I'M FINALLY BACK! I know, i know, it's been a veeery looong time since the last update, but you know: school and shits.

Now you can enjoy my fourth chapter! As always, write reviews, advices and that-kind-of-things.

TWO WEEKS LATER...

Ahh, Paris: city of love, of art (not all of them), of culture... and also of one of the most arrogant and unpleasant people in the world, after the Americans: the French.

And their language felt heavy in that crowded and chaotic airport, where Jacket had landed that Sunday morning. As he had promised Edward, he had found a way to move to Paris.

The sad thing (not for Jacket) in all of this, however, was precisely the means Jacket used to succeed in the undertaking.

FLASHBACK

It was 9:00 p.m. By now most people had finished dining, and spent time with their families, work permitting.

At that moment Jacket, as usual, was in front of the PC, busy creating his own ... "personal maid" on Custom Maid 3D 2. In his head, however, there was a fixed nail: call his father and ask him to help him move to Paris, so he could have a good excuse to investigate the supercomputer hidden under the factory.

His father called him regularly, at least twice a month, so that he always knew how he was doing and to remind him that, even if at a distance, he loved him, and he loved him a lot. The mother, on the other hand...never spoke of her son, she had never called him, as if he did not exist for her... Patiently, Jacket only needed his father's help to succeed.

So he decided to give up the PC, took his mobile phone and dialed his father's number: he had already prepared the things to say; he wasn't an authoritarian father, so it would have been even easier to convince him.

Jacket: *Waiting

Dad: "... Hello! How are you, Richard? Do you have any news? Usually i'm the one who calls you..."

Jacket: "Hello, Dad. Well, actually, there's something new, and a big one too: I want to come and live in Paris."

Dad: "...Really, son? And tell me, why do you suddenly want to come to Paris? You're not well in Rome, something bad happened...?"

Jacket: "No, don't worry, I'm fine. See...I want to try to... "fix everything up" if you know what i mean..." Never was a lie told with so much confidence and lack of guilt...

Dad: "Of course, I understand. And I'm very proud of you, Richard. I'm really happy that you want to reconnect your bonds with us..."

Jacket: "Thank you Dad. Oh, and, I need a favor, for all of us..."

Dad: "Of course Richard, go ahead..."

Jacket: "Well, see, I would like to attend a boarding school as an internship student: you know, I wouldn't like to crash you at home, especially for mom. And I know you don't have a lot of space.

The boarding school is Kadick College: the school is very good and the cost of tuition is very affordable. I'm also about an hour away from your home."

Dad: "... All right, I'll sign you up for boarding school these days. Do your cousins know about this?"

Jacket: "Yes, I have already spoken to them, and they have already made me a plane ticket to Paris, leaving in 3 days; they are also happy for me.

Dad: "Promise me to come and visit us, okay?"

Jacket: "Okay, count on it."

Dad: "Okay, so I'll see you in three days at the airport. Good night, Richard. I love you."

Jacket: "... Me too, Dad. Good night."

Once the call was over, he went back to the PC.

So: green hair or red hair?

Yeah. A big lie in the form of telephone conversation. But now was not the time to think about these things; he had to find his father, to get out of that chaos that was the airport.

In the main hall there was a whirlwind of people: businessmen heading to bars for a coffee, families welcoming relatives who had just landed, people queuing for check-in or waiting for their suitcase to appear on the conveyor belt. For Jacket's taste, the place was too crowded. He preferred quieter places.

While he was standing, leaning against the black suitcase, waiting for his father to show up, one hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, even though the grip was not strong. Jacket then turned around, and then ended up in the tight and warm embrace of a man in his mid-30s, with brush blonde hair, blue eyes, dressed in brown jeans, beige turtleneck, black leather shoes and brown leather jacket. More British clothing than you could: it was definitely Henry Allen, Richard Allen's father.

Henry: "Hahaha, Richard! Show yourself... My God, 10 years since I last saw you... you've grown up so much!"

Jacket: "Thanks, Dad, but i think you'll want to keep seeing me alive.." said Jacket, feeling almost suffocated by his father's embrace.

Henry: "Right, I'm sorry! Well, are you ready?"

Jacket: "Yes, Dad."

The drive to Kadick boarding school had been quiet. His father kept telling him about life in Paris, and how he would have liked it. Jacket mostly nodded or gave short answers; he didn't have much to say, and certainly supercomputers and virtual worlds were not exactly what he wanted to talk about...

Henry: "Well, It seems that we have arrived."

The machine stopped at the entrance to the college content, which was a blue navy gate.

Henry: "Now all we have to do is go to the presidency office and finish the enrollment."

Having said that, this father and son went to the presidency office. The college was very large, since it contained the classes, the cafeteria and the dormitories. There was also a large green area consisting of a little forest.

As they passed under the porch overlooking the courtyard, Jacket noticed that there were a lot of students, of various origins, who were intent on having coffee at the machine, who were chatting with friends, who were headed to class or to the dormitory. In particular, however, he had noticed one person in particular: a girl dressed with a salopette and pink hairs, was passing by. Overall, she was very familiar with a certain person...

That girl looks a lot like Waldo Schaeffer's daughter... could she be a possible granddaughter!? Because if that's the case, then Aelita Schaeffer is alive, and so out of the supercomputer...

Never stop to think so much, especially when you stare at a person: because the result was that Jacket, while eyeing the girl, ended up seen by the latter; the hazel eyes collided with the green eyes, in a series of penetrating glances, for a fraction of a second.

The fight between glances ended very soon, however, having reached the secretariat, where a young secretary allowed him to enter the headmaster's office. This office was very well cleaned and organized, and behind the desk full of papers there was the headmaster of the college: a visibly elderly man, bald and with a beard worthy of Dr. Freud. Apparently, he looked like a calm person.

: "Oh, good morning, Mr. Allen, and you must be Richard. Pleased to meet you, I am Mr. Poulain, dean of this college. Your father has already completed the actual enrollment, now i just need your signature, and then I'll give you the keys to your room, the class schedules and the institute rules."

Breakfast at 7.00 a.m., lunch at 12.30 p.m., dinner at 7.00 p.m., curfew at 8.45 p.m. Sunday is free day, and the curfew is moved to 21.45. It is strictly forbidden to stay in dormitories between 8.00 and 16.30.

I think I will end up ignoring all this.

Mr. Poulain: "Well, is everything clear?"

Jacket: "Yes, sir."

Mr. Poulain: "Perfect then: I wish you a pleasant stay at the Kadick, and welcome to France."

Having done this, Jacket and his father went to his new room; when he opened the door, he could see that the room consisted of a bed with an integrated chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a fairly large desk, located under the window.

Henry: "Well, I really have to go now, son. It was good to see you after so long." said the father hugging his son.

Jacket: "... For me too, dad.

After releasing him from his grip, his father said, "I love you, Richard. Take care, okay?"

Jacket: "Aye."

Then the father left the dormitories, and then went back to his car, going home.

Jacket meanwhile set up his room: he put his clothes in the closet and in the chest of drawers, and connected the PC and its various equipment to the sockets located under the desk, and then reconfigured everything.

When the accommodation was over, Jacket noticed that it was already noon: it would be better to go to the cafeteria, also taking advantage of it to explore the complex of the college.

To go to the cafeteria you had to cross the courtyard, where Jacket noticed two things: the first is that the mysterious pink haired girl was not around anymore. The second is that, in her place, he saw an even more familiar person in the distance: that double-sleeved jersey, those short blond hair, and that look of a good boy who perhaps went to church on Sundays...

Yes, it was him.

So Jacket sneaked up behind the boy, and then said to him in his ear, out loud:

Jacket: "You can't run away from me!"

The boy whispered as if he had had a thunderous heart attack, then turned around and noticed his best friend's overflowing grin.

Ed: "Holy cow...Jacket! Don't ever do that again!"

Jacket: "Come on, I couldn't resist seeing you in a panic..."

They both ended up laughing loudly, then heading together into the cafeteria: a swarm of students standing in line to receive their tray of food (today's menu: sausages, mashed potatoes and salad.) and then gather in groups at various tables.

Jacket and Ed didn't take long to get their tray, and then they both took their seats at an empty table.

Ed: "Well, Jacket, what's France like?"

Jacket: "If it's all like Paris then it's a sadness: people seem to have a permanent broom in their asses, as well as always being musons and haughty."

Ed: "... Today you're optimistic, huh? Come on, it's not so bad after all: the food is good and, above all, there's the best part: the girls!"

Jacket: "... Why, what do the French have that is so special compared to, i don't know, a redhead Scottish?"

Ed: "Well, the French are well-behaved, good-looking, elegant...the Scots are a bit... "Strong in personality"..."

Wasn't that the best thing of a Scottish Lassie? (Lass = girl)

Jacket: "... Oh, well, if you're happy so..."

The two friends finished the meal, obviously incomparable to Italian cuisine (even if it was always better than the stuff you eat in America ... the shivers ...)

At a certain point Jacket tilted her head, with a very comical attitude, to see beyond Ed; at two tables away she sat all alone with a decidedly unusual girl: in addition to her very light complexion, almost milky white, she had long black socks, knee-length boots, skirt, steampunk-themed T-shirt, black and gold sleeveless gloves, and a beret on her head. In addition, the hair was completely dyed purple, gathered in a braid, but leaving a fringe towards the left eye.

It looks like she came out of Custom Fucking Maid 3D. In a very positive sense.

The girl was intent, looking between dormant and melancholic, to read a big book: "Necronomicon". Jacket, even if he wasn't a big fan, knew the stories of Lovecraft's occult.

Jacket then returned to his normal position, and then asked Ed:

Jacket: "It seems that someone raided Area 51 before September 20: who's that gothic-like lolita at two tables away from us?"

And, perplexed, he turned to see who Jacket was referring to, then explained what he knew.

Ed: "I actually know very little about her: I just know that her name is Sylviane Cellier, and she's in the same class as me. I've never seen her with other classmates and she doesn't seem very sociable. She dresses in a "special way". She is also heterochromatic, so she has different coloured eyes. Finally, she seems to be passionate about the occult and horror."

Jacket: "And tell me, is she French?"

Ed: "100%, even if the parents aren't from Paris."

Jacket decided to give up on it; something told him that he would soon have to deal with that very particular girl.

While he had opened the can of cherry soda and was about to drink, a clear voice, with a clear and innocent tone, suddenly spoke:

"Hi Ed! Can I sit with you?"

Ed: "Of course Maya, come on!"

Jacket then turned to see who this Maya was, and with his shock saw the girl he had noticed this morning when he was going to the presidency: the possible daughter of Aelita Schaeffer.

Jacket seemed totally impassive and calm while drinking a sip of soda, but inside his mind he said a sentence of two words.

..Wee Shite...

Ed: "I present you Maya Belpois, a friend and classmate of mine."

Maya: "It's a pleasure!" he said smiling, almost like a little angel.

Jacket then greeted her, with a tone of voice between bored and careless.

Jacket: "Jacket. My pleasure."

Maya: "Do you really call yourself "jacket"? "

Jacket: "Nae, that's my nickname for calling myself."

Maya nodded in understanding.

Maya: "Okay... Jacket. Ed she told me you moved here because your parents live in Paris. But you enrolled as an internship student, can I ask why?"

Jacket: "Well, let's say that... I'd rather not talk about it."

Maya: "Oh... All right, as you wish."

In the end, the trio that had just formed ended up discussing more and less; or rather, Ed and Maya spoke, while Jacket followed passively, at most responding to a few jokes. Every now and then, however, his eye would end up watching that girl, Sylviane, always busy on reading the Necronomicon.

After a while, around 1:30 p.m., people started to leave the cafeteria; on Sundays they went out into the city, or stayed in boarding schools, dormitories or the courtyard.

Edward, once the trio had left the cafeteria, said goodbye to Maya, and then walked with Jacket in the courtyard.

Jacket: "Tell me Ed, didn't you notice anything about your little friend?" he said in a low voice, making Ed understand that it was better not to talk aloud about the subject.

Ed: "Hmm? What are you talking about?"

Jacket then stopped and breathed a sigh of bother; either he was paranoid or Ed was completely blind and forgetful. Then he took his cell phone and opened an encrypted file from him, and then showed Edward Waldo Schaeffer's family photo.

Jacket: "Look at the scientist's daughter: doesn't she remind you of anyone at all?"

It took him a good minute before he realized the resemblance between Maya and the little girl in the photo.

Ed: "Hey, wait a moment - you mean Maya is Aelita Schaeffer's daughter?!"

Jacket: "Good morning, wee dumb! Of course she is, the resemblance is too much and few people dye their hair pink; especially at 4 years old. So, if Maya is Aelita's daughter, it means that the latter has left the supercomputer. And since you can't go out alone, without an external operator at the controls, it means that someone, quite a few years ago, used the supercomputer before us!"

Ed: "In fact you're right, it makes sense. But let's not throw ourselves into the abandoned factory immediately: we should wait a week, so we mix among the other students, as to arouse less suspicion if we see each other around. We will also use this time to learn to move around the school and its surroundings, and we can also keep an eye on Maya, if you like. All right?"

Jacket: "It's not my style, but this time I agree; for now it's better to be cautious. One more thing, Ed."

Ed: "Yes?"

Jacket: "Do you know who Maya's father is?"

Ed: "Sure: Jeremy Belpois, our IT teacher."

Jacket: "Perfect, I think i'll be watching him a little bit too; you never know."

The duo decided to go back to the dormitory and ended the discussion here; they would have done as they had decided.

ABANDONED FACTORY

It was difficult to retrieve the fragments scattered over the Internet, but now it was all in one piece.

That program that had been used against him had not completely liquidated him: he had made it in time to split into pieces and spread them on the global network, ready to gather them as soon as someone had turned on the supercomputer again. After all, it was a multi-agent system, an advanced I.A. It was hard to get rid of her.

But hestill needed some time to get back on her feet, though. Right now she could do very little.

A symbol appeared on the screen on the control room monitor

That symbol.

XANA was back.