Hi. My name is Sam Thomson and I'm kinda born in Lyoko.

Well, not literally. But since I remember, I've been living in this weird world. And if you still believe, that it was Franz Hopper who created it, you're wrong. Really, really wrong.

But let me tell you the story from the very beginning.

My father, Adam Thomson, is an American quantum physicists and astronomer. One day he went to Washington DC to some kind of a science conference. There, he met someone interesting – Franz Hopper. Hopper noticed the similarity between them two, and they quickly became friends. Adam, being encouraged by his new friend, flew to Sceux in France, where two things happened: one of them was meeting my mom, Yvonne Desous, and obviously, falling for her. The other was visiting an old, abandoned factory that had this huge computer inside. In this computer, there existed a program, that was some kind of a protection from a French's government algorithm. Its name was Xana and no one ever would even think that it might become dangerous one day.

But one night Adam broke into the factory and began to search in the super-computer. He had no idea what he was looking for, but he somehow found a return to the past. He used this to create an alternate world – a virtual world – Lyoko.

Lyoko had four sectors: forest, mountains, desert and the so-called ice-sector. Each sector had day and night time, just like on Earth. There was also something like a moon – a satellite for Lyoko. Later Carthage was created.

There has been over a year and I was born. I wasn't even two months old when Hopper visited Adam at night and told him he knew about Lyoko. He also said he would tell people chasing after Adam that it was Thomson who created Xana. They would close the whole family in some kind of prison somewhere deep in Asia, or even worse. Being under strong pressure, my father asked Hopper what he could do to prevent it all.

"You'll give me the keys to Lyoko and make it all mine" - that was the answer. But Thomson cheated. Hopper had no idea, and he never will. My dad gave me the keys to Lyoko, the keys that are stronger than the ones that Hopper and his daughter have. He has also kept his own. What Hopper and Aelita had was only a part of the real thing.

But Hopper, even though he'd had no idea, also betrayed my dad. To make himself innocent in the government's big eye, he sent federal agents to us.

It was 2 AM, when a man and a woman broke into our house. They were wearing casual clothes, but had their guns. And they were pointing at us. Adam broke the window, still holding me in the other hand. We jumped off the broken window, taking Yvonne with us.

It still makes me wonder how we survived the fall.

Under the cover of dark night we got to the factory, where we virtualized into Lyoko.

"We'll get to Lyoko and then we'll jump into the fog. Yvonne, you'll do the same after us, okay?"

He did not get the answer though. Then, he thought it was just because Yvonne was shocked, but quickly found out it was something else.

We materialized in the forest and did everything the plan said. We were in Carthage, near the interface. We jumped into the data, not waiting for my mom. Now Adam knows it was one of the biggest mistakes in his life.

We got into a white corridor with one interface in it. Adam put his hand on it and then the whole tunnel has disappeared. We were on a beach. In the middle of it, there was a tower.

We hid in it and waited for my mom. When she didn't come, he started to have some second thoughts, but he didn't want to check it… He was too afraid.

The night Hopper came to our house, he informed Adam about a new virus, which has been accidentally created while connecting Lyoko with Xana. Xana started to control Lyoko and through breaking into the interface of a free tower (which would always make the fog around the tower red), he could gain the control to the real world, to Earth.

I have spent 17 years of my life in the hidden sector of Lyoko. Sometimes I would go out to Earth, but only at night, and only to take care of my physical body. Sometimes I'd also watch this unknown for me world and I'd always appreciate, how complicated it was… And how many things were unable to transform to Lyoko.

But even living in Lyoko – in the only sector that worked as it should (since it looked always the way someone thought) – I wouldn't be bored. On the top platform of the tower, there was an interface, that was connected to the internet, books, movies…

Which doesn't obviously change the fact that I'd always prefer to do it on Earth. I was stuck in Lyoko. I loved this place as much as I hated it. I just wanted to be free.

One day Adam told me he'd found something that might change our lives. That he'd found a trace leading to Yvonne. After all these years, we found out, that she might be working for Xana…

"I think I know where to look for them."