Chapter 24.
Echos Of The Past
Hotel Holiday Inn, Delaware
The alarm clock hit 7:00 AM. Travis sat in the corner of the room while Jessica and George sat at the table. They had gone through several bottles of alcohol as they tried to comprehend what they had just seen on the video. Jessica was slouched in her chair as she looked at the locket on the necklace.
"He had to have known from the start that it would lead to this. Even after he married Antea, he knew they would want the child for this… System thing," Jessica said as she stood up.
"But what I don't get is what the hell this System thing is. Is it an artifact or a machine?" George asked. "I mean it has to be important enough for the guy to flee the country and hide in a place where no one could look for him."
"In any case… he has been 100% right about everything. From the labs' destruction, to what we're doing. If he is still right then that means he is dead. And that his daughter is in the care of complete strangers," Travis said. "Or she could be dead as well. Poor thing," Travis said.
Jessica began to tear up at the thought of all that Waldo Schaffer's daughter had been through. All that she had seen, suffered and lost. All of it gave Jessica cold shivers.
"So we need to speak to the director then; we need to head to Amines. It's our only and closet lead," Travis said as he picked up one of the CDs. He looked at it as he thought about what it might have been like for Schaffer to go through all the hardship he had seen.
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Alaska 1972
The large cargo plane flew across the Alaskan wilderness. The forest was covered in snow and ice from the ice storm that had hit earlier that day. Normally no plane or aircraft would fly in this weather, but this was no ordinary aircraft, nor any ordinary circumstances.
Inside were a large number of scientists and solders. The soldiers walked the isle with their guns on their hips and strapped to their backs. This movement made some of the scientists nervous. But one scientist was already nervous. A tall man with short grey hair and glasses. He nervously chewed on a piece of gum; one of the other scientists claimed that it would help with the pressure from the descending plane. It was one of the first times he had flown in a plane, and he was worried it would be his last. He nervously twitched as the plane dropped lower in altitude.
"First time flying sir?" a voice said from behind him.
"Yeah…. Yeah. If god had wanted man to fly he would have given him wings," the grey haired man said.
"But instead, God gave man the knowledge on how to fly," the voice from behind said. The voice came from an older freckled man. He had curly red hair and dressed in a nice suit. "Dr. Ludwig VanWolfhousen," the man said in German enriched English.
"Waldo Schaeffer," Waldo said as he introduced himself, shaking hands with Ludwig.
"So what are you a doctor of?" Waldo asked.
"I am one of the premier doctors in the field of energy research and development. The team I am on in Germany is close to the breakthrough of the century," Ludwig said with a gleam in his eyes.
"What's that?" Waldo asked.
"A clean way to use the restroom," Ludwig said.
Waldo stared at Ludwig for a few minutes as he tried to swallow just what it was Ludwig had just said.
"That's… interesting," Waldo said as the fasten seatbelts sign came on.
"Every day, millions of gallons of water are used to flush human waste down the sewer, a literal waste. I plan to use concentrated amounts of air to flush all matter down the drain," Ludwig said.
"Well I'm sure that's a… ok idea," Waldo said as the plane suddenly landed on a freshly plowed runway. The soldiers stood up first and grabbed their duffle bags and gear while the scientists stood up with their suitcases and luggage. As Waldo left the plane he noticed the runway he now stood on. It was entrenched by several large surrounding mountains. The sky was cloudy; no sign of any stars or moon. And the temperature was enough to make a grown man shiver. Waldo turned around and looked at the other buildings. There were hangars and three large buildings. Almost like some type of complex or fort. There were several radar dishes and vehicles, and what also appeared to be a large drilling machine. Then he noticed it; inside one of the hangars he saw a large submersible. It was yellow with four large metallic arms, and on the front it had the words MAL-TECH Industries on it.
The group of scientists and military personal made their way into the main building. It was well lit and warm. Inside there was no pictures or clocks, no calendars. Just a long corridor with yellow colored bricks and white tiles. Near the entrance was a large security area, complete with a metal detector, x-ray machine, and bins for holding items. At the gate was a group of men dressed in black suits, wearing black sunglasses. The only thing on them that wasn't black was the white undershirt. They were checking all of the scientists' luggage and equipment, while at the same time they were checking the soldiers' gear and equipment.
One solider yelled as a security guard tried to take his assault rifle. He reached for it but before he could, five agents sprung on him and wrestled him to the ground; the other soldiers pulled out their weapons and pointed them at the agents. The agents pulled out their weapons. Each agent carried a pistol that was loaded for its job. They were equipped with silencers, acog scopes, laser pointers and a flashlight that was bright enough to daze and disorient the person it was pointed at. The scientist's hit the floor in fear as the soldiers yelled at the agents. The agents just stood there, not saying a word, not moving at all. Finally a military colonel dressed in the standard brass wardrobe walked in as his men lowered the guns, shouting at the soldiers.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!???" the colonel asked.
"Sir they attempted to take our guns from us, sir," the soldier replied.
The colonel's face turned red as he turned to a group of suited men that were heading their way. "What is the meaning of this? A solider is nothing without his gun."
"Don't worry. They will be allowed to keep their side arms; we are merely going to store the rifles until the time has come for your soldiers to leave. Mal-Tech's agents will be providing security during this time period," the man said as he approached.
" Washington informed me that my men were in charge of all security with this area. Not Mal-Tech," the colonel said.
"Actually that's not true," the man said as he stepped into view. He was a young man with jet black hair, and looked Mexican in decent. " Washington told you that you were to protect the scientists until they reached the outpost. After that you are to remain on this base and assist us in any way shape or form."
"Mister Estrada!!! You can not tell military personnel what to do!!" the colonel said.
"Actually I can. See this is land purchased from the government by Mal-Tech. It is not a piece of America any more. And we have been granted permission by the pentagon to foresee that this project works as it should. If you don't like it, the nearest town is several miles away. I'm sure you and your men can make it there by morning," Estrada said.
The colonel's face grew red in color as he ordered his men to lower their guns. Estrada snapped his fingers as the agents holstered their guns as well. The soldiers took the clips out of their guns and placed them on the tables. The scientists slowly began to stand up. Waldo slowly made his way up as he looked at the man who had put the colonel in his place. A task not easily done. The man walked away with three other agents. He walked back to what looked like a large bulkhead equipped with a safe like door.
"Agent Conner. What was the latest update on the object?" Estrada said.
"All readings indicate it is intact, and according to structural analysis, it is made of the same material of the objects that fell in Russia . Only unlike the Russian object, it's bigger and intact. And no sign of any form of energy leakage," Conner said.
"And what of the other part of the object that we excavated? How is it and its cargo?" Estrada said.
"All signs show that the object is intact. It is currently in a cryo tank. The structure seems mostly made out of crystal with a faint rhythmic pattern inside the structure," Connors said.
The agents walked into an office as Estrada sat down at his desk.
"Naturally when we find the crystal, we must hide it from the government and give them the main structure. The crystal we excavated we will take with us. As for the second smaller object that we found. Let the government take it, we can track it down and retrieve it with project Carthage in the works. All we need is a team of scientists to help work on it," Estrada said.
An agent walked Waldo down a corridor of rooms. The doors to these rooms were clear glass, with a red light hanging above the doorway. It also had a black screen on it where the agent placed his hand on as it opened.
"Here is your room. 230. Your roommates are inside waiting," the agent said as Waldo stepped inside. He was greeted by a loud squeaking noise, followed by a loud fluttering from his right. Waldo dropped his luggage as he fell on a bed and the person lying on it.
"What the Sam hell!!!" the voice said as Waldo stood up. As Waldo calmed down he realized that the noise was that of a parrot. And the man he fell on looked like a truck driver. He wore a St Louis Cardinals hat with a red shirt. He was a tall man with a large bushy beard.
"Easy there partner. You look like you're about to have a heart attack. That's just Barney. My pet parrot. The only thing he will hurt is a fly." the man said. The bird, Barney, squeaked as it said "Good morning."
"Guess you're roommate number three. Name's Daemon, Daemon Randall, rig driver. I drive the underwater submersible you probably noticed on your way in. That's my baby, Hammerhead," Daemon said as he introduced himself.
"Waldo Schaeffer, I'm one of the scientists that just arrived here. They recruited me straight out of MIT. I majored in computer programming, and took a minor in archeology. They asked me to join up shortly after I graduated," Waldo said as he sat down on his bed.
"Talk about straight out off the flight deck and into the air. So where you from bucko?" Daemon asked.
" Los Angeles , California. Born and raised," Waldo said.
"Dirty city. I hate it," Daemon said. "I'm from good old Saint Louis. Born and raised."
Waldo shook hands With Dameon. How could some one who looked like a monster truck driver actually be capable of piloting a submersible. He thought must subsmersible drivers where young kids but this guy was almost in hid 40's.
"You know. You look pretty young to have grey hair kid. Whats the deal with that?" Daemon asked.
"I was born with Grey hair..it's a form of albino." Waldo said as he laid his breifcase on the bed.
"Pretty nice place here isint it?" Waldo said.
The room had a blue lighting to it. It was large enough for 6 people instead of 3. Their was a large shelf section next to waldos bed and on the wall was a large window, the window peered out into the ocean where Waldo could see a large deep blue glow coming from the endless water. It seemed to stretch on for miles. Waldo could also see the top of the ocean, a vast endless sheet of ice coverd the surface as he saw a small fish swim by the window.
"Shit.. My guess is that we must be several miles under the surface in a type of underwater rig center or something." Daemon said as he fed Barney some seeds.
"Barney, Barney" the parrot said.
Waldo opened his suitcase as he heard Barney squawk again. This time another person was frightened from the loud bird. Waldo turned to see a tall muscular man with a pair of tattoos on his arm and brown hair. He looked like one of those army guys you would see in basic Hollywood movies. Only a little taller.
"Can you seriously move your bird away from the damn door? It's going to either kill the next person who enters the room or the bird," the man said.
"Excuse me Frenchy. But this is America , not France so you have no say in the matter," Daemon said.
"I happen to be a general in the French army. And you're a civilian. So I'm telling you…," the man said until Daemon cut him off.
"You're to damn young to be a general in the army. If you are then that's the reason your country never won a dam war," Daemon said.
The man finally walked to the other half of the room, failing to notice Waldo until he brushed past him. "Who are you?" Waldo asked.
"Oh I didn't notice you, sorry. My name is Edward Della Robbia. I'm one of the only few French military advisors asked to help out with this whole thing. I'm part of France's Scientific military division," Edward said.
"Waldo Schaeffer," Waldo introduced himself and explained his story as to how he was brought here.
"That probably means you will be working under me. We're in charge of studying the thing underwater. Which also means Mister Daemon there will be helping with it as well," Edward said.
"So what are we looking for anyways?" Waldo asked.
"They will tell you. We're not supposed to say anyways. As far as it goes, we don't exist until this job is done," Edward said. "So how old are you?"
"24. What about you?" Waldo asked.
"27, single though. Trying to work on that with that one scientist from radiology, Lisa Ledgent. She's from France like me; we went to school together," Edward said.
"Great. They're multiplying," Daemon joked.
"Hey if you don't like it pal then tell it to some one who cares," Edward said. To which Daemon flipped the bird towards him.
Waldo finished putting his clothes up in the special dresser that was given to the staff that was staying at the base. He had just finished when the door opened. Standing in the doorway was one of the agents. He was a tall slender man with curly blond hair. He looked straight at Waldo.
"Mr. Schaeffer? I'm agent Thompson. Dr. Estrada will see you now," Thompson said. Waldo stood up off his bed and walked to the door. He turned around to see Edward and Daemon looking at him. Waldo slowly stepped out into the hallway as the door closed. Waldo and Thompson made their way to the main hall where the isle was notably larger. In the hallway there was a golf cart with another agent waiting for them. Waldo and Thompson stepped inside as the cart drove off towards its destination. As it drove Thompson looked towards Waldo.
"Everything you're about to see is classified beyond the degree of classify. Any word of this outside the walls of this facility will result in a life sentence. Maybe even a firing squad,"
Thompson said as the golf cart entered the main facility. The lab was huge. Roughly the size of a football field. There were many different work stations, all equipped with the latest in computer terminals and lab equipment. All throughout the floor were several scientists, all working on what appeared to be glass objects. The kart then drove by a large hole in the floor. The hole opened into the ice covered ocean floor. In the ice was a clear cut hole, which looked to have been cut with a laser or some type of cutting tool. Above the hole was a large drill like object, only instead of a drill, there was some type of lens equipped to a large piece of machinery that ended in a cone just above the hole. Waldo had never seen anything like this before in his life; it looked to him like something off a James Bond Movie or some form of science fiction.
The cart went up a large ramp as another cart came down the ramp going the opposite direction. Waldo saw it carried several of the soldiers he came in with. The cart turned the bin as it arrived at its destination. A large garage like building that sat off to the left of the main lab.
"Now remember. No questions and no complaints. I'm sure a worthless scientist like yourself can do that," Thompson said as he gave Waldo a smug look. Waldo stepped out of the cart and walked up the steps of the building and up to the door.
Waldo knocked on the door of the office. He heard some one tell him to go ahead and come inside. Waldo walked inside of the main room. It was a large conference hall like room. The walls were dark blue. The only lighting in the room came from the ceiling, where only a few lights hanged. The table was long with a glass top. And underneath that glass was a wooden board.
"Sit down mister Schaeffer," a voice said from the other side of the room. Waldo pulled out one of the metal chairs and sat down. As he placed his hands on the table, the area around him lit up, illuminating his face.
"Waldo Schaeffer, age 24. Born out of Compton California , son to Harold and Emily Schaeffer. Only child. Graduated MIT at the top of his class. You're a work of art. A genius coming from a slum like L.A…," the voice said as it placed down a vanilla envelope. The envelope contained pictures of his parents, him and his friends.
"Uh that's right. But who are you?" Waldo asked.
"I am Emilio Estrada. Vice President to Mal-Tech. I am also in charge of the project here in Alaska," Estrada said as he came into the light.
"Can I ask a question?" Waldo asked.
Estrada nodded.
"Why did you bring me here?" Waldo asked.
Estrada flipped on a screen. It showed the ice shelf that the base was sitting off. It showed several sheets of ice, all circling around a small area where it had seemed a object had impacted a while back. Then it flipped over to an infrared map. It showed the ice in blue and the heat in red. But in the water, the water itself was completely red, indicating there was a large amount of heat under the water.
"Deep under the water, the average temperature is about 60 degrees. Far above normal for a current of water in this area. What's more is the temperature is not affecting the ice. The ice should melt but the thing is that the ice is actually growing," Estrada said as he pointed with a laser light.
"Then the navy discovered this," Estrada said as the map cleared away to an underwater photo. It showed a large crystal like structure which glowed underwater. A second photo showed the size of the structure. It was the size of a large building.
"A Navy DVR discovered it two weeks ago. The government contracted us to excavate it and study it. Its radiation signature is low but the material itself is unknown to the periodic table. And we're not sure how far down this object goes," Estrada said
"What is this? Is it… alien?" Waldo asked.
"We're not sure, but that's where your team comes into play. You will be helping with the computer research on the object with team 1. They're studying the main core of the crystal which seems to be the source of the heat signature. Understand?" Estrada asked.
Waldo nodded.
"What you see and what you hear stays in this building. Any leak of this to the media or outside sources will result in a life sentence. Understand?" Estrada said.
"Sure," Waldo said.
"Good," Estrada said as he clicked off the screen. He walked over to his chair and sat down at it and folded his arms "Now you will be one of the main teams here at the facility. And with your credentials you will be one of the main computer maintenance members here at the lab," Estrada said.
"Ok sure," Waldo said.
"Now go. And congrats on the position here," Estrada said as he walked over and shook Waldo's hand. Waldo turned and walked out the door as he noticed Estrada was placing a file on a cabinet that said on the front Waldo Schaffer.
Estrada picked up a remote and turned on the screen. The screen showed a lab with several scientists inside of it. There was also a large amount of equipment, computers, x-ray machines, and even a large tower like structure in the far corner. It was surrounded by a glass wall and two doors made of glass. On the glass there was a sign which read Genramus; it was a super computer. There were three men inside the room working on it. But the big prize was in the center of the room. A large crystalline prism. Ten feet tall and just as wide. Inside the crystal was a silhouette. It was curled up like a ball, but the scientists couldn't determine what it was. Some thought it was a liquid core; others believed it was an energy source. But the most fascinating thing about the object was that it was warm. It was constantly warm, even after it was pulled out of the frigid Arctic Ocean. Its temperature always stayed at a warm 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Crystal was held in place by several cables and metal rods. A light peered down from the ceiling of the room and illuminated the crystal. There had been several attempts to crack open the crystal. They had tried taking some industrial sized drills to it, but they were either stripped or broke in half. Then they tried something desperate. They created a diamond coated drill bit to try and cut their way in. However, the diamond shattered under the pressure of being pressed against the crystal.
Estrada clicked to another screen which showed a large vault; inside the vault were armed personal and several scientists in Hazmat suits, and several lasers that were beaming onto a small crystal orb. The orb glowed several different colors; it would glow red one minute and then blue and so forth.
There had been an incident a few days back where a scientist had actually touched the orb with his bare hands. The result was a bright glow running through the orb and into the scientist's hands. The scientist was quarantined off and kept in a facility owned by Mal-Tech just off the Philippines . The result from the accident literally changed the man in almost every way. It was remarkable. The man's entire body turned into a flow of electric energy for a few minutes until he found a way to turn it off. Further analysis would be necessary to discover how to reverse engineer the power that was granted by the orb.
Waldo walked back to his room, with the Agent following behind him. The agent was literally breathing down his neck. It made Waldo a little nervous; he felt as if this Thompson fellow had it out for him. He was constantly sneering at him and acting as if he was trying to be intimidating. The door to the room open as Waldo entered. Barney didn't squawk this time though; he was merely eating some seeds from out of his bowl. Waldo walked over to his bed, sat on it and looked out the window at the frozen snowy plains outside. It made him feel isolated, and confined. He noticed how most of the science team seemed a little on edge and a little timid and scared. He slowly took out a picture of his parents. They sat on a swing set smiling as they looked at the camera. Waldo put the picture next to his bed as he noticed a clear plastic package on his bed. Inside were a white lab coat and a name tag with his name and picture on it. It also showed his location and his allowed access to certain areas.
He took the coat out and placed it on the coat rack next to Barney's cage. He sat on his bed and took his shoes off as he laid there. Looking at the ceiling, he felt something was out of place. Something was much different here then just a secret military project. It felt as if something was… watching him or calling him. He rolled over and drifted to sleep.
But his dreams would show his future.
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Amines, France .
Aelita lay in bed. She was just beginning to wake up from a long night sleep. She had the nightmare again last night but it wasn't anything new to her. She felt the sun warm her face as she heard the birds outside her window chirping, whining from the already hot temperatures.
She stood up out of bed, still wearing her huge oversized shirt. She heard the alarm clock go off as the radio was playing Never Too Late by Three Days Grace. It was her favorite theme. Yumi however had gone nuts over the new Greenday album. She proclaimed that if Never Too Late was Aelita and Jeremy's theme, then 21 Guns was Yumi and Ulrich's theme.
Aelita reached over to shut off the radio when suddenly a pink spark jumped from her hand. The alarm suddenly shorted out in a sparking smoky wreck as it flew across the room. Aelita yipped in alarm as she jumped back. She looked at her hand and back at the clock as the charred remains smoked from the incident. Aelita looked around and grabbed a magazine. She rolled it up and flicked the clock. Nothing. She slowly walked over and picked up her phone. Then she felt it. That weird sensation as if she could feel the entire world around her again. But it felt familiar. As if she had this feeling before, even before the incident a few days ago on the playground.
Then it hit her. Lyoko. She had felt this sensation with the elongated elf ears she had whenever she was on Lyoko. She could hear everything, and in a sense, know everything that was going on around her.
Aelita changed into her newest clothes that Jeremy had bought her. A skirt with maroon leggings that went down to her knees. And a pink shirt with white angel wings on the back. She put on her shoes and walked out the door. She headed downstairs to the boys dorms and caught sight of William and Odd standing outside of Jeremy's dorm. She walked past a pair of boys as she walked up to them.
"Oh morning," William said as he leaned up against the wall. Odd smiled the same big goofy smile he normally smiled.
"Where's Jeremy?" Aelita asked.
"Well he is in his room changing, and Ulrich's still in the shower. No sign of Yumi yet," Odd said.
Aelita snuck past them as she knocked on the door. She heard the doorknob turn as the door opened to reveal a still sleepy Jeremy. His hair was still roughed up from sleeping. And his glasses were tilted on his face. And he had the imprint of a space bar and several other keys on his face. Aelita noticed this and put aside her concern and began to drum on Jeremy.
"Jeremy! Did you fall asleep at your computer again?" Aelita asked as Odd and William watched on.
"Uh no of course I didn't I mean…," Jeremy staggered as Aelita frowned and gave him a stare of both anger and disappointment. She folded her arms and tapped her foot.
"Jeremy. You know I can tell when you're lying. Because you always start sweating when you do," Aelita said as Odd whispered "busted," to which William nodded.
Sweat streamed down Jeremy's head as he finally admitted to his crime.
"Jeremy Dylan Belpois!" Aelita firmly said, "Do I need to strap you down to your bed at night?!"
"Dylan?" William asked as Odd giggled.
"It was my grandfather's name," Jeremy said. "Aelita I'm a teenage boy here. I can sleep where I want and…," Jeremy began as Aelita walked into his room and interrupted him.
"Your mother told me to keep an eye on you and make sure you do as you're told. Now don't make me call your mom and tell her you're doing it again," Aelita said, as she smiled and pinched Jeremy's cheek.
Odd couldn't hold it anymore as he busted into laughter. William tried to hide his laughter so as not to embarrass Jeremy.
"Odd! Don't make me come over there!" Aelita said as she looked at Odd. Odd stopped as William walked into the room.
"So you done embarrassing me?" Jeremy said as he walked over to his chair.
"Jeremy. Don't start staying up because of all this. You look the best in ages. No bags under your eyes, no stress, and you don't need to drink four cups of coffee in order to make it through the day. Don't do this to yourself. Please," Aelita pleaded.
"Ok, I'll limit myself," Jeremy said.
"By the way. I need you guys to see something. I forgot when I saw the shape you were in," Aelita said as she lead them out of the room. They walked up to her room and entered. Aelita walked in and picked up her alarm clock. She showed it to the guys as they tried to figure out what she did.
"So… you're smoking in your room and… got your alarm clock on fire?" Odd asked.
"No Odd. I went to shut it off and a pink spark leapt from my hand and hit the clock. It fried it out. And then I felt that feeling again like the other day on the soccer field. Only I didn't get cold afterwards," Aelita said.
"So… you did this?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes but then I realized I remember that feeling. I've felt it before when we were on Lyoko. The heightened sense of things. I think my powers are Lyoko related," Aelita admitted.
"Or you've always had these powers and can just use them easier on Lyoko than here on earth," William added to which the group looked at him as they thought of what he just said.
"It could be true. I mean the supercomputer does enhance your current abilities. Maybe William's right," Jeremy said.
"Well after class we'll meet back at the lab and talk about this… thing Aelita downloaded the other day. Right now we should go see if Ulrich's ready or not," Jeremy said as Aelita threw the clock away.
The four teens turned the corner to see a frustrated Ulrich with his waist wrapped in a towel. He was standing outside his door as he tried to wiggle the door open.
"What are you doing?" William asked as Aelita covered her eyes.
"I locked myself out of the room," Ulrich said as Odd walked over and unlocked it.
"What would you do without me bro," Odd asked.
"Sometimes I wonder Odd," Ulrich said as he walked in and shut the door. The door was shut for a few minutes until they heard a scream from Ulrich's room. Ulrich opened the door and looked staring at Odd.
"ODD! KIWI ATE MY BOXERS AGAIN!!!!!"
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Outside Yumi sat at the usual bench she always sat at when she waited for the others. The weather outside wasn't too hot. There was a nice breeze going. But it still felt hot.
Yumi had regretted wearing her usual black jeans again today. Maybe her mother was right, maybe she should try shorts to school for just once. But then again she didn't feel comfortable showing so much leg. Even though her mother always contradicted why it was she was always uncomfortable wearing shorts but not wearing a shirt which was so short it showed her belly button.
"Well well, the usual geek squad hasn't showed up yet?"
Yumi turned to see the blonde haired Tanell staring at her. Herve and Nicholas were standing right behind her. Herve looked… different. He was wearing tinted eyeglasses and khaki shorts. Nicholas had his hair gelled over and looked as if he had been working out for some time.
"Oh great another day ruined," Yumi murmured.
"So where is Ulrich at?" Tanell asked.
"What… why do you wanna know?" Yumi asked
"Well I hear he's one of the hottest boys in school, so I figured the hottest boy and hottest girl should hook up," Tanell said.
Yumi's face turned red as she fumed with anger. "Well he already has a girlfriend. We've been dating for months now," Yumi said.
"Oh some things are subject to change my little gothic friend." Tanell said. "See. People like you are the joke of society. Your all emo and such for no reason at all. And you think you can date some one like Ulrich ? You just mimic what you want to be like and try to blend in with the rest of the world. You think you can just try to act normal? You're not normal. Your gothic. Your job… your role is to be looked upon by the higher class of society and used as an example. Ulrich is the high class… you're the low class. It's only a matter of time till he dumps you…. In fact he already has," Tanell said.
"What do you mean?" Yumi said.
Tanell turned around with a villains smirk on her face. "The way he looks at me. The way he tries to ignore me, it's all non verbal forms of communication my dear single minded girl.. It's only a matter of time before he goes for the kill."
"That's not true!!!!" Yumi said as a small tear formed in her eye.
"Oh he told you he loved you? That's what all boys say to get their way, and I bet he tried to kiss you too," Tanell said.
"It's… it's not true!" Yumi firmly said as her eyes continued to water up. Tanell saw this bad prepared to strike.
"It's not!" a voice said from behind Yumi.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this. It's almost the exact same thing I said when I tried to break Yumi and Ulrich up so long ago. Wow you accuse her of trying to mimic normal people when it seems you're trying so hard to be some kind of copy cat of me or something. Good job with the originality," Sissi said.
"Who asked you Delmas!!!" Tanell said.
"Actually, Yumi's a friend of mine. So I stepped in. You don't like it? Deal with it you dumb blonde!" Sissi said. "You talk about how your high class and we're low class? It seems to me then low class is where to be, and high class snobs like you are the real reason the world is in such bad shape. People like you don't even use a brain, all you do is piss and moan about how you deserve this and that and how much of a diva you are. You're the real scum here Lewis. You and those huge aircraft carrier sized teeth of yours," Sissi said as she got in Tanell's face.
The whole school yard was quiet as they watched what had just happened. Slowly but surely a few kids began to applaud as Tanell covered her mouth to hide her teeth. Sissi turned around and grabbed the spell bounded Yumi and walked over to the soda machines. Sissi suddenly turned around for one final insult.
"Oh by the way. That shirt is not Flee Sempra, and you look really fat in it!!!" Sissi said. To which Tanell grunted from it. The angry blonde turned around and stormed into the dorms with Herve and Nicholas behind her.
Odd and Ulrich stepped out as Tanell stormed in.
"Low life trash!!!!" Tanell grunted as she walked past them.
"What's her deal?" Ulrich asked as he spotted Yumi and Sissi. Suddenly his brain sputtered: Yumi and… SISSI!!!!
"Sissi…. Wow that was… I don't know what to say," Yumi said as she dried her eyes.
"Well for all the times I did that to you, it's the least I could do," Sissi said. "I'm sorry about how I acted before," Sissi said.
"Apology accepted," Yumi said as Odd and Ulrich walked over to them. They both did a double take and looked at both girls. "Uh… hey Sissi?" Ulrich said.
"I better go. See you guys later," Sissi said as she walked off towards the building.
"Hey Sissi!!! Do you want to eat breakfast with us?" Yumi asked.
Sissi paused for a minute as she thought about the words she had just heard. She had always secretly wanted to join the gang. And now it seemed as if she was invited to.
"Sorry I have some homework to work on but maybe next time."
________________________________________________________________________
The birds in the doorway of the factory scattered as Frank Morse walked into the factory. It was well kept and cleaned. Too clean for an abandoned factory. Frank wiped some of the sweat off his forehead. He looked around as he spotted a small elevator. Frank walked over as he looked at it. He stepped inside the massive elevator. There was nothing special about it until he spotted the control panel. It was new, brand new. He pulled out a bag of white powder and blew it on the buttons. The powder settled and revealed a series of small finger prints on the panel. He pressed them in the order 36574. The door closed as the elevator began to lower down to the lab. The door hissed as it opened, revealing the lab. Frank walked around in amazement, failing to notice the coat.
Frank bumped into it as he fumbled in the dark green room. He slowly made his way to the terminal as he took out the small wireless card in his pocket. He opened up the antenna and plugged it in. In a few seconds a familiar voice popped up on screen.
"It's just like he said. The A.I. was rebuilt and returned to its home. And that would mean Mal-Tech is moving in fast. Do you still have the phone I showed you how to modify?" the voice said.
"Yeah," Frank said as he pulled it out of his pocket and showed it to the webcam.
"I'll make contact with the kids and grab them; I'll get them in the hands of the FBI. And tell them about you; by then you should make a connection shouldn't you?" Frank asked.
"I already have, but to insure that neither Aelita nor Xervix know of my presence I must remain hidden till the time is right. I sent the card to her too," the voice said.
"Well I don't know if I'll make it out of this, but if we do… nice knowing you man," Frank said as he pulled the flask out of his jacket pocket. He drank from it as the voice talked again.
"Are you going to tell her?" the voice asked.
"I have to atone for my demons. It's a human concept."
"I see. Well… goodbye then Mr. Morse," the voice said.
"Goodbye," Frank said as he unplugged the card. He walked to the elevator and rode it down to the main computer lab. Frank walked over and plugged it into the tower as he flipped open a small panel. The panel showed the progress of the download. Finally it showed it connected. As soon as it connected, the connection stopped. Frank knew that his partner was connected to the computer. It was all part of the plan. Frank pulled out the card and slid it into his pocket. Frank turned to the elevator and rose up to the top floor.
It felt so weird, yet he could remember exactly how he was tangled up in this affair. He could even remember how he met them….