1Che wheeled herself over to her computer when she heard the sound indicating that she'd received an e-mail.
"Xana? If this is some company trying to sell me something, they'll find their computers fried," Che growled, opening her mail box.
'Special contest for the gifted. Prize goes to the first ten whom can complete the device pictured with the schismatics. Prize shall be announced only those who complete the project.'
"Sounds hokey to me," Che grumbled, looking over the schematics halfheartedly, "Beats being bored I suppose,"
"Man!" Odd whined, flopping back on the table, "I'm actually starting to miss Xana's attacks, things are getting boring around here!"
"You're trying to jinx us, aren't you?" Yumi asked, tapping the blond over the top of his head with her book, "You're the one who's always complaining about having to have himself virtualized every other day,"
"Yea, but that was before I knew how boring normal life would be once things quieted down," Odd huffed.
"While it is concerning, we might as well enjoy this while it lasts," Jeremy pointed out, scribbling in his notebook.
"What're you working on?" Odd asked, moving to look over the work.
"Calculations," Jeremy answered, looking up and pushing his friend back some.
"Calculations involving Aelita?" Odd asked, grinning broadly, only to have Yumi drag him off the table.
"Calm down, unless you want to spend the afternoon with Jim again," Yumi reminded, earning a groan from Odd.
"Hey!" Ulric called, hurrying over to his friends, "Odd, what'd you do this time?"
"Nothing, I swear!" Odd protested, darting behind Ulric to avoid Yumi's book and glare.
"Right," Ulric chuckled, rolling his eyes.
"Have you seen Aelita at all today, have you?" Jeremy asked, looking up from his notebook.
"Not a lot really, she took off toward the office right after class," Ulric responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"Wonder why she needed to go there," Jeremy wondered.
"Sorry I'm late!" Aelita called, running over to the rest of the group, "Did I miss anything?"
"Not yet," Odd chirped, "We were just about to talk Ulric into dancing around in a tutu,"
"Funny, Odd, very funny," Ulric darted, giving a small chuckle despite himself, "Can we be serious for a minute? We've all been concerned about the fact that Xana's been surprisingly quiet lately. He's only this quiet when he's preparing something, and we all know that something isn't going to be a fruit basket. What is it Odd?"
"Sissy alert!" Odd yelped, alerting the rest of the group to her presence.
Ulric turned around sharply, ready to tell her off.
"Hi Ulric!" Sissy chirped cheerfully, giving a small wave in greeting, "Could I speak with Aelita for a moment?"
"It's alright, I'll be right back!" Aelita called over her shoulder as she followed after the headmaster's daughter, "So, what did you want..."
"I'm not here for niceties," Sissy snapped, startling the pink-haired girl considerably, "The new girl isn't coming here to hang around a group of losers, so don't keep dragging her around with that Odd!"
"But, what would that hurt?" Aelita asked, insulted, "And why is this girl so important, your father was talking about her a mile a minute and I could hardly understand him when he told me her name,"
"Why don't you ask that boyfriend of yours to look her up?" Sissy sneered, turning on her heel and walking away.
"Jeremy," Aelita started, making sure she had his attention, "Could you look up a name for me?"
"Who?" Jeremy asked, fixing his glasses.
"Che Willings," she answered, watching as he started looking over the pages.
"She's quite talented with electronical equipment," Jeremy started, before the page had even finished loading, "This is actually the first time I've found anyone with a picture of her though," he chuckled.
"You already know about her?" Ulric asked, leaning over the table.
"Well, yea, she's always winning contests with enginiering and electronics," Jeremy answered, clicking away at the images, "She hates having her picture taken, so you don't get to see what she looks like very much,"
"Any of her standing?" Odd asked, earning a look from Jeremy that he wasn't used to, "What?"
"She can't," Jeremy answered.
"Sissy didn't seem to want you hanging around her, which is all the more reason to make friends with her," Aelita chuckled.
"Think she'd be able to help us deal with X.A.N.A.?" Odd thought aloud, jarring the others from their thoughts.
"I don't know, do you think she'd be able to walk on Lyoko?" Yumi prompted, looking back at Jeremy.
"It's worth looking into," Jeremy agreed, folding up his laptop and standing up, "We'd better get going, before we're late and have to listen to Jim,"
They each groaned at the prospect of having to deal with the gym teacher when he was in a bad mood.
"Wonder what this does," Che mumbled, looking over the headset.
She slipped the headset over her eyes and pressed the switch, turning it on. She felt dizzy at first, disconnected from her world.
When she opened her eyes again, Che was sprawled out on the floor of a very strange looking room. All around her, she could hear the sounds of people her own age speaking, yelling, fighting. She pushed herself up onto her elbows to try and look around at her surroundings. She spotted a young man looking at multiple floating screens that proved to be the source of the noise. He didn't seem to have noticed her presence as of yet so she was on her own, yet again.
"I see that I was correct in seeking you out," the man commented incaringly, "You might be able to assist my plans for these nusances," he grumbled, glaring slightly at the screens, "They are... highly irritating, these, interruptions that they continually bring about," he continued quietly.
"What are you talking about?" Che demanded, trying to drag herself over to the man.
"Humans," the man muttered, switching the screens off with barely more then a tiny wave of his fingers, "You're all so very demanding," he added with an exasperated sigh, "It's regrettable that I've reached this point. I'm willing to offer you anything you could possibly ask for, provided, of coarse, your 'insight' is helpful to me when it comes to dealing with those self-proclaimed 'Lyoko Warriors'," he trailed off, a hint of malice creeping into his words.
"What do you need my input for?" she demanded, propping herself up on her elbows.
"You obviously haven't yet realized that I'm not human," he began, making note of the confused look he earned from the girl on the floor, "Perhaps I should begin by introducing myself," he continued, kneeling down before the girl, "I am called X.A.N.A., you should feel honored, I've never had cause to assume a physical form for any being prior to yourself. I am the one responsible for this world you currently residing in, I am free to do as I please; including this,"
He rested his palm against Che's spine, sending jolts through her body. She screamed, her limbs jerking wildly with the current.
"Stand up!" Xana ordered softly, watching the girl's face contort in rage.
"Don't you think I already would be if I could?" she demanded, not realizing that she'd stood up, "What?!"
"Look down," he answered around his grin.
"What?" she asked, confused as she tilted her head downwards, "What the...?!"
She nearly fainted when she saw her feet under herself.
"I told you, I am in charge here. I can make whatever I please happen," Xana continued, stalking around the girl, "However, I want to get out of here. This confinement is highly irritating, the world you humans occupy is far more vast then this collection of hardware could ever be,"
"So, what's in this for me?" She asked, trying out her legs, "I don't work for free,"
Xana smirked to himself, watching the girl. Her mind would indeed serve his purposes when it came to handling those annoyances.
"While it wouldn't be a great sacrifice on my part, you're more then welcome to remain here as ruler, in my place," Xana cooed, leaning in against the girl's ear.
Che's eyes snapped open sharply, taking in the possibilities of what she was being offered.
"So, I'll be in charge of everything in this world of yours?" she asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Indeed," Xana answered, making a map of Lyoko appear before Che's eyes, "I desire the freedom of the world outside these machines. And I have the distinct impression that you desire the ability to move about as you please once more," he purred, watching her reaction.
Che stood there a moment, considering what she'd just been offered.
"What do you need me to do?" Che asked, looking back over her shoulder once more.
"Aid me in defeating those 'Lyoko Warriors' by using the same wit and gile that you would any intellectual adversary. Bring them to their knees at my side, break them, and I will give a world of your own; a world that will know you as its goddess."
"Hey! Jeremy!" Odd shouted, startling the computer wizard considerably, "Any luck yet?"
"Nope, I can't seem to figure out a way to test how she'll handle things on Lyoko without sending her there for real," Jeremy explained, heaving an exasperated sigh, "We're just going to have to wait until she gets here and we figure out if she can be trusted with the secret," he finished, noting the peculiar silence coming from his friend, "Jim after you again?" he asked, smirking slightly.
"What was your first clue?" Odd asked cheerfully, smiling from ear to ear.
"Make yourself comfortable, I've got a few scans to run through before I turn in for the night."
They sat there in silence, the only sound being the clicking of computer keys.
"Listen, about earlier..." Odd started nervously.
"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean anything by it, just watch yourself when she gets here. There are some people who are rather sensitive about such things."
Odd nodded, relaxing against his friend's closet door. Jeremy's eyebrows furloughed as he read over several lines of code.
"You aren't concerned in the least about the world that you're going to be leaving behind?" X.A.N.A. asked, arching an eyebrow at the girl's answer, feeling somewhat content with the knowledge that this human wasn't going to interfere with his plans for those brats.
"I couldn't care less, it's caused me little more then heartache," Che answered, clenching her fists tightly.
"Very nice," X.A.N.A. murmured, pacing across the 'room', "Perhaps we should do something about that form of yours," he added, the tips of his fingers sparking.
Che cried out sharply as the sparks wrapped themselves around her frail form. She could feel her limbs being stretched beyond their intended limits; her spine twisting around itself. She collapsed to the floor, dark-red and black hair falling in her eyes. Looking at her hands, she found them to have grown to adult proportions, their coating changed from black to slivery-gray. She took a few moments to look her new self, fascinated by the changes.
"I take it that you like your new appearance," X.A.N.A. commented, watching Che look over his work.
"Very much," she breathed, feeling around her head at the strange band that she found there. She yelped when a screen formed in front of her face, before taking stock of this as well, "We really need something like this in the real world!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
X.A.N.A. smirked to himself darkly, eyeing Che's eagerness as he continued to plot.
"This will be the real world for you when you help me dispose of those pests," he finally responded, his voice calm and low, "You can see, this works to both our advantage, my intellect and your insight. They won't stand a chance," he added, smirking darkly.
"Agreed," Che murmured, finally righting herself.
Jeremy yawned, giving the computer a look one last time for the night. He was startled to see a new set of codes flicker across the screen before disappearing again.
"That was interesting," he muttered, fixing his glasses.
"Morning guys!" Odd chirped, waving at his friends as they made their way over to their table, "How's everyone this fine day?"
"Odd," Ulric started, sitting himself down, "You've really got to lay off the sugars so early in the morning,"
"Come on now, how else am I supposed to wake up in the morning?" Odd asked, smiling brightly.
"Slowly, like the rest of the world," Ulric mumbled, rubbing his forehead, "Any luck with that search, Eienstein?"
"Slow goings, but I did find something interesting last night," Jeremy answered, setting his tray down on the table.
"What'd I miss?" Aelita asked, planting herself next to Jeremy.
"There was a strange code that blinked onto the screen for a few seconds. I wasn't able to decode what it was for, but I've set up a recording program to catch it if it ever decides to make another appearance,"
"Think X.A.N.A.'s got anything to do with this?" Yumi asked, giving William a polite wave.
"I hope not, we don't need any more trouble from him," Ulric grumbled, jumping when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Trouble from who?" William asked, sitting himself down between Yumi and Ulric, "Someone bothering you Yumi?"
"No, we're just talking about the game we were playing last night," Yumi covered, darting her eyes around to the others.
"Yea," Odd piped in, "We e-mail each-other with our moves every night. Jeremy here acts as the game master for us!"
"Sounds fun, I'll have to join you guys," William said, standing up, "Later Yumi!" he called over his shoulder.
"Nice cover there," Ulric chuckled.
"Yeah, that was something," Jeremy mussed, "But now what am I going to do when William e-mails me for instructions?"
"Make something up?" Odd offered, pushing his food around his plate.
Jeremy simply shook his head and went back to his food.