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They find him wandering around just outside of the library just as Jim runs by with another, younger student in his arms. Jeremy barely ducks out of the way in time when Jim barks out a gruff, “Outta the way!” to him as he passes by. He almost seems dazed, so preoccupied on watching the doors as they swing shut that he doesn’t notice the three of them approaching.
“Einstein! Good to see you back on your feet!” Odd calls out to him. Jeremy startles at the sound of his voice, glasses sliding down his face, and stares at them wide eyed, gaze darting around them as they gather near him.
“Late nights finally catching up to you, huh?” Ulrich teases. He gives him a little nudge to his side with his elbow. Jeremy jumps. More than he usually does. Ulrich and Odd let out a laugh as Jeremy awkwardly rubs at his side, but Yumi frowns.
“Jeremy? Is everything ok?” she asks. He doesn’t answer, just lowers his head and shuffles on his feet. Odd and Ulrich both sober and look up at her, confused, and then quickly morphs into concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I… Who are you?”
“No, I haven’t heard any pulsations lately. But that doesn’t necessarily mean XANA hasn’t launched an attack,” Aelita replies to Yumi. She frowns and tilts her head. “He really doesn’t remember anything?”
They’ve retreated to Jeremy’s room, Ulrich and Odd behind her trying to jog Jeremy’s memory with anything they can find—photos, possessions, anything really—seemingly to no avail. When she looks back to see how they’re doing, Odd has a hand on Jeremy;s shoulder, speaking quietly to him as he holds up a photo to him, only to set it down sadly a moment later. Ulrich meets her eye and slowly shakes his head, trying not to disturb an already distraught looking Jeremy any further.
She winces and turns back around. “No, nothing. He doesn’t remember any of us or anything about the supercomputer.” Just trying to get a connection to Lyoko from here was bad enough already, let alone trying to use the supercomputer again. “It’s a disaster… and we have no idea how or why it’s happening…” Yumi lets out a frustrated sigh.
Ulrich comes up from behind and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “If this is XANA, how are we gonna be able to get to Lyoko with him out of commission? He’s the only one who knows how to run it.” He looks back and frowns. “Or at least… he usually is.”
“I can guide one of you through the transfer protocol,” Aelita reassures them. Her tone is gentle, but the look on her face betrays her own worry. She shakes her head, as if trying to will the feeling away. “But this is all dependent on me finding an activated tower in the first place.”
“Where have you looked so far?” Ulrich asks.
“Nothing seems out of place in the Desert from what I can tell. I’ll look in the Forest next and keep going from there until I find pulsations.”
“Right,” Yumi nods and stands up from the computer chair. “In the meantime, we’ll look around to see if we can figure out what’s going on on our end.”
“Ok. I’m off then. Be careful, Yumi.”
“You too, Aelita,” she responds just before Aelita’s face blinks offscreen. She turns just in time to see Jeremy shake his head at a picture Odd holds up—something that has ‘a nerd in his natural habitat’ written on the back of it in sharpie from the looks of it.
“Sorry…” Jeremy mutters as Odd sets it back down.
“Don’t worry about it,” Odd gains a shaky smile as he tries to be as reassuring as he can be. “We’re gonna figure this out and get you back to normal, ok?” Odd’s not sure if he’s saying that to convince him, or if it’s to convince himself. Either way, Jeremy doesn’t respond. Odd shares a look with Yumi and sits up in his seat. “What’s the plan?”
“Come on,” she urges, opening the door. “We’re going to do some investigating.”