Ch. 1 – "Premise"
In the computer lab, a cozy atmosphere prevailed, providing a respite from the chilly weather outside. The Lyoko Warriors had convened at the factory on a November evening after yet another night of safeguarding the world. With winter break underway, the group was eager for a chance to unwind, or at the very least, not have to juggle schoolwork along with their clandestine duty of thwarting XANA's schemes. Having successfully foiled another one of XANA's plots, the Warriors were in a celebratory mood. However, as is often the case with parties, there was a dampener, and that happened to be Jeremy.
Despite the other Warriors' cheers and elation, Jeremy sat silently in his chair in the computer lab, cleaning his glasses. Odd noticed his friend's mood and turned to have a chat with the bespectacled nerd.
"Hey Einstein, are you joining us?" Odd asked as Jeremy continued to work without stopping.
Jeremy replied bluntly, "No, I don't think so."
"What are you talking about?" asked Odd, confused.
"I'm referring to how we narrowly avoided another catastrophe, Odd," Jeremy said calmly but sternly.
Ulrich broke away from the group, teasingly saying, "Aw...why do you have to be like that, Einstein?"
"I'm just being reasonable, Ulrich," Jeremy replied, putting his glasses back on. "We got lucky this time, and if it weren't for that, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Sean joked, "Wow, what a downer!"
"Is it depressing to be alive and able to tell the tale?" Jeremy asked in response.
"Jeremy, what is the point you are trying to make here?" asked Aelita with a bit of a concerned look.
"Aelita, can I share my thoughts?" Jeremy asked, looking equally concerned.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to him. They seemed puzzled, but not more than usual around the blonde nerd.
"I'm worried that we're relying too much on the supercomputer's capabilities," Jeremy said, pointing at the hanging monitor and the mess of wires leading to the ceiling.
Sophia interrupted, "A-a-nd?" She was obviously bored and wanted Jeremy to get to the point.
"What I mean is that we need to work on improving our programs so that we don't find ourselves in a life-or-death situation like we did tonight," Jeremy explained, his voice rising slightly.
The group groaned collectively at his statement.
Odd said with emphasis, "You mean that you need to work on making better programs. I'm not sure I can help, and you probably wouldn't want my help anyway."
"That's not what I meant, Odd," Jeremy replied. "You guys know Lyoko better than I do, and I need your insights on things that need tweaking and tuning up."
Seth retorted, "If you want insider information, why don't you just go to Lyoko yourself?" Sean scowled at his twin, and then gave him a slap upside the back of his head. "Ow!" cried out Seth.
"Seth has a point," Jeremy acknowledged. Seth looked demandingly at his brother, and Sean just shrugged. Jeremy continued, "But my time there wouldn't be as insightful as your almost constant experience with it. There are things you guys notice that I never would."
"Plus, I am one of the only ones who can turn that info into raw data and stuff that we can use!" Jeremy added. Aelita, Sean, and Seth let out an outburst.
"Jeremy, you don't need to feel like this responsibility rides solely on you," Aelita said, trying to reassure him. "With our team growing as it has been, we are always here for you if things call you away from the lab."
Sean chimed in, "Let's not forget the last half dozen missions where Seth and I both took control of the supercalculator while you were off dealing with your personal XANA attacks. And how we saved your butt at least that many times as well when the equipment failed during the middle of a mission."
"Yeah, what he said," Seth added, unable to think of anything else.
Jeremy sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You guys have a point, but I feel like we could improve so much, and with the time off from school, I was thinking we could devote it to entirely upgrading the supercomputer and its programs!" Jeremy said with enthusiasm.
The group let out another collective groan
"Here we go again!" exclaimed Odd, throwing his hands up in frustration. Jeremy looked confused at his friend's reaction.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Ulrich stepped in, "We were hoping to actually use this break…y'know...as a break this time."
"I don't understand," Jeremy replied.
"I want to go home and see my family," said Odd flatly.
"Me too," added Ulrich.
Noel, who was usually quiet, chimed in from the back, "My family is missing me to death."
Jeremy was surprised that his friends wanted to do something other than work. "Surely not all of you want to go home, right?" he asked.
"Our dad is off on a book tour, so we have the entire house to ourselves," said Sean, trying to lighten the mood.
Jeremy saw this as a sign that Sean didn't want to go home, but Sean quickly clarified, "But that doesn't mean we want to waste our break in this subterranean bunker pulling all-nighters just to help you make this hunk of junk workable!"
Yumi added, "The same goes for me, Jeremy. Just because I live close by doesn't mean I want to be here, just like the rest of them."
"It's not like I have a home to go to," said Sophia bitterly, referring to her convict father.
Aelita spoke up in a concerned voice, "Jeremy, I'm always willing to help you, but I think it's time to take a break and enjoy some time away. You're working yourself to death with this. Please, just give it a rest."
"All I'm asking is that we work on this just a little bit for maybe two weeks, and then you can all do what you want," Jeremy pleaded.
"Two weeks? Our break is only five weeks long, and you want us to give up two of them?!" exclaimed Odd.
Yumi spoke up, "You have us for four days, and then we are all going home whether you like it or not. We think you should take a break too."
"Besides, with Seth, Sophia, Yumi, Aelita, and myself, I think we can handle anything that comes our way," added Sean.
"We've come a long way from our original group of four," noted Ulrich.
Jeremy tried to defend his position, "With more people, we can get the same amount of work done in a shorter amount of time."
But everyone groaned in unison, indicating they were not convinced.
Finally, Yumi declared, "This isn't a negotiation session. We want a break, and we think you should take one too."
"Eight days!" Jeremy exclaimed; his voice laced with desperation.
"Four," Yumi stated bluntly, speaking on behalf of the rest of the Warriors.
"Six and a half?" Jeremy suggested uncertainly.
"Four," Yumi repeated firmly.
"Five, my final offer!" Jeremy bargained. The other Warriors huddled together to discuss, then broke apart.
"Four and a half, that's our final offer. Take it or leave it," Yumi declared. Jeremy sighed and dropped his head, thinking for a moment before raising it again.
"Fine, I can deal with that, but we need to get started right away! How about now?" The others groaned for the last time.
"Get comfortable, guys. This might take a while," Ulrich announced as they made their way over to the hidden panel in the wall.
He removed it and began digging through the supplies hidden inside. Ulrich retrieved several sleeping bags and distributed them among the group.
"Wake me when this is over," yawned Odd, unrolling his sleeping bag in a corner. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. The others found spots to set up, and thus began the longest tech session in Lyoko history.
Aelita and Jeremy were deeply engrossed in programming the computer while conversing in soft tones. Although their voices could be heard by everyone, their discussion was so tedious that it sent most of the Warriors to sleep. Meanwhile, Seth, Sean, and Noel had been assigned the task of scouring the factory for computer components located in the most inaccessible areas.
Apparently, the builder and former owner of the supercomputer had anticipated this need and had stashed numerous computer parts in various locations around the factory for future use. However, the degradation of the factory itself had not been considered, and many of the parts caches had already been discovered in more accessible areas. According to Jeremy's calculations, there could still be plenty of components in other areas that were now nearly impossible to reach. Nonetheless, Sean, Seth, and Noel, with their impressive wall-scaling and Parkour skills, were the most likely to succeed in retrieving the parts.
As everyone else rested on the cool metal floor, Sean said goodbye to Sophia, their exchange being more intimate than intended. Seth broke them up, and the twins and Noel departed, leaving Sophia to sleep. With the addition of new members, life had changed for the Warriors. Sean, an ex-gang member, had stumbled upon the factory and was linked to Seth, his perfect clone created by the computer. Despite attempts to exclude the twins, Jeremy couldn't risk it since Seth was a product of the supercomputer.
Noel was a transfer student who initially joined the group out of curiosity and proved her worth after virtualizing herself. Lastly, Sophia thought to be a XANA scheme, turned out to be the illegitimate daughter of Sean's former gang leader. Despite her strange behavior, she proved invaluable to the group as well and fell in love with Sean.
Ulrich found it peculiar that only the twins had managed to find and maintain a relationship among the Warriors. He had his own ideas about being in a relationship and with whom he would like to be in one. Jeremy and Aelita were the perfect matches, but their shyness and commitment to their roles as Warriors prevented them from taking things further. Odd dated frequently, but his luck with women was so bad that nothing ever lasted.
Ulrich's thoughts then turned to Yumi Ishiyama, the last member of the team. As Ulrich lay in his sleeping bag, he observed Yumi, who had covered herself entirely, creating a closed pocket, and was slowly drifting off to sleep. Meanwhile, Aelita and Jeremy were engaged in a petty argument near the computer monitor, their voices barely audible.
"We should prioritize the return to the past protocols. If we needed to return today, I wouldn't have made it in time. We need to work on making it faster," Jeremy said.
"That can wait until later, what about the virtualization program? It could always be improved," Aelita replied.
"We should focus on one thing at a time. First, let's work on the return protocol and then we can move on to the virtualization program," Jeremy suggested.
Ulrich tried to tune out the conversation between the two lovebirds and refocus his attention on Yumi. He couldn't help but wonder if she felt the same way about him that he did about her. Did she ever have moments where she just stared at him too? Ulrich realized his staring was starting to come off as creepy, so he rolled over onto his side to avoid looking at her.
But no matter what he did, he couldn't get Yumi out of his head. He had been contemplating for days about finding an excuse to invite Yumi to meet his parents, but every scene he imagined ended in failure. He was afraid that making a bold move like that might push Yumi away, especially since they were only "good friends." Ulrich began to doze off when he was suddenly jolted awake by Jeremy's shouting. Jeremy's sudden outburst alarmed Aelita.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's a return!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Why would we need to go back?" Aelita asked, worried.
"No, forward!" Jeremy corrected.
"How is that even pos-?" Aelita started to ask.
But before she could finish her sentence, a blinding flash of light emanated from the hub in the center of the room, engulfing everything in its path. Ulrich could only stare in shock as the blinding light approached him. When it finally engulfed him, he was overcome by an intense wave of fatigue and collapsed, unconscious.
The light continued to expand, accompanied by the familiar sound of a return to the past, but this time, there was no chance of turning back.