Chapter 9: When Rookies MeetPresent Day
Sylvia sat across Gwen in the lunch room. Sylvia played around with her food on her plate as Gwen was eating pleasantly, enjoying her lunch. Sylvia was worried about what they might have gotten into, despite the fact that they weren't even supposed to remember anything from that night. Both of them did not know what to think of the situation, except just to keep a clear head and focus on life. But, never in their lives, have things been more dangerous. Gwen looked up to see that Sylvia was in deep thought, but was also worried. Gwen decided to talk to her.
"Sylvia, you alright?" Gwen asked while drinking her chocolate milk. A tiny droplet then fell onto her Patriots' jersey. She then grabbed a napkin from her tray and wiped it off.
"I'm just worried." Sylvia replied. She then looked at the clock. "I just have a feeling something is going to happen." Gwen looked up to her.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Gwen asked, confused. "What can happen right now?"
"I… just don't know." Sylvia replied. "It's been rough that night and I'd rather not think of it right now."
"But, you are thinking about it." Gwen stated. Sylvia then looked at Gwen. She tried to think of something to tell her, but every time Sylvia tried to think of something, she would lose it when she would open her mouth. The feeling of nervousness engulfed her as the day continued. The unexpected can happen at anytime, as the group told her. But, she would lose the feeling at the end of the day, at the last period. It sucked, but for all she knew, it was worth it.
Sylvia sat next to Gwen, as always. Mrs. Hertz was slowly going over the Atomic Theory, which was complicated. The class was jotting down every single word and drew every single diagram because of the fact that next week's quiz was coming up. Sylvia did the same like Gwen and the rest of the class.
"Sylvia, how are you feeling?" Gwen whispered to Sylvia, who was still jotting down important notes.
"I'm feeling a lot better." Sylvia replied. As she was drawing a diagram that Mrs. Hertz drew, her pencil broke and a sharp pang traveled through her hand. The pencil flew out from her hand and landed on the floor right next to another student. She cleared her throat and lurched her hand towards the pencil. Then, as she got closer to it, the student next to her, across the aisle, whispered to her.
"I'll get that for ya." the student said with a polite, young, and very likeable voice. Sylvia looked up and she blushed. The boy's hair was messy, but also attractive, his face was smooth and young, his clothes were clean and green, and his eyes reminded Sylvia of chocolate. Sylvia instantly fell for the student, who was the same age as her. She stared at him for three seconds and then she shook herself out of it. She cleared her throat and sat up.
"Thank you." Sylvia said sweetly. The student picked it up and handed it over to Sylvia. Sylvia gently took it from the student's soft hands and then took out a pen.
"I didn't catch your name." Sylvia then said. Then, she looked at the patch tag that said his last name. 'Rutherford', it said. She then looked at the side patch, which had a horse's head, colored in black, a stripe that ran diagonally across the patch, which was also black, and the backdrop was gold. Then, there was a gold chevron that pointed north. It was a real military jacket that someone used, except that it was not from the modern era.
"My name's Jonas. Jonas Rutherford." the student said. Sylvia's eyes popped open as he said this. 'This is the guy Jeremy was talking about,', Sylvia thought to herself. The same guy Jeremy talked about was the guy Sylvia instantly fell for.
"Nice to meet you, Jonas." Sylvia replied. "Let me introduce myself."
"I know who you are, Sylvia Meadows." Jonas replied. Sylvia was astonished.
"How did you know?" Sylvia asked in curiosity.
"Jeremy told me." Jonas replied.
"Figures…" Gwen silently said to herself, jotting down the notes. Then, the bell rang, saving the class from further note-related torment. The class got up from their seats and started to leave the classroom. Mrs. Hertz then started to talk.
"Remember, class, next week's quiz is coming up." Mrs. Hertz said, then sitting back down to write. Everyone then started to exit the class room, talking with each other as the halls were soon filled with fellow students. Then, Gwen, Sylvia, and Jonas found themselves at the door. Jonas stepped aside to let the girls go first.
"Ladies first." Jonas said, letting Sylvia and Gwen through before him.
"Oh… thank you." Sylvia said, walking out of the classroom with Gwen walking next to her. The two then headed for Sylvia's dorm room, since school was over. The two girls entered and sat there stuff on Sylvia's bed, then trying to pass time. Gwen then sat herself on Sylvia's computer.
"I feel like blowing the crap out of stuff." Gwen said to break the silence. "Want to join?"
"No thanks." Sylvia said. "I'll let you go first." Then, as the two tried to enjoy themselves, Jeremy came into the room, with his laptop in hand. He looked at Sylvia who was looking out the window.
"Sylvia, I have some news." Jeremy said, sitting next to Sylvia. Sylvia looked at Jeremy.
"What's the news?" Sylvia asked while Jeremy was opening his laptop, then activating it.
"Well, I think you would not like this, since I doubt you guys like to take time out of your lives." Jeremy said. "But, you need training."
"Training?" Gwen asked, while she played Battlefield 2, jumping into a Humvee.
"Yes, training." Jeremy replied. "If you want to help us, then you need this." Sylvia stood up and faced Jeremy.
"So, what types of training are we looking at?" Sylvia asked, curiously. The sound of gunfire, explosions, radio chatter, and death cries paused their conversation for about five seconds. Then, Gwen looked back at the two.
"Am I interrupting?" Gwen asked. The two nodded. Then, Gwen turned down the volume on the computer. "Sorry." she said. Jeremy then continued the conversation.
"Well, you'll see." Jeremy replied. "We just need to set things up for it." Sylvia nodded and sat next to Jeremy, who was checking on the towers.
"What are those?" Sylvia asked.
"Those are towers." Jeremy answered,
"What do they do?" Sylvia then asked.
"It's hard to explain." Jeremy replied. "But, basically, it tells us if there is an attack happening and we have to deactivate the towers to stop them." Sylvia nodded, understanding the tower's importance in stopping attacks.
"So, this XANA program is sentient and evil?" Sylvia asked.
"You bet. He can do things on his own and he operates on his own." Jeremy explained.
"So, we're in this together then?" Sylvia asked.
"You bet." Jeremy said. "There's no turning back now. The world's fate and humanity's fate, rest in our hands, girls." Sylvia smiled and looked out the window once more. She then looked back at Jeremy. Jeremy took a deep breath and smiled.
"How do you like the title, 'Lyoko Warrior'?" Jeremy asked Sylvia. She giggled a little and then looked onto the floor. Then, she looked back at Jeremy one more time.
"Yeah, I like that." Sylvia said.