed out from lack of oxygen, woke up, begged for them to hear her out, namedropped her father, Franz Hopper, and then even as she explained the whole world of Lyoko they had never even anticipated, Aelita had remained clammed up. What could she even say?

There were so many thoughts swirling around in her mind. So many questions. And then a tiny glimmer of hope that wanted everything Saphire had said to be true. But the glimmer kept dying every time Yumi countered back to Saphire's words. Aelita could understand why Yumi would be unwilling to believe her.

Over her sandwich, Aelita kept a careful eye on Saphire. She sat cross-legged parallel to Odd and Ulrich. Ulrich had been busy looking up information on the different pill bottles he and Odd had smuggled from the infirmary. Every once in a while, he would pause to ask Jeremie what a certain word or side effect meant. Jeremie would then hesitantly drag his eyes from the Supercomputer screens and either offer an explanation off the top of his head or look it up on his laptop.

It was so strange seeing Saphire interact with the different things around her. When Odd handed her a chicken sandwich wrapped in thin plastic, she placed it on the palm of her hand and held her arm in the air, inspecting the sandwich from all different angles. She gave it a few sniffs and then tried to sink her teeth into a corner with the wrapper still on.

Odd guffawed at her and pulled the sandwich out of her hands before showing her how to unwrap it and then eat it. When it was unfolded in her hands, she started picking at the contents. She dipped the tip of her finger into the white bread, giving it a few pokes until she poked a little too hard and she ripped a hole right through. She pulled at the lettuce and frowned, holding it up in the air, as if it were some foreign object, which to be fair, it probably was for her.

Aelita thought back to when she first devirtualized on Earth. Everything had been so confusing and new for her as well. She felt bad when she remembered how there wasn't much pushback from the group about her devirtualization process; it was a mission the whole group was in on and had wanted to accomplish for a while.

"My parents are pissed," Yumi muttered angrily as she stalked back over to Aelita. She had gone outside after her parents called her on the phone. She had tried texting them her usual excuse for why she was gone on the weekends: she wanted to get some studying done at the library before a big exam.

"They didn't believe you?" Aelita asked, turning her attention away from Saphire.

"They did. At least, I think. But they're mad that I didn't tell them before I left. Hiroki snitched and told them I was gone when he woke up and noticed me missing." She shook her head.

Aelita didn't know what to say. Yumi's younger brother was always doing things that upset Yumi, but she still loved him. She loved him because they were a family.

Aelita's eyes stung. She pushed the other half of her wrapped sandwich towards Yumi.

"You must be hungry."

Yumi looked down at and made a face. "I don't know if I can eat before we learn the whole truth."

Aelita bit her lip. Her appetite was gone. Not that it had been very present before. Yumi was frowning in Saphire's direction. Aelita snuck a glance over and saw she was now done with inspecting her sandwich and stuffing a second one into her mouth, greedily digging into the contents.