Code Matriks
Episode 14: Fine Print (Part 1)
By B1ockh3d
Author's note: Hey! Merry Christmas! I meant to upload this yesterday, but for obvious reasons, I wasn't able to. I didn't want to make this chapter another multi-parter, but it was becoming much longer than I wanted it to be (originally supposed to be 4k-5k words, but I'm eyeing 7k-8k total!) and I didn't want to delay it any longer. But! I'll get the next part and *hopefully* the next chapter after that posted before I head back to school at the end of January.
Oh, and tomorrow's my birthday! And all I want for my birthday is reviews!
Cooke's alarm went off, Monday, at 7AM. He slammed it off, made himself a hot chocolate, and sprinkled cinnamon sugar into it.
Markus slowly got up, "Hnnngg..."
"How many energy drinks did you have when you were trying to save me? Because you look like a wreck." Cooke opened the mini fridge, and saw it completely empty, "Nevermind, I got my answer."
"I didn't crash... I'm just still... Sleepy..."
"Your eyelids are greener than the cans you drink from!"
"Nah man... I'm good..."
Cooke rolled his eyes. He was used to it, Markus did this every time finals rolled around.
"...Can you participate in a cohesive conversation?"
Markus cracked open an eye, "Use small words."
"I'll do my best." Cooke inhaled, "I'm afraid of Matriks."
"See? That wasn't so hard... Why?"
"Well, I have a very loose understanding of artificial intelligence, and I'm afraid of these "cultures" Kraig described."
"...Didn't he say the project was a bust? And we didn't find any other "cultures" there, so... No reason to be afraid."
"That's just the thing. I was wondering about JAER, how it fit into all of this. I'm thinking maybe JAER is one of those cultures gone rogue, and we mistook as a virus."
Markus propped himself up, "So... You're saying JAER is one of those R-class AIs, just a bad version?"
"Let's face it, no society is perfectly peaceful. There's always a troublemaker. JAER is software that evolved to be the troublemakers of the society that is... Theirs?"
"So... Yes. A bad version."
"But! This proves there is some sort of AI support at play!" Cooke reached under his desk and grabbed a whiteboard, and drew eight circles, "Now, remember how Kraig said they were locked out of all eight test zones, which I assume he meant sectors, but we're only locked out of seven?"
"Roughly, yes."
"What if Franz or Waldo or whoever decided to purge JAER from his little utopia by cutting out his sector? Hence why we're able to access Matriks?"
"That's... Entirely possible."
Cooke grabbed a purple pen, erased the circles, and began drawing again, "Now, how would one interface with the other sectors?"
"The passage towers."
"While they're encrypted?"
Markus rubbed his eyes, "Bro, you're beginning to lose me."
Cooke flipped the whiteboard around, showing his drawing of a purple tower, "The purple tower! That must be the interface with the seven encrypted sectors!"
"Must be?"
"When I first stepped in, a screen popped up saying "Welcome to Matriks." It must be!"
Markus lied back down, "I'll take your word for it. You've been right thus far... Everything connecting back to Waldo."
"We have to find the purple tower again. I need to take another shot at that quiz. I'm wondering if I read the question wrong."
"Caffeeeeeeeeeeeine..." Markus cried out.
After getting Markus perked up and through morning classes, the two headed for their lab during lunch.
"I wonder if we're ever going to see Waldo or Shelda again." Cooke started.
"Well, I think he or she served their purpose. And they're wanted by the FBI. So, probably not."
"...Hey, what was on that flash drive I gave to Aelita?"
"Man, I don't know. I wasn't there."
"It's rhetorical. I'll have to ask."
Markus rubbed his head, "Say... Did you ask Kraig what MATRIKS stood for?"
"I did. And, come to think of it, he never told me!"
"I guess we'll have to find it ourselves..." Markus stopped in his tracks, "Man, we are so boring!"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"All we ever talk about nowadays is Matriks and Lyoko! Even our small talk has delved into that as our go-to topic!"
"Well, it's a curse we have the delightful burden of." Cooke smirked, "We build stuff, go to college, hold a social life, and save the world in our spare time. And we can't tell anyone about it. Except us two. And besides, it's not like anything is much different."
"How so are things not different?"
"All we talked about before this was about the robots we were building. Now we talk about how we save the world."
Markus kept walking, "Touché."
The two approached their lab, which was swarming with black vans and agents.
"Gah! Inspection already?!" Cooke vented.
"I kinda wished they'd tell us ahead of time so we could open the doors."
The duo walked past the vans, only to find some vans were backed in with their hatchbacks open, filled with bins of their parts and machines!
"Tell me this is a nightmare." Cooke shook in anger.
"Calm down, I'm sure it's nothing." Markus walked up to an agent, "Can we please speak to whoever is in charge?"
"That'd be me." An agent boomed from behind the two, "I'm special agent Cassinov, are you two Cooke and Edwards?"
"Yes."
"Yes." Cooke shook his head, "Agent, what is going on? Why is my stuff in the back of your vans?"
Agent Cassinov pulled out a thick stack of papers, "Under the agreements you both signed, you agreed to any searches and to follow the guidelines set by sections A through E. Any violations would result in repossession of government property."
"I don't get it, we haven't violated anything in our agreement. We haven't made any weapons, any threats, or joined any terrorists." Markus argued, "And- Hey! The stuff you're taking is ours!"
The agent looked down upon the two, "That's for us to determine. Until then, all of your robots, equipment, and patents have been assumed by the FBI under Civil Forfeiture law and suspicion of breach of contract. Making it our property."
"WHAT?! Assumed?!" Cooke angrily stormed over to one of the boxes and pulled out their graphene battery prototype, "This wasn't even made in this lab!"
The agent took it from his hand and put it back in the box, "That's government property, son."
"Oh don't you dare call me son!"
"You better check your attitude before I take you in for contempt."
"Cooke, calm down!"
Cooke peeked in another van, "...They even took our school's robot!"
The agent handed Markus a business card with a name and number, "If your school would like to reclaim their property, tell them to call this number."
"And what about our property?"
The agent crossed his hands, "Our civil branch will review the evidence and case and determine if your equipment is violating the rules or not."
Cooke furiously glared at him, "And who appoints this person?!"
"We do."
Cooke slammed his fist against the side window of one of the vans, and stormed off.
"Cooke! Hold on!" Markus ran over, "Cooke!"
"They came here, stole our stuff, and they're getting away with it. This isn't fair!"
The agent walked over, "We will also be requiring any research and blueprints you may have back at your school."
"Oh, let me guess, you want all of our hard drives, flash drives, CDs, cassette tapes, laser disks, and vinyl records don't you?!"
Markus took a deep breath, "Is there anything good to tell us?"
The agent flipped through some papers, "Let's see... While under investigation, you are allowed to keep using the facility with daily inspections."
"Hold on," Cooke rubbed his temples, "You're taking our stuff, accusing us of being potential terrorists, and yet we're allowed to keep using the facility?!"
"No, don't make a fool of yourself." The agent laughed, "Your possessions are accused of being terrorists. You two are innocent, and may continue to use the facility."
"...Why did you seize our patents then?"
Cooke snapped his fingers, "Yeah! You take our things under "civil forfeiture" and there is absolutely no reason to take intellectual property with it!"
"Son, your patents are also considered blueprints, which we have authority over." The agent shut one of the SUVs, "But, you boys are more than capable of getting back on your feet. By this time next year, I'm certain you'll be twice the geniuses you are today!"
"And how do we do that without money?"
"Money? Did you two not receive ten thousand dollars from this contest?"
"We did. We spent it on the stuff you're taking right now!"
The agent shrugged, "Your financial mishaps are not our issue."
"So... What? That ten grand was supposed to be some sort of kickback?"
"I don't know, I wasn't involved in the contest." The agent handed Markus another business card, "You can contact your handler Agent Juliet here."
"Oh, you bet I will."
"Thank you, now, can you please get out of here so Cooke and I can get back to starting over?"
"Not until we have any external data."
The two rode up an elevator with an agent in tow. Cooke and Markus looked back and forth at each other, worried.
The LyokOS flash drive!
If the FBI got their hands on that flash drive, it'd be over for them and the Lyoko Warriors!
Markus looked over at the agent, searching for clues about the agent. He was wearing a ring- aha! A college ring! Red, gold, with a football on the side.
"Hey, Cooke." Markus hinted, "You missed an amazing game last night."
"I missed a lot of things last night." Cooke raised an eyebrow.
"No! The Packers versus Patriots!"
Cooke knew absolutely jack-all about football, or any other sport. He just shrugged.
"Tom Brady caught an impressive pass-"
The agent twitched, "Probably because that ball was deflated too! I can't believe he was allowed to continue playing this season!"
Cooke looked forward and smiled, now seeing the plan, "Do you think that, uh, thing was called right, though?"
"Did- no! Absolutely not!" The agent continued, "Anyone with two brain cells could see Cobb was shoved into the sidelines before he even caught the ball!"
"I think it was called right." Markus opposed.
"Are... You kidding?!" The agent fumed, "In what world can Almendola shove someone out without being penalized?!"
"I'm with him." Cooke played, "Maybe the Patriots have the refs on payroll."
"I keep saying that but no one agrees!" The agent ranted, "It's the most obvious answer! But no! We have to launch season-long investigations in order to figure out what is plain and obvious!"
The elevator dinged, and the door opened. Markus went ahead, and Cooke walked with the agent.
"What do you think should be done about Brady?"
"Honestly? Fire him, let him slip back into obscurity, and let the team return to it's former glory."
"Good answer. But, how would that stop other teams without such noted players?"
"Suspend the team while the investigation goes on."
"Yes, but let's say they find the team innocent, and they've been out a season. Now they've lost revenue and sponsorships!"
"-Which the NFL should refund, because like a court, if the defense is found innocent, the plaintiff has to pay for the legal fees and lost wages for them."
Cooke's knowledge of football ended there, only tabloid information. But luckily, they came upon their dorm with the door wide open, and Markus collecting disks and drives.
"Do you want our phones, too?"
"No. We do not have a warrant for them."
"Really? They aren't lumped into this agreement?"
"Given that it is a locked device and we don't have probable cause, no."
"Well! Good to know!" Markus breathed, "I have some pictures I wanted to keep... For... Reasons..."
"Just get me your disks, and I'll be on my way."
Cooke and Markus scraped together all their storage devices and handed them over in a brown paper bag.
"...Good." The agent looked around, then at Markus, "I'll also be needing the one sticking out of your pocket."
Cooke's heart sank, "Yeah, man... Hand it over."
Markus checked his empty pocket, "Uhh, sorry man. No drive."
"Don't play dumb with me." The agent snapped his fingers and pointed at the other pocket, "THAT one."
"Ohh..." Markus pulled out the flash drive, "THIS one... Are you sure?"
"I'll be checking that one first myself."
"No reason to man... It's completely empty. Well, MOSTLY empty. Probably a few files in there."
"Then you won't mind them being searched if it's mostly empty."
"Well... You see, it's just that it's a 256 gigabyte flash drive. Fairly pricey, and kinda hard to come by."
"Markus likes his stuff." Cooke laughed, "One time, he wouldn't let me bring his calipers to a robotics event because "it was his only good pair." By which, he meant they were the only pair with batteries!"
"Hey- I knew someone would steal them! They're a really good pair of digital calipers!"
"See, agent?"
The agent looked sternly down at them, "Your items will be returned if they are found innocent."
"There, ya see?" Cooke scoffed, "All we have to do is prove our stuff is innocent and they'll return it!"
"You're right, this is unfair."
The agent took the drive, turned around and walked out, "Thank you for your cooperation."
"Unbelievable." Cooke fumed, "This contest was nothing more than a way to find students who build useful things for the government to steal!"
"Calm down, you don't know that."
"Do you know what civil forfeiture is? It's legalized robbery! We'll never win the case to get our stuff back!"
"Then we'll start over." Markus shrugged.
"How are you so calm right now- THEY HAVE THE LYOKOS FLASH DRIVE- we are SCREWED!"
"Nope!" Markus pulled out his phone, "It's all right here!"
"...How did you...?"
"When you were distracting the agent with sports talk, fantastic job, by the way."
"Thanks."
"I came in here, plugged the drive into my phone, and ported everything over and wiped the drive. Gotta love Microsoft for putting full Windows on their phones!"
"...Niiiiice."
Suddenly, his phone started beeping.
"Uh oh, activated tower." Markus finessed with the screen, "...Uhhh, uh oh."
"XANA's in our sector?"
"XANA's in our sec- yeah, you called it."
"Kicking us while we're down, of course." Cooke stretched, "Alright, let's go beat up some Kankrelats! Just what I need right now! XANA won't know what hit him!"
A projectile crashed through the window, and landed on Cooke's bed. It was a canister with roughly legible printing:
7290
BANG
cond Delay
"What just-"
"FLASHBANG!" Cooke bodyslammed the door and burst through it, right as a loud bang and bright light flooded the room.
"Oww..." Markus murmured within the room, "I can't see..."
Cooke boldly ran back in-
CRUNCH!
-and stepped on Markus' glasses.
"Oh, great!" Cooke found Markus, "Buddy, how are you?"
"All I hear is ringing and I see white..."
Cooke picked up Markus and threw his arm over his shoulder, "Let's get you out of here!"
"What happened?!"
"I don't know!"
Markus pulled himself up and put a hand on Cooke, "XANA!"
Cooke held onto Markus' arm and dragged him down the hallway.
ZZZZZZAP!
A purple lightning bolt flew right past their heads. Cooke looked over his shoulder, and saw the sport savvy agent raising an open hand at them.
"XANA WANTS US DEAD!"
"COOKE! GET US TO THE RECORDING STUDIO!"
Cooke pressed the button for the elevator, which was a floor below them, "Why?!"
"The room has three inch thick walls and a two inch thick metal door!"
"Where is it?!"
"Building thirty!"
ZZZAP BANG!
The elevator doors opened, Cooke rushed inside with Markus and shut the doors. The elevator descended to the ground floor.
"Building thirty is the next building over, we just have to clear the courtyard." Markus focused.
"I don't know how bad it is out there, we might not make it!"
"We'll make it! Provided I don't trip on anything!"
"I'll do my best to guide you!"
The elevator doors opened. Cooke popped his head out, and checked the hall.
All clear.
Cooke pulled Markus along to the door to the courtyard, and immediately saw several XANAfied agents waiting outside with twitchy fingers.
"Man, XANA really wants us dead!"
"What's happening?! I can't see!"
"We have several agents with some anger problems."
"Let's call Jeremie, he'll know what to do." Markus patted his pockets, "Uhh... Phone... Crap."
"Don't tell me you lost your phone! Our only connection to the super computer!"
"It was knocked out of my hand in the explosion!" Markus shook his head, "Call Jeremie!"
Cooke pulled out his phone, and dialed Jeremie.
Jeremie picked up his phone, "About time! There's an activated tower!"
"WE NOTICED!"
Jeremie paused, "...What's going on over there?"
"Let's see, Markus is blind and mostly deaf, we have XANAfied agents shooting lightning from their freaking hands at us, and we're in the complete open!"
"Jeremie," Markus continued calmly, "We have to get through our courtyard to a building with a secure room."
"What do you need?"
"A window of opportunity to get through without exploding like hotdogs."
Cooke winced, "...What now?"
"Aaaanyways, we need all the XANAfied agents to... Not zap us for that time."
Jeremie started pounding away at his keyboard, "Does your school have a PA system?"
"Yeah."
"Perfect! If I overload the electromagnetic drivers, it'll cause a brief disruption to any electronic devices. And of course, XANA."
"Turning the PAs into mini EMPs." Markus raised an eyebrow, "Done this before, I take it?"
"...Sort of."
"Gotta watch those diaries, man."
"I would if I could SEE!"
"Guys, calm down!" Jeremie interrupted, "I've already beaten your school's firewall, just tell me when."
"How much time will we have?"
"I... Just, run as fast as you guys can."
"Not much, gotcha." Cooke readied behind the door, "I'm ready."
Markus grabbed onto Cooke, "I'm ready."
"Alright, it might be kind of loud, but three, two, one...!"
A sharp, ear-splitting screech filled the hallways, and agents everywhere began to flicker, causing them to freeze in place.
Cooke busted through the door and ran across the courtyard, right as he heard the screech start to die down.
"We're almost there!"
Cooke opened the door to building thirty and ran inside with Markus right as the screech stopped, the agents unfroze and began charging them.
"Where is the room?!"
"Second floor!"
"Oh, you have GOT to be-"
ZAP!
ZAP! ZAP!
Cooke ran for the elevator, but shook his head. He had no time to waste waiting.
"Can you climb stairs?"
"Not reall- Woah!"
Cooke slung Markus over his shoulder and ran up two flights of stairs with two agents in tow.
ZZZZAP! ZAP!
"WHERE NEXT?!" Cooke set Markus down.
"Hallway! Fourth door on the right!"
Cooke grabbed Markus again and dragged him down to the room.
Which was locked.
"Just... Great. It's locked."
"Jeremie, please hack the electronic door locks for room 30-475A."
"On it!" Jeremie happily assisted.
"Oh, well, that works too."
Right as the agents turned the corner, the door unlocked. Cooke wasted no time, pressed his whole body against the door to open it and shoved Markus inside the studio.
ZZZZZAP!
Cooke slammed the door shut, and jammed a chair under the handle.
"We're safe!" Cooke announced.
"I'll fry those locks so XANA can't get through your only line of defense." Jeremie assured.
Cooke lied down on the padded floor, "...So, how are we going to deactivate the tower?"
"We'll simply send Aelita over to-"
"No, we can't. We've already learned that Matriks towers can only be deactivated by Matriks Warriors. Or, warrior, in our case."
Markus felt his way over to a chair and sat down, "Well, how do we get out of here then?"
"With the number of agents out there and the fact Jeremie sealed us in here, the only way out is with a return to the past." Cooke lifted his head up, "I can't really think of any plan that's feasible except to defeat XANA."
"We can't launch such a complex attack in such a short amount of time!" Jeremie echoed from Cooke's phone.
"We know, we know..." Cooke trailed, "...I think XANA has us beat."
Markus stroked his chin, and then snapped his fingers, "There is ONE thing we can do!"
"I'm open to any ideas!"
"Good, because it's one you'll hate." Markus took a deep breath, "We need a new warrior."
"Oh come on! Now is not the time for this argument!"
"Which is why I'm not arguing! It's fact we need another person!"
"Alright, who should we bring aboard our adventure then, hm?" Cooke scoffed, "Who knows our lab like we do? Who has the technical prowess like we do? Who has the experience like we do? And most importantly, who can we trust?"
Markus reached into his pocket, and pulled out a business card, "Agent Juliet with the FBI does."
"Oh, absolutely not!" Cooke argued, "We've been doing this thing as a duo to keep it away from the Feds! And you want to bring one in?!"
"She knows our lab, she has some sort of combat experience, and I'd trust her. As for her technical prowess... I wouldn't know."
"That flashbang really banged you up."
"If you can guide her to the scanner, I can virtualize her remotely." Jeremie suggested, "And I'll send Aelita and the gang to back her up."
"There, ya see? If we can get her downstairs, Jeremie can assume my role. No real technical prowess required."
"I still disagree with this decision."
"If I can't make you agree with it, fine. I'll just go over your head and call her myself."
"Good luck with no vision and no phone!"
"Let's see, I have a file pulled up... Is it Agent Juliet Michaelson, FBI, Washington DC division?" Jeremie asked.
"Sounds right." Markus smiled.
"Don't... Don't do it, Jeremie!"
"Dialing!"