Crossed Circuits
By Flying Star
Disclaimer: I can't travel to France to grab the rights. In other words, I don't own Code Lyoko.
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Thanks to reviewers:
MystDragon2K: Yes, it's here. As you'll see here, Sissi's up to no good. Here's the next chapter.
Edhelith: Glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for sticking with it. As for being up late, I can't begin to count how many times I've been up till three or later. Here's the scene, it was a pain to write, hope I pulled it off well.
Dantheman7777: Yes, it is odd. I know people have switched some Lyoko characters before, but I never noticed any doing it to these two. Then the idea formed and the rest was history. Hope you like this chapter.
Palantiri: That's fine. I'm still catching up on a number of fics myself. Well, here's chapter three for you to enjoy.
Unknownyumi: Yes, very awkward, but certainly fun to write. Here's part three.
D Wolf Falls: No problem. And you're welcome. I know, it just hit me to have her think she was suffering a vison malfunction. And I kept envisioning "Jeremie" in her body looking ,well, very unfeminine. Now for the humor, not a ton of it, but I think a nice balance.
More humor in this chapter. Sissi stirs things up, "Aelita" discovers some differences between male and female genders, and both "Jeremie" and "Aelita" stumble upon some bad news.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
"Aelita" means: Aelita in Jeremie's body
"Jeremie" means: Jeremie in Aelita's body
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Chapter three: Trial and error
Inside the tower, " Jeremie" still waited for the system to identify him.
And waited.
....INCORRECT CODE.
He stared in shock.
ACCESS DENIED
He realized the problem mere moments before he was forcibly ejected from the tower, where he landed next to a shocked Yumi.
" Ae-Jeremie! What happened?!" She helped him stand as he brushed himself off.
" It's as I feared. When XANA switched us, he also switched our code, what identifies us. The tower's system doesn't recognize me." He reached up to adjust his glasses, before remembering he was still in Aelita's body.
" So that means..." Yumi started uneasily.
" That I can't deactivate the tower." " Jeremie" finished.
" There has to be some way." Yumi insisted.
" I'm sure there is, but as of right now I have no clue. Perhaps it's best that you return to the factory. I need Aelita at the factory, she can help me with the tower. XANA's not infallible, there has to be a way, and I'm going to find it."
" But how can you contact us if the towers don't acknowledge your identity?"
" I can contact you without the use of a tower, just like Aelita does. It's what I did earlier when I hid behind the ridge. To be safe though, I can hide in the nearest transfer tower, so long as I don't try imputing my code in the system for now." He looked skyward. " Ulrich, you can pull Yumi out now, I will keep in touch as soon as I can figure something out."
" Jeremie, wait!" But Yumi could already see the world around her dissipating as her avatar was retrieved. Her scanner doors opened, allowing her out as she made her way to the elevator, muttering, " He's so stubborn." Entering the main floor, she walked up next to Ulrich as he conversed with " Jeremie". " So, that's what's going on. You'll have to notify Aelita once she's out of class, and we wil try to find a way to bypass the tower system."
Ulrich nodded. " They should be out of class soon. We'll meet them, right Yumi?"
" Yes. " Yumi affirmed. " We'll bring her here as quickly as we can."
"Jeremie" waved. " Okay, then go. I'm not going anywhere." he smiled as the two left, before walking to the nearest transfer tower. Once inside he sat down, closing his eyes. XANA wouldn't switch them, and keep them from switching back just to spite them. There had to be a more serious motive to his actions, and he was going to find it. He smiled in surprise as his mind suddenly linked with Lyoko's mainframe. Maybe he couldn't deactivate the tower, but that didn't mean he couldn't browse the basic layer of Lyoko's information hub as an anonymous user.
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Odd grinned. " Let's face it, a day without Sissi is a day to celebrate." Yumi and Ulrich had just met up with Odd and "Aelita" as they left class. Odd had just finished recounting "Aelita's" experience in class, and was now commenting on Sissi's absence.
" Oh Ulrich dear!" The shrill high-pitched whine echoed throughout the schoolyard.
Ulrich visibly flinched at the grating sound. " Looks like you spoke too soon. " he grumbled through clenched teeth as Sissi bounced up to him.
The other three snickered as Ulrich gave them a withering glance.
Sissi tried hugging him, but he pulled back. " Listen Sissi, I've got other, more important things to do. Like uh, like having my teeth pulled." Ulrich quickly made his exit.
The snickering became flat out laughter as his friends joined him in his sprint.
Sissi huffed angrily as she watched him leave, yelling . " Just you wait, one of these days you'll grow tired of your goodie goodie friends, and come crawling back to me!" She finally noticed "Aelita"as she ran after her friends. " But maybe blackmail will work much better." She mused, a mischievious glint in her eye as she decided to follow the group.
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Yumi and the others made sure Sissi wasn't in sight before stopping.
" The Sissi express has left the area." Odd joked as the others, even "Aelita", groaned.
" Maybe I was better off with Sissi." Ulrich moaned.
Yumi grew serious. " Listen Odd, Aelita, We need to check in on Jeremie. We've discovered some disturbing news. That's why Ulrich and I are here. "
"Aelita" looked uncomfortable. " In a moment, I need to...use the facilities."
" Okay, do you have Jeremie's key?"
"Aelita" reached into 'her' pocket, retrieving the key, which she handed over to Yumi.
" Good, you can meet us in his room as soon as you're done. Odd, you accompany her."
" Why me?" Odd asked.
Ulrich leaned over, whispering in Odd's ear.
Yumi watched as his face went from puzzlement to realization.
" Oh yeah, that." he chuckled nervously. " Alright, I will. See ya later." He and "Aelita waved as the two left them. " Okay, well let's get to the restroom before Sissi finds us."
Unfortunately for them, she already had.
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Sissi looked around the corner. Good, only Odd and Jeremie were left, now she would get some answers. She walked up behind them, placing a hand on "Aelita's" shoulder.
" Jeremie. I know your hiding something. Now out with it, or I'll tell my father about your recent departures from school grounds during class."
"Aelita" turned around. It was not in her programming nor her nature to hate anyone. But she still couldn't help feeling an instant dislike for the spoiled brat. She placed a hand on her hip, letting Sissi know she wasn't intimidated.
Sissi was definitely surprised. Not just from his challenge of her authority, but the way Jeremie stood almost mirrored her, a strange sight indeed.
Though Odd admired "Aelita's"gall at standing up to Sissi. He knew things would go irreversibly downhill if Sissi got her to speak.
He jumped between the two, grabbing his chest in mock surrender. " Aw, you found us out." he winked at "Aelita", motioning for her to leave, before turning back to Sissi. " Actually Jeremie's working on a secret project, and it's taking up all his free time. You see, he's trying to find out which is smarter, a monkey, or a certain principal's daughter. Guess which one's winning?" He laughed as her face grew hot.
" Are you saying I'm dumber than a monkey?"
" I didn't have to, you just did!" He laughed even harder as he ran after "Aelita", leaving a very irate Sissi behind.
" Fine then, two can play at this game." She opened up her mobile phone. " Hello, daddy? I have some news concerning a student."
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"Aelita" was just reaching for the door marked Women, when Odd arrived.
He grabbed 'her' hand, leading her to the opposite door. " You may be Aelita on the inside, but you're still Jeremie on the outside."
"Aelita" looked surprised as he pulled her into the Men's room.
Odd, on the other hand, wondered just what he had gotten himself into.
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Yumi, having just left Jeremie's room to use the restroom herself, jumped back as the door to the Men's room suddenly flung open. "Aelita" practically flew out, her face remiscent of ripe tomatoes, her breathing shaky as she leaned against the wall for support. Odd followed closely, his face just as red, but from barely contained laughter.
Yumi took the 'her' hand, trying to comfort the hysterical 'girl '. " J...Aelita, what happened?" She was still trying to look past the fact that it was Aelita in front of her and not Jeremie.
"Aelita" remained silent, which Odd, who was still trying to keep from cracking up, took it as his cue to speak.
" She just found out a key, ahem, different between male and female anatomy." he answered, finally unable to contain himself as he burst out laughing.
" What? You thought all humans have the same attributes?" Yumi asked, surprised.
If it was even possible, "Aelita" reddened further. " Yes...no, I just thought..."
Yumi laughed lightly. " You've still got a lot to learn." she remarked. " Did you, um, do what you had to do?"
"Aelita" shook her head. " I was too...startled to do so."
Yumi turned to Odd. " Were there any other students in there?"
" Nope, so I guess I have to take her back in?"
Yumi smirked. " Well I certainly can't. In case you didn't notice, I'm not a boy." The smirk became more laughter as she watched Odd give her a look of absolute pleading.
" But he-I mean she's having a hard time grasping the concept of," he whispered something in her ear, at which Yumi became a shade of red as intense as "Aelita's".
Composing herself she shook her head. " Sorry Odd, you volunteered. I'll meet you in Jeremie's room once you finish, ahem, 'teaching' her." She left the two, hearing Odd's words.
" Hey, I didn't volunteer!"
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Twenty minutes later, "Aelita" and Odd joined the rest of the group.
" That was a long restroom break." Ulrich commented.
The two exchanged embarrassed glances with Yumi.
" You don't know the half of it." Odd groaned as he tried to forget the encounter between Sissi and them and "Aelita's" gender discovery. " I'm just glad that's over. I swear, Sissi's like a virus, easy to get, yet hard to get rid of. "
Nobody noticed "Aelita" flinch.
" Our troubles are far from over." "Jeremie" said quietly, appearing on the computer screen.
" Oh, what now?" Odd groaned. " I've had enough excitement for one day."
"Jeremie" smiled a little. " Sorry, but things have " He explained to them what had happened on Lyoko. " I've also browsed some of the basic informational levels of Lyoko and found a steadily climbing energy source."
" You can do that?" "Aelita" was surprised at this bit of info. " I thought the system wouldn't allow you access."
"Jeremie" smiled. " While it's true that the towers deny me access to their main programs. I found that I can meditate and 'see' Lyoko's structure, and some of it's lesser components in my mind."
" Aelita" nodded. " Like me, it seems you gained more from our switch than was originally believed." she raised an eyebrow. " But how did you know what to do?"
" Jeremie" shrugged. " It...came to me. I just thought of dialing up a connection, and all of a sudden, I was there. I can only look at map layouts, simple status screens, and some basic information about the towers. But not the big things like the anti-virus." "Aelita" thought she detected a hint of sadness in his voice as he continued. " But enough about that, I'm more concerned about the mysterious energy."
" Do you know what it may be?" "Aelita" asked.
" No, but whatever it is, it's growing stronger by the hour, and showing no signs of slowing."
Ulrich whistled softly. " Definitely not good. Do you have any ideas..."
" Mr. Belpois! Open this door now!"
All eyes went to the door as "Aelita" stared in confusion.
" Belpois? Who is that?" she asked, completely oblivious, as Odd and Ulrich quickly opened Jeremie's window.
" It's Jeremie's last name." Yumi stated as she helped "Aelita" to the sill. " Now come on, we've gotta get you to the factory."
" Final warning!" There was the sudden sound of a key in the lock as they heard Jim's voice join the principal's. " Don't worry sir, I'll have the door open in just a sec."
"Aelita" turned back nervously to the group, her foot on the sill.
" Just go." Yumi gestured for her to go. "We'll catch up as soon as we can get a cover story for Jeremie. Speaking of, you better vanish, Jeremie."
" Jeremie" nodded as the screen went blank. Yumi quickly shut down the computer as Odd closed the window behind "Aelita".
The door opened a moment later, admitting the two flustered school personnal, who didn't look too pleased to find Jeremie's room devoid of Jeremie.
"Where is he!?" The principal demanded as his gaze took in the group, settling on Yumi. " And Miss. Ishiyama, what are you doing in the boy's dorm?"
Yumi thought of a list of reasons, quickly narrowing down the list as she kept her gaze even with his. " Well..."
But one person wasn't listening. Jim's gaze immediately went to the window, noticing the scuff marks on the sill. " Sir, I need to check something." Receiving a slight nod from the principal, he ran out the door.
Both Odd and Ulrich silently hoped Aelita would make it.
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"Aelita" continued running, her photogenic memory laying out where she needed to go. Reaching the forest, she quickly glanced around, making sure no one was around. And then removed the manhole cover, replacing it as she descended down the stairs.
Moments later, Jim entered the area, looked around in puzzlement as once again the object of his search eluded him.
Frowning, he turned back to the school.
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" And that's why I need to stay here." "Aelita" had just finished telling "Jeremie" about her near capture by the principal as she sat in the command chair. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich were still creating excuses for "Jeremie's" suddenly departure from the school premises.
"Jeremie" didn't reply.
" Jeremie, are you okay?" "Aelita" asked, concerned at his lack of response.
"Jeremie" was silently examining his hands. "Aelita, how can you stand it?"
" Stand?" "Aelita" didn't understand.
" This inability to touch." he whispered, rubbing his virtual fingers together. The action produced nothing, no sensation of any kind.
"Aelita" stared. She'd never thought of it before. As a virtual being she lacked three of the five human senses, taste, smell, and touch. Only sight and hearing were her default senses. As such, only on her last few visits was she able to experience the formerly unreachable sensations. And truth be told, she enjoyed them immensly. To smell the aroma of a freshly plucked flower, and taste the rich flavor of chocolate. But touch intrigued her the most, to actually feel Jeremie's hand in hers as he showed her the sights of his world, feeling the rough yet delicate texture of his palm, his flesh. It made her feel alive, real.
And now she understood how he felt. For Jeremie, to suddenly lose those three senses probably felt like losing a part of himself. She, on the other hand, had lived so long without them that she'd grown used to the absence.
But now, she found herself speechless at his question.
" I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, Aelita." " Jeremie" said softly as his gaze fell on hers.
"Aelita" blinked. " No, Jeremie. You shouldn't be sorry. I was just, surprised by your question. As to how I stand it, you can't miss what you originally didn't have. I never had them before, so I was used to it. Still, I can honestly say that I'll enjoy these sensations once I'm finally free of XANA's grip."
" Jeremie" smiled. " All the more reason to get things back to normal so I can bring you here for good, and in your own body."
"Aelita" now remembered her other reason for coming. " Jeremie, I want to try something. But I need your help."
" You know I'd do anything for you, Aelita." " Jeremie" smiled.
" Aelita" blushed. " I'd like to try an experiment. To see if I can enter Lyoko as I am. I need you to take over the controls, like I did when you had to go." (1)
" I'll try, but why do you want to?"
" If I can get in, then maybe the tower will recognize my code and allow me to deactivate the tower."
" Jeremie" looked mildly suspicious, but didn't pry. " Hmm, it wouldn't hurt to try. I'll have to do your transfer card as me though, since well, since your body is technically in here already. But if anything goes wrong, I'm pulling you out immediately." Concern laced his voice as he looked into her eyes.
"Aelita" nodded. " Don't worry, I'll be fine." She went to the elevator, riding it to the scanner room as "Jeremie" accessed the scanner program.
Reaching the room, she gazed at the open scanners, and took a deep breath. " Okay, here goes." she said quietly to herself as she entered. The doors closed, sealing her off from the room as she waited for the program to boot up.
"Transfer Jeremie....." " Jeremie's voice echoed through the intercom system.
The sound of the machine warming up did little to relax her as she felt the air current rise around her as she closed her eyes.
" Scanner Jeremie..." There was a long pause, followed by a gasp of fear. " Aborting attempt now!"
"Aelita" felt her body hit the scanner floor as the doors opened. " Jeremie" what's wrong?!" she stood up warily, unsure of what happened.
" You need to get up here, now."
"Aelita" turned to the elevator, riding it without a word and exiting into to the main floor, where "Jeremie's" worried face greeted her. " What happened?" She asked, confused at why he pulled her out, everything had seemed fine. Until she saw her, well his, profile flashing and saw the familar red exclaimation point covering it. " It didn't work." She confirmed dejectedly.
"Jeremie" nodded. " During the scan, multiple errors started scrolling over the avatar card. It seems the system couldn't handle your code in my body, and almost suffered a fatal error. That's why I pulled you out."
" So, I can't enter Lyoko." "Aelita" said quietly. " And you can't deactivate the tower. What can we do?"
" I don't know." "Jeremie" admitted. " XANA really knew what he was doing." he sighed. " I guess I'm going to keep examining the data from the activated tower, maybe something will turn up that will help us. What do you want to do?"
"Aelita" knew what she was going to do, but first she had a question. " Jeremie, when the principal came to your room, he called you Mr. Belpois. Yumi said it was your last name. " She looked confused as she continued. " You never mentioned another name, which should I call you?"
"Jeremie" was suprised. " It's my family name, everyone has them. Yumi's is Ishiyama, Odd's is Robbia, and Ulrich's is Stern." (2)
" What about me? Do I have a 'last' name? What is it's significance?"
"Jeremie" looked thoughtful. " Last names identify your family line, your heritage, so to speak. I was born with it, just like my friends and family. For you though when we gathered the information for your arrival, we gave you the last name Lyoko as a placement name, so as not to arouse suspicion about your origins." (3)
" But I was not born." "Aelita" stated bluntly, her voice sad. " I was created from computer codes and programs, brought into existence without a family."
"Aelita, don't speak like that, as far as I'm concerned, we're your family! Don't ever think otherwise." " And to me you're more than family." he whispered quietly to himself as he saw the uncertainty clouding her eyes disapate.
She gave him that smile he loved so much. " Thanks Jeremie, I'm glad you think of me that way."
"Jeremie" wondered if there was a double meaning to her words as she addressed him again.
" I believe I shall browse some of the tower data as well while I wait for the others to arrive."
" Okay Aelita. Let me know when they come. " The window he was in returned to the familar numerical scrolling as "Aelita" turned to the main screen.
Typing a series of commands, she brought up not the tower info, but the scanner system. " Data recovery." she muttered, bringing up "Jeremie's" scan. After scouring through the lines of code, she sighed. " " I knew it." "Aelita" mused sadly as she watched the confirmation appear on the data screen. "I don't have much time left." The sound of Odd's laughter shook her from her thoughts. She'd have to tell them, but not Jeremie, not yet. She didn't want to worry him more than he already was.
What she didn't know, was that "Jeremie" was conducting a similar search.
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" And so, I hit her with the old " which is smarter line." The elevator doors opened, admitting the rest of the group.
" So, that's why she sent her father after Jeremie." Ulrich nodded in understanding. " You've gotta be more careful. They almost found us out."
"But they didn't. " Odd countered.
" Quiet you two. " Yumi said from behind as she caught a glimpse of "Aelita" face. She didn't look particularly amused, quite the opposite, in fact.
Odd groaned as he recognized the look. " Not more bad news."
"Aelita" smiled apologetically. " I've got bad news, and ah worse news."
" Bad news first, Ei..I mean Aelita." Odd said, still finding it hard to address the blond-haired boy sitting in the command chair as Aelita.
"Aelita" swung the chair around, making sure to keep an eye on "Jeremie's" icon on the map. " As I explained earlier, due to Jeremie and my 'conditions', the tower doesn't recognize Jeremie's coding since it's infused into my body. " "Aelita" adjusted 'her' glasses before continuing. " Also the scanners don't recognize my body scan, creating errors that prevent me from entering Lyoko."
" Meaning?" Odd asked.
" It's simple really, I can't go into Lyoko, and Jeremie can't shut down the activated tower."
" But why did you even try to go into Lyoko?" Yumi asked.
" Actually that's the other bad news. " "Aelita" shifted uncomfortably in 'her' seat. "You see, there's another far more serious problem concerning my well-being here." She glanced at the screen to make sure Jeremie wasn't around, he wasn't.
" Well, what is it?" Ulrich finally spoke up.
" I'm not the only thing that crossed over into Jeremie's body."
Yumi caught on immediately. " The virus."
"Aelita" nodded. " Yes, when XANA switched us, he made sure the virus went with me as well."
" So, what does that mean?" Odd inquired, scratching his head in confusion.
" What it means," "Jeremie's" face appeared onscreen, his face grim. " is that if we don't find some way to deactivate the tower to reverse time before the day ends, she'll die."
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References:
(1): In " Ghost Channel" Aelita took over the computer controls so that Jeremie could enter the false world that XANA created.
(2): I found their last names on a website.
(3): In "Code Earth", Yumi stumbles on trying to think of a last name for Aelita when her parents ask. She finally settles on Lyoko.
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"Laughs" Cliffhanger! Still uncertain as to if the next part will be the last, or if I'll have a fifth chapter. Chapter four is still a ways off though, but I'm working on it. So, what did you think? I tried a balance of humor and seriousness in this chapter. As for the bathroom scene, I'm a girl, so I don't venture into the Men's room, I couldn't really detail it more than that. But I hope the scene was satisfactory enough.
The next chapter brings XANA plans for the two to light. Sorry it took so long, had problems posting. Well, as usual, if you read, please review. I love people's thoughts.