…I stand here, looking over the vast landscape of this artificial faux-utopia that I now call home. I wonder if I ever will be able to go back home. Hell, I wonder if I will even be able to return my life to the more average state it was back then…I stand here, just wondering…wondering…

It had been nearly a full year since I had been living in France and taken residence at Kadic. This school has quite a bit of history. Though you wouldn’t realize this unless you knew what I knew. You’d think it was just another boarding school. Sometimes though it was unbearable…You know, the secrets I had to keep to protect everyone.

The day was cold and brisk. Made me want to run back to my room and crawl under the covers. Unfortunately I had already missed enough days so far. Mrs. Hertz would have probably come beating down my door wondering where I’ve been. I wandered out of the main dormitory building into the courtyard. The bell had rung just moments before and a swarm of students were already rushing towards the cafeteria. I was in no hurry though as I had more pressing matters on my mind I guess. That and I already scarfed down a few pop tarts that Kalani had left in my room the night before by accident. That was usually enough to hold me till lunch so I had a chance to sleep in more till class. Regardless, I began walking towards the cafeteria in an average pair of blue jeans and black sweat shirt while my hefty backpack was slung over my right shoulder. As I near the building, the wind had just picked up gently and began blowing the blanket of leaves on the ground from one end of the courtyard to the other, impeding my path just slightly.

Entering the cafeteria, I almost immediately begin looking around, seeing if anyone I knew had already taken a seat at a table. Of course I didn’t expect to see Aelita, Jeremie, Yumi, Odd, or Ulrich. It seemed as if XANA really had them on their toes lately. I hardly ever saw them around school on a regular basis anymore. I sometimes felt guilty though that all I did was keep the ill-informed on Earth safe when XANA decided to wreak havoc while the rest of the team did all the hard work at the factory. After I had almost nervously stood there for a few moments, looking for familiar faces, I finally spotted Wanre sitting at a table by himself off in the corner. He looked to already be occupied in his breakfast as I walked up and sat down opposite of him at the table.

“Hey. You seen your sis at all this morning?” I asked him.

He looked up at me as he finished his spoonful of cereal and waited to respond. “Yeah. Woke me up from a nice dream, too. Said she’d be in her dorm.”

I nod slightly as I shift the backpack on my shoulders and push against the surface of the table. “I figured she might need some help carrying her stuff to class with that cast and all.”

He merely grunted in answer as I finally got up and made my way for the door again. I still wondered some days how he thought of me and if he only talked to me just because his sister and I were dating. But I guess I should be relieved that he even lets me go that far with the stories I have heard from them.

But I set that thought aside and continued on my way back to the dormitories…

I walked up the stairs to the girl’s floor of the dorms, only pausing momentarily to see if Jim was afoot. I’d only imagine what hell he’d give me for even wandering up here, let alone during school hours. Arriving to the second floor, I walked catty-corner to Dorm 203 and knocked once. I could faintly hear the sound of music through the door. Only knowing how well these doors held in the noise, I cracked the door and waved a hand in to try and gather her attention. Again, there was no response. I walked in completely and closed the door softly behind me, just managing with the noise. Though oddly enough when I entered, I saw Kalani sitting on her bed reading a book with a set of earbuds in her ears on top of the music blaring into the room. But I guess I got used to this sort of thing. Her room was always well decorated. Moreso than mine. The single large window was covered with a thick black curtain that was decorated with tiny white stars and her bed was made with a black bed sheet with a purple galaxy illustrated on it. The rest of her room was decorated with a few astronomy related knickknacks. I guess I just never paid too close attention to that style stuff myself.

I snuck up behind her and gave her a soft tap on the shoulder, trying to gather her attention as cunningly as possible rather than scaring the crap out of her. I tapped her shoulder and she almost immediately turns around to face me. As she spots me, her face lights up as she chimes.

She quickly pulled the earbuds out of her ears and let them dangle at her sides. “Good morning, Chad!” she said simply in an enthusiastic tone. Greetings like these always seemed to brighten my mornings.

I smiled in return. “Hey. I just came in to check on you and see how you were doing. Seeing if you needed anything before I ran off to class.” I always seem to enjoy doing this kind of stuff for her even when it wasn’t asked of me. Maybe I had just gotten too attached. I mean, we were already going steady up to this point.

She merely nodded in answering. “Yep! Can you bring me the notes after class?” she asked me sincerely.

I nodded, the smile on my face creeping a bit wider. “Sure.” I chimed in a slightly cheerful tone before I shifted the backpack on my back to the opposite shoulder and began heading back towards the door. I opened it and promptly started out of the room not before I turned around and waved back to her. “See ya!” She waved back just before I finally exited the room. This was the last I saw her that day.

By the time I got out of the dorm building, the final bell for first period had already rang. Mrs. Hertz’s class was on the far side of the school. I had to make like track and field and sprint just to make it to class before Mrs. H got fed up with me.

I rush in the door noisily, panting from the extended run to class. I was hardly what you’d call athletic so I was in pain from the exertion. My chest felt like it was on fire. If it wasn’t for that fact, I’d actually be concerned that all the students were staring at me oddly.

“Sorry I’m…late…Mrs. H.” I stuttered violently as I leaned against the doorframe and tried to catch my breath.

Mrs. Hertz looked to be currently occupied in a book at the time I rushed in. She looked up just enough to see who I was and promptly returned to her book. “It’s ok. We’re still missing many students today anyhow.” She noted unenthusiastically.

I took this prime opportunity to quickly and quietly take my seat and blend in with the rest of the class so as not to get into further trouble. The moment I took my seat, I yanked the laptop out of my backpack and set it on the desk in front of me.

It was about halfway through the class. I finished the last bit of notes that Mrs. H put on the board and saved the small document I had open on my laptop, followed by closing it and putting the laptop away in my backpack. The rest of the class we had time to do whatever we want. Hertz was mostly focusing on notes this past week. So I sat there with my head down and began looking around the room quietly. The empty desk to my right. My friend Jesse across the aisle and the empty seat next to him. And Wanre nowhere to be seen. I had a sinking feeling that something was up. But with what I’ve seen, I get that paranoid feeling on a daily basis almost. But even so, I eagerly awaited for class to end if only to keep myself from dozing which I've been doing for the past fifteen minutes.

I jerked my head up off the desk, the ringing bell yanking me out of my dozing state. I quickly look around and notice all the students heading out of the classroom. I frantically reached for my backpack, finding it where I left it earlier on the floor at my feet. I toss it over my shoulder and run towards the door, following the last bit of students out who were still there.

I enter the dorm building from off the courtyard and turn the adjacent corner, stopping conveniently in front of the door adorned with the number of 105. Opening the door I step inside, recognizing my own familiar room immediately. The room was fairly plain. Like I said, I didn’t have much sense of style. The bed was adorned with a navy blue set of bed sheets. The only thing out of place was my leather covered journal which laid about in the center while a small doll sat on top of it. The doll was one of my own creations and resembled Kalani. It was a kind of spur of the moment project which I took on when she was simply a crush of mine. The back of the room had a simple desk and standard white desktop computer sitting in front of the window which really didn’t have any curtains on it. On the side of the room opposite the bed there was a plain 5 drawer tall dresser with an empty top. Yeah, my room was plain. As soon as I walked in, I walked over to the desk in the back and plopped down in the chair and dropping the backpack on the floor, simultaneously pulling the laptop out and setting it in my lap. Waiting for it to boot up, I glanced over the monitor for my main computer and out the window behind it. I could faintly hear the sound of sirens coming closer. But they were so faint that I just shrugged them off and returned to the laptop. Pulling up the notes again, I print them off. The nearby aging printer that I had inherited from my mother noisily whirred to life and sluggishly spooled off the notes. As I waited, I shut the laptop again and tossed it in the backpack as I stood up and impatiently waited for the notes to finish. Throwing the backpack over my shoulder, I glance out the window again just out of curiosity. Some of the students were running in the direction of the school gates I could see. I didn’t think nothing of it as the noise had soon died down in the room. I quickly snagged the printed sheets off the printer and trotted towards the door.

I walk back up the stairs to the familiar door of room number 203 and promptly knock on the door. I stand there for a few moments, waiting to hear if there’s an answer. I didn’t hear any music so she should have been able to hear the knock. Regardless, I went ahead and opened the door anyhow and stepped inside slowly. She must have fallen asleep. She was sprawled out on the side of the bed with her book open on the floor and still wearing the earbuds. I could faintly hear the music coming from the device. I wandered over with a smile on my face and kneeled down next to the bed. Putting a hand on her shoulder, I shake it gently.

“Hey. You gonna wake up?” I ask softly as I continue the motion. “I got your notes from class.”

…She didn’t respond.

“Kalani? Hey.” I continued, my voice raising a slight tone of concern. I knew she was a strong sleeper, but she at least squirmed when I tried to wake her. That’s when I looked up at her face. Her eyes. They were wide open and unmoving. They were staring somewhere off into space. But…she wasn’t moving. She was completely motionless. My heart nearly stopped for a moment. Worried, I quickly put my ear up to her chest..She still had a pulse which was good. Not really knowing what else to do at the moment, I fumbled for my cell phone and called the only real person I could trust at the moment.

“Wanre?!” I exclaimed over the phone. “Kalani’s room. Hurry…No, but it’s just as bad…I have no clue. Just hurry, ok?” I nodded and hung up as I looked back at the girl worriedly and continued to shake her gently, hoping for a miracle that she’d wake up or at least give some kind of sign that she was ok.

After what seemed like an eternity but was probably no more than a minute, Wanre finally barreled through the door. I looked up just momentarily to spot Wanre. He was breathing heavily, almost like I had done when I was running to class earlier that morning.

“What is it?” he asked through pants. My frown deepened as I turned to the girl again and shook my head in response. “I don’t know. I just came in here to give her the notes for class and found her this way.”

Wanre padded over and reached his hands in front of her face and snapped them violently…Still no response. “She’s still breathing. And there’s a pulse.” I noted.

“That’s a good sign.” Wanre responded as he smacked her cheek a bit, trying to wake her.

“Should..I call one-one-two?” I asked, trying to think of something to help the situation, already feeling somewhat helpless in that moment.

“It’d be for the best.” The boy said simply as he kept trying to wake her. I spared no time and quickly dialed the number on my cell.

“Yes? I, uhh, need an ambulance to Kadic Academy on Oakwood drive!..Yes. The dorm building. Room 203…I don’t know. She’s still got a pulse but isn’t responding.” I answered, trying to keep my voice from stuttering as I watched the two closely. The operator kept feeding me the usual expected shpiel to stay on the line and wait till the paramedics arrive and stuff like that. I didn’t really pay attention. Besides, it’s not like out of nowhere I was gonna hang up abruptly on them…Well, I take that back. If I had to hang up abruptly, I would most definitely have had more pressing matters on my hands than waiting for an ambulance.

The paramedics finally arrived and noisily rolled the stretcher into the already cramped dorm room. The bed rattled across the room and both Wanre and I stood up and aside to give them room. “What’s wrong with her?” one of the paramedics in white asked.

I could sense Wanre wasn’t exactly pleased with their question at this point. “Do you really think we would have called and said ‘I don’t know’ if we did know?!” he snapped at them. “Just get her to the hospital!”

“I don’t know really. Just found her like this. She needs to get to the hospital.” I responded calmly. I know Wanre and I have never seen eye to eye, but one thing always brought us together was we both cared about his sister. And I knew what the feeling was like in the atmosphere at that moment.

The paramedics merely nodded and rushed over to the bed. Picking her up, they place her on the stretcher and strap her in before quickly rolling her out of the door. Without any hesitation, I follow Wanre out after them.

We all end up just outside the dorm building. It looked as if they managed to get the ambulance all the way through the school grounds up to the building. As they rolled Kalani’s stretcher into the back, Wanre and I just stood back and watched almost dumbfounded. It was like a nightmare. She’s been sick before, but never that bad. As the paramedics were just about finished and were ready to close the the rear doors on the ambulance, I hesitated. Running up to them I called out loudly. “Wait! I’m going with her!” It came out unexpectedly, but the paramedics didn’t seem to mind as they motioned us in. I looked behind momentarily to see Wanre just behind me, calm and speechless. We both climbed up in the back of the ambulance on either side of the stretcher as one of the paramedics slammed the doors shut and immediately we were off with the sirens blaring.

…

There we sat in the hospital room. In a setting that you wouldn’t want to wish on anybody. Not even your worst enemy. The room was silent save for the rhythmic beeping of the EKG. Kalani was laying in one of the vacant beds with a trademark hospital gown on. A small handful of wires, an IV, and a nasal breathing tube all dangled off her like life giving umbilical cords. She still remained in her unchanging state. Both myself and Wanre sat silent in the adjacent chairs sitting next to the door, mostly staring oddly at the linoleum under our feet. I felt really bad, finally knowing what it’s like from the other side of the room. All I could think about is what had happened a few months before. I think I was in the same exact bed too. Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Kalani, and Wanre. All of them there seeing how I was doing and making sure I was alright. It never occurred to me before how much pain you could put someone through when you’re on life support in a hospital. And Wanre…He was her brother. I can only imagine what he was feeling like. Seeing as he was mirroring my pose in the adjacent chair, I was probably close enough.

A knock came at the door. I wasn’t really expecting anyone but under the circumstances I wasn’t about to go screening guests. “Come in.” I said in a sullen tone. Looking up at the sound of the door creaking open, I look up, spotting Aelita walk in.

“Hey. The boy’s told me they saw you leave in an ambulance earlier. What’d you do to yourself this time?” she said in an almost sarcastic tone. I don’t think she had yet spotted me in the nearby chair. “Oh…What happened to her?”

“I don’t know really.” I responded simply as I lifted my head a bit and looked back at the bed-ridden girl. It didn’t take long. I already heard the faint sound of another ambulance nearby as well as the sound of rushing people outside the door. Not much long afterwards a few doctors rushed in with another patient, almost knocking Aelita over as she was in the doorway. I couldn’t see the person on the bed amidst all the confusion.

“Would everyone please vacate the room?” A doctor pleaded as he attended to the new arrival. I didn’t think too much of it and walked out of the room following Aelita. Once the three of us were outside the room, I noticed Jesse across the hall sitting in a chair. Was kind of strange to see him here. He didn’t really know Kalani all that well I think. Just knew she was my girlfriend. At that point he looks up at us and quickly stands from the seat.

“Hey! Did the doctor say anything?! How is she?” he seemed a bit panicked. We all shook our heads at him.

“The doctor hasn’t said anything yet. She’s been in there for a little while.” I responded to him.

Jesse looked at us a bit oddly. “Crystal? She just got here! I came with her!” he exclaimed. Just at that point, the doctors walked out of the room.

“It’s ok to go in now.” The one said. We started to file back in the room but my attention was grabbed elsewhere as Wanre spoke up.

“My sister. And the new one you just brought in. Have you done any examinations in the ambulance? Heart rates? Pulse rates? You have any clue what's wrong with them besides the fact that they're in a coma?" he asked earnestly.

The doctor merely shook his head as he looked down at his paperwork. “No..Just the standard symptoms of comatose. That’s all I know at the moment.” He said as he already began walking down the hall. Wanre looked as if he was gonna say something more but he just shook his head once and walked back into the room.

We stepped back into the room and looked around. Jesse was already at the bed on the opposite side of the room. Looking over to the adjoined bed, I finally catch a glimpse of the adjoining occupant. Crystal’s form was laying in the bed, in a similar situation as Kalani. Lifeless and unmoving. I sat back down in my chair near the door and clasped my hands in my lap. Wanre was standing next to Kalani’s bedside, pacing the room a bit.

Aelita stood at the end of the room looking over the two patients and blinked softly. “Wow…It’s an epidemic.”

Jesse was sitting next to Crystal’s bed now. He had a cd player in his hand and was trying to set it on the bedside table.

“How nice of you to point that out.” I heard in front of me and looked up. Wanre had stopped his pacing.

Aelita remained at the end of the room and let out an audible sigh. “You know, Wanre, I’m just trying to have conversation here is all.”

Wanre turned his back to her and placed his hands into his coat pockets and continued his pacing. “Sorry.

I sat there slouched with my head facing the floor again. I didn’t particularly enjoy when bickering started. Even in that situation. I looked up after a few moments of silence to spot Jesse on the other side of the room. He had been fumbling with the CD player again in frustration. After a moment he seemed to have gotten it as a faint sound of music was heard from his direction. He sat there, looking to be enjoying himself. But his gaze seemed to tighten. His eyes staring off into space almost like the two girls. At that point I saw him frantically reach for the cords to the earbuds and yank them forcefully out of his ears. As he did, he sat there in a wobbily daze.

“Jesse?” Wanre had called out his name. He had been watching the boy boredly the same way as I.

“Ugh. Never had music do that to me before.” Jesse noted as he quickly shut off the CD player and set it back on the table. “It must be a new song. I’ve never heard it before.”

I sat there and blinked a bit. Something didn’t sit right with all of this. But I couldn’t place a finger on what.

“Maybe I just had it turned up too loud or something.” Jesse shrugged.

Wanre scoffed at him. “I don’t think loudness would do anything besides damage your ears.”

At that point, something snapped. I don’t know what. But something did. Even though I still had no exact idea what was going on. I looked up at Aelita. “Hey Princess? Where’s Einstein right now?”

“He’s still on holiday with his family, remember?” she said almost matter-of-factly. I had nearly forgotten. Holiday had just ended for most of the students. But Jeremie was still up in the mountains with his family and wouldn’t be back for another week. I glanced around the room quietly again and smacked my forehead lightly.

“Crap! I forgot my stuff is still back in my dorm!” I said as I got up from the chair. “I’ll be right back.” I said as I walked over to Kalani and kneeled over as I gave her a soft, almost mournful kiss on the forehead. I got up and slowly began back towards the door. “I promise.” …That word. ‘Promise’. It was one I should have trained myself never to use so easily. Many of my promises were never kept unfortunately.

I had walked into my dorm for about the umpteenth time that day and I quickly closed the door behind me before I ran over to the computer and plopped down in the chair and promptly tapped a few keys on the keyboard, causing the monitor to flicker to life. Nothing was amiss. The desktop was still idle and blank. I shrugged it off and stood up again, heading towards the door.

I walked back into Kalani’s room again, noticing my backpack on the floor near the bed amidst the slight mess that was left there earlier. What I didn’t notice though till I got closer was the faint and muffled beeping from my backpack. As I noticed it, I quickly took a seat on the bed and opened up my backpack, pulling the laptop out. This was obviously the source of the noise as it became more audible. Opening it up, a display showed on screen with a flashing red tower in the center of a few dozen others. I only knew too well what it meant and it explained my earlier suspicions. I quickly reached into my pocket and yanked out my cellphone.

“Jesse? Jesse! Look, I need you and Aelita to come to the factory immediately!...Yes. I can explain it better when you get there…I don’t know. Make an excuse…Ok. See you there.” I quickly hung up the phone and dropped it along with the laptop in the top of the backpack and ran for the door, grabbing onto one of the straps and forgetting to zip it back up.

I ran into the elevator, trying to keep my backpack from dumping all over the place. I slammed the button on the wall painted with a large white down arrow. The vertical door screeched closed followed shortly by a few metal sounding thuds as the elevator began descending into the shaft. The ride was always noisy. I can only guess that with the years of dormancy, the grease on the tracks must have dried up. It would certainly explain the occasional hiccup in operation sometimes. The elevator began to slow down as it neared it’s destination. I had finally gotten my backpack sorted and zipped up. Watching the large door into the lab brought back a few memories of when I first caught wind of the place. My father was on the Carthage team many, many years before. Knowing this, Aelita thought it was a good idea I joined the group in case something bad happened and they needed someone who had inside info on how the whole system worked. I kindly obliged…Which was a mistake I guess. XANA had only widened his efforts to stop us and had placed me in the hospital a number of times and near-fatally stranded me on Lyoko once or twice. Now he had Crystal and Kalani in critical condition…I shook my head violently to get the thoughts from my mind and looked back into the lab. I quickly trotted over and sat down in the raised chair.

As my body weight hit the seat, the rotating track whirred to life and sent me spinning around the holosphere to the opposite side of the room where the dangling computer console was. By the time I got my bearings, it was already displaying the general location of the activated tower. I quickly narrowed this down with a set of rapidly typed keystrokes. By that time, I heard a clatter above my head and quickly looked up. Jesse and Aelita had begun crawling down the ladder from the adjacently connected machine room.

“Why’d you come in that way?” I asked simply. Jesse jumped off onto the floor about 3 rungs up and walked over in my direction. Aelita climbed the full way down.

“I don’t exactly like that rickety elevator. Scares me.” He responded, a noticeable cringe emanating through his figure.

I shrugged a bit and began rapidly typing at the console again. A few player cards came up along with a timer. “Get to the scanner room, both of you. I’ll be along in a second.”

The two nodded and quickly jogged to the other side of the room and crawled down another ladder in the floor that led to the scanner room below. As the two disappeared, I finished my work and hopped up from the chair. At this time, the timer had already begun to count down from a minute. Rushing to the ladder, I climbed down it as fast as I could. Jesse and Aelita were already in their scanners. The moment I stepped in, the door shut with a loud thud and almost immediately the scanner began whirring to life. The experience always scared me, but not nearly as bad as the first time. Sounded like I had stepped inside the turbines of a jet engine. I had to stand still and shut my eyes tight because what always came was a blinding light all around followed by a blast of air from the floor that was more violent than you may think. But by the time the blast of air hit, the process had already begun. I began to blank out momentarily.

Soon enough my vision and thought processes returned as I ended up in the familiar blue environment. Once I was fully virtualized, I dropped like a rock onto the icy surface below, crouching involuntarily from the force. I was always kind of embarrassed of my Lyoko form. When Jeremie first virtualized me, he said something with the precognition program bugged up so I had to choose a pre-existing avatar or else I’d end up a formless ghost. Aelita and Yumi’s were out of the question right off the bat. I wasn’t too fond of Samurai’s. So that only left Odd’s. Yes. I was a purple cat. Quickly standing up, Aelita and Jesse were already there waiting. Jesse was fairly tall here on Lyoko. Had a bright white robe on and carried a large staff almost as tall as him. Aelita had the same outfit as always.

“So uhh…Which way?” Jesse asked. I looked around and pointed off towards the east where there were some large glaciers obstructing our view.

“There. It should be just behind that wall of ice.” I noted. The three of us began running off, heading through the small opening that was in the wall of ice. As we got to the other side though, A few blok’s came up from behind and fired straight at us. The shot that hit me straight in my back was enough to knock me on my knees. Though it was probably from getting caught off guard. Aelita and Jesse were already defending themselves well. I quickly rolled onto my back and aimed at one of the blok’s.

“Laser Arrow!” a trademark arrow began flying from the area in front of my wrist and went straight for the blok. Almost simultaneously, it fired back at me. I hardly had time to react. By the time I pushed myself up off the ice, the shot had hit me square in the chest with enough force to push me backwards. I slid back uncontrollably towards the edge on the slippery surface of the already narrow passage over the open digital sea. Feeling myself go over, I scramble and throw my hands out front and latch onto the ice with my claws. I felt my body dangle off the side as I firmed my grip onto the ledge.

“Jesse! Aelita!” I yelped. I already got the shcpiel from Jeremie before about what would happen if someone fell into the digital sea. I did whatever I could to keep my grip but the body heat from my hands was already starting to melt the ice under my claws. Another explosion went off nearby. I watched as a few pieces of blok fell off the edge into the sea. I could barely see her, but Aelita ran by in front of me in the direction of the tower. Jesse was still occupied I guess as I still heard shots being fired off to my right. I began to slip even further. The melted ice had dripped down my arm and onto my face, accelerating into an even stream. I could tell I didn’t have long to hold on.

“Jesse!” I yelped again.

“Hold on! I’ll be there in a second!” he called back, still attending to the last Blok.

I felt my hands slipping even further. I probably only had seconds left. The only thing that kept running through my head was the possibility of this being my last moment alive and what it would do to everyone I cared about. The thoughts had overwhelmed me so much I guess I had inadvertently lost my grip. I lapsed back to reality too late to see Jesse leaning over the edge trying to reach for me as I fell rapidly downwards. I only saw him for a short moment before my vision began to white out and the falling sensation was soon replaced with weightlessness. After a few moments, I think I must have passed out.

I didn’t know how long I was out. I just know I felt really weak. The totally white vision was still there but it had faded enough that I could see faint, undeterminable figures around me that were also an off white that easily blended in with the rest of the surroundings. Oddly enough I heard some form of techno music echoing all around me, enveloping me in what felt like a pillow of sound.

“Ugh…Where am I?” I uttered weakly, hoping for an answer from anyone. The music abruptly stopped the moment I said something, but there was no verbal response.

“J-Jesse?...Aelita? Are you there?” I called out again.

“Chad?” a voice echoed all around me. It was female and sounded familiar. It sounded like Kalani, but I couldn’t be certain through the echo’s.

“K-ka-Kalani?...I…need help.” It’s like it was taking all my energy just to speak. Every word I just got weaker and weaker.

“Chad? Where are you?! What happened?!” the voice returned, sounding a bit worried. I was slowly putting the voice to a person. Even my thought processes were being impeded drastically.

“So tired…So weak…Get…Jesse.” I uttered out as best I could. That’s the last audible thing that came across for a while. I began to slowly fall asleep in my unknown state. The weightlessness and warm sensation made it only that much easier.

“Come in!” I heard as a faint echo. It knocked me out of my light slumber. I could also hear what sounded like another voice but it was too faint to make out. I began to attempt to maneuver myself closer to the second voice but it just made me weaker. I made a rough push off what seemed like nothing and began to slowly float off. The exertion made me blank out momentarily as I did so.

“I..I’m not sure, he..I..could just hear him.” Her voice returned though didn’t seem to be aimed at me.

“Can you do me a favor Kalani?” The other voice, noticeably male, became much clearer now but still somewhat distant.

“Sure, what is it?” Kalani responded to the voice. I was still trying to piece together the male voice. The mental exertion doing nothing to help my situation.

“If you hear from him again…tell him that…I tried, and that I’m sorry.” The male voice responded, sounding real disappointed…Jesse?

“…Alright.” Kalani agreed, her voice sounding a little distressed.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure…wherever he is…that he’s fine.” The male voice came back.

It was Jesse. I could hear it. But it sounded like he was about to leave. I had to do something.

“No. Jesse!...I’m still…here!” I began screaming as loud as I could. But the more I exerted my voice, the more it seemed to chop up, my words getting lost in silence. “Get…Aelita…Retrieve…Memory!” This was just enough to send me over the edge. The pain had gotten so excruciating from the exertion that I had passed out completely.

…

“Ok, I guess.” I had slowly regained only what I assumed was consciousness. Kalani’s voice echoed around me again. It sounded a bit sullen.

“Ka-Kalani?” I called out again as best I could in my weak state.

“Chad?! Chad, you there?!” She responded with an eager tone.

“Yes. I’m still here. You hear anything from Jesse or Aelita?”

“No I haven’t. I’m sorry…Where are you?” She continued to sound worried and I couldn’t blame her one bit.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could say. But all I see is a blinding white light and that’s it. All the human contact I have here is you…Next time you talk to Jesse, tell him to go see Aelita for me about this, ok?” I responded, starting to become weak again.

“Alright. I’ll tell him…But how did you even get…wherever you are?” her voice continued to echo, sounding more distressed as it did so. As much as I wanted to tell her where I was, I couldn’t. But..What could I tell her instead?

“…Last..I remember..I was back in my room picking up my backpack..and now I’m here.” I lied as believably as I could.

“That’s weird…I wish I could do something to help……Besides talking to Jesse and Aelita and such.” She noted. One side of me wanted to just tell her the truth about anything. Maybe if she knew exactly what was going on, she wouldn’t be so worried about my predicament. On the other hand, XANA had already gotten to her once. It would only be magnified if she joined the team. Still, I felt terrible about all this.

I heard yet another voice, but this too was too faint to make out.

“I do too. Sadly the only two who could really help are Aelita and Jesse.” I responded, sighing.

“I don’t have a radio in my head, thank you!” she exclaimed, seemingly at someone else. Another voice seemed to enter the conversation. My brain kept trying to focus on all of them and only made me weaker. I was afraid I was gonna pass out again. “I’m sorry…Too…weak…I have to go…I love you.” I choked a bit.

“No wait!! Come back!!” She called out insistently. But her voice seemed to fade out a bit as I got weaker and weaker.

…

I was getting worse. I could feel it. I woke up suddenly, not realizing I had passed out again previously. I heard a few muffled voices but couldn’t make out coherent words. Like I was getting more distanced from my very existence. I just wanted to cry, but even that I couldn’t do.

“Ka..lani? I wish…there was something I could do…To get me home sooner…I…I miss you so much.” I emitted audibly, not really knowing if anyone could hear me anymore.

“Wait, no! Come back! I miss you! Stay here!” Kalani’s voice suddenly returned in a very audible level.

“I’m still here…Barely.” I strained, trying to hold onto my consciousness as best I could.

“Please try and hold on! I want to see you again!” she exclaimed and insisted.

“I promise.” I said…That word again…