Episode One : A Time of Madness

Soundtrack: Edie Brickell's "What I am" (for Kloe)

Chapter Two: Investigative Journalism

Outside, it was mid-afternoon. The students who had finished lunch were mostly out here, enjoying the weather; it would be too cold to enjoy by the end of the month. The trees, the people, and the odd metal structures in the tiny playground had a real, solid look from the short, crisp-edged shadows cast by a fading autumn sun.

Incongruously serious, four kids tore out of the many-windowed cafeteria. "I called Yumi," the brown haired boy panted, putting away a cell phone without breaking stride as he spoke, "She says she'll meet us at the factory."

"Good thinking, Ulrich," said the glasses-wearing boy in the lead. "With any luck, we'll be able to shut down the Tower before XANA launches its attack for once."

The group flashed past the playground and into the well-manicured woods, silent except for panting, and skidded to a stop in front of a metal hatch. The boy with the purple streak in his hair knelt to lift it.

"Jeremie," the pink-haired girl addressed the bespectacled boy breathlessly, "Someone's following us!"

There was a moment of silence, save for the wind in the leaves. "Are you sure, Aelita?" Queried the boy, Jeremie, at last. "I don-" A sharp crack from the trees, followed by a strangled yelp, cut him off.

"I'll go see who it is," said the boy with the gravity-defying hair, "You guys go ahead."

"Be careful, Odd," cautioned Aelita, lowering herself into the pipe.

"No need." Brushing twigs and leaves off her coral-colored shirt, the angular figure of Kloe emerged from the woods.

"Kloe," stated Ulrich, "What are you doing here?"

"Investigative journalism," the girl replied, sounding perfectly serious despite the cynical undertones inherent in her voice. "I want to know what's going on here."

"Nothing! Why would you think anything's going on?" Protested Odd, sidling over as if to conceal the fact that Aelita was halfway down an entrance to the sewers.

"Please! I know my average is ten points lower then Jeremie's, but I'm not stupid. I'm surprised no one else has noticed by now. Every few days the whole group of you suddenly has to use the bathroom or go to the infirmary and you don't reappear for hours. What gives?" Kloe glowered.

"Uh… We're fighting an evil supercomputer called XANA that's trying to take over the world?" Hazarded Jeremie, on the theory that sometimes the truth makes the best lie.

Kloe blinked. "Wow. That's just too ludicrous to be made up. Can I come?"

"You… uh… weren't supposed to believe that," muttered Jeremie.

"No," Ulrich answered her bluntly.

"You see - Ah!" Jeremie's explanation was cut off abruptly as the bulky shape of the policewoman loomed suddenly out of the woods.

"XANA," said Odd nonchalantly as Jeremie climbed down, "On second thought, maybe you can come."

Kloe leapt down onto the ladder with alacrity, nearly treading on Jeremie's fingers in her haste. Odd followed seconds later, moving quickly to give Ulrich room.

Not quickly enough. The pixelized police officer bulled across that grassy ground, trailing digital afterimages, reached down, and grabbed the brown-haired student. Large hand fastened about his neck, she lifted him with superhuman strength so he dangled several feet in the air, lashing out futilely, struggles growing weaker by the second.

"YAH!"

With a grunt, she dropped Ulrich as the shoes of a black-haired, black-clad girl hit home in the small of her back. Eyes fizzing with XANA's symbol, she directed her attention towards this new annoyance.

"Yumi!" Gasped Ulrich.

"Get to the factory," the girl shouted, rolling to avoid a punch and rising into a wary crouch, "I'll hold her off!"

"I can help!" Ulrich protested.

Yumi dodged under another swing ad thrust out her legs, throwing the policewoman momentarily off balance. "Aelita will need you. I'll be fine!" XANA's temporary minion tried to bull past her into the tunnel, but Yumi managed to swing a decent punch, distracting her opponent.

Then Ulrich, too, was descending. He pulled the hatch shut behind him with a definitive clang; in the sudden darkness, no one could see his concerned expression.

A yard down the tunnel, Aelita and Jeremie were already unfolding their scooters. Odd and Ulrich grabbed a skateboard each, sliding them flat and springing on with practiced ease. Kloe eyed the remaining board with some trepidation. "Hey! I don't know how to skateboard!" She shouted down the echoing tunnel. I should really stop getting myself into these situations.

Ulrich, last in line, glanced back at her briefly. "Better learn fast," he advised, and pushed off smoothly with his right foot.

Kloe lowered the board gingerly to the ground and put one foot on it as though afraid it would bite. "Learn fast. Easy for mister uber-athlete to say…"

There was a thump, as though something heavy had landed on the tunnel hatch. Reminded abruptly of why speed was necessary, Kloe tried to imitate Ulrich's smooth push-off. Her board wobbled, inching forward. Great. Just great. I can't imagine they're going to wait for me, either…

- - - -

With the hiss and click of complicated locking mechanisms disengaging, the doors of the elevator cracked open. Weathered metal worked in intricate circular patterns on the door set the tone for the rest of the factory, with its worn industrial décor and tangles of ambiguous wires. The four who burst out of the elevator hardly gave it a second glance; the dilapidated old factory was as familiar to them as their boarding school by now. Jeremie slid into his chair without looking, fingers flying across the keyboard before he was even completely settled. "Get to the scanner room," he told the others. Dancing green text cast fluorescent highlights on the thick lenses of his glasses. "I'm loading the virtualization program."

There was a second hiss-click, and the elevator doors parted to reveal a blond girl with a slim choker and coral-colored shirt, rubbing her knee where a rip in her jeans testified to one spill too many. Not as blasé as the rest of the group, she froze as the doors closed behind her, staring at the coiling wires, the fiendishly complicated computer equipment, the vast pillar of the central hard drive, and Jeremie with his headset and steady, certain typing.

"So, what can I do?" Kloe asked.

"Huh?" Jeremie's head jerked around, startled. "Oh. You're still here. Not much." Then his attention was back on the computer. "Set?"

Downstairs in the scanner room, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita stood in the golden pillars. "Loaded and ready," pronounced Odd wryly.

"Scanner - Odd!" Said Jeremie, pulling up the catboy character card. Kloe, watching over his shoulder, made a sound halfway between puzzlement and appreciation. "Scanner - Ulrich," Jeremie continued. The samurai character flashed briefly on the screen before being replaced by a pink-haired elf-girl and "Scanner - Aelita!"

Down in the scanner room, lights brightened and hair floated as though in a strong updraft. "Transfer, Odd! Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Aelita!" Called Jeremie's voice over the distant sounds of machinery. Then, finally:

"Virtualization."

- - - -

Back on school grounds, mere yards away from the hatch covering the tunnel entrance and screened from the school by a scant band of foliage, Yumi ducked another punch. The possessed police officer missed by a hair, fist impacting a nearby tree hard enough to make bark creak. Yumi winced; she couldn't keep this up for much longer. She had felt the wind of that blow. The next one would come even closer.

With a fluid forward roll, she evaded another jab and lashed out with her own stiffened hand. Too far. The policewoman grabbed her wrist, holding her easily with one hand as the other swung around for the final blow. Yumi leapt, curling her knees to her chest protectively; her opponent's strike was thrown off course, hitting her ribs instead with crushing force and tossing her backwards against a tree.

The world swung, tilted giddily. At least it wasn't my head, she thought, hauling herself to her feet. The ground wiggled away every time she tried to shove it under her, and the world was closing like a camera's iris, until there was nothing left but a buzzing in her ears and black.

Acting on inaudible orders, the policewoman opened the metal hatch and dropped through into the tunnel.

- - - -

In Lyoko, weather never changes. The desert sector's bleak, parched golden climate never suffered a rainstorm, or even a light drizzle. XANA had shrouded it in mist, on occasion, but the only things that regularly fell from the sky were virtualized humans.

Soundlessly, grids appeared over the arid landscape. Color spread over them like spilled water, revealing two boys and a pink-haired girl, backs stiff, eyes closed.

One after another, they dropped to the ground, landing with practiced ease.

"I'm sending in your vehicles," came Jeremie's voice from the air around them. Odd's overboard and Ulrich's 'bike materialized in front of them. "The Tower is dead ahead."

Odd looked. "Yeah. Jeremie? We might have a little bit of a problem."