CHAPTER 4
The next day welcomed the students of Kadic Academy with such a cloudy sky that although it was morning, darkness seized school's interiors. At the same time the air became moist and suffocating. The Academy, which was usually filled with morning hubbub was exceptionally silent that day, the reason being an unfavourable weather which affected most of the students.
The storm was coming inevitably. Soon the air was filled with sounds of thunders and the classrooms blinked due to the lightning, as if somebody was taking photos of the students from the outside with a huge flash light on.
The eighth graders had Physics class with Mrs. Hertz when the storm started. Some of most timid students who were sitting right under the windows begged the teacher to let them sit closer to the wall.
"There's no reason for you to fear the storm. You are all safe inside the building. The school has lightning conductors installed..." she began to rationalize when a fuss started in a row under the windows.
Despite loud protests, the teacher did not give in. Some students were still unconvinced about their safety and were sitting miserable, covering their heads with hands outstretched in a gesture of sudden defense. The lesson went on accompanied by thunders and heavy rain, which started to drum against the windows. The darkness of the classroom was lit only by a light coming from an overhead projector.
Suddenly a sound of massive thunder thrilled the building. Everybody jumped in their seats. The projector shut off and a sinister darkness filled the classroom. Some people from under the window groaned in fear. The rest began to whisper nervously to each other.
"Calm down, please, I asked you enough times!" Mrs. Hertz said in a harsh, but calm tone. Unfortunately, students did not share her self-control. Only Aelita, Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich stayed stoic calm.
"Phew, what a storm is that? It's nothing compared to what happened during the camp at the lake," Odd said to Ulrich and Jeremie, who were sitting behind him.
A moment later the projector shone again and Mrs. Hertz could continue the lesson.
Then, a cell phone rang. Everybody kept looking at their classmates and tried to spot whose it was. At this moment Aelita realized it was hers, and blushed. The rest of the class looked at her.
"Aelita, the cell phone should be turned off before class!" she was reminded by Mrs. Hertz.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry..." Aelita muttered and reached to her bag for her phone. She always put it on vibrate during classes and had no idea how come it rang. She received a message. The boys behind her stretched their necks to see who was it from. Jeremie frowned as if he was almost one hundred percent sure who it was from.
"Oh my, it's from XANA!" Aelita chuckled, "He asks if I'm OK, 'cause he learned about some unrest on Earth," she added, covering her mouth in amazement.
"Wow, how caring he is...Isn't it sweet?" Odd whispered. Jeremie looked at him like he was going to kill him with his eyesight.
"What's wrong with you?" Odd asked him, but quieted down when Mrs. Hertz looked in their direction.
The storm was over before the bell rang. Nevertheless, a bad weather was dominant during the rest of the day. It did not clear up until quarter to five when Aelita and Jeremie headed to the factory. When they stepped into the elevator, Jeremie stayed in the lab and Aelita went a level below to the scanner room.
After a routine virtualization process Aelita landed in the mountain sector near an entrance to an enormous cave. That was when she became anxious about what was going to happen and awareness of Jeremie sitting by the controls did not make her feel any better. She knew that if something went wrong, he wouldn't be able to help her fast due to her father's transmission. After all, XANA remained XANA, at least that was what she thought. They could never anticipate his actions.
She noticed he already awaited her under a small tree near the entrance to the cave. His face brightened up with a wide smile when he saw her. Just like at the first meeting, he bowed in front of her and took her by the hand.
"Welcome back. It seemed like eternity since we last met," he said in his usual official tone. "These were not peaceful 24 hours in the Web. Some information about unrest on Earth reached me."
"Just a storm, nothing dangerous," Aelita said, "Thanks for caring, but I'd rather you didn't call in the middle of the lesson."
"I wanted to confirm there was no threat to you. Nevertheless, I am glad you are safe and sound," he answered and turned in the direction where the cave was.
"Therefore dear, I would like you to join me in a ride!"
He clapped his hands twice and a Manta emerged from inside of the cave. It immediately flew low and stopped in front of them. He made a welcoming gesture and helped her mount on the monster. As they did, he gave a sign to go.
Meanwhile in the lab, a transmission window appeared on the screen, just like Jeremie predicted. Then his mobile rang; it was Yumi who called.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" she asked.
"Fine... Franz is sending the programme and Aelita's... on Lyoko."
"Awesome. I'm glad everything's OK."
"Me too," Jeremie said, confused.
"I have to go, my mom's calling me to tidy up, bye!"
"See ya tomorrow." Jeremie hung up.
On Lyoko, a crazy ride across the sector on Manta's back continued. The monster flew with agility between the hills and paths like a rollercoaster, making Aelita scream out of fear and joy alternately. In fact there was nothing to be afraid of – XANA took care of the safety, so that she did not move even during the most sudden turns and fastest rises.
Soon the ride came to an end. They stopped on one of the hills. From the top of it a breathtaking scene of almost entire sector could be seen. In the distance a brightly shining sphere of Carthage was visible. Aelita sat down to enjoy the sight.
"Wow... how did you know it's my favourite place on Lyoko?" she asked him.
"I did not," he answered.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" She looked at Sector Five far away. He remained silent and seemed to look somewhere far ahead as well.
"It's great. I like it. How about you?" she repeated. He got noticeably confused.
"If you like it, then I like it, too," he answered, looking at her with his usual adoring glare.
"It brings back memories, you know", she continued, "When I was little, I lived in the mountains for some time. But the mountains on Earth are completely different. One reason, they're much higher. They rise thousands of meters above the sea level. The highest peaks are covered in snow for the whole year, it's so cold up there. I remember that the place where I lived was surrounded by forest. You can't imagine how beautiful it was in the summer. But it's winter when mountains are the most beautiful. Everything is covered by a thick layer of snow and you can ski and sleigh ride... I wish I could come back there someday."
"Tell me please what it is like to live on Earth."
Aelita noticed that the more often she mentioned Earth, his interest of that world grew. What he particularly wanted to know was why it was so much better than the virtual one he knew. She mentioned senses that one lacks when being on Lyoko and tried to describe a variety of sensations one experiences while on Earth. It wasn't an easy task; she understood it perfectly since a few years ago she couldn't imagine that herself. She recalled how hard it was for Jeremie to explain how human senses worked. Then she began to talk about weather, seasons of the year, time and so on. He was amazed by complexity of these processes.
"Today you made me realize how unstable your world is. It changes so often and fast. How do you manage in it?" he asked.
"You're right, my world is quite fragile, but virtual world isn't all safe either."
„It is as long as I am by your side. You have nothing to fear of there," he assured her and again gave her an adoring gaze.
At the same time on Earth everything was going perfectly. Jeremie hoped that Franz managed to send him the whole programme. But suddenly something weird happened – image on the screen began to shake in a weird way, as if the signal was disturbed. When it stopped, the window vanished and contact was cut. Jeremie had bad feelings about this. He expected the worst. Immediately after gaining control of the system, he contacted Aelita.
"Hey... come back to Earth now! Something weird is going on..."
"Jeremie, but why? What's wrong?"
"I'll explain later. I don't like this. Prepare yourself to be rematerialized!"
"But... wait..."
"My last word, 'Materialization."
Jeremie explained to Aelita what happened on their way to the dorm.
"So, you think XANA's alteration is unstable?" she asked when they arrived at the dorm, more precisely – on the corridor on girls' floor.
"Yeah. It looked like something disturbed the transmission on purpose. I think your father noticed it, so he cut off."
"And it is a reason for you to bring me in?"
"Whatever made XANA change, I know one thing – he's still dangerous. You should stop your trips to Lyoko until I find another way to contact your father and get this programme," he said when they stopped in front of Aelita's room.
When Aelita opened the door, a strong flower scent hit them. To their surprise in the middle of the room stood a basket with a composition made of white lilies and roses, accompanied by big green decorative leaves. Jeremie stood like a statue in open door and Aelita came closer to the basket and pulled a small white envelope with a letter inside. She opened the envelope and read the message inside.
"'I can't stop thinking of you, I see you everywhere around, I miss another chance for us to meet.' Hm, it's not signed. No, it can't be from... Jeremie?"
She looked at the door. Jeremie wasn't there. She closed the door and moved the basket behind the wardrobe out of sight. She had a feeling it was sent by XANA, so she'd rather not too many people knew about it.
She sat on her bed and threw the envelope on a drawer. Jeremie's behaviour concerned her. Since they learned about XANA's change, he began to behave in a strange way. She wanted to go to is room and try to talk with him about it when Odd and Ulrich went into her room.
"Hi Aelita, how are you?" Ulrich started.
"Hi, I'm fine. Me and Jeremie have just come back from the factory," she answered.
"We saw him but he didn't feel like talking to us. We want to know how did it go? Hey, what smells so nice over there?" Odd asked.
In answer Aelita pointed at the corner behind the wardrobe where the basket stood. Odd came closer to have a closer look.
"Nice one. From who is it, from Einstein?"
„I highly doubt it, if it was, Einstein would be in much better mood," Ulrich noticed.
"How do you think?" Aelita asked. She handed the letter to them. They read it and giggled.
"Oh wow, so fluffy," Odd commented.
"Yeah, it's not Jeremie's style," Ulrich agreed, "Only an idiot would write something so cliché."
"Or an A.I in love, which has no clue about how to approach women," Odd added and handed the paper back to Aelita, "I don't know which I'd rather, fight XANA or read his love letters."
"At least now we know why Jeremie was so not in the mood," said Ulrich.
"You think he's mad?" Aelita got worried. She told them about her and Jeremie's conversation on their way to the dorm. Ulrich sat near her on the bed and Odd sat on a chair in front of the desk.
"Unstable?" Odd repeated in reference to XANA's state.
"That's what Jeremie thinks."
"Jer's mad? Jealous, that word would describe him better... don't you know him? He should get over it until tomorrow," he said. Aelita looked at her friends; she seemed unconvinced.
"You mean it?"
"'Course we do!" Ulrich confirmed. "Listen, he'll never tell you that straightaway, but it's no secret that he cares about you. Believe me."
Odd agreed. "Let's leave Jeremie alone, tell us what you were doing on Lyoko today!"
When Odd and Ulrich left, Aelita sat in front of her desk to do her homework and generally occupy her mind with something. But when she opened her first notebook, she still couldn't stop wondering about Ulrich's words. She knew deep down he was right, but she never expected anyone to say it aloud. She did not understand Jeremie even more. If it was so obvious they had feelings to each other, why was he so angry? She tried to be nice to XANA, but she had also a purpose in doing so. She was simply polite only to make it easier for her father to send his programme which will get rid of it...