"So you are telling me that this XANA thing is taking over the world?" I asked.
"Trying to. XANA is a computer virus. We have to stop him from taking over Earth by going into Lyoko and deactivating towers -" I cut Jeremie off.
"Towers?" I think I'm lost…
"Yeah. In Lyoko there are four regions. Mountain, glacier, desert, and forest. Wherever there is an activated tower, Aelita, the girl who is stuck in Lyoko all the time, goes into it and fixes it. We all have to go to Lyoko and fight monsters so she gets to the tower safely. And when she does fix it, it sends everything back in time." Odd said.
"But what does any of this have to do with me?"
"We aren't sure yet, but we do know you are a part in this somehow. When we go back in time, no one but us recalls any of the events that happened. But somehow, you did. We are going to find out why you remembered. But we will do that later," said Jeremie. I thought it over for a moment.
"Okay. I got that. But what has Lyoko got to do with anything? If this computer virus is such a horrible thing and is trying to take over our world, why don't you just shut it down?"
"Because if we shut Lyoko down now, we will kill Aelita in the process. Aelita is part of XANA. So we have to materialize her to make her come to our world," Jeremie said with a smile on his face, "I am still trying to figure out a program to do that. But I think I'm getting closer to the materialization."
"Come on. We'll show you the factory tomorrow. It's getting late and I still have homework to do." Ulrich said. We all said our goodbyes and went to our own rooms and Ulrich walked Yumi home.
The next day after classes, Odd, Yumi, and Jeremie took me to the factory. Ulrich had detention with Jim because he played a prank on Jim by putting rats in the soccer ball bag.
The way we had to get to this factory was through the forest. We walked for about ten mintues when they stopped suddenly. I looked down and saw a trap door.
"Woah. This is so cool. And no one else in the whole school knows about it?"
"Nope. So you can't go telling anyone about okay Red?" Odd asked. I nodded my head. When Yumi opened up the door I saw it led down into the sewer. I gave her a skeptical look, but she just climbed right down.
"Ladies first!" Odd joked. I laughed and climbed down. It was cold down here and it kind of smelled. Once everyone was down, I noticed they were all grabbing a skateboard and Jeremie grabbed a scooter.
"Do you know how to skateboard Jamie?" Yumi asked.
"Not really well but I know how to coast," I ginned sheepishly. Odd handed me a skateboard. "Here, you can use Ulrich's. Tomorrow we will go into town and buy you one. You're gunna need one." I jumped on the board. Truth be told, I wasn't the best skateboarder. I can barely turn, but from what I saw, the passageway didn't look too windy. Yumi and Jeremie started to go ahead. I pushed off with my foot and went right behind them. I was a little slow at first but caught up pretty quickly. Pretty soon we arrived at another ladder leading out of the sewer.
We dropped of the skateboards and scooter and climbed up the ladder. When I climbed up (with the help of Odd) I saw we had ended up on a bridge. There was an old run-down building in front of us.
"Welcome to the factory Jamie!" Said Jeremie. What have I gotten myself into? We started to walk towards the building.
Once inside, I saw it was a total mess. Pieces of machinery lay scattered everywhere and it looked like the ceiling would gave. The floorboards gave a little squeak when we stepped on them. Yumi, Odd, and Jeremie had led me to a dead end. I looked over the edge and saw about a twenty-foot drop.
"What now?" I asked, "We can't jump we'd break out legs!" I wasn't much for heights. They were one of my fears.
"Relax Jamie. See those ropes? We have to swing down. See?" Yumi jumped and slid down the ropes. "It's easy! Try it!" Yeah, a piece of cake.
"I know it looks scary but it really is easier than it looks. Here, watch me." Odd leaped into the air and caught the rope with ease. Swinging down, he met Yumi below. I sighed. Well, here goes nothing.
I ran and jumped. Screaming, I caught the rope and slid down. Wow. That was a major rush! Jeremie appeared beside me. Odd laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. "You should have seen your face." He imitated me and laughed all over again. I glared at him. Hey, that was a pretty big accomplishmet for me thank you very much!
In front of us looked like an old elevator. Jeremie pushed the button and the huge doors opened. The elevator didn't look safe, but I trust them. We clambered into the small room and the doors closed again. Jeremie punched in a code and it took us down about three floors. By now I was a bit skeptic.
"You guys aren't lying to me are you? If you are just playing a joke and are going to leave me down here in this building and I'm not going to find my way back then you can just-" I cut myself off. The elevator doors have opened and what I saw before my eyes was amazing.
In the middle of the room I saw a huge structure. It looked like a hologram of some kind. Beside it was a huge computer with three screens and a keyboard. I gave a little gasp.
"Jamila, welcome to the control center of Lyoko. This is where I can see what's happening anywhere in Lyoko, transfer Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich to Lyoko, and see where the activated towers are." Jeremie stated. I walked around the room. It was so big!
"So this is Lyoko? And these are the regions?" I asked, looking at the map.
"Yep. That's where I can see where you are."
"What is in the center?"
"I haven't figured that out yet…"
I looked towards the computer. "This is the supercomputer. I work on here while the others are on Lyoko." Jeremie sat down. "Aelita? Aelita, can you hear me?" Jeremie put on a headset and started typing. A screen appeared with the face of a girl with pink hair and pointy ears. She spoke. "I'm here Jeremie. Is there a problem?" Her voice sounded soft.
"No no problem. Remember I told you about that girl that remembered the XANA attack? Well, we decided to bring her to the factory. Her name is Jamila. She could probably help you on Lyoko." Aelita turned to face me.
"Hello. Nice to meet you, my name is Aelita." I stared at her. She was talking to me?
"Uh, hi Aelita. I'm Jamie…" This was weird. I was talking to a computer program!
"I'm glad that you are here. We need an extra person on Lyoko. Sometimes it's hard to get
everyone here and to help. There have been a lot of monsters lately." Monsters? Huh?
"Um, oops? We kind of left out that little detail. You see on Lyoko, we have to fight XANA's monsters. It's not that hard but when you have a lot of them, it becomes a bit tricky." Odd stated. You know, I kind of wish I wasn't here right now… I looked towards Yumi.
"You fight too?"
"Yeah we all have to. It's not as easy as it sounds."
"It sounds like a computer game you play at an arcade."
"Yeah that is kind of the idea except you are the actual player and not behind the controls."
"I think I'm having second thoughts…"
"Jamie it isn't as scary as it seems, believe me. When I first heard of Lyoko and was transferred for the first time, I was scared out of my mind. But you get used to it! Come, let's go see the scanners." Odd said. We said goodbye to Aelita and went back into the elevator.
We went down another two floors and stepped out. There were about three gigantic tubes connected to a million wires that crisscross between each other and up into the ceiling. I walked up to one and touch it. It was cold. Suddenly it opened. I screamed and ran behind Odd. He laughed and grabbed my hand. What! Why am I blushing?
"Step in Red. See what it's like. Don't worry, the doors won't close," he said. I slowly let go from his grasp and stepped in. It was really bright. I closed my eyes to see what it would be like to be closed in these things. I started to get claustrophobic. I'm not great with tight spaces. I opened my eyes and looked around inside. It was about two feet wide and eight feet high. I stepped out.
"So those things put you on Lyoko?" I asked. Yumi nodded. "The first trip is always the worst. It leaves you exhausted when you come back to Earth." Great. I'm liking this already (not).
"Guys, I think it's time to head home. It's already eight o'clock and we missed dinner." Jeremie said. I couldn't agree more.
We went back to the first floor and down the manhole again to the sewer. Riding back to the forest I thought what it was going to be like from now on. Was I going to be part of Lyoko now? Or did they just want to show me so I knew why I wasn't having déjà vu? Does XANA attack all the time?
Before I could think of any more questions, we arrived at the ladder. I placed my skateboard up on the wall and climbed up the ladder. I was silent the whole walk towards the school.
"Don't worry about a thing, Jamie. If you have any more questions just ask us. We will help you one hundred percent." Odd said. I looked at him and smiled. The moonlight made his face pale. His eyes danced in the light while they were locked with mine. Thank god it was dark out so he didn't see me blush.
"Thanks Odd."
Once I got back up to my dorm and closed my door, I sighed. This is going to be one hell of a crazy year, that much I'm sure of.