Welcome to Book 3 of the Code Lyoko Generation Series! This is projected to be the longest and best yet, so hold on tight! If you have not read the first two books, I would highly recommend doing so before reading this one.
You'll be seeing a lot darker themes in this Book, thus the T rating.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko, nor do I claim to by writing this series. Code Lyoko is owned by MoonScoop, not by me. No copyright infringement intended.
While the idea of Code Lyoko belongs to MoonScoop, I invented the unique characters in this book, and came up with many of the unique plots. These are my ideas, so please talk to me before using them.
As with the rest of my books, FanFiction dot net is not the best place to view them. The best way is in PDF form, but since Book 3 is not yet complete, it's not available in this format yet. You can visit tsclg dot wikia dot com for more info on this series, and where to find it in the Code Lyoko Evolved forum, where I update primarily.
The CL-E Forum is at "cl-evolved dot com"
Also, check my profile for links to the PDFs of the first two books.
I appreciate any comments and input you may have. Please let me know of them in the reviews. Thanks for reading!
Code Lyoko Generation:
Book 3: Discoveries
Written by: TechnoSam
Illustrated by: lastmanstanding
Prologue
June 6th, 2008 AD
4:37 PM
The Hermitage
Jeremy knocked on the door to the Hermitage. Recently, Franz, Anthea, and the gang had finished refurbishing the place, and it looked almost new.
"Ah, Jeremy," Franz said as he opened the door. "Come on in. Aelita's in her room."
Jeremy was sixteen now. These visits were not uncommon, especially since Aelita moved back into the old house with her parents.
"Thanks," Jeremy said politely. "But she's not the reason that I came today."
Franz let out a small sigh. "I knew this day would come," I said. He looked down at his watch and saw the date. There was no denying it.
"Call the others," Franz instructed Jeremy. "This is long overdue."
Jeremy did so, quickly sending a text message to each of the Lyoko Warriors – including William – asking them to come over to the Hermitage.
When he had finished, Aelita walked down the stairs. "Hey, Jeremy!" She said. She walked over to him and they hugged in greeting. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
"You'll find out in a minute," He responded vaguely.
June 6th, 2008 AD
5:02 PM
The Hermitage
Franz sat in the living room on the couch. Beside him were Aelita and Anthea. Ulrich and Yumi sat directly in front of Franz, while Odd and William kneeled a little ways back.
As they gathered, Yumi smiled as Anthea rocked her son in her arms. He had been born almost two years ago, soon after she was recovered from the Network. Anthea was pregnant when she emerged from the Scanners, but no one knew any more than that.
Yumi's smile faded as she recognized the serious nature of this meeting.
"I assume the reason that Jeremy wanted me to talk to you all is due to today's date. It's been fourteen years..."
All of the assembled thought of what they had seen in Franz's video diary.
June 6th, 1994, Day 67. June 6th, 1994, Day 639. June 6th, 1994, Day 1265. June 6th, 1994, Day 2546. The day that Franz lived through 2546 times to create Lyoko and XANA. Everyone was wondering what he did during all that time, and what caused him to do so. Now it was time for the secret to be revealed.
"This is something that I should have told you all a long time ago, but we got distracted with rebuilding this house, returning to normal lives, and other things."
Franz paused, considering the weight of what he was about to say.
"Before I continue, let me say that this all happened in the past; it's finished. We have nothing to worry about."
Even as he said those words, he doubted himself. For the sake of his family and friends, he couldn't let that show.
"It all started so long ago..."
March 4th, 1977 AD
11:12 PM
Paris, France
Waldo Schaeffer was 18 years old. He had graduated college almost a year ago, surprising many with his technical genius. Already the holder of several patents, he showed an astounding amount of promise. A local company had implored him to accept a job in their software division. Given the salary they had offered him, there wasn't any way he could refuse.
Yes, he would have a high paying job, he could be secure in his position, and all was going well. At least, it would be... were it not for one little thing.
*Pop!* *Pop!* *Pop!*
Waldo ducked as he heard the assault rifle discharge. He skidded as he turned sharply into an alleyway, hoping to lose his pursuer.
He tripped and crashed into a trashcan, spilling its contents. The metallic noise was soon followed by the pounding of feet. He had given his position away!
Waldo squinted in the moonlight, trying to find his oppressor. Was that movement he saw? It was too dark to tell.
Taking a risk, he jumped up and sprinted off. Suddenly a hand caught his collar. They got me, he thought dreadfully. Then he felt the barrel of an AK-47 in his back, and he became even more frightened.
"Don't move," a gravelly voice said. "And don't make a sound."
Waldo couldn't have made any noise if he wanted to. The goon was choking off his air!
"If I let you breathe and you run for it, I'll put a round through your head, you got it?" The voice snarled.
Franz wordlessly nodded. There was no way out.
The brute dropped him to the ground and he stood up slowly, rubbing his throat.
"Where's the money!" His attacker demanded.
Franz knew exactly what he was talking about. Years ago, his family was very poor. His father died early of a dreadful sickness, and his mother was struggling to make ends meet. Waldo would never have been able to continue his schooling had it not been for this man. He had offered Waldo an enormous sum of money at 0% interest, and specified no time frame in which it must be paid back.
Waldo naively accepted the money and used it to take care of his family and go to college. But once he graduated with highest honor, this man began demanding Waldo return the money.
When he couldn't pay it back, the requests became increasingly violent. Tonight was not the first night a weapon had been fired in his direction.
"I don't have it," Waldo whispered. "I can't pay you back today."
The man grabbed the front of Waldo's collar and pulled him up to his face, nose to nose. "You're out of time, boy!"
"I'm sorry!" Franz began to thrash.
"You've had enough time to pay us back! I'm finished with you."
Franz braced himself for death, but it never came. "Beaudelaire!" A voice thundered.
Franz slowly opened one eye and looked over his captor's shoulder. A lone man stood in the entrance to the alley.
"Drop him," the voice sounded again.
Waldo was thrust to the ground once again. He hardly noticed the bruises.
The figure approached slowly. "Leon, Leon," he chastised. "How many times have I explained to you that our quarries are more valuable alive?"
Despite the man's civil tone, Leon Beaudelaire looked positively terrified. "Forgive me, Mr. Moreau," He muttered.
Moreau walked over to Waldo and grabbed him under his chin. "So you can't pay us back, hm?"
Waldo instantly understood Beaudelaire's terror. The man's eyes were like dark pits, his fingers as cold as ice. Something about this man resonated authority- the kind you feared.
Waldo shook his head without saying a word.
"Well then we have two options. The first is rather undesirable; it's that we kill you. The second may be more to your liking. I have a project that needs someone with your skills. If you'll work for me for a few years, I'll dismiss your debt."
"What if I refuse?" Waldo mustered up the courage to ask.
"We will kill you and your family... slowly. We don't want to have to do that, but we will if you leave us no other choice."
March 6th, 1977 AD
8:00 AM
Location Unknown
Sometime later, the bag was lifted from Waldo's head. He looked around and saw that he stood in a well-lit laboratory. Several men typed away on computers stationed at the four corners of the room, while others carried packages back and forth. Their contents and their purpose were not known to Waldo.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"No questions," Moreau ordered. "This is where you will be working for the next several years. We call this Project Carthage. Your expertise is needed, so get to work. The man in the white coat, Sebastien Dubois, will give you instructions."
With no further comments, Moreau left the room, leaving Waldo to an uncertain fate.
Waldo cautiously walked over to Sebastien. He looked Waldo's way and a smile lit his face. "Welcome!" He said cordially. "You are Waldo Schaeffer? I'm Sebastien Dubois. We'll be getting to know each other pretty well."
There was something amiss about Dubois' demeanor towards Waldo. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't like it at all.
Waldo decided to take it in stride as best he could. Hopefully in a few years he could be done with this.
Dubois gave Waldo a tour of the facility, but Waldo sensed that much had been omitted. The descriptions given were very vague, and there wasn't much that could be inferred. Waldo gathered that an organization called "Green Phoenix," was behind this "Project Carthage."
Other than that, he knew that Project Carthage was centered on the Internet. He was not given any information about how they planned to use this project, but given his experience, Waldo suspected terrorism.
But what was he to do? Either work on their project, or let his family be killed. The project would go on without him, and regardless of whether he helped or not, it would be completed. So he chose to go along with it, if only to save his family. In one way, this was one of the wisest decisions he could have made.
Dubois dismissed Waldo with the reminder that the work day started at 0800 hours sharp. Waldo then settled down with his new partners to begin working on Carthage's AI.
February 8th, 1979 AD
7:30 AM
Location Unknown
Waldo jolted awake at the sound of his alarm. When he remembered where he was, he sadly got up to work again. He had adjusted to his new life as much as you ever could. As he got ready, he thought of the progress he had made over the last year or so.
The AI was all but complete, programmed with adaptability to be self-sufficient. Dubbed PC-54T4N by the Project manager, this AI was the most advanced that humanity had ever seen. Its full abilities remained untested, but Green Phoenix was highly satisfied with it.
On this day, a technician sprinted into Waldo's section of the complex shouting something unintelligible.
"It's incredible!" Waldo made out.
"What's all this about?" the supervisor demanded.
"We've made an incredible discovery!" The technician said excitedly. "Waldo, Matthieu, Isaac, you must come with me!"
Waldo looked at his two accomplices in confusion. They shrugged.
"Here," the excited man said, waving a piece of paper. "I have authorization from Moreau himself."
Upon inspection of the paper, the supervisor walked away, satisfied.
Unable to refuse, Waldo allowed himself to be escorted to the Quantum-Computer room by the man, whose name was Pierre. The four men stood in front of the computer in awe for a few moments. It was a magnificent construction.
"As you know, gentlemen," Pierre began, "this is the Quantum Computer that powers this operation. The AI you have designed 'lives,' in here. This computer accesses the Internet to attain our goals."
"Get to the point," Matthieu complained.
"But here's something we didn't know," Pierre's voice dropped to a stage-whisper. "Because of how this computer functions, a representation has been created for it on the World Information Network. This representation is more than we thought it first was... It's an entire virtual world!"
August 12th, 1980 AD
2:07 PM
Project Carthage's Facility
Waldo trembled as he stood in front of the Scanner. It was a huge, cylindrical structure that was made to transport a human into the digital world that was Project Carthage. It had taken their Project to an entirely new level.
Minutes earlier, the briefing had finished. A guinea pig was randomly selected to journey to the virtual world and see what they had created. Waldo was that guinea pig.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Isaac give him the thumbs up. He stepped into the Scanners, turned around, and shut his eyes.
The doors closed on him, and the virtualization process started. It felt like wind was moving all around him, but it was just Scanner keeping itself cool. Soon, magnetic forces lifted him into the air. Several moments later, he blacked out.
There was nothing. No feeling, tastes, no smells, nothing to indicate that he was still alive. He briefly wondered if the virtualization had failed and when it split his atoms, he had died.
This thought was dispelled as he became aware of a body again. When he fully regained consciousness, he realized too late that he was falling.
"Oof!" He exclaimed when the impact of landing shook him.
"Waldo? Waldo?! Are you there?" Isaac's voice seemed to come from above. "I'm here," Waldo replied.
"Yeah!" Isaac exclaimed in victory. "We did it! We did it!"
The shock soon faded somewhat, allowing Waldo to take in his surroundings. The landscape was monochromatic, a deep shade of blue. The terrain was blocky, seeming to be random.
By his limited sense of feeling and different way of speaking, seeing, and hearing, there was no denying that he was in the new virtual world.
"You would not imagine the data I'm getting here!" Isaac exclaimed. Waldo could faintly here other members of the Project celebrating in the background.
"Say something else!" Isaac urged.
"What do you want me to say?" Waldo asked.
"Wow..." Isaac replied. "It's amazing what kind of voice readings I'm getting. The possibilities for this are unlimited!"
Waldo sensed that Isaac was beside himself with excitement. It was indeed amazing, but Waldo was more concerned about what purposes this would be used for.
Franz was now regretting the decision he made to stay and work here. He had sworn an oath, stating that he would be hunted down and killed for deserting or telling anyone anything about this. Because of that, Waldo doubted that he would ever be allowed to leave the organization that was Green Phoenix.
As the shock subsided further, Waldo was able to look at himself. He was dressed in solid white, tight fitting clothes. There was no distinction between shirt, pants, or shoes.
"Can you explore some more?" Isaac asked. "We want to get as much data as possible."
Slowly and unsteadily, Waldo took several steps. He quickly became bolder, and was soon running through the hallways.
When one hall ended, he found himself in a large room. He stopped dead and nearly choked at what he saw. Standing dead center of the circular chamber was another man.
His voice failed him as the figure looked up and into his eyes.
Waldo was transfixed as he studied the man before him. He had stark white hair and glowing red eyes. Some type of red and black armor adorned him, and the claw-like boots on his feet gave off an extra creepy image.
"Waldo," Isaac's voice said. "Why'd you stop? Is something wrong?"
Waldo still couldn't find his voice.
The man took a step towards him.
"Who are you?" Waldo asked when he could speak. "What are you doing here?"
There was a long pause as the white-haired man seemed to consider his words.
"YOU KNOW WHO I AM," The man responded at last. His voice sent a chill down Waldo's spine. If evil had a voice, it would sound like this.
"YOU CREATED ME."
The revelation struck Waldo like a blast of electricity- this was the AI that he had created. And a blast of electricity was exactly what he got a second and a half later.
When the blast struck Waldo, he began to spasm as the demon kept up the blast. Isaac was screaming for an explanation, but he would never get one.
Waldo lost consciousness, and his virtual body began to deteriorate. His appendages were the first to go, they simply disappeared. Next his torso and face began to turn a shining white, and his body contorted into a sphere.
Smaller spheres broke off from the main body, indicating that Waldo didn't have much time left.
In that instant, the bubbles disappeared; Isaac had sent the command to bring Waldo back to Earth.
August 13th, 1980 AD
6:33 AM
Carthage Facility
As Waldo opened his eyes, a fuzzy image slowly came into focus. A man – Waldo assumed him to be a doctor – stood over him.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I feel..." Waldo didn't know how he felt. After a moment, he continued, "Physically, I feel fine. I'm not sure of my mental condition."
The doctor grinned slightly. "If you're well enough to form complete sentences, then you'll be alright in a few days. We were afraid we'd lost you!"
Memories began to trickle back. As they did, horror began to creep up on him. What have I done? He asked himself.
Over the next several days, he was questioned heavily about what had happened. He told them everything he knew, but that didn't seem to satisfy the interrogators.
Over that same week, Waldo slipped into a state that bordered on insanity. He was wracked with guilt that he had created such a monster. One part of him knew that the way the AI turned out was due to one of his partners; Waldo was only responsible for the logic engine.
Despite that though, he knew that he had to get out. He couldn't stand it any longer.
August 19th, 1980 AD
12:55 AM
Carthage Facility
When all was quiet, Waldo got out of his bed, and carefully walked into the Quantum Computer room. His plan was bold, but incredibly risky. He worked on the Computer and ejected the memory drives that he needed.
No guards were posted on the inside of the facility during the night time, but Waldo was certain that some were stationed outside. Because of this, Waldo snuck out through the ventilation shafts.
It was a tight squeeze - Franz was not as svelte as he used to be. When he dropped outside into the cool night, he could hardly believe he was out. Several minutes later after he scaled the fence, he was free.
1980 – 1994 AD
France
The next few weeks were some of the most terror stricken of his life. He was sure that every corner he turned concealed an enemy, but he was wrong every time.
He changed clothes and burned his old ones in case there was a sort of tracking device on them.
Slowly but surely, he began to suspect that he might actually pull off his master plan.
With the data he had stolen, he could reconstruct his own facility somewhere and design a Multi-Agent System to wipe out Project Carthage. It was the only humane thing he could do.
As the months passed, he soon yet a delightful young woman named Anthea Hopper, and they were soon married. By this point, Waldo realized that he needed to change his name. So he took his middle name, Franz (which the terrorists had never acquired) and Anthea's maiden name, to create his alias of "Franz Hopper." In 1981, their first child, Aelita, was born.
More and more as he worked on his new AI, he realized what a corrupt world he lived in. Thus he was prompted to create A World Without Danger for himself and his family. It was relatively simple to build off the existing virtual world created by the SuperComputer.
He named this world, "Lyoko."
Given an infinite amount of time, Franz knew that he could make Lyoko indistinguishable from Earth. But he didn't have that time.
Lyoko's presence on the Internet was drawing the attention of Green Phoenix. As it grew, Carthage's computers picked up more and more data. Eventually, they had enough information and discovered Franz's work and location. Given that information, they sent bounty hunters from another division of the Green Phoenix.
Some time later, the bounty hunters tracked him and kidnapped his two-week pregnant wife, leaving him with a threat. Unbeknownst to Franz, they brought her back to Carthage and virtualized her, keeping her secure on an Internet server separate from Carthage.
After the basis of Lyoko was established, he completed the construction of XANA. He based the coding off of PC-54T4N, but he was in complete control this time. There was no Isaac or Matthieu to pervert the program to suit their evil desires. Franz didn't know if they wanted 54T4N, to be that evil, or it had just happened because of an error in their coding. Either way, it was clear the Green Phoenix liked the way 54T4N turned out.
Soon after, Franz unleashed XANA on Carthage. To be honest, Franz didn't want to know how it went. XANA had reported that Carthage was "utterly destroyed." When XANA used that term, Franz knew that he had probably annihilated the entire facility and everyone inside.
Given the absolute destruction of their main project, Green Phoenix soon disbanded, but because of the lack of communication, the bounty hunters continued on their mission to hunt Franz down.
Finally, on June the 6th, 1994, Franz discovered the property of his SuperComputer that allowed him to reverse time. He wanted to reverse it back through all those years, but the reversion only took him back to the beginning of June 6th. So he used this time to perfect his project.
On the 2546th day of June 6th, Franz initialized the final processes for Lyoko. He planned to complete it from the inside with the help of XANA. However, this alerted the bounty hunters, and they realized that Franz had disregarded their threat. When they assaulted Franz's house that day, he fled with Aelita to Lyoko. He discovered that his Lyoko Avatar remained unchanged from when he was last virtualized. He knew that this was due to the fact that he had directly copied what information he had stolen from Carthage into the SuperComputer.
Here it was that he discovered that XANA had betrayed him. This hurt Franz beyond words. He was so sure that he had programmed XANA to be good. How could he have turned away?
But Franz did not know of the events that had transpired. When XANA destroyed Carthage, 54T4N survived by escaping into the Internet. After this, he discovered XANA, Lyoko, and the SuperComputer.
54T4N disguised himself and began to talk to XANA. Secretly.
Because of his persuasions, XANA began to change. One could blame 54T4N, but XANA had free will. He chose to follow the teachings of 54T4N over the instructions of his creator.
Together, they started the MillEnnium War, and the name of NoviEk was bestowed on 54T4N. This of course, is a story for another time...
June 6th, 2008 AD
7:28 PM
The Hermitage
"I still don't know what caused XANA to turn on me," Franz concluded with a sigh. "You know the rest of the story."
It was a somber moment.
But the fact that the Lyoko Warriors now knew Franz's story did not change NoviEk's effects on XANA. Planet Earth would pay the price many years later.
Chapter 1
Sunday, September 8th, 2057 AD
8:56 AM
Kadic Academy
Summer break. To many, this phrase summoned feelings of fun, relaxation, and most importantly, the absence of school. To me, summer break conjured up premonitions of doom.
You see, I'm no ordinary kid. I've spent almost the last year of my life fighting a demonic computer virus called XANA who wants to take over the world in a virtual universe.
It's a pretty unbelievable story, I know, but it's as real as real can be.
As I walked up the sidewalk to Kadic Academy, I revisited some old memories. They weren't good ones. XANA – by means the Scyphozoa – had copied precious data from two of my friends, Sean and Tennent. This data was the essence of Lyoko residing inside our DNA. Because of this, our eyes glow our Lyoko colors whenever we are thinking about or doing something related to Lyoko.
After XANA copied the data from Sean and Tennent, their eyes no longer glow. They still change color, so they're still pretty special, but they don't glow that Alyssa's, Brittany's, and mine.
None of us – not even ANAX, the AI who used to serve XANA but now has sworn his allegiance to Lyoko – have any idea what XANA plans to do with that information. He's locked up in the Core of Lyoko, preventing us from getting the data we need to decode Jeremy's journal and understand how to defeat XANA.
The entire summer was spent in drudgery for me. I had no idea when XANA would become active again, and what he would do. Despite our past victories over him, I was petrified of him. My imagination had run wild, imagining all kinds of horrible ends XANA would achieve with this new information.
To my great astonishment and relief, XANA activity stayed at zero for the duration of the vacation. When we were back on campus I wouldn't have to worry about being too far away from the Factory.
As I reached the school gates, I stopped temporarily to gather up my things. I had quite a bundle. Kadic was a boarding school, so I was overloaded with clothes, books, and gear for my new school year. And this year I started high school, which meant that I changed dorms.
I hefted my packs and began walking into the campus. It had been a long three months.
Headmaster Dunbar greeted my jovially, "Welcome back, Sammy!"
I returned the salutations. He directed me to my new dorm, and I walked off to find it.
I didn't spend much time wandering; I was familiar with the layout. When I located my dormitory, I gratefully dropped my stuff onto the bed. I rubbed my shoulders where the straps of my travel bag had weighed on me.
Soon after, I set to work unpacking. The first order of business was to install the new OS on the computer and transfer my files. I had done a back-up some time ago. Given the amount of data I had on that back-up, I knew it would take a while to do a full restore. So I started putting my clothes away when I was shortly interrupted.
"Hey, buddy!" I heard a familiar voice say. I stood up and turned around to find Sean and Tennent in the doorway, smiling.
"Hey guys!" I said enthusiastically. I couldn't resist giving them hugs in the name of brotherly love.
"You look taller," Sean said to me.
"So do you," I replied. We didn't look like kids anymore. Now we were in 9th grade and 15 years old.
We discussed our summers, but the topic soon turned serious when the computer notified me that the installation was complete.
My eyes flashed bright orange as I went over to check on it. I noticed that both Sean and Tennent's eyes had changed colors, but of course, there was no light in them. A chill passed down my spine as I saw this.
"Ah, I wondered when you would connect, Sammy," a digital voice resonated from the speakers.
"Wow, ANAX," Tennent said. "How did you find the new computer so fast?"
"Oh, it was simple," he replied. "I knew that today was the day you come back to school, so I simply scanned all the computers' webcams in each of the high school dorms until I found an active one with you guys in it. I've already set up the connection between this computer and Lyoko's Interface."
"So you're really on top of things, then?" Sean asked.
"Oh, yes," ANAX said. His tone suggested he was waving a hand, as if dismissing the matter. "Sammy and I have kept good contact over the summer."
We finished our unpacking and headed down to the school yard. We didn't have school until tomorrow, today was the day to get everything settled in and prepare for the next year.
We were pretty much done with all that by 11 in the morning, so we figured we could take a little free time. We were pleased to find Alyssa and Brittany already there, waiting for us.
"Hey, gang," Brittany said with a smile.
"It looks like we made it through the summer with no XANA activity," Alyssa said after she greeted us. "That's good, right?"
"I'm actually pretty worried about that," I admitted. "I don't know what he's been doing for such a long time. He's got to be fixing something really big, and I don't like it."
"Maybe he's having a lot of problems?" She suggested optimistically.
"Yeah," I said. "I suppose."
Given the fact that there was nothing we could do about it, we decided to let the matter go. Sean and I grabbed Brittany and Alyssa's luggage and carried it to their rooms. Tennent headed for the admin office to get our class schedules for us.
About a half-hour later, we had finished unloading all our stuff and were in the hall of the administration office.
We looked at the pieces of paper to figure out how our school days would be.
The first class of the day was Math; Algebra and Geometry. Second was World History, and then Biology. Fourth class was a Computer and Tech class. I knew that this would be an especially easy class for me.
Fifth period was French, and then we had lunch. Directly after was English, and then PhysEd. The last period was either Music or Health. I - like Alyssa and Brittany - had chosen Health class, while Tennent and Sean had chosen Music. I found later that they picked that for an easy good grade.
As we compared schedules, we realized that Brittany was on a very different agenda. It didn't take long to figure out that she had been placed on the alternate order of subjects.
"How can this happen?" Sean demanded. "They can't separate us like this!"
"Well, they did, dude," Tennent pointed out.
Sean went on. "It's bad enough that we're split up in our last period, if XANA attacks then, it'll be harder to get moving. With Brittany off our schedules even more, it will be much harder."
I noted that Sean's argument was quite weak. With ANAX on our side, he could send off a text message to all of us from the SuperComputer as soon as he detected an activated Tower. Since Sean knew this, I didn't point it out to him, since all of knew the real reason he didn't want Brittany to be in a different class.
"Can't we get it changed?" Alyssa suggested.
"Well there's only one way to find out," Sean replied as he marched off to the principal's office.
Sunday, September 8th, 2057 AD
12:32 PM
Kadic Academy Cafeteria
"Any luck?" Tennent asked as we sat down with our food.
"Nah..." Sean shook his head. "Dunbar said it wasn't possible to change the composition of the classes. It doesn't look like there's anything I can do."
"Unless..." Brittany began hesitantly.
"What?" Sean asked.
"Sammy could hack the school system and put me with you guys," She suggested.
"That's true," I said. "It wouldn't be hard. But if I change your class schedule, Dunbar is going to notice that the documents have been changed, and the Teachers have already printed out the list of students in their classes, so I don't think I could do much good."
"What about a Return to the Past?" Sean asked hopefully.
"Sean," I said back. "You know we can't do that. Going back in time makes XANA stronger! Even supposing we did do it, and I could hack the network, nothing says that the change would go unnoticed and be reverted. The whole thing might be a waste."
Even Sean saw the logic in that. That didn't mean he had to like it.
Sunday, September 8th, 2057 AD
1:17 PM
Kadic Park
"Look, Sean," Brittany said. "It's not the end of the world. We still have Gym class and Lunch together. And ANAX will help us out for the Lyoko side of our life."
"Yeah, I know," Sean said in a subdued tone. "But it won't be the same..."
As they walked, they looked around at all the trees and flowers in the woods.
"And I guess we can still hang out after school and talk, right?" Sean asked.
"Of course," She replied.
Up to this point, Sean still had not confided in anyone else about most of his problems. Brittany was the only one he needed.
They walked for several more minutes in silence. There was little else to say.
Sunday, September 8th, 2057 AD
1:02 PM
Sammy's Dorm
I spent the rest of the day examining Jeremy's journal. I had made almost no progress over the summer, decoding bits and pieces of non-essential information.
In the time after XANA went inactive last school year, Alyssa had come to my dorm from time to time to listen to ANAX and I work. I wasn't sure why, but whatever her reason, it seemed to help.
Now, there was nothing wrong with ANAX, but there was something about having another human in the room that made it easier to sort my thoughts out. I'm a verbal thinker, and the more people listening to me "think," the better.
Today was one such day. She sat on the bed flipping through a magazine while she listened to ANAX and I discuss the coding.
"So here's this string of characters that continues to puzzle me," I said highlighting the line of text.
(Author's Note: Thanks to all the cool fonts installed on my computer, I was able to insert code in the Aurebesh font, which was used for the Computer Code in Code Lyoko. That font isn't visible here on FanFiction dot net, so just know that there's a cool string of code right here if you were reading the PDF or on the Veterans forum)
"This has to correspond to the Lyoko Data we need. It occurs so many times throughout the code, we can easily conclude that it is the key to cracking the code," ANAX said.
"And you guys have already figured that out, right?" Alyssa asked.
"That's right," I said to her. "But we still can't decipher what it could mean."
"And it's where we've been stuck for the past month," ANAX added.
"We've tried so many different things," I said. "But we're just not getting anywhere. The only thing that will help us is the data from the Core of Lyoko, which is stillinaccessible."
"Well one day XANA will have to be finished in there and we can get back to work," Alyssa said.
I kept forgetting how good she was at keeping a positive outlook.
Sunday, September 8th, 2057 AD
2:12 PM
Tennent and Sean's Dorm
"There you go, Smudge!" Tennent said as he finished unpacking the last of his pet's things. "You've got a bigger place now, how do like that?"
Smudge purred happily as he stretched luxuriously on the floor.
Tennent scratched the cat behind the ears. "If only my life was as easy as yours," Tennent whispered to the animal. "You've got nothing to worry about... But I plan to keep it that way."
By saying this, Tennent was promising the keep Kadic – and the rest of the world – safe. Not only for Smudge, but for all who lived there.
Tuesday, September 11th, 2057 AD
3:30 PM
Kadic Academy Health Classroom
The bell rang, indicating that school was over for the day. Even though it had only been a few days, it felt like I had been back in school for months. I had begun to adjust to the new dorms, and the different layout of the buildings. Several of my classes – including gym – were in their old locations.
As a high-schooler now, I had an extra building near the high school dorm for those classes. For all the others, I still got to go back to the other part of the campus.
It was strange, definitely not what I was used to, but I was adjusting. But today, the day that I was dreading finally arrived. Just as I was walking out the door of my last class, my phone buzzed, announcing a text message from ANAX.
Oh, no! I thought. Activated Tower! Here we go...
Less than two minutes passed before the entire gang had assembled in the school yard.
"Ready to go?" Alyssa asked. I could tell that even she was nervous about this.
"Yeah," I replied. "We can't waste any time."
As I started to run off, Sean stopped me. "Wait!" He said.
"What?" Tennent asked from a few feet away.
"Since we have no idea what kind of attack this is, shouldn't a couple of us stay at the school to find out?"
We hesitated for the briefest of moments. "You're right," I replied at last. "We'll need to know whether a Return to the Past is needed or not."
"Sean and I will stay here," Brittany volunteered.
"Ok, let's go!" Tennent said. Now we raced off.
Tuesday, September 11th, 2057 AD
3:49 PM
Bridge to the Factory
After chucking my scooter to the side, I scaled the ladder and began running across the bridge. I was really out of shape, but I wasn't as tired as I could have been, thanks to Lyoko's Data strengthening me.
It was a very familiar routine; we had travelled this path many times. In one way, it was good to be back in the fight. On the other hand, I was very scared that we would be pushed into a face plant by XANA.
ANAX began talking as soon as the elevator door opened. "The Tower that XANA has activated is in the Desert Sector. I don't detect any monster activity, and it's clear that XANA has left the Core of Lyoko. If we come out of this fight alive, then we should get the needed data ASAP."
That's the nice thing about being a computer program, I thought. You never lose your composure.
As me and my two friends went down to the Scanners, I realized that that though was not true. XANA certainly seemed to have some sort of emotions, he screamed in defeat when we got the Keys to Lyoko.
Either way, I resolved. ANAX is on top of his game. We just need to make out of this one.
As the Scanner's door closed, I shut my eyes and prepared for virtualization. The almost forgotten feeling was experienced again, and soon I found myself on Lyoko.
I looked down at myself.
"Wow," I said. "Great job ANAX!"
He had given our Lyoko Avatars a touch-up. There were minimal changes; the most apparent was our increased height. Overall, my tiger costume was slightly sleeker, with shiny metal-like shoulder and knee pads. The black stripes across my body seemed slightly longer, and a bit more defined.
Tennent was examining his changes as well. He too, had grown a bit taller, and he looked a bit more muscular. He hadn't lost his svelte frame, but his forearms in particular looked bigger. Dark gray stripes had been added onto his tail.
Standing just to my left, Alyssa inspected her new gear. The short cape on her back had disappeared, and a diamond shaped streak of darker pink had appeared on her midsection.
"Pretty spiffy," Tennent complimented.
"Looks nice," Alyssa agreed. "But for now, we've got a job to do."
I was happy the changes weren't too big it made it easy to keep going like normal. Still, it was nice that ANAX had updated our facial features and height to match the way they looked now.
We quickly reached the red-colored Tower. When we came to a stop, the dust we kicked up with our feet began to settle.
"It's too quiet here," I said. "If XANA was planning something big, it seems like he would want a lot of monsters here like the last time we fought..."
"A wise assumption," A voice suddenly sliced through the synthetic air on Lyoko. "But I don't need anything with this Tower, so I have nothing to guard..."
"What do you want with us, XANA?" Tennent demanded.
"Wait," XANA answered. "Where is Sean? He must be here."
"Who do you think we are?" I yelled in outrage. "Why should we agree to anything you demand? You've proven that you want nothing more than to kill us!"
"I digress. All the Lyoko Warriors need to see this. It's far too late to stop it."
No one said anything for a few moments.
"Fine," XANA's voice said. "I'll even deactivate the Tower. I suppose you must need some... CONFIDENCE."
Immediately, the Tower's aura faded to white.
"See? I can keep my word." The disembodied voice said smugly.
"Trust me, this is a show you really don't want to miss..."
Tuesday, September 11th, 2057 AD
3:53 PM
Kadic Academy, Outside the Dormitories
"No attack so far," Sean commented.
"Our friends must be on Lyoko by now," Brittany added.
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. It was quickly broken by the ringing of Sean's phone.
"It's from Sammy," he said to Brittany before answering.
"Hey," she said.
"Listen," Sammy said from Lyoko. "We're in the Desert Sector. XANA's just deactivated the Tower. It seems he just wanted us on Lyoko so he can brag to us. He's specifically requested your presence."
"And you think we should agree to that?" Sean asked in surprise.
"Well he's already got the data he wanted from you, and the Tower's deactivated, so I think you should get over here. Might as well bring Brittany."
"See you there," Sean said as he hung up.
Tuesday, September 11th, 2057 AD
4:07 PM
Lyoko, Desert Sector
XANA had fallen silent ever since I got off the phone with Sean. It was kind of disturbing, knowing that he was watching us, like some incorporeal menace looming over our heads. The Tower remained deactivated.
Soon, ANAX announced, "Sean and Brittany are in the Factory. I'll transfer them."
In almost no time at all, we witnessed the forming of Sean and Brittany's new forms.
Given the gravity of the situation, we did not discuss the changes, but I noted them all the same.
Brittany had a different pattern on her body suit, there was more dark purple in it than previously, and other than the update to match her age, she was largely unchanged.
Sean looked broader, in terms of muscles and armor. The belt of knives across his midsection had been replaced by some sort of chest plate. His boots looked a little bit taller.
"So what's going on?" Sean asked in an exasperated tone.
"I think we're about to find out," Tennent explained.
"Thanks to Sean," XANA's voice cut in, causing us to jump. He continued, "I was able to achieve the first step in my master plan. It really just wouldn't have been the same were it not for Sean, so I must thank you."
"He's mocking us now?" Sean asked in disgust. "This is insane."
A growling noise sounded. We assumed this was XANA.
"You clearly don't understand the magnitude of what you're about to witness. Perhaps I should cut to the chase?"
Before any of us could refuse, all of Lyoko began to shake, as if it was in an earthquake! The noise was deafening. I am unable to describe the sound we were hearing, but it was like what you might expect to hear if you really were in an earthquake.
Later, I found that this was caused by all the new power flowing. Massive changes were underway, and Lyoko's processors were running past the maximum to handle it all.
As quick as it began, the "Lyoko-quake" stopped.
"What just happened?" Brittany asked. No one knew the answer. Not just yet.
"XANA?" Tennent shouted. "Show yourself!"
When there was no response, he muttered, "Coward!"
"Sammy!" ANAX exclaimed suddenly. "Take a look at the HoloMap!"
He sent the command to my holographic interface and the map of Lyoko appeared. "Oh, no!" I said.
"What?" Alyssa asked as she came running over to look. The rest of my friends followed suit.
Normally, the HoloMap showed Sector 5 in the center, with each of the four other Sectors branching from it. The map that I was seeing, however, displayed five Sectors coming out of the central Sector 5.
The Forest, Ice, Mountain, and Desert were all still there, but another landmass was there! Sector 5 also appeared to have gotten bigger to accommodate for the additional "spoke."
"What's going on here?" I asked, knowing that I wouldn't get a satisfactory answer.
"Somehow, it looks like XANA's created a new Sector!" ANAX said unnecessarily.
But how? I wondered. And why?
A giant yellow laser blasted several centimeters away, and I jumped backwards in surprise. Three MegaTanks had just appeared!
Normally, between the five of us, we should have been able to handle the monsters. I'm sure that my friends were just as shocked as I was by XANA's latest move.
In short order, all of us had been devirtualized. I couldn't say that I was happy with that outcome.
As I stepped out of the Scanner gasping, I looked around. At least the Factory was intact.
When my friends joined me in the Lab, we all inspected the giant HoloMap in the center of the room.
After what felt like a long time, Brittany spoke up, "How did he do it?"
A moment passed before ANAX answered, "It had to have had something to do with Sean's Lyoko Data. For some reason, XANA needed that. My only theory as to why he needed that is very uncertain.
"As a Multi-Agent System like myself, XANA is limited to certain things he can do on Lyoko. Anything with Waldo Schaeffer's digital imprint cannot be edited. So XANA isn't really able to just go in and create a new Sector. Somehow, he's used Sean's Lyoko Data to get around that, since his set of the Keys to Lyoko has Waldo's imprint. XANA must have not edited the data, and somehow applied it to make another Sector."
"But what does he gain from that?" I asked.
"As far as I can tell - nothing."
"Well we know he must have a purpose, because he said that this was the first step in his master plan," Alyssa informed us.
More silence. We all hated it when XANA got his way.
We realized that we'd have to explore this new Sector soon, and that would present a host of new problems, all completely unexpected.
Author's Notes: You'll note how I have done away with the page breaks. With my new system, they are no longer needed. Any time you see bold text with date, time, and location, that indicates a scene change. This saves me a LOT of work, and it makes the story a lot more logical. And this is about all I have written for CLG. Any more chapters that you see posted are because I just finished writing them, so the updates will be much, MUCH slower than previously. Again, thank you for taking the time to read this, and please let me know of your thoughts. :) Keep watch for more chapters, coming soon!