Another Day in the Life of Geniuses

Sitting on a black school bench on the sparsely populated dirt grounds, Sissi dragged her hands down her face and tried clawing her stress out. Beside her sat Yumi cooly reading her textbook with a gentle smile. That smile irked the Mechanist. She sighed and dropped her head in her hands. "How the heck do you not do it?" Sissi asked Yumi.

"Not do what?"

"Go berserk with these guys?"

"Why should I?"

"Yumi, over the past two weeks, we narrowly escaped a bromance break-up with the two blondes over Aelita's Valentine's gift that happened to be a mind-control device from XANA; we nearly got killed by the hands of Jim, JIM for gosh sakes!" Yumi laughed. "And it didn't help that Jeremie and Aelita were arguing over her being the DJ at the party. Then we had to find your DNA code to get you back, and I had to dress up like you."

"Thanks again for that."

"No prob. And then to top it off, Ulrich gets the bright idea of trying to use the Back in Time to get your dad a job. You guys got upset at him and then kicked him off, only to put him back on because Jordan was possessed by XANA. How are you guys friends again?!"

"By the grace of-"

RRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!

Sissi rose up from the bench and sighed, "Well, I have to get going. Mrs. Hertz's class awaits. I hope XANA takes a break today. I still haven't made a new cane."

"What did you say when your dad asked about your cane?"

"Simple. I accidentally walked on it," Sissi winked. Yumi smiled as the Dragon Queen ran to class. "See ya."

After class, Sissi ate with the rest of the Lyoko Warriors. Well, she WAS eating at one point, but now she was growling at a small piece of paper scribbled with X's and scratchings. Her hand flew across the page as Yumi rose an eyebrow, sipping her juice box. "Sissi, if you keep writing like that you're gonna get a cramp in your hand."

"Thanks, mom," Sissi muttered. Yumi rolled her eyes. Finally, Sissi grabbed the paper and threw it at the garbage can. "Raahh, I can't figure it out!"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to make a new invention, but it's not working. I can't get the circuitry to work."

"Well, if you need a break, I thought of a new program that could replicate the mannerisms of an ant colony," Jeremie said.

"Oh no," Odd said, "Mrs. Hertz already bored us with that stuff. Don't you go starting that again."

Jeremie rolled his eyes as they laughed. "Come on, guys. I'm serious. I may have found a way to weaken XANA, and I was thinking of trying it out later this afternoon."

Aelita stood up with her tray. "Well, normally I would love to help, but I have Italian class. See ya."

"I have a date with my skateboard at 2, so count me out," Odd stood up.

"And I have to go to the swimming pool this afternoon," Yumi brightly smiled, "Bu-bye." She walked over to the exit where a certain black-haired troublemaker stood.

"Ulrich, do you have something to do too?" The genius blonde asked.

"Yeah, I have to go somewhere," He grumbled, glaring at Yumi and William.

"Where?" Jeremie asked.

"The swimming pool." Ulrich got up and headed out with a steely scowl on his face. Jeremie sagged his shoulders, but then his vision shook as Sissi nudged him in the arm.

"I'll go with you, Einstein. I have to make sure you don't make a serious mistake," Sissi smirked. Jeremie grumbled and readjusted his glasses.

The two walked to the factory and worked on Jeremie's multi-agent system. Just as they were about to release it, Sissi shivered, looking around.

"Oh no, don't tell me. That bad feeling again?" Jeremie groaned as he quickly searched for an activated tower.

"I...I don't think it's XANA this time. I think it's this program. I think... I think we need to run some more tests before releasing it," Sissi said.

Jeremie furrowed his eyebrows together, "And what if we can destroy XANA with this right now? Do you really want to lose the chance of getting rid of XANA once and for all?"

"I don't, but I don't think-"

"Then we should release it. If we come into any problems, then we'll have the kill switch ready."

"It might be dangerous. And now that I think of it-"

"Look, I hate to break it to you, but your specialty isn't really computer software, Sissi," Jeremie announced. "Why don't you just trust me on this?"

"I do, but what if-"

"What if what?! There's nothing wrong here. We've made sure all of the bugs are ironed out already. What could possibly go wrong?"

Feeling the twinge in her gut again, Sissi huffed, "Jeremie, think! If you release this thing, it's going to destroy Aelita too because of her virus! XANA is linked to Aelita in every way. If we destroy XANA now, we destroy Aelita, or did you forget that!" The silence punched him in the face. Jeremie's eyes widened as he slumped back into his chair and rubbed his forehead.

"Urgh, I'm such an idiot. Why didn't I think of that before? Even if I made the multi-agent only weaken XANA, it would still harm Aelita," Jeremie grunted and facepalmed his big head. Sighing, the mechanist messed up his hair with a smile. "Hey!"

"Don't worry about it, Jeremie. We'll work on the Anti-Virus first, then we can focus on defeating XANA completely, okay?"

"Okay," Jeremie sighed. Sissi walked over to her book bag and suddenly winced. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my leg sometimes acts funny, like it just got hit again," Sissi replied. Jeremie stroked his chin. "You want to scan me, don't you?"

"Huh? What made it obvious?"

"I just know a nerd's natural curiosity," Sissi smirked, flipping her hair back, "You look at something or someone a lot, and you look like you're trying to solve a puzzle with your four eyes."

"Hm, said the mechanical maniac."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing," Jeremie smiled. "Why don't we take a look at your bones and see how they're holding up?"

Sissi walked down to the scanners, and the ringed lights whizzed over her, letting her float a bit. "Whoa, I never knew how nice this felt." As she walked back to the computer room, several images popped up on the screen. "Well?"

"You want the good news or the-"

"Jeremie!"

"Ha ha ha! Just kidding," He winked. Sissi rolled her eyes. "Well, it doesn't seem like anything's wrong. However, your leg bones seem to be ruptured a bit. That's probably what's causing the pain every now and then. Have the pains been getting worse or better?"

"They're less stabby and more punchy."

"O... kay. Well, since 'stabby' would suggest more pain, I'd say it's getting better." Sissi looked at the picture more closely.

"That looks like lightning hit me, but where would I have-" She paused. "The Incident. It must have sent electricity through my body. The bus accident must have just given me the final push."

"Not only that," Jeremie added, "But do you see this area of your brain?"

"The front part is... denser?"

"It has more connections which help you learn faster and retain information. While your brain hasn't increased, your learning capacity definitely has."

"So... I was right... again?" Sissi asked. "Wait, don't you need X-rays to look at this stuff? Isn't that radioactive?"

"Yes, but the scanner can do it without radiation," Jeremie said, sighing, "I guess now we just have to unlock Franz Hopper's diary and hope there's a way to fix Aelita's virus."

"Are you close to getting it all open?" Sissi asked. Jeremie sadly shook his head. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No, not for now," Jeremie sighed. He looked down at the keyboard when an idea suddenly flew into his head. "Wait, Sissi! Do you think the Incident with the Supercomputer can be repeated?"

Sissi narrowed her eyes, furrowed her eyebrows, and crossed her arms. "No, absolutely not, Jeremie."

"What? I'm just asking-"

"I should have died in that Incident! I'm not gonna try to redo something that would definitely kill you. Aelita, as small and frail as she is, would kill me!"

"I'm just asking if it's possible. We could probably control for-"

"No, Jeremie," Sissi grunted. Jeremie fumed while muttering to himself. "I'm surprised you would even ask such a thing."

Jeremie shouted, "Can't I just make the world a better place for Aelita?! Or is that too much to ask?!" He shot up from his chair and stormed past Sissi, heading towards the elevator.

"No, but I'm pretty sure she would like to have you in it," Sissi said calmly. The blonde stopped in his tracks. Sighing, Jeremie dropped his shoulders as Sissi rested her hands on them. "Cheer up, Einstein. We're close. I know we are. Right now, let's crack Franz Hopper's journals and get that anti-virus. Come on, I think we earned a break."

"Yeah," Jeremie wiped his eyes. Stepping inside the elevator, Sissi looked at the S-Watch on his hand as they rode the way up. Her thoughts tumbled as she began to grumble. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I've been trying to figure out how I'm gonna make an electric disruptor for you guys if you don't have canes. But I can't figure out how to make something that small." She pointed to the watch, "I was thinking of making something like the S-Watch, but if you're going to fight against XANA, I have to be careful where I put the charge." Sissi sighed, "It would be easier if you all had gloves."

Jeremie was silent for a moment. Then he spotted something. In the corner, a small spider drifted down its web and landed on his hand. "Ew, Jeremie, get that thing away from me!" Sissi grimaced as they reached the top floor. Jeremie let the little bug off to the ground.

"With everything that we've been through, I'm surprised spiders creep you out," Jeremie smirked. Sissi huffed, blowing a small strand of hair out of her vision. "Anyway, I was just thinking. Maybe we don't have to make a watch disruptor. Maybe we can get away with making it bigger than you think."

"Okay, but how are we gonna get it around your hands?"

"Maybe we can use something like a web, small wires to wrap around the hand and then-"

For the rest of the day, Sissi and Jeremie drew up designs in his bedroom. The room was littered with discarded papers, but the ecstatic geniuses didn't stop. "Okay, I think we got it!" Jeremie smiled.

"Great, I'll get to work," Sissi grinned. Just then, Aelita and Odd came in. "Oh, hey guys."

"We were looking for you two. Where have you been?" Odd asked.

"We were just knocking our heads together," Jeremie said.

"And give us some time, and I think we'll finally have a sure advantage over XANA," Sissi said, stuffing some paper in her back pocket. "Hehe, XANA's going down." She messed up Jeremie's hair. He just laughed. Odd and Aelita looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly, Sissi's smile disappeared. "Wait, didn't Yumi and Ulrich say they were going to the swimming pool today?"

"Yeah, why?" Odd asked.

Sissi groaned, facepalming herself and slumping her shoulders. "Crap, the one thing I remember from the past that I should have stopped, and this happens. I guess Ulrich's sulking in his room?"

"How did you know? Did he get hurt?" Aelita asked.

"No, just his stupid pride," Sissi sighed. She gave Jeremie a strong pat on the back, nearly knocking his glasses off. "Thanks, Einstein. I had a nice time."

"My pleasure," Jeremie smiled as she left. Aelita glared at the blonde genius. "What?" Aelita huffed, turning away with an elevated nose before she walked out. "Aelita, what did I do?" Jeremie chased after her.

"Wow, our smart guy has a lot to learn about girls," Odd cheekily said. Meanwhile, Ulrich silently fumed in his room when the door suddenly swung open to a burning eyed Dragon Queen.

"What do you want, Sissi?"

"Other than for you to grow a spine and some-"

"What? The news about the pool already spread?"

"No, I'm just surprised you made the same mistake in this timeline," Sissi said, crossing her arms.

"What!" Ulrich shot up from his bed, "So you could have stopped me from looking like an idiot?!"

"No, because you would have done that by yourself," Sissi cooly replied.

"How?"

Sissi groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Ulrich-dear, why did you jump the high board in the first place?" He was silent. "Exactly, you know for a fact you didn't have to."

"It wasn't that... I just..." He stopped short, sitting back down on the bed. Sighing, Sissi sat on the edge of the bed.

"Look, William isn't really Yumi's type. Why don't you just go for her?"

"Why are you encouraging me?" Ulrich asked, sitting back on the bed.

"Well, I have a previous timeline of mistakes that I can remember WITHOUT the back in time," Sissi shrugged and stood up, crossing her arms. She looked down at him with a slightly turned-up nose, shaking her head. "And if a guy is so jealous of another guy that has no chance with Yumi, he really doesn't have what it takes to be with me. Especially if he tries to kill himself jumping off a diving board and getting CPR from Jim."

"Oh," Ulrich said, almost ashamed. Just then, Yumi came in.

"Ulrich, are you okay?"

"He's okay. Hurt pride, but okay. I should get to work now. XANA's really messing up my homework schedule," Sissi said as she started walking out.

"Wait, Sissi! Thanks for the talk," Ulrich said with a small smile.

"Sure, just don't do something stupid like that again. It's bad enough I have to watch out for you AND Odd," Sissi grumbled, walking out. She didn't get far when she saw Aelita fuming down the hall with Jeremie rushing after her.

"Come on, Aelita. Just tell me what I did wrong?" Jeremie exclaimed. Sissi rose an eyebrow as Odd strolled up to her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Oh, it seems your time with Jeremie really got Aelita seeing green," Odd smiled.

Sissi's eyes jumped out of their sockets. "You mean... Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Oh! Wow, those two are meant for each other."

"A science techno-geek with a computer-generated girl. It's a match made in heaven," Odd said.

"Hehe, yeah," Sissi chuckled after seeing the two nerds argue like an old couple, "A computer-generated girl."

Continued...