Sorry for the late update. This is still not complete, but I at least updated it and I thought you guys waited long enough

The Next Day

Jeremie sat in class with apprehension building up inside of him. Ulrich did not return to his room last night, and he has not yet heard from him. Also, the brunette has yet to appear for the first period. Even though the brunette does not have the best grades in Kadic Academy, he was always punctual, mostly thanks to that annoying alarm clock that his father gave him. The blonde genius was worried that something had happened at the abandoned factory.

The science teacher, Suzanne Hertz, has just started taking attendance. Each time the elderly teacher called out a name, Jeremie would look at the door, hoping his friend would walk in soon. Thanks to his name being 'Stern', Ulrich is among the students who are usually called last, which the brunette is grateful since he sometimes cuts it close to being marked late due to oversleeping when he forgot to set his alarm. Jeremie really hope that was the case

"Stern?"

Sadly, it was not so.

Jeremie gulped as he bowed his head down. His friend was late.

"Stern?" The female teacher looked up from her clipboard to look at Ulrich's assigned seat. He was not there. She sighed while shaking her head in disappointment. "First failing my class, now not coming to it?"

Jeremie frowned from the tone of her voice. Even though the brunette boy does not have the best grades, but he is not that bad as the female teacher perceives him to be. He saw that she was about to mark him absent. He decided to take a stand.

"Mrs. Hertz, ma'am?" He called out. This caused some of the students to look at him since the bespectacled boy rare speaks up other than to answer a question.

The teacher stopped what she was about to do to look at her outstanding student.

"Yes, Jeremie. What is it?" She asked with curiosity in her voice along with some tenderness to show her liking for the blonde genius.

Jeremie shyly lowered his head, but kept eye contact with the teacher.

"Ulrich Stern, he...uh...he went to the infirmary, I believe." He told her the lie that he just came up with.

"You believe? What do you mean" She asked, wondering what he meant by that?

Jeremie cringed a little; he did not mean to add that last part. With all his mental strength, he pushed back his nerves before he continued. "I saw him on the way here, but he didn't look well. So logically speaking, he must be in the infirmary."

Mrs. Hertz believed him. In her mind, Jeremie Belpois is a splendid and brilliant student. There is no possibility he would stain his reputation by lying to the teacher; especially to cover for one of her troubled students. She marked Stern late rather than absent before continuing with the class attendance.

Jeremie took a big sigh of relief. He then looks back at the door, wondering if Ulrich came back last night at all.

Ulrich did actually come back last night to his designated dorm room. When he got back on school grounds, he spotted Sissi searching for him, no doubt to harass him for missing their 'scheduled date.' Luckily, he managed to evade her. When he finally came back to his dorm, he saw his new roommate snoozing away with his dog next to him. Also, his side of the room was cleaned up along with fresh clean sheets for his bed.

At least his new roommate was considerate.

After seeing the girl inside the computer, his brain took a considerable long moment to process it. He soon decided to leave the area and forget what had occurred at the abandoned factory. He left the factory, but he has yet to forget the girl. The last thing he heard from her was her calling out to him, asking him to wait. His mind was on rewind, going back to that very moment of meeting the girl face to face, albeit through a screen, and him leaving soon after.

"Who-who are you? Where am I?" Her words repeated over and over again in his mind.

She sounded so confused. It worried him.

How the hell does he deal with this situation? He asked himself.

The brunette did not sleep when he got back. He just could not get his mind out of the girl, and before he knew it, it was already morning. Odd has already left for class, so now it was just him and Kiwi in the room. Ulrich was thankful that the dog was being quiet the whole time his master was gone.

Speaking of being gone, he should also leave the dormitory. Jim, doing his job, will be coming soon to check the dorm rooms, to see if any students were still there. The brunette really does not want to deal with classes right now.

He quickly and silently left the building before the gym teacher appeared.

Not wanting to be seen, Ulrich sneaked out into the woods by the park. He wandered around the trees for a good hour. Comically, he finds himself walking into some trees because his mind was still on the girl inside the computer.

Why was his mind so worked up on this girl? For all he could know, it is just some kind of computer game. In the back of his mind, he knew that probability was false. He also knew that this will continue if he does not confront this. After contemplating for another moment, he headed towards the manhole.

"I hope I'm not going to regret this." He prayed.

As he continued towards his destination, the girl's face flashed into his mind. He frowned as he remembered seeing and hearing her confused and scared voice. He may not know much about computers, but he knows when someone is in distress.

He quickened his pace.

After the boy left, the girl inside the computer was left completely alone, where ever she was. From what she can tell and from what she knows, she is currently inside a tall and cylindrical structure, like some sort of tower. The tower was empty save for the platform, that covers mostly the area of the structure, she was on. The wall of the structure was decorated with what appears to be computer screens with codes of 1's and 0's, which disappear as soon it was filled up with said numbers before another one replaces it. Other than that, she has no clue why she was there and who that boy was.

She tried calling out for the boy in the hope that he comes back, but he never did. She did not know long since she was left alone, and that fact alone frightened her. She just came into consciousness not knowing who she was and where she was. Afraid of what to do, she just sat on the platform with her knees against her chest. Every time and then, she calls out with a-

"Hello?"

The girl let out a small gasp as a screen appeared in front of her, the same screen that appeared when she first woke up. Like last time, the same boy was also on the screen, and instead of having a confused look, his expression was very stoic.

The pinkette stood up, and the screen rose up with her to level with her eyes. She tried to come up with words to say, but they all died in her mouth.

Ulrich was also hesitant, but he manages to speak up. "Just say, "Hello." He kindly told her, noticing her distress.

The girl snapped out of her small confusion and nodded. "Hello." She greeted with a small wave of her hand before continuing. "Who... who are you?"

The young man took a moment to consider answering that question. After seeing that there will be little consequences, he answered.

"Well to start, my name is Ulrich."

"Ulrich?" The pinkette repeated in order to memorize his name and to see if she heard him correctly.

Said boy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's my name. Now that I told you mine, it's your turn."

She nodded before opening her mouth to answer, but soon stopped as a question popped into her head.

What is her name?

"I... don't... know."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know my name." She told him with sadness in her voice that matches her frown. She was so scared of her unknown location and being alone, it never occurred to her what her name was. Ulrich broke his stoic expression, he lets out a frown. She continued with panic in her voice, "I don't know where I am! Why am I here? Who am I?" Her voice grew frantic with each question.

This almost made Ulrich teared up.

"You're asking the wrong person." He told her with a sigh. "I don't even know who or what you are."

That appeared to have been the wrong thing to say at the moment as it only made the girl even more depressed. She started shaking, and instinctively, she hugged herself in order to calm herself. Her mind was a complete blank, she did not know what to think or even do at the moment.

Ulrich did not make her feel worse, but she deserved to know. "I...might know WHERE you are." Although he was not so sure with the answer to that question.

The pinkette's eyes widened, giving him a clear view of her emerald green eyes. "You do?"

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah... but you'll probably not going to believe me." The girl inside the computer gave him a pleading look. "You're inside a computer."

The girl's widened in complete shock, "What?"

"You're inside a computer." He repeated, even though it pained him to say that. The distraught look on her face was too much for anyone to bear.

"I... I don't understand." She questioned, trying to make heads or tails with her situation.

Back at Kadic Academy, with Jeremie

Suzanne Hertz's science class just ended for the day. The students immediately started to leave her class to enjoy their small break. Jeremie was the last one out of the classroom, and once he left the room, he started calling Ulrich. He texted him earlier during class, which thanks to being an outstanding student he was not caught with his phone, to inform him of his attendance situation, but the athlete has yet to reply to his text.

His call did not go through. The blonde sighed as he put away his phone

"Hey! You!"

The volume of the scream made Jeremie jolt in freight. Turning his head, he saw the commotion, which has already attracted a large crowd. Curious, he joined the crowd after weaving his way to the front. From the voice alone, he can tell the one who screamed was Sissi, but he did not know the poor fellow being screamed at.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Odd said in confusion. One minute he was heading to the quad, and the next thing he knew a hand grabbed his shoulder, which turned him around to an enrage female. Now that he got a good look, he recognizes the girl. The girl who seemed close to his roommate. "Aren't you Ulrich's girlfriend?"

Jeremie stuck his tongue out in disgust. He may not have any experiences with crushes, but any male who is interested in the headmaster's daughter must have low standards. "The day she gets together with Ulrich is the day when the world ends." He commented with a whisper.

The person next to him chuckled along with a few others who heard. "Heh~ Good one, Belpois."

"You damn right, I am," Sissi said to Odd. "Now, what have you done with him?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb." Sissi continued. "It isn't just a coincidence that the day after you enrolled to this school, Ulrich just so happened to get sick."

This only confused Odd more. "So you think I have something to do with Ulrich not coming to class? That's crazy talk!"

"No, that's Sissi talk." Jeremie joked, which brought more laughter into the crowd. He received complimentary pats on the back, which made him blush out of embarrassment.

Sissi did not hear Jeremie, but the laughing crowd did irk her. She decided to ignore them, and continue with her interrogation. She grabbed Odd by the collar and pulled him close to her.

"I swear if you had anything to do with this, I'll have my father expel you!"

"Okay, I was wrong! You're not Ulrich's girlfriend!" Odd shouted with anger in his voice, not liking this girl anymore like everyone else in school. Well, almost everyone. "I mean, who would go out with a wackjob like you!"

"WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RACKET!" Came the booming voice of Jim Morales.

His appearance to the scene caused the crowd to quickly disperse, everyone running to avoid getting punished. Due to not having a physique body, Jeremie could not run fast enough, but he did hide behind a trash bin which he manages to do thanks to his small frame. Both Odd and Sissi were then taken by Jim roughly by their arms.

"Hey! I'm totally innocent here! She's the crazy one." Odd protested.

"Don't listen to him, Jim." Siss insisted. "He's the reason that-"

"Quiet! I don't want to hear another word from both of you until we get to the principal's office. You can tell him everything you need to say." He stopped for a moment to look behind him. "Belpois, as a witness, you'll be coming with us."

Surprised, Jeremie jumped up from his hiding spot before following Jim to the principal's office.

Meanwhile at the Factory, with Ulrich

Ulrich has told the girl in the computer everything he knew about her situation despite how little it was. He told her about the supercomputer that she was apparently in, where he found it, why he came there in the first place, and what he has seen so far. Right now, he was leaning back on the mechanized chair, waiting for the pinkette to process everything while he was looking around the room to pass the time.

"So what does that make me?"

Ulrich looks back at her. "Huh?"

"If I'm a being inside a computer, what exactly does that make me?"

The athlete took a moment to think up an answer. This is a question that Jeremie would perfectly respond with a long and detailed answer, but the blonde genius was not there. However, over the times he got to know the blonde genius, he learns a thing or two about computers from that alien rabble that Jeremie speaks fluently.

Now that he thinks about it, Jeremie always brings up this phrase whenever he talks about advanced robotics and supercomputers.

"An artificial-intelligence."

His answer made the girl inside the computer widen her eyes. She does not feel comfortable with that answer at all.

"A-artificial intelligence?" She repeated.

Does that mean she is not real?

Ulrich noticed her distress. "Hey...it's okay."

She looked at him with a distressed expression, looking like a lost little puppy that was harshly kicked. Ulrich sighed, he honestly does not know what to do here. Thinking quickly, he asked her.

"Where are you?" He got a confused look from her, "I mean, I know you are inside a computer, but where you INSIDE the computer?" Hopefully, this should shed some light on her situation.

He brought up a good question. Where is she in this supercomputer? Maybe they could look for information that is stored inside this supercomputer, perhaps even information about her. Looking around, she took her time to analyze her surrounding.

"I think I'm in some sort of tower."

That did not sound much help. "Is there any way I can see what you see?" He can see the artificial girl, so should he at least see her surroundings? He thought of pressing some buttons but was afraid of what might happen without any insights. He considers himself the least tech-savvy person in the whole world, only knowing how to use a mobile phone and send emails.

The artificial girl thinks for a minute. If she is a part of this supercomputer, then she could at least interact with it, right?

"Hold on, let me see what I can do." She told him. Closing her eyes, and as if on instincts she connected her vision with the computer interface that Ulrich was using.

A screen popped up, which shows the cylindrical room with data appearing and disappearing constantly. Ulrich sweatdrops a little as he sees the codes forming around the tower, he at least knows that those numbers form something, but he has no idea to decipher them. Looking further, he noticed that the platform she was on had a path towards one side of the tower.

"Hey-uhhh."

"What is it?" The girl asked.

"Nothing, it's just...it's hard to communicate with you when you don't have a name, ya know?"

The artificial girl sees the conundrum in that. She frowns and her eyes were focused on the ground for her lack of name."You're right."

Ulrich grunted, realizing that he made her sad again. Thinking quickly, he thought up a name.

"Alice (1), how does that sound to you?"

The eyes of the now christened Alice perked up. She repeated the name, "Alice, sounds nice." She smiled.

He returns the smile with a smirk before focusing back on the task at hand.

"Alice, do you see that path?"

"Path?" She looked at the small path that leads to the wall of the tower. "But it leads to nowhere, Ulrich."

"Just trust me on this, Alice." She was in a virtual world, so things might not be as they seem at first sight.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, she proceeded to follow the short path to the wall. Once she was near, she raised her right hand to place on the wall, but once her hand was on the wall, it immediately phases through the wall and ripples formed around her hand.

Startled, she retracted her hand. "Ulrich! Did you see that?"

He was just as startled as he also witnessed it on the screen. "Yeah, but don't be scared. It's some sort of door, just walk through it."

Understanding why she needs to, she nodded. Calming herself, she slowly walked through the unusual door, taking small steps one by one. Once she was through, she was almost blinded by the outside world. It was a direct contrast to the inside of the tower.

"Woah..." Ulrich awed. He saw the world Alice was full of tall trees, the ground she stood on was covered in green grass and the sky was an oddly bright light green. This supercomputer is bigger than he thought if it has something like this.

Alice continued walking, taking in the world she is in. "Ulrich, are you seeing this?"

"I'm seeing what you're seeing Alice, but I'm having trouble understanding where you are," Ulrich replied.

(1): I actually searched up german names for Aelita's "Maya" name, and Alice came when I search up famous female german names. It's not only a nice name, but it means noble, which is fitting since Aelita is famous for being called Princess by the other Lyoko Warriors