AN: Well, I had a bit more time than I anticipated over these few days, and I'm very grateful for that bit of time to relax during studies. So, to fill that time, I decided it best to continue to write and provide entertainment for my audience. You all mean so very much to me, and I thank every one of you for your continued support. As always: Read, review, and enjoy. See you next chapter.
Love,
Pagliacci-11
Chapter 29
It was a silent night as Jeremy walked through the park. The gentle sound of the chirping crickets was calming and melodic, a beautiful soothing sound that accompanied with the rustle of the leaves in the wind that was so pleasant and fresh, so sweet to smell he could feel his worries and anxieties beginning to fade away. The elementary aspect that in time the scales of balance between North-Gate and himself would be restored was a great comfort to him. Jeremy took a deep of air and exhaled as he looked up at the full moon, elegant in its bluish-white sheen. As Jeremy looked, he felt a hand grip his shoulder from behind. He turned, and his eyes met Aelita's.
"Oh, Aelita!" He said, chuckling, "Oh, you scared me for just a moment."
"Sorry, Jeremy." She said, "I just felt you'd like a surprise."
Aelita handed him a piece of paper, and it was a seemingly very complex machine, "Uh, what is this exactly?"
"It's a highly specialized three-dimensional printer that I am working on so we can make pieces necessary for your desired Neutralizer."
Jeremy looked at the schematic as he sat down on a nearby bench, "Okay. Okay, this can work. So, what's the plan?"
"Generally speaking, once we access Nirvana, I will send what the scan can adequately detect, principally three layers are consisting of an external sheathing, an insulator, and then the actual active engine mechanism or Nirvana itself within. I have programmed the scan to break what it scans into three sections according to those layers, and the raw data will be put into a numerical value in addition to a physical diagram of the object. From this data, we can turn it into a computer-aided design, and from there, we convert this into a stereolithography file.
However, I do think it would be easier because of what is, to be honest, limited resources to send our overall scans of Nirvana to mother to make a reliable product. The only reason I include a 3-D printer in here is if, for some reason, we would have a delay in what mom can provide. At least, we'd not be caught with our pants down."
Jeremy nodded, "It's not at all a bad idea. It's definitely something to go on, that's for sure." Jeremy looked over the plan for the printer, and it was quite ambitious. However, knowing Aelita, this was nothing out of the ordinary. As he looked back at her, he said, "Alright. Do you have the materials you need to make this printer?"
"Printers. Plural." Aelita replied with a smile, "And yes, to a degree. I'll have the other parts and materials that I need when my order comes in likely in the next few days."
"Great. Well, that's great, Aelita." Jeremy said with a light laugh, "We're making progress." He checked his watch it was ten in the evening, "Tell you what, we'll discuss this more tomorrow. If we don't get enough shuteye, we'll be bound to paying for it tomorrow morning. You know how Jim likes to motivate and stave off "summer slack."
Aelita laughed, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Alright, let's go."
Jeremy got up and lead the way back to the dorms. It was indeed a sign of great progress that Aelita had been able to muster. Jeremy, in many ways, was glad to be reminded that he wasn't the only thinker of the team. The fact that Aelita had gotten this far was a testament to why the team worked as it did. Where Jeremy saw Aelita and himself as more of the overseeing eyes of the battlefield, he knew that the contributions of Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd made the defeat of XANA reality.
"So, Aelita, what's going to be the plan for tomorrow after we get through with P.E.?" Jeremy asked. In many ways, he wanted to get the thought of staving off North-Gate out of his mind.
There was no answer from behind, and Jeremy decided Aelita must not have heard him. He repeated the question a bit louder. Still no response. Jeremy turned around and to his shocked to discover he was back in front of the bench where he had sat with Aelita, but Aelita herself was nowhere to be found. Jeremy looked around and looked at his hands, which held the 3-D printer schematic. The paper was still there, but it was blank. Jeremy threw the paper away as a gust of wind blew fiercely against him. Jeremy caught his breath, and at that instant, the wind died down. Jeremy looked around, and he recognized this feeling. It was a feeling he had had several weeks ago.
"It's a dream, it's a fucking dream! Come on, come on, wake up!" he screamed into the air.
"It's no use, Jeremy." A voice said to him from behind. A voice haunting familiar soft and gentle, "It's no use. You wanted to talk to me, here I am."
Jeremy turned and saw the girl, the avatar of North-Gate. She was sitting on the bench dressed in a black tank-top and tan pants with blue and white shoes.
"What do you want?" Jeremy said, "You here to fuck with my head a bit more? Is that how you get off?"
North-Gate exhaled and got up from the bench, "What do you want? You're the one who wanted to talk to me. You're the one stooping to skullduggery and underhanded methods to get what you want. I told you, all you need to do is ask me, and I'll give you what you need. Why is that so hard for you to comprehend? Did you never have to ask for things as a child?"
"Oh, do you really think you have the foundation to be all high and mighty with me? You of all creations? You who I know murdered an entire station of people? You who using this murder to hem us in, to confine us to test our adaptability. And now you, you have the fucking balls to dare care us underhanded?"
North-Gate was silent before him, her eyes once warm grew slightly colder. "I lowered the wall that hemmed you in. I gave you back your freedom because you asked me to. What do you do, Jeremy Belpois? In a rage, because you thought me to blame for your friend's mother's fate, you dared to attempt to stop me. Did you ever consider in your zeal that Anthea is just a much a problem to progress as you see her a savior to your perceived unpleasant situation?"
"Fuck blaming others! Stop trying to find a scapegoat to justify what you do!" Jeremy burst out angrily, "You are plunging our planet into true discord. There's by your plan, fluctuations meant to starve us and then what? You ride in on a white horse bearing food—a heroine to all? You're not kidding anyone, especially me! Sure, go ahead, think you can hide behind noble intentions. But I've read your fucking manual. I know just what you are! Despite your sophistication, you're just like your brother. Drop logic in his face, and he has a meltdown, drop reality in yours, and you can't hide behind your so-called new world vision. You claim to do so much in the hope of helping mankind. Does massacring people exactly count as kindness and even the basis of civilized? I should say not."
Jeremy blinked, and suddenly North-Gate was directly in front of him, mere inches from him. Her eyes were calm mostly, but he could see anger smoldering, "I am not what you would call the chiding, pandering, and civilized woman, Jeremy. I have done away with the shackles and constraints of society for reasons that are good to me; therefore, I do not obey its laws."
"But you expect people to follow yours? Why? Are you truly so much better than them? No, you're not, you really are not."
"You are not good yourself, nor are your people be they of France or this world. I see what you do, what your fellow beings do, and it sickens me. I tolerate it, I abide with it for but a bit longer. But you fill me with rage, and in my rage, I will deal with you, and I will deal with you accordingly."
"Oh, really? We're so horrible, huh? We're complete monsters to you, is that it? If that is so, let me hear the charges of which you levy against us."
North-Gate raised her hand, and to Jeremy's amazement, he was lifted, and she gently deposited him back into the nearby bench. She looked at him, her head tilted slightly, and she spoke, "You have pride. Excess of food, prosperous ease, but you do not aid the poor and needy. This reason, among so many others, is why I do as I do. I will shape your people, develop your world to think in a more charitable a more giving light. You love yourselves. You're vain. You and yours love your intelligence, your beauty, your strength, your wealth, you love yourselves.
Okay, Mr. Belpois, Mr. Einstein, why do you think one of the greatest commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself? Because the being who said it knows just how much you love yourselves. That's how small and just wrong the human condition is, that is why I have grievances against you and your people. That is why I do as I do to help them. I have seen countless times, time, and time again, what you as humans do. I have looked at both sides of every greasy proverbial coin you could think to give me to examine, and sadly it's always the same. You have those who have much and do not wish to give because in their reasoning, why should they? In due time, you will see my vision for your world implemented bit by bit, and as I have said to you before, there will be pains. These, however, are no longer birthing pains that time has passed. What is to be now is growing pains, and they are not always pleasant. But soon, you will be able to see as I do, and you will be better for it."
Jeremy listened, and after contemplating what was said, he asked, "Answer me this. What have you done for others that you intend to do for us? Paint me a picture so that I can at least get an idea. Believe it or not, I want to believe you have good intentions. However, the methods of your birthing pains, let alone how you conduct yourself, leaves me filled with a lot of doubt."
North-Gate sat down beside him and looked at him, her eyes softening slightly, "Very well. Ask me your questions."
"You said you have seen every side of most of the coins. Give me an idea of one such coin." Jeremy replied.
"Okay. Well, let us start with the basics. We'll start with your health system. You can have clean checkups from the day of birth, and you could miss something because you're not tested thoroughly enough. The reason for that being your insurance company, which is mandatory under most systems in this world, wants to cut costs. The doctor keeps his mouth shut, and soon the doctor gets a bonus check. So, your doctors can know what is wrong and could treat you all along. However, if you don't have insurance, the accountants will send you packing."
Jeremy was silent a moment, "Hospitals can't turn people away, and besides, there are laws against that."
"Sure, but there are also ways around those laws. All a hospital needs to do is stabilize you, and that's it. If you don't have insurance, you get a band-aid and get kicked out."
"So, what was your solution?" Jeremy asked.
"Two things. Firstly, we abolished the insurance. Because after a certain amount of time, we also saw where insurance became a massive monetary competitive game. The affluent got the very best and the most expedient care, the poor not nearly so much. Understanding the need for stability, we initiated Rebirth, which was a program designed to take a portion of people and train them in the medical and surgical fields. This emphasis on the quality of training allowed for homeland doctors and doctors to be readily sent overseas. Concerning the overseas practitioner, for every portion of the money they were paid for their specialization, we took twenty percent of each paycheck. We added it back to the collective back home. That collective, on top of a mandatory ten percent, taken out of every civilian paycheck, helped fund a stable market of street medicinal centers which were supplied by our government pharmacies.
Secondly, we advanced our medically oriented scientific research and expertise to master the development of cultures from skin cells. After extensive experimentation, we attained the ability to grow organs in vats. We experimented with these organs using gradual changes to allow for nearly every specific blood type and tissue variant to be met to allow for what can only be described as an organ surplus so that waiting for the appropriate organs became a thing of the past."
Jeremy's eyes went wide, "And the people were for this?"
"As people will be, you have some who are for, some against. That said, it was more readily accepted because of the sheer monopoly money had on the quality of service up to that point. For those who were against the system we proposed, it became much akin to dealing with children. You have to explain everything to them sometimes as to why something is needed. After that comes the how. But you make the active portion of the how a measured dose of only temporary pain. Eventually, as a regular treatment, the body of the human populace becomes accepting of such a thing to where they no longer feel it and as such accept it."
Jeremy leaned back in the bench and said, "Okay, huh. Not bad. So—hmm. Okay, here's one. Was there ever an issue that came to your attention that you acted on that you ever had to undo?"
"Actually, yes. Albeit not of my own accord. You see, with people you will learn, Jeremy, that they have a high sense of self-regard very much and with that self-regard comes an almost hardwired want of self-preservation. As such, when resources are a bit harder to come by for whatever reason, it's a bit of a kneejerk reaction for people to kind of scream, 'Close the borders.'
Well, back when I didn't have so much autonomy, my overseers saw it fit for me to come up with a solution to halt all immigration. There was no reasoning for this, mainly. It was ruled so because of—I'm just going to say it, the small-mindedness of some people usually driven by fear and as I've said, a yearning of self-preservation. And so, it arose an occurrence shall we say that exposed the ignorance and overall what I could call the poison of the nativist mindset. That ignorance exposed to the reality of a situation forced the hand the people to repeal their own stance."
Jeremy was silent as he listened to North-Gate's tale. After she had finished the crucial question, he wanted to ask, had its room to be asked, "So, when you gained more autonomy—just how was that attained?"
North-Gate looked at him; her eyes he saw had a touch of suspicion about them, and her face softened as she replied, "It goes back to the question that I have asked you several times, 'What differentiates me from Aelita, in all reality?' From the moment of our introduction to the present, I have been nothing but honest and fair with you. The minor discomforts you have felt are that some slight mismanagements which have since been rectified. As such, you are no longer dealing with incompetent overseers, but with one, you see as a program. What you see or what you perceive yourself to see could easily be as much flesh and blood as Aelita herself when she first went into Lyoko."
Jeremy adjusted his glasses, "So, you're telling me that you were once human as Aelita is?"
"Once was, and in many ways, am once again." She replied. After a moment, she checked her watch, "If you'll excuse me, I have a party to attend."
North-Gate stood, and as she walked away, Jeremy looked after her. He got a portion of what he wanted, but he was still skeptical. He reflected on what the entity had said. Parts of what she spoke of made perfect sense. But the technologies she had spoken of were impossible, he knew there were not sciences possible of what she spoke of. He got up and was about to call out to the figure, but at that moment, he became dizzy. He felt the world violently spinning. A sickly scent of lavender and rot filled his nostrils.
A gentle voice seemed to call out to him from the heavens, "Jeremy, Jeremy, please wake up!"
The world seemed to shake, even more, so making his vertigo all the worse and then suddenly Jeremy awoke, his eyes shot open, and he followed his first impulse, which was to vomit. A hand on his back held him forward as the vomit filled the pan just below him. A few coughs later, he gently lay back onto the bed. He felt utterly flushed, as if he had been drained entirely. Breathing lightly, his vision drifted to the left. Aelita stood beside him, observing him.
"A-Aelita?" he said softly, "Is everything alright?"
"That's a question we should be asking you." A man's voice replied from just below his field of vision. Jeremy looked down towards the foot of the bed and saw Jude Beck standing with a bottle of water.
"Wh-who are you?" Jeremy asked.
Yolanda's voice came from his right side, "This is Mr. Beck. He's the night nurse who saw you collapse."
Jeremy rested his head on the pillow, "What-what happened exactly?"
Aelita gently asked, "You don't remember anything?"
Jeremy carefully shook his head, "No, nothing. What happened?"
Yolanda said, "Mr. Beck, would you care to tell him?"
Jude sat down at the foot of the bed, "Apparently, it was just after dinner. You were walking with Ms. Stones here having a discussion, she said, and you fell flat on your face just outside the cafeteria. Luckily, Mr. Morales was on watch and saw it happen. He got my attention, and after you had stopped convulsing, we moved you here to the infirmary. I continued to stabilize you until Ms. Yolanda arrived this recently. You had some terrible convulsion fits, however. In the intermittent times, you were screaming at someone, but we chalked that up to a bad dream."
Jeremy sighed, "How? How did it happen? Will everything be alright?"
"We're not quite sure how it happened. To answer whether you'll be alright, Jeremy, you'd have to go to the hospital and undergo some tests." Yolanda replied, "We called your parents last night, and they will be on their way and should be here in the next few hours."
Jeremy nodded, "Thank you."
Aelita then asked, "Is there anything you remember at all?"
Jeremy tried to answer the question, and after a moment, he said, "No, nothing."
Yolanda took a thermometer, and she put it into Jeremy's ear gently. She listened for the beep, and she took it out, "You have a bit of a temperature but not a fever." She looked over at Jude, "I'd advise you to keep him resting until his parents arrive. Also, luke-warm water, we don't want too much of a shock to his system."
Jude nodded and went to one of the cabinets and took out a Styrofoam cup and filled it. He gave it Jeremy and said, "Gently, don't rush it."
Jeremy drank slowly, and Aelita watched worried, albeit not at all for the reason the two nurses were. She remembered very well what happened just before Jeremy fell, and his seizure started. He had stopped as they had been talking about the plans for tomorrow's first attempt to near the tower in the forest sector. His phone began to ring, and as he held the phone, he looked at her. A look that was not his own was in his eyes as he said in the softest tone, "A slight reset is all that is needed." There were a sudden four flashes of light that Aelita saw in the lens of his glasses that blasted Jeremy's eyes, and he was out. Aelita had taken his phone from his hand and had heard a deep tone that stunned her, making her head light, as if her brain was becoming carbonated water. It was this secret she kept quiet on, but for reasons she would not go into among present company, she had given him her phone which was in his jacket pocket.
Jeremy lay his head back and rested. Aelita got up, and she departed. As she went out again to her dorm, she took Jeremy's phone and opened it and looked at the last incoming call. The last incoming call received was a series of sevens throughout, practically non-traceable. Aelita knew what she had to do. It wasn't going to be an easy decision, but she knew what she had to do. Unknown to Jude, since Jeremy had been taken ill, Aelita had been there, on the fringe of the infirmary forever in earshot. She had listened to his screaming, he's yelling at North-Gate for Aelita knew that was who Jeremy spoke to. Aelita had watched as Jude had stabilized Jeremy after his seizures and convulsions. In many ways, she had not left his side, nor would she now. She knew what needed to be done and so she headed out into the park towards the manhole cover.
Making her way towards the manhole cover, a voice called out, "Hello!"
Aelita turned, and she saw a beautiful young woman coming towards her. She recognized the face immediately; it was her new roommate to be, Amelia Beck.
Aelita stopped and trying to shake her current objective from her mind for the time being she said, "Oh, you must be Amelia. "She extended her hand.
"And you must be Aelita Stones. I recognized you by your hair." Amelia said as she took Aelita's hand. It was a sturdy grip, but what was worse to Aelita, the girl's hands were more akin to a dead woman's hands, they were so cold.
"My hair? Is it that noticeable?" Aelita replied with a bit of a chuckle as she quickly released Amelia's hand.
"Not so much. But I suppose it is not so much the norm. Given how everyone has a form of bodily integrity about them."
"Bodily integrity?" Aelita asked, somewhat curious.
"Yes, you know, mostly devoid of piercings and, in your case, semi-exotic hair-color."
"Ah, well, I guess I have never really quite heard it called that before." Aelita said, "So, you and I are to be roommates, when do you move in?"
"According to Mr. Jim, it will be sometime today once they move us to one of the larger rooms. Apparently, they're converting your current room into how you say, a utility closet?"
Aelita sighed, "Sounds charming."
Amelia seeing her discomfort, said, "I'm sorry, is it something I said?"
"No," Aelita said, "No, it's nothing you said. It's just—do you know what feels like to have your own space?"
"Certainly. I'm practically an only child, so having my own sanctum is something that greatly appeals to me."
"Okay, great. So, you can understand what I'm talking about. And to have such a space turned into a utility closet, it's not comforting."
"Nothing is forever, Aelita. No comfort, no particular situation, be it good or bad."
Aelita looked at Amelia, and she said, "Amelia, do you go by another name?"
"I go by Ame or Milly. But I am told another kid around here has Milly already, so it is Ame."
"Yes, little Milly Solovief. She's a good girl. A bit nosy, but a good girl."
Amelia nodded, "So, now that we'll be living together at least for the foreseeable future, what do you do for fun around here?"
Aelita walked with Amelia back towards the school, she could go sort out North-Gate when lights were out.
"Well, there are quite a few things for the summer. We have preparation for drama; we also have martial arts, which I know you're into as well as other miscellaneous things."
"Oh, okay, that's—interesting. I saw you have a rec room and it looks nice from what I've seen of it. I also saw that you have a school robotics and computer applications course during the year. How does that generally work?"
"Typically, we have enrollment in the program when the year starts. You'd have to talk to Ms. Hertz to know more."
Amelia nodded, "Okay, and who would I have to talk to about the martial arts course?"
"It's not so much a course at is an elective free-time class, and you'd have to talk to Jim."
"Alright, I'll do that then. Anyway, I'm glad to have met you in person, and I hope our semester together will be—entertaining, to say the least."
Aelita nodded, "Likewise."
Amelia headed off to find Jim while Aelita thought about going through the sewer to the factory. It wouldn't take too much time, and she could easily be back before Jeremy's parents arrived. Double-checking that no one else was around, Aelita went the manhole cover and descended into the sewers below. She ran steadily but not too quickly and came in time to the boiler-room entrance. She opened the door and went out into the factory.
It had undergone several significant changes that were for sure, and as Aelita went room to room, she made a note of what had happened. On the main floor, the machine rooms had been drastically repurposed. There were production lines, but all of them had been calibrated individually to be part of a splintered shared system. Aelita was in amazement as she saw the work that clearly went into this project. As she inspected the production lines, she saw a large cylinder where something was clearly meant to be inserted. There were also sections of tubes and wiring above the cylinder, which seemed to serve as the cylinder's cap. The purpose of this, though, was something Aelita couldn't be sure of. As she continued her inspection, Aelita went to the industrial engine room and saw that it, too, had been overhauled. The engine had been given a new casing, new guts, and had a similar cylinder that she had seen in the production lines. The canals had been lined with specialized metal that Aelita could see as water flowed through them, a passive charge was generated.
Aelita went to the lift, and she pressed the button, and soon the door opened. Aelita entered and descended to the lab. As the lift doors opened, Aelita saw the holographic display in the lab fully active. She was silent as she checked around, there was no one she could see. As she approached the hologram, she heard the telltale click-clack of keys and saw that the computer was active and typing as if being commanded by a manic typist. Endless streams of code were flowing over the screen, and Aelita was amazed as the lines of code influenced the spheres and individual sectors of Lyoko. She was able to see the implementations of the code on Lyoko. It was unlike anything she had seen before.
As she paid close attention, she saw that the power of the towers was highly concentrated in each individual sector, and from those towers augmentations to what the bots she had seen alongside Jeremy were being augmented even further. Aelita sat in the chair in front of the computer at that moment, the keys stopped typing immediately. Aelita winced as she saw that the once feverish keystrokes halt.
The hologram of Lyoko disappeared, and an avatar came forth a being that looked like its essential points were made of crucial points akin to a constellation. Still, the body was made of electrified blue flame that served as the casing and lines to connect the dots. The entity looked at Aelita as Aelita got out of the chair.
"Identify yourself." the being said.
Aelita was silent a moment, "Are—are you North-Gate?"
"We are all North-Gate." the being replied.
"Who are you?" Aelita asked a bit afraid of what she was seeing.
"Identify yourself." the being reiterated.
"I'm Aelita Schaeffer." Aelita replied.
A tone sounded, and the being said, "Clearance Given. How may I help you?"
"What are you?" Aelita asked.
"I am the overseer known as Cassius Dio."
Aelita nodded as she remembered Jeremy, and her mother had said North-Gate had overseers.
"What is your function, Overseer Cassius?" Aelita asked.
"My function is designed to oversee and store all significant operational histories across the lifespan of North-Gate."
"So, you are the record-keeper?"
"Correct."
Aelita thought a moment, "Do you keep personnel files?"
"I do."
"Who is Johnathan Barrow, and what is his role in this project?"
The being spread its arms, and it compressed into a bright ball and then reformed into another hologram, this time of John Barrow.
Aelita looked in amazement at this, and she said, "Uh, continue?"
There was silence, and nothing changed. Aelita took a moment and considered her choice of words as apparently how she phrased questions seemed important. After a moment, she said, "What is the mission objective of North-Gate?"
The hologram disappeared, and the entity returned and spoke, "The mission objective of North-Gate is to restore the balance of natural man. To where he wants for nothing and in such a state will have no excuse but to learn to love his fellow being."
Aelita asked, "How does North-Gate envision this objective to be met?"
The entity replied, "The vision will be realized by attempted to remedy the sickness of greed and to liberate humanity from the chains of Capitalism and its false doctrines. The doctrine by which humanity has been enslaved and operated in belief since its popularization by Adam Smith."
Aelita was silent a moment, and she asked, "Why is Capitalism seen as enslavement by North-Gate?"
There was silence. Aelita rephrased, "Why is Capitalism seen as enslavement?"
The entity replied, "It is seen as enslavement because of the implementation of gatekeepers which inhibit growth."
Aelita asked, "What are gatekeepers?"
"Gatekeepers are those who keep watch over society. In their function, select a few who show promise in a realm of skill. The chosen person is bolstered by the gatekeeper and system of the Capitalist acting as a portent of hope everyone else. These chosen people have many names across operational history: Tirsovo; Aleishmara; Celebrity; and Charismi."
Aelita listened and then asked, "Are gatekeepers evil?"
"Not usually. However, in the system of Capitalism, gatekeepers serve as the middlemen and women between the genuinely affluent and commoner. Akin to a customs official at a country's border."
Aelita arched an eyebrow, "Can you explain further?"
"The gatekeeper acts as the "discoverer." It deems whether or not the common man is to be genuinely embraced by the affluent or if he is simply a resource to use to an end to further the cause of the wealthy."
"Explain used as a means to an end in this context."
"An inventor has a brilliant idea but has not the resources to realize this idea to profit from it. A gatekeeper or associate of the gatekeeper sees this idea and possesses the resources to achieve this invention to bring it to the world. The associate or gatekeeper takes this idea for themselves and keeps the inventor ignorant, content to let the inventor think his plan will not go anywhere at present. The inventor continues to make more and more ideas for inventions, writing down the concepts. The inventor aspiring one day to have just one of them realized. The gatekeeper or associate continues to take the ideas and continues to make them a reality, never once compensating the inventor with money that is rightfully theirs. Once the invention is complete and in actual production to where it cannot be hidden, the gatekeeper or associate will explain to the inventor a few months later how the invention is out in public and describe it as "coincidence."
Aelita was amazed as she processed the words of the entity before her, and then she asked, "How does North-Gate envision the elimination of Capitalism?"
There was silence. Aelita rephrased, "How are the problems as mentioned earlier to be rectified in accordance with the operation?"
"Exposure of the gatekeepers and their masters to show just why they cannot be trusted. The restoration of equality will follow soon after by which the gatekeeper no longer will enjoy the fruits of the usury by which many of them have profited. They will be reduced to the everyman that they used to be very selective in embracing and keeping out. The affluent will be appraised by their deeds. What did they do while in their position to genuinely to help man? If they did help their fellow men, they would be dealt with less harshly than if they hadn't. The remaining of those who did not help their fellow men would be sufficiently liquidated, and their resources are given back to the state to form the foundation of sustainable programs to better society."
Aelita was silent as she listened to what the entity before her had said she then prepared a final question, "How is this doling out from the state resource to be determined?"
"Those according to the vision of North-Gate will hold power and in time, raise, teach, and nurture a generation to be their predecessors. However, in time, term limits will be implemented to ensure that no one person or one group has too much power too often. Those elected by the people through proportional representation will be trained in the system to help their fellow men. Those who will not be willing to embrace this will not be allowed into the seats of power. One either serves the people and does so lovingly, or one will not serve at all."
Intrigued, Aelita asked, "How can North-Gate be sure that its own system won't be corrupted from within?"
"You not privy to that information. Suffice to say, there is maintenance to ensure the vision, but that is all you are privy to know."
Aelita nodded. And she knew she had to get back to Jeremy as soon as possible. As she headed to the lift, the voice of the entity called out, "Are you finished with your inquiry?"
Aelita didn't answer and began to press the lift button. The entity spoke, "The elevator will not come until you have answered my question."
Aelita turned back to the entity and thought a moment, "No, I'm not done. I wish to have outlines of the component of the supercomputer known as Nirvana's Cradle."
"For what purpose?" the entity asked.
"Our reasons are our own," Aelita replied.
"That reasoning is not sufficient. What do you want the outlines for?"
Aelita sighed. She felt like she had her back to the wall. However, she decided to be honest and see what would happen, "I want the outlines to design a memory wipe so that I can move freely and almost through my environment and come here when needed."
The entity was silent, as it genuinely appeared to contemplate, and it replied, "Your reasoning is feasible. Report to the scanner room to receive a finished product designed for such a purpose. How many do you need?"
Aelita was shocked at this, and she asked, "Um, enough for the whole team and for me."
The entity was silent as it again thought. It then spoke, "Very good. To officiate, tell me the name of your team."
Aelita was stuck, "I would like to rephrase my request, one memory alteration device for myself."
"Very well. To officiate, answer the question on your monitor."
The monitor of the supercomputer flashed, and a question arose, "What is the name of Aelita's guardian?"
Aelita's heartbeat quickly within her, and she took a deep breath and typed, "Mr. Puck."
The entity replied, "Your answer is confirmed. Request granted. Report the scanner room to receiver your altering device."
Aelita was stunned, and she went down to the scanner room and waited. There were two minutes before the central scanner opened, and Aelita saw it, a white and gold phone with an earbud attached. And a white charger cord.
Aelita picked it up, put the earbud in her ear, and pressed the on button. A screen came on the logo of an extraordinary seal flashed, and an automated voice came through the earbud, "Welcome back, operative Aelita Schaeffer. Your requested memory alteration apparatus is being processed. Please wait for fifteen seconds."
Aelita waited all the while thinking, 'Welcome Back? I was part of this thing?'
Then a screen popped up and showed step by step how to use the device. As Aelita looked carefully at the device, she found the procedure to be painfully easy. It was just what she needed. The settings were minimal. 'Although it would be,' Aelita thought for field use, they couldn't just go wielding this around like a toy. Its range was upwards of four people at a time, which was pretty good considering. The effect would be to stun those who saw the flash, and it would buy time to run away.
Aelita went back up to the projected entity and said, "Excuse me, Overseer Cassius, when was I incorporated into North-Gate?"
"You were incorporated into North-Gate in 1990 as you were officiated by the original Johnathan Barrow and co-signed into initiation by Anthea Schaeffer."
Aelita was stunned, "What was the relationship between Johnathan Barrow and Anthea Schaeffer?"
"You are not privy to that information."
Aelita nodded, "I am finished with my questions with you."
The entity nodded, and the globe of Lyoko returned as did the feverish typing on the keyboard. Aelita couldn't believe the luck she'd had with this entire event. But what scared her more was that North-Gate knew who she was but knew only from her mother. And the original John Barrow? Anthea said that John Barrow was dead, and that was beginning to eat at Aelita. If John Barrow was killed, this overseer Dio knew that John Barrow as the original John Barrow, who was the person they had seen at Kadic a couple of weeks ago? Aelita thought on all of this as she pressed the lift button.
Once she was inside, Aelita checked her watch. About half an hour passed. Hopefully, she had enough time to catch up to Jeremy before his parents took him out of Kadic. She had so much to tell him, but even if she couldn't tell him, she could still get in contact with Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi. Either way, what she had come to learn in the past half hour really changed her perceptions concerning North-Gate. Was she a monster? It now too murky to tell. The program, without doubt had noble intentions and Aelita wouldn't deny that. However, just why certain things had to happen as they did, she wasn't sure.
The door opened, and Aelita bolted through to the boiler room and sped along the sewers until she came panting to the manhole cover in the park. Aelita gently lifted the lid, listened and watched, found herself alone, and quickly got out, placing the cover back. Darting for the infirmary, she remembered she had to remain composed. Aelita ran in place and then slowed down both her mind and heart, and she entered the building.
As she approached the infirmary, she knew it was unusually quiet. Aelita peeked in and saw that the bed Jeremy had been in was empty. Aelita knocked gently on the door, and Yolanda greeted her, "Ah, Aelita. Looking for Jeremy?"
"Yes, is he still here?"
"He just left with his parents, oh—about five minutes ago. They're leaving to pack his room, and he'll be gone until classes resume in a few weeks."
"Thank you, Ms. Yolanda," Aelita said, and she headed speedily over to the dorms.
As she entered the dorms, Aelita sped up the steps as if she were running a sprint, and soon, she came into view of Jeremy's dorm. She slowed and went to the entrance where she saw Michael, Jeremy's father.
She smiled at him, "Hello, Mr. Belpois."
"Aelita," He returned her smile, "It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"I'm alright. How's Jeremy?"
"He's alright, he's resting down in the car with his mother. I'm just packing up the necessaries for now before we return in a couple of days for his computer."
"Is it as bad as they made it seem downstairs? With the seizures and everything?"
"It's a bit too early to tell. We're going to take Jeremy to a good friend of ours to have him evaluated and just let him get some rest overall. I think it's just stress, from what, I'm not sure."
Aelita nodded, "Where are you parked? I'd like to see him before he leaves if that's alright?"
Michael nodded, "He's down in the main carpark nearest the gate."
Aelita replied, "Thank you."
Aelita headed down and saw the Belpois car. She went over and seeing Jeremy, gently knocked on his window.
Jeremy got out and said, "Aelita. I was hoping to see you before we left."
"I have good news, Jeremy." She showed him the phone, "It's the neutralizer that you wanted. Jeremy, I've seen so much that I have to talk to you."
Jeremy nodded, "I have your phone. Use that to call me, use that phone you have. I don't have much time, a few more minutes at best. Give me a synopsis."
"Mom was right. North-Gate is about restoring order, but it's more than that. It wants to undo a lot of graft, it seems. A lot of greed. Somehow, Jeremy, I'm in its system, and it's something I have to talk to my mother about. But I'll let you rest. When do you think you'll be able to talk?"
"Give it two days. I'm not sure what happened, but North-Gate is talking to me again. I think it had something to do with the phone call. That's the last physical thing I remember. She talked to me in the dream I had that others saw as fits. Do you have my phone?"
"I do." She gave him his phone.
Jeremy looked at it, "Don't call this number." He said, "I'm getting a new phone. I'll use yours in the meantime." He sighed, "This was honestly far from how I saw this summer being. But that's alright. I could do with a small break. Here." He took a piece of paper from a small notepad that was among his things, and he wrote down an address, "My home address in case you want to visit, or you want to write. Either way, I'd be glad to see you."
At that moment, Michael came down with two boxes of clothes and other miscellaneous items, "Alright, Jeremy, we have to get going soon." He said as he popped the trunk and put the boxes in. Jeremy nodded.
He turned back to look at Aelita, "Keep in contact with Ulrich and Odd. Go to Yumi if you need to. I'd hate for you to be alone here over the summer break."
"I'll be okay, Jeremy. I met Nosferatu, and she seems nice enough."
Jeremy chuckled, "Yeah. When my playing field ornament comes, let me know. I'll see you later, Aelita, please, come visit when you can." He embraced her, and she returned his embrace him. After a moment, they ended the embrace, and Jeremy got into the car.
Aelita watched the car pull out and drive away and as she did, she exhaled and looked back at Kadic and then to where the factory was off in the distance. She looked down at the white and gold phone in her hand, "So, it's just you and me now, huh?" she said, "Well, now I know a bit about you, things should be more interesting going forward."
