This chapter was written by me and edited by AeroJester203! Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is owned by MoonScoop. I only own Lila, Mary is owned by AeroJester203.
Author's note: There have been a few updates in the previous chapters. Nothing significant other than the recreation of the design on the time machine in the Prologue. And an added detail or two of the damaged time machine in Xana Awakens Part 1.
A poll is now live to decide what Mary's power's should be on Lyoko. Or you can post your suggestion by pressing the review button. I'll take them into consideration.
Please Enjoy!
In dream state
POV Lila's
I'm around the age of eight as my father starts to explain Lyoko, Xana, and the possibilities of time travel in full. There was one day where I remember he first explained time travel to my fragile little mind.
"Lila, this may be difficult for you to understand, but the world won't always be in the state that it is now," my father says as he is in his lab.
"How do you plan on fixing Xana then?" I ask curiously.
"I'm going to build a time machine. If I travel back in time, and become part of the events to make a new future, then this timeline won't happen."
"Um… if it won't happen, what happens to me?"
"You'll grow up in a new timeline. Where there's no devastating destruction that Xana displays every day. Where… where your mother and the rest of our family may still be alive."
I furrow my brow in thought and add, "And you. What will happen to you?"
"Hypothetically, if I become part of the events of the new timeline there are two possibilities coinciding with two theories. According to the grandfather paradox, I disappear. My existence from this future, that Xana has destroyed, disappears. By the ontological paradox… the timeline will branch off, the old one not occurring, but I continue existing as the cause of it, technically having existed from nothing with the future gone."
"In that case, I'll have to find a way of living on my own in the new timeline. There will be two Jeremy Belpois's—one from the new timeline and me. I'll most likely have a new family… and I won't be able to see you. But you wouldn't know that, because the new you will not have the memories you create in this new timeline."
"Does that make any sense, Lila?" My father asks as he fixes his glasses. I stare at him blankly.
"No."
For some reason he gives a light chuckle before going back to work on is lab desk.
End of dream state
In Lila's room
I shoot up from the bed. I gasp, fully aware of the dream I just had.
"Mary, are you awake?" I ask in a whisper. My phone turns on as Mary's face is on the screen.
"Spectre's never sleep," she reminds me in an equally hushed tone. "Don't you know that?"
"I just remembered something in a dream. Mary, this time travel business… it's dangerous. I'm not sure if I should continue any further."
"Please explain," Mary urges.
I nod and start to tell her the events that occurred in my dream. She nods in the screen.
"I see… I believe I understand. Then that means our hypothesis was wrong. We're already living in the events of the new timeline your father established by sending you back. Since that's the case, even if you succeed and stop your father from turning the supercomputer back on in 2019 and travel back to the future…" Mary trails off.
"I won't be with my family! I'll be alone… and a new Lila will take my place. A happier Lila…"
"Likewise, if you don't succeed there is a possibility that you can still disappear. We assumed because something would happen to your mother and father in this timeline, something would happen to this you. But that's false, when in fact something will happen to the future Lila of this new timeline. And this all started because you've already established yourself in the events of this timeline. You can't use the time machine to travel back to the first time you arrived in order to tell yourself to go back to the bad future. You need to save that trip for after you stop your father from reactivating the supercomputer for the third time in 2019. It is quite problematic indeed…"
"What should we do Mary?" I ask. I feel tears starting to form. Mary exits the phone in her smoke form before transforming into her physical one. She places her hand on my shoulder.
"I may not be like your father from the future. But as long as I am around, I will always be your guardian. I'll look after you, I'll fight with you. If we somehow defeat Xana, then in time… I hope to become a mother to you."
"I- I wasn't aware spectre's were capable of emotions," I stammer a little as she gently wipes away my tears.
"Xana's spectre's aren't, but I am," Mary smiles as I tentatively smile back. I happen to see the time displayed on my phone, causing my eyes to widen.
"Oh no, I'M LATE!" I yell. I get up from the bed, nearly hitting Mary from the sudden move.
"You must have overslept from writing your journal last night. According to your father's journals… I believe Ulrich, Odd and Sissi are in the cafeteria now. I'll make up some excuse as to why you were late to Principal Delmas," Mary says. I quickly change from my pink pajamas and throw on some random clothes and jump into my shoes.
"Thank you, Mary, I'll see you later!" I exclaim. I grab my bag and shoulder it while opening the door. I close it behind me and start running to the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria
I open the door to the cafeteria as Sissi longingly stares at Ulrich, who is sipping something from a bowl. I walk up to them and sit down nearby, Odd arriving seconds later.
"Hey, Lila. Hey lovebirds," Odd greets, causing Ulrich to stop drinking from the bowl. He's about to take a bite out of his croissant when we both notice Odd changed his hairdo. It now stands up in a point, like his digital Avatar on Lyoko. It even has a streak of purple dye in the front of it.
"What's with the hairdo?" Ulrich asks with raising an eyebrow.
"Lyoko style! It's pretty trimming huh? Meow!" Odd exclaims like a cat as he sits down on the chair with a tray full of food.
Remembering his appearance from the future, and trying to make small talk, I ask, "Have you ever thought about dying your hair brown someday?"
"Believe it or not the blonde hair isn't my real hair color!" Odd replies happily, catching Ulrich off guard.
Sissi is in shock and shouts, "No way! You dye your hair?"
"I've been dying it blonde for a while and the color just stuck with me," Odd explains while dipping his crescent in his soup. He takes a big bite out of it, washed down with a sip of the broth, and then dips his crescent in the bowl again. He repeats this method several times and drinks a cup of his water.
"Do you always eat this much?" Ulrich asks, staring at Odd's full tray and his lack of restraint.
Odd peels off his banana's skin as he takes a bite out of it while speaking a muffled reply with his full mouth, "No – I'm – not – that – hungry today in fact." He swallows the bite and looks around. "Has anyone seen Jeremy?"
"He was up all night in his room working on Lyoko after he put the computer back together," Ulrich answers.
Odd wipes off the broth and bread crumbs that were on his face, "Man, that guy is a real Einstein."
"Who's Einstein?" Sissi asks.
I slap myself on the head as I couldn't believe she had just asked that.
"You really don't know who Albert Einstein is?"
"No. Should I?"
Wow, I guess the Sissi from my future really became a lot smarter after her Kadic years…
Later at the bench
Ulrich, Odd, Sissi, and I sit on the bench as Jeremy explains what he believes is the true function of the red tower.
I wish I could tell him that the true purpose of the red tower is to stop Xana's attack from happening. It's not to help my mother get into the real world… I think.
"You want us to go back to Lyoko?" Ulrich asks. "And get Maya into a red tower?"
"Like I said, I'm sure that's the only way to bring her into the real world. Pretty wild huh?" Jeremy asks.
"Pretty dangerous, you mean," Odd snorts. "We could have all been wiped out for good last night."
"Odd's right. Too bad for Maya but still, it's not like she's human," Ulrich says with a shrug.
Getting annoyed by his comment, I kick him in the shin. This causes Odd to burst out laughing when his roommate grunts and cradles his leg as Jeremy looks confused and Sissi glares at me.
I ignore her and level a look of my own at Ulrich, making sure to keep my tone low since we are still in public, "Just because she isn't human, Ulrich, doesn't mean she can't display real feelings."
"Okay, okay my mistake," Ulrich says while lowering his leg again after the pain went away.
I know they're unaware of the fact my mother really is human… but still, it doesn't hurt to teach Ulrich some manners, I think.
"Come on, guys, be cool. I'm just asking for you to go one last time," Jeremy reasons.
I smile supportively, "I'm for it, Jeremy."
"But we can't even get past the monsters. We'll probably get ourselves blown away in a heartbeat," Odd surmises.
"If only there were four of us," Ulrich muses, "But Sissi's too scared."
"What? No, I'm not!" she replies defensively. "I really do want to go to Lyoko with you guys, but after cheerleading practice is over."
Jeremy nods, "Thanks, Sissi. So here's the scoop: As soon as Maya is materialized into the real world, I'll give you my word that I'll shut down the supercomputer. Meanwhile, we've got to keep this a secret, all right?"
"Promise," Ulrich replies.
Odd holds up his hand with a smile, "I swear."
"Me too," I nod. We look over to Sissi.
"Ditto," Sissi agrees as she leans over to Ulrich. "I can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko."
"Me too. That way I won't look like the dumbest one on Lyoko," Odd jokes, causing Sissi to glare at Odd.
She notices Ulrich starting to walk away from us, "Ulrich where are you going? Aren't you going to see my cheerleading routine?"
"No," Ulrich replies. "I've got something important to take care of."
"Hmph!" Sissi exclaims with crossed arms.
Later
Outside
Odd, Jeremy, and I had decided to go to the library, which was where we are heading towards now.
"It's true; at first I thought that Sissi was a real babe. But the more I get to know her the more I realize she's a, uh… how can I put this tactfully?" Odd asks.
I raise an eyebrow at him, suggesting, "An airhead?"
"A turkey?" Jeremy asks.
"Exactly."
In the library
Jeremy types on his computer as I copy down some notes I missed from class at my seat next to him. Odd has his hand on his face in boredom as he works on an assignment in his notebook across from us.
"I dug up a brand-new program on the supercomputer called the return to the past. And I just figured out how to activate it!" he exclaims happily.
"That's cool Jeremy!" I reply. "So, from what it sounds like, it's kind of like time travel in a way right?"
"Not exactly. Time travel is only theoretical; it's never been proven. We do go back in time with this program, but only for a whole day," Jeremy explains. I peek at the computer as Jeremy continues to work on the return to the past program. The coding is almost exactly how I remember it, minus a few modifications that are made to the program in the near future.
"Hm?" Odd asks as he realizes we were talking. "That's great, Einstein. But can you give me a hand on my electrochemistry report?"
Jeremy continues typing as he looks over to him, "Hey, Odd, are you going to keep calling me Einstein forever?"
"Uh…" Odd trails off.
"It's a good nickname, Jeremy," I chime in. "You are pretty smart."
"True, but nowhere near smarter than Albert Einstein. I'm like a child compared to him," Jeremy defends.
Odd awkwardly clears his throat, "So… my report?"
I sigh and turn to him, "Odd, electrochemistry is a science that deals with the relationship between electricity and chemistry. Then you say that electrochemistry involves imposing polar systems composed at two extremes of electrically conducted material." Odd scrambles to keep up with my answer, writing down as much as he can in his notebook.
"That's what I was going to suggest he could say. Is electrochemistry a field you have interest in Lila?" Jeremy asks.
I shake my head, "Not really. My father taught me when I was just nine years old."
Jeremy eyes widen in surprise by that information as Odd looks over to me once he finishes writing.
"You must have had a boring childhood," Odd comments.
Shaking my head since a boring childhood would be nice compared to a future dominated by Xana, I say, "You have no idea."
"And Lila that's all I have to write down?" Odd asks.
"No," I reply as he frowns. "You've got to use examples. I can tell you a few but you need to put them in your own words." Jeremy can't help but laugh little as Odd rests his head in his hand with a groan.
Two students walk by, and we overhear their conversation.
"Did you hear about Sissi? Jim had taken her to the infirmary," the first student with glasses says.
The second one snorts, "What'd she do? Did she pull a muscle in her brain trying to add two plus two?"
"Nah, man, she got electrocuted," the student informs.
"Woah…" his friend replies as they walk away. Odd, Jeremy and I look at each other.
Outside the nurse's office
We decided to head over to the wing where the nurse's office is. We open the door to see a concerned Mr. Delmas talk to Nicholas and Herb.
"You're the one that brought Elizabeth here. What happened?" Mr. Delmas asks, demanding to know the circumstances. It was no surprise that he was so concerned considering that his daughter was injured.
"She was in her room and was attacked by this electricity monster that jumped from her coat hanger," Nicholas replies.
"Would you try to be serious Poliakoff?" Mr. Delmas scolds. "You're the one who is about to get shocked in a moment."
We close the door quietly as we head down the stairs. We start running outside as we head towards the woods. Jeremy takes out his phone as he calls Ulrich.
"Ulrich? Great. Sissi just got electrocuted by some sort of giant…" Jeremy trails off trying to figure out the correct term before hearing something from Ulrich. "Huh? Yeah, how did you know?"
If memory serves Ulrich must be with Yumi now… which means this is when she first becomes a Lyoko Warrior! I think happily. We continue to run.
"All the more reason to materialize Maya, ASAP. We have to get to Lyoko and bring her to the red tower," Jeremy says and we reach the sewer grate.
"If it works we can shut the supercomputer down tonight. We'll meet you in the sewer," He then hangs up.
Odd pulls the grate off as he ushers me to go first.
"I'll be right behind you. I have to make a quick phone call to my mom to let her know I'll be late for work. She said she managed to find a job for me," I lie.
Jeremy and Odd look at me with curiosity before shrugging. Jeremy goes in first as Odd follows him in and then pulls the grate back into its spot.
I take out my phone, "Mary did you get all of that? If Xana's waking up… can't we just materialize Aelita now? I know Jeremy's materialization code! My father helped me memorize every code of that supercomputer!"
"No, we can't. If you materialize Aelita too early there will be drastic consequences to the timeline. We can't have that," Mary explains, her face appearing on the screen.
"But –" I start to say but Mary shakes her head.
I sigh, "You're right… Ugh, being a time traveler sucks!"
I then put the phone in my pocket and pull the grate off, moving it back into place before beginning the climb down the ladder.
In the sewers
I finally catch up with Odd and Jeremy and we start running into the sewers, spotting Ulrich and Yumi as they jump off the stairs from the passageway where the boiler room is. While we fall into step beside them I look at Yumi and can't believe how young she is. She has black hair and wears a black sweater that exposes a bit of her midriff, black pants, and boots to match. If I remember from what my father mentioned about her, I believe she is also Japanese.
"Hey… who's that girl?" Jeremy asks pointing over to her.
"This is Yumi. She was there when I was attacked, and she knows how to fight so I thought…" Ulrich trails off.
"Okay, okay later," Jeremy dismisses. "Right now, we have to get to the factory, let's go!"
"I'm Lila, nice to have another girl in the group," I smile as we start running again.
"Thanks. Yumi Ishiyama," Yumi replies as she waves back slightly during her jog.
In the lab
After using swinging from the rope in the factory and taking the elevator, we reach the floor with the supercomputer.
"So who's this Maya?" Yumi asks.
"You're going to be meeting her in just a minute," Jeremy answers as he leaves the elevator and runs for the chair. "Go straight to the scanner room and get ready for the big plunge!"
Yumi raises an eyebrow, "Big plunge? But I don't have a bathing suit."
"Relax, you won't be needing one," Odd reassures as Jeremy sits down and begins typing on the keyboard.
The elevator closes as we head down into the scanner room. The doors open again, letting us enter the scanner room. Odd starts to explain our whole story to Yumi. She looks around, focusing on the scanners, but I can see that she doesn't believe him.
"This story of yours is pure science fiction," Yumi says.
"Except this is for real," I remind her. "Ulrich said the same thing when we told him."
"Hmm…" Yumi trails off in suspicion.
Odd steps into the middle scanner as Ulrich steps into the right one. I wait for Yumi to go into the third scanner.
"You guys ready? Transfer: Odd, Transfer: Ulrich," Jeremy begins.
"Don't tell me you're scared," Ulrich smirks as the scanner's doors close on him.
"Wait! I'm coming too!" Yumi exclaims as she steps into her scanner.
"Okay. Lila you'll have to go last,"
I nod, "Understood!"
"Transfer: Yumi. Scanner: Yumi, Scanner: Odd, Scanner: Ulrich. Virtualization!"
The scanners flash, the light visible from the line between the doors before they reopen. I step into the middle scanner and it closes me in.
"Transfer: Lila, Scanner: Lila, Virtualization!"
I close my eyes as the familiar bright light and gush of wind envelop me.
Lyoko's Ice Sector
My vision comes back above the Ice Sector, and I manage to land perfectly on the virtual frost platform. I look to see Yumi's Lyoko form in person for the first time. Yumi's outfit is almost similar to a Japanese geisha outfit, save for short sleeves and a shorter bottom allowing for free movement, exposing red leggings along with thigh-high black boots that had bandages over the middle portion down to her ankles to fasten them to her calves. If I'm not mistaken she also has a tessen, or Japanese war fan, as a weapon.
"Wow! That Japanese outfit is pretty sharp!" Odd exclaims as he points over to Yumi. "It's not fair! I'm the only one who looks like a nitwit on Lyoko!"
Yumi looks at herself and then at her surroundings, "Uh, mind telling me where we are?"
"In a virtual world. Don't worry you'll get used to it," Ulrich reassures.
"Hurry!" Jeremy urges. "Maya is in danger!"
"Okay, here we go!" Odd exclaims.
Odd and Ulrich start running as Yumi's looks at them.
"This is pretty unbelievable," she says to me.
"I know but don't let it unsettle you too much. Come on let's go!" I exclaim enthusiastically as I start running. Yumi follows with me.
Say, Mary, I was wondering… Why can't the past Jeremy detect you or my necklace during the virtualization process?
I assume it's simply because your father supplied me with the necessary programming to shield any foreign objects you would bring to Lyoko, she replies in my head.
So, then it would seem he knew I'd join the team all along…
It would appear so. I can't help but wonder if you're in a loop. You just started time traveling, but perhaps you – or another iteration of you, at least – have already visited this era before. Perhaps you failed in your mission and your father wanted to correct that mistake?
Ugh, please, let's not talk about time travel before a big battle. I'll be really confused and won't be able to concentrate on the monsters.
I understand.
We finally catch up to "Maya" when we see she is surrounded by Bloks.
"Jeremy!" she exclaims.
Ulrich starts running towards her as he unsheathes his katana and jumps in the air. He slashes the Blok's eye, causing it to spin and explode. Odd lands on his paws after catching up to Ulrich who continues to block lasers.
"Hi are you Maya? I'm Odd, I have to admit you are a real cutie. Jeremy's got taste," Odd says playfully as he winks at my mother. She shows nothing but a look of disgust towards Odd. While Ulrich continues blocking fire, I jump in as well. Taking out my staff, I hit Odd with the curled head of it causing him to fall to the ground.
"What was that for?!" Odd exclaims rubbing his head as if he were in real pain.
"Stopping flirting and get serious!" I order with a glare. "Or I'll devirtualize you!"
"Sorry about him, Maya," I quickly apologize before I chant in Latin.
"Exardesco! Exardesco!" I exclaim and charge up my Fre Bolts in my staff. At the same time, I grab my sword with my free hand quickly and use my sword to block the incoming lasers.
"It's okay," "Maya" nods.
Yumi looks scans herself noticing she was defenses.
"Hey, I don't have a weapon," Yumi realizes. The hilt of her fan pops out from a hidden pocket in the knot of the obi on the back of Yumi's kimono. She takes the fan and opens it revealing it to be white on the top with cherry blossom petals on the bottom, tinting the lower half pink.
"A fan, that's all?" Yumi asks as I unleash several fire bolts. The flames fly towards one of the Bloks, enveloping it in flames before it explodes once they reach the eye of Xana on the front.
Odd jumps over a few lasers, "Try throwing them; you never know."
"Hiya!" Yumi exclaims. She jumps in the air and throws the fan, the projectile glowing as it spins before slashing the two remaining Bloks in a single arc. The monsters explode and I place my weapons back in their sheaths.
"Not bad," Ulrich comments.
The fan comes back to Yumi as she places it back in the hidden pocket of her kimono.
"Yeah, I think I'll keep it," Yumi remarks with a smile before walking over to us.
"Nice work," Jeremy compliments. "Now bring Maya into the red tower so that we can materialize her."
As we begin running to the tower, I think,
Say… Mary, my father mentioned that Sissi betrays the group correct? By doing so he never remembers this first successful mission… he was only told by the others after the return trip. Right?
Yes, that is correct… why?
Would… would it be a big change if I get devirtualized? And I get my father scanned into the scanner at earlier than he is supposed to? That way he'll be safe… I'll even activate the return trip myself.
It's very risky… but I don't believe it would change the timeline dramatically. Your father did get himself scanned or digitalized as he called it, the next morning. Just be careful about how you proceed.
Right!
"Hey, Odd. I think I've got a nice life-sized example for your electrochemistry report," Jeremy says cautiously.
"Oh yeah?" Odd asks. "What's that?"
"A nice little electric monster. Where are you guys?"
"We're coming up to the tower!" Ulrich informs.
"Hurry it up then. Things are about to start jumping over here," Jeremy urges. He then warns,
"Watch it guys! There are some monsters coming your way!"
Several Krabs appear.
"Great, Krabs," Odd jokes while rubbing his belly. "Who's got the tartar sauce?"
One of the Krabs starts charging its laser.
"Uh-oh…" Odd trails off. I push him out of the way to take the blow instead. I fly backwards from the impact as I devirtualize.
Back in the scanner
I wake up in time to see the scanner reopen as I groan in pain. But I fight the fatigue as I grab the doorway to support myself and then stagger my way towards the far wall.
I've got to move quickly! I think as I grab onto the ladder and take a deep breath before climbing up, picking up speed as the dizziness faded. Once I open the hatch to the computer room, I see the big electric ball as it shoots electricity at Jeremy.
"Lila just got devirtualized. Jeremy?" "Maya's" voice calls from the monitor. I run over to Jeremy as the electric monster envelops itself in the display above the podium. While it seems busy with that, I recover Jeremy and shoulder him up as I grab his glasses from the ground.
"Lila – what-what are you doing?" Jeremy stammers, barely able to form a sentence in his half-conscious state.
"I'm going to put you in the scanner for safety. I've got you, don't worry," I reassure him while still hiding how much I know. It would be suspicious if I happened to know that scanning someone in the scanner removes the memory loss from returning to the past.
Carrying him piggyback style, I move to the ladder as fast as I can before Xana's monster can come after us. Seeing no easy way to get both of us down in a hurry, I jump down the still open hatch, bracing myself for a harsh landing as the floor of the scanner room approaches fast.
But I feel a force surrounding me that dramatically slows me down, allowing me to land easily despite Jeremy's additional weight. I look down to see wisps of Mary's white spectre form around my legs before they retreat into my jacket pocket. She must have been responsible for saving us from hitting the ground too hard.
Thanks Mary! I think, not wanting to chance Jeremy overhearing with him right over my shoulder. Rushing over to the scanner, I turn around and squat down to carefully place Jeremy in the scanner. He still looks a bit out of it from the electric shock as I put his glasses on. I move back to the ladder and climb back up. Peeking above the open hatch, I see the electric monster still interfering with the holographic sphere.
I move a few rungs down the ladder to take out my phone, the screen lighting up with Mary's presence.
"Mary, do you think you can keep this thing busy while I start scanning my father and prepare the return trip?" I ask in a whisper, not wanting to be overheard by one of Xana's monsters.
"Yes of course. But only for a few minutes. It's different from a spectre; it's one of Xana's first creations, more complex than simply expelling his influence from a vessel… I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it," Mary replies as she expels herself out of the phone in a stream of white smoke.
In her spectre form, she rushes over to the monster still hovering in the display. I rush from my hiding place once I hear electricity crackle and hurriedly sit in the chair to begin typing on the computer. I start the scanning process, knowing that the scanner Jeremy is in has closed. The scanner process ends, and looking at the data, he should remember his first mission now. I see on the screen, that the scanner he's in, now opens.
"Lila – uh, what's going on? Why am I in the scanner?" Jeremy asks as he apparently came to, his voice coming from the scanner room.
"You got shocked, and we've got more trouble coming. I'm protecting you," I reply as sure enough, the elevator's doors open, revealing Sissi, Mr. Delmas, and Jim.
"What is all of this about?" Jim exclaims as Xana's electric monster and Mary continue to battle. "Smith, what's going on?! Ooh, wait until I get my hands on-"
Before Jim can get too close, the electric monster sends a shock to Jim as I can see Mary's smoke-like form flying back to me during the distraction. As she returns to my pocket, I hear her whisper, "Xana fears they'll shut Lyoko, and him, down."
The electric monster starts affecting the holographic sphere again while it shocks Jim. Seeing that Jeremy's scan is complete on the monitor, I let him out of the scanner to give room for Ulrich as I notice that he, along with Yumi and Odd, were just devirtualized. But I can see that Aelita has reached the tower, and I begin to set the return to the past program. The electric monster vanishes, causing Jim to fall to the ground with a dazed groan.
"What's going on here?" Mr. Delmas asks. "What were those flashes? And the smoke—where did it go?"
Ulrich climbs up the hatch, closely followed by Jeremy.
He narrows his eyes into a glare when he figures out that Sissi blew our cover, "Sissi."
"Ulrich!" Sissi exclaims happily. " She tries to hug him with a joyous cry, but Ulrich doesn't allow it. Odd and Yumi climb up from the ladder chute soon after.
"I came here to save you Ulrich," Sissi defends herself." She then notices Yumi and glares at her,
"And what's this Chinese girl doing here, huh?"
"I am Japanese!" Yumi exclaims in an offended tone.
Jeremy turns to me since I'm still in the chair, "Any sign of Maya, Lila?"
"No, sorry, Jeremy; I'm afraid it didn't work. She didn't materialize," I reply. Mr. Delmas walks over to me while Jim gets up, rubbing his head in confusion.
"Alright, that's enough Smith. I order you to shut this thing down now and then you can explain to me exactly what this is about," Mr. Delmas demands.
Jim shook his head clear, "I think we ought to alert the authorities right away."
"Me too, Jim," Sissi agrees. "It's much too dangerous. I told you so, didn't I?"
"You're nothing but a rotten traitor," Ulrich replies angrily.
Sissi points over to him and Yumi, "No more than you are, Ulrich darling."
Mr. Delmas walks over to me now as he places his hand on my shoulder.
"Let's go Smith," he orders. "Kill this thing immediately and follow me,"
"No!" I exclaim as I begin typing on the keyboard to enter the final coding of the return to the past program.
"What do you think you're doing?" Jim asks.
"The program that you showed Odd at lunch, Jeremy. I kind of… memorized it," I lie. "I know its coding; I've got photographic memory."
I shrug off Mr. Delmas' hand as he tries to pull me away, "It's a new program Jeremy dug up. And with a little luck, I'm hoping it'll work."
"Do it, Lila," Jeremy urges, barring Jim from coming closer for a few key seconds.
Ulrich spoke up, "Wait, what pro-"
"Return to the past, now!" I hurriedly shout as I press the enter key. Jim grunts while trying to cover his eyes from the bright light that envelops all of us.
The previous day
I watch Yumi from the arches as she puts her coin into one of the vending machines. She grabs her drink and is about to walk away. Realizing this already happened, I get up from the arches to run up to them.
"Uh, guys, you're getting complete déjà vu too, right?" I ask, pretending I'm not aware of what has occurred.
"Yeah," Ulrich confirms. "What happened, anyway?"
Odd rubs his head in confusion, his hair down again instead of in his Lyoko style, "What are we doing here?"
"But we were doing this yesterday… you don't think…?" Yumi trails off.
Jeremy walks by us as he stops in his tracks, "Hey, wait. Didn't we do this yesterday?"
We nod, but I clutch my head as a dizzying sensation sweeps over me. I start to breathe in and out heavily as if I were hyperventilating. The memory I had of my father telling me about his regret of forgetting the first mission disappeared in shadows as our voices became distant and completely vanished.
"Lila! Lila! Are you okay?" Jeremy asks in concern from above and beside me. When I come to, I realize I'm on the ground.
"You fainted. What happened?" Yumi asks.
I keep to Mary's story and reply, "I'm so sorry… my anxiety spells are back."
"Huh? Anxiety?" Ulrich asks.
In Jeremy's room
I make up a story about a time when I was little, I had anxiety and fainting spells. "Maya" nods on the screen as she seems to understand my situation.
"I see. I'm terribly sorry that you are going through this. What do you believe are causing these attacks?" "Maya" asks.
"I'm not sure," I explain. "My doctors once told me it's possible I'm hiding some sort of trauma I've experienced in the past."
I hate lying to them… but it's strange how Mary chose the perfect cover story, that somehow coincides with my memory loss and the fainting… I think.
"I see. So if trauma is causing these attacks… then, Jeremy, perhaps it is best if we shut down the supercomputer," "Maya" determines.
"But Maya-" Jeremy starts to say.
Maya taps a finger to the side of her head as she smiles. "Aelita." she reveals, "When I entered the tower back on Lyoko… I – I remembered my name."
"Aelita. That's even better than Maya," Jeremy smiles.
Odd raises his hand and speaks up, "I have a question."
"Yes, Odd?" Jeremy asks.
"Why were you in the scanner?"
"That's a good question for once," my father nods. "Lila?"
Everyone turns to me, and I think fast to explain without giving too much away.
"Well… when I saw the coding of the return to the past program you said it was somewhat like time travel. But if it erases memories, then it must have some way to tell the difference of whose memories, otherwise nothing would get done. I figured the scanners were the key, and if you weren't scanned, you wouldn't have remembered your first successful mission. Also, it was mostly to get you away from that electric monster."
Jeremy fixes his glasses in thought, "That makes sense, actually." He then turns to Aelita,
"Anyway, what about bringing you in? I promised." Looking to us, he adds,
"Give me one more night to work it out. I'll find a way." We all glance at each other and nod in unison.
"Okay," Ulrich agrees.
"Thanks, guys," Jeremy smiles.
Ulrich gets up from Jeremy's bed, "We'll meet up in the lab tomorrow morning to see how you're doing." The rest of us follow him out the door, which I close behind me. We happen to run into Sissi standing in her pink dress and boots, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Ulrich, what are you doing here? I've been waiting for you for an hour!" Sissi complains. "I've never been stood up like this before!"
"There's always a first time. Now if you'll excuse me I'm with my friends," Ulrich says as we start to walk away from Sissi.
"I'll make you pay!" she yells after us. "Did you hear that, Ulrich?!"
"I've got a bad feeling about this girl, Sissi. I get the idea that she's going to give us a lot of grief," Odd surmises.
"You said it," I agree as we laugh.
Later that night
I enter my room to find Mary waiting for me with a diary. The same blue one with the pink flower on it.
"Thank you!" I exclaim happily as I walk over to her. "You managed to find it again."
"Yes I did, except…. Lila, do you remember why we needed a diary?" Mary asks as she hands me the book.
I think it over, "Hmm… Wasn't it because I wanted to keep track of my memories?"
"Perhaps, but which ones? I've accessed my data banks and some of the memories your father stored on there are corrupted," Mary explains.
"They are?!" I ask in surprise, to which my guardian nods. "I see… there must be some sort of time interval between my old memories and the new ones I create. Even if we use the return trip to the past program… it won't restore my old memories of the bad future. Then what – what should we do with the diary?" I stammer a little.
"Well… maybe you can start writing a diary like it is meant to be read," she suggests. "Maybe you can write about your daily life and the new memories you will create. I believe the memories I have will become insufficient to keep track of the changes we make to the timeline."
"I agree. Okay then, time to write a new entry," I say as I sit on the chair. I take out a pencil from my school supplies in the drawer. Mary stands nearby as I begin writing about my new life.
The next day
Early in the morning
In the lab
"Hi, good morning," Yumi greets. We walk up to Jeremy.
Even though I know the answer, I ask, "Were you able to find anything?"
"Yes. Xana," Jeremy answers.
Odd tilts his head inquisitively, his hair styled in a point and dyed partially with the purple streak again, "Xana? What's that?"
"A super dangerous program – like a virus – which can control electricity and activate towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world," Aelita explains.
"So the red tower, the electricity monster, the weird symbol, the monsters on Lyoko—all of that was Xana?" Yumi asks.
"Yes," Jeremy answers gravely. "Only Aelita can counter it by deactivating the tower that it uses for attacks in the real world."
"That's great. But what about materializing Aelita?" Ulrich asks.
"I can do it, but I need some time. It's dangerous; Xana can attack at any moment," Jeremy replies.
"Be reasonable Jeremy. We'd better just shut this thing down," Aelita says.
We all look at each other before closing our eyes with a collective sigh.
"Listen, now that we know how to neutralize Xana, we just have to get Aelita to the activated tower," Ulrich says when we all look back at Jeremy.
He nods, "Mm-hmm."
Odd holds up his finger, "We can find a way to counter the attacks while Einstein brings Aelita back to Earth right?"
"It's risky. But we are Lyoko warriors after all aren't we?" Yumi asks with a smile.
"Yeah!" Odd, Ulrich, and I exclaim as the four of us put our fists together.
After a pause, Aelita speaks up from the computer, slight hope in her voice, "You really think you can do it?"
"They don't call me Einstein for nothing," Jeremy reassures. "In the meanwhile, let's not forget about our pact huh?"
"Hey, relax," Yumi replies. "We all know how to keep a secret."
Jeremy, I wish I could tell you that I'm living proof that you will one day succeed in materializing Aelita. I just need to be careful on the changes I make to the timeline… because if I change it too much… who knows what's going to happen? I think.
And done! Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994