Chapter 9: Identity Crisis

Tetrox's POV

I swear, Xana," Yumi said, still pushing me against the tree, "if you've done anything to hurt the real Jeremie, I will personally find a way to delete you, byte by agonizing byte. Let go of him! Now!"

That's not a threat a digital being like a mechano can take lightly.
"Please! I'm not who you think I am! I'm not Xana!" I pleaded.
"Well, you're obviously not the real Jeremie, so who are you? Hmm? We're listening, Xana."

My mind raced. I couldn't just say, "My name is K-129, and I'm a Krabe. They would be just as angry.
"Do you think that's really Jeremie's body, or is that's a polymorphic clone?" Ulrich asked.
"He must be a clone," Aelita said. "He came out of the scanner, and Xana can't possess people directly on Lyoko. The real Jeremie must be inside a guardian."
"But if he really is a clone," Odd said, "then why isn't he attacking? He should be able to fire electricity and have the strength of ten men and be able to phase out of Yumi's grip!"
"It's a trick!" Yumi spat. "He doesn't want us to think that he's Xana, so if he goes superhuman on us, he gives himself away!"

I was frantically trying to think of a plan for escape. If I could get out of their grip, maybe I could find the factory the supercalculator was located in, transfer myself to Lyoko, retreat to the safety of the colonies...

And get blasted to bits by comrades who would think I was a human when they saw me.

Unbidden, memories started to creep up in the back of my mind. Stories, that I heard from other mechanos, about Xana's exploits on Earth, like the one where he tried unsuccessfully to prevent the creator of Lyoko, Franz Hopper, who had been imprisoned by Xana, from delivering a message to his fellow humans.

That was it!

"He's a clone created by Xana," Yumi said firmly. "All we have to do is drag him to the scanners, transfer him, keep him restrained on Lyoko while we find the real Jeremie, get him out, get back to the real world, and shut down the supercomputer while Xana's still in it. Problems solved."

They wanted to shut down the supercomputer! But that meant that Metra and the others...
"NO!" I shouted, so loudly that they all took a few steps back. Yumi realized that she had let go of me, and started forward, but I leapt up into the tree, out of reach.
"I mean, no," I said, and started to weave a lie that I am still proud of to this day. "You mustn't. you won't find any guardians on Lyoko. Anyway, if I really was a clone, then shutting down the supercomputer with me in it would destroy me, but Xana will still be out there. But I repeat, I am not Xana."

"If you're not Xana," Ulrich shouted up, "Then who the heck are you?"
I took a deep breath. "I've come here to help you. I am Franz Hopper, and I am the only one who knows how stop Xana."

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So, I am Tetrox, aka K-129, in Jeremie's body, and pretending to be Franz Hopper. Identity crisis, huh?

I explained that I had to possess Jeremie to be able to contact them, and insisted that he was fine. It was a little disconcerting to hear Aelita call me "daddy", but at least I had earned their trust, for now. I still got the feeling that Yumi was suspicious. After all, there had been a time when a person calling himself Franz Hopper had actually been a polymorphic clone.

It had been a lie made in haste, and I was a little worried that it wouldn't hold up for long. Sooner or later, they would want to hear my plans for defeating Xana once and for all, and of course I had none. I tried to figure out how I could turn this to my advantage, while they were still fooled.

I could convince them to take me to the supercomputer, use it to track down my body, figure out how to download myself back into it...

But then again, I had no idea how I would go about such a thing. I may live in a computer, and I may have browsed the internet now and again when there was nothing else to do, but that doesn't mean I can operate one as complex as the supercomputer from the outside. The real Jeremie could, but I still didn't know whether he had been simply deleted... or something else.

I began to wonder if I had just made my situation worse.

Jeremie's POV

It was Friday, the day after K-129 had convinced my friends he was Franz Hopper, although I didn't know that yet.

The only place I've been to in Lyoko besides the mechanos' chamber in Sector 5 is the desert region where I did my training, and which I found a little boring. But I had never seen the mountains, and to say that I was impressed simply wouldn't be doing my emotions justice.

I walked along one of the narrow paths, which were just wide enough for a Krabe or two humans walking abreast, and looking up at the towering, floating spires around me. The misty clouds only served to heighten the sense of mystic power that seemed to emanate from everywhere.

The path took me to a tower, glowing blue like all the others, that was surrounded by high, stone walls. Ironicaly, it was the same tower that we had activated to run the translation program for Franz's diary, and for a moment I had a feeling that I was going to be ambushed by an evil version of Odd or Ulrich, but the only one who came to greet me was S-1, who glided out from behind the stone wall as I approached.

"Ah. I see you've made it, Jeremie. How do you like the mountains?"
"They're very peaceful. It's hard to believe that so many battles have bee fought here," I said.
"Yes. Most of us stay away from the other regions and the rest of Sector 5 these days, with the exception of when they're being invaded. There are too many bad memories."

I looked around at the mountains again, wondering at how otherworldly they were, compared to mountains on Earth. All that was missing was guardrails and tourists.

"Hello? Jeremie?" S-1 said.
"Huh?" I said, startled out of my thoughts.
"I said, are you ready for your mission?"
"Oh, right. I'm ready whenever you are."

S-1 went behind the tower and pulled out what looked like a floating crystal computer, held in the air by a propeller underneath. He started moving things around on the screen with his tentacles, the way Aelita did with her hands.
"Alright. I'm activating the tower... now."

Above us, the tower's glow shifted from a deep blue to a vibrant green. S-1 continued to program.
"Just a few more adjustments, and..."

I became aware of a sensation of flying. I looked down, and saw the Krabe body, standing still, with S-1 in front of it, still working on the computer. I flew up, bodiless, the panorama of the Mountain region stretching out before me, and the two mechanos got smaller and smaller the further away I got.

Then, the sky faded to black, with only a faint glow around the mountains, and I started to see the other regions, including the bright ball that held Sector 5. The entirety of Lyoko got smaller and smaller, and then, suddenly, I was flying through wires, electricity buzzing around me.

I flew through them for what seemed like an eternity, before my view shifted again, suddenly. I saw a hallway. Lit up by fluorescent lights. The very last thing I saw before everything faded to black was a very surprised person with slick black hair, a pimply face, and glasses.

I opened my eyes, slowly, and looked down. The clothes looked familiar. I walked into a nearby bathroom and looked in the mirror.
"Ugh. Did it have to be Herve?" I exclaimed.
Jeremie.
"Huh? Who's there?"
It's me, S-1. Do not worry, I'm just keeping contact with you through the tower. Xana did it all the time with his specters. I'm sure you don't want to go it alone.
"Really? Well, thanks, I guess."
We have work to do.
"Right."

I stepped out of the bathroom, eager to find my body.