Chapter 26
When Tennent got back to the dorm, he excitedly told his friends what had happened.
"You probably just got lucky," I told him. "It's a good thing that you didn't mess up my brand new scooter!"
"Part of it could be that fighting on Lyoko has made our reflexes better," Brittany proposed.
"It could be," I said. "But I think it's irrelevant."
In any event, we continued with our day, of which there was not much left.
That night, the rain intensified to a downpour. We got our umbrellas to avoid being soaked every time we went outside.
In history class, my laptop beeped at me. Looking to make sure that Mr. Davis wasn't watching, I opened it up. There was an activated Tower!
My friends were sitting near or around me, so no further communication was necessary. They had all seen the screen.
I raised my hand. Mr. Davis nodded at me, signaling his acknowledgement. "Sir, I don't feel so well, can I go to the Infirmary?" I asked.
Sean stood up as well. "I don't feel so good either, sir," he said.
"And I need to go to the bathroom," Tennent said.
"Oh, alright, go... but be quick!" was the consent.
"Brittany and Alyssa stood up to go with us. "We'd better go with them, to make sure they don't waste time!" Alyssa told the teacher.
Before he could say anything we left. Hopefully we wouldn't have to explain ourselves later.
Abandoning umbrellas, we sprinted off. They would slow us down too much.
"I'm pretty sure that ANAX is trying to drain a Tower of its energy," said as we ran.
"What makes you say that?" Alyssa asked.
"Because," I answered. "I must have taken a lot of energy to make that simulation bubble. Since I'm sure there's much more that he wants to do, so he's going to need more power."
Satisfied, by friends ran on in silence. I was now glad that I had taken the time to put my scooter in the sewers, for I was able to keep up this time.
We reached the Lab in less than half the usual time.
I rushed over to the computer, and checked the coordinates. "The activated Tower is in the Mountain Sector, I'm sending you in," I told them.
Without hesitation, they continued down into the Scanners room. Falling into my normal pattern, I virtualized them.
The Lyoko Warriors fell downward, pulled by Lyoko's artificial gravity. Landing with a thud, they rose.
"Oh look, we're right here!" Tennent said, gesturing to the Tower 20 feet in front of them.
"It's weird," Sean said. "No monsters in sight, and we're right up at the Tower."
"I'm not getting any readings on my screen either," Sammy said. "Whenever there are no monsters guarding a Tower, we know to expect trouble."
Cautiously, the Warriors approached the Tower. When they were 10 feet away, a massive red firewall sprang up, blocking them from the Tower. ANAX timed it just right, so that the firewall actually enveloped Tennent, devirtualizing him.
The rest of the Lyoko Warriors jumped backwards in surprise.
"Sammy, we just lost Tennent!" Brittany exclaimed.
"I see it," he told her.
Sean looked at the wall of digital flame. It was constantly moving, and you could see the data bits that made it up. Obviously it was quite deadly.
Carefully, Sean threw a knife at the wall, and it degenerated.
"That's not good!" He said.
Back at the Factory, I was thinking hard. Tennent came up through the elevator.
"What happened?" He asked.
"It looks like ANAX activated a firewall right on top of you. It took away all your life points instantly, and now our friends can't get through to deactivate the Tower!" I answered.
"Do you know how to fix it?" He asked.
"I wish," I said.
By this point, Tennent had learned to keep quite when I was thinking hard.
"Do you have an idea, Einstein?" Sean asked.
"Maybe," I told him. "I need to do a little experimenting, and I need Alyssa's help."
"What do you need me to do?" She asked.
"I need you to fire Energy Fields at the wall. Go around and throw them at as many places as you can," I instructed.
"What do think this will do? Shatter the wall?" She asked.
"From your end, I don't think you'll see anything," I told them. "But from my end, I can watch the energy level of the firewall and find out a little more about it. It could be enough for me to find a way to destroy it."
She took my word for it.
Launching an analysis program, I watched for any weakness in the firewall. When Alyssa had finished, I hadn't seen much. I had only been able to gather how the wall reacted to high amounts of energy.
"Did it help any?" She asked.
"Um... That remains to be seen. I'm gonna try something," I said typing away.
The minutes ticked by. Tennent began pacing around the Lab. After several more minutes, Sean said, "I don't think I have to remind you that every second we wait here means more power for ANAX, Sammy."
"Yeah, I know... I'm working, I'm working."
I finished my program. It was supposed to channel a certain amount of digital energy into a precise point on the wall. I had to bypass the primary access though, and it would be the programs job to get past the secondary defense system.
I hit the enter key. "Go!" I said.
Nothing happened.
"Is something supposed to happen?" Brittany asked.
"Um... The firewall was supposed to dissipate, but it looks like something went wrong," I said.
"No, really?" Sean asked.
"There must not be enough power!" I exclaimed in realization. "But I can't use less, or it will never get past the firewall, and I can't use anymore, because I don't have access to any more energy!"
10 more minutes dragged by. There was nothing that I could do.
On Lyoko, Alyssa was bored. It had been almost 20 minutes of no activity.
Brittany came over, and they began to talk about school. Before they had talked too long, the firewall began to waver!
Sean, Brittany, and Alyssa ran over to watch. It quickly faded away, and no trace of it was left.
"Great job, Sammy!" Alyssa said.
"I didn't do that..." Sammy said.
"Huh?" Alyssa asked.
Before I could answer, Brittany exclaimed, "Look!" She pointed at the Tower.
The dark blue color of ANAX had disappeared, to be replaced with a black aura. The sight make Alyssa's stomach churn.
"We're too late!" Alyssa cried.
She was right. ANAX had won this round.