The darkened room was quiet except for the steady breathing of the two boys in their separate beds, and the occasional soft whirr from the red laptop on the desk at the far end of the room. The digital alarm clock sitting on the same desk showed the time, 2:16 A.M. on a Friday morning. The light coming through the window faltered as the brightly shining moon was obscured by several clouds, but quickly returned to its normal brightness as the clouds moved on. The display on the clock changed, now showing the hour to be 2:17 A.M. on the same Friday morning. One of the boys shifted in his sleep, quietly rustling his sheets. The red laptop on the desk whined sharply as it took in air to cool itself, then as the noise died down, the computer's screen lit up and a soft ping filled the room for no more than a few milliseconds. The screen, which both boys were oblivious to, showed a green, slowly rotating '+' in front of several windows that had numerous lines of binary code rolling by. The time on the digital alarm clock kept changing as the seconds trickled by. Now 2:21 A.M. glowed softly on the display. The computer on the desk gave another soft ping, this one more low-pitched than the first, and the screen darkened. A soft whine filled the room as the laptop took in air for several seconds, then the whine died down as the computer went into sleep mode, the power button blinking orange to indicate what had happened. One of the boys sniffed slightly in his sleep. Far above them, another cloud covered the moon once again.
The clock ticked silently in the dark room, unheard by either of the inhabitants. This room was on the opposite side of the building, so very little moonlight made it through the window at the far end of the painted room. Occasionally, however, a thin ray of clear light would flash through the window, as one was doing now. The sliver of astral light flowed across the floor and over a small table in front one of the beds, lighting up the softly ticking clock. 3:42 A.M. on a quiet Friday morning. The girl with an easel in front of her bed sighed softly and shifted slightly in her sleep. The girl with the alarm clock in front of her, however, seemed to be having a less peaceful time. Her face was contorted into a terrible grimace, and silent tears were sliding down her cheeks. She suddenly let out a choked sob, her eyes snapping open. She sat up in bed, breathing heavily, her tears still flowing freely. She glanced over to the bed on the opposite wall, and saw that her friend was sleeping soundly. She sniffled, and used the sleeve of her nightshirt to wipe away her tears. She exhaled, a shuddering sound, and lay back down in her bed. The small ray of moonlight reached the girl's left eye, revealing an iris that was a stunning shade of green, yet swimming in tears. Then a cloud floated over the moon, and the sliver of light disappeared once more.
Alex's eyelids twitched. He sniffed, a hand appearing from under the warm sheets to scratch his head. He yawned deeply, and opened his eyes. He was staring over at Sam, who, not surprisingly, was still fast asleep. He shifted his position in bed slightly, propping his head up against the wall behind him. He glanced over at the clock they had set up yesterday. It showed the time to be 10:56 A.M. on a Friday morning. He closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. Why had he woken up so early? School started on Monday, and that meant waking up while it was still dark outside again. He sighed and swung his legs out from under the tangled mess of sheets that covered his bed. He groggily sat up, blinking stupidly in the morning light coming from the window, when a sudden fact registered in his still sleep-riddled brain. It was too quiet. He glanced over at Sam, who was still sleeping, but that wasn't the problem. His computer wasn't whirring. Alex looked over at the desk where he had left his computer a few days ago to run the decoding program, and his heart skipped a beat. The power button was flashing orange- it was sleeping. That could only mean that the decoding was completed. He stumbled quickly over to the desk, pulling the sheets from his bed onto the floor as he went, and half fell into the chair that sat next to the desk. Alex tapped the spacebar once, and the power button glowed green. The computer's fan whirred, taking in air as it woke itself up. The screen flickered to life, showing the Windows 7 log-in screen with Alex's account pulled up. A few quick keystrokes later, and Alex was staring at the slowly rotating green '+' that had appeared onscreen earlier that morning. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and leaned back in the chair, stifling a yawn. The program had worked after all. Alex clicked on the '+', and the decoding program disappeared and was replaced by a large window full of video files. After giving the folder a quick scroll-through, Alex leaned down and grabbed a stray pair of ear buds off the floor. Just because Sam was still sleeping didn't mean he had to wait until he was awake to listen to the diaries. Time to get to work.
Ginger awoke with a start to the sound of a tearing canvas. She sat up groggily, tendrils of sleep slowing her down. Ginger rubbed her eyes to clear them, and saw Ashley at the foot of her bed, angrily tearing holes in a canvas painting. Part of the painting must have still been wet because Ashley was getting smears of white and brown on her hands. "Ashley, stop, stop, stop!" Ginger cried, getting out of bed and moving towards her friend. "What are you doing!" Ginger grabbed the wooden edge of the painting and tried to wrestle it away from Ashley, but she had a firm grip on the other end.
"Stop!" She said desperately. "Stop! I don't want it, I'm tearing it up! I never should have painted it!" Ginger and Ashley wrestled with the painting for a few more seconds, knocking a few things onto the floor in the process, until the painting's wooden edges broke with a sharp crack and sent both girls to the floor. Ginger fell into some sheets that had gotten yanked off her bed, and two wooden edges with a scrap of canvas still attached tumbled to the floor behind her. Ashley crashed to the floor next to the desk, along with the majority of the original painting, but when she discovered that her hands were too slippery from the paint to tear any more holes in the painting, she gave a frustrated cry and threw it into the corner. Suddenly all the fight seemed to go out of her. Her brilliant green eyes dulled, and she slowly stood up. Ginger picked herself up as well and cautiously moved across the room to stand in front of Ashley. When Ashley made no movements, Ginger hugged her. She could feel her friend shaking slightly. Ashley sighed sadly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"It's fine." Ginger said, worriedly patting her friend's back. "Go get cleaned up, all right? We can talk about this when your hands won't paint everything they touch." Ginger let Ashley go and crossed the room with her. After opening the door and watching Ashley move down the hallway to the bathrooms, Ginger went to the corner where Ashley had thrown the ruined painting. She picked it up, careful not to get any paint on her hands, and placed it on the desk. She picked up a few ripped strips off the floor and placed them back where they were supposed to go. Ginger found herself looking at part of a wooden house surrounded by white. Ashley had smeared the top of the painting too much to tell if the house was located in mountains, but Ginger guessed that the white stuff surrounding the partially smeared house was snow, judging by a thing wisp of smoke coming from a chimney. Ginger sighed and, after failing to pick out any more details from the ruined piece, placed the whole thing into a trash bin under the desk.
Sam's eyes fluttered open as his pillow vibrated gently under his head. He stuck a hand under it and, after groping around for a few seconds, pulled out his still-vibrating phone. He yawned and glanced at the screen.
New Message from Ginger
11:42 A.M.
Sam groaned and let the phone drop onto the floor, burying his face back into his pillow. Of course Ginger would be the one to wake him up early on the last days of Summer vacation. He shifted his head a little to get a glimpse of Alex's bed and see if he was still sleeping. He blearily blinked a few times, the fact that Alex wasn't in his bed not registering until he heard a sneeze from the far side of the room. Sam sat up in bed in time to see Alex straighten back up in front of his computer and glance back at him.
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?"
"Nah, you're good. Ginger did that for me. What're you doing up so early?"
"I really don't know." Alex pulled the ear buds out of his ears and the computer's audio jack, and let them drop to the floor. "I woke up crazy early today, like 10:30…" Sam grimaced. "…yeah. Not sure why. But when I did, I noticed that the decoding process had finished. I've been reviewing the workable files since then." Sam swung his legs out from under the sheets, suddenly wide awake.
"So it's done? The decoding? And you have an answer?"
"I do." Alex sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "The memories that the mystery program injected Ashley with were definitely Aelita Schaeffer's. But…" Alex frowned, and turned back to his computer. "…something must have gone wrong, or maybe I programmed an incorrect line of code or something, because the majority of the files are…bugged up."
"Whatd'you mean?" Sam asked, moving over to stand next to Alex.
"O.K., look. These files here, in this window, are the files that I moved from the Supercomputer. These were all the files that Belpois had created and stored on the thing." Alex typed, and a window appeared on one half of the screen. It was filled with all sorts of files, but Alex ignored them all and magnified only a small section of the window itself. "See that? That's the total number of files." Alex pointed to the part he had magnified, while Sam leant down to squint at the number onscreen.
"749 files." Sam stood back up. "Seems like a solid number; what's the problem?"
"The problem is that when I started going through the files this morning, I found that the majority were too bugged up to use. I tried running a different program to fix them, but I couldn't do it. I even pulled resources from the Supercomputer to try and attempt to debug them, but no luck. After I realized that the buggy files were destined to remain that way…" Alex started typing once more, making another window appear on the other side of the screen. This window was empty. "…I ran a program to sort out which files were usable and which ones weren't. This was the result." Alex hit the 'enter' key on the keyboard. On the left side of the screen, the window with the original files started to scroll through itself, highlighting files as it went. Most of the files became highlighted in red, but occasionally there would be a green one here and there. Alex hit another key, and the computer collected all the green files and placed them into the empty window on the right side of the screen. Alex zoomed in on the total count for the workable files. Sam leaned in to read the number, and groaned.
"36? We waited two days for this?"
"Unfortunately." Alex shook his head. "I'm not sure what happened, but I have a sneaking suspicion that X.A.N.A. had something to do with it."
"Wouldn't surprise me." Sam grumbled, crossing his arms. "How do you know?"
"The damaged files, for one, have been obliterated. On the outside they remain the same to give the appearance of seeming workable, but something tore through the insides, if you will. Either Jeremie did this intentionally, or my guess is right. And, see here- the damaged files all contain something that would have helped us learn more about XA.N.A. . Look, this one's called 'Sector 5 data recall, aug. 7'." Alex scrolled up. "There, another. 'data salvage: Forest Replika no. 2 '. X.A.N.A. obviously went out of his way to make sure we couldn't get our hands on any information that would help us defeat him."
"Fantastic." Sam sighed. "What were you able to learn from the files that X.A.N.A. left alone?"
"Well, the answer to Ashley's problem, for one. Other minor things, such as ways to speed up processes when running the Supercomputer, which Towers are waytowers, what happens if you so this or that to the Supercomputer, etcetera. The majority of the useable files were from when Jeremie was still learning how to operate the Supercomputer, so there's a lot of instructions and failed programs and such, but the only major answer that came from the decoding was Ashley's thing." Alex sighed. "This was supposed to solve our problems. To provide us with a way to defeat X.A.N.A. . But now we're left with nothing more than a few stepping stones into darkness." Sam clapped his friend on the back.
"Hey, buck up. There is a bright side to this, you know."
"What?"
"We get to play superhero and save the world some more. Now ain't that exciting?" Alex chuckled as Sam went to retrieve his phone from the floor.
"Yeah, guess that's a bonus." Sam leaned against the door as he checked his texts. "New message from Ginger…wonder what she wants?"
"You're just now reading that?" A voice shouted through the door, making Sam jump and drop his phone again. "I sent that, like, hours ago!"
"No, you didn't!" Sam yelled back, picking up his phone. "I just got it a few minutes ago!"
"And you haven't read it? Ugh. Boys." Ginger sounded disgusted as Alex went and pulled the door open. Ginger and Ashley were standing there, fully showered and dressed, Ginger looking a bit angrier than her giggling companion. "I asked you if it was O.K. to come down. We've missed breakfast again, and today's the last day of break, so why not chill out for a bit?"
"Chill out." Sam grumbled from behind the door as he slipped into some jeans. "Mum's the word."
"Ah, shut up you big baby." Ginger smiled at him as Alex let the girls inside and closed the door behind them. "You whine too much."
"Whatever." Sam said disgruntledly, flopping back down on his unkempt bed as Ashley looked around the room in distaste.
"You guys are some kind of slobs, huh?"
"What?" Alex said distractedly as he rummaged around in the lower half of the wardrobe for his toiletries bag.
"Slobs. Pigs. People who aren't neat."
"We can find everything just fine in here. Everyone has their own system of organization." Alex said, digging deeper into the mound of things that covered the bottom of the wardrobe.
"That is true, but organization is usually a bit…what's the word…cleaner." Ginger sighed, sitting down in the chair next to Alex's quietly humming laptop. "See? You can't even find whatever it is you're looking for in that mess."
"Say again?" Alex said triumphantly, straightening up with his toiletries bag in hand. He tossed it onto his bed, the proceeded to gather his sheets off the floor and bundle them up. "Actually, Ashley…I have something to tell you." Sam sat up in bed with a steely look on his face. Now was the time.
"Alex was running a decoding program on some files he took from the Supercomputer a few days ago. The process took about two days to complete."
"Why?" Ginger asked curiously, now swiveling in the chair to get a better look at the laptop screen.
"To…scratch an itch, if you will." Alex tossed the mound of sheets onto his bed, where they fell into a tangled mess. "About two days ago, the program decoded a video diary that led Sam and I to believe that we knew who the memories you were injected with belonged to."
"And you didn't tell her?" Ginger said angrily, turning momentarily from the computer. "It's her head, Alex. She had a right to know."
"Hold on, let me explain! The only reason I chose not to tell her…and convinced Sam not to, for that matter, is because what we had to go on was very little, and I didn't want to raise or lower her spirits." Ginger opened her mouth to protest once more, but Ashley cut her off. She was sitting against the door, nearly totally curled in the fetal position.
"Ginger, it's fine. I understand Alex; I know he had nothing but good intentions behind his decision." Ashley said quietly. "But If you could please keep it a secret no longer? You said the decoding brought you confirmation. So who is it?" Alex and Sam exchanged a nervous glance.
"It's…well, the person…who the memories belong to…it's Aelita Schaeffer." The room seemed to quiet instantly. Even the laptop seemed to stop humming. Ashley's eyes raised in amazement.
"Really? How do…how can you be sure?"
"Well, our first clue was the first decoded video diary, the one me and Sam watched. It explained that Aelita held one of the two keys to Lyoko, something that X.A.N.A. needed to escape the Supercomputer, and that X.A.N.A. took the key from her by trapping her and only her with the Scyphozoa."
"Back up. So you're saying that the reason that the Scyphozoa keeps going after Ashley is because she's now got some super-dangerous key planted in her memory that could let X.A.N.A. escape if he gets it?" Ginger said, a look of confusion on her face.
"That's quite a leap to make, but…yes, I think it's safe to assume that a Key to Lyoko is now inside Ashley as well." Alex said, popping his knuckles nervously. "And if we put two and two together…well more like two, two, and my piece of the puzzle…then we can assume that the Key to Lyoko that Ashley now possesses are Aelita's memories…and if X.A.N.A. gets ahold of them again, like he did a couple of years ago, he'll be able to escape the Supercomputer."
"Wait, hold on." Sam stretched out on his bed, looking over at Alex. "How can you make that leap? We don't know it the Key to Lyoko is all of Aelita's memories combined or something totally different."
"Actually, I do." Alex wrung his fingers nervously. "In the workable files, there was a video diary that was made by Aelita herself. She made it in case X.A.N.A. destroyed the one in which Belpois explained what they were, which he did. In Aelita's, she explained that there are two Keys to Lyoko. One was her memory. So yes, we can assume that Aelita's memories, which are now all inside Ashley, are, when combined together, one of the two Keys to Lyoko."
"Wait…so I have an entire person's lifespan just…floating around my head?" Ashley said, confused.
"No. We can also assume that it's only the first thirteen years of Aelita's life, since she was first virtualized at age 13."
"How do you know that?"
"Remember that article we found back at the Hermitage? Aelita was 13 when she disappeared with her father. He wouldn't have tried to materialize his daughter until he knew that the program was as safe as could be, and from the notes that Jeremie's left behind, it couldn't have been. Jeremie was constantly making adjustments, fixing things, making things better. Schaeffer virtualized himself before he could fully perfect Lyoko. He wouldn't have risked sending his only daughter to an unknown world through an incomplete program unless it was an emergency."
"It must have been some emergency." Ginger sighed. "I wonder what happened that forced him to make that decision?"
"We might never know." Alex said grimly. "I don't have many more files to go through, and the ones that are left don't look like they're relevant to the incident at all."
"Alex, the memories." Ashley said, causing everyone else to turn their attention to her. "Can you make them go away?"
"I…I don't think so. Right now, everything's so dubious, so unclear, I'm not sure of what I can and can't do to you anymore. What if I hurt you even more?"
"Risk it. I…I feel like I'm going insane! All these memories that aren't even mine keep appearing in dreams, when I blank out during the day, and they're so vivid…as if I actually lived them…" Ashley said shakily, standing up. "So give me an answer. Can you stop them?" Alex looked miserably around at his friends. He sighed, a single word escaping his lips.
"No." Ashley pursed her lips. She looked on the verge of either punching Alex or bursting into tears, but instead she just wrenched the door open and stormed out of the room. "I'm sorry." Alex called after her, but his apology fell on deaf ears. Sam got up and was about to follow her, when Ginger stopped him.
"No, Sam." She said, shaking her head. "She just needs time to think. She'll come around." Ginger turned back to the computer, leaving Sam to flop back onto his bed and stare wistfully down the hall.
"I just can't do it." Alex muttered. "Lyoko is one thing, but someone's memories? An entirely different spectrum. I…I have to research more." He sighed, leaning against the wardrobe. "But for now I can't do anything to help my friend."
"Alex, what is this?" Ginger said, pulling up a file on the computer. Alex glanced over.
"That's a file I haven't gone through yet. Why?"
"I just mention it because…Ashley painted it this morning."
"What?" Sam stood up and moved over to Ginger. "Painted what?"
"That house." Ginger said, pointing at the screen. Alex moved next to Sam, and all three of them stared at the picture that Ginger had found. It was a wooden house of approximately three floors, nestled in a mountain range somewhere. The sun seemed to be going down, as the lights were on in the house. The structure was surrounded by snow on all sides. At the very left of the picture, snow-covered trees could start to be seen.
"She painted this?" Alex asked, stunned.
"Yes. She woke me up with the sound of her tearing the canvas apart. She said she shouldn't have painted it and that she didn't want it anymore. We ended up breaking the frame, and Ashley managed to tear several strips of canvas off. The whole thing's in the garbage now; it seemed to creep her out so much. "
"That's not what worries me. This house obviously isn't the Hermitage, not in anyone's wildest dreams. This must have been a house that Aelita lived in when she was much younger."
"So what's the part that worries you?"
"If Ashley can remember this house when nobody else can, when we have no other information about it except for this one picture that Ashley hasn't even seen yet …then Aelita's memories must be expanding. Taking….taking root in her brain." He shuddered. "Ginger, do me a favor. Go find Ashley. Tell her to call her parents. She needs to talk to them. Not about…this, of course, but just to talk. She needs to start differentiating between what is her life, the real world, and what is Aelita's, the fake memories. Otherwise….she could very well end up in an asylum." Ginger nodded, and ran off into the hallway. Alex slowly sat down into the chair that Ginger had vacated, and covered his face with his hands. "Oh, god. What have I done?"
Ashley ran across the yard that separated the dormitory building from the mess hall, her breath coming in shaky gasps. Tears blurred her vision, and fear, sadness, and confusion numbed her brain. She didn't know where she was running to; all she knew was that she needed to be alone.
Aiden sighed. There was nothing interesting to do around here. Too bad he didn't know anyone very well yet. That annoying kid from down the hall had tried talking to him, the athletic one, but he was a bit…weird. Aiden shifted his position on the stairs of the mess hall, stretching out comfortably to look up at the sky. A lock of black hair fell across his eye, revealing a few strands of his purple colored hair in the corner of his vision. He blinked, hearing something unusual come from his right. He shifted his head slightly just in time to see that girl from earlier on in the week run into the small space between the Mess Halls. Ashley, that was her name. He sat up, intending to call out to her, when he sensed something was wrong. Ashley ran by, her shoes kicking up small puffs of dust as she went. Aiden frowned. Why was she crying? He watched Ashley head off towards the woods, then, making up his mind, leapt up and ran after her.
Ginger hurried down the last flight of stairs in the dormitory building, then moved swiftly across the lobby and out into the sunshine. She started, momentarily stunned by the bright light, then regained her composure and looked around. The campus was nearly empty. All of the new arrivals seemed to be sleeping in, and the returning students would be arriving close to dinnertime. She squinted, catching a glimpse of someone running towards the woods. Who was that…? Oh. That cute purple-haired kid from breakfast a few days ago. Wasn't his name Adrian or something? Adrian, Alien, Athien…Aiden. That was it. Aiden. She watched him run into the shade of the trees. Where was he going in such a rush? Whatever. She had something more pressuring to worry about. She bit her lip and, making up her mind, ran off.
Alex paced nervously around the room as Sam lightly strummed his guitar.
"I hope Ginger found Ashley. It's safer to have her around us while I figure out how to suppress those memories." Alex sighed. "I just don't have enough information." Suddenly he blinked and stopped pacing. Sam looked up.
"What?"
"I don't have enough information…at the moment…." Alex frowned.
"Whaddayou mean?" Sam said, putting his guitar aside. "Are you gonna explain, or can I get back to playing?" Alex looked up.
"We have to go to Sector 5."
"Where?"
"Sector 5. The Carthage Sector. Were you not listening at all when Belpois explained it?" Alex not started moving around the room, grabbing his satchel and hurriedly throwing things inside. "Sector 5 is the sector in the center of Lyoko. It's where X.A.N.A. makes a home, but, more importantly, it's essentially the information hub for all of Lyoko."
"So by going there, you think we could find some data or something that can help you help Ashley?" Sam said, standing up excitedly.
"Exactly. Come on, let's get moving. If we hurry, we can be back by dinnertime-" Alex was cut off by a frantic beeping sound that came from his computer. He whirled around, as did Sam, just in time to see the Superscan be pulled up to the front. Alex's phone vibrated on the desk next to it- the text from the Superscan. "Great." Alex cursed, quickly turning to the wardrobe and changing into a cleaner shirt. "X.A.N.A. sure knows how to pick his moments. Sam, call the girls. Tell them to meet us at the factory."
"Right." Sam glanced over at the computer's screen as he pulled out his phone and hit a speed dial.
Ginger burst through the double doors that led to the girl's locker room in the Gym. She ran across the length of the room and shouldered the door to the Gym open as her phone began to buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out as she walked into the large empty room. Somewhere outside, a dog barked.
"Sam?"
"Who else? Have you found Ginger yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm in the Gym right now, and she's not here." Outside, the barking grew louder.
"What's that noise?"
"Some dogs outside. Anyways, I think I'll breeze through the Admin. Building, then I'll go check the Hermitage. That's the most likely place that she'd go, but better safe than sorry."
"Right, you might want to be sorry instead of safe. X.A.N.A.'s activated a tower in the Forest Sector. Meet us at the Factory. I'll try and get in touch with Ashley, but you need to try and get to her ASAP." Ginger stiffened, a cold chill running down her back as one of the most terrifying sounds she had ever heard started to come from outside. "Ginger? Did you hear me? What's going on?"
"Sam, something's happening." Ginger said, running over to the far exit of the Gym. "Some dogs outside, they're making this terrible noise…hold on…" And with that, despite Sam's numerous protests, Ginger opened the door leading outside. As soon as the door was open, the bone-chilling noise stopped. Ginger looked around and saw a dog slinking towards her, tail between its legs. Ginger immediately felt an overwhelming sense of pity towards the animal. "Oh, you poor thing, come here." She coaxed, tucking her phone into her back pocket, out of which Sam's voice was still yelling at her through the tiny speaker. The pooch whined as it reached Ginger, then it looked up and the whine changed into a deep, ugly growl. Ginger frowned. Something wasn't right here. The dog glared at her, giving her a clear view of X.A.N.A.'s symbol harshly pulsing where its pupils should have been, and let out a harsh bark that caused her to let out a terrified scream. She scrambled back into the Gym, but the possessed dog tried to follow her. Ginger slammed the door shut, but the dog was already halfway inside. The door closed on the struggling dog, causing it to let out a yelp of pain. Ginger wailed and, already beating herself up over what she was about to do, kicked the dog in the nose. The effect was instantaneous- the dog let out a pitiful cry and recoiled visibly, then scrambled away from the door. Ginger managed to get it shut, but fell against it and slid to the floor, hyperventilating. She scrabbled for her phone, which had slipped out of her pocket. She held it up to her face with a shaking hand to make sure Sam was still on the line, and started talking.
"SAM!" Ginger wailed through the phone. Sam flinched and moved the phone away from his ear, and even Alex turned to look at him.
"Loud enough?" He said, raising his eyebrows suspiciously as the hurried down the Dormitory Building's stairs.
"Seriously." Sam grimaced, and put the phone back to his ear. "Ginger, Ginger, calm down already? Dogs? What dogs? We're still inside. What? You shut a door on a dog?" Alex looked over at Sam with an expression of surprise on his face. Ginger the animal lover, shut a door on a dog? No way. Ginger continued sobbing through the line. "Kicked it in the nose? Why? What happened?" Sam's expression changed, and Alex now got the gist of what had happened. "I see. O.K., Ginger, you have to get out of there right now. You're like a sitting duck in there. Take the sewer tunnel. We'll see you in a few…what? Stay on the line? Allright. Hold on, let me talk to Alex for a second." Sam turned towards Alex as the two boys reached the lobby of the Dormitory Building. "Apparently Ginger was just attacked by a X.A.N.A.-fied dog."
"Oh, that sucks." Alex said sadly, knowing how much it must have pained Ginger to hurt the creature. "Ginger loves all kinds of canines."
"Yeah, well, that furry ball of joy nearly killed her." Sam said roughly as the two stepped out into the sunlit yard between the Dormitory Building and the Mess Halls. "At least there's only one, though. Imagine if we were dealing with a whole bunch…"
"Sam, think again…" Alex said, starting to run. "Look! They're coming from the Gym!" Alex pointed in the direction of the Gym. Sam turned just in time to see two dogs, both going unnaturally fast, tear around the corner of the Mess Hall and barrel towards them.
"Oh, shit!" Sam shouted, and started to run after Alex. "What's the plan?" He shouted ahead to Alex as they both ran down the stretch of ground in-between the two Mess Halls.
"Head for the Hermitage!" Alex shouted back at him.
"What?" Sam cried. "Are you crazy? We'll never make it; it's too far away!"
"We have to! The Gym's blocked off, and raising the manhole cover in the park will take too long. Those two mutts would be all over us before we'd even gotten the manhole halfway off!"
"Fine! Call Ashley for me, though! Ginger still wants me on the line!" Now raising the phone back up to his ear, he began to speak to Ginger again.
Ginger, tears streaming silently down her face, moved swiftly across the empty Gym. Behind her, the metal doors leading to the outside rattled. The dog was throwing itself against the doors in an effort to break them down. A choked sob escaped her lips as she heard another ferocious bark come from the animal. She reached the locker room doors and quickly slipped inside, making sure to lock the doors behind her. Ginger ran across the length of the locker rooms and reached the door leading to the Gym's south hallway when Sam suddenly spoke again.
"Ginger! Can you hear me?"
"Y…yeah. What's wrong? You s..sound out of breath!"
"That's because I am…two more dogs came out of nowhere and are chasing me and Alex into the woods..."
"No!" Ginger cried, more tears flowing down her face.
"Sorry!" Sam gasped in her ear. "We're going to head for the Hermitage and meet up with Ashley."
"Why there?" Ginger said through choked sobs. "Isn't the manhole closer?"
"Takes too long to move. The dogs would be all over us."
"O.K. I'll meet you at the Factory, then? Since you're going to g…get Ashley?" Ginger said, as she edged her way out into the South corridor.
"Right…" Sam gasped. "Good luck, allright?" Ginger didn't answer. Another chill went up her spine. "Ginger?" She slowly turned. Behind her, there was another dog that stood in the middle of the corridor. The space behind it was flooded with daylight coming through the open doors that led outside. Ginger screamed, and turned to run down the hallway, but the dog was quicker. It pounced onto Ginger, throwing them both to the floor. Ginger's phone flew out of her hand and skittered across the cement. Ginger screamed again, and punched the possessed creature in the nose as hard as she could. The dog yelped and flinched for long enough to let Ginger escape its grasp. She scrambled to her feet and ran down the corridor, heading for the room with the red door. The dog, after shaking the blow off, let out a loud bark and ran after her, seeming to make sure to crush Ginger's forgotten phone in the process.
Sam cursed, and shoved his phone into his pocket as he ran after Alex.
"What happened?" Alex shouted back, quickly sidestepping a large oak tree.
"I don't know!" Sam called, risking a nervous glance behind them. They weren't visible, but he could hear the dogs still chasing them. "I heard a dog, and she screamed! Then it's like she dropped her phone or something, then she was cut off midscream. Alex, I'm going back!" Sam immediately veered off to his right, breaking away from the path Alex was taking to the Hermitage. "I'm worried about her!" He shouted back. "I'll meet you at the Factory!"
"Sam, no!" Alex shouted, but it was too late. Sam was already gone. Alex gasped for breath, and ran on. There wasn't anything else he could do. Behind him, a shadow broke formation and began to move quickly after Sam.
Ashley stiffened as she heard a creak from downstairs. She quickly stood up, brushing dust off herself, and moved silently to the door. Edging it open, she peered around the peeling red paint. Nobody was coming up the stairs…yet. Then she heard it again. A very audible creak from downstairs. Whoever- or whatever- it was, was getting closer to the stairs. Ashley thought furiously, then quickly edged her way around the partially open door and moved swiftly into a crouching position next to the stairwell. She didn't have to wait long. She heard footsteps coming up the wooden stairs. They paused momentarily, indicating whoever it was had reached the small landing a few steps up. After a few milliseconds of silence, they continued. Ashley silently counted in her head, eliminating the number of steps the mystery person had left to reach the second floor. Her heart pounded in her chest as the footsteps paused again, indicating that the person had reached the small landing that was three steps away from where she was. She heard a rustling of paper, and she realized that whoever it was must be sorting through the pile of papers that Alex had fallen into the on their first visit here. The floor creaked. Her heart pounded in her ears as the footfalls began again. Three…two…one…she leapt up as whoever it was stepped up onto the second floor, and lunged forward with a cry. The person turned halfway, startled by her sudden appearance- Ashley caught a sudden flash of purple- but Ashley brought them both to the dusty floor. The person struggled, but Ashley managed to pin him down and get on top of him. She raised her fist above her head and was about to bring it down on the person's face, when the rage and fear clouding her vision disappeared and she saw who's nose she was about to break. Aiden stared up at her from the Hermitage's dusty hallway floor, a look of surprise bordering on amusement lingering in his eyes.
"So, not the best of days, is it?"
Ginger let out another hysterical sob that echoed around the dank tunnel. Her rapid footsteps splashed slightly on the damp cement as she ran. Behind her, both the dog from the gym and the dog that had been blocking the tunnel to the factory let out a series of frenzied, distorted barks. Her tears welled up in her eyes, momentarily blocking her vision. She wiped them away, but too late- she misstepped and crashed to the ground, sliding a few feet on the wet cement. She whipped her head around and screamed, seeing a dog leap up behind her. Instinctively she whipped her foot across the space in front of her, catching the dog across the muzzle. The possessed creature flickered slightly as it fell into the sewer water. Ginger screamed in frustration, but scrambled to her feet and took off once more. Behind her, the uninjured dog turned to make sure the dog Ginger had kicked was already swimming to shore, then barked and started running once more.
Sam sprinted past the Science Building and onto the track. The Gym was in sight, but so was the dog behind him. He stumbled, clutching at a sudden pain in his side. A cramp, now? Damn, what luck. He winced and kept running. No way he was going to become kibbles 'n bits for that mangy mutt behind him. Suddenly, when it seemed like he was in the clear, a second dog appeared from the far corner of the Gym and started to dash towards him with a furious bark. Sam yelled in frustration. That must be the original dog, the one Ginger saw first. He gave it a final glance, then put on a burst of speed designed to help him make it into the Gym with no trouble. He reached the covered walkway leading to the Gym's first set of outer double doors, when he tripped. He fell, slamming down hard on the paved stone beneath him. He tried to get to his feet – he was mere inches away from the doors, one was even open – but the pain in his side unexpectedly forced him down once again. Sam started crawling forward, trying to make it to the doors before the dogs made it to him, but it was no use. The two possessed canines were on top of him in a matter of milliseconds. Sam screamed as one clamped down onto his arm, and the other tried to get a handle on his leg. He twisted, and using the fist that wasn't slowly going numb from pain, slammed the dog in the nose. It yelped and retreated slightly, giving him enough leg room to kick the other dog across the muzzle. As soon as the other dog was off him, Sam scrambled to his feet, trying to ignore the pain in his side and now his arm, and crashed through the Gym's double doors. He looked back, and seeing that the dogs were about to make it inside, slammed the doors shut with a final burst of energy. Two dull thuds against the doors brought a small smile to his face. He shakily walked over to the opposite wall and slid down it into a sitting position on the floor as the dogs started scratching on the door. Sam glanced over at where the dog had bit into him on his am, and winced. A strip of skin was peeling back a little where the dog's tooth had scraped an exit wound, exposing the raw flesh underneath. Fortunately the dog seemed to have a lopsided bite or something, because aside from that and two other bloody puncture marks, Sam seemed to be unharmed. Except for the rip in his pants, of course. Thank god he had decided to wear jeans this morning. Sam tore a strip of his shirt sleeve off and, wincing as he did so, tied it tightly around the injury on his arm. Once he was satisfied, he carefully stretched his arm and wiggled his fingers. Aside from a few stabs of pain when he stretched his arm out, everything seemed to be working fine. Sam blinked, frowning. The scratching at the door had stopped. Using the wall to support him, he slowly stood up, not noticing the small droplets of blood he left on the floor. Suddenly the right door burst open, and both dogs tumbled inside. Sam yelled, surprised. The little fuckers must have rammed the door. He turned and began to run towards the room with the red door. As soon as the dogs had shaken off the blow, they barked loudly and followed. As he ran, he noticed a shattered plastic something on the floor. Ginger's phone. He burst through the door leading to the Gym's boiler room and sprinted into the passageway leading to the sewers, not bothering to close the door behind him. There was no time, and the dogs would get it open anyways. He leapt over the pipe and through the ripped wire mesh at the bottom and started to run down the tunnel towards the Factory. Suddenly, from far behind him, a scream echoed down the tunnel, bouncing off the damp walls. A girl's scream. Ginger. He backpedaled furiously, shoes not gripping on the wet cement. Behind him, the dogs appeared in the tunnel. Sam turned, and seeing the dogs, yelled in frustration. "Get out of my way, you flea-bitten fuckers!" He ran forward to meet the dogs on the path, and, with a furious and reckless kick that nearly threw him off-balance, sent both dogs tumbling into the disgusting sewer water next to them. Wasting no time, he sprinted back past the Gym door, heading in the opposite direction of the factory. Behind him, the dogs surfaced with a splash and began paddling towards shore.
Alex sprinted into the clearing and through the place where the Hermitage's gate must've once been. He yelled and kicked out behind him as he felt something tug violently on his bag. A whine met his ears, and the extra weight dropped away instantly. He moved swiftly onto the porch and through the open front door and, once safely inside, slammed it shut behind him. The dog started barking ferociously, but no matter. He was safe, for now.
"What was that?" Aiden said sharply as the noise reverberated through the abandoned house. He and Ashley both quickly stood up from Aelita's bed, senses on high alert. The sound of a dog barking ferociously floated through the broken window.
"It sounds like there's a dog outside!" Ashley said, frowning. "A really, really pissed-off dog…"
"ASHLEY!" The shout from downstairs caused them both to jump. Footsteps were heard thudding up the stairs. Ashley burst through the peeling red door and out into the hallway, closely followed by Aiden as Alex ran up the stairs onto the second floor. He was out of breath, hair was disheveled. Twigs and leaves clung to his clothes and satchel, indicating a wild run through the forest. His satchel was actually ripped at the bottom. It looked like something had taken a swipe at it.
"Alex, what happened?" Ashley cried worriedly, moving over to him. Then she notices cuts on his arms and face. "You're bleeding! What-"
"No time to explain." Alex gasped, cutting her off. "I'm fine, just some tree branches…you have to get to the factory…the dogs…" From outside, the barking grew louder and more distorted. Ashley's eyes widened in surprise and comprehension.
"Why dogs?"
"No idea. But something happened to Ginger-"
"Ginger? What happened, is she O.K.?"
"No idea, Sam split up with me to go check on her…last I heard she was at the Gym…" Suddenly a girl's scream filled the house, coming from the basement.
"Ginger!" Ashley screamed, and pushed pass Alex to get down the stairs. Aiden tried to run after her, but Alex, just seeming to notice that Aiden was here as well, reached out and grabbed his shirt before he made it too far.
"Hey, come on! New shirt!" He complained, backpedaling in order to avoid stretching the material any farther.
"How much did she tell you?" Alex breathed heavily, ignoring his outburst and looking up at Aiden's oddly purple eyes. His gaze softened.
"Everything. But don't worry. Apparently I won't remember anything anyways, so let's get downstairs and help out, yeah?" Alex chuckled and nodded, releasing Aiden's shirt from his clenched fist. Aiden hurried down the stairs and Alex, after taking a few more deep breaths, followed.
Ginger let out another scream and flinched visibly as the dogs rammed the basement door once more. Ashley appeared in the corridor in front of her and ran towards her. Ginger let out a yell of joy, and rushed towards her friend. The two embraced tightly as Alex and Aiden appeared in the dimly lit passageway.
"Ashley, the dogs, the dogs, the dogs!" Ginger sobbed hysterically, pointing back towards the way from which she had come.
"I know, I know. It's O.K., you're safe, now, you're safe." Ashley said reassuringly, looking her sobbing friend in the eyes.
"Er, sorry to break up this moment…" Alex said nervously, as a terrible splintering sound came from the upstairs foyer. "…but we might not be so safe after all."
Sam skidded to a halt in front of the passageway leading up to the Hermitage. Where was Ginger? She wouldn't have gone any farther than the Hermitage and run the chance of getting lost in the tunnels. He looked behind him and, seeing the dogs getting closer, dashed up the steps in front of him. He reached the top, the fact that the door out into the Hermitage's rear garden was already open apparently not registering in his brain, and burst out into the sunlight, only to bet met by two deep growls. He looked around, and realized that he had walked straight into a trap. Two new dogs slowly turned to face him from the Hermitage's tightly shut basement door. He whirled, determined to dash back into the sewers, but too late- the dogs that had been chasing him appeared in the passage's doorway. He backed up slowly, getting menacing growls from all around, when suddenly the apparently weakened basement door burst off its hinges with a great crack and crashed down onto the two dogs closest to it, weighed down by two high school boys. The dogs let out a pitiful yelp, but they were down and out for a few seconds, at least. The two boys picked themselves up and ran over to Sam, quickly followed by Ashley, Ginger, and the last possessed dog. Sam looked around, and recognized Alex and that kid from the cafeteria.
"Who the hell are you?" He shouted, kicking at one of the dogs that had followed him from the sewers and was trying to get at a sobbing Ginger. The boy suddenly twisted and aimed a kick in his direction. Sam ducked, and a yelp greeted his ears. He straightened back up, and the boy with purple eyes gave him a hard look.
"Someone who just saved your life."
"Sam, don't worry!" Alex called, kicking at the dogs that were trying to fight their way out from under the door. "Aiden's O.K.!"
"Right! Ashley, where do we go from here?" Aiden shouted.
"In there!" Ashley called back, pointing at the passage to the sewers that was blocked by two madly barking dogs.
"All right, give me some room!" Not waiting for everyone else to heed his order, Aiden dropped to the ground and executed something that looked like part roundhouse kick, part dance step. Either way, the two dogs blocking their way were knocked over when his foot made contact with them several painful times.
"Aiden!" Ashley gasped in surprise. "Wow!"
"Don't stare, run!" He shouted, swiftly moving to the right and kicking away a dog that had managed to crawl out from under the door. Without any further exclamations, Ashley herded Ginger into the passageway to the sewers. Sam followed, kicking a struggling-to-stand dog for good measure, and Alex went last. He was about to close the door, but thought better of it and raced back out into the yard.
"Alex, where the hell are you going?" Sam shouted after him. Alex paid no heed to Sam's panicked shout, and moved towards Aiden. Quick as a flash he grabbed Aiden's arm and hoisted him to his feet. Aiden kicked out at the last dog that had made its way out from under the door, then ran back into the passage to the sewers where Sam closed the door with a harsh clang. Outside, the dogs started howling.
"Thanks." Aiden gasped. "I would've been eaten alive for sure."
"No problem." Alex puffed, straightening up. "Now, come on. We have to get to the factory." Behind him, the howls immediately stopped, and the sound of scampering paws slowly faded into the distance. "Let's rephrase that." Alex groaned, starting quickly down the cement steps. "We have to get to the factory before the dogs do."
"Are you O.K. now?" Ashley asked Ginger, who had gotten quiet.
"Yeah, I'm better." She said in a small voice. Ashley patted her on the back, and hurried after Sam. Ginger followed, with Aiden bringing up the rear. The group started moving down the tunnel in silence. A few seconds in, Aiden spoke up.
"So, uh, question? Why exactly am I not going to remember anything?" Sam and Alex looked at each other.
"What have we got to lose?" Alex shrugged. "He already knows everything else." Behind him, Ashley blushed.
"How much is everything, exactly?" Sam called back to Aiden curiously.
"Well, I know that we're headed to the Factory right now. My guess is it's that abandoned car manufacturing one on the outskirts of town, right?"
"Oh, that's what the factory was used for?" Ginger said, finally getting an answer to her question. "But yeah. That's where we're headed."
"And I know that apparently there have been other strange incidents this past week but I can't remember any of them because of a Supercomputer housed three floors below the factory?"
"You got it." Alex said.
"And this Lyoko Ashley was telling me about before we-" Aiden stopped short. Ashley blushed, and proceeded to stammer out an excuse.
"Before we were, uh, interrupted by the dogs. Dog. You, Alex, before we were interrupted by you."
"Oh, allright. That sounds reasonable." Alex said in a calm voice, but to Sam, he shot a wink. He got an exaggerated puckering of the lips and batting of the eyelashes in return.
"Anyways…" Aiden said with a note of exasperation in his voice, having caught a glimpse of Sam's mocking. "…she told me that this Supercomputer houses a virtual world, Lyoko, and that you guys have to fight against an evil program called X.A.N.A. that somehow became sentinent?"
"You sure didn't go easy with the information, huh?" Alex called back to Ashley.
"It was the heat of the moment!" She called back.
"Oh, I'm sure there was some heat, all right." Sam chuckled.
"Oh, whatever." Ashley huffed. Aiden just smiled, then called up to Alex:
"We're passing the Gym's tunnel. We should be there soon, yeah?"
"You even told him about the passageways?" Alex shouted incredulously as the sped past the lighted Gym passageway.
"Yes, she did. She also told me that I'm not allowed to be virtualized?"
"She's right." Sam said. "You're not."
"And what If I virtualize myself?" Alex laughed.
"Please. Have fun figuring out the programs."
"It shouldn't be that hard. Do you know what I'm studying here at Kadic?" Alex frowned.
"No, what?"
"Computer programming, to be very general about it. I'm sure I could figure out your little ol' Supercomputer in no time flat." Aiden said in a slightly mocking tone of voice
"Well, we'll just see, shall we?" Alex said, with a ghost of smile on his face. "We're here, after all." The tired group quickly slowed to a stop in the large open sewer tunnel that was directly across from the factory. Everyone quickly crossed the plank, with Sam commenting "We need to get something safer across that thing…" when he reached the opposite side. Aiden, to the slight annoyance of Alex, was the first to reach the ladder reaching to the bridge. Nevertheless, once Aiden was high enough, Alex climbed after him, followed by Ginger, Ashley, and Sam. Aiden pulled the hatch on the bridge to the side, letting everyone clamber out onto the bridge before pulling it shut again.
"There's no time to lose." Ashley said, wearily starting to run again. "Those dogs could be back any second."
"True…" Sam sighed, following. "…but don't you think we're entitled to a rest? I must've shaved off at least half my weight today…"
"Stop whining!" Alex chuckled as he passed Sam and Ashley, then made it into the cool interior of the factory. "You can rest in the Scan-WOAH!" The last part of his sentence came out as a scream as something lunged from the shadows on his left and tackled him full-on, throwing him dangerously close to the precipice.
"Alex!" Ginger screamed.
"The dogs beat us here!" Ashley shouted, stumbling, as another canine leapt from the shadows towards her. Sam quickly stepped forward and blocked the hound with his entire body. Ashley screamed as Sam went down as well. A bit farther away, Alex was struggling with the first dog that had appeared. Both were less than an inch away from plummeting to the factory floor. Alex had both hands clamped around the struggling dog's muzzle, trying to keep the thing from tearing into him. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Aiden came hurtling at the dog, tackling it off of Alex at full speed. Aiden and the hellhound both rolled across the grimy cement, then tumbled off the edge of the walkway, with Alex following.
"No!" Ashley screamed, rushing forward. She looked over the edge, and saw Alex hanging onto a broken stair with only one hand.
"Help me up, goddammit!" He breathed heavily, struggling not to lose his grip. Ashley, with the help of Ginger, dragged Alex back onto the safety of the walkway. Once Alex was in no danger of falling to his death, Ashley rushed back over to the edge to look for Aiden. For a brief, heart-stopping moment she thought she saw his body on the factory floor, then her vision cleared and she was able to make out the crumpled and fizzing form of the first dog on the floor far below her, and Aiden hanging on for dear life on a rope a few feet above it.
"Aiden!" She cried thankfully.
"You guys aren't about to get rid of me that easily!" He called back up to her with a smile, purple eyes sparkling mischeviously. "Hold on, I'm coming up."
"No, don't, just stay there." She called down, glancing over her shoulder. "Alex and Sam are about to send the last dog down to you, then we'll make a break for the elevator. Just hold on…" Aiden looked up at her and saw her disappear back to the others, leaving him with nothing to look at except for the huge rusting beams that held the factory together. A few seconds passed with the occasional shout from one of the boys, and a yelp from the dog. Suddenly Ashley shouted "Incoming!" down to him, and he flinched as the body of the second dog flew over the edge of the walkway and crashed to the cement with a dull thud. Aiden slid down the few feet of rope left between him and the factory floor, avoiding the twitching bodies of the dogs as he moved away from the ropes. Ashley was the first to land on the cement next to him. Ginger was next, then Sam, and finally Alex, who gave a defiant kick to the flickering form of one of the dogs as he passed it. Sam moved over to the elevator shaft and pressed the call button, raising the shutter to reveal the inside of the factory elevator. Aiden started forward, but Alex put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him behind everyone else. He turned, and Alex let the hand drop.
"Thanks." Alex smiled sheepishly at him. "Without you, I'd…probably be lying on that cement as well."
"No problem." Aiden said coolly, surprised that Alex had thanked him. He had plucked a nerve in the sewer, and could've sworn that Alex had seemed quite insulted when he had made the comment about the Supercomputer.
"Come on." Alex said, moving towards the elevator. "We don't want to be here when those things wake up. Alex and Aiden stepped into the elevator, and Sam pressed the down button. The shutter rattled downwards, and with a great whirring, the elevator descended into the darkness of the shaft. As the group, now with one extra, made its way down to the lab complex, one of the dogs let out a weak growl and shifted slightly. Its eye opened, revealing the symbol of X.A.N.A. - faint, but apparent. This wasn't over just yet.