Jeremy sat in his chair, the light from the supercomputer's monitor reflecting lightly off of his glasses. He looked down at his keyboard, his eyelids heavy; their weight resembling sandbags on his face.
Aelita sat next to him, her laptop humming from all the work they had been doing over the last few hours.
"I don't get it." Jeremy said, his voice normal other than a hint of confusion. "The coordinates we received don't lead to anywhere."
Aelita quickly glanced down at the corner of her laptop, the time reading "4:57 A.M.". She sighed, closing her laptop with a *click*.
"Jeremy, I think we've done enough work for the night, if you can even still call it night. We'll find out what's there later today when we try out the new Skid." Aelita said, standing up, her laptop nestled between her arm and her side.
Jeremy yawned, his arms stretching out ahead of his body and into the air. "I guess you're right. It just makes me wonder; what if it really is a trap? X.A.N.A. has always been extremely clever, I wouldn't put this past him."
"Don't worry, Jeremy. Only my father could access those files and send them to you." Aelita said, looking Jeremy in the eyes, her gaze reaching through him, making a deep, emotional connection. "Trust me, I know it's him."
Jeremy's mind went blank. Suddenly, all he could think to do was agree; an extremely strong force in his mind taking over. Everything led to this being a trap, but he now, for unknown reason, believed otherwise. "I trust you. We'll go out later today and see what's out there."
Aelita walked into the elevator and pressed the button to go up. Before the doors slid closed, she said: "Thank you, Jeremy. Don't stay here too long, even geniuses need sleep."
He smiled at her as the elevator rose, his cheeks slightly red. After a few moments, he turned and continued his work, the only sound in the room was the echo of his keystrokes off the walls.
—
Odd brushed his teeth quite energetically, although it would do him no good after he got his hands on breakfast.
"Ahh, I love French toast day!" Odd exclaimed, toothpaste still lingering in his mouth. His voice echoed through the walls of the bathroom, attracting the attention of most of the boys.
"Don't forget, Jeremy said we need to get there ASAP, meaning no breakfast." Ulrich said, spitting into the sink.
"But Ulrich... French toast!" Odd begged, turning to face his friend.
William stepped over to them from the showers. "Maybe where we're going on Lyoko has French toast." William said, causing Ulrich and him to laugh.
"My starvation isn't funny." Odd said, his arms crossed.
Ulrich looked up at the wall clock, it's hands displaying the time.
"Starving or not, we better go. Jeremy wants us there by seven." Ulrich said, walking out the door.
William walked for the door as well, his hair still slightly wet and glistening in the light. "He's right, you better hurry up."
Odd spit into the sink, rinsed, and, with a displeased look on his face, headed back to his room.
—
William, Ulrich and Odd ran along the path in the woods headed towards the factory. They were about half way there when a figure could be seen in the distance running towards them.
"X.A.N.A.?" Odd asked, although none of them were totally sure.
Ulrich, acting quickly, signaled William and Odd to run into the woods and find a different path. He stood facing the charging figure, but was shocked as it come into the light.
"Jim?" Ulrich asked, lowering his readiness.
"Stern, what are you doing out here?" Jim asked, continuing to run in place when he reached Ulrich. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for class?"
A bead of sweat ran down Ulrich's neck, quickly trying to work out an excuse in his head. "Umm... I'm just out here thinking about stuff."
Jim grinned for a second, but disregarded Ulrich's unusual behavior. "Well, hurry up and get to class."
Ulrich watched as Odd and William ran past Jim, the gym teacher not even taking notice. "So, Jim, what are you doing out here?"
Jim smiled, pleased that someone took interest in what he was doing. "I'm training for a marathon!"
"I didn't know you ran marathons." Ulrich said, curious as to how Jim could pull a marathon off.
"Oh yeah, I love running. Back in my golden years I ran in the Olympics." Jim said, smiling widely.
"The Olympics? Did you win any metals?"
Jim stopped running, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "... I'd rather not talk about it..."
Ulrich would have spoken up, but Jim ran past him too quickly. Ulrich shrugged it off and headed for the factory.
—
Ulrich stood in the elevator as it descended into the factory's depths. His mind had been distracted for so long as he couldn't think of anything to get for Yumi. Christmas was only a few days away, but he had put it off and worried for so long that the day was almost upon him.
As the doors slid open with a metallic shift, he threw those thoughts from his mind. Everyone else had been waiting for him, most of them talking about random things. Jeremy, on the other hand, was perplexed by his computer, working frantically to figure out where he was about to send the Warriors.
"Okay, Jeremy, everyone's here." Aelita said, anxious to discover if her father is still alive.
Jeremy turned to face the group. "I'm not totally secure in sending you guys to investigate what's there yet. I've been looking into that location and everything about it just makes me suspicious."
"Jeremy, don't be so cynical. All we're doing is going into the digital sea and looking into that location." Aelita said, her opinion strongly differing from Jeremy's.
"It's not just that. I looked into the file for the Skid I was sent; it was altered greatly. Cosmetically it appears the same, but the code for the exterior plating has been changed in ways I don't understand." Jeremy said, looking at Aelita directly.
"So, what does that mean?" Yumi asked.
"The armor is what allows you guys to enter the digital sea. If it was X.A.N.A. who sent those files, he could have altered the armor so that it doesn't give any protection from the sea. It would be just like falling into it normally: no way out." Jeremy explained.
"Jeremy, I think the risk is worth the reward. If we find my father, he can help you develop a new program to destroy X.A.N.A.." Aelita pointed out.
Jeremy sighed, knowing that he couldn't win this argument. "Okay, head for the scanners."
The Warriors entered the elevator, then the doors closed, sending them to the scanner room.
"I still don't think this is a good idea." Jeremy said as he prepared to virtualize them.
Thanks for the wait, I am hoping that there won't be any more of those, but no promises. I'm not sure if any of you have heard of him, but I would like to give a special thanks to dying english. His story, "Code of the Living Dead" is what inspired me to revisit Fan Fiction and continue writing. As a thanks to him, I ask that everyone who reads my story to go visit his page, read his stuff and give him some well deserved views. Thanks, and make sure to review!