Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. 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.
Paris, France, 2006
The temporal jump went without a hitch, and One-from-One found himself on an approach to Earth. Checking the radio and TV emissions coming from the planet, he was able to determine that he had made it to the right place at the right time. Sensors showed no indication of the other Borg ship anywhere in the area. Even so, One-from-One initiated a complete cloak of his small vessel and set the ship on an insertion orbit around the planet.
He placed his ship in an equatorial orbit and conducted more scans; some more detailed than he really needed to. Maybe, the data would make it back to the Collective, and it would be added to the Knowledge Base stored there, then shared with Federation historians and anthropologists. He also made it a point to monitor all communication broadcasts; that way, he could be up-to-date as to what was going on, both on Earth as a whole, as well as the region he would be searching in.
The nanoprobe that his mother had supplied was tantalizingly vague on a lot of things; necessary, it said, because events might not be exactly the way they were this time around. The one thing that should be constant is that the thing the Borg would be looking for is somehow connected to an institution called Kadic Academy, located in Paris, France. One-from-One tapped into the planetary information network of Earth, known at the time as the Internet, and quickly found information about Kadic Academy. It was a private college preparatory school located in the suburbs of Paris, and taught students from elementary level education through high school. One-from-One somehow had to insert himself into that school in such a way that he could move freely about and investigate.
His opening quickly presented itself when he saw a job listing for a school psychologist at Kadic Academy. The Borg quickly ascertained the requirements of the job, then crafted an identity to meet that requirement. He would have to add some hard documentation to back up the facade he created, but that didn't present too much of an obstacle. Over the next twenty-four hours, he made brief excursions to the places he needed to, adding the documentation he needed to cover himself. In some cases, he even modified the memories of select individuals to corroborate what he would tell the Kadic people.
Once all that groundwork was laid, he tapped into the communications system and contacted the headmaster of the Academy. The principal, Jean-Pierre Delmas, was surprised and delighted by One-from-One's phone call, as they had been looking for a new psychologist for some time now. He arranged for an employment interview for that day, then settled back to wait.
"Dr. Janeway, your resumé is certainly impressive," Mr. Delmas said in the interview, "and we certainly can use a man of your caliber her at Kadic. But I must ask, what brings you to Paris from America? Certainly there are plenty of opportunities in your home country?"
"Yes there are, sir," Dr. Juan Janeway, aka One-from-One, replied, "and I have worked at several schools there, as you can see on my employment history. But I wanted a little excitement in my life, so I took to wandering. Unfortunately, I couldn't wander very far on what a school psychologist makes in the United States, so I had to curb my wanderlust somewhat and recharge my bank account. I happened to be in Paris at the time, so I decided to look for work here."
"Does that mean that you will be moving on very soon?"
"The way things work out, probably not," he said, "did you ever see that movie, 'Support Your Local Sheriff'? Well, I'm 'on my way to Australia' so to speak, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I wind up spending the rest of my days here."
"Well, seeing as no one else has applied for the job, I'll have to give your resumé serious consideration," the principal finally said, "however, if we tender you an offer, it will be for the entire school year. If you think you may need to 'amble on,' as it were, before then, please don't accept the position. It wouldn't be fair to either the school or the students."
"I will do that, sir," Juan replied.
After the interview, Janeway took a stroll around the campus looking for two things. One, any indication of what he needed to find. The other was a place to hide his ship while he was here. The best place he found for that was in a small lake in the park that adjoined the school. It was close by and deep enough to completely hide the ship, and gave him a plausible way in and out of the school, so he didn't really have to find a place to transport away.
He spent the rest of the day seeing the sights of the area around the school. He did this purely for his own pleasure; it had been a long time since he last was in Paris, and seeing it in its ancient glory only added to the fun.
When he materialized back in his ship's alcove, he found that the school had indeed back checked all of his references. He also had a call on his 'answering machine' from Mr. Delmas, offering him the position under the terms they had discussed in his office. Juan called the principal back and accepted his offer, and said he would come by tomorrow to fill out any paperwork necessary.
The worst part of this mission, thought Juan Janeway, is the waiting. I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs for two months waiting for the school year to start, now I have to poke around and find someone who knows what the hell I'm looking for. And that damn nanoprobe is worse than a Chinese puzzle box, and about as inscrutable! But I must be in the right place, given all of the chronometric waves I've ridden out.
Juan began his job as the school psychologist the Monday after he accepted the offer. Mr. Delmas introduced him to the teaching staff, and set up meetings so they could bring him up to speed on the students that would be coming back and what they had observed. He took detailed notes, just for show.
"Oh, Dr. Janeway!" Sissi Delmas, his self appointed assistant called out, "is there anything I can do for you?
Jean-Pierre also introduced him to his daughter, Elizabeth. Juan took one look at the girl and thought, trouble. She was alternately fawning, condescending, rude, obnoxious, sweet, kind and caring. There were times when Juan wondered how the girl could fit her head through the doors; other days he wondered whether or not he was going to have to assimilate her just to keep her out of his hair. For some reason, Elizabeth, or Sissi, as she preferred to be called, had made it her goal in life to Find Out Everything About Him. At first he thought it was cute, but after three days he was considering either assimilation or murder.
"No, Elizabeth, I'm fine, thank you," he replied.
"Are you sure?" she said, trying to wheedle into his good graces, "maybe some coffee or a snack? I know! Let's go out for the afternoon together!"
Like that is ever going to happen, Janeway thought to himself. Then he got an idea.
"Maybe you can help me," he began, "there's a student I've been particularly worried about, and I'm not sure how I can help her."
"And you think I can help?" Sissi responded.
"Yes, I really think so," Juan replied. He reached into one of his desk drawers and quickly pulled a think pile of papers out, then stuffed them into a folder he had on his desk."
"I've found these documents just now about this poor girl, and I was shocked at what I read!" he continued, "why I'm surprised that no one has been killed! I really need to tell the principal about this, but I'm kind of nervous. The girl in question has considerable connections in the school administration, so I don't know what will happen if I send my report through channels. I was wondering, could you take this file and show it to your father, without anyone noticing? It would really help me if you could."
"Sure!" she replied, reaching out for the folder. Dr. Janeway handed it to her and she took a look at the name on the tab, hoping for a really good piece of either gossip or blackmail.
The name on the folder was Elizabeth Delmas.
"What!" she shouted, throwing the folder back on the desk. Janeway couldn't help it, he laughed at her reaction.
"That's what can happen if you're too helpful," he said after settling down, "now, sit down, young lady, we need to talk."
Stunned, the principal's daughter sat.
"Now, you've been trying to worm your way into my life since I got here," he began, "it was cute at first, but got old fast. Now, if you're really and truly trying to be a help to me, I apologize for this. Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you practiced a little more decorum in your interactions with me and the rest of the staff. This school is not a fiefdom, and you are not the Lord's daughter."
"You can't talk to me that way!" the girl shouted back, "just wait 'til I tell daddy!"
"Okay, we'll do this the hard way," Juan said, then picked up the phone and dialed.
"Yes, sir, I just called to tell you that the situation we previously discussed has come about, so I really need to know, orphanage or nunnery?" There was silence as the psychologist listened. "Are you sure, Mr. Delmas? I mean, she is your daughter and all... Umhmm, umhmm. Alright, as you wish."
The entire time, Sissi stared wide eyed at the man. What had he just said to her father?
"Ms. Delmas, your father would like to have a word with you," Dr. Janeway finally said, extending the phone to the girl.
She stood up and took the receiver. The next few minutes were filled with her nodding her head, saying, "uhuh," and "yes, sir." Finally, after three minutes, she handed the phone back to Juan.
"Your father and I have been exploring your behavior over the last few days," he said, "and some of it bothers him a lot. Now, you've got a lot of things going for you, but you're either not utilizing them, or you're using them in the wrong way, and I think it's about time we started doing something about that. So, it looks like you are going to get your way, in a manner of speaking. I'm going to start setting aside time for you and I to talk. But I'm going to be the one learning about you, not the other way around. Oh, and we'll be including your father in some of these sessions, because the two of you need to get some facts of life straightened out."
Janeway then set up a time for Sissi's first counseling session. Once he was done, he dismissed the girl.
It wasn't quite as satisfying as murder would have been, but hopefully the girl would get something out of it. And if not, there was always assimilation, or murder...
When he wasn't talking to teachers about students, he was trying to milk as much information out of the nanoprobe the Borg Queen gave him as he could, and that was proving to be a challenge. The data contained in the nanoprobe wasn't raw data, it was a program, an Artificial Intelligence designed to give only certain information out when certain conditions have been met. He tried every trick he knew to try and get around it, but failed. Each time, he cursed his previous self for being so good at making the stupid thing.
Today, he was looking at a list of students that would be arriving over the next few days. Some of the names had been highlighted; these were kids that the staff was concerned about for one reason or another. The previous psychologist had left good notes on a lot of the children, so Juan should be able to catch up.
There were several names flagged on his list that really didn't have files, though: Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, Ulrich Stern and Aelita Stones. They didn't have files with the previous psychologist, except for Jeremie, and that was related more to his intellectual gifts than any problems he had. But conversations with the staff, particularly Jim Moralés and Suzanne Hertz, tagged the group as 'strange.' Despite his best efforts to find out what they meant by strange, Janeway couldn't get a precise answer. The only thing useful the new psychologist found out was the leader of that particular clique was Jeremie Belpois. He put the five towards the top of his interview list, especially since Ulrich's name set off alarms. The little girl who had been infected was named Stern, so maybe there was a connection. He made a note to speak with each of these students as soon as he could.
Some of the other names on the list quite frankly needed help, though. Juan made it a point to schedule appointments with these students immediately. He was being paid to help these kids out, and he was going to do the best he could in the time he had here.
Juan was counseling Hervé Pichon when the attack came. One moment, all was peaceful and normal, the next minute, explosions were happening all around the campus.
"Wha', what was that?" Hervé hollered.
"Get down!" Juan said as an explosion hit close enough to blow in the window to his office. When the dust settled, the psychologist got up and looked out the window. Students were running all around in a panic. Teachers and staff were trying to corral the kids and get them to safety, but they were on the edge of panic themselves, so the weren't doing much good.
"Hervé, get out of here and get clear of the building! Try and make you way off campus! Run for any military, police or fire personnel you find and let them know what's going on here!"
The boy nodded in understanding and ran off. Juan got up and headed outside, determined to organize some kind of evacuation effort. When he got outside, he noticed that five of the students on his short interview list were running into the park. The last one he saw, Yumi Ishiyama stopped for a moment and looked back at the school.
Janeway looked around and saw that Suzanne Hertz was frantically talking to Jim Moralés, no doubt trying to find some way to organize an evacuation. Juan noticed something else, too, an inbound projectile was heading straight for their location.
"Jim, Suzanne, get out of there!" he hollered at the two, but it was too late. Juan didn't even think; he beamed the two teachers from the spot just as the projectile impacted and exploded. His shields snapped in place as the shrapnel and rubble from the explosion lashed out his way. The world was engulfed in smoke and dust for a moment, then cleared. Before the dust totally settled, Janeway rematerialized the two teachers back in the spot he snatched them from, none the worse for the wear. They were shaking their heads and blinking when he ran up to them and offered his help in getting the students clear of the area. They put their confusion behind them and helped Juan organize the students.
Whatever was bombing the school was still carrying on when a chronometric wave washed over the scene. When it passed, Juan was back in his ship regenerating.
According to the information on the nanoprobe, the Borg ship will land around here tonight then, he thought to himself.
That evening, Juan observed the Borg cube land on the roof of the old factory, and eight drones exit the cloaked vehicle. For a moment, it seemed like something had happened to them, but the moment passed and they proceeded on their mission.
Hmm, I wonder what that was all about, the new school psychologist thought to himself, well, at least now I know about where the thing is I'm looking for, now I just have to find out what. I think it's time to talk to the ringleader of my prime suspects, Mr. Belpois.