What We Know

                                    

                                          
When Sissi explained the whole thing, Aelita's green fire blew away. After a few weeks, Sissi was sitting next to Yumi on a bench. Of course, her head napped on Yumi's shoulder. The Japanese girl prodded Sissi up, "Uh, Sissi, are you okay? Sissi? Sissi!"

                          
"Wha, huh? What happened?" Sissi mumbled. "It's morning?"
                          
"Geez, Sissi. Why are you so sleepy?"
                          
"Well, after saving the supercomputer from shutting down and saving Aelita from dying, stopping Einstein from wrecking his brain (again), fighting giant Krabs in the real world without my new cane, escaping an attack of XANA zombies, making sure that my father didn't fry you guys, making sure that you and Odd's bodies got switched back, and trying to construct a new device, I'm pooped!" Sissi sighed, plopping into Yumi's lap. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for my ignorant days of being popular," She theatrically sighed. Yumi rolled her eyes as Sissi rolled off. "So I'm a little tired."
                          
"I could see that."
                          
"How does Jeremie sleep? I mean, even with the jumps back in time, I'm still losing sleep."
                          
"Why don't you let Jeremie help you with the inventions?" Yumi asked, propping her leg over the other. Sissi blew her hair out of the way and crossed her arms with high-pitched 'hmph'. "Is he acting edgy?"
                          
"More like stubborn. Geez, I never met someone so brilliant and so dimwitted. He actually reminds me of Odd." The girls giggled. "But still, I can't have Jeremie switch from one stressor to another. His brain can only handle so much without flying off the rails." Sissi said. She looked at the cloudy sky. The sun's rays soothed her nerves, swirling her head in that familiar dozy feeling. She gave a big sigh. "But I guess it's for the best. If Jeremie didn't have any stress in his life, I think he would become a supervillain."
                          
"Or become a jerk like William."
                          
"Yeah. Whatever happened with you and William?" Yumi's eyes glanced away as she pulled at her top. "Come on, Yumi just tell me."
                          
"It's... complicated."
                          
"Okay, let me ask a different way. Why did he and Ulrich fight when the crabs attacked?" Sissi asked. The air flew silently between them. Yumi's lips pursed together as she kept her eyes away from the Mechanist. Sissi grumbled under her breath like an annoyed puppy. "Yumi," She said more firmly, "It's a simple question."
                          
"But it's not a SIMPLE problem. Just... just leave it alone, okay?" Yumi said. The principal's daughter stared at her for a long time. There was some kind of emotion in her eyes that Yumi couldn't pick up on. Finally, Sissi threw up her hands and stood up with the aid of her cane.
                          
"Ok, I'll see you later," Sissi said, coldly walking away. Sissi shook her head. Why? Why on earth was this girl so pig-headed? Then again, maybe she wasn't asking the right question. Was Yumi was too childish or she too mature? With her previous history and fighting against XANA, the young mechanist definitely changed. She felt disconnected from her reality a bit: She interacted with the people, but for the first time in her life, they can not connect with her. What could she do? Try and find the closest substitution, people who can actually connect with her?
                          
Sissi shook her head. The others weren't a substitution, but it was a great temptation. Sighing, she decided something like that would need to be done later down the line. The others weren't ready for it. And truthfully, she wasn't either.
                          
Yumi sighed as she tried to read her book, but what Sissi said couldn't get out of her head. Sissi walked up to her dorm and tossed her cane to the bed. She plopped into her desk chair, put her goggles on, and grabbed some black wires. Just as she was about to work, a soft knock at the door called her attention. "Come in."