Aye, here's your fifth chapter. Enjoy n Review!

1 WEEK LATER

As agreed with Edward, Jacket had waited a week in order to settle in, avoiding to become suspicious and, as a first step, keep an eye on Maya Belpois and her father. All the information collected was reported in properly encrypted documents , hidden inside Jacket's computer (as a precaution they were copied to an external hard disk, also encrypted, so as not to lose data even if the PC were to go to shit.)

Maya was an extremely quiet and kind girl, almost a little angel who came down to earth; she also had an excellent average in all subjects (while Jacket, apart from computer science and languages, did not commit more than necessary in school), making her the genius of the whole class. In short, the perfect daughter that all the parents would ever desire. For the rest she was tremendously normal and worldly, a good girl like thousands.

And surely she had taken her intelligence from her father: Jeremy Belpois, computer science teacher, former student at Kadick. That man was one of the few (in Jacket's opinion) competent professors who cared about his students: in addition to clear explanations, he also made sure to draw up tests appropriate to the levels of preparation of his students! (Jacket, as a self-taught, was ahead of the basic program, so Prof. Belpois had given him exercises and checks at his height). He was practically the teacher every student would want to have in every subject.

Jacket and Edward had certainly not spent their time just keeping an eye on father and daughter: outside of classes they had explored the entire school complex, from top to bottom, learning every corner, coming to discover the two passages that led to the sewerage system (which connected the college to the factory, and then to the supercomputer): one was located behind a door in the boiler room, accessible from the gym. The other was a manhole in the park of the college, in a point relatively well hidden by the surrounding trees. All in all, two quite discreet places.

Also, in this long week, Jacket had started an extracurricular parkour course, which is held in the gym as well as martial arts courses. If someone had asked him why, Jacket would have replied that he was simply interested, nothing more. Actually, the reason was quite different.

Ever since he turned off the supercomputer in Italy, and then left, Jacket had begun to fear that governments might have discovered his little intrusion into the Carthage Project; he couldn't be sure he wasn't (even partially) tracked when he woke up the Parisian supercomputer at a distance. And if government agents were after him, Jacket certainly didn't want to be caught. So he chose to improve his speed, agility and endurance through parkour, the ultimate acrobatic escape.

Now the duo was ready to explore the abandoned factory.

SUNDAY 8 SEPTEMBER, MIDNIGHT

New torch: present.

Crowbar: here.

Cutters to cut any wires: there are.

Bag to contain everything: prepared.

Chat:

Jacket: Are you ready?

Edward: Yes. Let's go.

Bag on his shoulder, Jacket opened the door very slowly, and then silently crossed the threshold finding himself in the dark corridor of the men's dormitory. Three doors away was Edward who, although in the dark, was visibly tense.

Jacket simply hinted to follow him, ending up both going down, one step at a time, the stairs connecting the dormitories and the ground floor. They did not have to worry about a possible patrol by the gymnastics professor, since he had already done it at eleven o'clock, and then went to sleep in his room, which was also present in the men's dormitory.

After a couple of minutes of slow movements, they left the building and found themselves in the courtyard; destination: manhole in the park.

Having already visited it, and being deserted at this hour of the night, it didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the old manhole encrusted with rust. And he took the manhole and lifted it without great effort, and then laid it next to the opening that led to the sewers.

Jacket came down first, without any hesitation, while Edward, when it was his turn, was more reluctant: it is not that he had this great desire to get into the stinking sewer. But knowing that that was the only way to get to the factory, Ed was convinced that he would soon get used to it.

As soon as the duo put their feet on the ground, he was hit by the stench of sewage water. The sewerage system had Jacket at his disposal and he grimaced with disgust, continuing forward, while Edward, with the collar of his shirt covering his nose and mouth, followed him behind. Having consulted both the map of the area and of the sewerage system, they had discovered that it was enough to go straight to the great grating that indicated the end of the canal. A road that was easy to remember.

After about ten meters, Jacket saw three skateboards and a scooter leaning against the wall. The look was old and worn, but it still seemed to work.

Edward: "What the hell are skateboards and a scooter doing in the sewers?"

Jacket: "Well, since I don't think people use skateboards in sewers, all that does is convince me even more that Jeremy Belpois and other people, quite a few years ago, discovered and used the supercomputer in the factory."

Edward had nothing to say about it, as the reasoning was spinning. In the meantime, Jacket took one of the skateboards and, after checking that it didn't break under its weight, he started to drive it forward.

Jacket: "Come on, hurry up!"

Edward twisted his eyes with a bummer (like "you're always the same..."), then took one of the remaining skateboards and followed Jacket.

They arrived at the end of the channel after about sixty meters. A ladder led to the surface, from where the moonlight entered. Jacket and Edward, once the skateboards had stopped, climbed the stairs and reached the bridge that crossed the Seine; in front of them was the entrance to the abandoned factory. The blue paint inscription saying "Renault" had been peeling and rusted for a long time.

Arriving in front of the entrance, the duo noticed that there were no stairs leading down, but there were cables hanging from the ceiling. Jacket stretched them out to check their condition: they were still usable. Being the only way down, they both came down using the cables as lianas, rubbing their skin against the rough surface.

Once they had landed in one piece, the two boys found themselves in the main room of the factory: steel support beams and columns, scrap and spare parts scattered everywhere, and the smell of abandonment characterized the environment. In front of the duo, moreover, there was an apparently working elevator, which seemed to lead only downwards.

Jacket: "I think we should take the elevator."

Edward: "Are you sure it works...?"

Jacket: "If there were other people before us then it should work, shouldn't it?"

Again, Ed couldn't argue with that, so the two of them got into the elevator and pressed the button to go underground to the first floor. When it stopped, a steel armoured door with a decidedly sci-fi design slowly opened, revealing the first large room of the underground supercomputer complex.

According to the phantom PDF file this room was called the "Laboratory": a much larger and more majestic version of that small monitor station in the Italian prototype. In the middle of the room there was a sort of circular support projecting a large hologram in the shape of a sphere, which according to Jacket seemed to represent the virtual world of Lyoko. The whole room was illuminated in a blue-green light.

A comfortable armchair was placed in front of the monitor station, consisting of four screens (one main and three peripherals), in addition to the integrated keyboard, and there was also a set of headphones, probably for communication with the virtual world, Jacket sat on the armchair, and then make two rounds in circles. Looking at the interface, you could see that it was more intuitive and functional than the prototype version.

Edward: "...Wow... all this is even more incredible than the last time..."

Jacket: "You know how it is, it's the final version!"

Jacket then started to sift through the file system again, discovering, in addition to a copy of Waldo Schaeffer's diary, a new diary, dating back to about 18-17 years ago. The owner of the diary was ... Jeremy Belpois.

In the diary the blonde bespectacled explained how he found the supercomputer while looking for spare parts for a robotics competition. After turning it back on, he discovered that inside there was "trapped" what looked like a virtual girl. And this was just the quietest part: XANA, the artificial intelligence that originally had to protect Lyoko and the supercomputer, had gone out of control, starting to attack the real world using the towers of the virtual world as a connection point. The events resulted in the involvement of three other guys: Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama. The virtual girl (initially named Maya, but who will later remember to call herself Aelita) was the only person who could counter XANA by inserting the Lyoko Code inside the tower controlled by the AI, so as to neutralize the attacks. And after each tower deactivated, a program called "Back to the Past" was launched, a real journey in time 24 hours before the attack, which erased the damage and memory of witnesses, except for the boys, since they had been scanned. There was only one limitation: the Return to the Past did not allow to resurrect any dead.

Virtual worlds, evil AI and time travel? There could be a TV series about this!

The original plan was to materialize Aelita in the real world, and then turn off the supercomputer; this only succeeded in half, since Aelita was pulled out of Lyoko, but XANA had managed to infect her with a virus, so that, if the supercomputer had turned off, Aelita would have died. So the only alternative was to destroy XANA once and for all.

The diary ended here.

Edward: "Guys, what a story..."

Jacket: "Yeah. Now tell me, do you want to go for a second round, this time on Lyoko?"

Edward: "And you ask me that? We waited a week for this."

Jacket: "Perfect, so go downstairs to the scanner room."

Edward: "Copy that!"

So Edward walked into the elevator and started going down to the scanner room, while Jacket had stayed at the monitor station, like last time. When the second armoured door opened, Ed stepped forward and found himself in the scanner room. The orange light reflected the metal of the three scanners resting on the circular wall, connected by large cables. In the middle of the room there was a kind of large mouthpiece, the cooker door was closed.

Jacket: "Are you ready?"

Edward: "Yes."

TRANSFER: INITIALIZED!

SCANNER: INITIALIZED!

VIRTUALIZATION!

Edward feeled again the feeling of suction and decomposition, but this time he landed on his feet, and the view no longer needed to get used to the virtual world. Unlike Xanadu, this time Edward found a kind of desert, consisting of large strips of earth, rocks, chasms and islets. In addition, the territory was attacked by white cables that pulsed with red energy. In the distance it was possible to see that the towers were almost identical in appearance to those of Xanadu, but were smaller and in greater quantity. Checking on himself, Edward realized that he had returned to the role of "The Protector", with his clothing and his long sword.

Jacket: "Great, everything went as smooth as oil. So, a small refresher course: Lyoko is composed of 5 areas: Desert, Mountain, Forest, Bank and Sector 5, the central one. As you can see the environment is much larger but more barebones than Xanadu. For the rest, you're always in the shoes of your virtual avatar like a knight. To begin with, try reaching the tower closest to you, so you can see if you can retrieve any information from it. All clear?"

Edward: "Yes sir, I'm going now."

When he reached his destination, Edward saw how the tower was located in the middle of a kind of basin, where the rock was a circular wall, like a large wall that protected the tower from the outside. In addition, rocks of various sizes sprang up from the ground. Remembering his previous visit to Xanadu, he immediately tried to enter the tower. But just as his hand began to cross the wall of the tower, the sound of a laser gunshot, followed by a piercing pain in the torso, made Ed's hand retract, and then scream with pain.

Edward: "Aarghh! What the...?"

Once Edward turned around, he saw before him one of the most disturbing things he had ever seen: a kind of rock cube walking on four small legs, and on each side had a kind of white eye, on which there was that symbol on the floor of the tower on Xanadu. And according to Jeremy Belpois' diary, that must have been the symbol of XANA.

Panicked, he ran behind the nearest rock, so he could take cover, but that creature stood still as he tried to shoot him, hitting only the surrounding ground. Once he was at the shelter, Ed spoke to Jacket, while he was in total panic.

Edward: "Jacket, there's some sort of living laser-shooter block that doesn't seem to have any friendly intentions! It also has that kind of eye shaped symbol! What do I do?"

Jacket was just as tense at the time: if what Edward was saying was true, then it meant that this XANA was still alive. And definitely pissed off.

Jacket: "Shite! ... Listen to me Ed, you have a long sword there with you, don't you? And you also know how to use it, so try to get rid of it as soon as possible!"

Edward: "What!? Are you crazy? What if he's the one who's going to kill me?"

Jacket: "Don't worry about that, if your Life Points go down to 0, you should be devirtualized and brought back here to earth. Hurry up!"

Edward: "I... okay!"

Edward then drawed his sword and took it with two hands, but it didn't come out of the shelter yet: he heard that the monster was slowly approaching, and he wanted to take advantage of the surprise factor. When he heard his footsteps very close, Edward tightened the handle firmly, and then came out of the hiding place and made a blind lunge: the blade passed the symbol of XANA even before the creature could do anything. As soon as he drew his sword, the monster exploded, thus vanishing into thin air.

Edward: "I can't believe I did it! HAHA!"

Jacket: "Good job, super swordsman!"

Edward: "Thanks, Jack-"

He didn't have time to thank that he heard heavy metal steps, followed by a monstrous verse, behind him. Keeping his guard up, Edward turned quickly to see another abomination: a kind of giant four-legged spider, or rather, four laser guns. The symbol of XANA was located on his white head. The being kneels down, and then points to Ed's two front legs-cannons.

There was no time to think, so the knight threw his sword, like a javelin, aiming at the symbol on the head of the creature; a move of the old medieval fencing manuals. On the other hand, the giant spider fired two shots from the two cannons.

Everything happened at the same time: the sword penetrated the creature's head, reaching up to the hilt, causing it to disintegrate like the previously destroyed cube. At the same time, the two laser bullets hit Edward in the chest, dissolving him completely.

Jacket: "Hey Ed, are you there!? Ed!?"

Edward: "Yes Jacket, I'm still alive. My head is a little spinning, but otherwise it's all OK." Edward said from the scanner room; being de-irtualized and getting out of the scanner after being shot to death wasn't a pleasant experience at all.

Jacket drew a long sigh of relief, and then said, "Thank goodness... okay now come here to the lab."

Jacket: "I think we're deep in the shit: if there are those ... so around Lyoko, then it just means one thing, and that is that XANA has not been destroyed. Not definitely at least."

Edward: "If that's the case, I suggest we turn this hellish thing off right now!"

Jacket: "It's not so simple: according to the diary XANA has long since abandoned the supercomputer, running away in the net, so even if we turned off everything would not be enough anyway."

Edward: "So what alternatives do we have?"

Jacket: "I think we should keep him at bay until I find a solution."

Ed: "That's crazy! How can we think we have a chance against an out-of-control Artificial Intelligence and its monsters?"

Jacket: "Well, if five guys could resist XANA, why shouldn't we? And don't think that the police are an alternative: first of all they would never believe it. And even if they did, surely the government will also come with them, and I don't think they'll be very happy to know about our intrusion into their old business.

Edward wanted to continue to argue, saying that alone they would have no hope, but he could not say anything; Jacket was right, the authorities were not an alternative, indeed they were a risk. And he certainly couldn't let XANA do the good and the bad weather, with the risk of killing innocent people...

Edward: "... I hate to admit it, but you're right, Jacket, we can't rely on adults and turning off the supercomputer would have no effect, so we just have to fight it. You can count on me."

Jacket, after what Edward said, smiled; a bit for fun, seeing Ed and his heroism that he had never fully understood. A little for joy, since he had a sure ally in this great mess.

Jacket then got out of his chair, and then patted Edward's shoulder.

Jacket: "Thank you Ed."

Edward: "Sure, I can't leave you in trouble all alone; I'm "The Protector", remember?"

Jacket: "Yeah, yeah... well, now go back and go to sleep, I have to stay here for a while."

Edward: "And why?"

Jacket: "Didn't you hear Jeremy's diary? The Return to the Past will certainly be useful in this mess, but not to lose your memory you must have entered the scanner. So I have to have myself partially scanned, just to make sure to remember everything after each trip in time. Also I have to create a small application for my mobile phone: every time you activate a tower on Lyoko, ergo XANA will want to play, I will get a notification. So we won't be caught off guard."

Edward: "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

Jacket: "Good night".

Edward got on the elevator, while Jacket stayed in the underground complex for about an hour, the time to develop the small application and to scan himself.

Once again, Maya couldn't sleep. It wasn't really a disease, she just couldn't fall asleep early every now and then, and she also had a pretty light sleep. So, on that night with a clear sky, the pink haired girl stayed in front of the window, her arms resting on the windowsill, while she contemplated both the tranquility of the desert park and the nightlife of the city.

The tranquility of the park mentioned above was interrupted by a vision ... "unique": at that moment Maya was watching a person coming from the park, who had a shoulder bag and what looked like a crowbar in his hand. Maya instinctively took his cell phone and took a picture of the mysterious individual; for all she knew, he could be a thief, and if he was anything like that, a picture would certainly help the authorities to get him. The time to save the photo and the person had already disappeared.

Looking at the photo Maya was completely surprised: that mysterious boy was Edward's friend, Jacket! What was he doing outside the dormitory, at night, on his way back from the park, with a big bag and a crowbar? And why had he observed her the week before, when he had just arrived, as if he had already seen her somewhere?

Tomorrow morning, he would talk to his father about it first: he was one of their teachers, so maybe he could do something without having to bother the police.

Maya then put down her mobile phone and went back to bed. She knew that that night she wouldn't close her eyes at all.

MONDAY 9 SEPTEMBER, 7.30 AM

Maya had just finished having breakfast in the cafeteria, and now she was looking for her father: as usual she found him in front of the coffee machine; she hardly ever took any at home.

Maya: "Good morning, Daddy."

Jeremy: "Good morning to you too, Maya. Tell me, what do you need?"

Maya: "Here, see ... it's a particular person..."

Jeremy: "Mh...Tell me, did you find a boyfriend?" he said, giggling amusedly and light-heartedly

Maya: "Wha- no no, nothing like that! Here... watch for yourself," said Maya, and then take out your cell phone and show off the photo you took last night.

Jeremy, recognizing his student in the picture, remained stony.

Jeremy: "But...he's Richard, a student of mine!"

Maya: "That's right. See, I couldn't sleep last night so I was looking out the window. Suddenly I saw him coming from the park in front of the boarding school and he had a duffel and a crowbar, as in the picture."

Jeremy's mind was on the verge of defibrillation at that moment: there was nothing in the park that could push a student to go there at night, most likely carrying a bag full of tools.

Except for that thing...

Maya: "Daddy, are you all right?"

Jeremy: ".. Yes Maya, it's okay. I'll take care of it, don't worry. Now go, before you're late for class."

Maya was puzzled at first, but then smiled, "You're right, Dad. See ya!"

Jeremy: "Goodbye Maya"

The day went by in complete peace of mind: Jacket had not received any notification of any XANA attacks, so he had spent this Monday like any other.

Arrived in the evening, at about 7:30 p.m., Jeremy had just returned home in a hurry; he had to talk to Aelita about what had happened, and make an action plan.

Aelita was busy preparing dinner, as usual, when she heard the front door open.

Aelita: "Welcome back, Jeremy."

Jeremy: "Hi Aelita. Sorry if I'm in a hurry, but I must immediately call Yumi Ulrich and Odd!"

Aelita: "What is it, you want to have a "reunion" dinner?"

Jeremy: "No, I don't, though I wish I did right now."

Aelita: "Come on, Jeremy, what's going on?"

Jeremy: "I'm afraid you'll find out right now..." he said while he was starting a group video call from his laptop.

YUMI AND ULRICH's HOUSE

14 years ago, after a long and complicated relationship, Yumi and Ulrich had finally managed to declare themselves and to get engaged officially; it was time!

Ulrich, who finished both college and high school, was national and international Pencak Silat champion, who retired about 3 years ago.

Yumi, on the other hand, decided to go back to Japan for a while, so he could visit the relatives who remained there, and also think about a possible life in the archipelago of the Rising Sun. Unfortunately, extreme work rhythms and social pressure pushed Yumi to return to France after only a couple of years. And it was at that moment that, at the age of 26, they decided to get married. All their friends, in particular Aelita, Jeremy, Odd and William, were present. Ironically, Sissi was there too.

Now the couple, after the wedding, had decided to support themselves by opening a gym of Pencak Silat, run by both. As for having children... well, it's not an option yet contemplated.

Both were sitting on the couch, watching Doramas on their laptops; both hadn't changed that much: Yumi always wore black (he wore a tank top and tracksuit trousers at home.) and Ulrich, except for a little beard, was always the same; always lower than Yumi.

As the Dorama went on, a notification interrupted his vision: Jeremy was inviting them into a video call.

ODD'S HOUSE

Odd had never abandoned the "artistic" vein that had always distinguished him: in fact, after college, he enrolled in the faculty of the arts (and then made the equivalent of DAMS), and now worked as a videomaker for small directors, sometimes helping with the scripts. From an aesthetic point of view he hadn't changed a bit: blond and purple pyramid-shaped hair (probably kept up with industrial amounts of gel and lacquer), and clothes with damn extravagant colors (always purple, lilac and various shades). It was not for nothing called "Odd".

As for relationships... as usual: change girls with extreme ease.

While you were enjoying your Chinese take-away food, you can hear a ring from your mobile phone. Wondering who might disturb him while he was eating, I check the notification: it was a request for a video call from Jeremy, and there were also Yumi and Ulrich! How long had it been...

Odd left his meal to answer.

JEREMY'S HOUSE

Yumi: "Jeremy, Aelita! What a pleasure to see you!"

Ulrich: "Our favorite brains! How long has it been... four years?"

Ohdd: "Einstein, Princess! Long time no see, huh?"

Jeremy: "Hi guys, it's a pleasure for me too. Unfortunately, I'm calling you because there's an emergency, and it's pretty big."

Yumi: "Emergency?! "

Jeremy: "I'll explain everything to you..."

So Jeremy reported everything that had been told him by Maya, by wire and by sign; he also attached the "incriminated" photo.

Ulrich: "Not to offend Jeremy, but are you sure you're not a little paranoid?"

Odd: "Yes, after all, XANA has been defeated, hasn't he? And then who's to say that guy knows about the supercomputer? "

Jeremy: "Even though XANA has been destroyed, we can't let anyone discover and use the supercomputer, much less a student of mine! That would be too dangerous! And then think about it, what else could there be in that park that would push a guy to go there at night, with a tool bag and a crowbar?"

Odd: "... well, you put it that way..."

Aelita: "Jeremy's right, that guy is too suspicious and we can't take that chance."

Ulrich: "So why don't you just try to talk to him in private, show him the picture and see what he's up to?"

Jeremy: "It's not that simple, Ulrich, if he just discovered the supercomputer then he'll most likely have found my diary too, so it's very likely he's already prepared in advance what to say in case i'd try to nail it; he's not only good at computer science, but he's also terribly smart."

Odd: "... So what do you propose, Einstein?"

Yumi, who until then had been practically silent, had an idea.

Yumi: "...maybe I have an idea..."

TUESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER, THIRD HOUR

The day was practically like any other: no attacks, no oddities, just the stale school routine. Jacket was in computer class at that time, while Edward and Maya had a free hour, because of the indisposition of the history teacher. One fact, however, had given a grayer shade to the day: apparently a student had felt bad during the first hour, resulting in fever and nausea. Now he was under observation in the infirmary.

As for the computer lesson, they had a program to complete after a theoretical explanation made in the previous hour. At the same time Jeremy sat at the chair, apparently busy at the PC, but in reality, with the tail of his eye, he was spying on Jacket, waiting for the slightest suspicious action. Needless to say, Jacket didn't take long to complete the request, and for the moment he had started to create his second program of random generation of RPG characters: school or not, Lyoko or not, he always wrote game campaigns.

While he was absorbed in compiling the code, Jacket heard the phone vibrate in his jacket pocket. He stopped working on the program and extracted the phone secretly (being in the last files helped): One tower was reported as active, ergo: XANA was bored and wanted to have some fun.

Fuck, right now!?

Jacket: "Sir, I need to use the bathroom, I don't feel too well."

Jeremy, pretending that everything was normal, answered. "Sure, go ahead."

The boy then left, without any suspicion from the professor of computer science. As soon as the first one crossed the threshold, Jeremy opened a chat window on his PC, sending the following message:

"He's out, get ready."

In the meantime, Jacket, intent on leaving the science classrooms building, is wearing two Bluetooth headsets with integrated microphones, and then calling Edward. Edward was intent on talking to his neighbor on the desk, while Maya was intent on getting ahead with her homework. Hearing the ringing of his mobile phone, Edward answered:

Edward: "Hello, Jacket, what's up?"

Jacket: "Apparently our XANA has activated a tower and wants to play, now I'm out of class and I'm going to the factory to check: you don't have to come with me, but keep the call open, you never know."

Edward: "... All right, I'll talk to you later," he said, and then put the phone face down on the counter, staying on the line. He went back to talking to his classmate.

Meanwhile, Jacket had just left the building and was on his way to the boiler room, when a cold, serious female voice spoke to him:

"I'm sorry, I need some information, could you help me?"

Jacket then turned to find himself in front of a Japanese woman, completely dressed in black: jeans, amphibians, t-shirt and leather jacket were all tarred. Jacket didn't know, but she was Yumi Ishiyama.

Jacket: "Well, I'm afraid I'm not much help, if you want information the secretary's over there. Bye"

Okay, he's playing dumb...

So the woman took Jacket by one shoulder, without squeezing it hard or tying it away.

Yumi: "Oh well, I think i'll just need your information."

A woman completely dressed in black who insists on asking for information, at the same time as he was leaving to go to the factory.

Yes, it's time to get away!

Jacket: "And tell me: Government or Green Phoenix?"

Yumi : "What th-?"

Yumi couldn't finish the sentence, since she was suddenly given a strong elbow in her stomach, which took her breath away and made her bend in two from the pain. In the meantime, she could see Jacket running away.

Yumi: "H-hey, come back here right now!"

At that moment Jacket didn't think about what he had around him: he had to run to the boiler room, as fast as he could, and then sow the chaser in the sewers. Not paying attention to his surroundings resulted in him bumping into a person as he turned the corner to cross the entire racing field and dropping it. He didn't have time for pleasantries. On the other hand, Yumi had not noticed the accident, taken as it was to chase the fugitive.

Whether it was a whim of fate or a joke of chance, the person Jacket had bumped into and dropped was nothing less than Sylviane, who had left chemistry class for a moment to have coffee at the machine, as she felt tired. As Sylviane was getting up, with her back sore from the fall, she noticed a boy crossing the race course in the distance, while a woman dressed in black was chasing him; both looked like they were heading toward the gym.

"Wait, I know that guy: he was the newcomer who had been staring at me during my lunch break! ...but why is he running away from that woman?"

If there was a defect in Sylviane, that was her tremendous curiosity: she couldn't ignore it all, she wanted to find out what was going on. But it was better to be discreet and not be seen.

Meanwhile Jacket, while his lungs were burning from the effort of the race, tried to contact Edward, having left the call open.

Jacket: "ED, ANSWER TO ME, SHITE!"

Edward, hearing Jacket's screaming voice, he responded quickly.

Edward: "What's going on?"

Jacket: "It happens that an emo Japanese whore dressed in black is on my tail! Listen, I try to sow her in the boiler room, while you run to the park manhole and go to the factory!"

Edward: "Okay, I'm going now!", so he jumped out of the classroom, only to be interrupted by Maya.

Maya: "Hey Ed, where are you going so fast?"

Edward: "Well, I forgot something very important, goodbye!", and ran away.

Maya didn't believe him at all.

It'll be better follow him from a distance, this whole thing is taking a strange turn.

MEANWHILE...

Jacket had just arrived in front of the gym door, and opened it up. He had an advantage of about ten meters, so he immediately closed the door and put in front of us the first heavy object he had at hand, a basket of balls, in this way he would gain time and could disappear in the boiler room, and then go to the factory. Meanwhile, Yumi had very forcefully opened the door, entering just as the door leading to the boiler room had closed. Then he rushed to the boiler room; the boy had no chance to escape.

Meanwhile, Sylviane had waited for Yumi to force herself into the gym, and then snapped towards the open door and entered: there was no one inside. And since the door closest to the gym entrance was the one leading to the boiler room, the girls sensed that, most likely, Jacket and the mysterious chaser were in there. Then Sylviane stood behind the door, ready to enter at the most opportune moment.

Jacket: "Well, I should have sown it! Now I just have to go to the fab-"

This was what Jacket sayed as he opened the door leading to the secret passage to the sewers, only to find himself in front of a brown haired man, slightly bearded, dressed in a green T-shirt and moss-colored trousers. This man tackled Jacket on the ground, preventing him from going into the passage.

Ulrich: "I'm sorry, fugitive, but your run ends here!"

In response, Ulrich received a header from Jacket, who forced him to roll on the ground, stunned by the blow.

Jacket: "Sorry, it's not personal, but I'm in a hurry" he said in an overfocused tone, as he was preparing to knock him out with a nice kick to the head. Unfortunately, the plan was not successful, because as he was preparing to hit, Jacket was taken from behind and dragged away. That Japanese girl had finally caught him.

Yumi: "For the record, thanks for the elbow and the race. Ulrich, call Jeremy and tell him we've got our fugitive! Meanwhile, I phone Odd and tell him to join us at the factory" he said while taking his cell phone to make his call.

Ulrich: "Got it!", then typed in Jeremy's number, waiting for him to answer.

PARK

The situation had definitely deteriorated.

Just as Ed had arrived in front of the manhole, after running with all the breath he had in his body, he had been grabbed and blocked by a weirdo dressed in purple and lilac, with unavailable blonde and purple hair in the shape of a pyramid. What other strange people were there in that boarding school?

And what's worse, Maya had followed him all this time, reaching him just as he was being caught up by the aforementioned weirdo. Now Edward also had an unwanted witness.

Edward: "Who are you and what do you want to do?"

Odd: "Don't worry, man, I won't hurt you. I just want to know why you were coming here so quickly." Looking at Maya, he realized how scary the resemblance to Aelita was. "You know, you look just like your mother, a second princess!"

Maya, embarrassed by that man's nickname, could not remain without explanations: what was going on, and how did this guy meet his mother?

Maya: "Look, I want to know what's going on! Edward, why were you running so fast to the park? And you, can you know who you are and how you know my mother?"

Odd: "It's a long story, while I'm pleased, I'm Odd of the Robbia. If you want an explanation, I think you have to go down here" he said, pointing to the sewers, and then let Edward go, open the manhole and start going down. "Well, aren't you coming?"

Edward thought that at that moment he didn't have many alternatives; if that man was really the Odd mentioned in Jeremy Belpois' diary, then he wasn't an enemy. And if XANA was attacking, it was best to go straight to the factory. So he joined Odd in going down to the sewers.

Maya: "Are you telling me we have to go down to the sewers?"

Ed: "If you want to know what's going on, then you have to come down here" he said before he went all the way down.

Maya on the one hand was disgusted to have to go down to such a disgusting place, but curiosity was much stronger than she was. So she came down too, without complaining further.

Once his feet were on the ground, Odd heard the phone ringing: it was Yumi.

Odd: "Hello Yumi?"

Yumi: "Odd, I just caught our number 1 fugitive. Go to the factory, we'll meet you there."

Odd: "Don't worry, I'm already going, and surprise, I've got two more guys with me, including our Princess' daughter!"

Yumi: "What, there's also Maya, really!?... okay, bring them with you too."

Odd: "Yes, ma'am," the call was closed.

"Well, follow me, I'll take you to a nice little place!"

Edward knew what place he was talking about, so he followed him without saying anything, while Maya was the last one in line, determined to understand what the hell was going on.

BOILER ROOM

Ulrich: "Jeremy, we got the kid."

Jeremy: "Perfect, now go to the factory, quick!"

Ulrich: "What's up, Jeremy!?"

Jeremy: "You won't believe it, but a student who was sick before is now as if he had been taken over, and is putting the school on fire and sword, while I'm barricaded in my class! I wish it wasn't, but... XANA is back!"

Ulrich was more than just in shock at the time: they had destroyed him, XANA had been annihilated! Or at least, so they had believed...

Ulrich: "Hang on Jeremy, I'm right there!", closed the call immediately, still in shock. "Yumi, try to hurry up and get to the factory! I'm going to help Jeremy!"

Yumi: "Why, what's wrong with Jeremy?"

Ulrich: "A student is destroying the school as if he were possessed... I'm afraid XANA is back!"

Yumi: "...How!? That's impossible, we destroyed him!"

Jacket: "Well, apparently you didn't make it all." he said as he was being let go. Meanwhile, his mind thought it was being shipped like a car: if those two were named Ulrich and Yumi, and they knew about XANA and Lyoko, then they must have been the friends mentioned in Jeremy Belpois' diary. On the one hand it was a good thing, since they were not agents of the government or of the Green Phoenix, so they were not enemies. On the other hand, Jacket was very annoyed to have been caught.

"Can you share with me what's going on?" said a voice unknown to all three. On the threshold of the boiler room was, to Jacket's surprise, Sylviane, who had certainly heard everything. Her eyes were calm, but the heterochromy and the poor lighting of the room made him very penetrating.

Miracle, the gothic un-lolita can speak. Too bad he's not a desired guest at the moment! And it's the second, after Maya!

Jacket: "Jes** Foockin Allmighty Shite, with all these witnesses at this point you can also warn the whole school screaming with a megaphone ..." muttered between himself and himself, annoyed by the umpteenth inconvenience. Only that everyone had heard it, Sylviane included.

Syl: "Oh yeah, about the shove before: I'm not saying you had to walk, but you could look around a bit..." How he could keep a calm and peaceful tone, even in situations like this, is a mystery.

Jacket: "Okay, let's let a madman take you down and see how attentive you are to the people around you..."

Yumi: "Do you happen to know each other?"

Jacket: "Just by sight."

Syl: "Oh, s'il te plait , now that we've pushed each other we're at a more intimate level...", she even winked at each other. Jacket increasingly thought that this had come out of an Erogame.

Ulrich: "Listen, now you follow Yumi and go to the factory, while I go to help my friend."

Yumi: "Ulrich, be careful!"

Ulrich: "Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've ever fought XANA, is it?" he smiled and then came out of the room at full speed.

Yumi: "Guys, follow me!" He said before entering the passage that led to the sewers.

Syl: "So... do I have to go down into the sewers with you?"

Jacket: "It depends: if you go back into the school there is a slight possibility of a painful death, while if you want to find out what's behind all this you will have to go through a lousy place. It's your choice" and followed Yumi in the process.

Sylviane didn't want to know either to go back to school or to stay with her hands in her hand, so the remaining option was to follow the duo.

CLASS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Jeremy knew that the door would not last long: despite the barricade of furniture, that boy Xanificato would be able to break through everything. And then it would have been trouble six, or rather ... lethal. Ulrich had to hurry up and get there.

Four new guys, the old group repatriated and the return of XANA. This was a special day.