DISCLAIMER: I do not own code Lyoko. Only the characters I created myself.

UNIT 1: BIRTH

November 5, 2005

IN THE BEGINNING

It was over, but not over.

The trips to Lyoko, Fighting Xana on his own terms, the restless nights of nervous anticipation of his next move, it had ended. Though Jeremy and his friends had won the battle and rescued Aelita, their new friend, Xana was still out there in the world somewhere. And they did not know what would be his next move. He now realized they had yet to win the war.

Jeremy's gaze drifted out the window to his friends. Those four were his best friends at Kadic Academy. Ulrich and Odd were practicing soccer on the field. Yumi and Aelita were doing schoolwork on the bleachers. Of course he was right where he liked to be most, at his computer. He had been working on a special program that would be capable of tracking the newly liberated Xana, but so far, no success. It was as if Xana had just vanished.

He relaxed for a moment, letting his mind slip. He remembered back to just three days earlier, when it had all happened. In a single day, Xana had escaped his virtual prison, Aelita the same, but not before the sacrifice of her father, the late Franz Hopper. Now they were without any apparent direction and without a clue as to where their nemesis could be.

Still it was only a matter of time before Xana made a move. The mystery was what would he do? How would he attack? Would they be able to stop him? Jeremy hoped that they would be able to.

For the first time in a long time, they had little else to do but to continue with their schoolwork and their lives.

On the soccer field, Odd was playing his hardest. He and Ulrich were tied 2-2, and Ulrich had the ball. Odd was struggling to keep up. Ulrich was rapidly approaching the field goal-

And Odd intercepted the ball, tripping Ulrich and making the tie-breaking shot, all in one move.

Odd walked over to Ulrich, helping him up.

"I guess I won."

"I guess you're just lucky," was Ulrich's reply.

"So, now that I have finally Beat the great Ulrich Stern, what else do you want to do?"

"Let's take a break for the moment."

"More like for the day." Odd replied.

"Whatever."

"I know why you want to give up. You just don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your girlfriend Yumi."

"She is not my girlfriend."

"If you say so, but I still think you are," Odd remarked

"Now that I think about it, I wonder where Jeremy is."

"Maybe the girls know."

He and Odd walked across the field to where Yumi and Aelita sat on the bleachers, talking closely. He had not seen Jeremy since breakfast and wondered if either of them did. Aelita was saying something to Yumi.

"-And then he gave me this wonderful dress to wear to the School Dance next week. It is beautiful. I'd think you'd-"And then she noticed the boys walking up.

"Oh ladies, do you know what Jeremy has been up to lately?" Odd called over to them.

Aelita spoke up. "Last I saw him, he was still in his room working on the program to track Xana."

"I wanted to ask him if he was having any success with it," replied Ulrich

"He has been there all day, working nonstop. He was the same way yesterday, hardly even leaving his room. I'm starting to get worried about him."

"Maybe we should go talk to him. Cheer him up a little."

"Yumi looked over to Odd. "Maybe you're right. "We should go talk to him. He would certainly need the company. Especially after all he's been through."

At that moment Odd's stomach growled.

"And he would need the food too," was his remark to that. "It's almost lunchtime."

"Then what are we waiting for," Aelita said, smiling. "Let's go find him."

And with that, they hurried toward the school building. As Ulrich climbed the steps, he stopped for a moment. He had a weird sensation that someone somewhere was watching them, closely. He looked around, but except for a few groups of schoolkids, there was no one in the area watching him.

"Hey Ulrich what's wrong. Why'd you stop?" Odd had noticed him looking around him.

"It's nothing. C'mon, let's go." At that they entered Kadic.

Little did Ulrich know, He and his friends had been watched, and were still. Parked next to a gas station across the street from the school sat a large van painted out as a news van from a local TV station. If the particularly observant would have noticed, they would have seen that its antennae and satellite dish were much too large for it to be just a news van. And they would also have noticed that the driver and passenger were not reading the newspapers propped on the dashboard, but were concerned with other matters at the moment. The Driver was looking through a pair of large, high-powered binoculars toward the school. The Passenger was fingering a small keypad fixed to a laptop computer in his lap. With the movement of his fingers, the satellite array atop the van moved as well.

"Okay, I think they're probably moving to Blue's room. I'm transferring feeds to the bugs, now." A small click and buzz could be heard in the cargo area where shelves of sensitive electrical equipment lay. On top of the van the dish moved slightly.

A new window appeared on the laptop's screen. It showed an insect's eye view of a room inside the school. In it was a boy leaning back in his chair, staring at a computer monitor.

In the van's cab, a small satellite phone rang. The Driver put down his binoculars and answered it.

"Well, if it isn't T-Bone. Why are you calling us directly?" the Passenger looked up from his work, stunned, and swung his gaze to the driver. "What is the matter-"

The Driver stopped for a moment. Then his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"What do you mean something's happening?... At Miami? What the hell?" another pause. The Driver was clearly disturbed. "Okay, I understand. All agents are being pulled back to the Safehouse until further notice from the top." He hung up. "This is just frickin' great."

"What's going on?" Asked the Passenger.

"Air Force fricking One, that's what's up. It went down en route to Miami, with the President aboard."

"Holy Shit!" was the Passenger's immediate reply.

"That's not the half of it. They're thinking it has something to do with our little operation here. That it has something to do with," he glanced in the direction of the school, "Them."

They sat there, letting it sink in. "What do we do?" the Passenger asked.

We're going back to the safehouse, that's what. And wait for further orders."

"I understand." The Passenger turned off his laptop and closed it.

The Driver then solemnly started the van and sped out of the parking lot.