AN: This is the last chapter for the month of December that I will post. I thank you all very much for your continued support, as it means so very much to me. Please as always, read, review, and enjoy.

Pagliacci-11

Chapter 18

As lunchtime approached, Aelita was thinking more on what the voice of her dreams and now softly speaking in her head had told her and shown her in terms of how to better many of the problems Aelita had come to see as the problems of the world. Aelita greatly loved the aspects of what she had been shown in her dream, the discussion she had with the voice and it was if anything, soothing to hear that there was a voice that not only could reciprocate her thoughts but also intelligently debate with her.

Throughout the course of her dream, she had asked the voice many questions of just how the voice's vision for a new order was to come about while not running into the same pitfalls as many others had in trying to establish true order, unity, and peace to a land. The voice was calm, and the voice was patient as it explained that much of the elements that it had in mind for the world were all based on the simple premise of choice for the people that would be impacted. In a unique way, the voice prioritized need over wants of the people as it realized often what people wanted wasn't all the time what they needed, and the opposite was true in that what they needed they did not often want. However, it wasn't so much that people didn't want it as opposed; they didn't want the birthing pains, so to speak that went along with progress and betterment of society and indeed themselves.

Aelita asked further what the voice meant and it explained, "Simply put, you have countless regimes that rise and fall, the new regime in time becomes corrupt as it tasted the sweet nectar of power that the former regime had in , own holding of the reigns so to speak. The new order that rises as much as it needed the people to be its army, the reality was that those who sought the utmost position for themselves wished to have no voice that could contradict them. The people were but a means to an end, that is all."

Aelita then asked, "What keeps you from becoming as much a tyrant as those who came before?"

The voice replied, "I have a team, much as you do to help ground me. No man or woman can guide groups of people all by themselves. They need hands with which to reach, the second set of eyes with which to see and perhaps catch what the first set of eyes cannot. To guide others and, in time, govern others through sheer will alone is an impossible thing. You had Josef Stalin who aspired to run his nation to the nth degree, but he trusted no one because he desired to trust no one. In the end, how does he die? Choking on his own blood."

"So, your team maintains you?" Aelita asked.

"Correct. They all have the ability to stop me entirely if they so choose, and I have the ability to do the same to them but it is a system of good-faith and deliverance on promises that makes us strong, teaching all of us, even more, the strength of the internal team and co-reliance. These things are known to you because it is what powered you through to defeat XANA"

"And you," Aelita said, "You are the essence in the supercomputer? You are the new force living within it?"

"Correct. I do not wish to destroy you or your team. Merely to extend to you the ability to change the world for the better to influence it in key events and make use of your phenomenal work together to better our shared future."

"Why do you wish to help us?" Aelita asked.

"Because time and time again, we have seen countless individuals never mind groups that were overlooked; their potential completely unrecognized by those who should have paid attention. And those who didn't pay attention were consumed by the very element the overlooked saw coming miles away. It is to give you a chance to be ahead of the curve."

As Aelita reflected on her dream, she was wondering just how to proceed with the aspect of Anthea coming to discuss the second project with the scientific team that her father had worked alongside. As much as she wanted to trust the voice in the supercomputer, she knew inherently the dangers of trusting something a face-value alone.

At that moment, the tone for lunch rang and Aelita once having her tray headed out to the courtyard. Her mother was already sitting at the main table and so Aelita went over to her and sat across from her.

Anthea looked at her watch and said, "Good, you're prompt." She gave a sandwich to Aelita wrapped in foil.

Aelita took the sandwich and unwrapped it. It was her favorite smoked turkey with gouda and tomato.

"Thank you." She said as she began to eat.

Anthea brought up her briefcase and said, "So, where do you wish to start?" as she snapped open the latches.

Aelita looked at her mother, "Alright, straight to business then. What is this program that's shown up?"

Anthea took out a medium-sized spiral laminated book and she said, "Read this. It's about a project called North-Gate Initiative. It's a program that was designed alongside XANA and Lyoko to counter both as well as affect the world on a variety of scales. Whatever you do, don't let anyone put this initiative into digital format. It's been flagged so if it's launched into a digital format; the government will come down on this place like you wouldn't believe."

Aelita looked at the book, and as she read, the layout was very simple and so she closed it, "Okay, this hard-copy only. Got it. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Read the book I gave you first and take some time to digest it. There is a lot inside that needs to be taken piece by piece. Besides, we have a plan in place to stop this aspect of surveillance on the school so you can have back what is properly yours, to begin with."

As Aelita heard these words, she pondered deep within her so many questions. If this system was genuinely trying to help to shape the world into a better place, why was the operator of it testing her and her friends by enacting security, allowing them to break it, and enact steeper security again? It was clear it was for a course of action, but what was its main goal? What was this program trying to prove?

Not knowing quite how to ask Aelita just spoke bluntly, "Look, I don't have a shred of inkling or clue how any of this stuff works. But what I want to know is, did this system this whole thing, did it develop self-awareness as XANA did?"

Anthea shook her head, "No. it was shut down before it could get to that phase as we saw the damage that XANA posed when given self-awareness. Our greatest fear was that one program would engulf the other and use the newly acquired resources to finish its own objective. You see, XANA was designed to eliminate the enemies that rose out of Project Carthage. However, the program seeing how readily we eliminated each other separated itself from us and became its own free agent. Where XANA was a program that desired conquest, North-Gate was designed to reestablish many elements of society in the wake of a form of cataclysmic disaster. Where XANA was our sword, North-Gate was the design by which it would function as a heart and mind to guide people back from the brink of decimation."

"I see," Aelita said, "So one is the arm, the other is the heart and mind to form a being capable of guiding and equally protecting the world, but XANA more or less says, 'Fuck you guys I'll conquer you on my own.'" Aelita said.

"Exactly. See, XANA learned from its mistakes. But it wasn't brilliant—it was an adaptive program. As you and your family saw, it started out small striking first at the basic human level of personal connection as what happened when it commandeered the radio waves through music to take as many of you out as possible. It learned possession of individual people and through possession, eventually gained what I could call a surface-level human façade."

"I noticed that. His doppelgangers and clones became more sophisticated. He was able to blend in if you will all the better."

"Exactly, Aelita. The program was a chameleon of sorts. Yet, like a machine, while the program was able to emulate aspects of personalities, it took practice to do so more convincingly. From his storage through interaction with you, your team, your school, he derived his own form of personality almost as if having an avatar here on earth with which to do his will."

"You've watched us long enough, Mother. Did you know about William?"

"Mr. Dunbar, we only came to know after one of our sources reported on his sudden reappearance at Kadic. We came to know of his full-scale involvement and indeed near-permanent possession by XANA A more curious question would be, how did XANA adapt using William?"

"He turned him into a near-pristine soldier. An avatar on Lyoko as you just said. Much like having a general at your behest who executes your will. He was a fearsome opponent in this form."

"It makes sense. XANA was cultured from the military, and it was from the military; it achieved its sentience. So, it makes sense that the program was so violent and so willing to fight."

"But it wasn't a perfect program, Mother. XANA showed several times his own degree of error. He adapted time and time again in which we would have to adapt. Whatever you guys made and the effort you put into him, it showed. It was remarkable in the countless forms of attempts it used to destroy us. But what of North-Gate? What was its main design, and who designed it?"

Anthea took out a small notebook and gave it to Aelita, "There you are. It contains all notes detailing who the designers were and its purpose. But I will give a synopsis here if you like."

Aelita nodded, "Please."

"North-Gate was designed to guide humanity in the wake of a major catastrophe. As I said before and as you deduced, XANA was the arm and North-Gate was the heart and mind. Lyoko was the staging ground if you will for North-Gate to enact and test its initiatives. While it was active during the time you were combating XANA, you will notice much of the atmospheres of the sectors were active both in temperatures and topography."

"So, the sectors were the test facilities to see what exactly?"

"They were designed to see how various irrigation, agricultural, environmental, as well as sustenance of life, in general, could be handled by the project in a semi-autonomous state to see if it could adequately care for people under its directives. We saw the good the XANA could do and from that, we wanted to test to see if the heart and mind of a protection protocol would act in the societal safeguarding of people. Thus, the program would be tested to see if it would materialize clothing, transit across the sectors, reallocation of sector forces into raw energy output, the transit of groups of people en-mass as well as natural safeguards to sectors of productivity."

"Oh, I see now," Aelita said, "So, North-Gate was the benevolent and well-meaning caretaker. But as you said, when things got a bit hairy, likely as a result of Carthage, and XANA showed its sentience, North Gate was shut down?"

"Yes. We couldn't take the risk of one project being consumed by the other. We knew North-Gate had more than enough teeth and computing logic to outdo XANA but the possible future of the program nullifying XANA and using its military applications in its own way; we didn't want to risk. That's why your father put you into Lyoko with half the keys to Lyoko. The towers were not just focusing points of energy and computation. They also served as North-Gate's if you will eye in the sky; it was the overseeing platform originally for each sector before XANA corrupted them and repurposed them for clones and the like."

"And so, is that why we couldn't find North-Gate or any semblance of it? Was it because it was shut down and probably not integrated?"

"Very likely, yes. I'm sure if you dug deep enough, you could find some bones from it but nothing substantial. Besides, with your supercomputer gone, I don't know how we'd sort this stuff out now."

Aelita wanted to correct her mother, but instead, she asked, "How did you know the supercomputer was gone?"

Anthea sighed, "Because I didn't like how our last meeting turned out. And besides, I saw it as a two-for-one. If I could undo the recent few days and have time to meet you in an essence that was more proper, a lot of this would not be."

"So, you do care?" Aelita asked, "You do care about me?"

"Of course, I do. I just wanted a second chance as well as a chance to undo a few things that were detrimental to a lot of people."

Aelita was touched. She knew her mother couldn't be as cold as she'd thought; however, another question popped into her mind, "Then why did you treat me so callously and why did you say there were minds beyond me and Jeremy now at play?"

"The first, because I know you're about twenty-four years old, and despite how you look, you have a very advanced understanding of the world due to your time in the supercomputer. I expected your maturity to match. I didn't anticipate you had very little memory of what happened leading up to your virtualization into the program. Second, is because for all the time the returns to the past were used even up the very last application, there was an energy reading that was surrounding not just France, not just Europe but it appeared more and more like a bit of fine solar-dust along the major fault lines. This dust seemed to outline all the plates on the globe and then on the day, the exact day X. A.N.A. was destroyed and the last recorded return to the past officiated, the dust lit up and then dispersed."

"Could it not have been XANA?" Aelita asked.

"No. this dust started to form about a year ago and steadily grew. As I correlated the return to the pasts with the dust, the progress of the dust grew and contracted by turns then finally with the last one, it retracted the dust one final time."

Anthea gave Aelita a DVD, "Use an independent television with DVD hookup and watch this. You'll see what I mean."

Aelita took the DVD and said, "Mother, why wait after all this time?"

Anthea was silent a moment and replied, "Because I knew it would take a lot of explaining and in a situation such as ours, it's not the easiest to explain, to begin with."

Aelita nodded, "Fair enough."

Aelita put the books and DVDs on her side of the table and she continued to have lunch with Anthea. Did she trust her? Not entirely but deep in her heart, she genuinely wanted to. Aelita was torn between wanting to forgive and also knowing the nature of what her mother had anticipated. Was it achievable? Not exactly. But Aelita knew she at least wanted to try and mend the dyke. Her mother had proven useful thus far. But could she prove trustworthy and above all needed in the end? It was too early to tell. So, for now, Aelita sat with Anthea and had her sandwich while the rest of the Lyoko group watched from afar.

"What do you think, guys?" Odd asked.

"I think we have a lot of research to read up on," Ulrich replied. "Ah, well, there are worse things to do on the weekend."

Jeremy nodded, "I just hope this whole thing works out in the end. What did you think of what Aelita said before? Allying with the voice in the supercomputer?"

Odd replied, "I think it's something she's genuinely considering. Or she's just expressing some things that she's always felt. Either way, her views are not invalid—just different."

"Different how?" Ulrich asked, "As far as I can see, Aelita just wants as the rest of us, a way back to what we had. I can't blame her. Can either of you?"

Jeremy and Odd shook their heads. "At any rate, we will have something new to occupy our time," Jeremy said. "But don't worry. I'll talk to her more this evening."

Soon the tone for lunch dismissal sounded, and Anthea packed her briefcase and Aelita gave her a small hug before she left. As she approached the rest of the team, Aelita said, "We have all we need. We'll start reading tonight. Come on, let's go enjoy our weekend, what we can of it."

Later that evening, Johnathan, Yolanda, Maria, and Hendricka were gathered at Emilio's new spot. The place had been marvelously cleaned up since Ernestine's mismanagement had been taken care of, and now it was a clean, classy, and elegant nightclub for the people of Paris. John was sitting with Maria listening to the singer while having a scotch. Hendricka and Yolanda were relaxing listening to the beautiful piano skills of the accompaniment and now the place was rich and flowing in money. Emilio was in a lavish backroom overseeing all avenues of the nightclub from the bars to the backdoor gambling parlors. It was a wonderful place for sport and relaxation.

John took a drink before saying to Maria, "This is great, Marie. Just like I always told you it would be. Good rolling scotch on tab, patrons as far as the eyes can see, prime cigars, and the best food this side of the city."

Maria rested with her head on his chest, "It is wonderful, Terry. Just a great place to relax and not worry about the missions for a bit, you know?"

John looked around, and he tapped into his implant, "Hey Emilio, how's the take looking?"

"Great, Terry. We have 600,000 in one night for an average for the week. It's great. Tell Kaori to keep that hooch coming."

"Great to hear, Emilio. How are those implants working for you?"

"Oh, much better than we had last time. Great stuff. I can shuffle cards with the best of them, and I have full functionality. Amy's made great progress so far."

"And more of that to come big-boy. You just enjoy yourself and remember to hand off the drops to the boys every four hours." John said.

John relaxed in his seat. He was the epitome of comfortable all the hard and long that he and the rest of the team had put into major elements like this really made the long nights worth it. The music had calmed down now to a mellow, smooth jazz feel, and those inside had begun to dance accordingly.

Maria asked, "How much are we pulling in on this shit, Terry?"

"Close to 75 grand an hour not counting the pots on the major gambling rooms. Besides, this is one evening hall of the hundreds we have in Europe, and that's not even touching the US."

"Whose idea was it to go for gasoline?" Maria asked.

"Oh, that was mine. We have our plants at major places and commercial junctions of many freeways in Europe and the US. Do you think this is big? You haven't even seen what gasoline gets us especially when capitalizing on the truckers of America."

Maria laughed, "Yeah. You always were one for maximum profit over expense. It's a lot easier with those markups, huh?"

"Like hell it is, you know that. Especially when buying fountain drinks, little toys for kids, all kinds of stuff."

As John and the rest of the group were relaxing, John got a message from Amy on the Implant, "Anthea saw Aelita today. They exchanged information on North-Gate, and from what our surveillance can confirm, she has a plan to disassemble the fortress."

John patched in, "What's the plan?"

"To discredit you and bring down Amber and Reese and subsequently the system in play."

Maria patched in, "How is this going to go down?"

Amy replied, "I'm conducting a search of the mainframe to see what the plan could possibly be. However, John, you spoke to me about a plan you would implement should it get to this. Are you ready to act on it?"

"Are the reinforcement ready as soon as it goes into effect?" John asked.

"Ten units and of course your chosen," Amy replied, "It's not a major loss if we lose the security ordinance around Kadic. However, where do you want this to go down?"

"I know Anthea's waiting for me." John said, "She's like a bulldog; she doesn't let go. So, what we'll do is we'll hand me over to her and then we'll initiate what I had set up. We have the tracking implant active, so we'll take care of it while Anthea guts Amber and Reese. Is everything set up forOperation PIN.?"

Amy replied, "Affirmative. We have all units on standby for expedited extraction, but do you want to send a message or not?"

"I'll let you know." John replied, "I'll either say Icarus flew too close to the sun for non-lethal or Mary's Little Lamb for Lethal."

"Understood. We have any and all units standing by just in case." Amy replied.

"Let me ask this, though, Amy," Yolanda said, "Is everything we needed to accomplish with the fortress concluded to the best of its ability?"

"Ideally, we could have had pulled off what we needed to a bit longer. But what I needed to observe has been suitably documented as far as what we needed to know. Often in such cases, Yolanda, you win some, you lose some. This is but a setback that will be remedied with as much grace as possible."

"Alright," John said, "Let's be done with this. Tomorrow I will go into Kadic and stay until Anthea feels she has her wolves lined up to pounce. Once they take me in, all of us are to go to Veil Protocol. All comms on me will be shut down, say for my physiological readings. Also, for this to be safer for the rest of us, I wish to activate Initiative C101."

Maria put her hand on his arm, "Are you sure?" she asked.

John nodded.

Amy then spoke, "For C101 to enacted, I need vocal confirmation. What is the password?"

John took a breath and said, "Cassius Dio."

"Authorization Confirmed."

John then said, "We'll head over at eight in the morning, and we'll continue our function at Kadic until I am taken. Yolanda, you must continue as if nothing has happened but as they take me, look at the plates of the vehicle in which they take me. Don't worry, we're ready for this, all of us. So, let's enjoy the rest of our night tonight."

The group nodded and ordered another round, and as everyone raised a glass in a toast, John was silent as he knew what was coming. He was ready for it mentally. But he knew that until faced with it, he wouldn't know what to anticipate.

"Incredible!" Jeremy said as he read over the notebook that Anthea had given Aelita, "It's absolutely incredible. So the whole Lyoko and XANA element are not singular opposing forces but what was supposed to work in tandem with a larger project that was never quite integrated into the system overall."

Aelita nodded, "So it would seem. I mean, had this North-Gate been implemented, it would have changed the entire outlier of XANA'S protocol. Instead of rebelling and trying to kill my father and myself, hypothetically, North-Gate could have helped my father succeed in reasoning with XANA"

Odd nodded, "That's amazing, and so what is the whole thing for then?"

Ulrich replied, "From what we've been going over, it seems that it was meant to bring humanity back from the brink. XANA was like your gruff military officer to instill order, North-Gate was meant to be the nurturer and teacher to XANA kinda' like balancing him out."

"So, wait a minute. You're telling me that XANA wasn't exactly the bad guy?" Odd asked in a state of near shock.

"No, Odd," Jeremy replied, "XANA was but a tool. A tool is not good or evil, but it depends on the user how it is seen. XANA gained self-awareness and seeing what we as people did to each other, figured to eradicate us using our own technology. It wasn't so much the fact XANA was evil; rather, it was the knowledge he attained and his solution to remedy the problem that made him evil."

Odd nodded, "It's kinda' like my dad says, 'Knowledge without wisdom is violently dangerous.'"

"Exactly." Aelita said, "From all the data we have here, it appears that North-Gate was that wisdom that XANA was missing."

"Worst case scenario, though, what did your mom say would happen if North-Gate would overcome XANA or vice-versa?"

"She didn't say specifically. But she did say those that the very real possibility of North-Gate overcoming XANA and repurposing his military tools was something they didn't want to dare test out." Aelita replied.

As Jeremy flipped through the book detailing North-Gate, he said, "There is something I want to know though. Aelita, what genuinely made you want to side with the entity in the supercomputer?"

Aelita looked at him as he turned around while Odd and Ulrich looked at her.

"Because—because the supercomputer can talk to me, alright, Jeremy?" Aelita replied.

"Ha-ha!" Odd said, jumping to his feet, "What'd I tell you, Einstein! The supercomputer can speak to us; it can send us messages."

Jeremy sighed and then said, "Seriously, Odd, this again?"

"Yes, this again." Odd said, "Ulrich and I had a dream the supercomputer was going to be taken by some ghoulish creatures, and what happened? A couple of days later, boom, the supercomputer is gutted and gone. Aelita when you were talking to the supercomputer or rather the voice inside it, were you dreaming?"

"Y-Yes." Aelita replied, "I had used my bracelet to start listening to the playlist that I had stored because I had trouble sleeping. The dream or rather the conversation I had with the voice happened during what I can only assume was sleep."

"What did it tell you?" Odd asked.

Aelita told them the conversations she had with the voice from the supercomputer, and after a moment, Jeremy said, "I see. So realistically based on what you've told me, North-Gate does have a form of sentience and if it is genuinely North-Gate, it's trying to use us to further its own initiative."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Odd said, "When Aelita has a dream about talking to a supercomputer, it's fine and dandy but when Ulrich and I have a dream, you're skeptical. Jeremy, I think there's something you need to say to us."

"What do I need to say?" Jeremy asked.

"You know very well what you need to say." Odd said with a smile, "Come on, let's hear it."

Jeremy sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Odd, Ulrich, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dismissed your notions of the supercomputer talking to you telling you about nightmarish crypt keepers—"

"Ghouls!" Odd interrupted."

"Ghouls," Jeremy rephrased his sentence, "And making you think you were crazy, and your stances had no validity."

"Apology accepted, Jeremy old buddy. Now, what do we do about Aelita's voice from within the machine?"

"Honestly, we'd have to ask it a few questions. " Jeremy replied, "Firstly if it is North-Gate and secondly, we'd have to figure out just what it wants but to do that, we have to talk to it directly. Aelita, you said it came to you as you were dreaming and using your bracelet?"

"Yes, do you think North-Gate has something to do with it?"

"I wouldn't put it beyond a computer-system that has sentience. Remember, XANA had all kinds of nasty tricks to focus his will into more direct means."

"That's true." Aelita said, "And so what you're saying is that North-Gate is likely behind this whole lockdown of the school?"

"I wouldn't put it past it." Jeremy replied, "True, Aelita it may be benevolent. But what better way to get you to agree with its programming than to lock you into a place where you'd have no choice but to hear it?"

Odd said, "What I think we should do is force the program to talk to someone it's not familiar with."

The group looked at Odd, and Ulrich said, "Go on."

"Well, what if we had someone like Jeremy wear his bracelet and the rest of us took off our own bracelets to see if the machine contacts him tonight? That way, we can bounce the system's responses to Jeremy off Aelita's dream and see where the truth is in what it says and where the lies are."

"That has to be the dumbest idea—" Ulrich began.

"Actually, I think it's the only feasible plan we have if the system is truly tightened," Jeremy replied.

"My mother said that there is a plan in motion to get the security system out of the school's infrastructure. If we can wait until then—"

"Yes, but here's the issue." Jeremy said, "If this system is as I think it is based on your testimony Aelita, then I think the only sensible thing is to do this test tonight. If we don't show that we in some way trust it, it may go berserk on us. Remember how XANA turned the cafeteria into a human-oriented bug-zapper? Imagine with this North-Gate could do to us if we somehow showed we didn't trust it? Until we can be sure of a genuine aspect of trust, I think it best we try and establish contact in some form with the program."

Odd and Ulrich nodded.

"Aelita," Odd said, "Didn't you say the system had a team that worked with it? One that balanced it out and the system, in turn, balanced the team out?"

"If you can, call it that, yes. It's a system of mutually assured destruction but also favors done for each other to ensure loyalty to a degree."

Ulrich nodded, "A contingency plan that goes both ways. So the program from what you say has a form of self-destruct mechanism."

There was a silence for a time then Jeremy said, "I think the best way is to test it. And as Odd said, sort truth from deception. Aelita, what was the music you listened to as you slept? I think if we can recreate the stimuli, we can get a response."

"Handel's Scherza, Infidia by Phillipe Jaroussky," Aelita said.

"Nice song," Odd replied.

"Thank you. It helps me sleep."

"Alright. Then it's settled." Jeremy said, "Tonight I'll put on the music from my bracelet and we'll see what happens."

"Okay," Odd said, "Well, now that we have all that settled, how about we go down to the Cafeteria for dinner?"

Later that evening, after a very hearty dinner, the Lyoko team put their plan into effect. Jeremy had calibrated his bracelet to play Aelita's chosen selection of music and when it came time, Jeremy turned out his light, put his earbuds in his ears, and let the gentle singing put him to sleep. He felt nothing at first and then as he drifted off, he felt a strange tug-of-war as if his conscious mind and his desire to sleep were at war with each other. He wanted to be lucid enough to talk with this program if it indeed was the artificial intelligence of the North-Gate Program.

Soon Jeremy's fight between sleep and consciousness subsided. As he dreamed, he saw he was in a moonlit meadow. It was springtime, the feeling of the season was all around him. It had just freshly rained, maybe an hour or so before he arrived, and the soothing heated but still cool air caressed his face. Jeremy lay back on a daisy covered hill slightly damp still from the rain as he watched the full-moon between two mountain peaks, so silvery and yet so beautifully clean.

"Nice, isn't it?" a voice said from beside him.

Jeremy turned, and his eyes saw a beautiful young girl about his age. Her hair was silvery blonde done in a beautiful Dutch braid, her skin white as milk and her eyes, a deep piercing green.

"Yes, it's beautiful." Jeremy replied, "Is this a portion of the utopia you promised to Aelita?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could.

The girl chuckled, "A small portion, but yes. It was very intuitive of you to seek me out in this manner. It's more than half of what makes your team so unique to me."

"Unique in a good way or a bad way?" Jeremy asked.

"Unique in a sense, it is one of the most charming things about you. No matter what I try to do, you have in your group the brains, the metal, the resolve, to try and find a solution for every problem I put forward. It's a highly admirable trait, Jeremy." The girl said as she leaned back on the hillside looking up at the countless stars.

Jeremy lay back in the grass with her, "Why do you do as you do? Why do you test us as you do?"

"Care to clarify?" the girl asked.

"The way you allow us a leash, and we test it, you shorten it closer and closer to your hand. Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I tested you because it demonstrated to me your group's resolve and your resourcefulness. It was amazing to see how your team used diplomacy, stealth, cunning, and your combined knowledge to get what you want. It demonstrates, above all, resilience."

"And so, if I understand you correctly, you enhance the barriers and beef them up once again to see how we overcome? And then what?"

"Well, I would choose to think of it like this. So long have you all been on a covert, clandestine mission to stop my brother that you have come to know to sneak, and in general, skullduggery the only methods by which to achieve your ends."

"Can you blame us?" Jeremy said with a chuckle, "We're high-school kids in a world patrolled and controlled by adults. Who's going to take us seriously when we say 'Oh, excuse me, a rogue virus is determined to destroy the world, give me half an hour to fix it.'"

The girl smiled, "Odd's rubbing off on you more and more. Before, you didn't have a sense of humor to save yourself."

Jeremy smiled back, "I like to think I grow and mature with my team. But you still didn't answer my question—why do you test us ask you do?"

The girl looked at him, her eyes seemingly piece through his own eyes into his brain, "Could it not be so simple as to consider that there's still one thing you haven't tried?"

He looked at the girl before him and said after a moment, "May my friends and I, please be allowed to leave the school?"

The girl shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"That simple?" Jeremy asked.

"Sometimes, life is just that simple, and yet at the same time so simple that we convince ourselves, it cannot be the truth." The girl replied.

Jeremy nodded, "Perhaps you can enlighten me on something else?"

"Name it."

"What did you mean by what you told Aelita about people and their needs versus their wants?"

The girl got up and said, "Are you familiar with birthing pains, Jeremy."

"I am. The way Aelita said you explained it is that people don't want the birthing pains, only the progress that comes from it. And you're not wrong. I look at the progress of certain things like technology, medicine even and find that countless would rather die than go back to the fundamental stages of something they have come to love."

"This is true. However, let us look at what constitutes birthing pains in terms of what I speak. Countless people were tested, prodded, poked, and even tortured in some cases to get the desired effects we as a people so vastly cherish. None wish to be part of the birthing pain process, it's human nature. However, for any good to come from anything, the birth pains and hunger pangs must be felt somewhere to determine how best to improve, is that not so?"

"Of course."

"Good, so what needs to be understood first and foremost is that many people knowing as you do that they would not suffer these pains and pangs, how are you to determine how best your policies impact a people at large if the data must come from somewhere?"

"One could easily reference history," Jeremy replied as he got up to be of equal footing to the girl, "History while admittedly slanted in some elements usually to benefit a regime, it is a handy tool to chart the overall causes and effects of something of what you're describing."

"Ah, of course. Learning from history, so one is not doomed to repeat it. Okay, and what would you do with those who know history, think they know more than you, and thusly march to their own tune?"

Jeremy was stuck for a moment, "Honestly, just respect their view so long as it's not chaotically disruptive. If it is, deal with them suitably with lethal results being the very last form of action."

The girl smiled and nodded, "Very good." She checked her watch an elegant silver and rose quartz affair, "Unfortunately, we're out of time. I'll see you later. You will have your freedom as you requested it."

The girl snapped her fingers, and in a blind flash all around them, Jeremy woke up panting and he took out his earbuds. The only word that could come to his mind was, Wow. He caught his breath and he refocused back into his own reality. It was quiet in the wee hours of the morning. Jeremy listened intently, not a sound except the very dull rhythmic thumping sound of someone fucking in one of the nearby rooms. Jeremy checked his calendar to see it was Sunday.

"Of course," he thought, "Odd's usual morning Sunday celebration. Wonder who it is this time?"

John was with Yolanda as they pulled up to Kadic's main parking lot. It was a very nice morning, cool and crisp while John was drinking a Cappuccino. He was contemplating all that had to happen. He knew it wouldn't be easy. As a matter of fact, he'd been through this multiple times across multiple fields and never had it ever been easy.

"Are you ready?" Yolanda asked him as she observed he was slightly nervous.

"The answer to your question is best said like this; I'm never ready for this stuff when it comes down to it. But what needs to be done needs to be done." John took another drink of his cappuccino the hot sweet foam soothing him as if it were a bracing action of the swimmer before the rapid descent into the pool upon which he would be judged.

"Come on," John said, "let's get this over with."

They got out, and John checked in as did Yolanda and both went to their stations. As John headed towards the science lab, he came across Jim who was in the middle of a conversation with Suzanne. Not wanting to prolong this any longer than necessary, John took a side route through to the lab and soon entered seeing Hendricka prepare a lab for a demonstration to one of the classes. She looked at him and signed, "It's all set, isn't it?" John gave a thumbs up and he headed back to his office near Hendricka's.

John patched into his implant, "Amy, it's a go. I repeat it's a go."

There was silence a moment, and Amy replied, "Your apprehension squad will be there in fifteen minutes. Everything is on standby awaiting your signal."

John sighed as he took a deep drink of his cappuccino, finishing it off. It was only a matter of minutes now. Savoring what he could of his last moments of freedom, he reclined in his chair and closed his eyes. Soon the alarm began to sound and the light in his office began to flash. Jean-Pierre was heard to yell and try and stop the incoming force, but John knew it was to no avail. The door of his office was kicked in and John saw him, Agent Horace Finch. The task force accompanying Finch grabbed John and slammed him onto his desk.

"Johnathan Reed Barrow," Finch said, "you are under arrest for espionage against the nation of France."

As they escorted John out, Finch stopped him, "I told Anthea one day we would find you."

John smiled through bloodied teeth and said, "Well, Mary, you found your little lamb. Tell me, is my fleece as white as you remember it being?"

Finch struck John in the gut with a powerful blow, knocking the wind out of him. The students were shocked as were much of the faculty as John was escorted off Kadic premises.

Jean-Pierre yelled over the clamor, "I really must protest! What has John done wrong?!"

Finch looked at Delmas, "Your school has been harboring a treasonous fugitive of the state. I request you compose yourself before we come in to sweep this place top to bottom."

Finch turned and headed out as John was put into a patrol car. As John looked at the front left seat, he saw Akiko Ishiyama.

"Tch," John said, "It figures she would send you. "

"Of course, she will be with us shortly, John, or whatever you'd like to call yourself."

"You fool, Ishiyama. You'll never be so lucky as to get out alive a second time."

"Ha, I'd save your breath for my questioning."

"I'm not telling you anything," John replied.

Akiko looked back at him, "We'll see." The driver came and sat down soon afterward, and the cars went through Kadic's parking lot entrance the cars in time vanishing in the distance.