It was yet another battle against X.A.N.A. in the Desert Sector, and no one would have expected what was about to happen.

Odd was up against a Krabe and the two appeared to be squaring off.

“Come on Syrus! Come and get me!” Odd taunted as he shot a laser arrow at it, disabling its far left light and chipped a bit of its shell.

“Odd, are you still naming the monsters?” Ulrich said glaring at his friend. Before Odd had a chance to answer there was a scream.

The Scyphozoa was after Aelita and she was surrounded by Bloks.

The Krabe that had been facing Odd turned when it heard the scream and started in her direction.

The Scyphozoa threw two of its tentacles around Aelita paralyzing her, then two more at her temples, and a final one at her forehead, then began draining her memory.

“Aelita!” Jeremie’s voice shouted.

The Krabe which had now approached the Bloks charged right through them knocking half into the Digital Sea and the other half on their sides except one which was frantically running in circles from the hit.

“What’s going on?” Yumi asked. “I don’t know, but let’s ask questions later, we need to save Aelita!” Ulrich replied.

Skidding from its charge, the Krabe turned and began firing its laser at the Scyphozoa while Ulrich, Odd and Yumi attacked severing the tentacles trapping Aelita.

The Scyphozoa waved its tentacles furiously as it retreated.

“Aelita are you all right?” Jeremie’s voice questioned.

“Yes, I’m alright. But what happened to that strange Krabe?” Aelita replied holding her head.

The gang looked around but it wasn’t anywhere to be seen…

Everyone was at lunch and Odd was stuffing his face and talking at the same time, going on and on about another episode of “Dr. Shrank” but no one could understand a word he was saying, nor did they really care for that matter, for all the food in his mouth.

Ulrich was about to question how anyone could possibly talk and eat at the same time when Jeremie’s laptop signaled an activated tower.

“Aww come on!” Odd whined.

“Can’t X.A.N.A. wait till AFTER, lunch to launch an attack? After that incident in the kitchen with the eggs, I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning.”

“Odd, can it will ya? Somehow, I really don’t think X.A.N.A cares whether you’ve gotten to eat or not.” Ulrich scowled.

“It could be a false alarm but we should go to the factory just to be sure.” Jeremie added.

“Good idea” Aelita replied nodding and the gang quickly headed out the Cafeteria door.

The group snuck off the campus grounds as they headed for the factory.

Taking the quickest route through the park, they came to the manhole that hid the secret passage they had used on numerous occasions to avoid being caught.

As each member of the group climbed down their feet made a hollow metallic noise as they hit the rungs of the ladder.

Once inside the factory, they each took their turns swinging down to the lower level on the ropes and quickly made their way to the elevator and down to the laboratory where the main control apparatus of the super computer was located.

“I wonder what X.A.N.A. has planned for us this time.” Yumi stated, irritated, with a look of discontent on her face.

“Well I haven’t seen any sign of X.A.N.A.’s attack yet.” Aelita stated plainly as the group walked up to the super computer.

“Well let’s hope to keep it that wa…” Jeremie’s voice trailed off as he sat down at the controls.

“What’s this?” Jeremie said sounding very confused.

“What is it? Jeremie, what’s going on?” Yumi asked starting to worry.

“I’m not sure… Hang on a minute…” Jeremie said and began typing on the keyboard then stopped to analyze the screen.

“I don’t believe this! I think X.A.N.A. is attacking his own monsters!” He exclaimed shortly after.

“WHAT? Has X.A.N.A. completely lost it? Not that I’m complaining or anything, but that’s kind of weird.” Odd said loudly and just as confused as Jeremie.

“I don’t know, but it appears to be three Krabes and they don’t seem too be happy to see each other.” Jeremie replied scrutinizing the screen carefully.

 “It’s probably a trap of some sort.” Ulrich commented coolly.

“Are you sure Ulrich?” Jeremie questioned.

“I think if this were a trap then X.A.N.A. would have tried something else, not launch an attack on his own monsters. It would be too risky on his part since none of us care if his monsters are destroyed.” Jeremie finished.

“Jeremie has a point Ulrich.” Yumi added.

“Regardless, we have a tower to deactivate. You guys go to the scanner room now and I will virtualize you onto Lyoko. The activated tower is on the far end of the Desert Sector.” Jeremie said.

Maybe we should wait until the Krabes kill each other, then we wouldn’t have to worry about them.” Ulrich replied.

“There's no time for that. X.A.N.A. could launch an attack on Earth if we wait.” Jeremie said without looking away from the supercomputer’s screen.

The four got into the elevator and Ulrich pressed a red button on the left side of the elevator sending them down to the scanner room.

Ulrich, Yumi and Odd approached the scanners first, then Aelita.

Jeremie begins hitting keys on the keyboard and the group’s stat cards flash up on the screen.

“Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Ulrich. Scanner, Aelita. Transfer, Aelita. Virtualization!”

The four landed on the virtual landscape of the Desert Sector.

“Look!” Aelita said pointing. What she saw was the three Krabes Jeremie had detected and they were apparently fighting, two of them obviously ganging up on the third, doing substantial damage to it.

“What in the world is going on?” She said after a short pause in no more than a whisper.

“Internal strife? That’s pretty pathetic X.A.N.A.” Ulrich mused.

The third Krabe, weakened from the battering it was receiving from the other two, gave a defeated growl and fell to the ground and laid there motionless but it didn’t de-materialize.

“Super sprint!” Ulrich yelled as he darted towards one of the two standing Krabes.

Odd gives Yumi a quick look and shrugs before going after the monsters as well.

Yumi and Aelita soon follow but when they caught up to them the two standing Krabes had already been destroyed and all that was left was the crippled one with Ulrich on its back ready to land the final blow on it, with Odd just staring blankly at it.

“Say your prayers Krabe.” Ulrich taunted.

The Krabe made a short growl in response but showed no indication of fighting back.

 Odd finally snapped out of his “trance” and quickly looked between Ulrich and the Krabe. 

“Ulrich wait!” Odd shouted.

Startled and confused, Ulrich paused with his sword mid-blow and looked at him strangely.

“Ulrich, don’t destroy it.” Odd said with almost an air of sadness in his voice.

“Odd? Are you feeling ok? It’s just a Krabe.” Ulrich asked, quite confused.

Aelita and Yumi too dumbstruck to speak just stared at him with strange looks.

Trying to defend himself Odd spat back “Come on look at it! It can’t even move! It can’t defend itself… I don’t think that’s really fair.”

“Fair?” Aelita finally managed to say. 

“Odd it’s a Krabe, it’s our enemy.” Aelita continued.

“X.A.N.A doesn’t play fair, Odd.” Yumi added.

“I know, I know. It’s just… It was just beat up by its buddies. I kinda feel sorry for it.” Odd said rubbing the back of his head which was tilted toward the ground though he was looking at the Krabe out of the corner of his eye. 

The Krabe suddenly started to move a little.

Startled, Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich quickly took a few steps back as the Krabe slowly and shakily stood up to its full height, which seemed to be a bit shorter than the rest of the Krabes they had encountered.

“Great.” Ulrich mumbled unhappily.

“You happy Odd? It can defend itself now.” Ulrich finished, readying his sword for another attack and pointing it at the Krabe.

“Wa..Wait! I..It’s not attacking..” Odd said trying to find an excuse for his friend not to attack it.  

“What do you want me to do, Odd? Wait till it tries to kill me?” Ulrich replied hotly.

“Well no… bu.. but..” “But what, Odd?!?” Ulrich said angrily, cutting him off.

“What has gotten into you Odd?” Yumi asked with concern for her friend.

The Krabe was now standing over them shakily and took a few steps back seeming somewhat interested in their argument.

Ulrich glared at it not knowing what to do since Odd was so determined to keep it from being destroyed.

“What’s your problem?!?” Ulrich yelled angrily at it.

At his remark the Krabe jumped back a little in a rather Kankrelat like fashion.

Odd looked at the Krabe and started to walk closer to it.

The Krabe nervously stepped backwards and made a short growl.

“Hey it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” Odd said trying to reassure it as though it was an abandoned kitten.

“Odd? What are you doing? Yumi asked, her eyes growing wide.

“I don’t think it wants to hurt anyone.” Odd said taking another step closer.

“It’s probably trying to trick you, Odd! Get away from it!” Ulrich warned but Odd just ignored him and stopped right in front of the Krabe.

The Krabe stood motionless as though fear glued it to the spot it was standing on.

“Its ok buddy I won’t hurt you.” Odd said again and reached out to touch it.

After a short pause the Krabe reached out with its front right claw and tentatively touched Odd’s outstretched hand then quickly retracted it and backed up a little more.

Odd smiled. “She’s friendly.”

“She? What’s with this “she” all of a sudden?” Yumi questioned.

“Yeah, Odd. I think you’re getting a little too attached to it.” Aelita said.

The Krabe growled and stomped its left front claw a few times. “I think she’s tired of being controlled by X.A.N.A.” Odd said unhappily.

“Ulrich, I think we need to destroy it before Odd gets any more attached to it than he already is.” Yumi said, annoyed with Odd’s behavior.

“Aww come on guys! This isn’t fair! Shouldn’t I at least get a say in this?” Odd pleaded.

“No, Odd!” Everyone shouted.

“Come on can’t we let it be on our side or something?” Odd asked desperately.

“What!? No! Odd, it’s a monster created by X.A.N.A. We are not…Just no! Ok?” Yumi replied agitated.

Odd turned to face the Krabe again.

“Well… I guess it was nice knowing you pal.” Odd said to it dejectedly patting its right claw.

The Krabe made a light whine noise like the sound of a guitar string being pulled too tight.

“Odd, come on don’t do this, Ok? It’s just a monster and that’s all.” Ulrich complained.

“Wow this thing is really messed up. It thinks we’re its friends or something.” Yumi said almost feeling bad for it.

“I know. It’s actually making it harder to kill.” Ulrich muttered.

“Please don’t kill her. Come on, look at her. She’s completely miserable…” Odd whined, gesturing to the Krabe.

“Again with the “she”. Odd, we don’t even know what gender it is. It probably doesn’t even have a gender, it’s an it. A cold lifeless machine.” Yumi replied.

“Technically it’s not even that. It’s just a program.” Aelita added.

The Krabe started to back up slowly.

“Hey don’t go. They didn’t mean it like that. You’re not cold and lifeless..” Odd said.

“Odd this is going too far. You’re treating it like it’s your dog Kiwi or something.” Yumi said.

“Well, you’re hurting her feelings.” Odd said.

“Krabes don’t have feelings.” Aelita replied.

The Krabe stamped its left claw in response to Aelita’s comment. 

“See? What did I tell ya?” Odd said trying to prove his point.

The Krabe began to bat Odd lightly on the shoulder.

“I think your Krabe likes you.” Aelita said stifling a laugh.

“Huh? MY Krabe? Since when did she become my Krabe?” Odd asked getting flustered.

“Since the moment you decided to be nice to it, when usually you wouldn’t even think twice about destroying one.” Yumi replied crossing her arms.

The Krabe still bating at Odd hit him a little too hard this time knocking him to the ground.

“Hey! Come on! Cut that out!” Odd shouted at it as he stood back up which caused the Krabe to shrink back and lie down with its legs tucked underneath it and proceed to make low growling noises.

“Guys, what’s going on out there? Have we forgotten about the activated tower?” Jeremie’s voice called.

“No, Jeremie, but you’re not going to believe this. This Krabe is acting so strangely.” Aelita said giving the Krabe a strange look which it didn’t seem to respond to.

“What are you talking about, Aelita?” Jeremie asked.

“Well, it’s a kind of hard to explain… It’s...” Aelita fumbled looking for the right words.

“It’s obviously malfunctioning or took too many hits to the hard drive.” Ulrich finished.

“And it seems to have taken a liking to Odd.” Yumi added with a slight grin.

“What? That’s really weird. What is it doing now?” Jeremie asked curiously.

“Nothing really, its just sitting here with its legs tucked underneath it. I’ve never seen a Krabe get into such a weird position.” Aelita responded.

Odd had approached the Krabe again and was tapping on its shell and saying “Hey buddy, are you ok in there?” while waving his hand in front of it to see if it would respond, which did every once in awhile with a short growl or a strange noise that sounded similar to the one a Manta makes. 

“As much as I hate Krabes, it looks like your “pal” there isn’t in great condition. I think it would be the right thing to do, to just let me put it out of its misery.” Ulrich commented trying to convince Odd to let him take it down, whom didn’t respond.

After a brief silence Odd said quietly “Guys...” Before he had a chance to finish Ulrich butted in again.

“Odd, if you’re thinking what I think your thinking then forget it!”  “What!? I haven’t said anything yet!” Odd said defensively, though he knew that Ulrich probably knew what he was about to ask.

“You were going to ask if there was a way to save it from X.A.N.A.” Ulrich argued back.

“Come on guys. Please?” Odd begged smiling sheepishly.

“No, Odd, that is the dumbest idea you have ever had, we can’t risk it.” Ulrich fumed.

“Actually… Now that I think about it, it might not be a bad idea.” Yumi said, sighing, considering the situation.

“Yumi, not you too!” Ulrich groaned. “Well think about it, Ulrich. It might know something about X.A.N.A. that could help.” Yumi started.

“And having a Krabe on our side should definitely give us an advantage.” Odd finished hoping to sway his friend.

The Krabe’s two working lights flickered briefly.

“Even so, how would we learn anything from it? It can’t speak.” Ulrich argued.

“I don’t know, but hey, come on; the Krabe has to be cool if X.A.N.A. wants it destroyed so badly.

And not to mention I bet it would really get him angry if we saved it!” Odd said with grin. “Odd you’re impossible.” Ulrich said gritting his teeth.

Odd was now looking at the Krabe again when Jeremie’s voice replied “As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Yumi, any information we could get out of it might actually prove to be useful.”

“And how exactly do you expect to accomplish that?” Ulrich asked.

Jeremie pondered for a moment.

“I’ve got it! What if I could temporarily recalibrate the materialization program to bring the Krabe to Earth? Then, Odd gets to keep his Krabe and we get information.” He finally replied.

“Jeremie, please tell me your joking, right? The Krabe will destroy a scanner if it’s materialized, we can’t sacrifice a scanner for a stupid Krabe. Not to mention that still wouldn't work.” Ulrich moaned.

“Actually no, im not joking, and who said anything about materializing the Krabe in the form it’s in now?” Jeremie replied.

“Wait so you’re saying…”  Odd queried slightly puzzled. 

“That’s right; I think I can materialize it into human form.” Jeremie replied with a smug look on his face that the group couldn't see.

“What!?” Aelita and Yumi replied in unison.

“A human? Are you crazy?” Aelita finished still shocked at what Jeremie had just said.

“Well, I’m actually not one hundred percent sure it will work, but, I think it’s worth a try. If we leave the Krabe here it will be deleted by X.A.N.A. anyway, so we don’t have anything to lose trying it.” Jeremie stated leaning back in his chair.

“Jeremie, what if it goes back to X.A.N.A.’s side after being materialized?” Aelita asked worriedly.

“Then it will be just like none of this ever happened, but judging by how it’s acting, I really doubt it will want to go back to him.” Jeremie replied.

“Maybe we should ask her if she wants to come first. I mean this would be a pretty big change for her.” Odd said watching the Krabe.

Ulrich raised an eyebrow but refrained from saying anything.

“So what do you think? You wanna join us?” Odd asked turning to the Krabe.

The Krabe stood up and gave him a questioning growl. “You know.. Come to Earth with us, though of course you would have to become a human.” Odd said to it hoping for any kind of a response that he could interpret as a yes.

The Krabe took a few steps toward him then turned away for a minute as if having second thoughts about it but turned to face him again and took a few more steps forward.

“I don’t believe this.” Ulrich said shaking his head with his hand over his face.

“This is insane, not only are we about to materialize a Krabe, but I think it actually wants to go.” Yumi said still shocked.

 “I’ve just about got the program recalibrated, so Yumi, you and Aelita get to the tower and get it deactivated. Ulrich, Odd, I’m going to re-materialize you two before I initiate the Krabe’s materialization process.” Jeremie pressed a few keys on the keyboard.

“Materialization Odd, Materialization Ulrich.” Jeremie paused for a second hesitating before pressing another key. “Materialization… Krabe..” Jeremie finished typing and Odd and Ulrich’s bodies disappeared as they were transferred back to Earth.

The two boys stepped out of the scanners and waited tensely for the Krabe’s arrival.

“Do you think this will work?” Odd asked Ulrich.

“How should I know?” Ulrich replied shrugging.

After a few moments the middle scanner’s doors shut abruptly.

Startled, both boys turned their attention to the scanner as it began to smoke as the doors slid open and a kid of about Ulrich and Odd’s age with very short rusty orange hair, small round glasses, a small scar above his left eyebrow, and a rusty orange hooded sweater with brown sleeves, and brown half-finger gloves, brown pants with an orange triangle on the back from the knees down, and brown shoes, collapsed to the ground in front of them.

The boys looked at each other in disbelief.

Odd walked up to the unconscious Krabe and knelt beside it.

“Hey, is that you buddy?” Odd asked, tapping the Krabe lightly on the shoulder.

No response.

Getting a little worried Odd began shoving his new friend trying to wake him up.

“I guess he didn’t make it.” Ulrich commented sounding a touch disappointed.

“No... He can’t be dead…” Odd said solemnly. 

“I’m sorry Odd.” Is all Ulrich said as Odd stood up from sitting beside the Krabe.

Minutes passed and still the Krabe didn’t move from its position on the floor.

“Nnngg.” Hearing the moaning Odd turned to look for its source which led him to the Krabe who was now weakly trying to move.

Ulrich’s cellphone rang, it was Jeremie.

“Ulrich?” Said Jeremie’s voice from the phone.

“Yeah Jeremie?” Ulrich replied.

“How did it go? Did the materialization program work on the Krabe?”

“To my surprise, I think so. He seems really weak right now but I think he’s going to be ok.” Ulrich said watching Odd who was now trying to help the Krabe to sit up.

“Remember me?” Odd asked with a grin.

The Krabe not saying anything replies with a weak smile letting Odd know he was recognized.

“I don’t believe it! That’s great Ulrich! Maybe now we can get some answers from it.” Jeremie replied excitedly. 

“Yeah that would be nice. I have to admit I’m a little curious as to its strange behavior.” Ulrich said.

“Yeah same here. Anyway Aelita has deactivated the tower so the girls should be there any minute now.” Jeremie said.

“Ok Jeremie.” Ulrich replied hanging up his phone.

Wide eyed, the Krabe looked around the room at its new surroundings.

Startled by the sound the scanners were making the Krabe turned to look in their direction as Yumi and Aelita stepped out.

“Who is that?” Yumi said when she saw the Krabe who was now sitting up cross-legged.

“Is that… the Krabe?” Aelita asked astonished.

“Yeah, believe it or not, it is.” Ulrich replied.

“Hey, do you have a name?” Odd said looking back at the Krabe.

The Krabe looked at him and seeming to be adjusting to speak replied in a quiet, yet obviously feminine voice.

“My name is AO 15-3.”

“It can speak.” Ulrich said with slight surprise. 

“Ah ha! You are a girl!” Odd exclaimed.

The Krabe moved back a little from Odd’s sudden burst of excitement. 

“I knew I was right, I just know these things.” Odd continued.

“Alright Odd, we get it, you were right.” Yumi replied aggravated.

“Well, she’s going to have to have a new name. AO 15-3 doesn’t exactly sound human.” Aelita said, crossing her arms.

The Krabe looked at Aelita and processing what she had just said, tried to think of a human name.

“If, I must change it, can my new filename be.. Syrus?” She replied after thinking of the only name that she knew of.

 “That sounds good to me.” Yumi said giving her a smile.

Confused, Odd asked “Where did you hear that name?”

“You called me that once on Lyoko.” Syrus replied.

“Contemplating what she just said Odd replied wide eyed, “Wait, you’re THAT Krabe?”

“Odd, do you know her?” Aelita asked.

“Yeah, Aelita, I think she is the Krabe that saved you from the Scyphozoa.”

“What? Are you sure?” Aelita asked surprised.

Odd started to respond but Syrus cut him off. “Yes I was.” She replied her voice a little shaky.

“I don’t understand. Why did you save me?” Aelita asked confused.

“I didn’t want to see you hurt. And X.A.N.A. would have used you to destroy the Desert Sector.” Syrus replied looking a little proud of herself.

“Thank you. That was very nice of you to risk your life to save me.” Aelita said.

“I don’t get it, why would a Krabe care about Aelita’s safety?” Ulrich questioned skeptically.

Made uncomfortable by his comment Syrus just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

“What amazes me is the level of artificial intelligence she had managed to achieve before being materialized.”  Jeremie said as he walked out of the elevator and into the room.

“Your right, it’s not like X.A.N.A. to program a monster that can think on its own.” Aelita responded.

“That’s because he didn’t.” Syrus replied looking at the floor trying to avoid eye contact with the others.

“What do you mean by, “He didn’t.”?” Jeremie questioned curiously.

“X.A.N.A. didn’t program me like this... I don’t even know how it happened. But I think something weird happened to me when I fell into the Digital Sea.” Syrus replied with a look on her face that was somewhere in the middle of seriousness and puzzlement.

“Wait... You fell into the Digital Sea? How did you survive that?” Yumi asked surprised.

“I’m not even sure really. I’m assuming X.A.N.A. pulled me out before I was completely re-formatted, but I don’t know for sure.” Syrus replied still looking at the ground.

“I don’t think X.A.N.A. would be that nice.” Ulrich retorted.

“Earlier, you said you helped Aelita because you didn’t want to see her hurt, but that still doesn’t explain why you did that. I mean, X.A.N.A. programs his monsters to obey him, and any other Krabe would have had no problem attacking Aelita, but you saved her. Why?” Jeremie inquired.

Syrus just sighed and laid her head on her arms which were propped up on her knees. “Come on! You can tell us! Odd prodded nudging her on the shoulder.

“The fact is, I don’t know… I’ve been really buggy ever since that incident, But I’ve never once had any thoughts of helping you humans until that day when the Scyphozoa attacked Aelita.”

Syrus said sadly staring at the floor.

“Hey its ok, we’ll figure it out.” Odd said trying to comfort her and leaning over to look at her face which was now buried in her knees.

“I just don’t know what came over me. I just felt like I had to save her. It was almost as though X.A.N.A. had ordered me to do it, even though I know he did not.”

“That’s really strange.” Yumi stated.

“Yes, but lets not worry about it too much now. She obviously doesn’t remember what happened so there really isn’t much point in pursuing the matter further.” Jeremie replied.

“So now that she’s here, what are we going to do with her?” Ulrich asked.

“The same thing we did for Aelita. We’re going to have to get her enrolled into the school system.” Jeremie replied looking at Ulrich now.

“Jeremie’s right, we can’t just leave her out here all by herself and its getting kinda late as it is.” Yumi said.

“Boy, time sure does fly when you’re saving a Krabe from certain death.” Odd commented lightly.

“School?” Syrus inquired curiously.

“Yeah, it’s the place that traps kids and forces them to do hours upon hours of boring pointless assignments till their brains rot and fall out!”  Odd joked with a slight chuckle.

“What?!” Syrus exclaimed with a sudden rising fear.

“Odd!!” Ulrich growled.

“Hey, hey, I was just kidding, come on; can’t you guys take a joke?” Odd replied sourly. “WE can, but Syrus doesn’t know one way or another. For all she knows, everything we tell her is the truth.” Yumi scowled.

“Its ok Syrus, Odd is just being a nitwit like always, school isn’t that bad. You’ll be just fine.” Aelita reassured her.

“Well, there’s not much point sitting around here all night.

We should probably get a move on, I should be heading back home soon and you guys should probably get back to the school.” Yumi stated.

Calming down a little Syrus sighed and began trying to stand up, using the scanner next to her for support.

“Here, let me help you.” Odd offered, extending a hand to her.

Not knowing what he wanted her to do, Syrus just looked at his hand curiously but continued to try and balance on her own, only to fall flat on her face soon after.

“Are you alright?” Yumi asked with a slight laugh, a moan being her only answer.

“Come on...” Ulrich said walking over to her. Both him an Odd lifted her up from either side setting her on her feet. Syrus wobbled a little bit but managed to stay up this time. “Thank you.” Syrus replied quietly. “Hey, no problem!” Odd said with a grin.

“Wow, your even shorter than Odd!” Ulrich remarked looking at Syrus whom stood about two inches shorter than Odd.

“Hey, your right, I’m not really used to that.” Odd commented.

“I imagined a Krabe would be taller than that as a human.” Yumi stated with slight surprise.

“Yeah, so did I, but she did look a little shorter than average Krabes, though it could have just been me. Anyway, let’s go.” Aelita said heading for the elevator.

The rest of the gang turned and headed for the elevator as well, Odd keeping close to Syrus in case she were to fall again.

Once in, Jeremie pressed the button to his left.

Syrus looked around uncomfortably as the doors began to close. Yumi placed her hand on Syrus’s shoulder to comfort her as the elevator started to move up.

“So. How does it feel being a human?” Yumi asked trying to take her mind off of whatever seemed to be bothering her.

“I never thought you humans could do it.” Syrus replied quietly, holding her hands up to look at them.

“Yeah, neither did I. Jeremie’s capable of some pretty mind blowing stuff.” Yumi replied.

Reaching its destination, the elevator came to a stop and the doors moved away from one another.

Everyone walked out of the elevator, but Syrus stalled as she analyzed her new surroundings.

“Hey are you coming?” Aelita asked.

Snapped out of her daze by Aelita speaking to her she hurriedly walked out of the elevator.

Odd helped Syrus up the steps as the gang headed for the factory entrance.

Very curious about this new world, Syrus ran to the entrance excitedly only to stop and look out with bewilderment.

“What are you thinking Syrus?” Aelita asked wondering what the Krabe thought of their world.

“It’s…. So different…” Syrus finally managed to say.

“Yeah, it’s nothing like you’re used to huh?” Yumi said in a gentle voice. “No… It really isn’t.” Syrus replied quietly.

“This is going to be great! We’re going to be good buddies, just you see!” Odd exclaimed excitedly, nudging her roughly almost knocking her down.

Syrus managed an uncomfortable smile.

“Well Syrus, this is your new home and tomorrow we’re going to get you enrolled at Kadic.” Yumi said.

“Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.” Ulrich moaned.

“Where is she going to stay till tomorrow?” Aelita asked. “I can probably convince my parents to let her stay for the night. Hopefully they won’t mind.” Yumi replied looking over at Syrus who was now staring up at the clouds that were floating across the yellowing sky.

“Yeah that will be a barrel of laughs. It’s too bad I won’t be able to be there.” Odd teased.

“Yeah well it’s a good thing you won’t be. It will be awkward enough without you.” Yumi retorted.

“Hey!” Odd yelled in response.

“Well, we had better get back to the dorms.” Aelita said.

“Yeah, good idea Aelita.” Ulrich replied.

“I will see you guys tomorrow.” Yumi said waving as she turned to leave. Syrus following shortly after turned to look over her shoulder with a look of uncertainty.

“Don’t worry Syrus, Yumi is a nice person.” Aelita reassured her.