Yumi was slumped against the wall looking out the window while Odd and Ulrich were hovering behind Jeremy and checking out the program Jeremy was working on. Odd has a confused look on his face and quickly grew bored, wondering over to browse the belongings on Jeremy's shelf.
Ulrich groaned and glanced over at Yumi, who seemed lost in contempt. He then looked at Odd and thought he saw him break something. Finally, Jeremy broke away from his work and greeted them.
"I'm glad you guys could come," Jeremy said as he spun his chair around the face the others. "I have some great news."
Odd put whatever trinket he had in his hands back on the desk and walked over to sit on Jeremy's bed. "What is it, genius?"
"Is it a way to get the virus out of Aelita and finally materialize her for good?" Yumi said as she shifted her gaze over to Jeremy.
On cue, a small message box popped up on Jeremy's computer screen and signaled Aelita's entrance. She greeted everyone with a few hellos and was eager to hear what Jeremy had to say.
Jeremy shook his head slowly. "Not quite, but I learned that the virus is really just a basic program X.A.N.A installed in her as a safeguard. It's designed to activate in the case where we pull the plug on Lyoko. It will trigger an electric pulse that will make it's way to Aelita's brain and shut off her spinal cord function as well as parts of her central nervous system."
Aelita let out a soft gasp and took in the information. "What does that mean, exactly?"
Jeremy turned around to face her, rubbing the back of his head in nervousness. "It basically means you'll be no more than an empty body. A vegetable, if you will."
Ulrich stroked his chin and thought. "Is there anything you can do?"
Jeremy shook his head slowly. "No, X.A.N.A's code is too complex. If I'm to make any progress at all, I'll need time to figure out how to decipher it and alter the program."
Jeremy paused for a minute, and quickly added, "but it is able to be fixed. I just need the time."
Aelita smiled softly. "That's great."
Yumi rose to her feet and walked over to Jeremy, pulling up an extra chair that was in the room and sitting down facing him. "Speaking of time, the rest of us have been talking and we're a little concerned with you."
Odd leaned forward and grinned. "Yeah, we think you're spending a little too much time with this project, it's like-"
Ulrich cut Odd off quickly, "what Odd means is, it's nice your determined to find a way to fix Aelita, but it's starting to affect your classes."
Jeremy clenched his fists slightly, lowering his head so that Aelita couldn't see his face. "But I'm so close to figuring this out. Don't you guys want to be rid of X.A.N.A for good? Then we could spend time with Aelita in our world and never have to worry about the next X.A.N.A attack."
Ulrich reached out and patted Jeremy on the back. "We know you mean well, it's just we're a little worried."
"Jeremy?" Aelita said suddenly.
Jeremy looked up at the computer screen. "Yes, Aelita?"
Aelita had a look of sadness on her face, but she tried to cover it up with a happy expression. "I'm flattered you're devoting your free time to figure out a way to help me, but if it's affecting your school time, well… " She trailed off.
Silence fell upon the room as the moon slowly began to rise outside the window, casting unusual shadows across the courtyard below and inside their room.
Ulrich broke the silence. "Look, it's getting dark, let's sleep on it and then talk about it after class tomorrow."
Everyone nodded and everyone sans Jeremy got up and headed for the door.
"You'll be there too, right?" Yumi said, looking back at Jeremy.
Jeremy paused for a minute and nodded. "Yeah, I will. Sorry I worried you all; I'm just excited."
"We all are," Odd said and winked at him. "Good luck, genius. Make sure you get some sleep tonight and not spend your night with your virtual friend."
Jeremy blushed a little and Aelita couldn't help but laugh at the remark.
"Come on," Ulrich said and pushed Odd out of the room, annoyed.
Yumi waved quickly and then closed the door.
Jeremy turned back around and faced Aelita. "I guess I'll follow their advice, then. I need to get ready for bed."
Aelita smiled and nodded. "See you tomorrow, Jeremy. Good night."
"Good night," Jeremy said as he leaned forward and switched off his computer.
He stood up and rummaged through the mess Odd had made and pulled out his towel and a pair of pajamas and then picked out a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap from the basket in the corner of his room. He then walked over to the door and opened it, walking out into the hallway and closing it right behind him.
Unbeknownst to Jeremy, Sissi was perched around the corner with a smug look on her face.
Gerald groaned and kicked his feet up on the security desk and turned the volume up on his portable TV. He popped open a bag of chips and prepared for another long night of boring security duty at the local dog pound. He popped a few barbeque flavored chips into his mouth and muttered under his breath.
"I need a better job."
As if fate tempted him, he heard a strange noise come from the back room where the dogs were kept.
"Keep it down!" he shouted, grumbling at the horrible reception the TV was getting.
The noise started back up again and Gerald identified it as all the dogs barking in unison, which was weird. The dogs usually just bark in their own order and not follow any set pattern. Gerald grumbled and turned the TV up louder, but the barking was impossible to drown out. He eventually gave up, sighed, and stood up. He walked over to the door and opened it and stepped inside.
"Keep it down you mutts!" Gerald shouted, hitting one of the nearby cages.
The dogs continued to bark in the same eerie unison they had before, almost like they were chanting something. Some of them snarled and growled. Others simple stood in their cages with blank expressions on their faces. Gerald couldn't help but feel a bit freaked out.
The barking suddenly stopped and Gerald stood there, dumbfounded. He looked around the room looking for an answer to the odd problem, but didn't see one. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged, turning around and heading for the door.
Suddenly, a loud buzzing sound rang out across the room. Gerald's heart skipped a beat and he cursed himself for being so jumped. He turned around to find the source of the noise, and was horrified at what he saw. All the dog cages had been opened electronically by the security system.
A few dogs jumped out of her cages and trotted around the room, getting their bearings. A small cocker spaniel with fluffy fur bent down and began sniffing the floor. It then raised its head back up and stared straight at Gerald.
Gerald took a step back, but collected himself and reached to the wall slowly to grab the net hanging on the supply rack.
"Come here little doggy, time to get back in your cage," Gerald said as he inched forward towards the spaniel.
A flash of tan in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he saw two great danes leap out from their cages and land right behind him. More dogs came leaping from their cages and before Gerald, knew it, he was surrounded by about seventy dogs with blank expressions on their face.
Gerald gasped in horror when he realized he left the front door wide open, which meant the dogs could escape if they saw the opportunity. Gerald began edging back towards the door to close it, but it was too late.
Suddenly, all the dog snapped to attention and their eyes were covered in a bright red glow. They started howling and barking and then charged Gerald. Gerald screamed as he was tackled to the ground and the dogs bit into his clothes and tore up his uniform. He screamed for help, but the dogs continued to bite and claw at him, sinking their teeth deep into his skin and tearing into him. His body swelled up with pain and he cried out in horror and begged for them to stop.
Before Gerald knew it, the dogs suddenly stopped for some unknown reason. He laid on the floor, battered and bruised, as he looked up at the numerous dogs who seemed to be looking up at the ceiling, like someone up there was talking to them, or issuing them commands. The dogs then suddenly bolted for the door and ran out into the reception area and then out the side door that led to the outside. Gerald groaned and stood up, checking himself for any serious injury
"What just happened?" he asked, making his way over to the phone. He picked it up and dialed animal control.
"Hello? Yes, this Gerald Perez, I'm a security guard at the Paris dog pound. Uh huh, look, you're not going to believe this; but we have a big problem."