Chapter XXV
William awoke to a sharp pain on his side, having thrashed around so much in his sleep that he fell out of bed. It was another nightmare.
He knew he'd been under XANA's control. He could feel it. But the rest of the details were fuzzy. It wasn't a clear memory or flashback, as were the usual subjects of his terrors. But whatever had happened, he knew it was similar to that familiar out-of-body experience that took place when he was within the AI's grasp for all that time.
Sure, normal people who were possessed had no idea what they had done as soon as it ended. It was like they lost a day or blacked out — they literally could not remember what happened while under XANA's spell. But, since his own personal Hell had started while on Lyoko, and he was captive for such a long period of time, he was able to recall in vivid detail the events that took place on Lyoko and Earth. A few minor things were fuzzy here and there, like some of the injuries he'd caused, but he knew the brunt of it. It played practically every night when he went to sleep, like a bad horror movie that wouldn't end.
He weighed his options: He wanted to go upstairs, talk to Giana. But he was already on thin ice with Jim and the principal, given he'd been caught outside after curfew twice recently, and then there was that whole business where he practically broke Hervé's nose. If he were caught in the girls' hall at this hour, he'd be suspended for sure.
No, he'd have to settle for the next best thing: Jeremie. Maybe a tower would activate and he could release some more of his pent-up anger.
He approached the boy's room, stopping a moment outside the door. He swore he heard music coming from inside, but it ceased as soon as he knocked. His alarm clock had said it was close to one in the morning when he'd woken up — but, it was common knowledge to practically all the boarding students that Jeremie never slept.
The blonde answered, in boxers and a T-shirt but no glasses, distinctly blocking him from entering. "What?"
William arched an eyebrow. "Are you busy?"
"A little bit."
"Well, this'll just take a minute." He shouldered his way past the younger boy and into the room, stopping in his tracks when he realized what was going on.
Clusters of LED candles were flickering (open flames weren't allowed in the dorms), and out of the corner of his eye he saw Aelita, mortified, her mouth open in a silent scream as she clutched Jeremie's blanket to her so tightly, he was sure her knuckles were turning white.
She immediately hid her face, suddenly becoming fascinated with the Einstein poster.
William backed out of the room, looking straight ahead at the window. "This never happened."
"Already forgotten," the couple said in unison. Jeremie shut and locked his door.
He silently went back to his room, gathering some things. A shower sounded very inviting right about then.
Giana couldn't stop laughing when he told her the next morning, before everyone else had gotten to breakfast.
"That would be like them walking in on us!" he said, exasperated.
"But Jeremie willingly opened the door," she pointed out, still not managing to keep a straight face.
He was about to say something back, but she was right. Regardless, it was no use; Odd and Ulrich showed up. Sissi had opted to sit with Hervé, Nicholas, Heidi, and Julien, with the promise to rejoin them at lunch.
Jeremie and Aelita staggered in, both avoiding eye contact. They obviously hadn't "forgotten" what happened the night before, but William couldn't believe how awkward they were being about it. However, it was them — the blonde especially was awkward about everything.
He shrugged it off, hiding his expression in his cup of coffee.
"I got a message from Franz last night," Jeremie started off, pushing some scrambled eggs around on his plate. "He thinks he might've had a breakthrough, but we're going to confirm it after class."
"Good," Ulrich said. "After that last devirtualization…" He shuddered.
Giana stared down into her hot chocolate. "Don't remind me."
"But he thinks he found the cause of the bug?" William pressed. "I mean, the temporary fix is fine for now I guess, but we need something more permanent."
"I don't know," the blonde mumbled. "Like I said, we'll find out later."
"Jeremie's very stressed out," Aelita clarified, taking in the others' expressions at his curtness. "This whole thing has been… a lot."
"We're going on the Replika mission tonight, right?" Odd chimed in. "You said you were able to duplicate the original Skid's code to create another."
"Yeah," Jeremie answered. "That's the other thing I'm worried about."
"I don't know if I can make it," Giana said. "My grandparents have been pushing me to have dinner with them again."
"Can't you do it on Sunday or something?" William suggested.
The brunette shook her head. "They're really adamant about doing it tonight."
"Well, that's it," Ulrich announced. "If we're not all available, none of us can go."
"Hey, if all goes according to plan, I should be back in time," she argued. "I just have to make a subtle exit. The mission is still happening."
"That's what I was afraid of," Jeremie mumbled.
"Okay, so it's a date," Odd confirmed. "We just need to tell Sissi and Yumi."
"Pépé, really, I'm not that hungry."
It was getting late. Giana and her grandparents had finished their main dinner course. Ingrid cleared the plates and offered dessert.
"I'd rather just go back to Kadic," the girl continued. "I have a lot of homework."
Pauline ignored her. Jean-Luc was already on his fifth glass of whiskey — or was it his sixth? She couldn't tell.
"Nonsense, ma chèrie," he said idly. "I thought you loved Ingrid's crème caramel!"
"I do, but—"
"Pardon my interruption," Quentin said, standing in the doorway to the formal dining room, "but you have some visitors, Miss De Luca."
Thank God. "Oh?" She took a long sip of wine.
"May I present" — he moved aside, giving a grandiose gesture — "Mademoiselles Aelita Stones, and Sissi Delmas."
Giana stood so abruptly that her chair almost fell backwards, the linen napkin on her lap fluttering to the floor. She quickly attempted to compose herself, still holding the wine glass as Sissi and Aelita stood by — she couldn't see it, but Sissi was clearly having a field day with the formal introduction she'd just been given. Aelita, on the other hand, simply blushed and gave a shy smile, not quite sure what to make of it.
"Sissi, Aelita—" She had to choose her words carefully. "How's… the project? For history."
"Oh, um," Aelita fumbled. "We've run into a bit of a snag."
"Yeah," Sissi added, piggybacking off her momentum. "We really need your help with the research."
"A history project?" Pauline questioned, sounding genuinely interested. "On what? You know, we have a study in the east wing; it may have the material you're looking for."
"No, Mémé, that's fine," Giana said quickly. "This has to be done online. And, with my laptop at school—"
"We really need to go," Sissi implored. She eyed Ingrid as the woman quietly placed dessert on the table, giving a polite nod to the two girls as she passed them. "Although, we could probably stay for dessert…"
Giana slumped back down into her chair, going over her options: Clearly Sissi and Aelita had shown up to save her from her dysfunctional family dinner so they could join everyone else on the Replika mission. She had planned to feign illness or exhaustion — the latter would've been the best bet, as she hadn't really slept all week despite the Melatonin — with the intention of asking Quentin to take her back to school. However…
"Wait." She peered across the table at them. "How did you get here?"
"We took an Uber," Aelita explained, digging into the crème caramel.
"I don't have my unrestricted license yet," Sissi added, a hint of bitterness to her voice.
"Quentin will take you all back to the academy," Pauline said casually. "There's no need to rely on a shared car service."
After what seemed like an eternity, the girls finally returned to the school, heading for the factory as soon as Giana dropped Vega off in her room. She'd made sure to turn on the string lights that framed the polaroids on her wall so the dog wouldn't be in total darkness.
"Thanks," she said once more as they made their way up on to the bridge. "I have a feeling I'd still be there if you two hadn't rescued me."
"Your grandparents seem nice," Aelita said, trying to give the couple the benefit of the doubt.
"My grandfather's fine," the brunette confirmed. "My grandmother can be kind of a witch."
"Tell me about it," Sissi drawled as they entered the elevator. Aelita punched in the lab's access code. "You haven't met my mémé."
"Where the hell were you?!" Jeremie snapped as the elevator opened. "You've been gone for almost two hours!"
"Believe me," Giana started, trudging into the room, "I tried to get us to leave! I had Quentin on standby! But no." She stopped in her tracks, gesturing to the two girls. "They insisted on staying for dessert."
Odd just about keeled over out of jealousy.
The brunette folded her cane and started down the ladder to the scanners. "Come on."
"I'm connected on my end and am just about to start the virtualization process," Franz said, his voice filling the air as the group made their way downstairs. They huddled in the middle of the room in a circle, facing outward. "This'll take some time. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich will go first."
Ulrich stalled a moment, apprehensive about stepping into the scanner after the ordeal he'd been through the last time. Yumi leaned forward to whisper something in his ear that the rest of them couldn't hear. He nodded, unclenched his fists, and stepped into a scanner.
They all waited as the trio readied themselves, scanner doors closing as soon as they were situated. The process took a few minutes, as Franz was performing it remotely. Jeremie tried in vain to avoid biting his nails in anticipation.
"Next up," Franz continued, "are William, Sissi, and Giana."
Jeremie and Aelita watched as three more of their friends went through the virtualization process. Sissi almost looked bored, and Giana's demeanor was similar to Ulrich's, undoubtedly afraid of the devirtualization that would most certainly come. William said something to her in English that Jeremie barely understood, and then made his way to the only open scanner. He was really in the mood to fight some monsters.
"And, last but not least," Franz said, weary, "is Jeremie and Aelita."
The girl squeezed his hand. "Let's go," she said quietly, breaking away and heading to an open scanner.
Jeremie swallowed hard, fidgeting, adjusting his glasses for probably the thousandth time. Flashes of his last excursion to Lyoko replayed in his head as he was cruelly devirtualized by a Megatank, Odd and Ulrich (but especially Odd) also mocking him for his avatar's appearance.
It's not as if he wanted to look ridiculous in the virtual world. Everyone knew the subconscious took over when creating one's Lyoko form, weapons, and powers. It wasn't his fault he looked more like a cross between an elf and Peter Pan, and less like a warrior.
They landed in the arena in Sector Five.
"You have three minutes to find the key," Franz instructed, already bored. "Check the corridor on your right as you head through the core zone — it should be high up on the wall."
"Wait!" William stopped short at the head of the group, holding out his Zweihänder sword to block everyone. He'd spent his spare time digging through the code for the avatars, and was finally able to remove the giant XANA symbol from his chest the previous night. At least that was better than going back to his old form, which vaguely reminded him of Aelita's elf doll.
They watched with bated breath as gigantic blocks from the ceiling came crashing down into the hall in front of them, moving back up again without a moment's notice.
"Damn it!" Odd shouted. "I'm not getting flattened again!"
Ulrich and William exchanged a knowing glance.
"We'll go," the younger boy said. "With our powers, we're the only ones who can make it through this with a hope of survival."
"You said the temporary patch for the devirtualization bug is still working, right?" William asked, addressing Franz.
"Yes," the man confirmed. "I have a window open right now; the process is still going. In theory, if these fragments devirtualize you, you should emerge from a scanner in the usual state of exhaustion, but without the injuries of last time."
"Well, I don't want to take that risk," Ulrich announced. "We're running out of time, and we need every one of us here. Super Sprint!"
The group stood by, watching the duo weave through the blocks with their powers. Once they reached the other side, they turned to the right and headed down a narrow corridor, coming out into a larger room with the key just as Franz had said: Up high, on a wall, with multiple platforms to get to it.
"You go," William offered. "I'll stand guard in case we have any unwanted company."
Ulrich nodded, taking advantage of his super speed to jump up from one platform to the next, reaching and activating the key with seconds to spare. They heard the rest of the team cheer as they met up and journeyed to the hangar bay.
"What do you say, girls against boys?" Odd suggested. They stopped before the two transfer platforms.
"No," Franz said curtly. "You all have talents that, combined, could be beneficial for either team." He cleared his throat. "We'll do this—"
"Aelita will pilot one Skid," Jeremie interrupted, "and I'll pilot the other."
"You?" William shouted, exasperated. His sword turned to smoke as it disappeared. "You've only been here five minutes!"
"That may be true," he started, "but how hard can it be?"
"I'm sorry, Jeremie," the older boy said, making his way to the center of the left-hand platform, "but I'm piloting this sub. You can be my right-hand man, but you've never driven a Skid before."
Jeremie was getting angry. "And you have?" He brandished the dagger that had been sheathed at his side.
William's expression darkened. "I have fond memories of piloting the Rorkal through the Digital Sea when I was under XANA's control."
Giana arched an eyebrow. "Rorkal?"
"XANA's dark copy," Yumi clarified. "It was to counteract the Skid."
William looked back at Jeremie. "You can be my right-hand man," he offered again. "And that leaves… Sissi and Ulrich."
Giana took a step back, feigning hurt. "Hey!"
Aelita let out a laugh as she made her way to the center of the right-hand platform. "Don't worry, Giana, you can be my right-hand woman." She gestured for Odd and Yumi to follow.
"Can I start the transfer process now?" Franz demanded.
"Yes," Aelita answered. She let out a breath. "Do you know where you're sending us?"
The man cracked a smile. "You have your choice of Boston, or Manhattan. The supercomputers are once again located underground: Manhattan's is in the catacombs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
"Where's the one in Boston?" Giana inquired, familiarizing herself once more with the inside of her Navskid.
"It's right in your backyard, actually," he said, typing in the coordinates once the teams were out of Sector Five. "Harvard University, under their science center — more specifically, the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments wing."
"Great," she said dryly.
"Aelita," Franz continued, "I'm sending your team to the museum. William's will take Harvard."
"We don't get a choice?" William sputtered as they entered the network, heading toward their respective Replikas.
"It would be better if Aelita's team went to Boston," Jeremie argued. "Giana grew up in Cambridge — she'd know where she's going better than any of us!"
"And that's precisely the point," the man countered, sipping from a flask. "This makes it an equal playing field."
He didn't want to admit what a tedious solution this was — inserting a scrambler into the remaining Replikas to diminish what was left of XANA's power. However, it was their only option, and his team of scientists with him in Zürich were proving to be useless.
Still, it gave him something to do: Instead of bossing around people his age, he could micromanage the kids.
He noticed some monsters on one of the oversized screens that were monitoring their progress. "Hang on, kids." He leaned back in his plush chair. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."