A Risky Program

The disk was exactly as Jeremy had described. Thankfully, Jeremy hadn't properly closed his door in his rush to leave. This gave Ulrich a much needed save on time since he need not pick the lock. He was in and out within moments. No one was up at this hour so he didn't worry about anyone in his way as he ran down the hall.

Bursting out the front door, Ulrich would've sprinted for the tree cover. However, a glint of steel from the tree canopy caught his eye. Halting immediately, he stood very still as he searched for the metal. Nothing escaped the scrutiny of his ears, eyes, and nose. A branch snapped in the distance but all other sounds were drowning out from the din of the wind and a waking city.

Keeping aware of his surroundings, Ulrich rushed for the manhole. He was careful to take the longest route possible for a sixth sense told him that he was being watched.

Wearily, he waited just outside the clearing of the manhole. Slowly the feeling began to vanish, but not his sudden wave of uneasiness. He dropped into the sewer when it completely disappeared.

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The elevator doors opened and Ulrich rushed out. Jeremy was already in the chair at the supercomputer. The screen was filled with failed commands and requests. Jeremy was so thoroughly consumed by his work that he didn't even notice his friend's approach until the disk descended on to the keyboard in front of him.

The look of frustration faltered a moment as Jeremy snatched the disk. Inserting in into the computer, he said quietly, "I hope this works."

In his mind was the memory of his accidental alteration of the program more than a week earlier. With the drastic changes that he had applied, Jeremy couldn't help but inquire if it would work properly anymore.

Closing down the screen, he opened the disk file. Moments later the screen went blank. Blinking to life near the screen top was the phase Program: SEARCH—opened

Begin Installation Jeremy typed in quickly; Enter

Installing Program: 2:00

Jeremy drummed his fingers impatiently on the keyboard. He held an incoherent conversation with himself. Ulrich, feeling restless, started to pace from side to side behind his friend as the timer counted down. The seconds felt like hours.

Program: SEARCH successfully installed flashed on the screen. Jeremy leaned forward anxiously. This is strange, he realized. The timer still had forty seconds left! Oh well.

Activate Program?

Enter>

Please enter request

Find Lyoko Enter>

Searching...

They held their breaths.

Connection located

"Send me," Ulrich said. Without hesitation, he marched for the elevator.

"I don't know if I can," Jeremy said. "The program was designed to locate and potentially destroy. If Xana hacks into the supercomputer while you're using the system, it could delete you. In fact, you may not even make it to Lyoko."

"Duly noted," Ulrich said as the doors' closed.

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In his dreams, Theo stood in a strange mountainous area. The landscape was rugged and had strange, cloudy abysses. There was no wind, but a mist that hung over the mountains. He knew instantly that this was an evil place from a loathing presence that terrified him.

Then he heard a scream.

Turning around, he found himself at the base of an enormous pillar of stone. An eerie red glow was glaring down at him from its heights. Then the scream came again, from inside the pillar. Yumi?!

Suddenly he felt himself being drawn inside. He tried to stop but found he couldn't. He passed through the stone as though it was no more than a curtain of rain. The inside of the pillar startled him. It was black and hollow with endless blue lines of computer codes raining down the walls. Immediately before him was a platform with a strange symbol on it that resembled an eye.

Weightlessness suddenly lifted him up. It pulled him into the great heights of the tower of stone. A second platform appeared above him. The closer he approached, the louder the screams became. Then he saw them.

A dozen ropes of red lightning were pulled taunt over the platform. Stretching from the walls in three X-shapes, the lightning ropes seemed to be restraining something or things.

Rising up level with them, Theo gasped in shock. Suspended above the platform was Yumi, Odd, and a pink-haired girl. With their arms and legs spread-eagled by the lightning bonds, they couldn't move their limbs. Their faces were contorted by pain as the lightning of the ropes raced ceaselessly over their bodies.

A flash of red to the side caught Theo's attention. Turning, he was suddenly engulfed by dense, red smoke. He couldn't see anything, feel anything, or even smell the smoke. Twisting and churning to escape, he spotted the symbol again. It was a pure black with solid lines despite the smoke. In the center was a real, unblinking red eye.

A deep, menacing, and thunderous laughter erupted around him. Evil and loathing resonated from smoke-cloud around him. It scared Theo witless.

20:59 minutes. Materialization Imminent!!!

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Theo's eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed. Cold sweat caused his bed sheets to stick to him. He looked around frantically at his room; everything was as he left it. Yet the terror he'd just experienced mere seconds ago had him looking for the source of the evil. It seemed more like a presence than an actual being.

Pulling a light shirt over his bare chest, Theo withdrew himself from his bed sheets. Rubbing the remainder of sleep from his eyes, he snatched his cell phone. He punched Yumi's number into the speed dial.