Chapter 35
The Journey Home
New York City, New York
High air humidity combined with exhaust fumes from many vehicles that honked and roared in gridlock created a coat of grey smog above the buildings. On the ground, thousands of people were walking around the streets, from formally dressed businessmen and police officers to a variety of New Yorkers of different ethnicities and professions. Many of the people were bumping into one another in a hurry or screamed obscenities towards each other. Some beggars were sitting on the sidewalks and asking for change; most of the time pedestrians passed by and averted their looks. The trash cans and dumpsters on the streets were filled with large amounts of trash; litter lay not only in the gutters, but covered the areas around them. Homeless were digging in them in search for anything they could sell.
Xervix stood on top of the Empire State Building. Chaos, Atlas and Tartarus accompanied him. The four Titans were observing the city that spread below them.
Seeing disorder and injustice among the humans, Xervix snorted pitifully.
"My my. What a selfish facade of a race they are."
Then, a screech came from above them when Aether flew into view. The bird man soared downwards and landed next to Xervix. He flopped onto the ground, tired from flying across the Atlantic. His face grimaced in anger.
"How dare you leave me half way around the world!" Aether screamed.
Xervix said nothing and continued to stare off into space.
"YOU DARE IGNORE ME?" Aether shouted. He pulled out his daggers and charged Xervix.
Aether came within a few inches when Xervix turned around and grabbed his neck. Xervix squeezed Aether's neck as he raised the bird high into the air and came within eyeball level.
"I will do with you as I please...You are nothing more than my pawn. And I will gladly leave you to deletion if I wish so!" he growled and slammed the Titan into the roof of the building. Retreating from the throw, Aether grabbed his throat and glanced at his master angrily.
Tartarus came closer to him.
"Lord Xervix... Shall we head to Nevada to claim the System?" asked impatient Chaos.
"Yes," Xervix hissed with joy. "By the time the children arrive, we shall be in position. At last, my Titans! Our day has come."
Somewhere in Amines, France
The interrogation room was dark and dismal. It was furnished only with a large black table in the middle and several chairs around it. The window was hidden behind thick blinds that let very little sunlight inside. Only a single lamp hung over the table, which glossy surface reflected light along the walls and onto a huge mirror, which was placed on the side with the door.
Two teenagers sat at the table, sipping on cups of milk and a eating donuts; some still sat on a plate in front of them.
They both had calmed down a lot since their encounter with Mal-Tech agents a few hours ago. Aelita finally stopped shaking. At the moment she was chewing on her third cinnamon roll. She had not eaten since this morning when she had breakfast at the cafeteria at school. It felt exceptionally good to get something inside her belly.
Jeremy continued to keep an eye on her, making sure she was okay. Even though her appetite was back, which was a very good sign, she still looked weak and gloomy.
"You do know why they put the plate of donuts on the table, don't you, Aelita?" Jeremy tried to cheer Aelita up.
"To eat? To test our guilt?" Aelita wondered. "Or... I don't know. I give up."
"Because they're out of muffins." Jeremy said, reaching for a donut.
Aelita snickered a little at Jeremy's joke. To tell the truth, she didn't feel like laughing, not after what happened before she and Jeremy met the feds. It looked like the scenario that had played out in her nightmares for weeks was about to come true in real life. That notion did not cease to shake her to her very core.
Concerned Jeremy looked across the table. "You okay?"
Aelita's face stiffened. "I'm worried. What with all that has been going on? What if we can't stop Xervix or Mal-Tech?"
"Don't talk like that Aelita. We will stop them-" Jeremy reassured her.
"All my life I have known nothing but fear and loss. I lost my mother, my father, and my past. And I can't lose you, Jeremy…"
Jeremy sighed silently when he heard that. It indicated that her darkest thoughts came back and disturbed her peace of mind. He knew what their source was and was perfectly aware he could not let Aelita sink into them again. Without more deliberation, he walked over to where she was sitting and hugged the depressed girl.
Aelita's eyes grew larger and her face turned lightly red at Jeremy's gesture. She could smell the boy; he smelled like pine trees in the winter around Christmas time. It almost reminded her of home. Aelita closed her eyes and wrapped her hand around Jeremy's.
Jeremy stepped back and used his hand to lift up Aelita's chin so she was looking straight into his deep blue eyes.
"Trust me. We will get through this. I swear to God."
"Jeremy…" Aelita murmured. Her heart started to beat faster as she looked into his face.
She immediately felt warmer inside. Her dark thoughts seemed to fade.
Meanwhile Travis, Jessica and George observed the pair from behind the one way mirror that led into the interrogation room. They were working on a way to interrogate those kids without scaring them or making them think they are their enemies.
George scratched his neck. "When I joined the bureau, it was for homeland security and serving my country. Since when the hell did we take a right turn in the Marvel Universe?"
"Honestly, I thought this case was weird enough." Jessica admitted, "But… Right now it looks like taken from some Japanese anime. It won't surprise me if Goku or Edward Elric show up."
Travis snorted. "Nah. This is a DC Comics situation. Not any of your inferior forms of geek."
"This coming from a fan of a comic base who has Aquaman?" George retorted.
"This from a fan whose comic franchise has Howard the Duck?"
"Hey! Let's forget who is the bigger nerd and focus on these two?" Jessica called the two to order.
George walked over and pulled a file from the suitcase. It contained copies of most of the evidence they had so far and also the files on Aelita and Jeremy.
Jessica took a look at the documents. She noticed a lot of issues with Aelita's file. It was faulty in too many places. She had seen something familiar many times before. After a few background checks, she realized exactly what was wrong.
"Jessica and I will go in," Travis decided. "George, stay out here and make sure we're not disturbed and that none of the local police figure out what's going on. That French Intel agent may have been with Mal-Tech, according to what Frank said. But there is also a possibility that there are other spies in the city who have been looking for them."
Jessica took point and opened the door to the interrogation room. She turned on one of the over headlights to the room, causing the once dark room to brightly light up.
She pulled up a chair as she sat across from Aelita and Jeremy.
Travis walked in right after her and shut the door, carrying another tray of donuts and two fresh glasses of milk. He sat the tray down and passed the glasses of milk to the two teens.
"My name is Officer Hillsabeck, this is Special Agent Dalesman. I am with the CIA and Special Agent Dalesman is with the FBI. Do you speak English?" Jessica began.
"Yes. My name is Jeremy... Jeremy Belpois and this is Aelita... Aelita Schaffer." Jeremy said in the best English he could produce.
"Is it? Or is it Stones?" Jessica asked as she opened up a file.
Jeremy suddenly felt a cold breeze shoot through his spine.
"Aelita Stones, age 13, from Montreal Canada. Cousin to Odd Francis Della Robbia. Mother and father deceased. Living with aunt and uncle whose name for some reason does not appear on the record…" Jessica read and glanced at Aelita.
"We have found the only Aelita Stones in Quebec Canada... and she is seventy-eight years old."
Aelita and Jeremy swallowed hard as they realized that their scheme with Aelita's fake identity was uncovered.
"Yes… we used that to hide Aelita so that the people who kidnapped her mother wouldn't find her. But why did you bring that up?" Jeremy asked.
"We will ask the questions around here...Who created the false information?" Jessica demanded.
"I did," Jeremy said, looking Jessica in her eyes.
"Are you sure? No one else was involved?"
"I came up with the whole plan."
"You do know that data manipulation is a crime, right? And I don't think any judge would hesitate to throw the book at you-"
"Back off a little, Officer Hillsabeck." Travis warned her from the corner.
"What we would like to know is… first, how come is Aelita so young if she should be twenty-five and second, where is her father." Jessica continued.
"Are we in trouble with the file Jeremy created?" Aelita asked timidly.
Jessica was persistent. "Answer my questions first, please."
Travis observed from the corner. It was obvious to him that Jessica was messing up big time and the kids were even more nervous. He knew at any minute they might completely refuse to talk or worse - bolt for the door, and his team may lose their only lead in this weird case.
"We're not answering till you do." Jeremy said, folding his arms.
"When are you two going to stop playing games with us?" Jessica turned to Aelita. "We got your boyfriend there on three counts of cyber crimes and you on identity theft. You can go away for a long time and maybe when you get out, Ms Schaffer, you will be the correct age. Now either answer my question or I will charge you with-"
"Officer Hillsabeck. That's enough." Travis interfered.
"Special Agent Dalesman, I will remind you that-"
"And may I remind you that you're just an analyst and not in charge of this investigation." Travis retorted.
Jessica stared at Travis for a few moments. She sighed heavily as she stood up and walked over to the corner.
Travis opened the door, reached outside and grabbed a silver suitcase. He walked over and set it on the table next to the teens. He turned the suitcase around to the kids so they could see the front of the case, where the initials W.S. and the New Dawn symbol were carved.
"Situations like this arise for full disclosure." Travis said as he sat down across from them. "You're not in trouble. I'm sorry that Officer Hillsabeck came off like that. That's just how those CIA stiffs are trained to interrogate people. And after all, we're both after the same thing."
Aelita glanced at the suitcase. It looked just like the one they found at the train station two years ago – the one that kept her father's diary.
"Where did you find this?" Jeremy asked.
"In America, at a library. It told us a lot about the supercomputer, Mal-Tech, and you, Miss Schaffer." Travis flipped around the suitcase and opened the latches. He reached in and pulled out a photo. On the photo were Aelita at a young age with her mother and father. Aelita was dressed as a fairy as the date read 10/20/1988. Travis handed it over to Aelita.
She remembered this photo. It was taken the night she wore her very own costume made by her mother. She remembered it was one of her favorite Halloween costumes. She was fascinated with mythical animals ever since she was very little.
After that the agent pulled out a small gold and silver necklace they had found in the suitcase. He gave it to Aelita. She glanced at it for a few minutes as a faint memory of her mother, holding her in her arms as an infant came to her mind. Aelita recalled that she used to play with that necklace when her mother would hold and caress her. The sweet memory moved Aelita to tears as she covered her mouth.
"Could we talk now?" Travis asked calmly. He hoped that by showing Aelita her family relics he would earn the kids' trust.
The effort seemed to pay off when Jeremy reached across the table and squeezed Aelita's hand. Aelita looked at Jeremy and nodded.
"Aelita is the daughter of Waldo Schaffer...Who is dead." Jeremy let out the words with a sigh.
Travis looked back and forth between the two teens, confused about what he had just heard.
"How? When?" asked Jessica, who was not less surprised than Travis.
"Eight months ago." Aelita said quietly. "The supercomputer my father spoke of in his notes was ran by an Artificial Intelligence named Xana. It was bent on destroying us. Not just us... humanity as a whole. My father found a way to materialize people onto a virtual realm inside the computer, called Lyoko. I was stuck on Lyoko for years until Jeremy and his friends found me and freed me. Soon after-wards I remembered small fragments of who I was and found my father."
"After two years I discovered a multi purpose program to destroy Xana. Waldo sacrificed his life to help us destroy Xana. But even though we won that day, we in fact failed…" Jeremy said.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Aelita..." Travis turned to her. "May I call you Aelita?"
Aelita nodded in agreement.
Jessica felt horrible. She was treating these kids like common criminals in her interrogation. Now she saw them more as victims rather then criminals.
"So how many of you are in on this?" she asked.
"6 or 7 of us now." Aelita said.
"Can we have their names?"
"Were not going to tell you that." Jeremy refused, fearing that the feds may persecute all their friends as well.
"I'm sorry I came off rough. I spent a few years in the cyber terrorism department. I'm sorry if I offended or hurt either of you." Jessica said.
"First off, none of you are under arrest, nor you will be. This whole situation just turned into something far bigger then a cyber terrorism deal." Travis explained. "Do you know what that bird thing from yesterday was?"
"A month ago a new A.I named Xervix that may have been built by Mal-Tech was sent to our computer. We have been fighting it ever since, recently though Xervix and its forces escaped from the computer to this world. The bird man is called Aether, and there are four others. Xervix is after the System... a source of energy that can either change the world or destroy it." Jeremy said.
"Your father's journal did mention a System of some shape or form and how Mal-Tech wanted it as well." Jessica turned in Aelita's direction.
"Xervix knows where it's at... and so do we." Aelita said.
Travis was shocked. "Where? Did Frank tell you?"
Jessica grunted, gathering Travis's attention. The two agents left the room and stepped out to the hallway, where George was observing from behind the one way mirror.
"I'm sorry, Travis, but we need some form of proof before we just believe these. Kids and all."
"I agree. I mean, do you trust them?" George looked at his colleague.
"Well… in this day and age, and after what we saw, how can you not believe in what they're saying?" Travis said.
"We need to see the proof with our own eyes." Jessica argued.
Travis walked back in to the room and sat down in front of the kids. He glanced at Jeremie and Aelita; they both stared back at him.
"It's really a fascinating and incredible story, but me and my colleagues need some form of proof that it's all true."
Aelita and Jeremy looked at each other and back towards the agents.
"Let's go for a ride then," said Jeremy.
Amines, Kadic Academy.
The hallway to the girls' dorms was quiet. Most of the children were outside the school, enjoying their day off from the barrage of classes and homework. Despite that, a tall man wearing a pair of jogging pants and a red shirt walked the halls slowly and was making his round. Even though a majority of the students were out and about in the town, some decided to stay in their rooms and either surf the internet or hang out in their rooms and try to stay cool.
"Even with the dam air on it's still extremely hot in here." Jim murmured to himself.
A small mirror poked around the corner of the hallway. It kept a close eye on Jim as he walked down towards the exit.
Jim opened the door and stepped inside the hallway that led down to the staircase on the opposite end of the floor.
Odd slowly poked his head around the corner, followed by William's head as well.
"Think he is gone?" William asked.
"If it's two o'clock, he probably went down to the cafeteria to get his lunch... but with Jim you never know. His gut runs on a different timer then most people's do." Odd said.
The two teens slowly stepped around the corner of the hallway and walked down to the fourth door on the right. William looked around for any sign of Jim or anyone who might get them in trouble.
Odd knocked on the door. He could hear some shuffling around inside the room. The door slowly cracked open to reveal the face of a black haired girl wearing a green type substance on her face.
"Hi Sis-"
Sissi slammed the door in Odd's face.
"That is a clear sign of go away." William joked.
Odd knocked again as he tried to get Sissi to open the door.
"Go away, Odd!" Sissi barked.
"Sissi come on... we just want to talk." Odd pleaded her.
"I don't want to talk... go save the world or whatever!"
"Sissi, we're sorry about last night. We all wanted to talk to you about this, but we figured it would be better if I and Odd talked to you. Can you at least open the door and listen to us?" William asked.
There was a silent pause coming from inside the room.
"Sissi, you just caught us at a wrong time and... I'M SORRY!" Odd did not give up.
William gave Odd a confused look.
"Uhh… I mean, WE are sorry." Odd corrected himself.
The door opened all the way, revealing Sissi wearing a pair of shorts and a pink tank top.
Odd looked up at Sissi's face with puppy-like eyes. "I… I want you to help us. Please... We need you."
Sissi stared at Odd with a hint of disbelief in her eyes. Odd had always joked and tormented her, whether it was when she flirted with Ulrich or tried to get the gang in trouble. And yet here and now he was acting differently.
"Odd's right, Sissi. We want you to join us." William said. "I think Odd wants that more than any of us."
Odd quickly slugged William in the shoulder as William laughed at him.
Sissi smiled lightly as she noticed the hint from both of the boys. It was true that in some way she actually cared for Odd.
"I'll do it." she declared.
Odd and William looked at Sissi for a few moments.
"I'm in!" she repeated in case they did not catch that piece of information. "I'm not gonna rat you guys out or try to do what I used to do. I want to make sure you're all safe."
Odd smiled; he jumped forward and hugged Sissi. Sissi began to blush a as the blonde teen squealed for joy.
"Looks like you don't need to worry about Ulrich anymore." William said.
Odd suddenly realized what he was doing and let go quickly.
"Um, sorry, I... I tripped." Odd said as he blushed hard.
"Smooth recovery." William muttered to himself. He turned to Sissi. "Let's take you to the factory. The others will be meeting us there shortly."
"Hang on, let me get some pants on. No way I'm walking out in these shorts," Sissi said as she shut the door.
Odd slowly turned to William.
"What?" asked William as he did not quite understand the meaning of Odd's frowny face.
"If you tell anyone that I have a crush on her…" Odd whispered.
"Oh. I'll use it as my own little ammunition when the time is right." William sneered.
"So will I," a voice said from behind them.
Both boys turned around to see Tanell, who was standing behind them with a smug look on her face. She wore a bright yellow shirt and a denim skirt.
"Mister Shorty and Miss Baby in love... how sick." Tanell said with a heavy accent on 'sick'.
"What's your business, Lewis?" William asked.
"As far as I remember, boys are not allowed up on this floor unless accompanied by an adult. So I feel like I may go tell Jim about this... Maybe he will give you some detention, or suspend you if we are lucky... I mean, if I am lucky. Two less freaks in the school to deal with." Tanell said smugly.
"Okay, Paris Hilton. What do you want?" William demanded.
"Oh, it's not what I want... see, I want to help a friend out as well," Tanell said. "I want to free Ulrich from that emo creep Ishiyama."
"What the hell? Why do the snobby brats want Ulrich so much? Why not Jeremy or you for once?" Odd whispered to his companion.
"No way! I would rather get in trouble than try to help you hurt my friends." William said aloud.
"Same here. Actually I would rather kiss a toilet then help you." Odd said, folding his arms.
"Well then, I guess it's off to the principal's office for you." Tanell teased as she walked off.
"You just don't learn, do you?" Sissi asked as she suddenly stepped out of her room.
Tanell turned around to face Sissi.
"Oh look. The Baby is here too."
"Hey you, dirty smelling brat! If you mention a word of William and Odd here, I will spill your little secret too!" Sissi said, pointing towards Tanell.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tanell gave Sissi a suspicious glance.
"Should I remind you? Let's see. You left your door opened and I looked inside your room and there on your desk was a My Little-"
"Shut up, Delmas! You mention a word-"
"You'll do what? See, even though I don't act like it anymore... I can still be quite the brat myself. And I don't think you're gonna mention anything about my friends up here, are you?" Sissi asked.
"Oh I won't, but I'm sure people will jump when they find Della Robbia has a crush on you." Tanell said provocatively.
Sissi was not going to let Tanell win. She turned and walked over to Odd. She bent down and kissed Odd square on the lips.
Odd's eyes bulged out of his head as he felt his lips touch Sissi's soft ruby lips.
William couldn't believe it either. He chuckled a little as he looked back and forth between Sissi and the dumb stricken Tanell.
Sissi finally released her kiss on Odd and turned to face Tanell.
"So what? I like him too."
Tanell grunted and turned to leave the hallway, her stomping echoed down the hall.
"Nice one…" said William with admiration.
Odd just stood there in the same position he was in when Sissi kissed him. His reaction almost mimicked Jeremy's when Aelita first kissed him.
"Hey, you guys gonna stand there all day or take me to the factory?" Sissi asked.
William noticed Odd not moving an inch, still in the upright kiss position. He walked over and picked up the paralyzed friend. The three walked to the doorway.
Amines, the neighborhood of the factory.
The black Mustang pulled into the entrance of the city park. The gravel snapped and popped as the cars tires ran over it. The car drove past a large group of joggers as the driver revved up the engine of the car, startling a few of the joggers.
There were a lot of people in the park. An old man and his grandson sat on the shore fishing; a couple of lovers where making out on the bench; a soccer game between several small children went on in the distance.
The Mustang passed by the crowded part of the park and drove down a side path, which was rougher then the rest of the paths. Tall thick grass grew along the path and the road was filled with various potholes.
The Black muscle car stopped in front of an old, rotten, wooden fence. Jeremy, Aelita and three agents got out. Travis walked up to the gate. He noticed a small wooden sign that read "Hermitage". The sign was sun faded and worn from the years of being out in the open.
"What is this?" Jessica asked.
Aelita and Jeremy walked through the gate and stepped on the porch. The porch creaked and moaned from their weight.
"Home" Aelita said as she opened the door.
They walked inside the front room. The once warm place she called home was a ruined mess. On the floor lay a lot of weeds and leaves. Jeremy heard a loud noise coming from below the floor board. Aelita caught the site of a mouse on the sofa, scurrying about.
For a second though, Aelita saw a hint of her past life flash before her eyes. She caught a glimmer of the front room, clean and fresh. Bright, warm sunlight filled the window, adding more light to the house.
Suddenly the sound of a piano filled Aelita's ears. Aelita turned around to see her father playing a familiar tune on the family piano. Waldo glanced up and smiled warmly at Aelita before fading away with the rest of her sweet, warm memories.
Aelita sighed and frowned as reality set in. She glanced around, hoping to find some possible hint on her past. She felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulder. Aelita looked to her left to see a concerned Jeremy looking at her. Aelita felt a few tears roll down her check as she leaned her head onto his shoulder.
Travis, Jessica and George walked inside the doorway and glanced around. Most of the furniture was destroyed and ruined and parts of the wall had been removed.
"Is this where you lived?" Jessica asked Aelita.
Aelita nodded.
"I guess Mal-Tech found out you lived here. It shows all the signs of forced entry and searching every nook for something," George said as he looked inside the kitchen.
"So sad." Jessica said as she looked at a shattered picture frame.
"I've been hiding my whole life... All I wanted was a normal life..." Aelita said, still holding on to Jeremy.
"We can help you. Just tell us what we need to know." Travis said.
"You mean it?" Aelita asked looking at Travis.
Travis nodded as he placed his hand on Aelita's shoulder.
"It all started 300 million years ago." Aelita said as she started to explain what happened.
Amines, the school track field.
Yumi was running along the track in the middle of the exercise yard. She wore a black work out bra with matching black spandex shorts. In her ear was a pair of ear buds hooked up to her Zune. She was currently listening to The Rolling Stones, Give Me Shelter. She had been listening to a lot of classic rock recently. She was particularly fond of The Rolling Stones and Queen.
As Yumi finished her eighth lap around the track, she stopped dead at the finish line and wiped out large sweat drops which streamed down her forehead. She turned back and looked down the lane towards the other person who was running with her.
As he was getting closer to the finish line, Ulrich panted heavily. When he finally reached the line, he stopped and lurched over, grabbing his knees and trying to catch his breath. His stomach ached from the intense running and heat. However, his knees hurt even more. He almost rolled his ankle earlier and it caused him to shift his weight onto his knees.
Yumi walked over and handed her boyfriend a cold bottle of water. Ulrich took the bottle and took a small swig from it. Ulrich handed the bottle back to Yumi who took a swig from it herself.
"Not so easy once your here in the real world, huh?" Yumi asked.
"Hey when I'm on Lyoko, I can run like a fox." Ulrich retorted, gasping for air after each sentence.
"But we aren't on Lyoko, are we?"
"Excuse me, but if I ever need to lift a log off of me or someone, I can do it." Ulrich said as he wiped his face with his shirt.
Yumi walked over to the bench and sat on it. "Okay, when there is a Zombie apocalypse, I'll make sure to save you when I sprint here to the school."
Ulrich straightened up, as his body was slowly coming back to its normal functioning. He came over to the bench. "Hey, we lived that part for two years, remember?"
"Which by the way is nothing compared to the horror movies. Zombies are so easy to fight.
I fought six of them at once." Yumi grabbed her gym bag and pulled out her sweat pants.
"I need a shower so bad...Why is it so HOT!"
"I don't know… why are you so hot?" Ulrich joked.
Yumi giggled as she leaned over and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.
"So sweet... yet so corny."
"Eh… I try." Ulrich said as he grabbed his gym bag.
The two teens left the empty, sun-burnt track and walked up the hill towards the locker rooms. With the heat as bad as it was, Yumi was hesitant if they really should have ran today. Ulrich insisted, though. Now, although they were exhausted and sticky from the sweat, she was glad he convinced her. It was nice to spend free time with Ulrich.
They were walking over to the front gate to the tack field when suddenly, Ulrich's phone rang inside his duffel bag. Ulrich reached for the phone. He recognized the caller's ID.
"Hello? Dad?" said Ulrich, surprised. It gathered Yumi's attention.
"Hey, Ulrich. How's it going?"
"Uh… I'm okay, Dad." replied Ulrich, who was still confused by his father's sudden call.
Yumi's eyes locked onto Ulrich as she understood who he was talking to.
"And how have you been doing?" Ulrich asked.
"Well… Rehab is going okay. It was rough at first but it's starting to waver off. I was told it is for the best." Ulrich's stepfather said.
"Good," answered Ulrich, who still did not know how to feel about this conversation. "Have you talked to mom recently?"
"She actually visited me last night. We're going to try and work things out… if we can salvage anything from this." Ulrich's father said.
"Listen, Ulrich... I know I haven't always really treated you like I should have. I promised your real father that I would take care of you, and..." Ulrich's father breathed heavily. "When my brother and your father died, I fell into a very deep depression. I turned to alcohol a few weeks after Eric's death... But what I did and the way I acted was no excuse for what I put you and your mother through."
Ulrich lowered his head as he realized just what was going on. For the first time his stepfather actually tried to apologize. It was something he had never done before.
"Look...Eric I-"
"I just wanted you to know that… I'm sorry for it all… and… I really am proud of you. And I'm happy that you're dating that Yumi... Eh… how do you pronounce her name?"
"Ishiyama, Eric… and thanks. She helped me out a lot in the past few months." Ulrich said, looking at Yumi. Yumi smiled as she listened to the words come out of Ulrich's mouth.
"Oh, and when I get out… would you two like to meet so… I could meet Yumi?" Eric asked shyly.
"I'll ask her, but… sure, why not?" Ulrich said.
"Great. Maybe I could even meet the rest of your friends? Possibly another time though...
I don't want to rush into this or anything."
"Alright, sounds good. Sorry, but I gotta go, I'll talk to you later." Ulrich said.
"OK... Love you Ulrich." Eric said.
Ulrich paused as he processed the words his father had just said. He had never heard those words from him before. He found it hard to believe.
„You still there?" Eric broke the awkward silence that fell between them.
"Yeah… Uh... I love you too, Dad."
Ulrich heard the line go dead as he put his cell phone back in his duffel bag. He glanced up at a smiling Yumi.
"Sounds like your uncle is trying to make amends for what happened in the past." Yumi said.
"Yeah..." Ulrich sighed, still a bit overwhelmed by his stepfather's words.
A few moments passed when Yumi's cell phone suddenly went off. Yumi grabbed her cell phone and noticed that it was Jeremy who was calling.
"Busy day, huh?" Ulrich commented.
Yumi answered her phone.
"Hey Jer. How are your parents?" There was a long pause. "What?" Yumi's voice changed dramatically. Ulrich realized that something was wrong.
"I'm glad you two are OK", Yumi sighed with relief. "Wait, who? The feds Sissi mentioned?"
Ulrich raised his shoulders as he tried to get Yumi to say just what was going on.
"O-okay. Are you sure about this?" Yumi asked, thrilled. "Don't worry, we will be right there. See ya!" Yumi hung up.
"What is going on?" Ulrich raised an eyebrow.
Yumi held her phone and seeked the right words to pass what she was just told.
"Aelita and Jeremy met with the agents from the FBI. They want to help because they're investigating Franz Hopper and, from what I heard, the agency that kidnapped Aelita's mother. We're supposed to meet with them in the factory."
Ulrich's eyes got bigger when he heard the news. That was quite an unexpected turn of events.
"Okay, let's not waste any time. Let's shower and head over there then." he suggested.
The factory, 30 minutes later.
William, Sissi and Odd were the first ones to arrive at the lab. Sissi walked inside and took a look at the equipment of the lab. She was amazed at how advanced it was.
"Pretty cool, huh?" William asked.
"It looks like something Iron Man uses." amazed Sissi said.
Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere. "Hey, who's the babe?"
"Who said that?" Sissi turned in search of the source of the voice.
She only saw Odd and William, who were acting as if they were not surprised at all.
"It's our other newest member. An artificial intelligence who is a bit of an annoyance… his name is Puck," William explained.
"Wait? Puck? What kind of a name is Puck?" Sissi asked.
"And I don't know what kind of a name is Elizabeth." The voice mocked.
The main screen blinked as a window opened up, revealing an elf like boy.
"Puck...Wait, how do you know her name?" Odd asked.
"Ms Elizabeth S. Delmas. Born November 21st 1995. Father is Mr. Jean Pierre Delmas, principal at Kadic Academy. Mother deceased," Puck recited effortlessly.
"OK, that's enough... How did it know all of that?" Sissi asked.
"First off, HE... not IT." William corrected her.
"I have read all of the schools files on a majority of the staff and students, also I integrated myself into the school's computer systems." Puck said as he pulled up a series of codes for the kids to see.
"Hey… that can help us on our tests," Odd wondered.
"Nah, sorry. Looks like all the test answers are kept on paper instead of computer." Puck said.
"Clever, teachers... very clever" said William, clearly disappointed.
Then the vault door opened, revealing Ulrich and Yumi. The two teens had showered and changed from their sports outfits into their everyday clothes. They dropped off their duffel bags and walked inside the lab.
"Hey, Sissi." Yumi said as she sat on the cot in the corner.
"Hi guys." Sissi greeted her, trying not to make eye contact. She remembered the tongue lashing she received from Ulrich and Yumi the night before she helped Odd defeat Aether.
"Hey Sissi... we're sorry about the other night. We just didn't want anyone else get caught up in this mess." Ulrich said.
"It's OK. Just remember who your friends are next time." Sissi said.
"We are truly glad to have you." Yumi said as she rubbed her calf.
"And we all know Odd is." William commented.
Odd shot William a hateful glare as he tried to get William to shut up about it.
"You mention anything, William..." Odd grunted.
"Oh, about with the girls floor?"
"What happened?" Yumi asked, noticing that Sissi was blushing.
"Next time Odd asks about the pool, ask him about the girls' floor," William snickered.
"The Pool? You mean the time Ulrich drowned?" Sissi asked.
"No, actually when Yumi and Ulrich first got together... They were swimming and they..."
"Hey William, what happened on the girls floor?" Ulrich asked out loud.
Odd quickly shut up.
"You'll get used to this... Sometimes it's quite entertaining actually." Yumi told Sissi.
"Hope so… What else do I need to know to stay on this team?" Sissi asked.
"Well, Sissi... Can you keep a secret?"
Amines, the factory.
The black Mustang pulled into the deserted parking lot of the factory. It was the only part of the industrial complex that the gang never attempted to clean up, helping with the illusion that no one had entered the factory in years. Weeds cracked through old, sun bleached pavement. The fence border lining the lake next to the factory was rusted and broken in several places.
The Mustang rolled into the middle parking lot as its tire flattened an old soda can. George and Travis exited the car and opened rear doors. Jessica, Aelita and Jeremy stepped out as well.
"Hey wait, George...You can't park here." Jessica noticed.
George looked around, surprised. "Why not?"
"Because you're in a handicapped parking zone." Jessica replied, pointing at the rusted bent sign in front of the car.
George looked at the sign. "Come on, that doesn't matter anymore. This place is closed."
"OK, when you get a ticket, then you will be sorry." Jessica answered.
Aelita glanced over at Travis, who had his face buried in his palm in embarrassment.
"Are they married?" Jeremy asked, observing George and Jessica, who continued to argue.
"No... And don't put that evil on them. Two of them are bad enough." warned Travis.
"OK then, do you want to know what I think of your sign?" George said as he picked up a rock off the ground and tossed it at the sign. The small rock made a loud ping noise as the sign shook a little. "That's what I think of your sign!"
Then, the sign slowly fell over onto the chain fence, causing the entire fence line to land onto the rocks next to the water line. Water and debris flew into the air.
George's eyes grew large at the site of the damage he had just done. He slowly turned to confused Travis and Jessica. Aelita and Jeremy froze in place as they realized just what happened.
"Uh I… think the fence... fell over…" George said.
"YOU THINK! YOU HAD TO SHOW OFF, DIDN'T YOU!" Jessica shouted.
"Great... that happened to be our fishing and swimming spot. I hope you're happy." Aelita grunted.
"Hey, it's... not like that-" stuttered George, sincerely sorry.
"Unless you want to break something else… this way." Jeremy showed the way.
Jeremy and Aelita lead the trio into the factory's main chamber. The inside of the factory was dark and scary.
"On." Jeremy said. The lights in the factory lit dimly, enough for the five to see where they where heading.
Aelita walked over to the elevator. She revealed a small panel and placed her palm on a clear green plastic touch pad. A bright yellow light went up and down her palm as the screen blinked. When Aelita removed her palm, the panel read
"Aelita. Welcome to the Lab".
"Where did you find all of this stuff?" Travis asked.
Jeremy smiled. "Here and there."
When the elevator rose up to the top floor, the awaiting passengers entered. The elevator door slid shut as it lowered down a few feet. It came to a halt just in front of a large copper colored door. The three agents looked at the door in amazement. It reminded them of something taken from a military base or a science fiction novel. Hell, it looked more like the door to the bat cave.
Aelita typed in a series of numbers into another keypad next to the door. Bolts of electricity coursed through the various circuits in the door. A large puff of steam hissed from the door as it slid open, revealing a large, dimly lit room with a computer screen in the middle of it.
"Welcome to the Lab." Jeremy said as they stepped inside.
The three agents instantly caught a glimpse of other kids, who were waiting for them in the lab - two girls and three boys. They stared at the agents in confusion; obviously, they pondered how they should react.
"Special Agent Dalesman, Special Agent Knight, and Officer Hillsabeck of the CIA", Jeremy introduced the agents to his friends. "Meet Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama, William Dunbar, and Odd Della Robbia. And I believe you already met Sissi," he introduced the members of the gang.
George noticed Sissi, standing over near Odd. He walked over to greet the young girl and shook her hand.
"Miss Delmas... Nice to see you again."
Jessica came closer to examine the supercomputer's screen and the holomap. She turned to Jeremy and Aelita. "What on Earth is this?"
"You're looking at my father's work. This is what Mal-Tech wanted for so long... This is Lyoko." Aelita said.
"Well, not Lyoko per se. This is the computer that helps run it." Jeremy came over to the keyboard that was placed under the screen. "The main computer is downstairs." He typed in a series of commands that brought up images from surveillance cameras in the main computer room and showed Jessica a tall, tower-like device that was the supercomputer.
Curious Sissi walked closer and stared at the screen, awestruck. "Wow. That thing is huge... How did one man manage to build it?"
"We think he had help, possibly a lab assistant… or maybe a whole crew." Travis said.
Overhearing their conversation, Yumi frowned.
"OK, hang on! What's you three's take on all of this? Why are you here? Why were you after Jeremy and Aelita?" she asked the agents.
Her question gathered everyone else's attention. Everyone's eyes were locked on the newcomers. Travis gulped, slightly overwhelmed by the wary faces that looked at him all at the same time.
"Jeremy and Aelita told us a lot about you and your cause. We are on your side." Jessica said.
Aelita stepped in front of the agents. "I trust them, guys. They are here to help us."
"We owe you kids an explanation. We're sorry." added Travis. He calmed down, seeing how wariness of the group seemed to fade as their faces and postures relaxed.
"We were investigating a series of high tech facilities that were destroyed around the world. All the facilities were equipped with computers similar to what you kids have here. They were created by Waldo Schaffer, also know as Franz Hopper, Aelita's father. The investigation eventually led us to you."
Jeremy slowly looked around towards Travis. "Wait. How many computers were destroyed exactly?"
"Uh… Six. One in Brazil. One in North America, another in China, in Europe and in the western part of North America," Travis counted. "And one even on the international space station. Even though the station wasn't destroyed, the computer was."
"Jeremy… doesn't that sound familiar?" Ulrich asked silently.
Jeremy exchanged a knowing look. The three agents glanced at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" George asked.
Jeremy sighed deeply. "When Xana escaped from Lyoko, it started to contaminate other supercomputers. It was planning a massive invasion. In order to stop it, we had to damage the hard drives of machines it took over. But I swear, none of us destroyed any bases."
"That must be how Mal-Tech found your location, through small fragments you left inside these computers. Then they erased all evidence of their acts." Jessica observantly said.
"Hey, maybe that's where Xervix came from." William noticed.
"Who is Xervix? Isn't he the new threat you're fighting?" Travis asked.
"Yes. He's a more advanced version of Xana, based upon Xana's source code. He created Aether, the flying bird man you guys saw the other day, and now that he is out of the computer, he is heading towards the System. And we're the only ones who can stop them." Odd explained.
"How does an A.I come to Earth in a real form?" Jessica wondered.
It was Jeremy's turn to answer. "I created a program a while back which helps transfer the A.I's program into a physical manifestation of its own. It helped us free Aelita, but I'm afraid that it created a door for Xervix to escape."
Travis looked behind him at Jessica and George. They both stood their in disbelief, unsure what to make of it.
"OK, it's a nice story and all but... we're still waiting for you to prove the existence of this… virtual universe." George reminded the kids of their agreement.
Jeremy sat down on his armchair. He nodded at Aelita. She gathered Yumi, Ulrich and Odd and together they walked over to the elevator. William decided to stay on Earth; he came closer to Jeremy's seat. Sissi and the three agents stared at the closing door.
"Um...Where are they going?" Sissi asked when the elevator's door shut.
"You wanted proof, you're about to get it." Jeremy said, then he turned to the console and typed a series of commands. A camera view showed the agents and Sissi what was going on inside the scanner room.
"What are you doing?" Jessica asked.
"I'm sending Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and Aelita to Lyoko. Then I'm gonna transfer them here for you to see." Jeremy explained as the 4 teens' vitals and stats appeared on screen.
As soon as the computer booted up the program, a loud hissing noise came from down below the lab. No sooner then it did, a large holographic map appeared. The map showed 4 sectors, a middle sector, and five run off sectors. The map closed in on a smaller sector and showed 4 small green dots standing in what looked like the middle sector.
"Now that they're in sector 5, I'll bring them here to Earth." Jeremy said as he typed in several more codes. "Activate towers, please," he commanded.
On the computer terminal, a small red dot appeared on one of the sub sectors to the mountain region, the cave sector.
"I'm launching the code and the three of them will appear here in their virtual forms." Jeremy hit the Enter key.
The computer started to make a loud hissing noise as it prepared to work its magic.
A few seconds later, several bright beams of light appeared in the corner. The lights began to form four separate points. The lights started slow but eventually began to pick up speed. Then, all of the sudden, the beams exploded, causing George and Travis to reach for their pistols.
"And… here they are." Jeremy announced.
The three agents glanced back to see what looked like 4 teens wearing Halloween costumes.
It looked like an effect out of Star Trek. The beams grew brighter and began to take shape.
Travis squinted as he looked at the beams. He could make out a hand, a body, a face.
The light faded as the 4 beams turned into Odd, Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich in their virtual forms. Sissi stood in awe as her eyes fixated on the 4 virtual warriors.
"Hi!" Yumi waved to the new people.
Travis and George removed their hands off their weapons.
Jeremy spun around in his chair and looked towards the 3 dumbfounded agents and Sissi.
"Told ya!" Odd laughed.
Travis approached the four teens and walked over to Yumi who was closest to him. He reached out and poked her in the shoulder. To his amazement, she felt real, yet something was off, as if her skin was made of something other then flesh. He poked her again, but harder. To his surprise, Yumi winced.
"Hey, cut it out." she grunted.
"Are these your real forms?" George asked as he walked behind Aelita and Ulrich.
"While in the computer, yes." Jeremy explained. "Their real bodies are broken down and stored into what we call a virtual soul. It serves as a storage unit for their DNA. These virtual bodies are formed around their virtual soul... Once the body is destroyed or devirtualized, the virtual soul is sent back to the scanner where their real bodies reform."
George looked over Ulrich. He was impressed with their looks. If someone told him without showing, he wouldn't believe it at all. George was walking past Aelita when he spotted Odd. He stared for a minute at the apparent cat boy.
"How come he looks like a samurai, she-" he pointed at Yumi- "looks like a ninja. Aelita is a pink warrior elf… and you look like a cat?"
Odd shrugged. "I have no idea… It's just wrong. I mean, I like dogs, not freaking cats!"
"What kind of weapons do you have?" Travis asked.
Ulrich drew his double swords; his fast movement made Jessica squeal and make a few steps backwards. The blades were giving off their own virtual shine, which stood out in the darkness of the lab.
Yumi presented her fans. "I throw them at my enemy... I won't try that here, don't worry," she calmed Travis, who gave her an unsure look.
Aelita stretched her arm and focused for a moment. Then, a shiny ball of pink light appeared on her palm.
"I call it an Energy Field," she explained.
"It's beautiful", commented Jessica, who peeked from behind George's back. Luckily for her, Ulrich already put his swords back into their sheaths.
Odd took his usual fighting stance with his one arm stretched and his head cocked to the side as if he was aiming. "I shoot arrows out. Kind of like bullets."
"Cool," said George with admiration. He looked as if he was a teenage boy himself again.
Then, he spotted the tail on the back of Odd. He noticed how it actually wagged back and forth. "Is that real?"
"You either pull it or step on it... I'll make you regret you did."
"Like this?" William joked as he came closer to Odd and pulled his tail a little. Odd yipped just a bit as his tail pulled out from back and forced some tension.
"Hey, Will, I'll beat you up for that!"
"I think it's cool actually," Sissi said as she glanced at Odd's claw hands.
"See? That's one who likes it. Two, counting me!" Odd held up his hand with two fingers up.
"That's probably all it will ever get." Ulrich joined in.
He and William burst into laughter; Yumi hardly restrained herself. Aelita turned to Jeremy, who covered his face. They both tried so hard not to laugh.
More snickering came from the others as Odd groaned deeply. Even Sissi was trying so hard not to laugh; tears began to form in her eyes from the laughter.
"Hey, Odd, was it? Do you need to use the litter box in that outfit?" Travis joked.
About that time Yumi lost it as she fell on the cot, laughing, William hung off Ulrich as they both continued to chuckle loudly.
"You keep it up, I'm gonna throw a litter box at you guys." Odd growled.
"Oh, I can tell I'm gonna like these guys already!" Ulrich said, almost choking.
Suddenly, he stopped. His virtual body flickered and fizzed; shortly afterwards it disappeared, shattering in dozens of little pieces.
Laughter silenced all of a sudden when everybody looked at the empty place where Ulrich stood just a few seconds ago. Odd was pointing at it with his arrow cannon.
The agents stared at him with their mouths open in shock.
"Well... you've just been presented how de-virtualization looks like," Jeremy explained calmly. "Don't worry, Ulrich's gonna be okay."
Soon Ulrich climbed up from the scanner room and emerged from the shaft at the other end of the lab.
"What's gotten into you, Odd? Why did you shoot me!"
"See? That's what happens when you make the kitty angry," William joked.
However, his joke did not have that big impact anymore. The entire company finally became serious. Jeremy figured out that would be the end of demonstration. He typed in more commands to launch the materialization program. Aelita, Odd and Yumi disappeared in a series of pixel like clusters. A few moments later, the three got out of the elevator and walked inside the lab.
"Wow… Okay, back to the serious business." said Travis, still quite shaken by what he was just shown. "What about this Xervix and his minions? How can you stop them without them returning to the computer and doing it all over again?"
"Nothing really...There is really no guarantee that they won't just re-emerge from the computer..." Jeremy said.
"Hey, if they forced their way out... Why not force them back in?" Sissi asked.
Jeremy looked up at Sissi as he thought about what she had just said. He thought about it hard for a minute until he suddenly realized just what exactly he could do.
"That's it! We could force them back into Lyoko... Like a wormhole. If we could somehow create a way to suck in creatures with a virtual base code, then we could pull them all in at once!"
"And how in the hell would that work?" Jessica asked, folding her arms.
"Anything from Lyoko is based upon a special virtual code that signifies that it's from Lyoko. It's the only way for it to get through the computer's firewall. It's how Xervix got into Lyoko, because he is based upon XANA's source code. We just need to find out how to create a wormhole!" Aelita explained, wrapping her arm around Jeremy.
"If those... phone booths downstairs can send people to Lyoko, why not reprogram it to pull something in with the code?" Sissi suggested.
"Bringing her in was definitely a smart idea." said Yumi, who was impressed with Sissi's creativity. Sissi returned the gratitude with a warm smile.
"The only problem is the Titans. I would guess they're based off DNA and not a source code." William said.
"Right, and it wouldn't work on them like it would with Xervix... That I'm stuck on." Jeremy admitted. "Any thoughts?"
The lab was silent for a few minutes as the entire group tried to devise a possible strategy for the Titans.
Sissi looked around and noticed everyone in the lab was staring at her.
"Don't look at me. I'm fresh out of ideas." she said, breaking the silence.
"Why can't we just blow them up or something?" George asked.
"FINALLY! Someone gets it. You can destroy them the same way you can any monster!" a high-pitched voice came out of nowhere.
Surprised George looked around hastily. "Who said that?"
Aelita walked over to the computer terminal and hit a series of commands on the computer.
A small boy appeared on the screen in a new window that popped up. His face looked young, very puppet-like, and had a mop of light purple hair on his head.
"I did," he spoke.
"Sorry...We forgot to tell you… This is Puck, our A.I friend." Aelita introduced him to the agents. "Puck, they are-"
"Special Agent George Knight. Age 34. Birth place Houston Texas. Single, Joined the FBI at age 27." Puck recited effortlessly. George blinked in amazement.
"Officer Jessica Hillsabeck. Age 29, birthplace St Louis Missouri.. Joined the CIA at age 25. Started in the Cyber Terrorism branch, working on identity theft and Data manipulation. And Travis Dalesman, age 35. Born in Chicago Illinois. Married to Wendy Engels...Wife deceased..."
"I think you made your point. Thank you." Travis made Puck stop reading the info the AI gathered about him.
Jessica stood there with her mouth wide open. She turned to Jeremy. "How did he know all that? He's amazing!"
"He is a computer intelligence... I'm sure he found out a lot about you through the internet," Jeremy replied.
"Thank you, thank you," Puck bowed in front of them a couple of times. "Nice to meet you, dear agents. About time. Now excuse me."
He clapped his tiny hands and, as if at his order, a new window came up, big enough to cover most of the main screen.
It presented a comparison of a Kankerlat and the Titan Aether. Kankerlat's code was only a small cluster of circles, squares and triangles with a thin white line running through them. Aether's code consisted of a large series of circles, squares and triangles. However, they had the same thin line running through them, only more scattered and with several breaks inside its line.
"While I was digging around and checking the computer's history files, I noticed that the Titans are really 4 Scyphozoans with artificial DNA inside them. They're not A. Is, but copies of certain codes of Xervix's own source code."
Then, a third code which represented Xervix appeared next to Aether's. They had many similarities, but Xervix's code was much more intricate, with several blue and gray number codes running through it. His code ran in a more thick and stable line.
"The Titans' code is more unstable. It's basically the code that controls everything from movement, to attacks. If you were to damage them enough, they would explode the same way as a Kankerlat or Krab." Jeremy realized as he looked at the screens.
Travis peeked from behind Jeremy's armchair.
"OK, so we got a plan how to deal with Xervix. Now what about the System?"
"Frank told us its location…" Aelita said.
"Who is Frank?" Sissi raised an eyebrow.
Jeremy sighed. He didn't really want to bring up this day's events, but he had no other choice now.
"This morning we ran into Mal-Tech agents. Aelita's mother's kidnappers. They tried to snatch us as well."
The others stood in shock over what they had just heard. Yumi put her hand on Aelita's shoulder as she showed her sympathy for her friend.
"You guys are OK?" William asked.
"Yeah… thanks to Frank. He helped us escape from those men in black." Jeremy said with relief.
Aelita leaned on his shoulder. Jeremy knew it was painful for her to listen to this again, so he tried to sum up the events quickly.
"His name is Frank Morse. He told us he knew Aelita's parents. He's the one who put Mister Puck inside the supercomputer." Yeah, Puck squeaked. Jeremy continued. "He led us to the agents, who told us a lot about Aelita's father and what they knew about the case. He also helped us understand the System and Avatar-Observer deal."
"We owe him a lot," admitted Travis. "Anyway… you said he revealed to you where the System is. Where is it hidden, then?"
"Area 51. " Aelita whispered.
Hearing that, the others let out a murmur of surprise. The group wondered sometimes where the System might have been hidden. It never came across their minds that it might be found in one of the most mysterious places on the entire planet Earth.
"Um... But… there is no Area 51." Travis opposed.
"Oh, come on. It's in every sci-fi movie and book. Everyone knows about it!" Odd blared out.
"We are serious. There is no Area 51." George insisted.
"Bah, come on. It's where you keep the aliens and the UFO that crashed in...Oh what was it called?" Odd asked.
"Rosswell?" proposed Travis.
"Yeah, that's it, Rosswell. And it's where you also keep Walt Disney head." Odd informed the blankly staring agents.
"Odd!" Jeremy tried to get the blonde's attention.
"It's where the Men in Black... The alien hunters not the Aelita hunters are. You know where they are." Odd insisted as he poked Travis repeatedly in the chest.
"Mister... Della Robbia, was it? Regardless of what you have read or seen, I swear on the bible itself that there is no alien cover up... And there is no Area 51." Travis said as he tried to defend himself against Odd's prods. "Why are you still doing that?"
Odd poked harder. "I'm gonna poke the truth out of you. I know you're lying. And I bet that any possible superheroes are there as well."
"ODD! You're not helping!" Jeremy shouted.
Not until Travis slapped Odd's hand out of the way did Odd stop poking him.
"Did you like to eat paint chips as a kid or something?" asked Travis angrily.
"No... pure sugar."
Ulrich and Yumi slapped themselves in the forehead at the same time. It was so embarrassing to be around him when he was acting like a dork in presence of new people.
Suddenly, Aelita's face saddened. She looked at Jeremy with glassy eyes.
"What does it mean, it doesn't exist? Did Frank lie to me?"
Aelita's reaction made everyone even more confused, especially the agents. Travis and George opened their mouths, unsure of what to say.
Yumi, Ulrich and William frowned at them; Odd and Sissi folded their arms. They all looked very disappointed. The agents gulped as it became clear that Aelita's question sounded like an open accusation that they broke the promise of their help.
But it was the look Jeremy gave them that was the hardest to bear. His mouth grimaced and he clenched his fingers around the armchair's armrests.
"You clearly forgot what stake of this war is! None of the government secrets will prevent Xervix from claiming The System and destroying this world!"
The agents realized they underestimated the boy. It became obvious that he was playing his part as The Observer well. They hurt Aelita, and now her boyfriend looked as if he was about to jump at them and make them regret it.
Jessica retreated behind her colleagues when Odd was annoying Travis. Now, she felt like the biggest coward of them three. She desperately seeked for a diplomatic solution.
She always wanted to do things right. It gave her hard times when she was working with Travis and George, who did not follow the textbook most of the times. But as hard as those situations were for her, this particular one stepped far beyond her imagination. However well-informed and advanced CIA was, it could not predict any possible situation.
Or could it? Why did her principals insist on her joining the FBI agents on their quest in the first place? She helped put the Schaeffer case together when everything seemed lost… she knew things FBI had no idea about. Her teammate died for this case, and she also faced death a couple of times. Why? She must have missed something on the way. The key was within her. She just needed to find it. What order was she given when she joined Travis and George on their trip to France? Help her find a way back home.
Then, it struck her like a lightning.
Meanwhile, tension in the lab rose to dangerous levels.
"Are you with us or not?" The Observer set things clear. The scrawny body of Jeremy's was indeed a good disguise for his strong, mature inner self.
Fighting herself, Jessica stepped in front of Travis and George. She turned so that everyone could see her.
"Listen closely, Jeremy." Jessica addressed him. She paused when she felt all eyes, including Travis's and George's, were locked on her. "I know how to take you to this System. Code V41D0."
"Waldo." William said slowly. The others gave him a confused look. "It's in leet speak. 4 is A and 1 is L," he explained. "But… how does this help us?"
"It's a signal that those in CIA, who were involved in Shaeffers' case, were given. If we were to ever make contact with any member of Schaeffer family, we were supposed to call it and pass the message. Then they would be granted, as I was told, a way back home, whatever that means. Today I put things together and learned that home actually meant The System you're looking for."
"If you call it… will they take us to Area 51? Cool!" Odd cheered up.
"I was never given any details about the actual location. Security reasons, I guess." Jessica admitted. "But I think Frank was right. If he worked in witness security, he must've had much better knowledge of classified information, including what we know as Area 51. If you want my personal opinion… I believe The System is right there."
Travis and George stood there, frozen. They had no clue what treasure accompanied them for the time they'd been investigating the Shaeffers case together.
"So that's why you joined us... The CIA thought we might find Aelita," George suddenly understood.
"Yes... It was the only way the FBI would be granted clearance from home land security to investigate the destruction of supercomputers, since they were all built by Waldo Schaffer."
Jessica glanced back at Jeremy. He leaned his back on the armchair; his posture was much more relaxed. Aelita, who stood beside him and held his hand, looked much better than just five minutes ago. She actually was smiling lightly.
"Please make that call. Take us to The System," Aelita requested.
"All of you?" Jessica looked at the group of seven kids in front of her. "I'm only supposed to take immediate family, not friends…"
Yumi came closer to her. "We are Aelita's family now. She won't go anywhere without us. Am I right, Aelita?"
Aelita nodded in agreement. "That's right. I want to take that journey with my friends. My family."
The others agreed with her and gathered around Jeremy and Aelita.
"I've been with Princess and Einstein since day one. I won't leave them if they need me." Odd declared.
"If you're worried about us keeping a secret, we can. We kept our secret all this time." Ulrich said.
Jessica, Travis and George exchanged meaningful looks. They certainly did not come across a gang of ordinary teens. They wanted to stick together no matter what circumstances they were under. It certainly deserved respect.
"Okay, I will make that call. I'll see what I can do." Jessica pulled out her cell phone and came over to the elevator. "I have to go up. There's no signal there."
"Of course, go ahead. Please tell them the Avatar's word is an order," Jeremy said in a rather relaxed manner.
Jessica smiled and disappeared behind the elevator's door.
"Whoa. That's going to be one hell of a trip, guys," William commented.
"I'd wait till Mrs. Hillsabeck comes down with the news," George tried to calm them down.
"What do we tell the school? Or our parents? That is, if we go." Yumi asked.
"That's where we come in. We're pretty good at stuff like this." Travis said as he pointed between George and himself.
"I'm sure my father will understand," Sissi butted in. "After all, from what I heard, the world's future is at stake."
"And you, Agent Knight and Dalesman? Will you come with us?" Aelita glanced up at them from the cot she just sat on a moment ago.
"Of course. We said we would help you kids… we'll be there till the end," Travis assured her.
Then, the elevator door opened with a loud hiss and in came Jessica. She was overall in a good mood.
"OK, we got clearance. But under one condition...What we see, we don't see."
"That was pretty easy!" Odd said joyfully.
"Well… I had to talk to one of the over seers to the complex… When I told him the situation, they acted like they where expecting it." Jessica said. " A lot of people in the CIA have been waiting for the day a Schaffer turned up."
"Everything's on a good path to work out, see, Aelita?" Jeremy turned to her.
"Finally…" she said. New hope awakened inside her.
"What's going to happen to us now?" Ulrich asked.
Jessica looked at her watch. "We got a plane to catch in 2 hours. I took a pretty big chewing from this, but we're going there, kids… Just as long as you can in fact keep a secret."
"Oh, believe me. We're good at that," Odd said, smiling widely.