Chapter One: Dissection
Odd looked down at the lifeless amphibian stretched out and pinned down to the equally lifeless gray tray.
"Thanks for being my partner on this assignment Aelita." Odd said.
Aelita pushed aside her notebook, having finished reviewing her notes on dissections.
"You're welcome Odd." Aelita replied with a smile on her face.
Aelita reached for one of the two scalpels in front of her, inspecting it. The scalpel mostly consisted of a dull silver handle, the width of the handle remained the same for eighty percent of the scalpel, then gradually shrinking to a small blade at the top. Odd reached for the remaining scalpel.
"I hope these blades are sharp enough," Odd remarked "because it doesn't look like these could even cut a piece of toast in half… Ouch!" Odd muttered after tapping his index finger against the tip of the blade.
"Odd, do you ever not think about food?" Aelita said, laughing at her friend's comment. Her expression changed from one of amusement to one of confusion.
"Odd, why didn't you and Ulrich do this assignment together?
"It's funny you ask," Odd said with a laugh. "We both thought a change of pace would be nice, that's all Princess."
"Quiet down class!" Ms. Hertz called out.
"Now that you have finished prepping your stations, you may begin your dissections. As a reminder, to get an A, you need to remove the heart, liver, gall bladder and kidneys, without puncturing the organs. You have 30 minutes, good luck." Ms. Hertz said with a smile. She was extremely pleased seeing her students deep in concentration. Some of them looked concerned, others looked a little green in the face. After years of teaching however, she knew this was the usual reaction to the dissection unit.
"Alright Ulrich, I want you to start cutting right here." Jeremy said, pointing at the top of their frog's chest. He had drawn a line on the frog in black marker, starting just below the frog's neck, and ending at the bottom of the stomach.
"Thanks again for partnering with me Jeremy." Ulrich said as he began his incision. Jeremy had delegated the knifework to Ulrich, his precision with a blade being better than his own.
"You and Odd didn't study or prepare at all for this, did you?" Jeremy asked, his expression unchanging, his focus unfazed.
"Nope." Ulrich calmly replied as he continued his slice.
"You had better know what you are doing Herb." Sissi said, her tone completely dictatorial.
"Relax Sissi, I know exactly what I am doing." Herb said with a smile. He was so focused on impressing Sissi, he didn't notice that his fingers were in the way until he sliced three of them, index, middle, and ring.
"OW! OW! OW!" Herb exclaimed, attracting the attention of everyone in the science lab, including Ms. Hertz. She immediately rose from her desk and walked towards Herb.
"Those are some very nasty gashes." Ms. Hertz said, holding his wrist in one hand, and examining the front of his injured fingers with the other.
"I'm afraid you'll have to go to the Nurse's Office." Ms. Hertz said, determining that the band-aids she kept in her room wouldn't be sufficient. Sissi, seeing her opportunity, nominated herself.
"I'll take him down!" she said, her excitement being slightly too evident in her voice.
"No Sissi, you'll stay here and continue to work on the dissection. Nicolas, you shall take Herb down to the nurse, and immediately return to class."
"What!" Sissi shrieked as Nicolas replied in monotone. "Yes Madam. Come on Herb." Nicolas rose from his station, following behind Herb, who had already opened the door with his good hand.
"But Ms. Hertz!" Sissi objected, "I can't do this on my own!"
"Why of course you can Sissi." Ms. Hertz replied. "You paid attention in class and took notes didn't you?" she asked.
"Well… Yes I…" Sissi stammered.
"Perfect." Ms. Hertz interrupted, "Now hurry along, you have 25 minutes left!" the science teacher announced to the class.
'Grrrrrrr' Sissi grumbled in frustration. Taking a moment to recompose herself, she reached for her notebook. Temporary confidence quickly crumbled to immediate worry, as Sissi realized she had no idea what to do.
"Woah." Jeremy said, jerking his head back as Ulrich removed the frog's heart.
"Something wrong Einstein?" Ulrich asked setting his knife down on the tray for a moment.
"No, it's fine." Jeremy said exhaling. "It just smells, that's all."
"That's nothing Jeremy." Ulrich replied. The German boy then lowered his voice and said "Odd's feet have gotten worse."
"You have my sympathies." Jeremy said holding his nose.
The class continued to work diligently with her remaining time. No further disruptions occurred, and Ms. Hertz soon found herself counting down the remaining seconds.
"Three, two, one! Alright class, scalpels down! Take 5 minutes to jot down your notes, then bring your frogs up to the front of the class for examination." Ms. Hertz stood at behind her desk, awaiting her students specimens.
Ulrich and Jeremy brought theirs first. Ulrich, as per Jeremy's instructions, cleanly and successfully removed all of the required organs. Ms. Hertz carefully inspected the dissected frog. A smile emerged over their instructor's face.
"Very impressive you two. Ulrich, I take it you made the incisions, and Jeremy, you gave Ulrich instructions?"
"Yes Madam." The two replied in unison.
"This is one of the most successful dissections I have ever seen in my time as a teacher here at Kadic. If neither of you mind, I would like you to attend the sixth grade dissections after lunch today."
"Huh?" Ulrich said in confusion.
"I would like you and Jeremy to supervise your younger classmates, provide assistance if you can." Ms. Hertz explained, "I will also be giving out extra credit for those who volunteer." she added, with a slight grin forming on the left side of her face.
"I'll be there!" Ulrich said immediately. Both he and Ms. Hertz knew he needed all the points he could get. Ms. Hertz also noticed the change in her pupils usual partners, and suspected it was for this very reason.
"I'll be there too." Jeremy replied, very pleased with his and Ulrich's work.
"Alright then, please arrive at 1:45. The sixth grade class will start at 2:00. Don't be late." Ms. Hertz added as the two boys turned around, walking back to their station.
"Who's next?" Ms. Hertz asked, her grin still remaining. To some of her students, seeing her grin like this was terrifying. To others, it was an omen they were going to fail.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of Code Lyoko: Monster Swarm. I plan for there to be four chapters total. If you enjoyed it, please consider following or leaving a review. The next chapter should be out shortly!