The Two Faces of Evil
Part II of The Search For Franz Hopper
8: A Message in a Bottle

Disclamier: I do not own Code Lyoko
Everyone was worried about what XANA could do and what he just did, but they managed to sleep, except Jeremie. He began to recall old memories about the factory like when he first received contact from Aelita or when he got trapped between the worlds. He thought about it for a while, even about rebuilding the place. But considering it took Franz some seven years to complete it as well as Jermeie who spent quite a bit of time on the many programs he made, he thought it would be impossible. He also began to doubt Franz would help him create again something he hated and wished to destroy. Jermeie fiddled with his laptop for about a half-an-hour to see if the supercomputer miraculously made it through the explosion. His computer was more powerful but since the power was still out and his laptop didn't receive any signal, he finally went to sleep.

I found it...task completed...

"What? Huh..." cried Jermeie as he woke up. "Must've been a dream."

"Jeremie!" called who sounded like Aelita knocking on the door. "Jeremie wake up! You're late for breakfast!"

He recognized the voice. "Give me a sec. I'll be right there", he replied.

He got dressed and went opened the door to see Aelita waiting just outside.

"Good morning", she said as they began to walk. "Sleep in?"

"Not really", he replied. "I didn't sleep that much."

"I can see why. You're worried sick about him aren't you?"

"Yeah..."

The two arrived in the cafeteria and got their breakfast. When they got to the table, Odd had already finished his breakfast. Ulrich was still eating.

"So what's up?" asked Odd.

"The factory", replied Jeremie. "It's gone now remember?"

"Shouldn't XANA be dead now then?" asked Ulrich.

"Not quite", said Jeremie. "A part of him may be outside of the supercomputer. Any part of him inside the supercomputer is gone now, or at least I think so."

"You think so?" asked Aelita. "How could he possibly have survived an explosion that big?"

"I don't know", replied Jeremie in a somewhat frustrated voice. "What a mess. We really didn't need the factory to stop XANA after he freed himself, but data from Lyoko was always important. for now we can only take defense and let things unfold."

The group continued to eat their breakfasts. Eventually the bell rang and it was time for class. Time went by fairly slowly that day and everyone wanted the day to end. An hour felt like an eternity, but first period was finally over.

"Wow that was long", commented Ulrich. "How much science can you learn in one day? Odd you awake yet?"
"Yeah kinda. That was a nice nap. Lucky no one caught me."

The group found Yumi outside in the open area between the buildings sitting on a bench. Everyone seemed really tired, not from last night but rather from class.

"My class took forever", said Yumi. "I almost fell asleep too it was so long."

"Same here", Jeremie replied. "Odd actually did fall asleep though."

They began to talk. Nothing about the factory was mentioned but they had a few laughs here and there. But meanwhile in Jeremie's room, the computer he turned off turned itself on, and out of the monitor came a black ooze that resembled a specter. It moved out of the room silently. Then the bell rang and it was time for class again.

This class felt longer than the first one to the gang for some reason. But once the class was over it was time for lunch. No one would mind having a long break.

"This day keeps getting longer and longer", said Odd.

"Yeah my head hurts", said Ulrich.

"You okay?" asked Yumi.

"I'm fine", replied Ulrich. "Bad day I guess."

After the gang finished eating they went to the soccer field. Jeremie went to his room to get his laptop and caught up with the others. When they got there, Odd challenged Ulrich to a game of soccer and the game was on. Jeremie scanned his computer for viruses and the tried the superstar to see if Lyoko was online. The superstar didn't run since Lyoko was gone, but the virus scan found picked up something bothering Jeremie's computer and his laptop through the network connection.

"Guys I need to go to my room for a sec", said Jeremie.

"Okay sure", replied Yumi. "See a."

Jeremie went off to his room alone and found that his computer was very damaged and bugged. He tried running a few programs but they didn't open. He searched for the virus but didn't find anything, but while searching he found many things on his hard drive to be very altered or deleted.

"Oh no, what's wrong with this thing!" said Jeremie.

He called Aelita and told her to meet him in his room to help him.

"Something wrong?" Aelita asked.

"Lots", said Jeremie. "I can't lay a finger on how this happened but I'd imagine it's a big virus. A Trojan or worm I'm guessing."

"Well did you find the virus itself?"

"That's the thing, I can't find it."

"Then I don't think I can help...ever think XANA could be the cause?"

"I doubt he'd attack my commuter...wait a second..."

Then Jeremie recalled the voice that called to him one night.

"Did you think of something just now?" Aelita asked.

"No nothing", Jeremie replied. "But I've been wondering if XANA is a virus then he should be a file. When he's not in the real world."

"Either way he's still data", said Aelita. "Nothing more than memory."

"Actually I think I just got an idea. There's something on my computer, just hidden and encrypted probably. If I can find it then problem solved."

"Good, let's get back to the others then."

The two went back to the field where Odd and Ulrich were still playing each other.

"Something bad happened huh?" Yumi asked.

"Nothing big", replied Jeremie. "Just a virus. But I'm gonna have to find a way to fix it."

Jeremie was still wondering what that voice was saying, but nevertheless he tried to enjoy the rest of the day. Then he realized something.

If the factory was destroyed, then XANA might have lost the keys to Lyoko, making him bound to Lyoko. But since he's not dead most likely, the keys still are somewhere. So maybe I was right about him splitting into two...

Then the bell rang. The last class of the day came but like the rest of the day before that class it went by slowly. What made it worse was that it was music class and all they did was listen to the teacher demonstrate a few notes and chords and play a song. Again an hour felt like an eternity, but when the bell rang the gang was the first to dash out of the classroom. Odd felt beat so he went to his room, Jeremie and Aelita wanted to go to Franz's place, and Yumi and Ulrich wanted to go out somewhere for a few hours. Odd was right to think it finally happened.

When Aelita and Jeremie reached the Hermitage, Franz was already home and the two found him in the living room reading. On the way there Jeremie told Aelita about his epiphany on XANA and they were there to tell him about that and the voice.

"Must be true", said Franz. "It seems logical. The keys to Lyoko are data as well so if XANA loses them, the part of him in the real world is done for and the data form of XANA will be back to his normal self from before. You never know if XANA is on your computer too."

"That's what Aelita suggested and I bought it as a viable explanation", said Jeremie. "But it was only a virus is what I thought."

"That's pretty scary", said Aelita. "I didn't think it was possible when I said that."

"It will be scary and crazy if what you said is right", said Jeremie. "And do you think we can rebuild the supercomputer?"

"That's gonna take a while", replied Franz. "Probably impossible. I don't really remember how I did it. It's not like I have any schemata for the supercomputers. It was a military project so the government has the documents most likely, otherwise they're long gone. But that XANA. Locks the door shut, but leaves the window wide open."

"Why do you say that?" asked Jeremie.

"Think about it for a second", replied Franz. "XANA's most likely very weak after you killed him off at the factory when he was that kid who was supposed to be a student at Kadic. So he's either hiding or finding ways to gain power."

"How would he gain power?" asked Aelita. "The return in time function's gone and the keys don't do much but give him access codes to Lyoko."

"So he's hiding then?" said Jeremie.

"From what she just deduced, yes", replied Franz.

They talked about XANA for a few minutes longer and then went back to school to figure out what's going on. For now Jeremie's laptop was the only safe computer to use until he finds a way to get rid of the thing eating away at his other computer.

Time passed and it was eventually late at night around nine. Everyone was in their rooms and ready to go to sleep, except Jeremie. Once again he was busy searching, typing and clicking on his mouse and keyboard to find the bug. He gave up after an hour or so and went to sleep after he turned the computer off.

A few hours passed, and the monitor turned back on. A window opened with nothing but black in it. The monitor remained on for a few seconds and it turned off.

...Nothing...curses...

You guys were probably expecting this earlier, sorry about the wait, I was kind of busy the past week. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it and I'd like to hear what you think about the story so far. Thx. R&R