Past and Present

By thesuperdot

Chapter 2: 20 Years

Author's Note: I have just been informed I've spelt some names wrong, namely, Ulrich and Aelita. So sorry, but I haven't written a C:L fic for a while.

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It has now been 20 years since that fateful day. Jeremy has moved on since then.

A few days after it was apparent that something was wrong, and that Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were gone, the police and other officials were called in.

Jeremy stayed as far away from that circus; he was too tormented by his friend's deaths, or rather, imprisonment, to want to help. And for a while, it worked.

Right up until someone realized that the ones who were missing were friends of Jeremy's, and to just that, but close friends.

Jeremy was immediately put in the spotlight, a number of media networks caught wind of what was going on. Small stations, large stations, everyone with the same thing:

"Where were they?"

A number of tales had begun to spawn. The most popular being this:

'In a school somewhere in France, four friends lived near each other. Anyone who had seen them would tell you that there was a bond between them. Not juts any bond, not just friendship. It was more like a war-like bond. You know the kind of bond that happens to the people who experienced the same thing. Something they could relate to and only they can relate to. They would always go somewhere and play, no one could tell where, they took care to cover their tracks. Until one day, three went missing. One remained. What happened to the other? No one knows…'

That tale made the rounds, as well as some rumors. Nasty rumors.

One of which was like so: 'They found something big. One of them got greedy and…' you can figure out the rest.

But no matter how hard the police and officials tried, they could not get answer from Jeremy. He was making a point not to. After all, who'd believe him?

Everything was tried, with the exception of a truth serum, Jeremy's parents were adamant against that. He was only a child!

Eventually, the case was declared cold and closed. But, in the back of everyone's mind, they knew that he knew what really happened. And he did, but who would believe him?

Jeremy was never looked at the same again. But he didn't care, his view was let them think what they want. It didn't matter.

A few weeks pasted, and after a slump in his grades, he decided to do his fullest in classes. His reasoning was that his friends wouldn't want him sulking about.

2 years later he jumped straight to high school. Many were shocked at the sudden bounce back he performed. When they asked him, he would always give the same reply: "My friends would not want me to mourn them; they would want me to live life. So, I will, and I am." Nobody would question him any further.

As soon as he completed high school he had been in college for 2 years and very close to graduating it.

Sure enough, 2 more years later, he graduated. In attendance for his graduation were not only his parents, but Ulrich's, Odd's, and Yumi's. They later said that if he did know, we would have told them. Besides, he had no influence in their disappearance. Afterward, one of the best parties Jeremy had ever been to was held in his honor.

The next 10 years were spent in various colleges, universities, and institutes. Here he absorbed the computer related knowledge. He had no troubles with it, as his high grades and test scores snagged him a place in every last college and such.

Near the end of his 10 year college tour, he created his own Operating System. He called it Jeremy's Operating System, or JOS. On a whim, he sent it to the multi-million dollar companies to see what they thought of it. This kicked off what was to be the 10 of fame.

The response was immediate. His OS was a smash hit! Each company paid him double what the other offered to have him help them. Not only did Jeremy's system work wonders, but the computer industries technology grow 10 xs in one year than it had ever done. All because of Jeremy and his OS.

He was then noticed by the governments. They approached him and asked him to assist them in beta-testing a new GPS system. Jeremy did so, and spotted 87 errors and 203 bugs in the first week; he corrected them and instantly ousted the top experts on the technology.

He also reorganized the entire network in the US CIA, making the network admin look like a novice in the field. He did this to many others, and was given the highest security clearance possible. They knew he was trustworthy, why wouldn't he be? The only thing that kept coming up was the day his friends had disappeared, but other than that, he was clean.

As this continued, he began to do, secret jobs for the military. Jobs such as hacking criminal computers and retrieving crucial data and disguising agents as drug dealers to get mole in the mafia. But Jeremy's logic was that if it kept bad people out of the streets, he had nothing to be ashamed about.

During all of this, Jeremy's raw power with a computer gave him a somewhat of a god-like icon. Soon enough, he had a gathering of cult-like followers and his works were revered throughout the world. Many were compared to the level of Jeremy and soon the J-Standard was introduced in the computer field. The common question being "How do you rate this against Jeremy?"

At the end of 10 years, Jeremy decided to step down from the position of his many jobs and consulting and opt for a more quiet approach. Taking a portion of his vast wealth, he bought a small house not too far from the very school he was taught at. There he took a job as the head of the science department and also as network administrator.

He still helps out the various governments, but only as a beta tester, hardly as a network admin.

But there is one thing he still does to this day. He has kept his promise he made on that fateful day. He still spends as much time as possible trying to figure out how to save his friends. So far, he ahs only made it about 22 percent of the way to a solution, but he still tries.

Our story however has nothing more to do with Jeremy, however. At least, not at the moment.

You see, the wheels of fate were in motion. Four friends have been found at the very school that Jeremy works at, and, although they do not know it, today is the day that the past becomes present.

Four friends, closely resembling the original four have arrived.

And at the moment, two are watching a third stuff his face in the cafeteria.

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Next Chapter Soon! Yeah baby! This is going great, or at least I think so.