Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"One of the first things we need to do is reconnoiter the factory to see how entrenched they are," Janeway told the gang, "and I've got the perfect little spy."

Suddenly, a little window opened up before each teen's eyes, like a TV picture had just opened in their vision. In the window, it looked like something was laying on Jeremie's bed. It rose up just a little, then jumped to the floor. and then walked to the door. From the viewing window's perspective, the door looked huge as it loomed above the viewer.

"That's Kiwi, right?" Aelita asked.

"Correct," was Janeway's reply, "Kiwi is the perfect spy in this case. He's small and not on the Borg's assimilation list. Unless he does something that directly jeopardizes their mission, they will leave him alone. Now, all I've got to do is get him out of Jeremie's room."

Suddenly, sound was added to the visual display. Kiwi started barking and howling, raising quite a ruckus. After a moment, someone opened Jeremie's door.

"Jeremie! Will you keep that darn dog quiet!" shouted the person who surmounted Kiwi's impossible obstacle, Sissi Delmas, the principal's daughter. She stood in the doorway, fists on her hips as she shouted into the room. Kiwi responded by jumping up on her. She instinctively reached out and caught the little troublemaker, and he rewarded her by licking her face, infecting her with nanoprobes.

"I have soooo been wanting to do that to her," Janeway said.

"What, kiss Sissi?" Ulrich said with a smirk.

Janeway smiled in response and said, "no, assimilating her. You may not know it, but she's been sticking her cute little nose in my business since I got here. The only reason I hadn't done it before now and sent her after you was because I didn't think she would be able to succeed, given how obnoxious she is.'

"Yeah, that's Sissi alright," Ulrich agreed, "so what changed?"

"Just as I need someone to give the factory a look-see, I need someone to protect the staff here from assimilation, starting with Sissi's father. If the Borg get him, it will make it a lot simpler to round up and assimilate the whole school, plus give the Borg direct and open access to the school." Janeway now turned his attention to his newest recruit. "Sissi, I want you to sneak Kiwi outside and turn him loose. Then I want you to go to your father and infect him. After that, I want you to infect all of the adults on campus that you can. Only a brief touch is required, so don't worry. Additionally, you will be able to sense if anyone you meet has been assimilated by the other Borg. When you encounter one, avoid that person if at all possible. Report to me if there is trouble, or at the end of the day before you settle down. Understood?"

The gang heard Sissi's response of "got it, understood," as she took Kiwi and headed for the outdoors. The little window in their vision then disappeared.

"Was that telepathy?" Yumi asked.

"After a fashion," was Janeway's reply, "the nanoprobes are connected to me and therefore so are you all. Among other things, they allow me to communicate with them, and by extension, you. And, you can communicate with me through them. The only limitation I've placed on them is you can't at this time communicate with each other, and you can only send 'voice' information. Anything more would be making you into a collective Hive Mind, something I don't want to do. Now, we need to make our way towards the factory. We're not going inside, but we need to be close by in case Kiwi needs our help."

Sissi took Kiwi outside and set him down in the grass, leaving him with a little pat on his head. Kiwi watched the girl leave on her mission, then turned to his.

He ran off campus and into the woods. After a bit, he came out on the road that led to the river and the factory. He kept to the brush as he ran, to minimize the chance of being spotted. When he got to the bridge to the factory, he saw that there were two figures standing at the far end. The dog watched the figures for a while, until he realized that they weren't going to be moving any time soon. Looking about, Kiwi found a opening in the railing that separated the sidewalk from the bank of the river and jumped through it. He ran over to the bridge and under it, then running down to the edge of the bank and jumped in the water. He swam like mad, fighting the current, but was finally able to make it to the opposite shore and the factory.

Shaking the water from his coat, Kiwi looked up at the bridge and the two figures. They had not noticed the dog's crossing, and it looked like they hadn't moved at all. Kiwi turned and ran in the opposite direction, looking for another, smaller entrance inside.

In the mean time, the gang and Dr. Janeway had reached the edge of the forest.

"Kiwi's across, but there are guards at the main entrance," Janeway told the kids, "he's going to find another way in."

"How are we going to get in if we need to?" Jeremie asked the man.

"If we need to go inside, we'll have to go through the front door," Janeway replied, "believe me, if we have to go in now, stealth will be the least of our concerns."

Kiwi searched about and finally found a hole big enough for him to crawl in. He entered the building and emerged into an empty room. He padded to the door, then peered out. No one was coming from either direction, but he did hear sound coming from somewhere below, the sound of someone screaming his head off.

Kiwi turned in the direction of the sound and set off. He came to a balcony that showed the main level of the factory floor. Across the way, he could see the main entrance of the building, and the two figures that stood guarding it. The sounds were louder now, and coming from the main level. Kiwi hesitated for a moment, for his dog's mind had recognized the voice of his person. The dog wanted to rush to his person's side, but the voices inside were telling him to wait and prepare. The voices were too strong, so Kiwi heeded them and turned to a stairway and made his way upstairs.

The dog visited each floor and looked about for Borg activity. Most of the rooms were deserted, others had what looked like Borg technology in them, being constructed by what looked like little robots. Other rooms held what looked like junk, but the dog was told by the voices it was food for the Borg's use. After finishing his examination of the area, Kiwi went back to the stairs and continued up.

Kiwi repeated this on each floor, until he got to the roof. He was able to force himself through one of the doors and stepped outside. Carefully, the dog searched about for the Borg ship. At one point, Kiwi stopped and ducked back around a corner. He carefully peered back around, and suddenly his vision changed. Something caused his eyes to begin to register other parts of the spectrum, until he finally saw the large cube shape hovering millimeters above the roof. Kiwi settle himself down for a long wait as other things formed in him, on him and around him to better observe the ship.

"The good news is, Kiwi found the ship," Janeway told the gang, "the bad news is they have captured Odd and are doing something to him. It's very strange."

"What?" Jeremie asked.

"You're not going to like what I have to say, but it sounded like Odd was being tortured," Janeway said, "it's strange because even in this time, Borg did not torture for torture's sake. Aspects of assimilation are painful to the victim in this time, but the first thing the Borg would normally do is take control of the person's mind, so the rest of the process can go more smoothly. It looks like they haven't done that to Odd, at least not yet."

"Uh, you said the Borg are after technology, right?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes, why?"

"That includes computer technology?"

"Particularly computer technology; why Jeremie?"

"Maybe, the Borg have been possessed by XANA."

"How could that be, isn't XANA confined to the supercomputer?"

"No," was the genius' reply, "XANA escaped at the beginning of the summer. He's been living out in the Internet, coming back to Lyoko to try and destroy it. In its last attack, it took over some sea-to-ground missiles and tried destroying the school and the factory with them."

Janeway was silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"My mother told me that skimming over things would be my downfall. XANA possessing them would explain a lot of things. I'm going to have to rethink my plans to take this new wrinkle into account. And we're going to have to get Odd out of there while we can."

A while after the female had left, one of the drones queried the Arbiter, how much longer do we have to continue this charade?

We don't, was the reply, the program is more interested in playing with these beings than interfacing with the computer. We have gathered enough information to assimilate it and take over its hardware. For now, string the program along while you revert to normal pacification protocols. Begin with the male she just brought in, there is no need to prolong its suffering. We will deal with the program when the female returns.