It had been three days since the group chased the intruder from the lab. The team had spent shifts waiting for him to return, but he never did. Jeremy spent most of the time on stakeout, as he was able reverse the damage caused to the super computer at the same time. On closer inspection, Jeremy had realised that the intruder had managed to bug-up far more than just the return to the past.
"So do you think we've managed to scare this guy off?" Odd asked the group as he stuffed his face with a croissant.
The cafeteria was filled with chatting schoolchildren; probably not the best place for secret conversations but it was a struggle to get Odd out of the place.
"I hope so Odd. If he causes anymore errors with the super computer then we are going to have a real problem." Jeremy was still working on de-bugging the mess left from the previous encounter.
"Do you reckon that this could be X.A.N.A's doing?" Ulrich asked while he protected his breakfast from Odd.
"Not likely, Aelita hasn't felt any activated towers on Lyoko."
As the guardian of Lyoko it was Aelita's responsibility to warn them whenever X.A.N.A activated a tower. Through Lyokos towers X.A.N.A was able to access the real world and cause potentially fatal disasters.
"I still reckon it could be one of the new students. Only time will tell I guess." Odd had managed to wrestle Ulrich's croissant from his plate. "Aren't they arriving later on today?"
"Yep, whilst we're in Physics apparently." Jeremy stood up and put on his backpack. "Well I'm going to talk with Aelita until Physics." Odd looked at Jeremy's plate as he left, feeling deeply disappointed that he had eaten his croissant before leaving.
"Does Jeremy look tired to you? I mean more than usual?" Yumi asked them as she taunted Odd with her own uneaten croissant.
"Of course he does, He's always tired. He works on Aelita's materialisation program to the early hours." Ulrich watched Jeremy as he left the cafeteria.
"Aw Nerd Love! Isn't it adorable?" Odd returned to his romantic pose.
Breakfast was over, croissants were eaten, mostly by Odd, and the group (minus Yumi) were in physics class. Mrs Hertz was teaching the class about radiation, reminding the group of the time X.A.N.A took control of the school bus and drove it straight at the Nuclear power plant. If the group hadn't have stopped him it would have resulted in a Nuclear fallout and the deaths of tens of thousands of people; as was the life of a Lyoko Warrior.
At last the headmaster, Mr Delmas, interrupted the class.
"Alright students, I am sure you've heard by now that we are introducing three new students to the school this semester. Please say hello to Linda, Alexander and Andrew."
They were all quite nervous, but not as much as Andrew. He was a shy boy at the best of times without being introduced to another group of total strangers. The class looked ordinary enough, just another room crammed with bored Juveniles, until he spotted one boy with spiked-up blonde hair. It was him! It was the boy who chased him up the elevator back at the factory. Andrew could just bet that Jeremy was in the room as well. God what were the Odds? (Unintentional pun)
The new students all found themselves a seat. Andrew found one as far away from Odd as possible. He was sitting on his own, although the student across from him on the same row was staring at him. Sissi.
"Did you see them? Both Alexander and Andrew have black hair and a blue jacket. It's got to be one of them." Odd whispered into Jeremy's ear.
"We can't assume anything Odd." He whispered back whilst trying not to be spotted.
Still, he could not help but wonder. Could the intruder really be sitting in the room with them? Jeremy turned round and looked at the newcomers. Andrew looked back at Jeremy as he turned away. He knew what he was thinking. Aelita would have told him what he looked like. He scorned himself for wearing the same jacket, but he wasn't to know that they would be there. The short-sighted blonde whispered back and forth with spikey-haired kid and another boy with brown hair. They were planning something, Andrew just knew it.
Sometime during the day those boys were going to confront him, so he would need to stay one step ahead and outsmart them, starting with total ignorance of anything to do with the abandoned factory. From the way they acted in the factory towards his presence, Andrew could tell they didn't want him involved. He would need to stick with the other students for protection. He looked around the room for possible candidates. The girl opposite him was still staring. She smiled and waved at him and Andrew smiled back. She would have to do.
"Look at that. Sissi's waving to Andrew. Looks like you might be off the hook Ulrich." Odd elbowed Ulrich, causing him to answer with an even sharper nudge.
"Shut up Odd." He whispered back.
"Looks like Herb is furious though." Jeremy was right. Herb was frowning and gritting his teeth at the new boy.
"Jeremy Belpois! I know you might think that you are an expert at physics already but unless you want to teach this class yourself then do yourself a favour a pay attention!" Mrs Hertz had nabbed him mid-sentence.
"Yes, sorry Miss." Jeremy and the others were pulled back into the lesson.
"That's what you get for talking about me, four-eyes." Andrew thought.
At that moment Andrew felt something soft land on his desk. It was a scrunched up piece of paper. He opened it whilst half expecting its contents. It read 'meet me in the corridor after class' followed by a heart. He looked up at Sissi who waved to him and then looked at Ulrich, who in turn looked away in disgust.
So this girl was intending to use him in a jealousy tactic. Fair enough. He was going to use her to keep the factory brigade away from him. And so one of Andrew's flaws was re-opened, he was shy and suspected everyone. Being a victim of bullying had made him notoriously crafty. There was not one bully that had harmed him that had not paid for it three times over, and not one knew he was the cause of their despair. Physically or psychologically, everyone paid. He hoped that Kadic would be different, but not because he would change.
All of the students rushed out into the hall after class. Andrew clutched the note and met up with its writer. She was surprisingly tall compared to him and the two boys that accompanied her.
"Umm, hi. I read your note. I'm Andrew."
"Oh I know who you are, the most important thing is you founding out who I am! I'm Sissi Delmas and this is Nicholas and Herb."
Nicholas greeted him with a simple hello and herb didn't say a word. He just glared at him. Andrew hoped that this glaring boy wouldn't be any trouble.
"Sissi Delmas you say? Like the principle?" Andrew asked her. At that point herb walked right up to Andrew and answered for her.
"She's the principles daughter. So you better not try anything." Herb poked Andrew twice in the chest. Andrew used all his strength to hold in the instincts he had developed over the years filled with people like Herb. Little did Herb know that Andrew had broken bones before and caused amnesia afterwards. Something he deeply regretted.
"Just back off Herb! God this guy gets jealous every time I literally talk to another boy. Just ignore him and follow me, I'll show you around." The truth was, although she had affection for Ulrich above everyone else, she was a bit smitten with this new boy…
Andrew secured his backpack onto his arm and turned to look at some of the students he would be learning with for the next few years. He noticed Odd, Ulrich and Jeremy, and Jeremy noticed him. They stared deep into each other's eyes to try and tell what sort of person each was. Andrew sensed seriousness behind Jeremy's stare, but not hatred or anger, more concern than anything. What Jeremy received was more threatening. He could see pain in Andrew's eyes and a brewing rivalry. In that corridor two geniuses stared each other down, one of Maths and Science, and the other of manipulation and tactics.
Andrew broke off and followed Kadic's self-proclaimed beauty queen. Jeremy continued to watch Andrew until he was no longer in sight.
"It's him."
Andrew spent most of the day being shown around by Sissi and he quickly realised how much of a self-loving, conniving bitch she was. Maybe she wasn't the best candidate after all. Besides, Herb already hated his guts and Nicholas seemed to have eaten the last of his own brain cells. Andrew tried to get a bit of information about Jeremy's gang though before he ditched them.
"Who are they?" Andrew nodded towards the group who were sitting on a school bench and laughing.
"What them? Bah! You don't want to know them. There're all dorks, well except Ulrich. They are bad news. Not like us, we know how things work around here." Andrew was getting sick of her constant self-flattery.
"You know Sissi, I'm kind of tired. Would you be able to show me where the dorms are?" Another moment in her presence and he was liable to strangle himself.
"The dorms? But I thought you were a day student?" She was bewildered.
"I know, but it would be nice to familiarise myself with the whole campus." Luckily Sissi wasn't the brightest student by far so Andrew's bluff worked perfectly.
"Meh, why not? They're up the stairs, through that door." Sissi pointed towards the building.
"Thanks. Oh, would you be able to get me a hot chocolate while I look? You know, you must be the most helpful and charming student in this school." Andrew's lie both fooled her into acting just how he wanted and made him taste vomit.
"Oh you are a tease! See you up there in a minute." Andrew made his way to the stairs as Sissi and her group walked towards the vending machines.
At last he was on his own again. He followed the stairs up to the boy's dormitory. Any one of the rooms could be Jeremy's. He decided to check every single one. He didn't quite know why he was doing what he was, but something was drawing him in to find out more about the group. One room had a particularly unpleasant smell similar to sweaty feet, and Andrew could swear that he heard barking coming from the room. He ignored it and carried on searching, but he was not alone for long. He felt an arm on his own and turned to meet whoever it was.
"Hi Andrew! Welcome to Kadic!" It was him, the boy that chased him up the elevator.
"…Hi." Andrew answered nervously. He hadn't expected this. They must have followed him up the stairs.
"I'm Odd, this is Jeremy and that's Ulrich, the not so attractive member of the group!" Odd let out a big grin.
"I'll pretend you didn't say that Odd." Ulrich called out. They seemed decent enough, but Andrew knew the truth of what they got up to. With the boy finally in their 'custody', Odd went ahead.
"Now, this might sound a bit strange, but hear me out. So… Andrew. Haven't found any virtual worlds around here have you?"
"Huh?"
"Okay, when I say Lyoko, you say?"
"You're starting to freak me out now…" They knew, or at least suspected it was him. Andrew just hoped that all the dust had washed off his jacket. Ulrich sensed Odd's overly to the point interrogation and butt in.
"What my friend is trying to ask you is… you haven't found a video game lying around here have you? He's lost it." Andrew wasn't falling for it in the slightest.
"I don't think so…" Andrew played along. Total ignorance, Andrew. Total ignorance.
"It's just it's his favourite game. Lyoko Tower 2000, it's kind of like Grand Theft Auto but with Mega Tanks, I mean panzers. There's a mission where you have to save this Pink-haired girl from an evil computer. Heard of it?"
Jeremy watched Andrew every second they spoke and looked for signs of guilt or panic, but Andrew was notoriously skilled at hiding his emotions. He had to end their questioning and escape, at least, until the cards were in his hand…
"Sorry guys, but I haven't seen your video game Odd. Perhaps you tell me more about it later, maybe in the cafeteria at lunch?" Andrew defused the situation.
Clearly the interrogation wasn't working. Jeremy knew it was him, otherwise why did he stare at him like that earlier in the corridor? Mrs Hertz had made the mistake of saying his name to the class, so Andrew would know him. They needed to tread carefully because if they were wrong then their secret would be out.
"yeah, why don't you meet us in the cafeteria later?" Jeremy ended the conversation and began walking away. Odd and Ulrich shrugged and followed him, not knowing why Jeremy had suddenly changed course.
Andrew could see Sissi and her minions walk past the boys on their way out. He considered running but maybe he could use Sissi further.
"Andrew dear, I'm afraid the machine was out of hot chocolate so… wait. Were you just talking to Jeremy and his friends!?" Sissi was furious.
"Not to worry Sissi. They are nobodies to me…"