Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Jeremie, Yumi and Aelita spent the rest of the day getting the Japanese girl used to the polymorphic specter she would have to wear. She walked in it, sat in it, held and read things; all the things she would have to do while pretending to be Aelita's father. After that, there was nothing more they could do until the actual meeting, It was late, and the trio left the factory and made their way to their respective beds.
For some reason, Aelita lagged behind Jeremie as they walked back to Kadic; lagged behind far enough that Jeremie quickly disappeared into the night. As she walked on, Aelita thought about what was coming; the meeting with Sophie, the rehearsals, the trip. She was so wrapped up in her dreams, she didn't realize it was past curfew until Jim Morales caught her coming into the courtyard.
"Aelita!" he bellowed, "what are you doing out at this hour!"
Shocked out of her reverie, Aelita could only stare like a deer into the headlights of an oncoming car as the PE teacher walked over to confront her.
"Young lady, you know the rules about being out after curfew!" he started, "Principal Delmas is going to have a fit when he finds out!"
"I'm sorry Jim," she stammered, "could we not tell the principal, maybe?"
"Fat chance," he replied, "you can explain yourself in the morning. Now, get up to your room!"
Aelita trudged on inside, Jim close behind her. She went up to her room, went inside, and changed for bed. As she settled down to sleep, she wondered what else could go wrong.
"Miss Stones," Principal Delmas began the next morning, "while I do enjoy your company, I have not been enjoying the circumstances that have required it recently. I'm at a loss to understand why all of a sudden you've been acting out as you have. Do you have any explanation?"
"No sir, I don't," was all Aelita could reply.
"Well, unfortunately, I can't accept that answer," the principal said, "I want to nip this in the bud right now, before it gets any worse. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call your parents. You will wait outside until I have spoken with them."
As the pink haired girl walked out of the office, she didn't know what was worse; being in deep enough trouble to warrant a call to her parents, or having a situation arise to finally test out the contingency plan Jeremie devised for just this situation.
Back in his office, Jean-Pierre Delmas checked the school records for Aelita's contact information. He quickly found the number and dialed. This activated a number of things. The call was routed through the phone system, and was intercepted by a program Jeremie Belpois had written soon after Aelita was materialized on Earth. It caught the phone connection and rerouted it to the supercomputer. Once there, it started a program which acted like an answering machine, using Franz Hopper's voice. After five rings, it answered.
"Hello, you've reached the voice mailbox of Franz Stones. I'm not able to take your call at the moment, but if you leave your name, your telephone number and a brief message, I'll get back to you when I'm able."
At the beep, the principal said, "yes, Mr. Stones; this is Jean-Pierre Delmas at Kadic Academy, and I'm calling about your daughter, Aelita. We've been having a problem with her of late, and last night she was caught outside after curfew. I need to speak with you about her behavior and I would like to meet with you and her to discuss the matter. If you would please call me, I would like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience."
After the call ended, the program in the supercomputer computer sent out an alarm to Jeremie's desktop computer and his laptop. The blond genius had just left Science class when he heard the familiar beep.
"Oh no, XANA!" he said to himself as he quickly went somewhere to check the alarm.
He quickly found a seat and opened his laptop. The message on the display told him that a voice mail had been left for Franz Stones.
"Great," was all Jeremie said as he took out a headphone and plugged it into his computer. He then entered a command and played the message from Principal Delmas.
"Well, I don't know if this is a bad thing or a good thing," Jeremie said to himself, "on one hand, Aelita being in trouble is bad, but on the other hand, this could be a live test of the Franz Hopper specter we've been working on."
He closed his laptop and got out his cell phone and dialed.
"Yumi, meet me over at the factory pronto," he said, "no, it's not a XANA attack. Let's just say that Franz Hopper needs to make an appearance."
Aelita tried explaining to Mrs. Weber that getting a hold of her father was problematic at the best of times, but she would hear nothing of it. When the principal said he had left a message, he directed that Aelita be taken to the library to wait there. If her father didn't call back in a reasonable period of time, she was to be suspended for a week.
An hour later, the principal got a phone call.
"Hello, Jean-Pierre Delmas speaking."
"Principal Delmas, this is Franz Stones, Aelita's father," came the voice on the other end.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Stones! I'm so very happy to finally speak with you," the principal said, "I'm just sorry it has to be about such a serious matter."
"What seems to be the problem, sir?" Franz asked.
"Well, for the past few weeks, Aelita has been getting into quite a bit of trouble," the principal said, "flouting the rules, lying. The latest incident was last night, when she was caught coming from outside school property after curfew."
"Well, certainly doesn't seem too bad," Franz said, "after all, children will be children."
"I understand that," Delmas said, "but this is all new behavior for Aelita. Until a few weeks ago, she was an exemplary student. Now, I've had her in my office on three occasions, almost one right after the other. Mr. Stones, I would really like to meet with you face to face to discuss the matter. Maybe you can impress on Aelita the importance of following established guidelines."
"Well, Mr. Delmas, I do have a hectic schedule," Franz said, "but I'll make time for Aelita's sake. Would 1pm today be alright with you?"
"1pm would be fine," the principal said, "I look forward to meeting you in person."
With that, Principal Delmas hung up the phone, glad that he was able to convince Mr. Stones of the seriousness of the situation. Aelita was a top student at the school, and he didn't want her to lose it all.
On the other end of the conversation, Jeremie Belpois terminated the call. He turned in the main console's chair and smiled at his companion, Yumi Ishiyama.
"So, what'dya think?" he asked.
"Okay so far," Yumi replied, "I've overheard my father as he took these kinds of calls, and you said just about what he did each time."
"What happened?"
"I got grounded."
"Ugh. Well, hopefully that won't happen here. The last thing I want to do is ruin Aelita's chance with the SubDigitals."
"Jeremie," Yumi said with all seriousness, "do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do!" was the response.
"It's just that... well, in the past, you've been pretty protective of her," Yumi said, "almost pigheaded at times."
"Yes, and I know that," Jeremie replied, "no, I really don't want her doing this; it takes her too far away from the supercomputer in case of trouble. But I've been bit by my over protectiveness often enough to realize that I can't protect her from the world. It'll be bad enough if I lose her because she wants to pursue her dreams; I don't want to lose her because I tried to smother her."
Yumi went over and put an arm around her friend.
"Jeremie, you aren't going to lose her. I know Aelita thinks the world of you, even when she's upset with you for coddling her. But you are doing the right thing by letting her do this. Just don't worry, everything will work out."
"I hope so," he replied, "well, we've got a couple of hours before we have to be back. Let's get lunch, then meet back here at 12:15."
To make sure his charge didn't try and sneak off, Principal Delmas made Aelita eat lunch with him in his office. He told the girl about the 1pm appointment with her father, and she looked surprised at the news.
1pm arrived and the principal received a call from his secretary.
"Mr. Delmas, Mr. Stones is here to see you."
The door opened and Mrs. Stones walked in.
He was a moderately tall man, about the same height as Principal Delmas. He had longish bushy gray hair, and a full beard and mustache. He was wearing round eyeglasses, and was dressed in a comfortable suit and tie. He walked over to the principal and extended his hand.
"Principal Delmas, Franz Stones," he said.
"Happy to meet you, Mr. Stones," the principal replied, "though I wish it were under better circumstances. Please, take a seat."
Mr. Stones took the seat indicated, but not before leaning over his daughter and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.
"And how are you doing, princess?" he asked with a smile.
"I could be doing better, daddy," she replied, smiling back.
"Ahem... yes," the principal said, "the reason I wanted to speak with you today is because Aelita has been getting into quite a bit of trouble recently."
"While I'll admit three times is more than none, but it isn't all that much," Mr. Stones said.
"Yes, but you see, this has suddenly started," the principal went on, "up until a few weeks ago, Aelita's behavior has been beyond reproach."
"Honey, care to explain yourself," Mr. Stones asked his daughter.
"Well, there's not really anything to say," Aelita replied, "a lot of it was just a big misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" the principal said, "being in a boy's dorm room after curfew? Lying to get another student out of gym class? Being off campus after curfew?"
"Aelita..." her father said.
"Daddy, it was a mistake!" Aelita quickly said, "the boy was a friend of mine, and we were studying together, nothing else! I'll admit I shouldn't have lied for my friend, but it didn't seem wrong at the time. And I just lost track of time last night..."
"Aelita, you shouldn't have been off campus at all!" the principal said, "I have wondered if it was due to her cousin's influence. Mr. Della Robbia has quite a history of mischief, and I've wondered sometimes if some of it hasn't rubbed off on her."
"Ah, yes, Odd," Mr. Stones said, "high spirited, that one. My brother-in-law has a quite time with him, let me tell you! But, c'mon, Mr. Delmas! Aren't you overreacting just a little?"
"I don't believe so," the principal replied, "I'm trying to be proactive in salvaging a student. The last thing I want in the world is for Aelita to slip so far that her academics are affected. It could ruin her whole life!"
"Well, let me have a talk with her," Mr. Stones finally said, "let me handle this instead of punishing her yourself. Maybe I can talk a little common sense back into her."
"Well, I'm willing to try that," the principal said, "but let me tell you, if her behavior continues to deteriorate, I may have to take drastic measures."
"From what I've heard," Mr. Stones said, "I don't think we're anywhere near that, yet."
"And I'm trying to stay away from that," the principal said, "Aelita is too good a student to have something like that happen to her."
"So, what about today?" was the next question.
"I'll let her off with the detention she has already served, plus your reprimand," the principal said, "additionally, I think I'll assign her some research into people whose lives have been ruined by the poor decisions they've made. I'll have your History teacher give you the details, and I expect it on my desk next Monday. Am I understood, Miss Stones?"
"Yes, sir," was Aelita's reply.
"Well, I'll escort you two to a conference room, where you can have a private discussion," the principal said.
With that, he escorted the family to a conference room, where he left them alone.
"And, Mr. Stones," the principal said before he left, "please let Mrs. Weber, my secretary, know when you leave. It's just a simple security measure, you see."
After school that day, the Lyoko Warriors gathered at their usual bench in the courtyard to discuss the day's events.
"So, you got off with an essay," Ulrich said, "that's not too bad. Maybe I should have Einstein program up a specter of my father."
"In your case, I don't think it would work as well," Jeremie said, "but the specter did work. Any problems, Yumi?"
"No, other than it itches," she replied.
"Itches?" Odd said.
"That must be from the quantum energy that makes up the specter," Jeremie said, "it's like having electricity crawling all over you. Any other problems?"
"No, except my daughter is developing a rebellious streak," Yumi said with a smirk.
"Say, you were convincing in there," Aelita said, "for a moment, I almost thought you were my father."
"Well, I just tried imagining what my father would say if it were him," Yumi said, "of course, our private conversation would have been much different, let me tell you."
"Well, thank you for that," Aelita said, "I hope this doesn't jeopardize my chances with the SubDigitals."
"Did you call them?" Odd asked.
"Not yet," Aelita replied, "I was going to do it this morning, but I was overtaken by events."
"Well, go ahead and call them and make the appointment," Jeremie said, "the test run worked as well as we could expect, so let's do this for real."