AUTHOR'S NOTE:
General:
caprice (kah –prees) noun 1 a whim. 2 a piece of music in a lively fanciful style. (source: The Oxford Paperback Dictionary © Oxford University Press, 1994)
The caprices are individual and isolated scenes, varying in time, space, and nature. They are not meant to be complete stories, but relate to larger stories that are usually unfinished and possibly even unstarted. They are generally independent of each other, though one may eventually refer to another. Within themselves they are each intended to be coherent; random silliness is reserved for "Somewhat too silly", which may or may not be expanded in a manner similar to which I intend to expand the caprices.
Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is the property of Antefilms Ltd., to which I am not affiliated in any way beyond being a fan of their product…
Note for Caprice #1:
An extract from MacBeth by William Shakespeare is used toward the end of this tale. It is misspelled, as are most words spoken by Martha, to reflect how she speaks.
Caprice #1:Secret Order
Despite the autumn chill, Herb was sweating as he sat on the bench at the edge of the courtyard. If Sissy found out he was meeting with mechabluesgirl, she'd throw him out of her gang and her life forever. It didn't matter that bluesgirl ("Martha," he thought, "I have to remember to call her by her name…") was a fellow robotics enthusiast and nothing more; Sissy despised her as much as she despised Odd and would disassociate herself from anyone who associated with her.
He thought he saw Martha appear at the dormitory door, but at the moment the girl appeared in the doorway, he heard a voice behind him say, "Hi, Herb!"
He whipped around, grimacing. He realized in disgust that he was not mistaken; the voice he heard really was the voice of his hated rival, Jeremy, who had stolen the teachers' attention from him just as his friend Ulrich had stolen Sissy's.
"What are you doing here?" he spat.
"Martha asked me to meet her here. She said she had a big idea she wanted to discuss with me."
Herb wondered what the big idea was of inviting Jeremy to their meeting. What was she trying to pull? He was going to give her a piece of his mind when she…
"Hi, Jeremy! Hi, Herb! Glad t'see ya both made it!"
Martha's approach had been even more silent than Jeremy's and she had surprised them both.
"Hi, Martha!" replied Jeremy.
"Uh… ehm… hi, Martha" added Herb.
"So," said Jeremy, "what's the idea you wanted to tell us about?"
"A simple idea, Jeremy. A simple plan. Jus' global domination, that's all."
"Global domination?" asked Herb. "What do you mean by that?
"Well, th'last time I checked, 'global domination' meant rulin' the world."
The same thought flashed through both boys' minds at the same time: "Did she say. 'ruling the world'?" They diverged greatly from there, however.
Herb wondered if she really thought they were World Challenge Cup material. Even if she only meant the Teen Challenge, it was an honour to think that they might be world-class robotics competitors.
Jeremy, on the other hand, was not sure he wanted to involve himself in projects of global domination. His life was already dedicated to stopping the global destruction that XANA kept planning. No matter how tempting it sounded, he didn't have time to fuel this girl's ambition. His inattention during his simple contest with Herb led to a situation that nearly cost Ulrich his life.
"Do you really think we can win the World Challenge Cup, Martha?"
"Maybe nut right now, Herb," replied Martha, "but with th'experience we gain winnin' th'National Comp'tition we c'n go on t'prepare fer the Cont'nental Cup un use that experience t'go fer the World Challenge Cup."
"Well, I can help with ideas and preparation here," said Jeremy, "but I don't think I'll be able to go to the contests."
"It's not like we need you anyway!" said Herb.
"Dun' be too sure 'bout that." interjected Martha. "Three top minds'r better'n two."
"What do we need him for? He's excess baggage!"
"Well, if I r'member c'rectly, that 'excess baggage' beat you when you went against'm."
"What? I never told you that? How did you know?"
"Y'told us 'bout the contest at the forum. I went t'observe. I observed yer 'bot, 'Iron Sissy.' Crude, but effective, sorta like the real thing. I observed his 'bot, 'Kiwi II.' Hated it on sight, but it wuz far better finished than yerz. I observed a jest'bout even match 'tween two great 'bots that Jeremy managed t'win even with yer 'trick move.'
"We need Jeremy," she continued. "Even if only fer final assembly, which he beats you hands down at. But it's always good t'have someone else look at yer ideas t'see what might be wrong with'em and what might be dun better with'em. Un he prob'ly has ideas uv his own that could be better'n ours, or at least good startin' points…"
"Forget it!" shouted Herb. "If Jeremy's in, then I'm out! Jeremy's not with my gang!"
"Neither'm I. So wut?"
Herb whined.
"Tell me this, Herb: wut's yer gang ever dun fer you?"
"Huh?"
"All I see 'bout yer gang is you and that dummy Nicholas standin' in Sissy's shadder. What d'ya get out uv bein' a whippin' boy fer a stuck-up dummy? All she ever duz is make you feel bad 'bout yerself. D'ya really need that? Or d'ya want to rule the world?"
"I… I… Well, what about Jeremy, huh? Why don't you pick on his gang while you're at it?"
"'Cuz his gang en like that. I observe, eh? An' what I observe 'bout Jeremy's gang is that they are together. Maybe too together. They're nut so much like a gang as like a secret order held together by a blood oath. Wutever binds them together is sumth'n more than friendship."
Jeremy blushed and grimaced on hearing this. "She's too close!" he thought. "A little more 'observing' and she'll observe her way right to the factory! We'd better be very careful from now on…"
Herb was also grimacing. "I… I'll have to think about it…"
"Good;" she said, "do that. While yer at it, think of yer ideas fer a championship-winnin' robot, too, so we c'n discuss'em next time. When next shall we meet again, in thunder, lightnin' or in rain? Er same time t'morrer?"
"I'll try for the same time tomorrow" replied Jeremy.
"I… I'll think about it," said Herb again.
"Right, that's it then. T'morrer, same time, same place. See ya!" Martha walked away.
"'Bye" replied Herb.
"'Bye, Martha" replied Jeremy.
Herb and Jeremy walked away in different directions, lost in their thoughts, which were also traveling in different directions.