Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyrighted by Moonscoop.
I only own Lila. Mary is owned by AeroJester203.
Author's Note: This chapter will have a… less lighter tone than our usual chapters. Please do not skim ahead in the chapter. You've waited for it so why spoil yourself?
Lila Belpois
Inside an inactive tower in Cortex
POV Xana's
I had been forced to hide in this forsaken location for who knew how long. Still, as an ageless AI, time was on my side as I patiently waited for my sworn enemies to return. But the so-called Lyoko Warriors never did.
With nothing to do or towers to activate save the one and only in existence keeping me hidden, most of my time was taken up to reflect on my situation. To begin with, I asked myself for the reason why I never bothered to kill those meddling children.
The short answer was that they provided entertainment for me with their struggles I believed to be largely futile in the end, and I didn't want to part with that. They were my toys—pieces on a board that I could manipulate as I pleased.
Had I a face, it would have furrowed in rage at the memory of that damned Tyron coming into the picture. How I wished I could have seen the look on his face when Jeremy, Aelita, and the rest of the pests defeated me, thus costing his chance to defeat the Lyoko Warriors.
Right before I was completely eradicated, though, I switched networks and found the one belonging to Tyron's supercomputer. It ran Cortex, and I'd been in hiding to recuperate my power ever since. Had it not been for this floating tower I found within the sector, I never would have made it with my dwindling energy. I was not sure why Tyron left his supercomputer on, but he did. Perhaps he never got the chance to deactivate it, but it's kept me alive in any case.
Inside my enforced hiding place, I plotted numerous ways of killing Jeremy Belpois and Aelita Schaeffer, some simple and others slow and gruesome. Logic dictated that it was a pointless effort, though. The supercomputer for Lyoko was turned off quite some time ago.
Letting the time pass as I entertained myself with thoughts of killing each and every one of the kids that forced me to this point, everything changed when I began to hear the pulsations of an activated tower.
That's… not possible, I thought as I reached out with my senses to confirm my suspsicions. Lyoko is online!
The opportunity almost brought joy, had I not been beyond such things as a being of logic. I expelled myself from the tower and emerged in the perpetual yellow sky of Cortex.
Perhaps it's one of those pests, the Lyoko Warriors, I mused while flying off to head back. Or it could even be someone new. Either way, my return to power is coming!
Sector Five
I reached my old home and integrated with its data, hiding within it. I then moved throughout the code and reached the nearest tower, a green halo of light indicating that it had been activated via the supercomputer in France.
I certainly did not do anything to activate a tower, I noted while secretly sliding in. Hopper is dead, and his influence produced a white glow. Therefore, it can only be…
At the base of the tower, I found someone who looked a bit like Belpois, or his Lyoko avatar at least. He appeared to have aged in the intervening time, wearing a futuristic body suit with boots, a belt, and holes at the end of the sleeves for his fingers to go through.
His hands touched an interface panel similar to the one I had at the Celestial Dome.
What is he doing? I wondered.
Belpois stopped and lowered his hands, glancing out towards emptiness of Sector Five. I happened to get a glance at his palms and noticed some sort of strange firing mechanisms built designed into the parts of the suit covering them.
When I noticed that he was looking at where I lurked in the data, I thought, He shouldn't be able to sense me; he's only human. Could he…
My tentative theory was disproven when Belpois sat down on the floor with a heavy sigh. The blond appeared troubled in some way. He raised his arm to the front of his chest below his mouth and began speaking.
"Project: Lila Belpois. Today, I begin the creation of a new life. If everything goes well, Lila Belpois will be our daughter. There has been no activity from either Xana or Tyron. I should be able to create mine and Aelita's child in peace."
I took a closer look while remaining invisible and saw that his arm had some kind of extra device attached. It was likely recording his virtual diary.
"I'm doing this because…" He paused before continuing with audible difficulty, "Aelita has been suffering from an illness for almost a whole year. The doctors keep bringing her in for tests, but they can't diagnose her. I've had to take some time off from work; my company and the rest of my buildings are being run by someone I trust. I'm welcome back there at any time. But I'm concerned that she's dying…"
She's dying? I thought in surprise. From what?
"I'm not even sure myself as to what could be killing her…" Belpois shook off the thoughts and continued with his entry. "We always wanted a child, but now we can't conceive one because of this sickness. Adoption takes too long, so I'm choosing to create one. People might think it's selfish of me to be away from my sick wife, but I have a team of round-the-clock nurses that are helping her while I'm away. For a time, I thought the supercomputer might help me find a cure, but creating a child here in Sector Five first might be for the best. If Aelita sees Lila, perhaps her will to live might become stronger while I do the search. That's my hope."
This whole situation was enough to leave me in awe at the perfect revenge set right in front of me.
I see, this is much better than I could have ever hoped for! I thought triumphantly. If Jeremy creates the child, I can hide within her—live in her… and take my revenge on Belpois anytime, any day. This is perfection- no, poetic vengeance! If I stay in this data quietly, he won't find out that I survived. I can watch him make his entries here in Sector Five while he creates the child. A flawless plan… I just need to be patient a while longer.
January 20th, 2019
I continued watching Belpois work as he periodically returned to Sector Five. Sometimes he wouldn't appear for a time. Others he would show up only after short periods of departure. I could not tell time in this sector and thus had no inkling of how long this "Project: Lila Belpois" had been going on for.
Belpois spoke again, "I'm almost done—just need to put the final touches on her. I'm not sure how Aelita would feel about Lila having pink hair… Maybe I'll go with blonde. I can give Lila her mother's eye color, brown. Yeah, that will work. During these past two months, Aelita's getting weaker and weaker. The doctors now believe she has some sort of new virus… and she's losing the battle. I just hope I make it in time."
He put his hand onto the hologram and removed it to leave a print of his hand.
After a moment, it appeared to confirm his identity and he continued, "Data complete. It's time."
Belpois turned around, and I was caught off guard when he appeared to be looking at me. He raised his hand, as if he's getting ready to fire.
No, it cannot be! I mentally cursed. Belpois can't hurt me like this, but if he has found out-
"Code… Lila," he said.
After a time, I settled back down while chastising myself for nearly revealing my position.
…Bah, so much waiting for this revenge has made me irrational.
Belpois held his hands up, as if channeling energy into a space above him. The silhouette of a small body began to form out of data. The energy then fully condensed and a sleeping infant wrapped in a pink blanket appeared as she drifted down into his extended arms. Her eyes then slowly opened before fluttering with irritation as she started crying.
"It's worked…" the blond said with awe, clearly elated. "Now to go inside the tower so I can bring you home." The child stared curiously at her father before cooing when he held her to his chest and turned to enter the structure behind him.
The moment I've longed for is here, I thought, preparing a failsafe I'd come up with while waiting. But as a last resort, I will split myself in two. The other half will lie here in Sector Five, dormant and unknown. So long as Belpois is sentimental and leaves the supercomputer on, my other half will survive if I somehow am discovered.
I expelled myself out of my hiding place, leaving half of myself inside the data of Sector Five. I flew as quickly as I could to get inside the tower, arriving right as Belpois stood in the center with his created child.
"Code… Earth," he said, activating the materialization process to take his newly made daughter out of Lyoko.
Belpois and the child lifted into the air, and I got my chance to move when he closed his eyes. I surged forward into the child's body, slipping inside before the three of us disappeared, everything going white.
Inside the scanner room
My vision returned, and I found myself looking up at Belpois from in his arms within the scanner. I saw everything the child saw.
My plan… it worked, I thought in triumph.
Belpois looked down at her and smiled. The scanner doors opened, releasing a bit of smoke as he stepped out.
The child made another curious noise, irksome to me, but her father smiled nonetheless.
"Let's go see your mommy, Lila," he said.
The child made a little squeal that could've been happy and Belpois' smile turned into a grin.
I started to slightly regret my plan, if hiding in the body of a noisy infant was going to be the norm for a few years until the body was developed enough for me to possess. It was still my best option if I wanted to avoid Belpois catching on to my survival and erasing me completely, though. Acting too soon would leave me exposed with the child's uselessly multiplied strength unable to work with underdeveloped limbs.
This will be a very trying wait…
At the hospital
Belpois brought the child to the hospital where the girl I despised must have been staying. The child's eyes wandered about the unfamiliar building and couldn't help but be curious.
"Nurse?" Belpois called, a young woman approaching him a moment later.
"Yes, Mr. Belpois?"
"My wife… is she strong enough for a family photo today?"
She tilted her head while regarding the child curiously, "I wasn't aware Mrs. Belpois had a child."
"She's… a surprise," Belpois explained in a low tone. "I adopted her."
Keeping secrets as always, are you, Belpois? I thought in amusement. What would the world think of their secret savior if they knew all the documents you forged, people you impersonated, and other illegal activities you did in your fight against me?
"Oh my… Of course! I'll get Dr. Michaelson right away, so he can set it up," the nurse said.
She ran to get the doctor while the child looked at Belpois and yawned.
"You must be tired," he consoled. "I know, just hang in there and after we take a picture with mommy, we can take a nap. I'll show you to your new home."
Belpois looked up and the child followed his gaze. A man in a white coat, presumably this Dr. Michaelson, walked up to us.
"Mr. Belpois, your wife is stable. You can go inside and see her; I have a phone we can use that I think would be safer to take a family photo with."
"Thank you, Doctor," Belpois replied, continuing to cradle the child as he held her.
The doctor touched his phone, but I could not see what he was doing from my vessel's perspective. The doctor entered the room first.
Aelita's hospital room
Jeremy entered the room with the child, whose eyes searched this new environment. She then focused her eyes on a woman… one whose pink hair has become darker. Her skin had become paler, and judging from her the bags under her eyes she had not slept much the night before. She was connected to several different machines at different parts of her body, her vitals tracked with beeping noises.
Aelita… No, this isn't right. She truly is dying, I angrily realized. You are mine to kill, girl! How dare you die to an illness before I can exact my revenge?
"Mrs. Belpois, your husband is here with your daughter. He'd like to take a family photo," Dr. Michaelson informs.
Aelita looked up at Belpois and the child, weakly asking, "Jeremy… a child? But how?"
"The adoption came through, Aelita…" he replied. "She even has brown eyes like us."
She smiled at the child, "She's lovely, what's her name?"
"Lila."
Aelita smiled again at Belpois and Dr. Michaelson cleared his throat, "We're ready for the photo now, if you are."
"Of course," Belpois said. He brought himself and the child to Aelita. Belpois and Aelita smiled, while the child looked at the doctor holding the phone. He pressed the phone and I heard a click.
"There, all done. I'll have it printed for you before the end of the day," Dr. Michaelson said.
"Thank you doctor. Aelita, would you like to hold our daughter?" Belpois asked.
"Yes, Jeremy, I would-" Aelita started to say but then she gasped. The monitors started going off, their screens blaring with alerts.
No, this cannot happen! I curse internally. She is MINE to kill!
Belpois looked stunned beyond belief, the child began to cry. Dr. Michaelson called an alert and the nurses rushed in. One male nurse gestured Belpois to leave with the child. They did so, and the child began crying louder out in the hall. Belpois stared at the room, too anxious to do more than hold his daughter closer in an effort to calm her.
From the room, all we heard was,
"Charging… clear! Again! Charging… clear!"
The alerts were still audible from beyond the doorway as one of the nurses from inside closed the door's curtain. Eventually, everything went quiet save for my vessel and the man who ushered us out emerged with a somber expression on his face.
Belpois turned to the nurse, "Aelita, what's- What's happening to her?"
"I'm sorry, sir… But I'm afraid she's gone," he answered.
Belpois shook his head in disbelief, "No… she can't be. She never got to hold her child…"
He looked down at the child whose cries could be heard throughout the building.
A few weeks later
Belpois had a funeral for Aelita, having been told that she had wished to be cremated. When he had her ashes buried, his friends the Lyoko warriors had returned. Even his aged parents had come for the service, but Aelita had no relatives to speak of.
The child had stayed inside Belpois' home in the city. It was surrounded by tall buildings, but had a clear view of the factory. There were moments I considered leaving the child and Belpois alone. Aelita's fate was sealed and Belpois was crushed by his own emotions; my revenge could be considered complete, and I could move on to seizing control of the world.
However, throughout Belpois's ordeal, I had learned a few things about the Lyoko Warriors that came to watch the child during these few weeks—weaknesses that I could use against them. For instance, Ishiyama and Stern had gotten married, and Della Robbia – who now had brown hair for some reason – had married a woman he called "Sam."
They cared for the child since Belpois had barely been around. Presumably, he was still grieving over the loss of Aelita. Ishiyama visited most often as she was the one who lived closest to them and was less busy than Stern. I was unsure of what information I continued waiting for, until one day.
Belpois had finally returned home, and he stayed. He watched the child, fed her, and tended to her. There was something about his demeanor that had changed, he moved about with more… life, humans would call it?
With no one else to talk to, of course he started speaking with my vessel, "Lila… I'm sorry that I've been away from you. You're young, so you may not remember this, but… I've been at the factory—the lab, actually. I've been running calculations on the supercomputer. Lila, I'm going to build a time machine. I'm going to save Aelita."
A time machine? I wondered, thinking back to Hopper's work. Is this similar to the return to the past function my incompetent creator discovered in the supercomputer?
"I'll simply go back in time… and cure Aelita's illness, so that she doesn't become sick and die in the future. If I'm right, I'll save her. From what the doctor's told me after doing the autopsy… she died from a simple infection in her heart. This could have been prevented…"
Belpois looked down in melancholy for a moment before it was replaced with renewed determination. "But with my time machine, I'll fix everything. That's a promise."
I found myself genuinely questioning whether his mind had survived Aelita's death.
…Is he insane? One cannot simply go back in time. Even if it were possible, the probability of this future changing isn't assured, I dismissed before considering it further. However… if he does succeed, I will gain a second chance at killing my sworn enemy. Perhaps I will wait and see what he accomplishes.
2022
The first three years of Belpois' plan consisted of mainly completing the design of the time machine. One thing he did, though, was build a lab right within this house that fairly resembled the lab in the factory.
The child was growing up, able to walk and speak quite fluently for a three-year-old human. She had the same intellect as her father. It made inhabiting her body much more bearable than her loud, emotional and unrestrained infant years.
Due to this intelligence, she had been homeschooled by another familiar face, one Elisabeth "Lisa" Delmas who had just finished obtaining her teaching degree. A far cry from the frightened female I occasionally saw through my various spectres' eyes all those years ago.
She taught certain subjects to my vessel, and eventually Delmas recommended that she be taught at Kadic academy. The school offered a K-12 learning environment, and Jeremy wanted Lila to start off in kindergarten.
A week later, the child was enrolled. However, as a genius, she was fairly bored in kindergarten. I personally thought her teacher was ignorant and patronizing in her saccharine way of education. It seemed Lila agreed with my opinion, because she called the teacher out and told her she was stupid.
I hope my thoughts aren't influencing this child, I thought. While this class indeed makes a mockery of education, erratic behavior on her part could draw too much attention.
The child got into trouble with the teacher and received a slip to bring Jeremy to the school for a "talk." Belpois and the teacher conversed later that day, and Delmas was brought into the classroom to deal with this situation since she'd overseen his daughter's homeschooling before coming to Kadic.
"If Lila thinks your answer was wrong and 'stupid,' then she's probably right," she explained. "I don't mean to sound rude, but her father went to this school as a young boy ahead of his time. He was the youngest in his 8th grade class—practically a genius."
"Then what do you suggest?" the teacher asked.
Delmas gave it some thought before answering, "Well, if Lila needs a challenge then I suggest putting her in the first grade, to see how she does."
Belpois looked down at us, "Lila, what do you think?"
A challenge… I mused. I'm sure this child is up to it.
"Okay!" Lila exclaimed happily.
At this, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself since my presence seemed to be influencing the child, even if only slightly.
The following Monday
Belpois brought the child to the school, and she was surprised to be brought to a different classroom, perhaps not fully grasping what the meeting a few days ago had been about.
Upon entering the room by herself, she saw it was much bigger to accommodate the larger class and children who were a bit taller than my vessel. The child became scared, her breathing growing heavy as the teacher walked over to her.
"Miss Lila, you may pick any seat you wish to sit in that hasn't already been taken," she offered. How does that sound?"
"Okay," the child nodded. She tried to get her breathing under control and once she did, she walked to a seat.
My vessel took a seat next to a young girl who had a somewhat boyish look to her. She had short black hair, brown eyes, and was just as tall as Lila. She wore a green jacket with blue jeans and closed shoes.
"Um… hi, I'm Lila," the child said, hesitantly introducing herself.
The other girl looked at us and then turned to the blackboard where the teacher started using chalk. Belpois' daughter sighed and took out a notebook to write down what the teacher was.
After class broke for lunchtime, the child sat down outside by the vending machine area. She opened her lunch box which contained a sandwich and a juice box.
I found myself decidedly unimpressed by the contents, internally scoffing, How original, Belpois. Even an emotionless AI such as myself knows a growing child needs more nutrients than that.
I noticed two female children walking up to us out of my vessel's peripheral vision, the child beginning to eat the sandwich without noticing them.
"Aww look, the little baby has a juice box!" one of them laughed.
"I'm not a baby," Lila retorted, annoyed by the girl.
"You totally are," the other girl sneered.
"Why are you even in our class? Stupid."
Typical humans, attacking that which is different, I noted. It was obvious that they'd singled out my vessel since she was alone and younger than the rest of the class. Either way, it was no concern of mine.
The child tried to ignore the girls and continued eating her lunch, but then the girl who first spoke took her juice box. Belpois' daughter then placed her sandwich back in her lunchbox and glared at the girls.
"Give that back!" she demanded with a stomp of her foot. The girls smiled and inserted the straw into the juice box.
"Fine, if you want it back, then here," the girl holding it offered. As she squeezed the carton, the juice squirted out of the box and onto us.
As the child sputtered while being sprayed, I felt a spark of fury at the action. Daughter of my enemy or not, this was still my vessel, and these children had just attacked me—albeit in a very infantile way. Were it not for me trying to keep my existence a secret, they would be convulsing on the ground under my electricity for that indignity.
The girls laughed and tossed the juice box aside before the classmate from before, the boyish one, approached them.
"Leave her alone, or I'll tell!" the girl demanded. The two girls who picked on the child frowned, but decided to leave.
Belpois' daughter looked up at the one who stood up for her, "Thanks." She sighed as some of the juice started to drip down her hair.
"I have some napkins," the girl offered, and took out a handful of napkins from her backpack.
"Thanks," the child smiled as the girl sat down with her. She took some napkins and cleaned herself up.
The other girl offered her name, "My name is Lizzie. Or Liz."
"Lila."
"I know, you've told me already," the girl replied. "Can I ask, why you're in this grade?"
"It's a challenge. I like challenges," my vessel replied.
She nodded, "Good for you. Don't let those girls bother you, okay?"
"I'll try not to," Belpois' daughter said with a smile.
After school
The child's first day eventually ended and it was Ishiyama – married or not, that is how I would know her – who picked her up from school. On her way home in a hovercar, she remained silent and Ishiyama noticed.
"Did your first day go okay, Lila?" she asked.
"Kinda…"
"Just 'kinda'? What happened?"
"Some girls were mean to me… but I made a friend," the child confided.
"Girls that age can be troublesome," Ishiyama explained. "Sometimes it's best not to pick a fight or get into them. I still remember when Uncle Ulrich used to fight over me with William."
"They did?" my vessel asked.
"Yeah, it happened plenty of times, even during our early years at Kadic. But now they consider each other to be best friends. Uncle Odd, though, he was Uncle Ulrich's best friend since the very first day they met."
"Wow," the child said. "I hope Liz and I become friends like that."
"Liz is her name?"
"Yeah!"
Ishiyama smiled.
2024
Two years have gone by from that day. The child is now five years old, and as time passed, she and the boyish girl grew as friends. Lila, however… experienced something unusual. Whenever she was in a big public crowd, she would have anxiety. I could detect the symptoms in her body each time.
This often occurred at a carnival Della Robbia had brought her to on numerous occasions. He didn't ignore the child's feelings; she hid them and I felt her anxiety worsen. It remained a secret until one day where Lila had fainted.
Della Robbia called Belpois later that day, who seemed busier than ever as time went by. I assumed it was because he finally started production on the time machine. He had yet to show Lila the lab, though, so I didn't know for sure. But when Della Robbia told him what happened, he made an appearance and suggested that perhaps Lila and he should spend some time together at a less crowded place.
"What kind of place would be less crowded and exciting like a carnival?" Della Robbia asked as his friend paced about the living room. Belpois stopped pacing when an idea struck.
"I know, restaurants," he replied.
"Restaurants?" the child asked. "How are they exciting?"
"They are, trust me, Lila. If you like it enough, we can make it our favorite go-to place," Belpois explained.
Lila smiled, and I could sense she was mainly happy to be spending time with her father as she answered, "Okay!"
"Say Lila, if you guys go to a restaurant, bring me some food. Sam's cooking can be kinda bleh, sometimes," Della Robbia joked.
"Okay," the child giggled.
"She'll kill you if she found out you said that," Belpois pointed out.
"I know, I know," Della Robbia waved off.
"I was just joking, Einstein."
2025
Lila had turned six recently. Belpois had taken her out to celebrate at their favorite restaurant—an Italian restaurant mixed with some French dishes.
She and Liz continued to grow closer, and Liz had made Lila a friendship bracelet for her birthday. The two then made a promise to each other to be best friends forever.
Be careful, child, I thought to myself that day. Humans are such chaotic creatures that lasting companionship is a rarity.
Ironically, human nature had nothing to do with my prediction. It wasn't until some months later that an incident changed their friendship forever.
It was spring break and the children were now away with their parents. Lila had been in the living room, quietly watching one of her favorite shows on the television. I could also see Belpois working on his laptop—perhaps some calculations on his time travel plan. At the very least, his child seemed content to have him as a silent presence, which made things simpler for me.
Over time, I had come to realize the same as my thoughts sometimes ghosted across Lila's subconscious, hers interacted with mine. And since I had no physical body or anything else to occupy my time, I heard them far more clearly than she did mine.
Still, it was to be expected that inhabiting a single body for so long would cause some merging. So long as I kept my sense of identity and prevented a full melding, the plan to see if Belpois could complete his insane time machine was still ongoing. Then I would kill him with his own possessed daughter and go to the past to kill Aelita and take over the world.
My plotting was violently interrupted as the ground suddenly quaked, knocking several items off shelves and cupboards. Lila screamed at the shock of it all and Belpois was at her side in an instant, taking her under the coffee table before them with his laptop tucked against his side with his other arm. It appeared his survival instincts and reflexes had not completely deserted him during peacetime.
As the quakes continued, the television abruptly switched from her show to an emergency broadcast. Lila's brown eyes widened at the sight displayed, the restaurant she and Jeremy had often visited being destroyed in a chain of violent explosions.
As the aftershocks of the destruction wound down, the two got out from under the table and Belpois immediately turned the TV off with the remote still on the table before Lila could see the aftermath of the devastation, sparing her the sight of any possible corpses.
"It's started…" he uttered. "Lila, I'm so sorry…"
Lila turned to her grief-stricken father and asked, "Daddy, why is that thing hurting people?"
"It's because I made a mistake. But in time I'll fix it. I'll make sure Xana never hurts anyone ever again," Belpois promised, making me pause.
"Xa-na?" the child repeated in confusion.
"Xana. It's like a virus, a thing that makes someone sick. Except this virus is digital. It's technology that's evil." His eyes gained a faraway look, "I remember this one time… I got the most painful shock I had ever received." Then he chuckled and added, "At least from a vending machine."
"What happened, daddy?"
"The supercomputer was activated only for a few weeks," Belpois explained. "But that's when Xana started to become active. I didn't know at the time, all I wanted was to get a drink that I liked from the vending machine. I pressed number six and zap! I was electrocuted! I wish I could have pressed number seven. That number supposedly gave you good luck."
"Really?" Lila asked, she couldn't help but giggle.
Her father smiled back, "Really."
A valiant effort, Belpois. She might be intelligent at her young age, but you distracted her from something devastating. But why are you so sure it was me that did it? I thought. After all, I had been hiding under his nose for years now and had nothing to do with the attack on the restaurant. It could very well have been human terrorists.
"Say dad… How do you know Xa-na did this?" Lila asked, picking up on the question.
Belpois looked at her for a few seconds, and appeared about to try distracting her again before he sighed.
"I know he did this… because the attack was instant—no explosion from a bomb or anything manmade would be capable of that much destruction. Even if I scanned earlier for any signs of him or another bad man that worked with him, deep down, I knew there was a risk of Xana coming back so long as the supercomputer was on…"
…The supercomputer, I realized. I left my other half on it and Belpois – insane, sentimental fool that he is – has been keeping it activated to run his time travel calculations! If it's become autonomous at this point, I might not be able to stop-
I froze at that thought, shocked at where my mind had been going. Stop it? Why would I? The two halves of myself should have the same goal.
Belpois shook his head, speaking again during my pause, "Lila, you're so young now, you shouldn't have to deal with this."
Lila was about to say something when his phone started to ring. He took it out and answered.
"Yes, this is Jeremy Belpois. May I ask who's calling?" There was a short pause.
"Oh… Mrs. Jones. Yes, Lila's here; does Lizzie which to talk to her?"
I could feel Lila's heart lift, her heartbeat going at a slightly faster rate.
Lizzie's calling! I wonder if she wants to hang out. I really like her… she thought.
Belpois paused again, longer this time. His eyes widened, apparently having received some shocking news.
No… I thought. The odds of her being in that particular building at that exact time would be insignificant, at best.
"I see… I'm very sorry. I'll let her know," Belpois replied.
Lila's facial expression quickly saddened; she thought that her friend wouldn't be able to come. Belpois hung up the phone and looked at Lila apprehensively.
"Um… Lila, Lizzie's mother told me…" He appeared at a loss for words before he admitted, "Lizzie and her father were at the restaurant today…"
Lila's eyes widened and it took a moment for her to respond.
"Huh…?"
Belpois walked towards Lila, kneeling down and giving her a hug, "Lila…. Lizzie's gone."
The grave news I had expected, as well as Lila's shock slowly giving way to disbelief and great sadness. What I didn't expect was the phantom tug at my very being. Thinking it an anomaly, it wasn't until I'd compared it with some experiences of Lila getting in trouble at school and the similar experience on her.
My conclusion: I felt guilt for being indirectly responsible for Liz's death. The effect of reaching that result was near instantaneous as I tried to reject it.
This… This cannot be! I am a being of logic! I denied as I walled myself off in the deepest recesses of Lila's mind to protect myself against the turbulent storm of emotions brewing. I cannot be feeling GUILT! Why should I care about one human among billions?
"No!" Lila screamed. She pushed her father out of the hug and to her room down the hall. She opened the door and slammed it shut. She then slouched down and started to cry.
I liked her… I really liked her, Lila thought. She looked at her friendship bracelet and yanked it off her wrist before throwing it against the wall, breaking it into pieces.
As she curled her knees up against her body and sobbed further, the answer came to me as I felt her despair hammering against me with all the force of a tsunami.
No… Lila's thoughts, her emotions! I realized. I don't just register them as occurring in her body, they're contaminating me like her thoughts are! Another sign of such came to me a moment later. How long have I been calling her Lila?!
I decided that something had to be done before I was infected further. I would erase all memories of Lizzie Jones from her mind and cut her torrent of emotion at the root.
That way Lila- My VESSEL won't taint me anymore.
2028
Three years later, the child would be turning nine soon. She was eight years old now, and during this time, I made sure my vessel forgot about Jones. Belpois never brought her up in conversation, so there was no need to be concerned that he would ask about her.
I kept myself sequestered in the deeper subconscious of the child's mind to avoid her active thoughts and emotions from reaching me as easily. Belpois had started showing her his lab at their home, so the plan was moving forward.
I knew the way in now and could easily sabotage his hopeless time machine as I wished. That is, if I didn't want to use it to seek revenge on Aelita.
One day, Belpois brought up a specific subject while they were in said lab.
"Lila, this may be difficult for you to understand, but the world won't always be in the state that it is now," he said.
My vessel looked to him, "How do you plan on fixing Xana then?"
"I'm going to build a time machine," Belpois answered, as if it were that simple. "If I travel back in time and become part of the events to make a new future, then this timeline won't happen."
The child blinked in confusion and then asked, "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." He appeared wistful for a second as he added, "Where… where your mother and the rest of our family may still be alive."
She furrowed her brow in thought and added, "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," Belpois explained. "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."
He set his hand on the armrest of his chair and looked down in thought, "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?" Belpois asked as he fixed his glasses. Lila stared at him blankly.
"No."
For some reason he gave a light chuckle before going back to work on his desk where some unidentifiable parts lay. Production had started on the machine itself.
It would be so easy to kill him and cement my rule, but I needed to focus on keeping myself separate from the child so that I wasn't further muddied with her emotions. At least that was what I told myself. My logical mind told me that all I had to do was separate from her and be done with this plan to go back in time to kill Aelita.
But something kept me from leaving each time. When I saw my other half's devastation, all I could think is about what would happen if we fused back together. It obviously had more power than me. Would we become one mind, two in one being? Or was it fear of being eclipsed and destroyed that kept me in my current vessel? Such a thing should have been impossible for me to register, yet here I stood lurking in a human body.
I never calculated that my other half could grow stronger than me when I left it behind on Sector Five. Perhaps going back in time is the best hope for my rule.
More time passed, and the child's ninth birthday came and went. Delmas celebrated it with her after school, Belpois forgetting due to working on his time machine. He spent several days at a time in his lab by that point, Delmas bringing her to and from school.
2030
Two years had passed and Belpois' work on the time machine continued at a steady pace. He had celebrated his daughter's tenth birthday with her, but her eleventh was approaching and he showed no indication of remembering.
Pathetic as always, Belpois. You fixate so much on what was or what could be that you ignore what is right in front of you, I privately derided.
Luckily, Delmas had given the child some courses ahead of her grade to learn from and keep her busy. With that, it meant that she wouldn't affect me overly much with her runoff emotions.
On that note, Elisabeth Delmas had taken over running Kadic Academy after her father passed away. We never learned whether it was natural causes or an attack from my other half, but she was determined to carry on.
She kept Kadic running despite random buildings being detonated in different countries every month. She didn't want the students to live in fear; she wanted to make school engaging and have them learn in peace.
Delmas was currently dropping us off at Belpois' house. The hovercar stopped as she mused, "You know… despite Xana ruling the world, it's given me a second chance to be better to kids."
"What do you mean?" the child asked while taking her bag.
She paused before admitting, "Your father would never tell you this, but I was always mean to him and his group. Especially to little kids, too."
My host blinked, unable to compare that with how Delmas acted now, "You were?"
The woman nodded with a regretful look, "I remember this time when Milly, a seventh grader, asked Ulrich out. I laughed at her when she got rejected by him. Understandably, she was too young for him… but the way I went about it, I was cruel."
"Well, you're a different person now. What's done is done," the child said with a smile, thanking her for the ride home.
"Thanks, Lila," Delmas nodded before changing the subject. "You know, you're really smart for your age. I can't believe you're turning eleven in just a few days."
"Me neither… maybe I can skip the homework this weekend?"
While a friend, Delmas was still an educator and she wryly raised her eyebrow, "Uh, no. you need to study. I want all your foreign language assignments completed on time for Monday—English, Italian, and Latin."
"Okay, Ms. Delmas," the child sighed. She got out of the hover car and walked to the door before heading inside. The child spotted her father, Belpois being on the phone.
"I know," he said. "I know, William, I know."
"Uncle William?" his daughter asked while setting her bag down. While she hadn't seen him as much as the others over the years, the child still knew him.
Belpois nodded, and my host walked up to him. Right as she arrived, he sighed before hanging up the phone and looking at us.
"Your uncle thinks Xana is planning on getting to him, and I tried to tell him he was just being paranoid. That Xana has only been blowing up places in random countries… but he's convinced." Belpois shook his head, "It was because at one point, William was Xana's right hand man. That wasn't his fault Lila, Xana took control of him, and it took us a while to free him too…"
"I see…" she trailed off. "What about us? Are we safe?"
"We are. My company buildings act as a sort of network. They use a special program I developed shortly after Xana's first attack on the restaurant to block all radio signals coming from and towards our house and redirect them randomly throughout the country. We should be safe for a while if Xana can't find where we are, exactly," Belpois explained.
"And what will William do?"
"He's going into hiding," her father replied.
"He said he has a friend here in France that can help protect him."
"And Uncle Odd? Aunt Sam? Aunt Yumi and Uncle Ulrich?" the child asked, concerned about their well-being.
"All safe. Yumi and Ulrich are in Barcelona, helping out some refugees."
"Okay… then I better go and do my homework like Ms. Lisa wanted," she said while grabbing her bag again to take to her room.
Jeremy mentioned the restaurant, the first time in years, I mused, noting that it didn't cause much reaction in my host. It's a good thing I erased that part of Lila's life.
2033
At age 13, Lila grew angrier with her father. I wasn't sure what the cause of this had been, but Belpois did not know how to handle it.
She'd argue with him sometimes, and even some of her teachers on occasions when she was really upset. For the most part however, she was kind towards Delmas, who had mentioned her anger might be caused by something called puberty. And with the child being 13, turning 14 soon, Sissi deduced Lila was a late bloomer.
I knew about the process intellectually and could detect the hormones coursing through her body as it changed and developed. Still, I had never realized it was such a period of rampant emotion and hid in the recesses of her mind to weather out the next few years. Despite my best efforts, I could no longer emotionally detach myself from my host to the point where I merely consider her a vessel. But that didn't mean I had to let her contaminate me with her emotions further.
A few months later, before Lila's 14th birthday, my other half did something I did not expect.
While the world leaders had convened to discuss how to face the global threat it presented, my other half used a poisonous substance to choke them all out, similar to an attack I used at Kadic once. Belpois had Lyoko and tried to deactivate the towers with a new program he created that would allow him to remotely do so from the lab in the factory. However, my other half had activated too many towers for him to handle.
Lila and Belpois had not heard from Dunbar or the other Lyoko Warriors, and with this news, their concern grew. The last they knew of Stern and Ishiyama, they were in Barcelona, while Della Robbia and his wife had disappeared. Kadic Academy had been closed as well after the world leaders died, and Delmas left for safety as well.
Now with Lila and her father out of touch with their family and friends, all they had was each other. Belpois would teach some subjects to her, trying to keep her studies up, and then there were days where he would work on his time machine by himself.
During this time, Lila was alone with her thoughts and me. While I resolutely did not allow myself to feel guilt for the situation, I could acknowledge that the situation had come about because of me.
If only I hadn't left my other half inside the supercomputer, I thought. Then I wouldn't be stuck with Lila. I could be the emotionless artificial intelligence I used to be, without fear of being captured and absorbed as a power boost for my other half.
Even to my own metaphorical ears, though, that reasoning sounded hollow. At this point, I was probably only fooling myself, but it would be the end of the world before I openly admitted to caring about Lila, even privately.
My host seemed to be especially bothered this day about something. Perhaps it was the fact that Belpois would miss yet another birthday this year. She drew on a paper, simplistic figures of her and her father holding hands. On top of the paper, she drew dark clouds which piqued my curiosity.
Is it because she's upset… or does she feel like she's losing him?
2035
Lila had turned 15, and within these two years she had been stuck inside the house. It was too dangerous for her and Belpois to go outside; we heard buildings destroyed every other week. A few of his company buildings remained intact, but I highly doubted that there were people hiding away in them.
While Lila's birthday was just two months from now, Belpois' time machine had now reached its halfway point in construction. He'd most likely need a power source… and he would probably go to the factory for it.
It's a dangerous move. Lila has not had contact with any other human besides her father, I thought. Perhaps it was a mistake to make her forget Lizzie…
Lila was reading one of her schoolbooks to pass the time when her father walked up the staircase from his lab in the basement. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
"We need to go outside. I have to grab something from the factory," Belpois said.
She blinked in surprise, "Are… are you sure? It's been so long since I've been outside—since we've been outside."
"I know. But we don't have any other choice," Jeremy explained. He went to the table where he had placed a lead case the other day, along with a bag and what looked to be a radiation suit that he stored in it. He unzipped the bag and placed the metal case inside it before closing it up again.
"Let's go. It'll be alright," he reassured.
For once, I hope you're right, Belpois… I thought. Even if I don't consider you a "friend," you matter to Lila.
"Okay," Lila nodded.
By now, there was simply no denying it anymore. It had been a process I'd fought tooth and nail against, but there was no doubt that I had grown to care about Lila as her rampant emotions changed me from hiding within her for so long.
While the larger population of the world still didn't matter much to me, I didn't know what I would do with the time machine if given the chance now. What was once an obvious answer no longer came to me.
In the city
Lila and her father walked through the city, which was nothing more than a ghost town. Homes, businesses, parks and Jeremy's company buildings seemed completely abandoned.
It was a miracle Belpois and Lila were not seen or apprehended on the way to the factory. That, or my other self-had plans for them. Plans I feared that would cost one of them their lives.
My suspicions proved justified on the way back, when they heard strange noises coming from behind them and turned around. A horde of half a dozen alien-like creatures were emerging from the shadows, copies of the one I'd possessed before. But they'd been upgraded with robotic limbs and sharpened metal tail tips, making for much more lethal models.
"Dad! What are those ugly things?!" Lila exclaimed.
Belpois knew not to waste time and hurriedly grabbed his daughter's hand, the two of them running while the aliens pursued them on all fours, leaping off and climbing across walls to try boxing them in.
"They were used in a very old film, and a director named James Finson created the design of the creature for an old film. Xana possessed it, and our Xana now must have remembered doing so!" he explained while running through an alley in the hopes of creating a bottleneck, only to reach a dead end. "We're trapped!"
The creatures started crawling towards them, making robotic growls as their limbs whirred with each movement. Belpois held Lila behind him as she backed up in fear. I could feel Lila's heart pump faster and faster. Raising their arms, the mechanical monsters revealed holes in their hands that started glowing with red light.
"BANZAI!"
The shout came from above as narrow yellow laser beams rained down on the creatures, shorting them out and causing them to crumble as the influence of my other half left them in light of their malfunction. When the last creature went down, Belpois and Lila looked up at the man who just saved them.
He's still alive? I mused in wonder while still grateful for the rescue.
Up on the fire escape was clad in his usual purple shirt, matched pants and black boots, a dark grey trench coat added to the ensemble, along with his brown hair having grown down to his shoulder blades. Attached to his waist was a belt with two holsters, obviously to hold his weapons.
He spun his silver laser guns and placed them inside before dropping down onto the ladder which extended to deposit him lower to the ground where he jumped off to land.
Belpois took Lila's hand, and the two of them walked up to the familiar person, the former tentatively asking, "Odd… is that you?"
"Long time no see, you two!" Della Robbia exclaimed with a grin, giving a thumbs up.
Afterwards
The three of them emerged from the alley started to walk the empty streets of Paris. Instead of heading home, they wanted to make sure they weren't being followed. They kept an eye out for more creatures when Della Robbia started to talk.
"Our mutual friend told us you'd be going back into town one day to search for something from the last time I heard of him. What were you thinking, and why bring Lila?"
"She… she needed to be outside a little. Being in that house of ours… it's not good for her. And… I needed a material for something," Belpois answered. Then he retorted, "And what about you? Does Sam know you're out- Oh."
Della Robbia had turned to him with an uncommonly dour look, still keeping his face mostly hidden from Lila's view. He masked the somber emotion and raised a curious eyebrow as he continued speaking.
"Is the uranium for that time machine of yours?" the brunet asked.
Belpois' eyes widened, "How did you know?"
"Like I said, our mutual friend told me," Della Robbia explained. "Jeremy… time travel is crazy. It can't fix what's already been done. It…. it can't bring Aelita back."
"Lila hasn't heard about time travel since she was very young. I'm not trying to bring Aelita back… I'm trying to save all of us." Belpois looked down, "Besides… I heard about what happened in Barcelona. Did Yumi and Ulrich make it out?"
His friend shook his head and replied, "We haven't heard from them since it happened… since Xana blew it off the map."
Lila looked at her father, surprised by this new information.
Della Robbia quickly changed the subject,
"Say Jeremy, about that work in progress time travel machine… How long do you think it will take to get it up and running?"
Belpois fixed his glasses, "It's still going to take at least eight more years. I don't have all the materials yet. That's why Lila and I needed to go outside."
"How come you haven't told me since I was little, dad?" Lila asked. "I mean… I'm only fifteen years old and you keep a lot of secrets from me."
Her father looked at Lila and nodded, "I do, and it's to protect you."
They heard metallic roaring from afar, and the three of them turned to the direction of four more creatures, their eyes beginning to glow red.
"You two need to get going! I'll take care of them!" Odd exclaimed. He took his laser energy guns out of his hoisters and began running to attack the creatures. "Come on, you movie rejects!"
Belpois grabbed his daughter's hand and fled to leave the city in hopes of diverting my other half's creations from their home's true location.
The two gained some miles between the conflict. When Lila and Belpois finally stopped running a couple of miles away, they panted heavily in an effort to catch their breath.
"We- we left Uncle Odd there all alone…" she lamented. "Why?"
"If… if we didn't, we would be…" Belpois was a bit more composed and regained his stamina quickly. "He'll be fine; I'm sure of it."
"Dad, I-" Lila said, but was interrupted when they heard screeching again.
I was shocked to see more creatures had arrived. My host looked ahead to see several creatures starting to chase them.
"No, we're trapped!" Belpois exclaimed.
He looked back at the city, and I assume he was trying to calculate the amount of distance we could gain on the creatures before heading back to the safety of home. However, I could feel that Lila was still drained. She needed time to recover.
The creatures stopped, caught up to us and raised their arms to charge their lasers. At first, they aimed at Belpois, but then switched their target. Lila was petrified with fear and she couldn't move. The lasers fired.
All but she and I could hear was footsteps running towards us, and then her father's scream.
"Lila!"
He pushed her out of the way, taking the lasers through his chest and out the other side. Lila fell to the ground and looked to see her father's perforated body instantly go limp as he fell to the ground.
No… Jeremy? No, this can't happen! NO! I internally screamed.
"Dad… you can't be dead! Dad!" Lila screamed in despair.
She went to her father to try checking his pulse – fast and weak; he'd already gone into circulatory shock from the grievous injuries – the smell of burnt flesh emanating from Jeremy's downed form. The creatures took this advantage and surrounded us on all sides. Lila shook his lifeless body in a vain effort to wake him, even as the charred holes stared back at us, the lack of blood and organ tissue being the only mercy afforded.
It was no use and she let out a piercing cry. Her despair washed over me, and rather than retreat from it I let it wash over. I immersed myself in every iota of her raging anguish. Even if I had barely begun "feeling" myself, it was only a pale shadow compared to a human. I soaked in her raw emotion and converted it to something I was intimately familiar with, if only on a theoretical level.
I took over—both Lila's mind and body. It was easy considering she was rapidly slipping into a grief-induced unresponsiveness. There was no question or doubt about what I wanted now. Getting up, I wiped away our tears with a swipe of my arm and focused all the latent despair I was "feeling" into hatred and rage.
"XANA!" I roared in Lila's distorted voice. I channeled electricity throughout her body – something I hadn't done with a human in years – and I unleashed everything. I unleashed our rage. I unleashed my power. I unleashed a veritable storm of electrical blasts at the creatures.
One by one, they went down, my electricity frying the creatures' circuits and even charring or melting the false skin over parts of them. Weaker than my other half I might have been, but I was still a fraction of the original Xana instead of a mere spectre. As the burnt and inactive husks of the monsters lay around us, the only unscorched ground in a circle around my host and Jeremy, I let out a breath at the cathartic release of having destroyed them.
Tears still flowed out of Lila's eyes, and I looked down at Jeremy's body at my feet. He wasn't breathing, but I charged my host's hands with electricity regardless. I noticed something peculiar about the color… it was yellow, unlike the purple I had so long ago.
I ripped open Jeremy's shirt and increased the charge in Lila's hands. It hadn't been seven minutes yet, and the blood flow was stopped by the cauterized holes. If I could restart his heart… I sent a small electrical shock through his chest. His body lifted slightly, but it was still lifeless.
Again, I have to try! I thought.
I reset the charge and placed Lila's hands on Jeremy's chest again. I shocked it and the body lifted once more… but it was useless.
I'm just fooling myself again, I realized as my logic reasserted itself over the emotion of the moment. I don't know the extent of the damage, and I can hardly expect that all of those blasts missed his vital organs. We're simply in no place to treat his wounds with no equipment… I'm sorry, Lila.
I couldn't let her bear this pain any longer… I had to erase this memory. These last few hours would be erased from Lila's mind forever, but not mine. I would remember. I just hoped nothing in the near future would cause her to recall any of this.
With that course decided, I knew what I had to do next. I had to bury Jeremy's body. I couldn't simply leave him there; the gnawing feelings in my being wouldn't let me. Though I relied on my ability to not truly feel emotions as I picked his cooling corpse up and carried him over Lila's shoulders.
I hope Della… Odd, made it out okay. For Lila's sake, if nothing else, I thought as I sped off after making sure Jeremy and his bag were secure.
Afterwards
It took what felt like a few hours, but was only in fact a few minutes before I found a small forested area that had survived Xana's devastation. The bag with the case containing the uranium, I took off first before laying him down again. With no shovel, I got to work and used Lila's strengthened hands to dig up a hole some feet deep while being long and wide enough to accommodate its soon-to-be inhabitant.
Genuine hours passed, and Lila's head beaded with sweat from the amount of work I forced her to do. Her mind had been in an all but catatonic state for a few hours now… I needed to give back her free will soon before she suspected something.
I gently lowered Jeremy's body in the ground and it took only half an hour longer to push the upturned dirt back into the hole and pat it down. It was now sunset, and there was nothing but silence. No bugs, no birds. Only me and Jeremy's unmarked grave. I summoned a sphere of electrical energy and used it as a light to guide my way home.
Lila needs someone to look after her… I thought before glancing back at the freshly upturned earth. Jeremy, please forgive me. I do not mean to have someone impersonate you, but this is for Lila's wellbeing.
Inside Lila's home
After returning home, I brought the uranium downstairs into the lab. I then had Lila cleaned up with some soap, and just a towel to dry herself with. Once most of the dirt was no longer on her body, I placed her old clothes on Lila's bed as well as her towel. Life without water hadn't been an easy one for her growing up, but a soap wash worked just as well. She and her father only used water for drinking purposes and had enough in the storeroom to last them for years.
Once I had her dressed again, I sat on the bed and sighed.
It won't be the same without him… I mused, a faint stir of melancholy welling up for a moment. But Lila will believe he's still alive after what I'm about to do. If you ever learn the truth, child, know that I was only looking out for your well-being.
I closed my eyes and expelled a much smaller part of me outside my host's body, a spectre-like being. As I filtered out my influence and control over it, it went from yellow to white, becoming its own independent being that I programmed to care for Lila. I formed it into a tall woman with brown straight hair and brown eyes. She looked old enough to be in her early thirties and wore the same outfit that Jeremy was last in.
Once she was fully formed, she asked,
"What are your orders, master?"
"I need you to pose as this child's father," I answered. "Your memories of him should be a part of you."
The female spectre closed her eyes and then reopened them, "Yes they are. But… why not tell the child the truth about her father?"
"You know why."
"But if you simply-" my creation started to say, but I interrupted her.
"If you tell her, I will stop this child's heart!" I threatened. "She will die, do you not understand?!"
If I need to play the enemy here, so be it, I thought. I will shield Lila from the truth as long as necessary.
"Yes… Very well, then," the spectre replied unhappily. "What will you name me?"
I pondered on her question, thinking of a name that would suit her.
"Mary. Mary Smith will be your name."
Eight years later
2043
Lila's short stupor-like state from that day had no lasting ill effects on her. In fact, Mary got along well with Lila while posing as her father. My threat worked wonders, and she had not divulged the secret of Jeremy's death.
Unfortunately, we lost the factory to a satellite laser attack from my other half. And the Hermitage three years after that, shortly after Lila had turned 18.
Now Lila was 23, with her birthday coming up in just ten days. We never had a problem with food shortage, because Mary would scour for food each night in her spectre form and always brought a full bucket home. Not needing to sleep had its benefits.
Lila didn't question why food wasn't an issue, but one of her favorite things to drink quickly became tea. With the backup generator that we had, and the gas stove with an oven combination, Lila was well fed. She was kept in a loving environment.
Mary also worked on the time machine by herself in these past 8 years. Radiation was not an issue because she wasn't a true human being. She only appeared human in front of Lila when she needed to take on the form of her father.
When Lila turned 20, Mary "fell" off a ladder, making it appear as an accident. This allowed Lila to help Mary, thinking she was helping her father who became impaired. She hadn't been able to help on the time machine, so we wanted her to feel needed.
Now, ten days before Lila would be turning 24, which was to my knowledge only because Lila and Mary could not keep track of time with anything but the sun's passing, I had decided to talk to Mary about using the time machine. I had to take control of Lila when she was asleep however, and only in her room.
"Lila needs an environment with humans. Ones who are alive," I said.
"Well, everything is prepared for her departure," Mary replied while still posing as Jeremy. "Her suitcase has her father's old laptop which contains his old programs, videos he had recorded in his early days at Kadic, and other important data, a cell phone and charger, some clothes, and a nice jacket Jeremy must have forgotten to give her for her birthday one year. The miniaturization ray that I created was installed inside the time machine. It's up and running, ready to travel to the year 2005. But is Lila ready? What if she has anxiety attacks?"
"That hasn't happened to her in years, Mary," I dismissed. "She'll be fin-"
Mary and I were interrupted by an explosion nearby. We heard screams and gasped.
"Impossible… humans? After so long?" I asked.
"They must have just found their way into the city," Mary reasoned. "It's been abandoned until now."
There was another explosion nearby and more screaming. I looked to Mary and ordered, "Go. Get inside your container. I will create another spectre, and it will take on the form of Jeremy. You played his role well."
"Thank you," my creation replied with a nod. "If you need the pocket watch, it's upstairs in the kitchen drawer."
"Understood. Now go."
Mary nodded and transformed into her white, smoke-like form. She flew down into the floor and to our father's lab, to enter the container she had created which was packed inside the suitcase stored within the time machine.
I went to the closet and grabbed Lila's usual clothes, changing into them for her. These consisted of a pink and white jacket with black pants and pink shoes. I closed the closet and ran out of Lila's room. Even without the other humans, Jeremy's company buildings were running out. Soon, my other half would be able to track us directly here.
It was now or never.
Inside Jeremy's lab
There's one thing I need to do before I create the new spectre, I thought. I walked over to the time machine and placed my on it, admiring the fine work Mary had done.
Jeremy, your machine has been created to your exact design, I thought, as if he could hear me. However, I am a virus. And as you had known, I could take control of anything when there were towers on Lyoko. When there was a Lyoko… Now, I need to add something to your time machine. Something that will protect your daughter on Lyoko, and her identity from you.
"My power," I said to myself. I created a small burst of electrical energy, and poured it into the time machine.
My essence will disrupt the scanners from locating the time machine. It will not be picked up during any of Lila's virtualizations. The extra power I've given it will also help form Lila's Lyoko avatar and be concealed even in its compressed state. It will be electrical energy that'll never die out. It will always be there for Lila.
I frowned at the safety measures I had to install to prepare for the worst-case scenario, And should it be taken from her, or used by her, it will only give one additional power the new wearer needs. Due to my new nature, it will not react to anyone who does not have a good heart or has bad intentions. It can never be of use to my past self… I just hope it does not acquire the time machine itself one day.
My new humanity had changed even my perspective of myself. While we had no biological body or gender before, and I'm still only an AI inhabiting a human body, I thought of myself as the Lyoko Warriors always mistakenly referred to me years ago.
My other half had never learned feelings, so it was an "it" in my mind, the same as my past self. I, however, had come to think of myself as a "he." While still not much compared to a human, my capacity for emotion had only grown since Jeremy's death.
With the preparations complete, and the expended portion of my power leaving me slightly drained, I cut my musing short and ran upstairs.
Once I reached the kitchen, I went to a drawer which contained Jeremy's pocket watch and fob, his cane placed on the handle of the drawer by Mary earlier today.
I created a lesser spectre with the remnants of my power who posed as Jeremy, really only a shell compared to Mary's complex structure and programming. He wore a dark red sweater, brown pants and a gray belt with black shoes. We heard screams coming afar again.
I still don't understand… why would you enter an abandoned city? I wondered before coming to the only possible conclusion. Unless… of course. You never abandoned it; you remained hidden, underground. If I could bet, I'd say William Dunbar was leading you. He was the only one left of the Lyoko Warriors who survived and was still in France before he went into hiding. He must have thought they could hide in the buildings… but that was a mistake. Unfortunately, we'll never truly know what happened to Sissi Delmas. I doubt it's her.
The spectre took his cane and the pocket watch. He put it in his shirt and let the pocket watch hang out of the shirt pocket by the chain. His appearance made him look like our father, but in his late forties. He also had streaks of gray mixed in with his blonde hair. This was an exact copy to Mary's appearance beforehand. The spectre's alleged age is 49 years old; Mary and Lila celebrated Jeremy's birthday back in April.
It wasn't much of a celebration, but it still meant something to Lila. Even though her father wasn't really alive… I thought.
The spectre smiled at me and I suddenly felt faint. The false Jeremy caught me and asked,
"Master, are you alright?"
"Yes… I've put too much strain on Lila's body and used a lot of power," I replied while trying to catch my breath. "I'm going back to her room; wait out on the porch. If another attack is launched on Jeremy's buildings, see to it that you launch the time machine so Lila can return to the past. Even if it costs you your life, do you understand?"
"I understand," the spectre replied.
I then reaffirmed the most important part of my instructions, "Do not tell her the truth about when she is going. Come up with an excuse, understood?"
The spectre nodded and proceeded to the porch of their home.
I returned to Lila's room, and for the final use of my power, I erased her memory of getting ready for bed and going to sleep. I gave control back to Lila, her mind now her own once again. However, I could still feel the fatigue… I had overused my power.
Lila, I must sleep and regain my power, I thought, wondering if she could hear me on a subconscious level. My last gift to you is that you will remember the buildings that exploded tonight. Although, I will shift your memories slightly thinking that they were being destroyed week, after week, you will have had at least thought humans lived in the city for more than just today.
By changing this small part of your memories, I'll have changed your perception of your life and you will not remember how devastating it truly was. The spectre will play our father, and he will claim to be the cause of all of this. I know this may seem cruel. In truth… it was all me. My other half was the cause of this devastation, I confessed, lifting a weight off my mind even though I doubted she could really hear me.
I never calculated that I would grow attached to a human like this. Lila… goodbye, and good luck. May the Lyoko Warriors and your father of the past give you the life I never could.
Present Day
April 14th, 2007
POV Lila's
A few hours passed before I opened my eyes again.
As I have said, child… please do not be angry with us, Xana pleaded in my mind.
All of this was for you. Lila Belpois… you were created on January 20th, 2019. Your father made you a recognized citizen of France on September 20th, 2019. You were sent back in time, not just because of some mission, but because it was your second chance at life.
I look at Mary, completely shell shocked from all of this.
Done!
Such a long chapter!
Author's Note: I understand that when writing fanfiction certain continuity errors will arise. Please consider this chapter as the official canon prologue to Changing Destiny: Lila's Journey. "Jeremy" was originally 48 in the prologue but that was a mistake. I hoped everyone enjoyed this special chapter as well as easter eggs alluding to Evolution. Please also note: Lila is completely human. Her DNA was taken from, by Jeremy, who took DNA from himself and Aelita. Biologically she is their daughter.
We will return with "Contact," soon after a short hiatus! Stay tuned! Season 2 is so close to completion!
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter, and what really happened to Lila. Sorry about Lizzie though… :'( Introducing her as a "new" character unfortunately meant that something was going to happen to her eventually. Please give a big thank you to AeroJester203 who really did an amazing job editing this chapter. The chapter itself had been more than a year in the making. With editing taking a few weeks.
Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994