"You've got to kidding me!" Wolfe exclaimed as he hung up the phone. He turned to Nikolai, "Thanks to you, I've been reactivated."
"Really?" Nik said, "I guess our handler is gonna handle everything now, huh?"
"I don't want to end up like you!" Wolfe said, frustratingly. Nikolai had broken a rule on Lyoko. It was called the Creed program. It was created for an order of succession, and stated that you start as an Initiate, then become a Moderator, then you become an Observer, and the final rank is Operator. If anyone tries to return to the Moderator rank, the Creed program executes a form of punishment known as permanent reversion. Physically, Nikolai was 14, mentally, he was 32.
"Why? It's like a fountain of youth, with a little mutation here and there."
"I was twelve the last time I used the scanner!"
"So what?"
"I don't want to have to wait another nine years to drink again!"
"Would you stop shouting?"
"No, you don't need me in Lyoko!"
"The Operator reactivated you, you must oblige."
"Alright... But I don't like this."
They walked over to the factory. Nikolai could see the figure standing in the distance. He knew it was their handler.
They went into the factory.
"Oh, look," Gregory Wolfe said, "A ten foot drop. I'm out of here."
"Come on."
Nik jumped down, and Greg was left to climb down. They went over to the elevator, rode down to the scanner room, and Wolfe refused to leave the elevator.
"Come on, Wolfe," Nik said, pulling the 29 year old out of the elevator, "Eesos, get over there!" He pushed Wolfe over to an open scanner.
"Nik, I can flee the agency, please don't make me do this!"
"Stop begging and get in there!"
"No! I- I'm claustrophobic!"
"In the jet maybe, now get in there!" He pushed him into a scanner and the door shut. Then Wolfe decided to start banging on the door.
"You're only hurting yourself, Wolfe!" Nikolai said as he walked over to the elevator. He went up to the lab and turned on the screens. It was like he went back in time. He could remember sitting here, professor Hopper coming in and out. Even a young Aelita running around the Lab.
He activated the scanner, entered Greg's pass codes, and activated it. It was like a fight for survival for Greg, he was banging on the door when the scanner turned on. He decided it was safest to stay still. At this point, it would be dangerous to keep attempting to damage the scanner. The tiny space filled with warmth, then was blasted with cold air.
Greg looked around once he could. He was in the ice sector. He hated it here. He examined himself, he was wearing a red shirt, red pants, a long sleeve orange shirt under the red one, no shoes, and no weapon. He immediately recognized that he had a tail. He felt his ears, noticing that they were pointed. Yep, he was himself.
"Alright, I'm in, " He said, hearing his much younger voice, "Now take me out."
"I'm picking up a hostile signature coming your way, try getting devirtualized."
Wolfe looked at the thing, he had never seen it before. It was large, round, had four small legs under it (like a midget krab), but it also appeared to have two legs on it's back. The legs came up as it entered range. It stood up, folding its front legs into its chest, now standing on its two sets of hind legs. It had two blasters on its chest, and the only mark on it was the "ζ" in the "O."
"What in the hell is it?"
"What ever it is, it has 200 life points, aim for it's symbol."
Greg lifted his arm and fired a laser arrow. (AN: I'm sorry, I'm trying to make Greg into the Odd that came before Odd). Unlike the Odd we know, he actually came close to hitting his target.
"195 life points left. Maybe just keep firing at it."
Greg fired again, hitting the edge of the symbol this time. He was getting rusty. Nonetheless, the monster fell over and exploded.
"Now can I go?" Greg asked.
"Yeah,let me devirtualize you."
He stepped out of the scanner, noticing what happened to him, he was several inches shorter, no about a foot shorter than he was before he got into the scanner.
"Oh this is great..." He was wearing what he had worn when he had just gotten into the scanner. The clothes were hanging off of him. God, this sucks. He had gained quite a bit of weight since he had left the Lyoko Project,so when he got back up to the Lab, he was holding his pants up.
"Let's just go meet the handler." Greg said.
Ulrich was sitting on the bed in Jeremie's room. He still didn't feel good, but that may have been because he found out what had happened to him.
"How could this have happened?" He was trying to get used to hearing the voice. His voice, it didn't sound anything like his voice. He was also a lot shorter, it was weird on how he looked almost nothing like he did the night before. If they could disguise him like they did Odd, he wouldn't know how to repay them.
"Well," Jeremie said, staring at the computer screen, "According to the data, Jason's DNA seems to have put a virus into the scanners."
"It's just a computer virus?" Ulrich said, the voice cracking a little.
"No, it's an actual virus." Jeremie said.
"What does that mean for me?"
Jeremie went wide eyed, "You might be contagious."
"You don't feel sick do you?" Ulrich asked, feeling a little more scared than before.
"No, it might pass between touch, but definitely not air. If it did, the whole floor would be infected by now."
The girl sitting on the bed relaxed a little. At least she wasn't infecting everyone else. Odd poked her head in.
"How ya doing Ulrich?"
"I'm contagious Odd." Ulrich said.
"We're not sure of that yet," Jeremie said, "I need to run some tests at the factory. Odd, since you've already been infected, you go with Ulrich."
"Infected?" Odd asked, "What do you mean?"
"It was a virus that turned you into a girl, Odd." The genius said.
"So, it's curable?" Odd asked with a hopeful voice.
"Not for you, I'm afraid." Said Jason. He had been leaning in the darker corner of the room. Why was he always in a dark corner? Odd was freaked out by this.
"Why do you always do that?" She asked.
"I don't like light," He replied, "But as for your question, you've been a girl for about five days now. Your body has adjusted to the hormones and organ arrangement. You are not curable without putting yourself at risk."
"What about me?" Ulrich asked.
Jason walked up to the girl, and placed a hand on her forehead. Jeremie gasped, he was risking infection.
"You have a fever, so your body is still unstable. If we wait too long, though, then you'll be stuck."
"Did you not just hear us talking about Ulrich being possibly contagious?" Jeremie asked.
"It's a virus based off of my DNA," Jason said bitterly, "I should be safe."
"And if you're not?"
"Then I'll look just like my sister." The pale teen said.
"Alright," Jeremie said, "Odd, Ulrich, you go to the factory."
"What about you?" Odd asked.
"I need to get Aelita first."
"Alright, come on Ulrich," Odd said grabbing Ulrich's arm, "Ew, you're slimy."
"That's not a good thing," Jason said, "Like with Odd, there are lots of ways for the hormones to exit the body. Ulrich's sweating them out."
As Odd and Ulrich were running to the factory, there was a man in Washington DC, standing at a funeral procession. (AN: I must add a REAL AMERICAN BADASS to this story.)
The American President had died of malaria a few days prior. At the funeral procession, the Vice President was to take the ceremonial Oath of Office, even though he was already president. In truth, the President had been poisoned with a chemical that would give similar symptoms to malaria. He had just returned from Central Africa not too long ago, so the symptoms would not make doctors suspect poison. The Vice President stepped forward to give a eulogy. The Agency, however had other plans.
Timothy Carthun, currently under the alias of Timothy Farmer, was standing in the ceremonial firing squad. Unlike the other nineteen men in the squad, his musket was loaded. In his mind, he was going over the specifics of the situation. The Vice President was at an elevated position, so he would have no trouble concealing his presence in the crowd. There were two armed guards at the target's sides, but he knew that his support would take care of them. The signal came to raise their arms, he rose his a few degrees to the right, calculating the curve of the ball.
They heard the word to fire. He squeezed the trigger, firing the ball. In his mind, he saw the ball's path. He cursed in his head when the ball missed the heart and hit the Vice President's left lung. The politician fell and his guards drew their weapons, aiming all around, trying to find the assassin. They were about to aim for Tim, when three sniper shots screamed through the city. The Vice President, who was gasping for air, fell over when his chest burst open. His two bodyguards fell over, their suits turning red.
It all turned to hell there, when the President's successor was shot. People started to run and scream. Tim ran with them and jumped behind some bushes. He heard a voice in his earpiece.
"The assassin has been assassinated."
Lance, Tim's partner and younger brother was currently crouched at a window on the top of the Washington Monument. The Monument had been closed for the procession, so he just had to get the keys and go up there with a sniper rifle. He had noticed that his brother's position was compromised, so he took the situation into his own hands.
Tim had run and jumped behind some bushes. He had shed the uniform he had worn and was now in a black jumpsuit. He had two Uzis drawn and was ready pull out. He heard the helicopter come down, but not all the way. He was running out to it, firing at the secret service agents who were shooting at him. He jumped onto the helicopter and closed the doors. There were just two other people in there with him. Lance and the pilot.
Lance opened his mouth to congratulate his brother when the television in the back turned on. The sign that appeared was that of their Operator. It was three eyes of XANA with tops touching in a triangle.
"That was the worst execution of a mission I have ever seen," The Operator said through a disguised voice, "I can say that I'm happy to tell you that you two are being transferred."
"Transferred?" Lance asked, "But we're your top killers."
"That is irrelevant. Tim, you're gong to Site Zero as an Observer."
"Paris, huh? That would be really nice if I wasn't going to spend hours upon hours at a computer."
"What about me sir?" Lance asked.
"You're going to Site Seven. I believe that this will be your first time as a Moderator."
"I'm going to L-2?"
"Yes. Egypt branch."
"Thank you sir." The two brothers said.
"Oh, and Tim, you will go under your original name. I will give you your first mission when you get to the airport."
"Thank you sir." Tim said.
Lilly was laying in her bed. She had hoped that she could sleep in today, but Aelita's night terrors got in the way of that plan.
Aelita had already left the room. Where she went, who knows. Lilly was just frustrated that she had forgotten her cell phone, which had rang about five times by now. Lilly just put the covers over her head. Why couldn't she be lazy for one day?
Aelita walked in and picked up her phone.
"Good morning Jeremie."
Oh god, Lilly thought, It's Jeremie. Why can't they just go out already?
"What happened to Ulrich? Okay I'll meet you at the factory."
She hung up. Lilly sat up and looked at the pink-haired girl.
"What happened to Ulrich?"
"You'll see," Aelita said, in a playful tone.
Lilly thought it best to get out of bed and go to the factory. They walked to the entrance in the woods. When they got to the factory floor, they saw Jeremie banging on the control pad for the elevator.
"What's wrong Jeremie?" Aelita asked as she approached him.
"Someone's locked the elevator!"
"Where are Odd and Ulrich?"
"They went down before I got here."
"So why not call Odd and ask her to open the elevator?"
Jeremie sighed and pulled out his phone. Why had he been so much on edge lately.
"Odd?" Jeremie said, "Could you unlock the elevator?"
"No," Odd said, she sounded stressed, "We're stuck in here. The elevator went down to the Lab, but it never opened. I'm putting in the code, but it just won't open."
"How's Ulrich?"
"She's banging on the door. But she isn't as strong as she was."
"I'll try to figure this out," Jeremie said, "Just stay put for the meantime."
"Where would we go?"
"Bye Odd."
He hung up, just as Odd started to complain about claustrophobia, and told Aelita and Lilly about the situation. Lilly called Jason, who was trying to hook up a TV in his room. Jason then called their father.
He had guessed the number, since the one on his phone was untraceable. Remarkably, he was right (On the eleventh try). But he didn't expect to hear what he would say.
"Zdraast vooeeche (Hello) Jason, I'm in the Lab right now."
"What?" Jason asked, completely surprised at this.
"Da, someone's banging on the elevator door though."
"Dad! Unlock the elevator! It's Odd, one of my new friends."
"Laadna," (Okay) He said, not really sounding like he cared.
"Oh, and don't let the brown haired girl touch you, she has a virus she got from the scanners."
Jason heard the door open on the other end, then the sound of someone falling.
"Okay Jason, they're in." Nikolai said.
"Thank you." Jason sighed.
Nikolai hung up.
Odd saw the boy sitting at the computer screen. He had brown hair, a little darker than Ulrich's, he was wearing a blue Metallica: Ride The Lightning t-shirt, and wore black jeans. His shoes were simple skater shoes. He looked about Yumi's age.
"Who are you?" Odd asked. Ulrich looked up and recognized him.
"Nikolai?"
Nikolai just stared at Ulrich, who was picking herself up from the floor. The door shut as the elevator left.
"Padazhdaats (Hold on), you look just like that boy I saw on Lyoko yesterday." He continued staring for a few more seconds, then his eyes went wide, and he fell to the floor, laughing.
"Wow!" Nik laughed, "I've heard of side effects from the scanners, but that's freaking FUNNY!"
Ulrich blushed, Odd started to get mad. She was about to go off on Nikolai when Jeremie, Aelita, and Lilly exited the elevator that had just arrived. Lilly was surprised to see that her father had physically reverted to a teen. It was kind of funny when she thought about it. She then looked at Ulrich to see that he had become a girl just like Odd. Now that was weird. Jeremie didn't know who this new guy was though, so Aelita did introductions.
"Jeremie, Odd," She said, "This is Nikolai. I don't remember him, but he remembers me."
"Wait," Nikolai said, turning to look at Aelita "What do you mean you don't remember me? I knew your father, we all worked on the Lyoko project together."
"I kind of recognize you," Aelita explained, "But I don't remember anything from before the supercomputer's reactivation."
Nikolai sighed, turned to the computer, devirtualized Wolfe, and had him come to the Lab. The two of them explained how, from 1988 to 1993, they had worked together on the Lyoko project. Nikolai talked about how Aelita would come and play around the Lab, how the professor (Hopper) would get them out of class to work on the project, and how XANA had gained control in the end, making them fugitives and flee country1994.
"I had thought that Dr. Shaeffer had fled with Aelita," Nikolai said, "But the fact that he put her into the computer... Bozhe moi, what was he thinking?"
"He put himself in too." Jeremie pointed out.
"Yeah, and XANA scattered his data..." Greg said, "I was in a tower, checking the diagnostics when I found that out."
They all turned as they heard the elevator start up. When it returned, Dee and William entered the large room. William did not look happy to be anywhere near XANA's human form.
"I have discovered something about myself." Dee said. (AN: I based Dee/XANA off of Dorothy from Big O. If you haven't seen the show, Dorothy is a badass, emotionless android who doesn't understand humans at all, except her master.)
"What is it?" Jeremie asked, sighing. XANA could have the dumbest reasons for interrupting.
"Let me show you." She walked over to a loose wire and touched it. At first nothing happened, but then it sparked. It didn't seem like much, but to Jeremie, it was as if the world had ended. XANA still had his powers!
"That's not good." Jeremie said.
"I did not intend to have my abilities in the real world. I had calculated that ZETA would have taken them away."
"Well, it looks like he wanted to give you a chance." Lilly said.
Meanwhile, in the supercomputer, ZETA was no more. He had absorbed the OMICRON program, making him more powerful. He was now ULTIMA. He was currently planning on how to absorb KAPPA when he came across one of OMICRON's actions. The program had taken one of the genetic samples that XANA had collected, and morphed it into a bacteriophagial retrovirus. He had tested it on the one the humans called Odd. Then he had added a contagion to it, with a suicide chain of three links. (Good GOD! I'm such a nerd!) The virus could spread to three other people now, and the one called Ulrich Stern was infected. It didn't seem to affect the one who's genetic data was used to make it. ULTIMA could change that.
"It is time too make a pandemic occur."
When Ulrich would go to be examined, ULTIMA would send KAPPA to make the necessary changes to the virus.
Back in the Lab, Odd was accompanying Ulrich down to the scanner room. She entered a scanner. The machine started up.
Back in the Lab, Jeremie noticed that there was an activated tower in the mountain sector. Then the situation turned to hell in a hand basket. (Minus the rabid cat)
The light in the scanner seemed to flicker for a second, and then Ulrich was virtualized. She landed in the desert sector.
"Jeremie, why was I virtualized?"
[static]
"That's creepy," She muttered to herself, then thought she heard something, "Hello? Jeremie?"
"I... -ending... -dd and Ni..."
Ulrich couldn't understand the words, but then saw Odd and Nikolai virtualize behind her.
"Holy crap!" Odd said, her eyes wide.
"Does this s*** happen every day?" Nikolai asked.
"It seems like it."
"What's going on out there?" Ulrich asked.
Odd laughed at Ulrich.
"You're wearing a dress! HA!"
Ulrich hadn't gotten a chance to examine herself yet. This statement caught her attention and she franticly checked herself over. Though wearing just about everything she did as a guy, she had a skirt that was the same color as the shirt.
"That's not fair! How come I'm dressed differently and you're not?"
"Ladies," Nikolai said, "Can we please focus on the situation at hand?"
"I could if I knew what was going on." Ulrich said.
"ZETA activated a tower and, well, the computer went haywire," Nik explained, "I don't really know what's going on, but it's freaking me out."
"We don't have Aelita," Odd pointed out, "How will we deactivate the tower?"
"I can deactivate it if the problem isn't too serious." Nikolai said.
"Then let's go!" Odd said. They ran towards the tower, which was luckily near by. Ulrich could feel another head ache coming on, but it wasn't short and painful, it was long and aching. She could still concentrate, barely though.
It seemed almost too easy to get to the tower. They encountered one monster. Odd and Ulrich had never seen it before, but Nikolai said that Greg had fought one earlier that day. He called it a tortoise.
Nikolai took it down with a Conduction attack on it's head. They made it to the tower and Nikolai entered. He ran to the center of the platform and floated to the top. He put his hand on the virtual screen. It confirmed with "Nikolai" and he entered "Code Lyoko". The tower deactivated and he left. Jeremie pulled them out.
"Crisis averted." Is all Nikolai could say when they got to the Lab, which looked a little shaken up. Ulrich looked terrible. She had a cough and looked pale, her eyes were bloodshot. Ulrich was definitely worse off then Odd had been.
"Did you find anything Jeremie?" Ulrich asked, sounding weak.
"I found that the virus can only spread to three people," The genius said, sounding relieved, "And that it only passes by touch."
"Is that all?"
"Jason is immune to it, and it appears that his dad is too."
"Sazhalets for interrupting," (Sorry for interrupting) Nikolai said, "But, please, just call me Nikolai."
"Okay," Jeremie said, "Now, I've noticed that the virus only seems to affect males."
"So that means that Yumi and Aelita are safe?" Ulrich asked.
"Yeah."
"What about a cure?"
Jeremie just wanted to skip that question. But, he should be truthful to his friends.
"I don't know if that's possible with the current resources we have."
"So you're saying I'm stuck?"
"No no, I'm just saying that there may be a chance that you'll have to get used to your new body."
"Can't you just put me in the scanner and alter my DNA?" Ulrich said after thinking for a second.
"The scanners don't work like that Ulrich!" Jeremie shouted, getting frustrated with Ulrich's stubbornness, "You can't just put someone in the scanner, alter their DNA, and hope for the best!"
"Do it." She turned around and walked to the elevator. Nikolai grabbed her arm.
"Let go!" Ulrich fought Nikolai.
"You need to go and rest," He said, "I helped make Lyoko into what you know today. It can leave you drained after a while."
"I'm fine!" Ulrich said, beginning to cough.
"No you're not, you have a fever, you're weak, you have a bad cough, I can tell that you're sick."
"I'm telling you, I'm fine!" She tried to break free, but Nik did a quick twist, and before Ulrich knew it, she had her arms wrapped around herself, unable to move them.
"Ulrich, you need to get some rest," Jeremie said, "I'll try to find a cure tonight."
After a few seconds, Ulrich just nodded. Nikolai let go of her arms, and there was a silence in the room. Nikolai's phone broke the silence.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Resnovik!" Said a familiar, non-disguised voice, it sounded like a familiar Californian who had gone to Kadic in the late '80s, "Long time no see!"
"Carthum?"
"Yeah, last time I saw you... You were-"
"Running for my life."
"Yeah, that's it."
"I take that this call isn't to catch up."
"Nah," Tim said, "I'm coming to take you off your handler's hands."
"Why?"
"They want a real agent looking after you and Wolfe."
"Why?"
"They're punishing me for screwing up an assassination."
"What assassination?"
"It should be all over the news."
"What assassination!"
"Never mind, I have your location, I'll be there in two minutes."
The phone hung up.
"Who was that?" Greg asked.
"Tim Carthum."
"What in the bloody hell does he want?"
"He's gonna be our watcher. He'll tell us about it when he gets here."
Nikolai turned to the Lyoko warriors, "Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Greg and I are going to Kadic... again."
"The one thing that sucks after reactivation." Greg pointed out.
The two said their goodbyes and went to the elevator. Not long after they left, Jeremie looked at his watch. It was around 1pm, they didn't have to go back for another eight hours. Ulrich agreed to have Odd take her back to their room. Lilly thought that she should get a hold of Jason and complain about how they hadn't been spending much time together, they were twins after all. Aelita persuaded Jeremie to go to the mall with her (God save him now). Yumi had wanted to go to a movie with Ulrich, but because of his sickness, she was alone for the evening until William asked if he could go, just as friends. Dee saw no point in any of these activities. She decided meditate in her room (Nobody wanted her at the factory unsupervised).
In the interface, ULTIMA congratulated KAPPA. The virus would now spread indefinitely, the infected would release air-borne pathogens for the first three days of infection, and it was not limited by genetics anymore. This was sure to cause chaos. By ULTIMA's calculations, the virus would cover Paris within two days, the whole country by a week, the continent by three, and the world within a month and a half.
KAPPA was praising ULTIMA, when the master program engulfed him. Now there was only OMEGA. A red "Ω" flashed on the screens in the Lab, and a black one flickered in someone's eyes.