18: After the battle
Aelita Schaeffer
b: December 24, 1984 – November 1, 2006
Gone Too Soon.
And with a rather mundane finality, Aelita's eyelids grew heavy and her green eyes saw no more. Her body became limp and motionless as it plummeted back down towards the surface of LYOKO.
Some say that right before we die, we see our life flash before our eyes; a visual spectacle showcasing the highlights of our time on planet Earth.
However, Aelita didn't experience such a thing. She couldn't. Her life force was unique, intricately linked to her recollections. And thanks to XANA, she had none remaining to draw upon.
She was the one who was destined to save the world from the remnants of her past. And perhaps…even change it for the better.
But now, the girl with bright pink hair who was fittingly nicknamed 'Princess' by her closest friends was gone, leaving behind one final lingering sentiment.
What happens now?
JEREMIE
The scanner doors opened and the rookie LYOKO warrior stepped out. Jeremie emerged thoroughly exhausted. Yet, it wasn't just the physical toll of going into the digital world. A hollow feeling resided within his stomach. His face was completely sullen as he saw Ulrich approaching him, sporting a similar deflated look.
Jeremie saw Ulrich approaching, but he chose to ignore him as he pondered over everything that had transpired. Sulking would not bring Aelita back, but he didn't really feel motivated to do anything else at the moment.
Even after all that.
He had finally plucked up the courage to venture into LYOKO in a last-ditch rescue attempt, he had nothing to show for it. XANA had taken care of Aelita, permanently. The person he cared for the most, who spun his world on a whole different axis, was no more. What else needed to be said?
If only he had been quick enough to save Aelita from the Scyphozoa. If only he had gone into the virtual world previously to master his LYOKO form's powers and abilities. If only he had been able to decode the devirtualization program faster. If only…
If only he hadn't been so reckless. He had completely underestimated XANA and played right into its hands. Not even a return to the past could rectify this situation.
Ulrich was at a loss of words and comfort himself. However, his attention shifted when he heard the sound of the elevator coming down to the floor above him.
"That'll be Yumi. We have to go up and tell her and Bryan about what happened."
Bryan.
A bit of Jeremie's grief had begun transforming back into frustration.
Had Bryan shown up, could the outcome have been different? In a way, Jeremie was still partly to blame. He should have consulted with Bryan first instead of leaving him out of the starting lineup for the mission. Of course, he had been even more polarized towards the enigmatic exchange student, given recent events.
Bryan had fought with Aelita earlier during the day – Jeremie reasoned with himself – and he didn't want the animosity between the two to have any impact on their mission to retrieve the missing memory fragment. Furthermore, he felt as if he should be protecting Aelita; Bryan had hurt her enough, to the point where she had considered taking her own life.
Nevertheless, when Jeremie did try to get in touch with him – numerous times – he received no response. Bryan had a mobile, so why was he ignoring his calls? Unless…
He wanted this to happen. He wanted to remove Aelita from the picture, remove her from the equation…
That could potentially be the case. Could Bryan have planned this all along, to have only pretended to be allied against XANA? Was it all just an act? He had to admit, Bryan's intentions were still quite unclear. He needed to get to the bottom of this.
Jeremie nodded silently and slowly got up. He didn't know what to tell the others when they asked about Aelita. And subsequently, the thought of this inevitability led his mind back to square one – he had just lost a dear friend. The emptiness and anguish churned within him, a notion that just wouldn't go away.
How long has it been since he had experienced this much sorrow.
BRYAN
Bryan's bad feeling got worse when he and Yumi came across Odd in the sewers.
"Hey!" Yumi called out as she skidded to a stop on her skateboard. Odd was initially startled, but upon seeing who she had brought with her, looked slightly relieved.
"Yumi's filled me in. What's the latest?" Bryan asked as he also came to a stop.
"I'll tell you along the way," Odd replied as he made a u-turn.
"We've got a big problem. XANA's taken out everyone, except Jeremie. The Scyphozoa's closing in fast."
"Wait, Jeremie's inside?" said Yumi incredulously. Odd nodded, noticing that Bryan showed no sign of worry or panic like the others.
On the other hand however, the inner mechanisms of his mind were working at a furious pace, analyzing the situation and its consequences.
They made it to the abandoned factory in no time and found the control room empty. There was no sign of Aelita, Jeremie, or Ulrich anywhere. Bryan turned to look at the computer screen, and that one glance told him everything he needed to know.
"Where's–" Odd began, but he didn't need to finish as Jeremie and Ulrich came up looking grave. Aelita wasn't with them.
"No…" breathed Yumi, her face breaking down into a mixture of disbelief and sadness. She didn't make it back in time.
For once, there was no sign of reassurance from Odd, who looked equally as shocked and as everyone else. This simply couldn't be happening.
"She…she's gone," Jeremie said so softly as if mumbling to himself. He tried to stop the tears from welling up in his eyes.
Bryan's expression was inscrutable. He felt as if he was the odd one out. After all, he had only been at Kadic for two months, and had not assisted with the retrieval of Aelita's memories. However, he could tell that the others took the news very hard.
"Look guys, I'm really–"
"It's all because of you," Jeremie suddenly snapped at him, trying to put as much venom into that statement. How could he still appear so calm and apologetic?
"We could have really used your help," Ulrich added sombrely.
"I – I'm sorry. I–"
"Well, sorry's not going to bring back Aelita, now will it?" retorted Jeremie. Bryan looked completely taken aback.
"Jeremie geez, calm down. It's not his fault. It's no one's fault. We never knew that…that…" even Odd was struggling to come up with the right words.
That XANA would completely undress us.
"Speak for yourself, Odd. Even you didn't fully trust–"
Yumi decided to intervene. While Bryan was still partially responsible in her opinion, it wasn't completely fair for him to bare flak from everyone. "Ulrich, that's enough. Jeremie, it's partly my fault as well. I wasn't quick enough–"
"You're still defending him?" Jeremie asked Yumi angrily, before turning back to the blue-haired teenager.
"Why didn't you pick up your mobile?"
"I – uh…" Bryan fished out a cell phone from his pant pockets. This was somewhat embarrassing, he thought to himself before answering: "forgot to turn it on," he muttered.
Seriously? Jeremie rolled his eyes and let out a derisive laugh. The whole point of owning a cell phone was so that a constant line of communication could be maintained; so why should it ever be turned off? Common sense! This was an unacceptable excuse, especially for someone who should've definitely known better.
"You're a member of this group, Bryan. You have a responsibility to always be ready to help out. We tried to get in touch with you several times and you didn't pick up. That being said…" Ulrich turned over to Jeremie, expecting him to explain why he didn't make more of an effort to reach Bryan, or at least postpone the mission.
Bryan rubbed the back of his head. He had been an idiot and he knew it. This was all because of a bad habit that he had developed a while back – and he had already been reprimanded for it several times.
"So, let me ask you this, whose side are you really on?" Jeremie questioned further.
"I beg your pardon?"
Jeremie's accusatory tone caught Bryan's attention. Up until now he had been keeping his comments to himself. He agreed that Jeremie was right, in many ways similar to how Aelita had been right earlier during the day.
It wasn't right to have left her out of the loop, especially regarding her own personal information. However, he also anticipated that once Aelita figured that she was 'the Key', there would be some sort of fallout. In that sense, it was his fault.
He was supposed to protect her, and he didn't even show up. And that was all the difference. Nevertheless, to have all of the blame and mistrust placed on him for the loss of Aelita – as if the others weren't at fault for their failures – that was a bit of a stretch.
"Are you helping XANA?" asked Jeremie.
"You're kidding, right?" retorted Bryan.
"Why else wouldn't you answer your phone?"
"I told you, I had it turned off."
"Sure," Jeremie scoffed.
"Look, it's a bad habit of mine, I admit it. But I had no idea that you guys were planning to go into LYOKO. Why didn't you tell me?" he shot back at Jeremie.
"Where were you during lunch and after classes?" Jeremie countered.
"You're avoiding the question!"
"Kind of what you did to Aelita earlier this morning, isn't it?"
Bryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Jeremie's got him there.
"So, what…actually happened?" asked Yumi softly. She wanted to hear the details from another perspective.
"They had a bit of an argument," he said testily, still staring daggers at Bryan.
Ulrich remembered seeing her looking glum throughout the day. So that's what it was all about.
"What did you and Aelita talk about earlier today?"
"…Nothing," mumbled Bryan, clearly trying to avoid the touchy subject.
"You sure? Because she certainly didn't seem like herself after she went to see you. And you know what she did after? She tried to kill herself!"
Yumi and Odd gasped. Bryan's eyebrows narrowed.
"You never told us that, Jeremie," said Ulrich.
"Well, it was a highly sensitive subject," he muttered. "Aelita didn't want you guys to find out."
Bryan sighed. "Alright. Yes, we had a disagreement. She thought I knew that she held the Keys to LYOKO, which is why XANA has been after her all this time."
"Did you know?"
"As soon as I found out that she could deactivate Towers, yes."
"So why didn't you tell her when you first arrived?"
"Do you believe that she would have taken the news any differently? I was like a complete stranger to her at the time; I probably would've made the situation a whole lot worse. You don't expect positive reception after telling someone the truth about their existence."
Odd shifted uncomfortably. "Still, that's not like her."
"She was really upset after learning about it during breakfast," Jeremie recalled. "Aelita didn't want to put any of us in any more danger. XANA was only after her, and the reason why we're keeping the supercomputer active is because of her as well."
"By the way, we tried to get a hold of you during lunch and after school. We couldn't find you anywhere," added Yumi.
Bryan looked puzzled as he attempted to retrace his steps.
"Oh, right. I was finishing up my programming assignment in my room during lunch, since I left my laptop there. And tennis started earlier today, so I left class a couple minutes before the bell to change. You can ask Melanie and Catherine if you don't believe me. I walked past them both times," he added hastily to convince Jeremie of his alibi.
"Look, I know whatever I say isn't going to bring Aelita back. But right now, we've got an even bigger problem. I'm still trying to understand the whole situation. Has XANA ever tried to kill Aelita before? Say, either in the real world or on LYOKO?"
"Not…really. It's come close several times though, and we've been seeing a lot of the Scyphozoa recently as well."
"But each of those times, you four were able to repulse XANA though, right"
"For about a year now," said Ulrich. Up until now, they had never truly lost a battle or confrontation against the malevolent computer program.
Bryan was startled. Everything was starting to come together. How could he have not seen this coming? There was no way a group of teenagers could have survived against XANA for a year, unless it hadn't been operating at its full potential.
And he knew exactly why. He swore silently to himself. "I think all of this is…because of me. Me being here."
"I'm sorry?"
"Think about it. You've been up against a computer program that gets smarter with every passing second. No offense or anything, but there's no way that all of its activities on LYOKO and the real world could have been thwarted, especially if it has been attacking as frequent as you have previously described. And Yumi said that XANA was in vintage mode today, correct?"
"Yeah," Odd nodded. "It heavily outnumbered us and knew exactly how to take us down."
"Then to be honest, I'm not even sure if I could've fared any better."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ulrich incredulously. "You're the most capable out of any of us on LYOKO."
"I also lose life points a lot faster than you guys. That and XANA's probably already figured out my weaknesses."
"So all those attacks it made in the past…don't tell me they were just what, trial runs?" said Odd incredulously.
"To analyze our strategies and abilities," Ulrich moaned silently. So they had completely underestimated XANA when in reality; had it ever been behind?
"Wait, what does this have to do with you?" asked Jeremie suspiciously. Bryan looked up and regarded Jeremie.
"XANA took a massive gamble today."
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"You've already figured out that XANA's obsessed with what appears to be world domination?"
"Yeah?"
"And that it can't do that. Not while it's trapped within LYOKO – think of it as some sort of intranet prison."
"But XANA's attacked us in the real world before," said Ulrich.
Bryan nodded in understanding, having been nearly killed during one of these 'attacks' on his way to Kadic Academy.
"All it took to stop XANA was to have Aelita deactivate the Towers. Which, considering that this has been going on for over a year, hasn't been that difficult of a task for you guys."
"So that's why it killed Aelita? Without her, it could launch attacks on Earth without fear of being stopped."
"Partially. With Aelita gone though, you could've just decided to shut down the supercomputer and XANA's threat would cease to exist. No, it was after the Keys, and the only way to do that was to eliminate Aelita."
"So it really is trying to leave LYOKO then, to the internet," said Yumi.
Bryan was surprised. So they're already aware of this…
"It can't do that though. Not yet," murmured Jeremie.
"What do you mean?" Ulrich asked as Jeremie headed over to the computer and pulled up a recent file that resembled a blueprint or schematic of the digital world.
"This was found in the appendices of Hopper's diary. The 'Keys' are just a set of codes to unlock the boundary between LYOKO and the world network," Jeremie explained. "Once XANA finds them within Aelita's memories, they'll trigger some sort of…passageway that's still protected by what appears to be some sort of an external firewall. All XANA has to do then is get past it."
"And that's a major concern. The internet is essentially a massive system connecting the world and its respective technologies. For instance, XANA would have access to military bases and weaponry and controls," added Bryan.
All the XANA attacks up until now had seemed incredibly insignificant. Forget about giant teddy bears ruining school dances; it being nuclear-powered would be a much larger, global threat to civilization.
"XANA seems to have disappeared though," Odd noted. The Tower within CARTHAGE had returned to its blank uncontrolled state.
"I don't think so. It might be…for lack of a better term, sleeping. I mean, it just took all of Aelita's memories. Guess how big a file that must be to unzip and decipher? I'm guessing that it's going to be a while before XANA shows up again with the codes."
"But Aelita's gone now," Ulrich tried not to make any eye contact with Jeremie. "Technically speaking, we can shut down the supercomputer then."
"Which brings us back to the point," said Bryan. "XANA's gamble makes it possible for us to end it once and for all."
Jeremie could not believe what he was hearing. However, Bryan's proposal was the correct course of action. By turning off the machine, the remnants from the Cold War would…no longer haunt this world. Team LYOKO would resume their normal lives. While the optimal solution would be to also save Aelita as well, that was no longer possible…
"You planned for this to happen all along, didn't you?" Jeremie said quietly. "This was the easy way out, right? This is your plan to stop XANA?"
Bryan shrugged. "Everything's falling into place. If we don't shut down the supercomputer, once it acquires the codes, it will wreak havoc on the global stage. You saw what it was like today. That was closer to its real form. It has far superior and abundant resources for just several high school students to handle."
"This makes no sense though," interrupted Yumi. "Why would XANA take Aelita's memories if we could just turn off the supercomputer before it can escape LYOKO? It couldn't have been engineering its own destruction."
"It isn't. That's what makes it so risky. It's well aware that we can shut it down and end the threat. But it is also certain that we aren't going to leave Aelita – if there was a way to bring her back," Bryan added hesitantly. Jeremie noticed that he had used 'we', and…
"What are you talking about? XANA has all of her memories. She's…you know," said Odd. Bringing the deceased back to life was simply not possible. Not even the extensive magic in Harry Potter's world could do that.
"She's not dead," said Bryan calmly. He observed expressions of shock and utter bewilderment on everyone's faces, so he took a moment to explain something he had recently learned in programming class.
While they were on LYOKO, they had been virtualized into data – they were no longer human in the flesh and blood sense. Hence, one doesn't truly die in the digital world; their data form merely gets deleted from existence.
"However, there's always a backup of any data – even of recently deleted files – which are kept in the computer's hard drive for a limited amount of time. If we could retrieve Aelita's files, there's a good chance she could be saved. And–"
"So what you're saying is, we – by 'we', I mean mostly Jeremie of course – can write a computer program to do that?"
"It's not that easy, Odd," muttered Jeremie. What Bryan said sounded reasonable; indeed, that's how prosecutors are able to dig up evidence even though the suspect had wiped the files from their PC. However, the supercomputer was by no means a simple desktop. If Aelita was a 'file', then Jeremie would first have to locate and recall her point source. In addition to being a complex procedure, time was also not on his side. There was no way he could find Aelita's data within the huge hard drive of the supercomputer and compile a program before Aelita was permanently deleted.
"No. The reason why XANA's waited until now to take Aelita's memories…is because it's realized that I might be able to bring her back."
YUMI
Yumi had a shrewd idea as to how Bryan could bring Aelita back from the dead.
His LYOKO powers were unique, to say the least. For one thing, although his outfit is unmistakably the attire of Force-wielding peacekeepers from a galaxy far, far away, his abilities originated from a popular manga series. He had the potential to summon six separate entities to aid him in combat, each with a specific ability. Up until now though, he had ever only used five.
"Your sixth body of Pain."
"Hold on, you just said pain. Umm…what's this painful body thing got to do with bringing Aelita back?"
"Naruto," was Ulrich's curt reply. Having never touched a single work of manga in his life, Jeremie was lost, while Odd's jaw dropped.
"I thought you hated that comic book!"
Ulrich looked offended. "It's not a comic book, it's a manga! I only said I didn't like it because Sissi tried to…anyways I shouldn't really talk about that," he concluded quickly as he noticed Yumi eyeing him suspiciously.
"Right, let's get back to the point. What does this sixth body actually do?"
Yumi cleared her throat and attempted to simplify a concept that took the author of Naruto over a year to fully explain. "Bryan's abilities are exactly like those of a guy in the manga – he has six bodies at his disposal, each with one technique. The sixth body… has healing powers, which could even bring back those who had been recently deceased."
In that instant, the situation turned completely upside down. A small window of opportunity had been revealed.
"Doesn't that make you invincible then? You can just keep replenishing your life points," Odd said as he regarded Bryan with awe. It appeared as though his abilities in the digital world knew no bounds.
Even Jeremie was stunned. He was already aware that Bryan was a force to be reckoned with. But to have control over something along the lines of life and death, this was clearly of a whole different and almost divine level.
"There's no point in doing that though. I think I'd just be regaining the life points that I lost using that technique."
"Makes sense. So Aelita…you can bring her back, right?" asked Ulrich.
"Uh, I'm not actually sure," Bryan admitted, appreciating the fact that Jeremie was at least speaking to him with a less scandalising tone.
"However, if it's just like in the manga, yes – which I also think is what XANA is counting on. Well, that is, whether you want her back."
Of course I – we – want her back, Jeremie wanted to yell at Bryan. He had just presented a very plausible solution and it seemed as though he had some aforethought, and was backing down from it.
"Obviously there's no debate as to what we'll do –"
"There's more. Think about let's say, the greater good. Aelita's return would mean that the whole world would remain under the threat of XANA. And judging by your ability to stop it…it knows that it's going to pretty much get an open field."
Yumi's eyes narrowed. To save one life – the life of her best friend – even if it meant placing the future of the world at risk which was what XANA wanted. From that perspective, was it really worth it? They would just be playing into the evil program's hands again.
"But you would never leave Aelita, right? From what I've seen, she's…she's a really good friend of yours," he added, emphasizing the last part at Jeremie.
"And you too," added Odd indignantly. He had seen Aelita hanging out with Bryan, be it during a lab session or out of the classroom. She looked as if she was really enjoying herself.
Bryan shook his head and chuckled. "You guys are sort of like one closely-knit family. I – I respect that. I know you guys would have and have done everything to keep her safe. You could've shut down the supercomputer, yet you left it on because of her."
"I…think XANA's right. It knows exactly what we're planning on doing," said Odd with a weak smile; some of his optimism had already begun returning. After all, leaving the supercomputer on not only meant getting awesome Aelita back, it also meant that the missions within the digital world would continue.
"I'm sure we'll find a way to stop XANA in the future. And according to my factbook, we still have a 99% success rate against it. Next time it strikes, we'll be ready," said Ulrich confidently.
Jeremie nodded in assent. His eyes locked with Bryan's, yet the anger built up inside of him had all but dissipated. Jeremie still wanted an opportunity to discuss other matters…however, right now the priority was to get a certain pink-haired camaraderie back onto Earth.
"We're going after Aelita."
Bryan smiled. "Sure thing, Jeremie. Now get me into LYOKO. Please."
Fragmented Legacy Fun Fact 018:
Christmas birthdays are just a bit cliché, and so Aelita's date of birth is December 24, 1984, though she remains unaware of this. Of course, this means that Franz and Anthea Schaeffer got to 'open' one of their best Christmas presents a day early =D I always thought Aelita's b-day should be in a winter month – specifically the most 'magical' and festive one of them all.
Since Aelita couldn't remember her birthday, Jeremie decided to give her a temporary date: March 18 – the day his Code: EARTH program brought her back into the real world. Since then, Aelita's had one birthday party. It was awesome.
A|N's:
It's been cloudy and raining non-stop these past two weeks. Totally. Not. Awesome. At least I've finished all of my midterms!
Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)
Replies to Reviews:
It's been a while since I've done this, so here's some shout-outs to readers like you =)
[Winter Coma]
Haha, Odd the Evil Mime was sort of drafted in the last minute, and since everything with Odd is 85% of the time humorous, that name stuck. Yeah, I really wanted to get the characters right to make them as relatable to the original TV series as I could (glad I didn't take sociology and psychology for nothing =D). Ah, I remember when I used to update on a weekly basis when I started this story (grr procrastination...). I'll do my best to keep the story going! Cheers!
[SnickieFics]
Thanks for your feedback! Yeah, I kind of did a little researching on Lyokoland to make sure everything added up. In fact, one of the reasons why I set my story back in 2006 would be so I could also relate and use actual events (IMO Code Lyoko was about as realistic as a cartoon could get). Haha, I'm really amazed that you kept count of my hiatus (1 big cookie for you!). And as for writing faster…you got it chief! (after I'm done reading some of your stories =D)
[Starke]
Hello again! Thanks for your support during my 1+ years of fanficdom! Indeed, I'm always trying to do something different and unexpected with CL:FL. I also try to keep the reader guessing and interested, which is kind of what the chapter sneak peeks are for; some things are not always what they seem =) And yes, there will definitely be more references and revelations to come regarding Project CARTHAGE, etc. (what I've learned in World History is paying off!)
[IFR]
Hi! Hopefully, the storyline remains interesting for your tastes; I'm still trying to find a balance between action/non-action scenes, fast/slow pace, and not introducing too many subplots without fully resolving earlier ones first. To be honest, I'm always a bit nervous on the Fridays that I release new stuff, mainly due to the feeling that I may have missed many spelling/grammar errors while I'm editing, so I really appreciate your compliments =)