Code Matriks

Episode 11: A Negative Plus Sign (Part 2)

By B1ockh3d

Author's Note: This was originally supposed to be the last part, but as soon as I crossed the 3k words mark, I realized it was better to split it up into a third part. But! This is still a critical chapter, and will be crucial to the following few chapters. Pretty exciting stuff I have planned!

Odd, Ulrich, and William stood in their pajamas before Jeremie and Aelita.

"Where's Yumi?" Jeremie asked.

"Probably still in her bed..." Ulrich yawned.

"What are we doing here so late?" Odd halfheartedly demanded.

"Tyron has kidnapped Cooke, and we have to come up with a plan to rescue him." Aelita summed.

"Back up a bit, Professor Tyron kidnapped Cooke?" William puzzled, "Why?"

"I believe it's a trick to lure us out there." Jeremie crossed his arms, "Probably to take Aelita the same way."

"Well..." Ulrich shook his body to warm up, "We can't just leave him there. Let's go!"

"No, we still have another eleven hours before Cooke can use the scanners!" Jeremie reminded, "We have to do this with tact!"

"Einstein, why did you get us ten hours before you needed us..." Odd walked over to the elevator and sat down inside it, "I'm just gonna sleep and work it out later... I can't even make any jokes right now!"

Ulrich joined him, "I agree. Even if we plan this, it'll be hours before we can save him."

William rubbed his eyes, "Okay, I'm all ears. What should we do?"

Jeremie turned his chair around, "Do you know how we took out the Replikas?"

William shook his head, "Can't say I was there for it."

"Ah, right." Jeremie rubbed his head, "We're planning on a similar procedure, and how we did it..."

Cooke sat back in his chair, waiting. He twiddled his thumbs back and fourth, awaiting a blanket.

The door opened. In walked a ninja, followed by a light pink-haired woman in a labcoat carrying a plain white blanket.

Anthea!

"Those ninjas look a lot doofier in real life." Cooke commented.

The woman handed him the blanket, and sat across from him.

"...Can I help you?"

"I'm merely keeping an eye on you." She answered.

The ninja moved behind Cooke to guard the door. Perfect.

"Can I know the name of the person keeping an eye on me?"

"My name's Anthea. You must be Cooke?"

"Word travels fast."

Anthea pushed herself away from the table a few feet, "Tell me Cooke, do you know my daughter and her friends?"

Cooke shook his head, "Can't say I do... What's her name?"

"Aelita."

"Hm... Doesn't ring a bell." Cooke shrugged, "...You won't object if I put my feet up, do you?"

"Make yourself at home."

Cooke glanced back at the ninja, who hadn't moved. He scooted back, and put his feet up.

...Revealing to Anthea the word "SCHAE FFER" crudely written across his soles in blue tape.

She noticed, and nodded, "...Feeling comfortable now?"

"Very."

"That's good." She continued stiffly, "Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"I'm getting a little hungry. It's been kind of a long day." He nudged, "I wasn't exactly planning to visit Switzerland today, and I forgot to pack a dinner."

"Don't worry about it, we have it coming." She promised.

Cooke and Anthea stared at each other, knowing exactly what they really wanted to say. But couldn't, because of the ears in the room.

"So, what you're saying is you want to send us to Switzerland as spectres, where we'll break Cooke out and send him back to the Cortex?" William summarized.

"In a nutshell." Jeremie nodded.

"Seems easy enough."

Jeremie turned back to the super computer, "Markus, how are you doing over there?"

"I'm stressing out, man!" Markus strained, "I'm worried sick about him, and there's nothing I can do but sit aside and wait!"

"Calm down, as long as you're connected to his phone you can mine data, right?"

"Yeah... Yeah."

"The best way to help him is to gain control of the security cameras, and map out a floor plan." Jeremie encouraged.

"Right..." Markus pushed up his glasses, "It'll take time, but I can do it."

"Great. Aelita?" Jeremie turned, "I... have a concern."

"What is it?"

"I think Cooke may have blown our operation already, in which case Tyron is expecting us."

"Even if Cooke didn't blow our operation, Tyron's plan is to lure us out there to save him."

"Yes, but he doesn't know how."Jeremie breathed, "I need your help to make a passage cloaking device for the Skid."

"It doesn't already cloak?" William puzzled.

Aelita shook her head, "Not exactly, what Jeremie is talking about is cloaking our ship from the doorway into the Cortex."

"When the Skid opens and enters the Cortex, it notifies Tyron." Jeremie clarified, "We need to get in and out without those alarms going off."

"I'll get right on it." Aelita pulled out her laptop from her backpack.

"As for you William..." Jeremie looked around, "...We should have some blankets around here..."

William chuckled, "Wake me if you need me."

The door swung open, and in came a scientist with a tray of food.

Cooke took his feet off the table, and looked down at the tray. It consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich that was obviously microwaved, some leaves that sort of resembled a salad, potato chips, and a three gingersnaps.

"...Really?"

Anthea, still seated across from him, looked somewhat disappointed, "Sorry, we're a research lab. A full fledged kitchen isn't in the budget."

Cooke bit into the sandwich, learning very quickly it was Swiss cheese, "Blegh! I thought we were friends!"

Anthea set down a small box of mints, and slid it over, "Here, to get the taste out."

Cooke opened it, and saw white mints bunched around a small USB drive. He quickly grabbed a mint and shut it, "Hey, thanks."

"You can keep it, I've got plenty more in my desk." She winked.

Cooke slid the box into his pocket and resumed eating his food.

"...So, what is it that goes on around here?"

Anthea opened her mouth, but noticed the ninja in the background shaking his head, "I... Would love to tell you someday."

"Ah, secrecy 'n stuff. Gotcha."

Cooke painfully ate his way through the grilled Swiss cheese sandwich.

"Hey, Markus," Jeremie perked, "Where are you in the system?"

"Still getting through the admin protocols." Markus focused.

"While I'm waiting for this Skid software to compile, can I take a look at that code?"

"Already sent it."

Jeremie opened his messages, "There it is, thanks."

"What code?" Aelita paused.

"Markus and Cooke got some sort of code from Shelda, and they don't know what it goes to."

Aelita resumed her programming, "Let me know if it turns up anything."

Jeremie found the message and opened the code, "...Interesting."

"What is it?" Markus raised.

"It looks like chunks to a directory, given the letters seeming randomly placed."

"...Meaning?"

Jeremie took a deep breath, "This code is part of a script that activates other scripts, but in a certain pattern. Like say... Script A's single purpose is to activate scripts B, D, and C in that order."

"So... It's a puzzle solver." Markus deduced.

"Exactly."

"Huh... Why would Shelda carry this around?"

Jeremie input the code, and ran it on the super computer, "...It tests negative."

"Why would Shelda have DEAD code?"

Jeremie shrugged, "I'm sure we'll figure it out. How's you luck with the cameras?"

"Well... It goes..." Markus bit his lip, "I'm in, for the most part, but I have to be very slow or I'll be caught. I'm also getting a little worried about our end."

"What's wrong?"

"I thought people were going to be trying to get past the new encryption because computers can't recognize it..."

"But?"

"Turns out, one can. Theirs. Their computer is decrypting it, which could make a nightmare for us in, oh, say..." Markus checked his phone clock, "Five hours and fourteen minutes."

"We need at least ten hours..." Jeremie worried, "Even with it resetting every minute?"

"That's the thing, their computer is learning a bit more every time, and it goes farther every time. It'll soon beat it in under a minute."

"Do you have any active firewalls?"

"Three. But I'll work on a few more while I wait."

Cooke yawned, "I am getting quite enervated... Where may I rest?"

Anthea stared in awe, "What teenager talks like that?"

"A gentleman who needs a gentle bed?"

Anthea walked over to a shelf and grabbed a sleeping bag, "Here. As gentle as you are."

Cooke laughed, "Cold, lumpy, and makes your back and neck stiff?"

"Exactement!" She jeered.

The door opened. Cooke turned around, and watched the ninja exit the room.

"...Phew." Cooke breathed, "I was beginning to wonder how high his tolerance to bad jokes were."

"Tyron was trying to see how much you knew, perhaps he saw enough." Anthea calmed.

"Yeah..." Cooke bundled up in his blanket, "Hey... I need to tell you something..."

"Quelle?"

"...Aelita misses you." Cooke breathed, "A lot."

Anthea looked down, "...I miss her too."

"What are you doing here then?"

"It's... Complicated." She rustled, "I'm here to help Tyron... And hinder him."

"Hinder?"

"Yes." She nodded, "I've provided assets from Carthage, but not all of them. I see to it he never figures them out, either."

"So this whole thing... Is a ruse?"

Aieeee... In a sense." She shrugged, "I can't stop Tyron, but I can set his work back months with a single keystroke and blame software malfunction, which I also repair-"

"-Because it's the same base as Carthage." Cooke finished.

"Precisely. It's something I've been doing for months since XANA pushed over to our computer, and of course, Jeremie's worm."

"So... All that work he complained about losing... Was you?"

She looked around, "...Well, a lot of it. But some of it was due to the virus and XANA. But that made it easier to break another vase and sweep it into the same pile."

"I see..." Cooke processed, "...You wouldn't happen to know any correlation between Lyoko and Matriks, would you?"

"No," Anthea rejected, "I've never seen it or its inner workings... It would be very hard to determine any connection until I have."

"Okay... Does the name Shelda Fercaow sound familiar?"

She shook her head, "I'm afraid not."

Anthea stood up and headed for the door.

"Hey, we were just warming up to each other!"

She turned slowly, "...Please give that drive to my daughter."

Cooke looked up at the pleading woman's face, "Absolutely."

She continued, and left the room.

"I'm in!" Markus celebrated, "Alright, I should have a full blueprint in just a few minutes."

"Excellent!" Jeremie acknowledged.

Aelita picked up her laptop, "Jeremie, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"I have a cloak algorithm mapped out, but the only way it'll work is if it has a lot of power."

Jeremie slouched back into his chair, "How much?"

"We..." Aelita winced, "...We can't have our shields up in order to use it."

Jeremi buried his face into his palms, "But we need the shields to block out the digital sea... This is a problem."

Markus stroked his chin, "...How much raw hull strength does it have?"

"Not enough." Jeremie shook his head, "It's too risky."

"Alright, well..." Markus bit his lower lip, "...Why not infect the door with a virus?"

"That's... A much better idea!" Aelita supported, "If we can't fool the sensors, we simply have to shut them down for a few seconds."

"Hmm..." Jeremie pondered, "We could transmit it through the key, and that could trick it."

"Then let's do it!" Markus concluded. Right then, the security cameras for Tyron's lab popped up on his screen, "Oh! He-hey! We have uplink!"

"Expertly timed." Jeremie complimented, "Do you see Cooke?"

"Hold on, I just got connected!" Markus scrolled through the cameras, "No... No... No... No..."

"Do you see anyone?" Aelita requested, hoping to hear her mother.

"...Ninjas. Lots of ninjas." Markus internally cried, "There must be at least fifty!"

"Can you find the scanner room?" Jeremie advised.

"Mmmm no... But, I can find the source of our uplink! His phone!"

"Where is it?"

Markus dug into the layout, "...In some sort of... Lab. With lots of fancy equipment. Not unlike ours."

"That must be the mainframe."

"Ooo!" Markus hyped, "I just saw Tyron leave the room!"

Jeremie pushed his microphone close to his mouth, "Follow him!"

Tyron walked down the hallway, meeting Anthea in a private room.

"Anthea, how is he?" He began.

She shrugged, "He has an unusually optimistic attitude."

"Has he said anything in particular?"

She shook her head, "Optimistic doesn't mean knowledgeable. I throughly believe he doesn't know anything regarding Carthage or Lyoko."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Funny," he laughed, "His phone was encrypted with software coding similar to the virus made by Mr. Belpois."

"With all due respect, he could have very well made it from existing code on his quantum computer without Jeremie's assistance."

"Oh, Anthea," he handed her a printout of several pages of code, "I'm sure he did. You forget Mr. Belpois didn't make that virus completely on his own, which is why I've now grown curious."

She peeked through the files, observing each one. "...Wait... This isn't what I think it is..."

"It very much is. Code near-identical to the base application of Carthage."

"Which would mean..."

"Anthea, just say it." Tyron rolled his eyes, "Waldo wrote it."

Night passed. In this time, Cooke slept, Markus didn't; Yumi got to the factory and woke everyone up from their impromptu naps, and Tyron simply waited. It was now two hours before Cooke could use the scanners again, and two hours until mission time.

"Errg..." Jeremie picked himself up off his arm, "...Oh no! Markus!"

"I'M STILL HERE." Markus bellowed with an energy drink fueled tirade.

"Did their computer get through the encryption?!"

"NOPE."

"Really?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHY, I DIDN'T TOUCH IT." Markus furiously tapped away at his keyboard, "BUT IT'S EXACTLY WHERE IT WAS WHEN I FIRST WARNED YOU."

"So, the other computer paused itself?"

"BEATS ME!"

Jeremie picked up his glasses and put them back on, "What are you doing then if you're not preventing a breach?"

"IT'S NOT DONE."

"What is it?!"

Aelita rubbed her eyes, "I sent him the task of the virus, because I couldn't hold on for much longer."

"You guys really need to give yourselves rest!" Yumi lectured, "What's all this about? I just got your voicemail saying it was urgent."

"You could say that, " William propped himself up, "Tyron kidnapped Cooke."

"What?" Yumi stared in disbelief, "I never thought he'd go that far! I'm sorry I didn't come sooner!"

"Euuyh... Don't worry, you only missed sleeping on cold metal floors." Odd yawned, "Einstein called us out here for a plan we had to wait eleven hours to execute!"

"What's the plan?" Yumi asked.

"Like we did with the Replikas. Go in as a spectre, find Cooke, virtualize him, and get out." Jeremie summed, "We have ninety minutes more to wait."

Tyron slammed open the door, jolting Cooke awake.

"And how did you sleep?"

Cooke propped himself up off the floor, raising his still restrained hands, now causing welts, "Not great."

"Tell me, does the name Waldo Schaeffer sound familiar?"

Cooke rubbed his eyes, "Can't say it does... Do you have my château yet?"

"Hahah... No. You're still too young."

"The Mono then?"

Tyron laughed, "I'm pretty sure you know those cars are made to order, and it's a long waiting list."

"Fine, fine..." Cooke paused, "Okay... My student debt?"

"Well, that really all depends." Tyron sat down in a chair overlooking Cooke, "Have you been honest with me?"

"You can trust me, I didn't give you a grilled cheese sandwich with Swiss cheese- unlike you!"

"Sorry, sorry," Tyron apologized, "We have no American cheese."

"Plus, bedding? I hated being left here with only a blanket and a sleeping bag."

"Should we keep you any longer, we will do better." Tyron promised.

"Speaking of which, when am I getting out of here?"

"As soon as we get past the encryption on your phone. Unless of course..." Tyron opened up a tablet that was in his lab coat, "...You'd like to enter the bypass around your security, then we'll let you go home now."

Cooke shrugged, "Dunno how. Why do you want in my computer so badly?"

"Why are you trying to hide what's in your computer so badly?"

"Because it's mine." Cooke smirked, "Tell ya what, you show me your computer, and I'll show you mine."

Tyron disapproved, "Only if you show us yours first."

Cooke folded his arms and returned lying on the ground, "Alright then. I still have some sleep to catch up on."

Tyron scowled, and left the room in anger. Slamming the door shut, much like how he entered.

"Woah- hey! I think I found Cooke!" Markus celebrated.

"Where is he?!" Aelita hyped.

"Well, I don't know specifically, but I just caught Tyron storming down a hallway with the face of someone who's done putting up with Cooke's snarky banter." Markus laughed, "I can recognize it from anywhere."

"Where is he then?" Jeremie specified.

"Let's see..." Markus looked at a floor layout, "...Second floor, main hallway..."

"Any room ideas?"

"Hmm..." Markus adjusted his glasses, "...Yes. The only rooms on this floors that do not have cameras are the bathrooms, and... A supply closet, by the looks of it."

"That must be where he is!" William chimed in, concluding the theory awkwardly.

"How long until we can dive in?" Ulrich queried.

"Get geared up. Thirty minutes." Jeremie informed.