Franz Hopper ran through the halls of the hospital, out of breath, just home from work. He stopped at a desk and asked "Antea... Hopper... what room..." between gasps. The receptionist looked at her list. "Room 4-22, on the 4th floor, third on your left from the elevator." He ran off, then turned and puffed "Thanks," and ran off again. The receptionist chuckled. "Maybe I'll have a man running to see me like that someday."

Franz opened the door and walked in, wheezing and gasping. He was getting a little old, but that was OK. Everything was OK now because his wife was there, and she was holding the cutest child he had ever seen. There were a few strands of pink hair on her head, and her eyes were a stunning electric green, like her father's. "Oh... I missed it," Franz said sadly, sitting in a chair to catch his breath. Antea chuckled. "It's best you did. I had a c-section anyway... probably not too pretty." Franz smiled. His wife could make the best out of any situation. "Her name is Aelita Renée Hopper," she said, smiling. "Beautiful," Franz said, walking over to see her. Little Aelita saw her reflection in her daddy's glasses and made a sort of giggle noise. Franz chuckled. "Daddy's little girl..."

Aelita was born on July 19th, 1982, in the middle of the Parisian summer. Just like the season she was born in, she was bright and happy. "She reminds me of my sister," Antea said once, with a chuckle. However, most of the time, Aelita was a child all her own. She was always giggling, she almost always behaved, and she was very smart, walking long before other kids around her age. "She takes after you," Antea said once. Franz, ever modest, just chuckled.

One day, when Aelita was a little over one, Antea was making dinner when the sound of a car coming up their driveway was heard. "Daddy's home from work, Aelita!" She said, a grin forming on her face. "Work bad," Aelita said as Franz walked in. "That's right, Aelita, work is bad- wait a minute! Franz, she spoke!" Antea said, now even happier! "Her first words!" She ran over and hugged her daughter, then her husband. Franz smiled. "That's my girl." Antea went back to making dinner, currently cutting vegetables for a salad. "How was work, by the way? What is it that you do, again?" Franz was silent for a minute, and then shrugged. "Work was fine. And I told you what I do, dear; I'm a program tester for a company in Paris." Antea nodded. "Ah, that's right... Anyway, we're having salad and then hamburgers for dinner. Except for Aelita. She gets peas." The parents chuckled, while Aelita didn't seem too happy.

A couple of years later, Aelita was three and it was Christmas time. "Oh, Franz, I was in the store the other day and I found the cutest little elf doll!" Antea said, showing Franz a doll with pointed ears and greenish-black hair. Franz smiled. "She'll love it," he said. Antea put it in a boxand wrapped it, then said "Shoo, you. I'm wrapping your things next." With a chuckle, Franz kissed her and left.

The next week, Christmas came, the whole family sitting around the tree. "You go first, Aelita," Antea said, grinning. Aelita smiled and opened the present. Inside was a little elf doll. Aelita's eyes lit up and she grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, I love it, thank you!" She said, giving each parent a hug. "What should I call him?" She asked. Franz thought. "How about... Mr. Pück? It means Goblin," Franz suggested. Aelita nodded. "Your turn, Franz," Antea said, handing him a gift. Franz chuckled and opened it. Inside was a picture frame, and the picture was of Antea, Franz, Aelita and Aelita's "Mr. Snow", the Snowman. Franz grinned. "I remember that... you had a devil of a time getting that timer set up..." He hugged his wife and set the picture on the table by his chair, grinning.

Another year passed. Aelita grew up a little, Franz grew grayer a little, and Antea grew happier. However, that would all end, one autumn night. Antea was driving home on a rainy evening. There was a large semi next to her, and it made her uneasy for some reason, it never had before. As it would seem, the budget for road repair was low that year, and there was a pothole in front of the semi. The drunken driver swerved to avoid it, and slipped on the slick road, flipping over on its side, flattening Antea in an instant. Her last thought was of her daughter.

Meanwhile, Aelita was still awake, waiting for her mommy to kiss her good night. She was getting tired, until she heard her dad crying. Aelita assumed they were tears of joy, she knew Daddy had been worried. She walked out, saying "Mommy?" But there was no Mommy, only Daddy on his knees, crying, and two very sad looking police men. Aelita ran over to her father and cried, knowing what had happened. The police men shut the door and walked away, and the two Hoppers cried together.

Soon after that, they sold their home in the Alps and moved to a suburb of Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt. With the money from their house and his salary, Franz had a smaller house built in the forest, close to a school, where Franz got a job. His work with Project Carthage- the "company in Paris" he had told his wife about- was winding down anyway, with the waning of the Cold War. Aelita turned five and entered school the next year, and she was the star pupil. Her father was very proud of her, and he was sure that her mother was, too. Aelita missed her mother very much, and laid flowers on her grave on the anniversary of her death every year.

Aelita and her father became very close in the years after the death of Antea. He taught her how to play the piano, telling her it was "like math", Aelita's best subject. Sometimes they took walks through the forest near that surrounded their home, The Hermitage. Franz would talk about how the plants worked, and about the animals, and Aelita would talk about what had happened in school that day.

On one such walk, Aelita was eight, and talking about what had happened in science class that day. "And my friend Marco was too afraid to watch when Madam Lyons dissected the sheep eye, but-" Aelita and Franz stopped. In the path in front of them, there was a wolf. It looked lost and a little underfed. Aelita clutched her father tightly. "D-don't worry, Aelita, it's just going on its' way. It won't hurt us." The wolf sniffed in their general direction, then continued on, not hungry enough to attack people. "Can we go home, daddy?" Aelita asked, still very scared. Franz patted his daughter's back. "Yes. I'll show you that song you wanted to learn."

From that point on, Aelita had a paralyzing fear of wolves. Sometimes, she would even have nightmares. The only thing that made her nightmares go away was her beloved Mr. Pück. With him in her arms when she slept, all was well. She didn't know why, perhaps it was the memory of her mother. Perhaps it was because he had elven magic. She didn't know, but Mr. Pück always made it all better. Her father seemed to think he was important as well, for he always made sure Mr. Pück was kept safe. He never explained why, and Aelita didn't dwell on the subject- Daddy could act weird sometimes.

A few years later, at age 11, Aelita entered the sixth grade, at the prestigious junior high where her father worked. Aelita made a few friends, including a very musical one named Christopher. Her favorite class was that of her father's- science. She had always loved science, and with her father it was even better. Her favorite parts were when he made a mistake on the board, and she had to correct him. After which, Franz would correct it, then say "Thank you, Aelita, and you're grounded." It was their little joke.

As a Christmas present that year, Aelita received a bicycle from some aunt of hers, on her mother's side. An odd gift to get in the winter, Aelita thought, but she loved it all the same. It was much easier than walking to school every day, and allowed her to get around easier when she wanted to go places. Once the snow melted for the first time, Aelita decided to go on a bike ride. With a warning from her father to watch for traffic, and an odd one about avoiding the River Seine, Aelita put on a jacket and was on her merry way.

Of course, being an 11 year old, she couldn't resist but ride along the river, and besides, it was beautiful, the wind in her hair, and looking at her reflection in the water. She rode as far as she could until she reached the end of the road, which was at the old Renault factory. Stopping to catch her breath, she noticed that on the bridge, there was a very familiar car. It was her father's American import car, a sleek-looking, gas-guzzling SUV, once white but in need of a wash. She recognized it from the "You can't scare me, I'm a teacher" bumper sticker. Just as she was about to go and get a closer look, she thought she heard footsteps. She sped off on her bike, not wanting to get in trouble, or kidnapped or something.

She quickly returned home, and started practicing the piano for some reason. A few minutes later, her father walked in. "Hi, daddy!" She said happily, stopping and giving him a big hug. Franz smiled and hugged his daughter tightly, and she felt him relax for a moment. But then he was back to his tense self and he said, somewhat sharply, "Aelita, did you ride near the Seine like I told you not to?" Aelita shook her head. "I rode through the forest to Kadic and back," she said. "And then started playing the piano." She could tell that her father was confused. She heard him mumble something along the lines of "I thought I saw... pink... like Antea..." But then he smiled and said "How about dinner?" Sometimes, her father confused Aelita.

Aelita was sure not to go back to the old Renault factory, although she always wondered what her father had been doing at some abandoned factory when he was supposed to be at his second job- he said it was "something with computers". "He gets out at work around then anyway..." she told herself "Maybe he was there for... getting computer stuff..." Eventually, she stopped thinking about it, because there was no point. Her father was simply too mysterious.

Spring passed, and then summer. Aelita went on plenty of bike rides, but the walks with her father seemed to decrease. Aelita tried to tell herself that it was just because she was older, and he wanted her to be more independent, but she could tell that her father was different. With each passing day, it seemed he grew more and more... mysterious. And even paranoid. By the time she was back in school for seventh grade, some days she only saw her father at school. And even then, he seemed to be distant and colder. The days of "Thank you, Aelita, and you're grounded" seemed to be gone. Aelita did not want to lose her father, so she confronted him one day about it.

"Daddy, why are you so... distant now?" Aelita asked him one day. Franz froze for a moment, then knelt down and looked at his daughter. "Aelita... I'm so sorry... I just..." He stopped, and Aelita could see tears rolling down from under his thick glasses. Aelita hugged her father, and they held each other for a long time, until Franz said "How about some dinner? I'll order pizza." Aelita smiled and nodded. Franz walked away, and she heard him grumble "That damn project... we need to get away..."

The school year passed along normally. Aelita could tell her father was making an effort on being... normal again, but it was a slow process. In fact, he was now staying longer at his weekend second job. He just said it was to augment his teacher's money, but Aelita had a lingering suspicion there was more to it. Either way, as the school year drew to a close, her father was pretty much as paranoid and strange as ever. When other people asked, Aelita always said "Geniuses are always crazy," and chuckled.

Aelita woke up one morning, and it was like every other morning. She woke up to the radio DJ telling her it was the 50th anniversary of D-Day, June 6th, 1994. Aelita loved DJs; she wanted to be one someday, deep in her heart. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and got dressed, then rode to school with her father and had breakfast there, just like every other day. Only two things were out of the ordinary: the unshakeable feeling of Déjà vu that she had had since she had gotten up, and that there was some new kid at the school for the day.

In science class, her father seemed crazier than usual- like his insanity had ballooned overnight. He was paranoid to the extreme, his gaze almost always locked on the windows outside or on Aelita. Eventually he just told them all to read the textbook and sat at his desk, staring out of the window like his life depended on it.

After that period, Franz went home, earlier than usual. Aelita continued her day, a little scared for her father. After the school day was over, she walked home. The paranoia seemed to be spreading; she felt like she was being watched, and she swore she heard wolves growling. She walked inside to her father playing the piano, more absorbed in it than usual. "Hello, Daddy," she said, with no answer. She shrugged and said "I'm going up to my room."

She went upstairs, took off her backpack and lay down on her bed, until she heard tires screeching and doors slamming. She looked outside, and there were two men in suits outside. "Daddy!" She yelled downstairs. "Men in black are here!" It seemed like this is what her father had been worried about, because he said "I know." He grabbed Aelita's hand, asked her if she knew where Mr. Pück was, and then led her downstairs. He jammed the door with a plank of wood, and then took her to the backyard, then through a doorway to a tunnel to the sewers.

Too confused to say anything, she simply followed her father until they reached a ladder. They climbed up and Aelita found herself on the very bridge she had seen her father's car on a year previously. She followed him down some stairs in the factory to an elevator. The doors opened too a room of green metal with a strange computer and a holographic globe of some sort. "Where are we?" "My laboratory," he said as he typed something on his computer. He led her again down a ladder to a room with three golden tubes. He stepped in one, and she in another, following his lead. "Where are we going?" She asked, confused. "To a world where you and I can be safe. Forever. See you in a minute, honey." As the doors shut on both tubes, Aelita said "See you in a minute, daddy."

You know the rest of the story.