To the readers
I appreciate any comments on the story.
Notes
[] are used to indicate stage directions
All dialogue follows a "Speaker: dialogue" format
{} are used for author comments.
Episode 18: Let'5 Pl4y: B ck-up_&_R3st0re (Let's Play: Backup and Restore)
[Laura and Diva are passing through the covered portico to the admin building, mid conversation.]
Laura: I'm getting into that school.
Diva: Sure. One question. How are you going to impress them? If you didn't get in before what's going to change their mind now?
Laura: I don't need anything to change. I obviously misjudged the nature of the person I called. If I can gain the respect of this representative, I can work my way in.
Diva: Your perpetual impudence may be vexing to him.
Laura: I'm not disrespectful.
Diva: [genuine surprise] You can understand me?!
Laura: Yeah, do you like to use big words to make yourself seem more intelligent?
Diva: Usually when I use big words, they go straight over people's heads and I can get away with calling them whatever I like.
[Laura smirks a little at that.]
Diva: Just remember he's part of a corporate machine. If you aren't useful to his company, he won't give you a second chance.
[They arrive in the lobby. It has benches for visitors in the center separated from the hallway to the main offices by an arcade of Corinthian columns.]
[cut to Delmas's office.]
Graven: I knew she was faking. I must speak with her at once.
Delmas: I can understand how it can be seen that way, but it could be that she has wandered off. I will ask around. [notices his daughter standing in his office door.] Elizabeth, thank you for coming. Would you happen to know where Mrs. Stone is?
Sissi: …
Delmas: Sissi.
Sissi: [reverses her demeanor at being called her nickname] Mrs. Einstein went off campus with her usual gang.
Delmas: [explains to Graven] That would be Belpois, Della Robbia, Stern-
Graven: I know. [he exits the principals' office. Then as an aside as he exits into the lobby.] I just need Aelita Sche-Stone.
[Laura turns her head at the mention of Aelita and sees Graven.]
Diva: That's-
Laura: Obviously him in the suit. Why did I think I needed your help?
[Laura walks up to graven.]
Laura: [clears her throat] Mmmm, Mr. Graven was it?
Graven: Yes.
Laura: My name is Laura Gauither. I'm an upcoming junior. I'm interested in the field in quantum computing.
Graven: No, we do not have any positions for internships. We do not accept transfers and we don't make any exceptions under any circumstances unless they have a prearranged interview. There is nothing to be gained by further conversation. Goodbye.
Laura: Well, that's fortunate for me as I already spoke with Lowel Tyron.
Graven: [stops dead in his tracks. Brief moment of surprise.] And what did he say?
Laura: [lies with a smile] That opportunities would arise given an appraisal from representatives that would have planned visits
Graven: If you want to get my recommendation, you would do well to not lie to my face. This is not a planned visit and I very much doubt that my company would ever have connections with a such low class school.
[Delmas can be seen in the background looking offended, puffing out his mustache. Graven turns around to leave.]
Laura: [to Graven's back as she tries to get him to stay.] We never finished my interview. He had to attend to a project.
Graven: [turns around.] More believable, but honestly, I can say with utter certainty that he wanted nothing to do with you. He probably ended the meeting because you showed him all he needed to see.
Laura: And why is Aelita so important? It's not her mother. I didn't drop Aelita's name once during the interview, but as soon as I said Jeremy, he immediately lost interest.
Graven: Oh, so you were the tip. And how did-
[Before Graven can finish, a sound rings out from outside in the woods.]
BANG
Delmas: Everyone get inside. Nicole, make an announcement for an evacuation drill.
[Graven instead calmly walks outside toward the forest. Laura follows him. Diva follows her. And Sissi follows both of them much to her father's dismay.]
Diva: [To Sissi] Why are you following us?
Laura: [to Diva] Why are you following me?
Diva: Sissi first.
Sissi: [to Laura] Why are you going into the woods with guns firing?
[Everyone is too stubborn to answer first. Diva breaks the silence.]
Diva: I need you alive. [to Laura]
Laura: You sure? Free tuition for the rest of school if your roommate dies.
Diva: [innocent] I need an excuse to not want anyone to die?
Sissi: And I just want to make sure my friends are safe.
Laura: Wait, I thought you hated Jeremy's gang.
Diva: [to no one in particular] I love that everyone just calls them "Jeremy's gang" when he doesn't do anything and treats them like dirt.
Sissi: It's a complicated relationship. Now you. [to Laura]
Laura: The only reason "The Suit" came to Kadic was because I called his company. And the only thing their boss wanted from me was seeing if Jeremy's gang was involved. That must mean Jeremy's gang is involved with Deckard Inc. Somehow.
Diva: You think you can use that as leverage?
Laura: I need to know more. But I need to find them first.
Sissi: I know where they are. I chipped Ulrich this morning when I apologized to him.
Laura: You chip your friends?
Sissi: Of course. How else will I know when they do something stupid.
Diva: [Cheshire cat grin] I like her. [Sissi glares at Diva in response.]
[Opening Theme plays]
[Cut to the 6 of them in the same refrigeration locker from before. The refrigerator room had no windows: it was a simple grey rectangle of thick walls, furnished with two rows of low shelves on each side.
Set into the ceiling were the open ends of the conduits that led to the refrigerant motor that cooled the environment. Mounted on the walls were big hooks for hanging meat on, but they were now empty, apart from cobwebs and dust.
Odd is hugging himself as if he had frozen over in the short time they have been in there.]
Yumi: The monsters were doing home improvement last time, so there's no way in now.
[Jeremy whips out a tablet. He opens a file marked "Franz Hopper's Diary"]
Jeremy: Franz didn't mention this place at all, but there is an entry near the end that mentions instructions. I didn't understand it until now. Pull the third hook from the end on the left wall toward you.
[Ulrich steps onto the hook and hangs from the chain. They heard a loud clang, a soft click, & the hook dropped several centimeters. Aelita takes a look over Jeremy's shoulder at the directions.]
Aelita: Now on the right wall, push the fourth shelf from the top in.
[William elbows the wooden plank into the wall.]
Jeremy: Now let go of the hook.
[Ulrich drops to the ground, kicking up dust.
They heard a mechanical creaking. The wall at the opposite side of the door they entered from split down the pattern of the cracks in the plaster on the wall. The otherwise invisible seal was illuminated from the other side form a light turning on for the first time in ten years. William pushes the door fully open and they all stepped through.
Odd gasps as he sees the couch.]
Odd: Do you know what this means?
Jeremy: We'll finally get an answer on why the supercomputer was created?
Odd: We finally have a private place to hang out that isn't a cold, dusty, metal factory!
[Yumi walks over to the console. The others sit down on the couch. Aelita and Jeremy are in the couch cushions while Ulrich and William sit on opposite sides on the arms of the couch as there wasn't enough room. Odd refuses to sit normally and perches on the back of the couch.
Aelita nods to Yumi. Yumi presses the power button. They hear a click, but the screen still appears black.]
Ulrich: It's broken.
Aelita: It's not broken, it's just warming up the cathode ray tubes.
[Ulrich, William, and Odd shiver in mock terror at the thought of a screen that doesn't boot up instantly.]
Jeremy: [smiling] What were you expecting? This room was sealed a long time ago.
A blinking line slowly fades into existence. Along with the words "Let this mirror reflect and stand against the sun"
Yumi: The computer has a password on it.
Jeremy: Wait, wait. There's one in the journal. I thought it was for a laptop we never found. Uh, … uh…"Svalinn."
{ "In Norse mythology, Svalinn is a legendary shield which stands before the sun" }
[Yumi turns up the volume and joins the others at the couch kneeling next to Ulrich on the floor. A video starts on the TV. It's Franz sitting on the same couch behind them.]
Franz: May 29th, 2003. It's been a while since our last contact. I'm sealing this message in this room. As a backup. As with all my fail safes, I kept no record of it in case I've been compromised. I'll erase this if it turns out my concerns are unwarranted. But I cannot but help to take every precaution I can with the crisis we face.
It's been a few days since your last contact. However, they've somehow, managed to track me to France. I'm not sure if it's just a search or if they've confirmed anything. If it's related to your mission… If they… no I have confidence you've remained hidden. I have trust you'll return with her, our family will be reunited, and the Division will face justice.
Aelita: Yes, but what division? The men in black? Who took my mother?
Franz: I've made preparations to keep Aelita safe no matter what. In the event we must take shelter on Lyoko, the key of Lyoko will be split between us to ensure that they remain out of enemy hands.
[The Lyoko Warriors start looking embarrassed. William just looks confused.]
Franz: Ah, if you're wondering, they allow you to use the supercomputer to its fullest extent. Connect to and control the world or chain it down. Also during experimenting, I've invented something I like to call Code Lyoko. [Aelita assumes the "gamer forward lean" stance at hearing this] It can reset any system back to a previous point, even if it was deleted. I've also given Aelita access to this. In case you return to find things…in disarray. In whatever case where you find Aelita, but you're unable to reach me please keep my treasure safe.
Listen. If you return, and I am not here. I've kept the locket here in the TV cabinet. Take up activating it from time to time. To let her know that there's still someone looking for her.
This scanner is set to take you directly to the partition. I know I said this was just intended as a reservoir of knowledge so what I've achieved can never be erased but I've turned it into more than that. It's isolated from Lyoko, impossible to erase, so I know it's safe from The Division. Even if they somehow destroyed Lyoko or its heart, you could back it up from here. It also contains some projects I've been working on, but never implemented fully. But that isn't the important part. I want you to review the map of our journey together. How I processed, see where I went wrong, the small moments I got right. I'm leaving this to you. The codes to open the partition and the first section of the map are in my diary. You already know where to find the passwords for the others. [realization] Ah…I should mention that I hid my diary at the drop off. It has all my work inside. Aelita also has the means to find it.
Odd: Already found it.
Jeremy: And destroyed it accidentally.
William: What?!
Yumi: [non-chalant] SHH, we have copies.
Aelita: SHHH!
Franz: Steinback, you've stood by me this long. If I'm gone the choice is yours to make. After your review the events that lead us to this, decide whether to destroy it, save it or … or leave it alone and hope the next time someone invents this technology, things will improve. Or any other decision you deem fit. Use your judgement.
Just make sure it doesn't fall into the division hands. Innovation itself is not evil or dangerous. It's those who use it selfishly, The division and so many others… Everyone I've known thanks to this work has just been twisted and manipulated just to steal this power for themselves or for someone else. All I hope for is an end to this struggle.
[He reaches up to the camera filming him. The video cuts to black. Everyone just sits there for a moment.]
William: … So does anyone know who Steinback is?
Aelita: Nope.
Ulrich: Not a clue.
Jeremy: Not the faintest.
Odd: Something went wrong. Very wrong.
William: On same page then.
[Aelita slowly stood up and knelt down on the carpet in front of the television. She opened dark oak door in the front of the cabinet. Just as Franz had said, there was a wooden box, able to just barely fit in her palm. She lifted the lid and extracted the pendant from its resting place.
It was the adornment of an almost thread like golden chain. The pendent was a little larger than a coin. It's surface was reflective like a mirror. Etched into the surface were two letters. W & A. The were placed above a sailor's knot decoration made of the same metal as the rest of the pendant.]
William: A knot?
Jeremy: A sailor's knot. It means no matter the force pulled on either side, the connection just gets tighter.
Aelita: Together, forever.
Odd: That's so romantic. I'm gonna cry.
[Aelita has a flashback to when Tyron showed her Anthea's necklace in Delmas's office. They were identical. She flips it open to see a different photo from the one last season. Instead of a black and white photo of her mother, this one was of the whole family in the snow covered cottage. On the inside of the locket, she notices a casing on the interior of the lip. She eyes it curiously.]
Aelita: What did he mean by "activate"?
[She examines it, runs her fingers along it and when her fingers trace over the letter W, it lights up.]
Yumi: Didn't Tyron use the other to track us?
Aelita: He did, so the secret is out. And who knows for how long.
Jeremy: [jumps up] Who stays [gets up and gestures to the scanner] and who goes?
[Aelita automatically steps up to the scanner before anyone else and waits inside.]
Jeremy: Ah, are you sure? I mean the last time we discovered something about your past you-
Aelita: [passive sass] The last time, I didn't have context. Now we do. [somber] And you heard him. Once we explore all of this "mirror", we have a choice to make. [attaches a smile to her face.] Who's with me?
Odd: Geronimo
Jeremy: Ulrich?
Ulrich: [looking at Yumi and William.] Yeah. Sure.
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