Author ramblin's: Oh, dear. This is bad. It's been almost a year (!) since my last update… (braces self for onslaught of berating) Well, here's a nice quick and short chapter. HOPEFULLY, the next one will be done and posted MUCH sooner… I may need a couple of people to help me stay on track…I've been lazy…too lazy… Sorry!! Well, enjoy! Please R&R!!
Code: Lyoko
Return to Lyoko
Part III: Realizations Realized
A suitcase gets slammed closed angrily, followed by more yelling and shouting. An African descendant girl with a red streak on either side of her bangs snatches the suitcase off the bed and storms out of the dorm room, leaving the Dean of her school and two school ground guards behind. As tears begin to cloud her vision, she hears the doors to the other rooms in the dorm open. She didn't have to look to see who it was. She knew already. It was all the other punks in the school peeking out into the hall to see what was going on. She could feel their gaze upon her as she walked by each door, but she didn't care. They could all bite her for all she cared. She knew who ratted on her about her graffiti tag she put on the gym roof and they would pay! Fortunately for them, she was being made to leave before her wrath could be poured out upon them. Even still, she will find a way to get them back…
But one thing confused her. Tears. Tears?! Her? No way! But… how? Why? She'd never shed a tear, much less have streams of tears, after getting busted for something. What's wrong with her? The last time she cried was when her and her last boyfriend broke up. It was bad. No, scratch that. It was horrible. The two yelled and argued for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was only for forty-five minutes. She'd broken up with guys before, but….something about breaking up with that goofy blonde-with-purple patch haired guy from Kadic Academy was different. So different that she actually cried herself to sleep that night. Suddenly, a wave of longing for him sweeps over her and she clinches the handle of her suitcase tightly. She shakes her head, wondering why that feeling just hit her. Then, a voice from behind her snaps her back to reality.
"Miss Knight, I believe you have forgotten something! Your transfer papers."
She stops short of the door and turns to see the school Dean holding up a manila envelope. She adopts an expressionless look on her face as she walks back towards him. Once reaching him, she takes the envelope, then turns to walk back down the hall.
"Make sure Miss Samantha Knight finds the way out. We wouldn't want her to take a wrong turn and end up getting lost on campus!" She snorts audibly in defiance as the two guards follow after her.
Lyoko—the secret room. Ulrich stares in awe at the two globular….things in the center of the room. He cautiously approaches the left one and begins surveying it. "They're…they're almost like…Guardians, but unlike any we have ever encountered before!" he hears Jeremie say in awe. The left one glows an eerie reddish color and has a metallic lower hemisphere. The other one, Ulrich notes, is totally incased in dull gray metal and has no glow whatsoever to it. Yumi and Aelita cautiously enter the room and stare in wonder and amazement at the two globes that hang in the air above the floor only by a few inches.
"I, uh, wouldn't touch either of them. They could be booby-trapped or be a trap themselves," advises Jeremie.
Ulrich nods in acknowledgement then backs away from the glowing orb, turning his attention to the fully incased orb. Yumi joins him and Aelita stares at the globe that is glowing, partially mesmerized by the steady pulse of the glow.
Then, something about the metallic casing of the second globe catches Ulrich's attention. "Hey, Yumi, check this out! Is it me, or does this metal look like it's in sheets?" he asks, pointing to a faint seam in the metal. Yumi cocks her head slightly in curiosity and leans closer to the globe to get a better look at it.
"Yeah, you're right. It does look like it's in sheets," she replies.
"Well, that makes sense. It is easier to lay many metal sheets to create a curve than it is to try and bend it around something. It's much more precise that way, especially with large curves," Jeremie states. "Now, the smaller curves, you can get away with just shaping the metal…"
"Ok, Einstein, we get it! Metal-Working 101 is over! Focus on figuring out what those things are!" exclaims Odd. "Besides, I've had enough education for one day!"
Jeremie frowns at his friend's interruption, but chooses not to say anything. He starts pecking away at the keyboard, then gets a confused frown on his face. "That's weird…" he mumbles.
"What is?" asks Odd, trying to make sense of all the information on the monitors.
"I can't seem to get a reading on what's inside those globes," Jeremie replies as he resumes typing.
"Hmm. No big surprise there."
Jeremie pauses and turns to Odd and sees that an unsurprised look has formed on his face. "And what's that supposed to mean?" Jeremie asks with a bit accusation in his voice.
"Mmm… nothing. It's just that nothing has gone right today," Odd replies, earning him a baffled stare from Jeremie.
"Beg your pardon? Nothing's gone wrong today! What are you talking about, Odd?"
"Well, there was the fact that I got plowed over five times today, the algebra quiz that I most definitely failed, and lastly, the fact that I didn't get my usual three extra helpings of lunch today!"
Jeremie stares blankly back at Odd for a moment before turning away and wincing in mild frustration. "That's it? I thought it was something important!"
"That IS important! I have to keep my strength up! And having those extra helpings keeps my strength up! If I don't get them, I'm all out of balance!" Odd replies adamantly.
"I think you were out of balance a long time ago," Jeremie replies.
"Um, hello? Anybody out there?" comes Ulrich's voice, which brings Jeremie back to the task at hand.
"Sorry. I had an interruption. What is it?" replies Jeremie.
"Well, what do you want us to do now?" asks Yumi.
Unbeknownst to Ulrich and Yumi, Aelita has remained mesmerized by the glowing globe. "Wow, so pretty…" she whispers to herself. Her hand reaches out subconsciously to try to touch the globe.
"Uh, just hang tight. I'm gonna try to intensify the scan to get a reading on those globes," Jeremie says as he begins typing away at the keyboard.
Elsewhere, a lone figure stands silhouetted against two search lights that tower above him. A low growl of annoyance rumbles from inside his throat as his eyes narrow. Several voices from above shout at him to halt and lay on the ground, but a smirk is the only response he'll give. Then, he outstretches his hands toward each of the search lights and releases a blue energy ball from each. Yelps of surprise come from the direction of each search light just before the energy balls strike their targets. A sadistic smile passes swiftly over the face of the figure as the sounds of guards running around and firing their weapons wildly in his direction ring all around. His attention is now drawn to the massive and heavy prison gates that stand between him and freedom from this… place. He brings his hands together, index finger to index finger and thumb to thumb, out in front of him. Then, a larger energy ball forms and flies towards the gate. The ball collides with the gate, blowing it completely away. The figure then gets a huge smile on his face, then takes off running at an inhuman speed out of the now destroyed gates.
Lyoko— Yumi watches as Ulrich examines the far side wall of the room. Ulrich turns to her and starts to say that he had found nothing but instead gasps as he sees a mesmerized Aelita touch the glowing half of the second globe.
"Aelita! No, wait!" he yells, but it is too late. A stunned Yumi turns to see an arc of red energy instantly blasts Aelita across the room and instantly devirtualizes her.
At that moment, the lone figure, who is now running through a forest, stops dead in its tracks. "What was that?" asks the figure seemingly to itself, confused by a strange sensation from inside him.
Someone has….touched me!! comes a reply from inside his mind.
"Huh? Could you be more specific?"
My very essence… Someone touched the very core of what I am! But who…? Wait…. I recognize that DNA pattern….."Um, you're not making much sense…"
Change of plan… There is a factory ten of your miles from here due south. I will explain on the way there, Peter.
Peter shrugs and turns south. "Whatever. As long as I get my revenge… and my life back."
The scanner room—Jeremie cradles a groaning Aelita in his lap as the scanner doors open to let Ulrich and Yumi step once again into the real world. Aelita clutches her chest as Odd tries his best to hobble over to them.
"Aelita, why? Why did you touch that globe?" asks Jeremie, with a mixture of concern and scolding in his voice.
Aelita tilts her head slightly up to look at him. "I-I don't know. It was….so pretty…." she says, then looks away from him, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Jeremie sighs and finds that he isn't angry with her. Conversely, he only feels relief that she is fine… well, will be fine. "It's ok, Aelita," he whispers. "In fact, it's almost a good thing you did touch it. Kinda…"
Aelita glances up at him in confusion. "Why?" she asks.
"Well, up until then, I hadn't been able to get a reading on what either globe was. That energy discharge was so massive that the scan went, well, nuts! It was still crunching on all the data when I realized you were in the scanner and came down here," Jeremie replies.
Aelita sits up and Jeremie helps steady her with a hand on her back. She smiles meekly at him and then inhales and exhales deeply. "Still, now that I think about it, there was a strange familiarity to that energy. I can't quite place it, but I get a distinct feeling that I have… felt that energy before," Aelita states rubbing her temple.
"Really? Hmm. Maybe the computer has finished analyzing the data the scanner collected. Perhaps it will tell us more," Jeremie suggests. Aelita nods in agreement. "Can you stand?" he asks her.
Aelita pauses to look into Jeremie's eyes before responding. Instead of seeing chastisement, she sees genuine care and concern, a sight that she finds comforting and definitely familiar. She can't even begin to count how many times he's looked at her in that manner. All she knows is that she is glad that he does.
"I may need a bit of help," Aelita replies quietly, suddenly becoming aware that the rest of the group is all around her and Jeremie, then feels her cheeks grow warm from embarrassment.
Jeremie gives her a warm smile then helps her to her feet. As the group rides the elevator up to the control room, Odd finds the temptation to razz Jeremie about Aelita extremely tough to resist. Not that he puts up much of a fight anyways.
"You know, you two should just go ahead and get it over with, right here, right now!" Odd states, tapping a crutch on the floor of the elevator.
"Odd…." Ulrich says warningly.
Jeremie turns to Odd and gives him a quizzical look. "Get what over with?"
"You know! Make it official! Seal the deal! Everyone knows it's going to happen eventually, so why not do it now?" Odd continues. "Get the formalities out of the way so the two of you can join the ranks of OW!!!"
Odd grabs his side and looks over at a frowning Ulrich. "What was that for, Ulrich?!" Jeremie blushes as he realizes what Odd was talking about as a still slightly befuddled Aelita wonders what he was talking about. She glances at Jeremie and sees his face a bright shade of red and then gets the revelation.
The elevator doors open and Jeremie hurriedly exits the elevator, then takes his seat at the computer terminal, slightly thankful that it is such a short trip up to this level. "Ok, let's see what the computer has come…..up….with?" he starts, then gets a curious look on his face as he glances at the screen.
"What is it, Jeremie?" asks Yumi as she takes Ulrich's hand and the two walk over to where Jeremie is seated. "Has the computer analyzed any of the data yet?"
"Um, well, yeah. But it's finished already. Strange. That would mean that whatever the energy is, it's already been analyzed befo--" Jeremie cuts his sentence short as he realizes what the screen is showing him. "Oh, no…." is his grim response and a cold shiver runs up his spine. "No…."
Ulrich feels Yumi's hand clinch his tightly and asks, "What? What's wrong?"
"Yeah! The suspense is killing us!" chimes in Odd.
Jeremie turns to his friends and the look of pained realization on his face begins to scare Aelita. "Jeremie?" she whispers.
"The energy…. That glowing globe…. It's… It's…." Jeremie swallows before finishing. "X.A.N.A. That globe is the very essence of X.A.N.A. His core functions, everything that makes X.A.N.A. , X.A.N.A. is in that, rather, is that globe."
The room falls silent, save for the distinct hum of the computer. "Guys, that globe, in essence, is X.A.N.A.!" Jeremie finishes.
A long pause passes as the group takes in the magnitude of this discovery. Then a question rises up in Ulrich's mind. It takes him a minute before getting his mouth to ask it.
"If the glowing globe is X.A.N.A., then what, or who, is in the second globe?"
