Crossed Circuits
By Flying Star
Disclaimer: ' Clicks on keyboard' Invalid password, access denied to rights of Code Lyoko. In other words, I don't own Code Lyoko.
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MystDragon2k: laughs Good to see, and I agree. Here's the next part.
Just Call Me Odd-Girl: Okay, okay, here's the update. Glad you're liking it.
D Wolf Falls: Yes, XANA was very evil, as well as Sissi. As for any big event, I really don't know, I'm still figuring out the end. And here's the next part.
Peachie Bee: You'll just have to see, but not in this chapter. This chapter advances the plot more, and here it is.
Dantheman7777: Ah, so you liked the last name conversation. It just struck me that she never questioned it's significance. Fluff is always good. Here's the next part.
Again, a mixture of seriousness and humor. This may actually become six chapters, depends.
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Chapter four: A Deadly Situation
Silence reigned as Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd took a moment to process the information. "Aelita" merely looked at "Jeremie" sadly.
" But, I thought the virus would only kill you if we kill XANA." Ulrich stated, confused. (1)
" Aelita" looked down. " That's actually only a half-truth. The virus also activates if I stay in your world for too long. That's why I never stayed for long. " she whispered.
" How long do we have?" Yumi asked quietly.
"Aelita" turned away from "Jeremie", surpressing the tears that threatened to fall. " Not long, by my calculations from the last time I crossed over, I was able to stay for nearly ten hours. Jeremie and I switched over seven hours ago. So three, four hours at best."
" How can you be sure that the virus will activate?" Ulrich asked.
Checking my code through the scanner showed that the virus is nearing activation. I'll start feeling unwell about an hour before deletion."
" Really? And then...." Odd spoke quietly, his tone a far cry from the usual exuberance he'd usually display.
" I'll suffer a gradual system shutdown." She didn't look at their stunned faces, only "Jeremie" didn't look surprised.
" Which for us is the equivalent of multiple organ failure." " He said quietly.
"Aelita" turned around. " When did you find out?"
"Jeremie" didn't smile. " I've been studying the virus statistics ever since you first crossed over. I have to know as much as I can about it, in hopes that something in it will show me how to destroy it. But I did some cross referencing the last time you came, when I noticed how fatigued and sickly you looked. That, along with other rather disturbingly similar symptoms seem to match someone suffering congestive heart failure."
" Heart failure?!" Odd asked, alarmed. " You mean like the heart dying?"
"Jeremie's" frown deepened. "Kidney, heart, lungs. It's like a cancer caused by the virus. It'll infect and start killing her internal organs. Think of it as when a computer gets infected with a destructive virus. It destroys the hard drive, basically rendering the machine dead, only this time it's with a human body."
" In other words, the longer I stayed when the virus was active, the more damage it did to my vital components." "Aelita" nodded. " And that's why I always returned to Lyoko when I began to feel sick. Then I'd restore myself in the towers once I got there, healing the damage."
"But what can we do? Without your code to deactivate the tower and no way for you to enter Lyoko...." Yumi let the sentence trail off, not wanting to voice the obvious. But realized she had to as another thought hit her. " But if you're in Jeremie's body and you die, what will happen to Jeremie?"
It was "Aelita's" turn to look grim. " Without a body to return to he'll..."
" I'll remain here, vitualized forever and unable to do anything to stop XANA from destroying both worlds." " Jeremie" finished.
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Again, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich stood in shock.
" Aelita", on the other hand, was staring at "Jeremie". " You knew?" she asked.
" Yes I did. I felt it was odd that you suddenly decided to try to return to Lyoko. So I examined the scanner data as well and found the virus. I know you were trying to keep me from worrying, but I have to know these things, it's not your duty to solve the problem alone."
" Just as it isn't yours, Jeremie." " Jeremie" heard Yumi whisper from behind "Aelita".
" Aelita" nodded. " You've been doing the same, Jeremie. We have to work as a team, and to do that we need to work together."
" Jeremie's" expression softened. " You're right, Aelita, Yumi. I'm sorry."
" No need to apologize, we just have to figure out a solution."
" Can this day get any worse?" Odd said quietly.
" Hate to worry you, but there's more. Because this is Aelita's body, if XANA's monsters kill me, I'll die for real."
" Oh joy." Odd muttered.
" So, what can we do to help?" Yumi asked, feeling helpless herself.
" At the moment, not much. I'm still trying to crack the tower's code. But I'm not having much luck." " Jeremie" sighed. " What are you doing, Aelita?" He asked, noticing that she was typing on the keyboard.
"Aelita" looked up. " I'm running a deeper scan of Lyoko to try to trace the origin of the energy anomaly. Maybe a solution will show itself if we know what we're up against." Her stomach growled, at which Odd smirked.
"Seems you have a use for us after all. And I know a place that sells the juiciest burgers, with every topping imaginable." Odd was practically drooling.
" I'd just prefer a salad." "Aelita" replied, her eyes scanning the screen.
" And well, being virtual, I don't eat." " Jeremie" smiled a little.
" Why don't Yumi and I come with you. It'll be easier for us to make our choices if we see the menu." Ulrich nudged Yumi, who was about to protest, before she noticed his look.
" Sounds good to me." Yumi turned her head away from Ulrich so he couldn't see the blush that crept onto her cheeks. " We'll be back as quickly as we can." she grabbed Ulrich's arm, dragging him to the elevator, as Odd followed close behind, a childish grin on his face.
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In the supercalculator, "Aelita" continued running scans, examining her world as "Jeremie" studied the tower's code structure. Both were equally focused on their tasks, neither speaking until "Aelita" blinked in surprise. Immediately "Jeremie's" eyes focused on her.
" You found something?" He inquired.
" I know what the energy source is." " Aelita" answered as she stopped the system scan.
" Enlighten me."
" Take a look at this." She panned Lyoko's layout around and turned the secondary screen so he could see the structure. " Here's where the energy is at it's strongest, and it's expanding into the other regions. But tell me, what does this remind you of?" She pressed a finger to the information scrolling next to the energy signature.
"Jeremie" stared at the information, instantly recognizing the program that caused he and his friends so much trouble. " XANA." he growled.
"Aelita" nodded. "He's gathering all his resources, because he knows that once I'm deleted, he'll have free reign to cause utter chaos and destruction in Lyoko, and in your world."
"Jeremie" frowned. " Makes sense. And I'll be helpless to stop him because I can't deactivate the infected tower. And therein lies our problem. With your code out there and not in here, I'm not sure...."
" Aelita's" eyes lit up. " Jeremie, that's it!" She quickly began typing in the system, her hands flying across the keyboard as she went through multiple files faster than even "Jeremie" could ever hope to, her mind 'seeing' all the information as it flashed before her eyes.
"What are you doing, Aelita?" " Jeremie" was confused.
"Aelita" didn't look up. " My code, if I can download my code to your body. Maybe, just maybe you can fool the system into thinking you're me just long enough to deactivate the tower."
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At the same time, deep within Lyoko, a smokey, black mass snarled in anger. The sprite was too close to foiling it's plans. It needed to 'correct' this problem. The darkness reached out, following the line of code the pest was typing in, moving even faster than her.
Finding what it was looking for, it struck!!
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" Brilliant Aelita! You know that's why I l...." "Jeremie" paused, realizing what he was about to say.
Judging from "Aelita's" reddened cheeks, she'd heard his words. Her eyes, however, conveyed something else as she finally looked up. " I've run into a problem. My profiles are corrupted."
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Problem solved...
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Odd took a bite of his X-tra large double melt burger, juggling the bag with the rest of his meal and "Aelita's" salad as he eyed his two friends. Yumi and Ulrich were paying more attention to each other than the fast-food employee, who was TRYING to get their order. Who knows what they were talking about, but figuring he had to be the mediator, he wedged his way between the two, raising his hand.
" She'll have a number one with a diet, and he'll have the number three with the same." The two turned to glare at him. " Hey, you're the ones who couldn't decide." He shrugged, picking up their order and starting back to the factory. Ulrich and Yumi merely exchanged amused glances and followed.
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"Aelita" had just told "Jeremie" about the corruption, when the three Lyoko warriors exited the elevator. " Jeremie" looked up from the adjacent screen.
"Aelita" gave them a worried look as Odd passed out the food." I may of figured out a way to allow Jeremie to imput my code. But something, most likely XANA, has corrupted my profiles, which in turn has rendered my code unreadable by the system. And without the neccesary codes that now lie within this body, I'm not sure how I can download..."
" Hook up my laptop, it's in personal file twenty-six A, password Aelita."
Everyone looked at "Jeremie" who was blushing as much as Aelita's virtual form would allow. " I..that is, it was during the early days when I first starting working on Aelita's materialization program, that I made a copy of her profile and codes and transferred them to my laptop. It was for...um.."
" You don't need to say anything, Einstein. " Odd winked.
" Aelita" smiled at his 'confession', but then frowned. " One problem though, your laptop's still at the school."
" No problem, I'll get it." Odd said. " "Aelita", I need Jeremie's key."
"Aelita" tossed him the key as he wasted no time in running to the elevator.
" I'll be back before you can say "Kiwi's breath can kill a moose"."
"Kiwi'....mph!" "Aelita" looked at Yumi quizzedly as Odd, Ulrich, and even "Jeremie" started laughing. "What?" Her voice still muffled by the tall girl's hand.
"Jeremie" managed to speak between giggles. " He didn't mean it literally, Aelita. Remember what a 'figure of speech' is?"
"Aelita" nodded before comprehension flooded her features. "Oh." She blushed in embarrassment as Yumi removed her hand.
" Don't worry, Aelita. I think we all needed a good laugh." Yumi said as the room calmed down.
"Agreed." "Jeremie" affirmed, while Odd and Ulrich nodded.
"Aelita" smiled as Yumi motioned for Odd to go. He wasted no time in entering the elevator before realizing something. ' I hope I don't run into Sissi.' He thought, his good mood lessening at the prospect of being revisited by the queen of pompous attitudes.
Back in the supercalculator, "Jeremie" just had to ask. " That reminds me, just what excuse did you think up for my absence?"
Yumi and Ulrich exchanged mischievious glances. " Well.....
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"Chicken pox?! You expect me to believe that?!"
Odd winced as Sissi stared him down. After retrieving Jeremie's laptop, he'd decided to check on Kiwi.
Big mistake.
The resident devious diva had been lying in wait, and was now standing in front of his only means of escape.
" Actually, I thought you would. " He shifted Jeremie's laptop to his other arm. " But I guess I can't fool you, Sissi." He remarked, looking around frantically for any way out. And he found the means, in the form of a small, white, ball of fur that just so happened to be nudging it's way out of the closet. " I can see you're really busy, I'll just let you go about your..."
" No way! You're telling me everything, right now!"Sissi advanced on Odd to the point where he was sitting on his own bed. "So, do you have anything to say to me?" She leaned over, unaware of the tiny pooch behind her.
Odd smiled. " Just two things. What a day to be wearing a skirt, and Kiwi, operation P!"
The dog didn't hesitate, leaping at the girl's unprotected backside, going under her skirt, and sinking his teeth into the elastic band of her underwear, before ripping the undergarment off and running out the door.
Sissi screeched, jumping over a foot in the air as she whirled around, seeing the tail end of the panty-snatching thief. " Oooh, come back here with those!!" she yelled, completely forgetting about Odd as she ran after Kiwi.
Odd silently thanked Kiwi, promising that if things turned out well that he'd buy the dog a nice t-bone steak. He quickly left the room, watching for any signs of Jim or Sissi. He could still hear Sissi's infuriated cries, but luckily no Jim popped out to stop him, and Kiwi kept Sissi away from where he was at. He exited the double doors, running to the factory at top speed.
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Four sets of eyes turned to the elevator as Odd stepped off, his chest still heaving from his run.
" Wow, Odd. It looks like you went toe to toe with Jim." Ulrich commented.
" Let's just say that if time doesn't get reversed, Kiwi and I are going to have to lay low for awhile."
" Why's that?" Ulrich asked.
Odd whispered something into his ear, before handing the laptop to "Aelita". The brown-haired boy quickly went from confused to flushed. " You were never going to try that on Yumi, were you?" The glare he gave Odd was scathing enough to melt solid steel.
Odd held up his hands. " Never, it was strictly for emergency purposes of the Sissi kind."
Yumi stayed quiet, while "Aelita" smiled, amused at their antics as she connected the machine to the system, bringing up her file.
" Wait, what if XANA attacks this profile?" Odd asked.
"Aelita" continued typing, bringing up a schematic of her body with scrolling lines of code. " Don't worry, Odd, I've already put multiple masks in place. If XANA tries to look, he'll only find a harmless file. So, now that we have the code, we have a chance. Jeremie, I need you to get to the nearest tower, which is one point five miles to the south of you."
"Don't worry about imputting the code." She said quickly as she saw his questioning look. " It won't be neccesary. Once there, stand in the center of the upper platform. I can download the code from there. But I must warn you, what we're about to do is highly unstable, and very risky. The best thing that could happen is the code will reside within you long enough for you to deactivate the tower. The worst would be total code corruption resulting in permanent deletion. Do you still want to do it?" Part of her wanted him to say yes, the other part wished he would find another way.
"Jeremie's" gaze never wavered as he looked her straight in the eye. " Yes."
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References/Notes:
(1) In "False Start" if XANA was shut down, Aelita would die as well. But that was basically it. I altered that notion a little since it certainly makes things more urgent if staying too long would do the same.
Chapter four is done. The next chapter is already in the writing stage, and I'm hoping to get this entire story done before Christmas. Not sure if I'll meet that goal, but I'll try. So, what'd you think? As usual, if you read, please review. I like people's thoughts.
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BONUS: Chapter 4 tidbit
And then he was soaring, floating, falling. The sudden rush of air ruffling the sleeves of his shirt as his body plunged over the edge. He stared at the rapidly approaching ground with a detached sort of fascination and horror, wondering briefly if he'd gone insane.
After all he had just WILLFULLY jumped off a cliff. The more he thought about it, the less sane it sounded.
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