Code Lyoko: Access Denied (Part I)
Story by William Penn
Based on the Cartoon Series produced by Canal K, Moonscoop under Taffy entertainment.
Ms Hertz, the science teacher, droned on about the energy levels of various atoms to the bored students. Aelita was the only one feigning interest. Jeremy toggled between his analysis of the latest Replica (the one gang plan to take out that very afternoon) and the class notes, only to be used when Ms Hertz walked behind him.
"Note how the electrons reside on different energy levels around the nucleus…" Ms. Hertz continued despite the thoughts of the warm spring weather occupying the thoughts of most of her students.
"If this lecture goes on for much longer, my energy level is going to lose electrons!" Odd whispered. Aelita suppressed a chuckle(more because of the scientific implications than Odd's humor).
"Anything you would like to share with the class, Odd?" Ms Hertz subtly warning Odd that his answer better be good.
"Sorry it most be the warm spring weather." Odd smiled weakly.
"Maybe an afternoon of detention would help?" Ms Hertz.
"No, ma'am, thank you… I'm okay now." Odd replied hurriedly.
Aelita raised her hand desperately.
"Yes, Aelita, you have a question?" Ms Hertz recognizing her hand.
"Yes, Ms Hertz… Uh… What makes an electron change levels?" Aelita finally stammered. She already knew the answer, but Odd was heading for detention fast and he had somewhere to be. Ms Hertz frowned.
"I'm very disappointed you, Aelita. We have spent the last twenty minutes discussing that very subject…" Aelita suddenly felt like now it would become detention for two.
"What makes an atom lose an electron?" Jeremy blurted out.
"Interesting you should asked. If we may move on, that is the next subject…" Ms Hertz was interrupted by the bell. The class started to move but she motioned for them not to leave yet.
"I would expect a quiz sometime in the near future!" Ms Hertz said mildly annoyed. "Class dismissed." The Lyoko Crew flew out the door.
After their hearts stopped pounding halfway to the cafeteria, Jeremy finally broke the silence.
"What were you two thinking!" Jeremy irritably.
"I was just trying to liven that class up!" Odd defensively.
"Jeremy, we need everyone for this mission if this Replica is as important as we think… we could crash XANA's network." Aelita answered.
"I'm sorry, but the paint peeling and Odd's joke were the only things happening in class today." Ulrich yawned.
"We almost got detention Odd; I don't want to wind up in detention with you again!" Aelita frowned.
"Why? Don't you like the pleasure of my company?" Odd smile derisively. Jeremy turned a new shade of red.
"Why don't you two discuss it over lunch!" Jeremy growled and stormed toward the park. Aelita frowned at Odd as Ulrich shook his head.
Aelita stormed off following Jeremy just as Yumi met them.
"What's going on?" Yumi witnessing only Jeremy and Aelita's abrupt departure.
"I'll fill you in over lunch." Ulrich said softly.
"I'll make sure you get the unbiased version." Odd smiled.
"Odd did something dumb again didn't he?" Yumi sighed.
Jeremy walked briskly to the Factory with Aelita struggling to keep up. She didn't try to say anything since Jeremy was so upset that words would be worthless and partly because she was out of breath. She didn't try to say anything until they made it to the lab.
"Jeremy, what's bothering you? You haven't been yourself lately." Aelita finally growing tired of the silent treatment.
"We could cripple XANA today and Odd is acting… well like Odd." Jeremy still radiated anger.
"I thought you were just jealous of Odd flirting with me." Aelita said in mock relief quickly moving away from the monitor where Jeremy sat toward one of the conduits as if she wanted to examine it. Jeremy stood up turned red again this time in embarrassment.
"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!" Jeremy defensively stepping behind her. "Just because you help him with his studying…"
"You need to trust me…I need room to breath! I tutored Ulrich too and you didn't get jealous then…" Aelita replied.
"Ulrich doesn't hit on you ten times a day!" Jeremy mocked.
"Actually, He has only hit on me three times a day, but Odd only does it in front of you… usually." Aelita corrected then realize she may have said too much.
"He kissed you!" Jeremy hissed. What he said was technically correct but that kiss was the only a distraction to stop Nicholas ,one of their classmates, from finding the lab after Odd and Aelita were seen going into the Factory while he was fishing. Aelita threw up her arms in resignation and started walking toward the elevator.
"What are you doing? We have to…" Jeremy started but Aelita interrupted.
"We had better stop now before we both say something we'll regret later!" Aelita turned around and the elevator doors closed with the last word. Jeremy stared dumbfounded at the closed elevator doors.
Shortly before Jeremy and Aelita's conversation, The rest of the gang had a discussion of their own.
"He did what!" Yumi exclaimed at the cafeteria sitting with Odd and Ulrich.
"I'm sitting right here!" Odd lamented.
"What were you and Einstein Thinking? XANA would be laughing at us right now if he knew!" Yumi sighed in resignation.
"Give me a break! Xana doesn't have a sense of humor and if Jeremy had one this wouldn't have happened!" Odd complained finished the last bite of his third helping of Shepherds pie wiped his mouth with a napkin and took his tray and departed .
"Maybe if you didn't push the envelope so much none of this would have happened!" Yumi shouted after him. Odd ignored her.
"Can we shut this replica down with the two of us and Aelita?" Yumi sighed.
"Somehow I think it may be just the two of us… Jeremy's way with words will probably set Aelita off." Ulrich shook his head.
"Wow, You're the optimist today. Aren't you? It can't be that bad!" Yumi mocked.
"It's just one of those days." Ulrich said sadly. Yumi shrugged as they finished their lunch.
One hour later:
"This can't be happening!" Yumi exclaimed one hour after lunch after a text message told her that neither Aelita and Jeremy were in class. She quickly called Jeremy and his tone told her all she needed to know about the melt down between three of her best friends.
"He's being a complete idiot!" Aelita sobbed. Yumi found Aelita in her room sobbing.
"I know…But let's face it Einstein cares for you, but he is as sensitive as a rock sometimes!" Yumi consoled her sitting next to her on the cot.
"Actually, right now he is too sensitive… he thinks I'm going behind his back with Odd…" Aelita sniffed and wiped her face with a tissue.
Yumi just nodded with understanding.
"I have been spending a lot of time with Odd, but it's only to make sure he passes physics…so I kissed him once, but Nicholas almost found the lab…you know you were there! We had a good laugh…." Aelita continued as Yumi just looked at her a moment. Aelita thought a moment then added.
"Okay, It does look bad, but nothing happened we're just friends. Odd just likes tease him." Aelita relented.
"We could stop XANA for keeps and now we're fighting among ourselves!" Yumi grasped her head as if she could ring an idea out of her brain.
"Jeremy's mad at Odd and he doesn't trust me!" Aelita agreed. "We have to patch things up before our mission or it's going to be a disaster!"
Meanwhile, outside in the courtyard, the natives are getting restless.
"I don't see what his problem is." Odd said practicing with his Soccer ball while Ulrich tied his shoes on the bench.
"Hitting on your friends girl, almost getting yourself and the said girl into detention on the afternoon of our lives…" Ulrich mocked. "No, no problems there."
"Very funny! I was just kidding! It's like everybody in the world has lost their sense of humor!" Odd kicked the ball so hard it ricocheted off the stone wall and went whizzing past his head.
"It's getting sort of intense, Odd, everyone's on edge!" Ulrich explained.
"Your telling me!" Odd looked and saw an angry Nicholas, whom Odd had accidentally hit with the runaway ball. "This just isn't my day!"
They met at the Factory as they had planned to do before the meltdown. Jeremy just worked silently in the lab preparing for the upcoming mission. He didn't even acknowledge their arrival.
"Hello, Einstein! We're here!" Odd pretended Jeremy was blind. Ulrich gave him a cautionary stare while Yumi frowned at him. Jeremy ignored him. Aelita just sighed with her arms at her side.
"I think I'd rather be in Mr. Delmas office." She muttered. She had been to the Principal's office more times than she woould have desired yet this strife with Jeremy made a trip to the Principal seem like a vacation in Florida.
"We need to take out this Replica; It looks like the main hub linking his network over the web. We can finally do some damage to XANA maybe even stop him cold! This replica is located in the United States at the Cheyenne Mountain complex in one of the lower levels." Jeremy said with enthusiasm he did not feel.
"NORAD?" Odd added. Jeremy ignored him.
"North American Defense Command?" Ulrich clarified. "That whole place is a mile deep inside of a mountain!"
"We'll be discovered if we are seen… I don't want to fight with the United States Marine Corp!" Yumi sighed.
"Relax, it would be the Air Force and that facility is…" Aelita started but Jeremy interrupted.
"Is one step above decommissioned. The lower level houses their computers and due to its depth hasn't been visited in six months or so. They have a skeleton crew." Jeremy continued.
"I feel much better it's only the Air Force!" Odd chimed.
"I hate to break it to you but their may be a secret base that we don't know about…" Ulrich started.
"I think they would have noticed a super computer virus by now if they were there." Jeremy explained.
"OK, Einstein, if I wind up in Cuba as an enemy combatant, I'm not going to be happy!" Odd warned.
"Maybe you should stay here then Odd and go play soccer!" Jeremy snapped.
"Maybe you should lose your attitude, Einstein! I'm sick of you!" Odd looked like he was about to fight Jeremy right there. Ulrich and Yumi stopped him, but Jeremy sprang from his seat.
Aelita moved to stop him.
"Calm down! What has gotten into you two!" Aelita annoyed. "We need to be focused for this mission or we might as well go home!"
Odd started to say something smart but Ulrich glared at him.
"We'll settle this later we have a super virus to stop!" Jeremy's eyes never strayed from Odd, who glared back at him. Ulrich and Yumi made sure Odd went into the elevator to make their usual journey to the scanner room and Lyoko.
"I'm only be a minute!" Aelita stayed behind to have yet another word with Jeremy.
After the doors closed, Aelita looked at Jeremy thoughtfully.
"Don't you think this rivalry has gone one long enough?" Aelita asked. "Please, I'm really trying! We didn't do anything…"
"We don't have time for this right now! I don't care what you did with Odd. We'll talk about this later!" Jeremy turned away from her and faced the monitor. She looked smitten as she retreated to the elevator.
Aelita only had a few moments to compose herself as she traveled down the elevator. She tried to take a deep breath which only yielded short gasps. She quickly wiped her tears on her sleeve as the doors opened in the scanner room. She stood up straight and walked into the scanner room.
"Are you alright?" Yumi asked her and Aelita nodded weakly.
"Yes, I'm fine." She lied.
"Scanner Ulrich." Jeremy hit the enter button. "Scanner Yumi. Scanner …"
"I hate to tell you this Einstein, but the scanners aren't working!" Ulrich interrupted.
"What's going on?" Yumi looked around inside.
"Hey… I knew you were sore, but this?" Odd quipped.
"I don't know." Jeremy admitted as Aelita stepped inside a scanner, which happened to be Odd's. Odd stepped out.
"We wouldn't want anyone to think we were up to something!" Odd explained. Aelita ignored him.
"Jeremy," She tried to keep her voice neutral." All the connections are in place."
"What's this?" Jeremy asked himself. "This can't be happening!"
The monitor stated "Access Denied"
"It's telling me we are locked out!" Jeremy explained.
"What?" Aelita said in disbelief. "I'll be right there!"
Suddenly the scanner door slammed shut and the scanner activated.
"Jeremy! Are you…" Aelita was cut off as she was virtualized.
"No! No! No!" Jeremy shouted as he hit the keyboard in frustration.
"Access Denied." Flashed across the monitor. The others just looked at one another in silence in the now dead scanner room.
After five minutes which seemed like five years, Yumi was the first to break the silence.
"Someone tell me what just happened?" Yumi repeated the question de jour.
"It looks like the scanner came to life and virtualized Aelita and Einstein lost control of the Supercomputer. Am I right?" Odd said flippantly.
"This keeps getting better and better." Ulrich muttered as the elevator doors opened revealing a distraught Jeremy.
"What's the matter…except for the obvious?" Ulrich inquired.
"She's gone." He replied in a disjointed way.
"Einstein, we know that. Where is she?" Odd took Jeremy by the shoulders trying to bring him back to Tera Ferma.
"I was able to trace her location. Tracing is about the only thing we can do now." He said regaining a measure of composure. "The communication from Lyoko is open, but according to the scan she materialized over the Virtual Sea... She's gone!" He sobbed. "It's all my fault... I told her I would talk to her later..." Jeremy muttered trailing off as he buried his head in his hands.
"Wait a minute! She can fly!" Odd said hopefully.
Jeremy shook his head.
"Are you sure?" Yumi asked.
"She was too close..." Jeremy choked on the words. "She did'nt have a chance."
Those who remained of the Lyoko crew looked at one another in dismay.
End of Part I