A/N: I needed to get this story up, since it follows with my first fic, "Return To the Past". This is about what Waldo "Franz Hopper" Schaffer tried to tell Jeremy in Chapter 2, but from his perspective.
Also, I don't own Code Lyoko.
Stranded in the Void
Chapter 1 – A Digital Librarian Almost Kills Me
For a long time felt utter nothingness, but then I saw a bright white light.
Is this it? I thought to myself. Am I dead?
Is this…heaven?
But something didn't feel right. I could still feel my heartbeat, so I wasn't dead. As my eyes focused to the light better, I noticed that the light came from two cylindrical florescent light bulbs above me. As I rubbed my eyes and got up, I noticed that I was lying next to a row of books neatly arranged in picture-perfect rows. Even for a somewhat perfectionist like me, I thought this was way too much.
In case you haven't guessed who I am, my real name is Waldo Schaffer, but you would know me as Franz Hopper. For those of you who don't know why I changed my name, I did so to protect my family from those ruthless Black Cobras, who were impersonating agents if the French Secret Service in order for them to get to me without being hunted themselves. Part of their plan worked, as they took my wife. I don't know what happened to her, and I can only assume the worst. All this happened because Project Carthage drew the Cobras to it like a moth to a flame. Carthage was a top-secret program that the government had been working on since computers were invented, and it was designed to infiltrate enemy systems without fail and bring them down from the inside.
You may have heard that I wanted to use Lyoko and XANA to destroy Carthage because I had paranoid theories about the damage it might cause if the Secret Service got their hands on it. But what really happened was that President Jeromé Keller himself called me, telling me that the Cobras had sent him a private message, saying that if they didn't give Carthage to them, they would personally wipe out the whole country of France to get it. President Keller had a bad feeling about Carthage since the start, but after all the pleading the R&D team gave him, he thought it couldn't hurt, if it was for the welfare of France. What he didn't know was that those members who were in Project Carthage were in direct contact with the Black Cobras' new leader, Geraldo Danzkhi.
Because of this new info, which I let the president in on, he gave me a safe haven in the Hermitage under the guise of Franz Hopper, so that I could implement my plan to use Lyoko and XANA to destroy Carthage once and for all. Unfortunately, my cover didn't help my poor Anthea, and I had no choice to escape to Lyoko with my daughter, Aelita, in hopes that XANA would help us. But I was in error, as XANA had gained a will of its own and merged with Carthage instead of destroying it, sent me into the network, stole Aelita's memory, and forced me to shut down Lyoko. After Jeremy reactivated it almost ten years later, I helped him help Aelita get her human self back, and stop XANA for good. You may have thought that I sacrificed myself to bring that goal to fruition, but I actually used a very clever replica of me, so convincing, that not even XANA could detect it. My daughter was no doubt horrified, however, at the thought of my death, but my action was necessary to destroy XANA for good.
But it appears that the effort of creating that replica had taken a lot out of me, and I fell unconscious while still in the Network, or the Internet, whichever you choose to call it. I guessed I ended up here. Now the only questions are, where is here, and how would I get back to Lyoko, or better yet, back to Earth?
I could tell from the rows of bookcases that this was some sort of digital library. Perhaps it was a reference site. As I took a better look around, I saw many people taking books out of the shelves, some reading a small part of the books and putting them back, while some continued reading the books for a long while. It was obvious that none of them could or would interact with me, so I decided that the best thing would be to find a site administrator to find out my current location. I took a look at my watch to see the time, but when I looked at my left wrist, I noticed my watch had transformed into a small computer, which covered half of my forearm. Having never seen this before, I tapped on one of the keys on the side, and the device opened up, and the display screen showed that not only had it been a month since the fall of XANA, but also that I was in the search engine on the Russian Wikipedia.
"I…was out that long?" I said to myself. "Good grief. That must have been some program."
Suddenly, I felt someone walk up to me. I turned around and noticed what appeared to be a woman in a common librarian outfit. I felt something was off about her, but I didn't know what it was.
"Do you need help with anything, sir?" she asked. She was looking at me, so I reasoned that she was conscious of my presence.
"Uh…yes," I responded, hesitantly, "I'm looking for the administrator of this site."
"For what purpose?" she queried.
"I want someone to help me find the exit," I answered, "unless you can help me do that, ma'am."
She flashed a smile. "Of course I can help you leave this site…
Waldo Franz Schaffer."
I gasped and stepped back. "How do you know my real name? Who are you?"
The librarian snickered. "You should know by now, creator of Lyoko, the world which held captive the greatest program created by man. I am an agent of Carthage, and I am here to exact my revenge for its destruction by destroying its destroyer!"
With that, the area around me flickered as the woman's hands started crackling with lightning, and I instinctively ran as far away from her as I could get. However, no sooner had the first wave of lightning struck than she chased after me, shouting,
"Don't run away from me, Schaffer! If you're really the great creator of Lyoko, then fight me like a man, and don't cower like that sniveling little boy you so highly trusted!"
Fight you with what? I thought to myself. I don't have any weapons or powers like Jeremy's friends. Even Jeremy has powers like them, even though he never uses them. Just then, I noticed I was wearing a different set of clothes than my old white lab coat, red shirt, and khakis. I was dressed in a futuristic Roman combat suit of armor with a red cloak and brown spiked boots, and a large image of the Eye of Lyoko on my breastplate. I also had an old-looking rifle, equipped with twin bayonets, strapped to my back, and I was clutching an intricate staff that seemed to be mechanical, yet natural as well. I say this because it seemed to be made out of both wood and metal. The staff was perfectly straight, apart from a knife-like protrusion that came from the bottom of it, and a glowing blue sphere, with the Eye of Lyoko shimmering inside, on the top.
"Looks like I thought too soon," I said to myself as I drew the rifle out from its holster and fired it at the now-glowing mass of energy that was the Carthage agent. The gun did not shoot a normal bullet as I anticipated, but shot a small ray of lighting, which struck the creature and caused it to become magnetized to the floor. I took this as an opportunity to escape, and ran into the central hub, or main page, of the site, where I was surrounded by droves of people from almost every nationality. I had to take great care not to get trampled by the masses or attract unnecessary attention to myself. Unfortunately, I found that last part to be difficult as a young man in a troll costume walked up to me.
"Dude," he said, observing my outfit, "boss duds. You know how I can score one, or did you make 'em yourself?"
"Um…" I stuttered, "Yes, I did make it myself. No, I can't tell you how to do it yourself. Sorry."
Just then, I noticed a few very familiar figures coming from behind me. They wore all black suits, and wore sunglasses that were so dark that you couldn't see their eyes. I suppose you could call them our very own Men in Black, but they were really members of the Black Cobras disguised as agents of our secret police force, though no one knows that but me, my friends, my daughter, and my daughter's friends, whose parents are also my friends. I gulped and ran as far away from them as I could, while trying not to draw their attention to me, but that last part was for naught, as I saw them chase after me shouting, "Stop right there, Schaffer!"
Suddenly, someone in a gray cloak pulled over his or her head signaled to me to follow him or her. I took this as my only chance of escaping my pursuers, and ducked with him or her into a dark alley. The mystery person led me down a number of dark corridors until we reached a door with an old flashing red 'emergency exit' sign over the top of the doorframe. The person motioned me to follow him or her through the door.
"Wait!" I stopped. "Where will this door take me to?"
The person did not answer, but motioned once again for me to follow. Just then, I had an idea.
"If I follow you," I said, "do you agree to tell me where I will end up, who you are, and why you are helping me?"
My plan was a success, as the figure nodded violently, and opened the door. On the other side of the doorway, there was nothing but whiteness, but it was better than the alternative, so I jumped through the doorway, shutting it behind me. Instantly, I was in a place I knew all too well. After all, it was my home. I was in my living room, and I noticed the old grand piano, which was still in its fine condition. I then noticed the figure that led me to my old abode in the couch adjacent to the piano. Just then, something looked familiar about this person. I realized from the shape of the deep blue jeans, and the figure's slender stature, that it was a woman. Her cloak was off, but a gray hood was still pulled over her head, which was connected to her long-sleeved gray shirt.
"It's been too long, Waldo," she said, noticing me.
"All right, I want answers," I said, "like: who are you? How do you know my name? How did I get here, and why were you helping me?"
"In reverse order," she replied, "You have a mission to complete so that you can get home to Aelita, I brought you here, and I've known you for thirty years, and you've know me for just as long. After all…"
As she said this, she pulled off her hood, which exposed her face. I was stunned. I was looking at a woman in her early forties, with a cleanly brushed back lock of bright pink hair. As my jaw dropped open when I saw this, she finished her statement, which confirmed my beliefs.
"…I'm your wife."
Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUNNNNN! It's just the first chapter, and already there's a cliffhanger! I don't like them, but I needed to get part of this up. Besides, the whole of what would happen next would be too long for this. Well, see you next chapter!