A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by swordsdownforreview
Season 2 finale, part 1!
Poor Jérémie's about to have his world turned upside down.
Also, at this point in time, it's the end of June. In this chapter, I make references to it being summer and the end of the school year. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going by my research of the proper dates of the France school year in 2007.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"It's time to decipher the diary, but XANA refuses to let the group discover the truth so easily."
Episode 34: Revelations
(Based on Cold War & Revelation)
Given their collective decision to focus on decrypting the Périns' diary (their message said it belonged to both of them) earlier this month in order to know the truth and what XANA didn't want them to find out, the Lyokowarriors' recent trips to Sector Five had been solely focused on data for decrypting the diary. Jérémie's anti-virus had been placed on the back burner for now—something they'd never thought they would decide to do.
But if Aelita was right, then decrypting the diary first would be well worth it, because it would have all of the answers they needed in there, including how to create the anti-virus.
So here they were in Sector Five on a Saturday, having gone here right after today's classes had ended. Aelita remained in the lab to maintain the controls. While Jérémie dug through the interface to find the information, the other three were doing their best to dodge the shots from the Mantas flying around them.
Yumi destroyed one with her fan as Ulrich ducked to avoid another. She caught her fan, using it to block a laser.
"This entire mission has been filled with too many close calls," she muttered to herself, before turning to Jérémie. "Are you almost done, Jer?"
The blue elf was tapping away at the neon blue interface, "Yes, almost."
A Manta came flying in, firing a few shots straight at them. Ulrich blocked the lasers with his katana, before ducking and slicing straight through it from head to tail.
The monster returned to them, circling back. This time, it was Odd's turn to duck, bending over backwards. He shot one last Arrow at the eye, "Here, taste this!"
The Manta flew about a meter more before it exploded, signaling its defeat.
Ulrich was briefly distracted by the sight until another Manta shot him in the leg.
"Watch out," Aelita warned them. "Another squadron of Mantas is heading your way."
Yumi and Jérémie looked up and to their right to see three more monsters approaching, before firing at the four one by one.
Fortunately, by this time, Jérémie had found what they had come here for. He tapped the 'download' button to send the information to Aelita, "Done. The controls are all yours, Aelita." Once the data was sent, the interface disappeared, having no further use.
"Great job," the pink-ette replied. "Here come your vehicles." The three vehicles materialized at the edge of the platform.
Ulrich jumped onto the Overbike first, as Yumi hopped onto the Overwing. The samurai took off and rode around, waiting for an open tunnel, which Aelita opened in a matter of seconds.
"The tunnel's open," she told them. "Now, get out of there."
The Mantas returned to the platform and opened fire at the three teens still there. Odd backflipped onto the Overboard, as Yumi let Jérémie hop on behind her before taking off.
Ulrich entered the open tunnel first, with the others quickly following.
Seeing this, the Mantas gave up and stayed behind in Sector Five.
In the lab, once she saw that her friends were all safe, Aelita smiled in relief. Mission completed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The five were gathered around the screen, watching closely as the window showing the decryption program analyzed the data they had just gathered.
Once the data was gathered, it came evident that all needed lines of code had been filled. Lock icons appeared next to each line, all in a yellow color. One by one, however, the color turned from yellow to green.
"So?" Odd asked, addressing Aelita. "Anything good?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it good..." the pink-ette answered, trailing off on purpose.
"What?!" Her cousin exclaimed. "You mean, we didn't get anything?"
To his surprise, Aelita started giggling, "I didn't say that. I was going to say that the info's not good; it's amazing!"
Jérémie's expression immediately broke out into a smile, "You mean it?"
"I sure do," the pink-ette replied, returning his excitement with a smile of her own. "The cipher key is finally complete. Michel and Sophie were right; the data we needed was indeed in Sector Five."
"All spread out in the most unlikely of places," Jérémie added, remembering the duo's message and all the information it contained.
"So we did it," Yumi was grinning as she and Ulrich shared a high-five to celebrate their victory.
"Way cool!" the samurai replied.
"The only problem we have now," Jérémie explained, "is that the supercomputer is the only device we have that's able to process such a large amount of data. We'll need to activate a tower or two."
The others immediately glanced at each other with noticeable hesitation, unable to prevent themselves from remembering what happened earlier this week. XANA had easily taken over Aelita's tower, reversing Odd's pixelization to make it so the AI was draining his energy instead.
"Uh-oh," Yumi commented, crossing her arms, "that didn't go very well last time. XANA hates when we play with its toys."
"The towers aren't owned by XANA. Anyone can use them," Aelita frowned. "And I'm aware that XANA can easily take over the towers of someone who doesn't understand how the process works enough. That's why Michel and Sophie sent me some information on how better protect my towers." She sighed, still seeing the others' hesitation. "I won't lie. It's still a big risk, because I'm still in the experimental phase. But we don't really have a choice. If we want to find Jérémie's anti-virus, then we have to decrypt that diary first."
Michel and Sophie also strongly advised they put the diary first, both admitting that it had answers to the questions the teens hadn't even thought of asking yet. In the back of their minds, perhaps, but not out loud.
Odd made a 'T' shape with his hands, "Time out! It's time for a lunch break! It's steak and mashed potatoes today!" He then clasped his hands with hope, his smile begging his cousin to say 'yes'.
"Fine, fine," Aelita sighed. "We have to wait an hour for your avatars to recharge anyways. You can have my portion, Odd. I'm staying here to prepare the mission." Odd cheered, before Aelita warned, "But try not to stuff your faces too much. You're setting out as soon as I'm ready for you." Meaning, she'd call them.
The other four left via the lift, as Aelita resumed her work.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Once inside the cafeteria, Rosa gave Odd his portion, and he quickly added, "Um, Aelita's not coming for lunch today, Rosa. She's studying." Half-truth. "She said I could have her portion, too." Full truth.
Rosa rolled her eyes in amusement, "Fine, fine." Della Robbia wasn't one to lie, and no one knew Aelita better than her cousin. She then placed the second portion on the boy's plate (causing Odd to silently cheer), before adding, "But with everything you put away, I just don't understand how you can still be so...scrawny."
"I am not scrawny," Odd softly corrected her. "I am svelte."
She just chuckled at him. It was all in jest; it felt really good to hear him say that. It meant it was going to be a good day.
Yumi, Ulrich, and Jérémie had gone in the line before him and had already claimed a table. Odd joined them, placing his tray down next to his roommate as he said, "Alright, Ulrich, out with it. Jérémie's overall average is 19.87, and Aelita's is 18.5. What's yours?"
Ulrich rolled his eyes, as Yumi asked, amused, "Let me guess. You guys started this conversation last night." Next to her was their resident genius in blue.
"Yes," the samurai replied. "It was prompted from the reminder that summer break is fast approaching, since the final exams were last week."
"Come on, out with it, Ulrich," Odd took a spoonful of potatoes. "Stop holding out on us."
"10.75," the brunette's answer was solemn. His father wasn't going to be happy, but it was either his grades or an AI destroying all of humanity.
"I got 11.8!" Odd replied. "I beat ya!"
Ulrich rolled his eyes, "Only because you made up some points in art class. Besides, I'm still technically passing. What about you, Yumi?"
"Me?" the Japanese girl replied, mildly surprised they'd even ask her. "15.23." Odd and Ulrich immediately stared at her in shock. "I, uh, got behind in chemistry and physics."
"Relax, nobody's perfect," Jérémie offered them all a soft, reassuring smile.
"Easy for you to say," Ulrich replied. "You're a legitimate genius! That is, if you really are human and not, um..." He trailed off, pausing in cutting his steak. He hadn't meant to bring that up; the debate on whether Jérémie was a human or an AI was still a pretty touchy subject for them, ever since XANA had suggested it through Michel's voice.
Jérémie nodded at him in understanding and reassurance, "Don't worry. I've made peace with the possibility." He then leaned over the side of his chair and retrieved a manila envelope. "Anyways, check these out." He opened the envelope, revealing a stash of twelve photographs.
He was clearly trying to change the subject, but it worked.
The other three immediately flocked around the photos, all of which were taken in the forest surrounding the Academy. "Were these taken with the camera we bought you last week?" Ulrich asked.
"Mm-hmm."
"These are really good," Odd complimented, making Jérémie blush a light shade of pink. "You clearly have a talent for this."
Yumi managed to narrow down the exact location of the subject matter, "These were all taken in the woods surrounding the Hermitage, weren't they?"
"Yeah..." Jérémie softly explained, averting his eyes down to the photos, as if he himself were studying them as well. "I don't know why, but all those areas are familiar." He pointed to a picture of a tree. "Like there. I remember when that knot in the trunk there was first starting to form. At least, I think I do. It's more of a feeling than anything else. The more pictures I took, the stronger the feeling that I've already lived here before got." He paused, glancing out the window of the cafeteria. "Weird, huh?"
"Oh, that's just the magical Odd effect," Odd joked. "You know, you see me once, and you feel you've known me forever."
"Hey, Mister Magician," Ulrich interrupted, "you know you've got some mashed potatoes on your nose."
He, Yumi, and Jérémie began giggling, as the blonde in blue handed Odd a napkin.
As the crazy-haired boy began wiping his face off with the aforementioned piece of cloth, Yumi turned to Jérémie, suggesting, "Maybe you're subconsciously remembering your nightmares through photography."
"Maybe," the young genius shrugged. "In any case, thank you, all of you, for trying to help me recover my past memories, but the questions I have are ones that only the Périns' diary can answer."
Ulrich and Yumi shared a knowing glance with each other, before the brunette reassured the blonde, "Don't worry, Jer. We'll decrypt that diary."
They had to. Today's mission had to succeed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
An hour had officially passed by the time they all finished lunch. The four were approaching a bench in the courtyard, underneath a tree, where they could wait until Aelita called them. She hadn't yet, likely waiting until the preparations on her end were complete.
As they were crossing the vast expanse that was the courtyard, Odd's phone dinged with a notification for a text message. He read it, and reacted with surprise, "What?!"
"Something wrong?" Ulrich asked, he and the other two all staring at the Italian boy with mild concern.
"Not really," Odd replied. "Apparently, I have a secret admirer. Some girl wants me to meet her in the woods."
"You're kidding. Who?" Yumi asked, curiously.
"No idea," Odd shrugged. "The number's masked, so I can't send a response either. But..."
"But what?" Ulrich asked.
"But I can't return her feelings," his roommate explained. "I like Sam." He took a deep breath. "I guess I'll just have to break this girl's heart. I already have someone I'm in a complicated relationship with." He turned to the park. "I'll be back in about five minutes or so."
"You know, Odd, your love life is something like out of a soap opera," Ulrich dryly quipped.
"Maybe," Odd turned back with a smirk, "but it's not as complicated as yours, good buddy." He winked, bringing forth a blush from both Ulrich and Yumi as well as a chuckle from Jérémie, before walking off.
After recovering from the crazy-haired blonde's jab, the trio reached the bench, only for Yumi's phone to ring two minutes later.
She quickly picked up, "Hey, Aelita. You ready for us?"
"That doesn't matter. The superscan's just picked up an activated tower."
The Japanese girl glanced at Ulrich and Jérémie, who were staring back at her, alarmed. "Perfect. That's all we needed. We're on our way." She then hung up and relayed to the other two, "Activated tower."
Jérémie immediately stood up, "Let's go. The sooner we deactivate it, the better."
"I'll call Odd," Ulrich replied, pulling his own phone out of his pocket and dialing Odd's number.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd approached the crossroads indicated in his secret admirer's text message. He had arrived within the indicated timeframe, and apparently, he got here first.
"Hello?" he called out.
No response, and all he could see for kilometers in every direction was trees.
"Is anybody there?"
Still nothing, the only sound he could hear being the rustling of the leaves in the gentle summer breeze.
His phone suddenly rang, and he picked up, "Hello?"
"S.O.S. XANA." It was Ulrich.
"What do you mean 'S.O.S. XANA'?!" He asked. "No way! Not now!"
"Yes now," his roommate replied, before hanging up.
He rolled his eyes in annoyance as he placed his phone back into his pocket. Great, now he'd have to cut his rendezvous with his secret admirer short. What if she (or he) showed up after he left, and thought he had left them hanging?
So he called out, "Hey! It's me, Odd! If you're hiding around here somewhere, I'm sorry but I have to go now! Meet me later in Kadic's courtyard!"
Right as he said this, however, he heard a rustling from the bushes behind him. He turned around to see the source of the sound, only to find no one. The rustling started up again, this time, getting closer.
His eyes narrowed, turning from annoyance to suspicion.
Whoever this was, if this was a joke, it was not funny. It was far from funny.
The person zipped past a nearby tree, creating a 'whoosh' sound effect. All of a sudden, Odd felt someone behind him, and he immediately turned around, "Who's there?"
What he saw, however, made him scream out loud...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita was still sitting in the control chair, now tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the others to return to the factory. It had been a little over ten minutes since she called the others. Where were they?
The elevator doors began to swing open, and she turned her head to face the source of the sound in relief.
But her smile faded when she counted the number of people in that lift. Jérémie, Ulrich, Yumi... "Where's Odd?"
They approached her from the elevator, gathering around the chair, as Ulrich shrugged, "I called him, and I just left him another text reminding him, but he was supposed to be meeting some sort of mystery girl."
"A girl? What girl?"
Ulrich raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Do you really not know the definition of 'mystery', Miss Einstein?"
Yumi failed to hold back a giggle, "Exactly. Mystery girls don't leave their names."
Aelita just glared at the two with a dry look. "Ha ha."
Though he was evidently amused, Jérémie took pity on her and explained, "He went to meet her in the woods so he could turn her down, because he already likes Sam."
Aelita sighed, "What bad timing. I really could've used all of you. Hopefully, he won't be much longer. Not only do we still have to decrypt Michel and Sophie's notes, but now we have to deactivate a tower as well."
"Maybe he's being held up by the XANA attack," Yumi suggested.
"In that case, we should take care of that tower as soon as possible," the pink-ette replied, springing into action. Her cousin may be in trouble. "Head down to the scanner room. I'll try to get in touch with Odd."
The other three promptly headed back for the elevator, with Jérémie giving the pink-ette a gentle pat on her shoulder for reassurance on the way.
As the lift doors closed, she dialed her cousin's number. His ID card popped up, showing that the call had connected. But the phone just kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing... until the call ended and the window closed by itself, without a single peep from Odd.
Before she could stew in her concern, Yumi called out to her from the scanner room below, "We're ready, Aelita!"
"O-Okay." Snapping back to attention, she typed in the commands, bringing up their ID cards one by one. "Transfer Yumi, transfer Jérémie, transfer Ulrich!" Their avatars began loading. "Scanner Yumi, scanner Jérémie, scanner Ulrich!" Once all three were finished loading, she pressed 'Enter'. "Virtualization!"
Three arrows—two green and one yellow—appeared on the holomap in the Mountain Sector, a few meters away from the activated tower.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie stood up the moment he landed and surveyed his surroundings. He quickly found the tower—it was at the end of a long, narrow pathway filled with numerous gaps. He took off towards the tower in a sprint, with Ulrich and Yumi hot on his heels.
"Watch out," Aelita cut in rather quickly. "You guys have company."
"Jérémie, stay behind us," Yumi said as she and Ulrich ran ahead, so that they were in front of the elf. The geisha pulled out her fans and the samurai unsheathed his katana as a squadron of nine Hornets appeared on the horizon.
"Go on!" Ulrich ordered, staying behind as Jérémie and Yumi continued running towards the tower.
Three Hornets remained behind while the other six continued chasing the other two teens. Ulrich blocked all of the shots with his katana, destroying one when he deflected a laser back to the monster who fired it.
Meanwhile, Jérémie and Yumi watched the six Hornets following them split up, with three remaining behind and the other three flying ahead to guard the tower.
Yumi glanced up at the trio of monsters that hung behind—obviously to take her out—watching them circle back to behind her. They fired at her from behind, and she ran past the shots before absorbing some with her fans. She didn't stop her sprint, not fearing that they were focusing on her when Jérémie was right behind her.
That was a good sign. Things were normal.
"Yumi!" Jérémie suddenly called out, his voice sounding as though he was warning her.
She looked ahead to see what was waiting for them, only to find a large gap as the answer to that question, with just a couple, very narrow stepping stones in between. Thanks to Jérémie's warning, she managed to jump in time, using her dual fans to spin herself fast enough to get over the gap. The speed of her spin combined with both fans in defense mode deflected a couple shots, destroying two of the Hornets still firing at her.
She was warned, yes, but thanks to the suddenness of said warning, she miscalculated her jump and almost wound up in the Digital Sea below. Fortunately, she managed to stop herself just in time.
She stood there very briefly to catch her breath as Jérémie jumped the gap, using the narrow steps to help him, in the meantime.
He stopped next to her, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied as she put her fans away.
However, before either could say another word, they watched as the remaining Hornet circle back around and dive-bombing them from in front of them.
Yumi motioned Jérémie to stay back, as she also backed up. She then ran forward and jumped. She front-flipped in mid-air while throwing both of her fans. One fan got hit away by a laser, but the other hit its target.
The geisha landed on the next platform, perfectly this time, before catching her fans. She waited for the elf to catch up with her, before the two jumped to the next platform together.
Meanwhile, Ulrich blocked another shot, before Sprinting after Yumi and Jérémie. The remaining two Hornets he was keeping busy chased after him, and he jumped across the wide gap with a battle cry. While in the air, he used his speed to front-flip repeatedly, his katana taking out the last two Hornets as he did so.
When he landed, they exploded behind him like fireworks. In front of him stood his two friends.
"Is it just me or is today's attack rather light?" Jérémie asked, rightfully suspicious (he felt).
Ulrich noticed something behind him, and immediately called out, "Watch out!"
The elf quickly turned around to see that a Hornet had broken off from the trio guarding the tower. It charged up a laser, but it never got to fire, as one of Yumi's fans flew in between the two, protecting Jérémie by quickly destroying the Hornet.
Amazing. His friends had come so far since that first tower. He barely got to react that time.
The trio then turned to the remaining two Hornets guarding the tower, and the teens were surprised when their enemies took one glance at them before flying away.
"Tch. Bunch of chickens," Ulrich shook his head.
"You're right," Yumi turned to Jérémie, giving him an apologetic look. "I guess XANA's not up to snuff today."
The elf addressed the angel still in the lab, "Aelita?"
"Believe me, I wish I knew what was going on," the pink-ette replied. "Head towards the tower. I still can't get in touch with Odd. But be careful; it may be a trap."
The trio all nodded before continuing down the broken-up path, knowing their friend was likely in trouble.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Right as Aelita finished that sentence, however, a familiar voice sounded over the intercom.
"Here I am, Aelita."
It was Odd, her beloved cousin. He was okay! Thank goodness!
She breathed an audible sigh of relief, "Not a moment too soon! I've been trying to call you. What happened?"
"Sorry, I was...busy." His voice sounded just like Odd's whenever he was having a bad day.
Busy? With what?
She also surprised by the tone in his voice, but she shrugged it off as his mystery girl making a fool of him. "Alright. You can give us the details later. Get ready. I'm launching the procedure." She then addressed the other three, "Stand by, guys. Odd's here. I'm sending him over now."
"Finally!" Ulrich exclaimed. "Unfortunately, he's missed most of the party."
She typed in the commands, bringing up her cousin's ID card. "Transfer Odd!" His avatar began loading. "Scanner Odd!" Once it was finished loading, she pressed the 'Enter' key. "Virtualization!"
The following red exclamation point alarm caught her off-guard.
Something had gone wrong...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd landed in front of Yumi, and not even a second later, Aelita called out in concern, "Odd!"
The other three were surprised at the panic in the pink-ette's voice. "He's okay," Yumi reassured the younger girl. "He's here, and in one piece."
"There was a bug during the transfer!"
"Everything's okay," Odd said in a quiet, almost emotionless voice. "I'm on Lyoko." He turned to Jérémie. "You should probably take care of the tower."
The elf snapped back to attention, remembering the reason they were here. "Right."
He then turned to the activated tower, but before he could move, Yumi held him back. "Wait! Look!"
She was pointing at the tower's halo—it was turning from red to the neutral blue.
"The tower is deactivating by itself?" Ulrich commented. "That's new..."
"You certainly don't see that everyday," Yumi added. They were all missing Odd staring creepily at the back of their heads, a blank expression on his face. As if he was a robot awaiting programming...
"Aelita?" Jérémie asked with uncertainty.
"Weird," the pink-ette replied. "The superscan shows all clear. As if XANA has called of its attack..." Strange how it happened, though, right after she virtualized Odd...
Odd crossed his arms, smiling to himself, as Ulrich replied, "Well, that's one less thing for us to worry about." He shared a knowing glance with Yumi, before suddenly turning to his roommate. "Right, Odd?"
"Right..." the normally bubbly boy murmured, staring off into space.
Ulrich shrugged at the others, "What's up with him? Is he sulking or something?"
"Maybe his rendezvous didn't go well," Jérémie suggested, frowning with worry.
"That's true," Yumi reminded her friends. "He did have to reject someone."
Ulrich nodded. That made sense—Odd was a people pleaser, likely a product of his upbringing; he never liked to hurt anyone's feelings. If he ever did, it was usually by accident.
Jérémie addressed Aelita again, "Should we...decrypt the diary now? It's been an hour, and we're already virtualized. Unless your preparations are not complete..."
"No, they are," she explained. "I finished them as soon as the tower popped up on the superscan."
"Let's do it," Odd suddenly cut in, showing a tad more life and energy in this simple response than in the past two minutes. "The sooner, the better."
No one could disagree with him, so no one did.
"Alright, then," the pink-ette cheerfully replied. "Let's go decrypt that diary. Here are your rides." The three vehicles appeared in front of them. Jérémie hopped on behind Yumi on the Overwing as her passenger. "The tower I've chosen is at 72 degrees South, 55 degrees West."
With that, the four took off.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The tower was the one XANA had activated to control gravity—it was surrounded by a tall circular wall, with just one narrow entrance to access it. Likely the reason Aelita chose it.
Yumi flew up to the base of the tower and let Jérémie hop off first. The other three watched him enter the tower before they dismounted their vehicles. As they took up defensive positions in front of the tower (currently neutral), Jérémie floated up to the second platform.
The interface spawned when he approached the middle, and he used his single handprint to log in. The windows then appeared, and he rearranged them, getting rid of the ones he didn't need.
Once he was set up, he relayed the news to the lab, "I'm ready, Aelita."
"Okay," she replied. He could hear her cracking her knuckles, psyching herself up. "Here we go. Tower...activated!"
Outside, the tower's halo turned from neutral blue to Aelita's green.
Aelita cheered, "Yes! It's working!"
The data on the interface in front of him was scrolling by. "The decrypting of the data is underway," Jérémie warned her, "but it will take some time to finish."
"That's why the others are stationed right outside," she reminded him. "If they can hold XANA back long enough, then it's a major victory for us."
Jérémie took a deep breath to calm his (virtual) nerves. Hopefully XANA would leave them alone. He just couldn't get rid of the bad feeling he had...
The trio outside the tower were thrown off by the sudden appearance of the fog, but none of them let up their defensive positions. Because they knew full well that XANA could manipulate the weather.
"Watch out," Aelita's voice cut through the tension like a knife. "XANA's monsters are heading your way."
"From where?" Yumi asked. "We can't see anything."
Ulrich stepped up to fall in line next to her, "We can't exactly hear anything either."
They spoke too soon. Just then, a familiar roar sounded, causing Yumi's eyes to go wide. Three Tarantulas appeared on the horizon, walking down the narrow path as the fog began to slowly lighten up.
Ulrich unsheathed his katana, "There they are! XANA's pulled out the big guns!"
Yumi did her signature spin to take out her fans.
Meanwhile, Odd took aim. However, rather than firing at the Tarantulas, he fired at Yumi instead, just as she was about to throw a fan.
She cried out in surprise, and Ulrich immediately turned around at the sound, just in time to witness Yumi on her knees, devirtualizing, as Odd began walking towards his roommate, firing a full battery of Laser Arrows at him.
"Aelita! XANA's possessed Odd!" Ulrich began backing away slowly, miraculously managing to avoid all of the Arrows.
The exclamation reached Jérémie still inside the tower, as he gasped in shock and turned back to face the base of the tower. Should he go outside and help? No. That would be a poor choice. Help with what weapon?
"What?!" Aelita asked, in just as much shock as Jérémie was. "Are you sure about that?!"
It quickly got to the point where Odd stopped being such a bad shot, forcing Ulrich to deflect his Arrows with his katana.
"Yes, I'm sure of it!" he cried out. "I'm seeing it with my own eyes!"
The three Tarantulas opened fire on him from behind, laying it down heavy.
With no other choice, he jumped up into the air and front-flipped on his Overbike, flying away from Odd, who continued to fire at him before hopping on the Overboard and flying after him.
Back in the real world, Yumi fell to her knees inside the scanner and slammed her fists into the ground in anger and frustration.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
At the Hermitage, water was running from a tap located in the overgrown garden and pouring right into a sewer grate. At the bottom of the flooding shaft was an unconscious Odd.
He woke up, however, when he began feeling the cold water seeping into his clothes. His mind was groggy as he tried to remember what happened.
A polymorphic spectre. XANA had used one to take Odd's form before knocking him out.
And now, here he was at the bottom of a shaft that was rapidly flooding.
He had to warn the others! He had to save them from the spectre masquerading as himself!
Glancing up, he could see that the grate was too high for him to reach by just standing.
He jumped up, trying to climb up, but his foot slipped, and he fell back into the water below, which was now up to his waist.
He tried again. The walls were too wet and slippery, but he refused to give up so easily...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The holomap was showing Ulrich on the Overbike driving away from the tower while Odd—represented by a blue arrow, surprisingly—pursued him on the Overboard.
Aelita watched this chase closely as Yumi climbed up to the lab using the side ladder.
"How did XANA manage to possess one of us?!" the Japanese girl asked. "I thought we couldn't be possessed!"
"We can't," the pink-ette replied. "That's not the real Odd."
"What?" Yumi muttered in confusion.
"Think about it," Aelita began putting all the pieces together. "Odd is contacted by a 'mystery girl'."
"Moments before you contact us about an activated tower!" Ulrich cut in.
"Exactly," the pink-ette continued, despite not knowing about that coincidence. "You guys then face many Hornets in front of the tower, none of whom show much resistance. Meanwhile, I'm unable to get in touch with Odd. When Odd finally does arrive, I pick up a bug during the transfer, and right after he gets to Lyoko, XANA calls off its attack with the tower."
"Because it had no further use for it," Jérémie muttered, still inside the tower.
"So XANA has tricked us yet again with a polymorphic spectre," Yumi replied. She then asked in concern, "But where's the real Odd?"
"I assume where XANA told him to meet that 'mystery girl'."
All Aelita had to say was that. Yumi was taking the elevator back up to the surface within three seconds.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The water continued flowing down the concrete walls as Odd's foot slipped. He fell back into the water again.
Despite this, he stood back up and relented to a last resort, "Hey! Is anybody there?! Yoo hoo! HELP!"
Unfortunately, no one was around to hear him...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The three Tarantulas, having no competition, took up their standard guarding positions in front of the green tower. Nothing was set in stone—Ulrich could still come back, and Jérémie could still leave. But XANA couldn't let either of those happen.
Meanwhile, the clone continued to fly after Ulrich, firing Laser Arrows at his back.
The samurai, fortunately, managed to dodge them all, anticipating the sneak attack. "The clone's not letting up, 'Lita! Talk about a tailgater!"
"Ulrich, it's a trap! XANA's trying to lead you away from the tower!"
"But why?!" he wondered, continuing to block the clone's Arrows.
Back at the tower, Jérémie could hear the Tarantulas rearrange their positions outside. "Aelita, what's going on?" She sounded so panicked.
The pink-ette addressed them both, "XANA's trying to gain control of the tower! I'm going to channel some of Sector Five's energy to build up the tower's resistance." The elf assumed that it was a method she was told would work by Michel and Sophie. "But it's not going to last long, so, Jérémie, prepare to stop the decrypting program."
"Acknowledged," he replied, as he rearranged the data windows on the interface yet again.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Once she was done borrowing some of Sector Five's energy and redirecting it to the protection of her tower, Aelita called Yumi, who immediately picked up. "Yumes, where are you?"
"In the woods. I'm trying to find Odd, but I'd have better luck trying to find a needle in a haystack!"
Another window on the pink-ette's screen was showing the location of her cousin's phone. "I hacked the network of his operator, and I managed to locate the emergency telephone closest to his cellphone."
"You know how to do that?" Yumi sounded surprise.
"Of course I do," the pink-ette replied. "It's not rocket science. If Odd still has his cell on him, then he's in the northeast corner of the woods."
"That's near the Hermitage!" Yumi realized. "Thanks for the lead! I'll call you back when I find him!"
She then hung up, and Aelita took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
There were so many things that could go wrong. So many moving parts...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The three Tarantulas continued guarding the tower. They looked up, waiting for the inevitable.
Inside the tower, Jérémie was starting to panic, "Aelita, we've got a problem. I can't stop the decrypting program. It's taking up too many resources. Unless a miracle happens, it's out of my control now."
"Dammit!" she cursed. "If XANA manages to gain control of the tower while that program is running, it'll be able to get into the restricted access part of the supercomputer! We'll be at risk of losing all of the data inside the Périns' diary!"
"That's likely what XANA is after," Jérémie reminded her. "Remember, it immediately destroyed the physical copy as soon as we found it."
"We're also at risk of losing everything we've programmed in ourselves," Aelita revealed, gravely. "Our combat gear, the vehicles, the transfer codes...and Code: EARTH. God, this is a nightmare..."
It was, Jérémie mentally admitted. If XANA got its figurative hands on his materialization program, then it would likely gain access to the entirety of his digital profile. Exactly what it needed, because it would thereby gain access to whatever was in Jérémie's memory it needed so badly.
It was a nightmare, yes, but it wasn't one that had happened just yet. There was still hope.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The samurai was just getting farther and farther away from the tower. He had to turn around, and fast.
"Ulrich!" Aelita's voice was supremely panicked. "XANA's about to take control of the tower! You have to stop it, you hear me?! At all costs!"
He unsheathed his katana, blocking all of the clone's Arrows from behind. The clone promptly growled at him. "Okay, but how?" In order to help, he had to lose the fake Odd first.
"You have to isolate the tower from Lyoko's network! Hurry and cut the cables!" Again, likely something she learned from that message.
Ulrich immediately turned around, heading back towards the tower, with the fake Odd right on his tail.
The cables were pulsating with red energy—a clear indicator of XANA's activity—as the Tarantulas prepared themselves, anticipating Ulrich's arrival. Sure enough, they immediately opened fire on him.
He blocked the shots and jumped off, his Overbike pushing a Tarantula to the wall behind it, destroying it. He landed on top of the second and stabbed it in the eye. He jumped off to avoid to resulting explosion and landed in front of the cables.
He prepared to slice them in half, only to get hit from behind.
Of course. The fake Odd was still there, and it fired again.
As he blocked the Arrows with his katana, Ulrich exclaimed, "You're wasting your time, XANA! Odd has never beaten me yet!"
The clone stopped firing Arrows, before smirking. XANA seemed to be taking the challenge seriously. Its body then tensed up, glowing a bright red before turning into a dark copy of Ulrich. Its uniform was completely black with orange highlights, its skin was a dark grey, and its eyes were orange with the eye of XANA replacing the irises.
Frick. Well played, XANA. Well played.
"Uh, yeah, well okay, uh...that certainly changes things," Ulrich stammered nervously. Him and his big mouth.
XANA-Ulrich ran up to him and their katanas clashed, sparks coming from them both—the clone's being red and Ulrich's the classic blue. The real deal just stared at the fake in the eye.
He wasn't done yet.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The water was up to Odd's chin now. He was barely floating, and unfortunately still too far from the grate. "Help!"
But it was in vain. He was still all alone.
Meanwhile, Yumi stopped in the middle of the forest and called Odd's phone for the fifth time. This time, she could hear it ringing, and she barely fought back a cheer.
She followed the sound to a crossroads. There was his phone, sitting in the center of it. That was it. Just his phone.
As she picked it up, she began to panic. What if he was hurt? Or worse?
What if he was already dead?!
She immediately shook her head. Don't think that way, Ishiyama!
There was still hope, she told herself as she took off towards the Hermitage.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita was closely monitoring the tower's protection program. She was running out of energy she had borrowed from Sector Five; XANA was dangerously close to gaining control.
"Jérémie," she tried her best to keep the panic out of her voice, but clearly failed, "XANA's only getting closer to its goal. Please, tell me you've managed to close the program."
"Sorry," he solemnly replied, causing her to sigh. "I've been trying, but there's no way to stop the process when everything's so bugged up."
"Well, I can't borrow any more energy from Sector Five without endangering the core," she told him, remembering what Michel and Sophie told her. "The amount I took should've lasted longer than this, but XANA's relentless."
It was Jérémie's turn to sigh, "Aelita, I should also tell you now before it's too late. At this rate, I won't be able to deactivate the tower either. Not when everything's so glitchy..."
"It's not over yet," she chose to keep her chin up. "Ulrich's still there with you."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Speaking of whom, outside the tower, Ulrich pushed the clone back before they clashed swords again, hitting them against each other.
However, the remaining Tarantula was still behind him, and it was starting to fire at him yet again.
Now that was not fair, XANA.
He had no choice but to Sprint away from the tower. The clone chose to follow him, using its own Sprint to quickly catch up with him.
As they ran in the same direction, at the same speed, they clashed swords again. Ulrich tried his best to fend his clone off, but it was just as strong and powerful as the real deal.
They both jumped up into the air, spinning while clashing weapons again. They landed at the same time before taking off, coming to a stop on a plateau with cables weaving through the rock.
Ulrich landed on one of them, as did the clone. The two charged at each other using their respective Sprints, with Ulrich landing on another cable and charging in again.
Another clash, before both landed back on the solid ground of the plateau.
As the clone stared at the real one through the symbol in its eyes, holding up its katana, Ulrich took advantage of the quick break.
This wasn't working, he thought. This fight was just one continuous stalemate since they were now evenly matched.
Ulrich charged again and spun around, the clanging of the swords becoming familiar to both of them by now. He spun and tried to kick his opponent, but the clone jumped out of the way.
"Hey, you're not so bad there, XANA." If anything, the AI was just getting smarter. The clone was just as good as him, but he couldn't let it know that. The clone charged towards him and Ulrich blocked it with his katana yet again. "But I'm full of surprises!"
He bent down and swung his sword, but the clone jumped over it, before knocking the real deal's katana right out of his hand.
Ulrich immediately jumped away, safely landing a few meters away.
He glared at his clone, clenching his fists, "Hey, no fair!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The water, by now, had risen high enough for Odd to reach the grate at the top of the shaft. "There! Just had to wait for the elevator."
He gripped the bars and pushed up, but it was no use. The grate was bolted to the ground and he was not strong enough to push it open himself.
"Great!" he groaned. "I guess you could say I'm really up to my neck in trouble this time!"
Meanwhile, Yumi stopped right in front of the Hermitage. She had a feeling that Odd would be found here, and she couldn't get rid of it.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she ran through the front gate.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita's panic cut through the tension, "Ulrich! XANA is about to take over! What are you doing?!"
Ulrich dodged one of the katanas his clone now possessed, "I've just got one last little thing to take care of!" Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. XANA had both weapons, and its takeover of the tower was imminent.
He had to do something. Fast.
The clone, holding both katanas, spun around and kicked Ulrich away. The real deal slid to a stop before getting back to his feet.
The Fake had the advantage, having forced the Real to onto a narrow band of rock. The real defended himself dexterously, as the Fake tried to deal a killing blow, hoping to get rid of the Real at last, only for the Real to parry it.
Taking advantage of the Fake's momentary loss of balance, the Real delivered a karate kick straight to the Fake's chest.
Thrown backwards, the Fake performed a backflip and still managed to land on its feet. It attacked again, forcing the real to back up once more.
He had to hurry. Every second he spent here meant another precious second away from the tower. And right now, timing was everything.
The Real tried to take back control, attacking, and his assault allowed him to hit his adversary in the arm.
However, the fake recovered and struck from above after regaining some power. The Real parried the hit, but was thrown off-balance, and barely avoided tumbling into the Digital Sea below by catching the edge of the platform just in time.
His legs dangling above the void, he growled at his clone, "That's it, XANA!"
Taking advantage of its adversary's disadvantage, the Fake tried to deal the final blow, but in a circular movement with his arm, the Real managed to swipe his double in the legs, throwing it off balance. He seized the opportunity to set foot back on solid ground, but his double managed to recover by this time.
The Real began jumping up and down, psyching himself up for the following confrontation. The Fake just stared back at him, wondering what he was doing.
The Real egged it on, and XANA fell for it, speeding over. It swung its right arm, but the Real managed to catch the katana in that hand with both of his own hands. Snatching it away, he spun around, before using the weapon to stab the Fake right through the chest.
The clone devirtualized, and the real Ulrich exhaled in finality.
He then stood up, sheathing his katana, before Sprinting back to the tower.
"Hold on, Aelita!" he urged, as he stopped in front of the cables.
"Make it fast!" she urged as he unsheathed his katana once more.
He raised his sword and was about to slice through the thick cables, only to freeze upon a couple of shots hitting his back. He turned around to face who had shot him as he devirtualized.
Damn that darn Tarantula...!
"Ulrich, no!" Aelita cried out.
There went their last hope.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi stared at the old, abandoned house, not sure where to start looking. If Odd really was here, that is...
She stopped at the front steps, "Odd?"
Odd took a breath whenever he could. The shaft was completely filled with water now. He was about to drown.
"Odd!"
Then he heard it. A voice. He didn't know who it was, but it was someone who was looking for him.
He managed to free his lips from the water long enough to yell back, "Around the back!"
Yumi heard Odd yell back, before it sounded like his mouth was filled with water. She ran towards the backyard, where the overgrown garden was. However, the moment she stepped on the grass, she heard a splash.
She glanced down to see a large puddle. What the...? She quickly ran over to the tap and turned it off.
"Hey!" came Odd's voice, very nearby this time.
She turned around to see Odd waving at her from the well. The shaft was completely filled with water.
"Odd!" she cried out as she ran over to him. "Thank goodness!"
She immediately got to her knees and began pulling on the grate, but it refused to budge.
Meanwhile, Odd was struggling to breathe now. The blur of black he was seeing was only getting fuzzier by the second.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As Ulrich emerged from the elevator, rubbing his head, Aelita was near tears as the window on the screen in front of her showed XANA's possession of the tower increasing.
"NO! XANA's about to steal all of our data!"
"Sorry," he muttered as he joined her at the controls. He sincerely did everything he could. He just forgot about that last Tarantula.
The two could only watch as the tower's halo on the superscan turned from Aelita's green to XANA's red.
"Hang on!" Jérémie interrupted, catching the two's attention. "What's–?"
"Jer?" Ulrich asked. "What's going on?"
The moment he said this, the superscan showed the tower's halo turning from XANA's red to a familiar white.
"W-What the...?" Aelita could only react in shock. "Jérémie?"
"I don't get it," the elf explained as best he could. "It looks like XANA has lost control of the tower. Everything's back to normal!"
The tower's halo was white...
"Michel and Sophie..." the pink-ette muttered, before sharing a showing glance at Ulrich.
"They're helping us," the brunette finished.
Aelita could only nod, tears of relief filling her eyes.
"Jérémie, what's happening on your side?" Ulrich asked, his chest bursting with hope.
"The decryption program is going full speed." The elf sounded as if he was in disbelief himself.
Ulrich and Aelita both watched as the decryption window reappeared on the supercomputer screen, this time showing the process going from 0 to 100 percent completion in 3.5 seconds flat.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd was completely submerged now. He could only hold his breath as Yumi continued pulling on the grate, pooling all of her strength together.
Her muscles were aching, crying out for mercy. Her body was too tired; it wanted her to stop. Her mind was telling her the same thing; she couldn't keep this up any longer, there was no way.
But her heart was crying something different. Tears were in her eyes as she continued to pull on the metal grate.
Her friend was in danger, and she was the only one who could save him. She couldn't lose him; she couldn't lose anyone.
Odd was blacking out, dangerously close to his brain shutting off for good, when he felt someone pull on the back of his shirt and pull him out of the water.
He took a deep breath the moment he hit the air—air he could breathe.
Yumi was tightly embracing him as she pulled him completely out of the water-filled well. She was crying, shedding actual tears, but he didn't bring any attention to that.
Instead, he chose to cheer her up, "No girl has ever kept me waiting that long."
Yumi let out a single burst of laughter laced with a sob, but her hug didn't let up.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The decryption was complete, at last. The window closed by itself, and the tower turned from white back to green, Michel and Sophie giving the tower's control back to Aelita.
The last Tarantula—on the holomap—retreated, XANA admitting defeat.
"Amazing..." Jérémie muttered.
"Jérémie, shut down the interface and bring yourself back here," Aelita told him, as she released the tower from her control, the tower's halo turning from green back to the neutral blue.
"Okay," he replied.
Meanwhile, the pink-ette dialed Yumi's number. Fortunately, the Japanese girl picked up right away, "Yumi! You find Odd yet?"
"Yeah, don't worry," the elder girl sounded emotional yet relieved. "I've got him. How about you?"
"Mission completed," the pink-ette delivered the news with a tone of finality and victory. "The entire diary as been decrypted."
Ulrich and Aelita shared a smile when they heard Yumi and Odd cheer and high-five each other on the other end.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It was later on in the late afternoon (before dinner) when Aelita knocked on the door of Ulrich and Odd's shared dorm. Her cousin had immediately been ushered into dry clothes and told to rest. Everybody else had decided to keep the Italian boy company, especially after Aelita had volunteered to read the Périns' diary by herself.
Tightly clutching her pink laptop in her arms, she gently knocked on the door.
"Come in!" she heard her cousin say.
She obeyed, opening the door.
As she stepped inside, she asked, "Hey, guys. I've finished reading the entirety of the Périns' diary. How are you feeling, Odd?"
"Oh, I'm fine," he quite literally waved off her concern. "I'm more worried about you. You look like you've learned some things you wished you hadn't." Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie were looking at her with the same worry.
Oh. So it was that obvious.
"What, did you learn that some criminal organization financed the whole project or that some associate stole some plans here and there?" her cousin asked, just to start the conversation.
"N-No..." she replied, as she softly closed the door to give them all some privacy. "I wish that was what I learned, but...unfortunately, Lyoko's origins are more...tragic than that." She crossed over to one of the two desks and set her laptop down on it before sitting in the corresponding chair. "Michel and Sophie indeed created Lyoko together. Michel was the creative mind and the muscle during construction while Sophie did all of the coding and programming. In their diary, they documented everything that happened during the creation of Lyoko. Everything."
"That means you'll be able to find the anti-virus, right?" Jérémie asked, a hint of hope in his voice.
"Yes," she solemnly replied. "I know what exactly is tying you to the supercomputer and how to fix it."
This was good news, the blonde thought to himself. She should be happy; he certainly was. So then why did she act like it was bad news?
The pink-ette took a deep breath, "All of our theories are correct."
A sudden wave of understanding immediately fell over Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd.
"What theories?" But Jérémie was confused. None of his friends shared any theories with him. What were they talking about?
Aelita continued, despite looking like she didn't want to, "Their son was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was eight years old, and when they saw that all of the following standard treatments were refusing to work, they decided to create Lyoko, and a way to get there via the scanners. XANA was created as a friend for their son, who had troubles making friends, and it kept him company during those long hours stuck at home. However, seeing they were running out of time, Michel and Sophie began to abuse the Return to the Past, even reliving the same day for almost seven years. Unfortunately, this was what made XANA self-aware. Remember, every Return boosts its power twice as much as before."
The group remained quiet as they digested this.
The pink-ette forced herself to continue, "Ten years before I discovered the supercomputer, when their son turned fourteen, they finally completed Lyoko. They used the scanners to heal their son's cancer. And it worked. He was healed, but it came at a price: he no longer remembered who they were, or who he was. XANA then took him hostage—they suspect it was out of jealousy—forcing them to go to Lyoko to save him, and in turn making them share a virtual bond due to their shared goals. They tried to negotiate with XANA, but they failed and were forced to shut the supercomputer down to contain it, realizing it was too dangerous to keep Lyoko online as long as XANA existed. During the ten years of hiatus, Michel and Sophie became XANA's prisoners in a figurative sense, as it forced them into hiding due to always hunting for them."
"What about their son? Did he fall victim to XANA too?" Yumi quickly asked, addressing what was on all of their minds.
"No," Aelita replied. "They managed to save him, and he remained on Lyoko."
Ulrich swallowed a large lump in his throat. "'Lita, just tell us...if we're right about that theory."
The pink-ette immediately knew what he was trying to ask, as did Yumi and Odd. Aelita nodded slowly.
Yes. They were.
But Jérémie was still confused, "What theory are you guys talking about?"
His friends all shared a knowing glance with each other. The other three nodded at Aelita, encouraging her to tell him.
So she did. "Jérémie, that son...is you."
His world suddenly felt like it was crashing down around him. "W-Wha...?"
"Your real name is Jérémie Périn," she slowly told him, not stopping even as he started shaking his head. "Yes, it is. Even without the diary confirming it, it's the only thing that makes sense. It explains all of your outbursts, your strange connection to the Hermitage, why you can't remember your past, and all of your visions and nightmares too."
But he continued to shake his head, "No...that's impossible...I'm not–..." He did want to believe it; this couldn't be real.
The other three could only watch this conversation play out, all filled with concern. They knew Jérémie would have some doubts, but not to this extent.
"Yes, you are," Aelita whispered, before opening up her laptop. "Your parents left you an audio file after they decrypted their diary for us earlier. The date attached to it is today's." She then played it.
The audio didn't cut out once, shockingly clear.
"Jérémie, mon chéri," two voices—one male, one female—spoke together, "we're sorry for all the pain we've subjected you to. Dragging you into our fight with XANA, our creation, is a sin we can never atone for. Forgive us."
The file ended, but Jérémie continued to shake his head in disbelief.
TO BE CONTINUED_
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 35 - Reminiscence / Thanks to the now decrypted diary, the group finally knows what's really tying Jérémie to XANA. But XANA's not their only obstacle to retrieving it.
A/N: If anyone is confused, Michel and Sophie's message from the previous chapter contained a lot more information in it, to help the teens like they said they were going to do. Since they can't really help out physically due to XANA, they've instead given out bits of advice and such to help nudge the group in the right direction. The last chapter had Aelita hoping for Michel and Sophie to do just that, and she got her wish, if any of you didn't catch that.
The concept of a polymorphic spectre being virtualized onto Lyoko will return in a later chapter. Stay tuned. Also, the final fight scene featuring the clone was partly derived from a deleted scene.
The allusion to Lowell Tyron and Green Phoenix at the end there was an idea from DeviantArt user FP7ETDP43. If you have similar ideas for future chapters, PM me.
Many of you are probably wondering why I chose the surname 'Périn', and I can finally admit that it came from Jérémie's namesake, the real life animator Jérémie Périn, one of Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo's old classmates at the Parisian visual arts school Gobelins School of the Image.