Code Lyoko:
The Diitto Generation
Part Two:
Frantic Scurrying
Author's Note: A couple of things I'd like to mention before I post the next section of the story . . .
1) Odd is American, (at least in this story.) I don't think the series ever specifies exactly where he is from, but some people consider him Italian and others say he's American. Once there was a reference to him living halfway around the world. I took that as being from America, since I don't consider Italy half a world away from France. This is why Valentina is considered an American.
2) Pertaining to my names for the story - I'd like to explain briefly why I chose each of them. Aelita and Jeremie named their sons Franz and Waldo because those were Aelita's father's names. Yumi and Ulrich named their daughters Katja and Kokoro because Katja is a very German name (in German, 'j' is pronounced like 'ya' - thus the name is pronounced Katya) while Kokoro means 'heart' or 'emotion' in Japanese if I recall. I spent too long on Matthias's and Nancy's names, in the end just going with the first names that popped into my head that seemed to follow the same style as the name William – Jacob and Nancy. (Since the start of the story I have gone back and changed Jacob's name to Matthias because Jacob is overused in the Code Lyoko Fanfiction world.) Valentina's name was simple - I wanted to give her a Russian name, and Valentina is one of my favorite Russian names.
3) Prior to writing this section, I had a lot of fun looking up French first and last names to make the story more realistic. (It's taking place in France after all.) So if any future names seem a little foreign to some of my readers, then that might be why.
Waldo (Section 2.2)
The van was too crowded. Waldo was wedged in the back seat between Matthias and Nancy, wondering why Franz got to ride shotgun. His leg had fallen asleep within the first three minutes - luckily Kadic wasn't much more than ten minutes from the Hermitage. Aelita was driving. Waldo knew that his mother would have stayed in the bunker all evening, but once he, Franz, Matthias, and Nancy had pointed out that they needed to eat dinner and grab the Dunbar children's things she consented to take them home. Kokoro had left about two hours before that time. Once they had returned to the Hermitage and eaten, Waldo knew that his mother had hidden herself in her bedroom. She thought she had been crying and didn't know how much sleep she had gotten the previous night.
Though Nancy and Franz spoke a bit, the car was relatively silent. Waldo was fine with that - he had plenty of thoughts to lose himself in. He hadn't gotten much sleep either last night; Waldo had gone over data from the supercomputer on his new laptop hoping to make some headway into finding how Xana had survived and how to bring back his father, Yumi, Odd, and William. When he had tired of that Waldo began glancing over the coding and applications of various programs for the supercomputer.
Part of the silence was because there was no reason for Aelita to lecture the children about keeping quiet about Diitto before dropping them off at school - Waldo and the others knew that telling anyone about the supercomputer would lead to more problems than it was worth. There was a return to the past program dormant in Diitto that would, theoretically, allow them to repeat the past in case of disaster, however Aelita did not want to have to use it, nor did she have the time to make sure if Xana had left it glitch-free since she claimed to want to focus all of her energy on freeing Jeremie and the others. When Waldo and Franz had asked for the program she had given it to them quite readily, claiming that between the two of them it was likely that they could check the program for bugs and whether or not using it would strengthen Xana.
Waldo just hoped Kadic didn't give out too much homework - he wanted to get started on the return to the past program the second he was moved into his room. He had been crossing his fingers all summer with the hope that he would get a single room - and he wanted one even more now that he planned to spend so much of his time working on Diitto-related stuff. A roommate would only get in the way - Waldo was sure of that. Kadic was a very prestigious school - even more prestigious than it had been when his parents had attended - and though it had been expanded since the first decade of the new millennium with the addition of another academic building and a second dormitory, Franz still claimed that there were too many students for the small academy.
At last, Aelita finally parked in the academy's parking lot next to the dormitories. The new one was about ten years old now, but it still looked a lot nicer than the old one. Waldo let his eyes wander what he could see of the campus as he and the others unloaded the trunk of his mom's van and the space in front of the back and behind the driver and passenger seats (the two seats that were normally there had been folded down to make room for luggage) before walking into the lobby of the new dormitory to check in.
There was a line just inside the door, and Waldo stood at the back and watched Franz and Matthias leer at one another, unable to come to a silent agreement about who was before the other in line. Nancy stood behind them beside Aelita, asking questions about the computer classes at Kadic. Waldo hadn't realized she was interested in computers - well, then again, she had a parent trapped in one . . .
"Hey, Waldo, see those idiots over-"
"Franz."
"Sorry, Mom. Anyway, those kids over there - avoid them. They make Matthias look smart-"
"Dude, I'm right here!"
"Franz!"
As Franz apologized in a tone that hinted he was not at all apologetic, Waldo made a point to glance at the boys his brother had nodded towards. They looked like they were Franz's age, eighth graders. One was dark-haired and wore ripped jeans and a T-shirt advertising a rock band while the other was a tall ginger. He had the build of the people that were put in clothing magazines. Curiously, he glanced at Nancy, guessing correctly that he would be the one of the two she'd be staring at.
"Stéphane and Isaac aren't that bad. Just don't act like Franz and you should be fine. In fact, act against Franz and they'll adore you," Matthias added smugly. Aelita shot him a rueful glare.
"Hmm, I wonder if I'll be in the good dormitory this year," Franz mused, trying to change the subject. Waldo knew that the new dormitory was more than twice the size of the old one, and that the old one tended to house sixth and seventh graders while the new dormitory housed twelfth, eleventh, tenth, ninth, and the eighth graders that didn't fit in the old dormitory. Older students were given single rooms in the new dormitory over younger students getting rooms in that dormitory at all.
"You should be," Aelita assured him. She pursed her lips together as she spoke. "But Nancy and Waldo are guaranteed to be in the old building. That could be problematic . . . possibly. Hopefully not."
Waldo wanted to ask his mother to elaborate on her trailed mumblings, but he held back the urge. She seemed too distraught by whatever thoughts had caused her to speak. Instead, he shifted his attentions to the other students standing around the lobby. One particular group of students caught his eye. There were eight of them, four girls and four boys, and though they all seemed to look different, each with a different face and a slightly different shade of brown hair, Waldo couldn't help thinking that they were connected somehow. He watched as the group stood around silently until two men - one of which Waldo recognized as the principal of the school - approached. He began speaking to the group, and the second man quickly translated. The strange kids didn't speak French - they were Russian.
"Hey, Franz, have you ever seen those people before?" Waldo asked, nodding across the room at the Russians.
Franz looked and then shook his head. "No, they are probably new. Never seen them in my life." He then resumed his argument with Matthias about soccer.
While waiting for his group's turn to sign in, Waldo spied on the Russian students, Stéphane, and Isaac. He didn't see why Franz hated the two boys so much, for neither of them showed any signs of knowing his brother (or Matthias for that matter) as they spoke with one another. Right before his party reached the front desk, Waldo watched a pretty girl with silvery hair come out of the elevator. She met with Stéphane and Isaac and they escorted her from the dormitory.
"Next," called the secretary at the desk.
Aelita stepped forward, shoving ahead of the four children that surrounded her. "Good morning, I'm here to check in my sons, Franz and Waldo Belpois, along with Matthias and Nancy Dunbar."
"Just one moment . . ." said the desk attendant as she touched the screen of her computer. "Ah, yes. Nancy is sharing a room on the third floor of the Jean-Pierre building while Waldo is alone on the second floor of the J.P. building. I have Matthias and Franz marked as each sharing a room in the Elizabeth building - do you two wish to be roommates?"
Franz asked "What?" in astonishment; Matthias essentially screamed "No!" loud enough for the entire lobby to hear. The desk attendant blinked in confusion, and then turned to Aelita. She smiled sweetly and asked the woman to wait a moment before grabbing both Matthias and Franz by the shoulder and dragging them a few feet away. Waldo edged toward them, leaving his suitcases behind so that he could eavesdrop.
"Look, I know that you two hate one another, but it really would be in your best interest if you agree to room this year . . ."
"Absolutely not," Franz said.
"For once, I actually agree with him," Matthias added.
"Boys," Aelita said through gritted teeth. "For numerous reasons, I'm going to make you to room together this year! It'll be safer, for one, especially if Xana has the energy to attack as he used to. We don't know the full extent of his powers yet, after all. Secondly, having each other as roommates ensures you won't get a nosy roommate who might decide to . . . say, rat you out of you ever happen to sneak out in the dead of night to take a trip to a certain virtual world. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"
"Yeah . . ." Franz mumbled. Matthias merely glared at Mrs. Belpois.
"Good, because from this point forward you are roommates," Aelita said, moving back to the secretary. She began to speak with her again, and a moment later waved everyone out of line and towards a corner of the room. Waldo received a key and a small envelope from his mother.
"Now, you and Nancy stay here for a moment while I walk these two to their room," Aelita told him. "I'm gonna drop them off, trust that they won't kill each other, and that they're mature enough to begin unpacking on their own while I help you two . . ."
"Okay," Waldo and Nancy acknowledged, watching as Aelita disappeared into the elevator with their older brothers. The two did not speak as they waited; though they had played together when they were younger, most of that time before the Dunbars had divorced two or three years ago, they weren't at all close. But Waldo did consider the redheaded girl to be his friend.
Almost ten minutes later Aelita returned. In that time, the Russian students had split into two groups, with the eldest five heading up the elevator and the smallest three heading out the doors in the direction of the other dormitory. Waldo had watched them almost the entire time.
"We'll move you in first, Waldo, and then go upstairs for Nancy," Aelita said.
"Okay. I'm capable of unpacking on my own, though," Waldo said sheepishly.
"Well, of course you are - but I still would like to make sure you are settled in anyway . . ."
Waldo rolled his eyes and adopted a slouch as he slowly followed his mother toward his dormitory. Nancy muttered, "My dad would be doing the same thing," as she passed him.
Waldo had been assigned a room in the back of the building that overlooked the courtyard – what had previously been forest – between the two dormitories instead of the academic portion of the school. His mother handed him his key and he opened the door, swinging it wide to reveal an empty bed frame, a desk, a stack of barren shelves, and a wardrobe. The room was both cramped and cozy at the same time.
"You are lucky, not everyone ends up with shelves in their room. I suppose they figured you would be like your father and need them for all those things you tinker with," Aelita said, beginning to unpack Waldo's bedding. "Nancy, you can put everything in that suitcase on the desk. Waldo, unpack your clothes."
Hastily, Waldo hurried to obey his mother's command, scanning the inside of his wardrobe and then carefully assigning a place to each type of article. He finished last, but not by much. Aelita had emptied what was left in his second suitcase, the one she intended to take home, by dumping the items on his pristinely made bed. Waldo was silently happy that she'd made it for him, mainly because he knew Aelita wouldn't have made Franz's bed. Being the youngest child did have its perks.
"Come on, you two. It's Nancy's turn now."
Waldo followed Nancy and his mother upstairs to the girls' floor. Unlike Waldo, she had to share her room with someone - her roommate had moved in the night before, flying in from India the previous day. Nancy had, apparently, volunteered to room with a girl she didn't know and do her best to make her feel welcome in France over the phone the previous week. Waldo wondered if she was regretting the decision now that she had Diitto to worry about . . .
Nancy knocked timidly on her door. "Hello? Chakori? It's Nancy."
A moment later a young Indian girl answered the door. She had short hair cut just below her ears, blue-rimmed glasses, and wore a dark shirt and faded jeans, reminding Waldo of Kokoro with her fashion choice.
"Hello!" Chakori mused, moving aside and waving everyone into her room. "It's good to finally meet you - I was told your name but that's all."
"I was told your name, that you are from India, and that you're already fluent in French," Nancy added with a bit of a smile. "Oh, and this is my aunt Aelita, for all intensive purposes, and her son Waldo. He also goes here."
"Ah, it's good to meet you, too!" Chakori said sweetly. She then turned back to Nancy. "So, your parents sent you here alone as well?"
Waldo tensed, but Nancy managed to smooth what could have potentially been an awkward situation over with ease. "Yeah. I drove with my father and brother, but my dad had to go back home so he left us with family friends."
"I see. Allow me to help you with that," Chakori said hastily, seeing that Nancy was beginning to unpack.
"Thanks."
"I'll make your bed, Nancy, and then leave you," Aelita said, beginning the intended process. "There's something that I need to attend to at home." Waldo knew exactly what his mother was referring to. He doubted she would leave her computer for the next week.
"Err, is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, feeling as though because Nancy had a roommate to help her unpack his assistance was unnecessary.
"Um," Nancy said, biting her lip as she thought. "You can probably go. There isn't anything I can think of at the moment. I'll see you later, Waldo."
"Yeah, later. Let's hope we are in the same class," Waldo added. It will be so much easier if Xana attacks that way, he added to himself as he slipped out of the room.
Initially Waldo headed to the stairs, intending to head back to his room and set up the computer he would keep in his room, when a second idea came into his head: he'd spy on the Russian students some more! There was something about them that fascinated Waldo. He couldn't articulate what, but something about them felt . . . off.
Waldo stopped by the stairwell and thought. The three students to head to his building had been two girls and a boy. He didn't know were any of them had been put up for the year, but suspected the girls would be roommates while the boy would have a single, like him. In that case, it would be easiest to check all of the rooms that were meant for only one occupant on his floor. Waldo hurried down the stairs.
He walked slowly past each of the doors, most of which were closed, trying to judge based on the amount of space between them whether the rooms had been made for one or two occupants. He passed a couple of other boys his age, ignoring them completely as he focused on his search. Finished with the side of the hall that faced the other dormitory, Waldo crossed the hallway and began to walk down the opposite side of the corridor, almost immediately running into the one he sought. The Russian boy his age passed him without making eye contact on his way to the restroom. Waldo hesitated for a moment, and then turned to watch the other boy disappear behind the bathroom door at the end of the hall. Rather than following him or waiting in the hallway, the blond boy seized the opportunity to steal down the hallway and duck into the room that the Russian boy had emerged from.
The Russian boy had traveled light, not owning anything that did not appear to be an essential item. His bed was neatly made, desk organized, and the two suitcases he had brought with him were lined against the wall. Somewhat bewildered by what he found, Waldo hurried from the room, thankful that the hallway was empty, and then made a point to wait for the Russian boy in the center of the hallway.
When he emerged from the bathroom Waldo summoned the strength to act. "Hello, my name is Waldo. I'm a sixth grader this year. What's your name?"
"My name is Ivan. I am a seventh grader," said the boy. His voice was stiff, almost forced. After answering Waldo's question, he continued back to his room.
"Err, are you also new here?" Waldo asked, not wanting to lose the Russian boy just yet.
"I don't speak much French," responded Ivan, continuing into his room and closing the door behind him. Waldo raised an eyebrow, bewildered, before finally making his way back to his own room. There would be time to figure out why the Russian students were so strange later. Presently he had programs to debug. First and foremost: the return to the past.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the section! The next update will be December 2nd 2010, two days from now. It would be nice if my wonderful readers told me what they thought of the story so far. :)
