I remember when I first discovered Code Lyoko. I was browsing the Cartoon Network website. I can't remember what first attracted me to click on it, but maybe it was the fact that it had 3D animation, which was huge for me as a kid who liked video games. I clicked on the first episode. Then I realized that I had no idea what was going on and though I had accidently clicked on a later episode and not the pilot. I went back and searched for it. But "Teddygozilla" was the first episode on the list. So, I rolled with it and watched it.
I'm still rolling and I hope I will never stop. I watched all there was on the website, Then I hit Episode 54 - Lyoko minus one. And that was it. I assumed the series had been cancelled and was disappointed.
But Code Lyoko stuck with me. When I was bored in class, I imagined what the Lyoko Warriors would be doing or what could be an episode. I never liked unfinished series. They just made me wonder where things could have gone. I thought "What if they went to a waterpark?" or "What was Project Carthage all about and what went wrong." No matter what, these kinds of questions always came back to me.
Then one year, I opened Netflix and then I nearly screamed. In the banner at the top was "Now on Netflix: Code Lyoko". I immediately went in and found EP 55. I saw that there was the rest of that season and A WHOLE OTHER SEASON AFTER! I watched a couple and just revealed in the old nostalgia and the joy of finding something new about my favorite series. And then it was over. XANA was dead. The series had tied itself up in one neat bow that meant their whole adventure remained hidden in the shadows, with only memories, theirs and ours, as proof of its existence.
BUT I WANTED MORE!
I wanted an explanation on how Lyoko came to be. I wanted to see a perfect ending where everything was explained and all the characters grew, fought, changed, and were victorious. But I never got that.
I though my dilemma would never be solved. So, I searched for more And I found a trailer for Code Lyoko: Evolution. I had seen footage before and thought it was a fan project, so I dismissed it. But at this point, I was desperate. So, I searched for the English Dub on YouTube. After 20 minutes, I realized that none existed. I settled for the French Audio with English subs on the TechECoyote2772 YouTube channel. I thought it had a rocky start, but it had potential. I mean, they started the original series WITHOUT THE PILOT EPISODE. So, I gave it a chance. I saw every pathetic special effect, every stiff emotionless line, every half speed attack that made it look like The Slow-Mo guys shot all the real-life action scenes. But the animation, oh the animation :3. Fight sequences that didn't reuse footage, actual martial arts between Ulrich and the ninjas, the attitudes of the characters captured perfectly, high speed chases. It was almost everything I could ask more of the virtual world.
I couldn't predict how they would wrap up the story. And then they didn't. They didn't even have a huge battle in the final episode. They failed at the start of the episode and then they had no problems at the end. The conflict of the season would bleed over into the next one. Now, this would be okay, if they actually made another season. But they didn't. I wanted to scream to the producers "STOP GIVING ME GOOD THINGS IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO CRUSH MY DREAMS!"
That's when I decided something. If they weren't going to give me the story we and the series deserved, then I would just write it myself. I had enough ideas from over the years to serve at least one season. So, I started brainstorming. This was 2015.
That's when I made it my personal mission to ensure that the series continues in the way it needs to. So, I am writing a second season to Evolution. I hope that people will like it and want it animated into canon. It will explain the backstory of the supercomputer, the mysterious organizations hinted through Aelita's flashbacks, further the story of the Lyoko Warriors and the characters, and have everything the series needs to be equal to the stand out shows of our day. It will expand the content of the show and make sure everything has a satisfying ending and not a cliffhanger!
The reason I want to do this is because there's a reason we love Code Lyoko. The characters are people who go to school, have troubles with their parents, deal with daily problems and then get to have escapism by visiting a virtual world. Too many shows tried the "trapped in a video game" plot. That's not what makes video games entertaining. Lyoko allowed the characters and us to escape away from our problems for the day and let us know, "Yeah, everything seems bad. All this horrible stuff could happen. But just be yourself, get through it, play video games, and everything will end up just fine." And that's why so many people outside the indented age range love it.
About this series
If anyone wants to continue experiencing the universe of Code Lyoko, I wrote a script for a possible 2nd season of Code Lyoko: Evolution consisting of 34 episodes.
It's also designed so that anyone can jump into the universe. You do not need to know anything about Code Lyoko original or Evolution as it explains those events since it's a spiritual successor to season 1 and continuing Evolution. (I'm trying to avoid having people watch Evolution season 1 as much as possible.) I will talk about some things here in the prologue that newcomers won't understand, but the story itself with be self-explanatory.
This is part of the same universe as the Code Lyoko show. It is not a reboot as this story is set in the Code Lyoko: Evolution universe, not the Chronicles universe. This new season dives deeply into the backstory of the supercomputers.
I hope that this story can correct most of the inconsistencies between the original series and Evolution. In fixing the inconsistencies whenever they come up in the story, I will lean toward the original series or try to combine the two versions.
The idea for these first few chapters is that something terrible has happened and the heroes we all love aren't here anymore because of it. And it's up to a few new characters to pick up the pieces and rekindle the love the fans and newcomers alike share for this universe. To take CL back to its roots and revitalize it, Season 2 is split into 2 arcs. The Carthan 2 Arc and the Deckard Incident Arc.
The Carthan 2 Arc repeats the main plot structure of season 1 of Code Lyoko and is chronologically the second arc this season. (If you are new to the series, EP 1 is where to start) This is to cycle the series back to its roots and repeat the magic that made people love it in the first place. It also makes it easier to draw in new fans. Not only will this make old viewers remember what hooked them into Code Lyoko, but repair the damage done by Evolution a bit. By "repeating the main plot of season 1", I don't mean rebooting the story. I mean "ordinary people enter a video game to save the world and materialize the virtual waifu girl." Along with original characters, this arc introduces the backstory of the Code Lyoko universe inspired by {but not exactly} the books and hypes up the return of the LW.
The Deckard Incident Arc wraps up the plan the human villains from Evolution season 1 has for the supercomputers and is chronologically the first arc this season. (If you are caught up to all the episodes of the original series, EP 16 is where to start) It takes place a couple weeks after the events of Code Lyoko: Evolution. But besides villains, there is the matter of character growth for the six members of the main cast, the fate of XANA, and a few other concepts that are either original ideas or taken from the book series. The reason I felt only giving the LW only half a season is there is only so much damage control I can do for Evolution if the same plot is being used. It's better to give the audience some good solid episodes of what they want and then use that as a base to present the LW's story. Half a season might even be too much time for how much left that the season 1 plot has left to develop, but having the first episode of the season wrap up that plot wasn't correct as I've got to correct how the human villains are portrayed. They are currently 3rd rate villains, so half a season gives them time to develop as a threat and truly wrap up the storyline in a satisfying fashion. The goal of this arc is to complete the unfinished season 1 storyline and end it in a satisfying way.
However, rather than have the main characters missing for a few episodes, I will instead release 1 episode of each arc at the same time. (1 = 19, 2 = 20…) While this may be a bit confusing at first, I believe this will allow me to push out a story that's more enjoyable rather than having to wait until the Carthan 2 arc is done before the Deckard Inc can start.
I apologize for the format the script is written in. It is not officially a script yet contains some description more appropriate for a novel. I am simply writing in a way that portrays the emotion, tension, environment, and the action to the greatest effect.
Once again, I was sad to see it fall short of the pace it set in terms of universe building. This has been a story I've thought about for years and I hope even if I don't get to write its conclusion, it will eventually be told.
This is simply to continue a great story that I loved. I hope you enjoy.
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 19: Let'5 Pl4y: R3turn_2_F03u5 (Let's Play: Return to Focus)
[A black screen]
Odd: If you're confused on what's going on, don't worry. That's perfectly natural. After all, you did jump in at the middle.
It all started when Einstein, our genius of a friend, found a supercomputer in an abandoned factory. And it could run a whole game world inside it. But when he turned the virtual world on, he found a girl trapped there. But she wasn't the only thing there. XANA was as well. XANA, is… well he's a jerk. Tries to destroy everything, hates humans, has no sense of humor, I've used some of my best material on him so I should know.
Ulrich: Should I tell the story?
Odd: No, stop trying to get off topic. Now, one thing led to another and Einstein recruited us to help get the girl out of the game by fighting XANA. After that, well… bad stuff happens. It's always XANA's fault. We go into the video game to save the world. Now, here's where it gets a bit complicated.
Ethan: Can I ask a stupid question?
Odd: Okay, what?
Ethan: How long is this exposition dump going to take?
William: 5 hours.
Odd: And I only like telling it in 26-minute chunks.
Yumi: And you've barely started.
Ombret: At least it's interesting.
Odd: Now we had thought that we had beaten XANA, but it turns out it had a plan to survive. It hid in another supercomputer called the Cortex. Luckily, since there was no princess trapped inside, we were free to blow it up. Except the owner of the supercomputer, an imp named Tyron, didn't like that. So he sent his ninjas after us-
Ethan: Are they actually ninjas?
Ulrich: Nah, we just call them that-
Ombret: Because they're steathly as all jazz?
William: Exactly!
Odd: [continues] Ahem? And he tried all sorts of traps to get rid of us. But we're just too gud. We put a virus in the computer to destroy it. But Tyron didn't like that, so he turned off his computer. Now, XANA can't act while a supercomputer is off, so we decided to turn ours off as well. And things were like that for a while.
[Fade to a metropolitan area in France. A pickup truck drives through the streets of downtown. It looked like a giant next to the standard models usually found in Europe around him. The owner drives off the main street and takes a couple turns until he's eventually driving along a river. While he parks at a stoplight, he notices something. In the middle of the river was a huge island and on it was an abandoned factory. It connected to the mainland through a support bridge. It was a curious sight, but it gave him no lasting impression. As soon as the light turned green, he was off again.
After a minute he parked against the sidewalk. The entire street boarders a woodland. He gets out. His huge frame appears for the first time, covered in a trench coat. He opens up the back door and two monstrous rottweilers bound out. He snatches their leases out of the air and they both go taught as the two beasts fight against them. He gives them an amused smile.]
?: [ice cold tone] Hush. We're going for a walk now.
[He walks through the woodland for a while. He ends his walk in front of a huge 3 story manor that's decrepit and overgrown with flora. A sign out front attached to the fence identifies it as "The Hermitage". The man takes a look at it.]
?: How appropriate for him.
[He takes the dogs back to the truck much against their wanting. He drives again for a short distance. And then stopped across the street from a huge iron gate.
He repeats the same exercise with the dogs, even the same methodically precise snatching of the leases. As he's pacing out down the sidewalk, he peers though the tall iron fence at the school campus. An unconventional layout for a school. The campus was surrounded by the same woodland the Hermitage was in. Couldn't be more than a couple minutes' walk to get there.
His dogs start barking.]
?: [snaps at them] Scipio. Hannibal. What is it?
[An elf is being chased through a forest by a gigantic wolf. The elf grows wings and tries to fly away, but the beast changes into smog and cinders and flies up after her. It surrounds her and a series of images fills her head.
A cottage in the mountains. Her mother, a woman with pink hair, and father were watching her build a snowman. She had the vague idea that it was some sort of holiday with lights decorating the house. Then she hears the wolf growling behind her again.
She turns back to face her mother who has blond hair now. The hesitation she makes in confusion allows the wolf to pounce on her. It snarls at her and it bites down.
Aelita wakes up screaming.]
Aelita: [She tries reasoning with herself to calm down.] [thinks] It's just a nightmare. It didn't make sense, but it didn't have to. It was a dream.
[For a second, she could swear she could hear barking in real life, but the second she tried to listen for it, the noise wasn't there.
She fell back onto her pillow. Frustrated, she pulled on a pair of headphones and put on a piano playlist to try to get her back to sleep before she had to get up for class in a couple hours.]
[Outside, the hulk of a man is looking at the dogs who each have a treat in their mouth. He had to get them something to shut up.]
?: [disappointed] You know its growling if you sense something. Barking is only for something huge. [looks back to the school] Or dangerous.
[The skyline changes from midnight to early morning.]
[Odd is sprinting down the dorm hallway. He's in his signature lilac hoodie zipped open over his pink top with long purple sleeves. He also had on blue jeans with red sneakers.His blond hair is sculpted to an aerodynamic point. There's a spot above his forehead dyed purple and the fringes of the point at the top are still brown from when he dyed it a few months back. He slides up to a door, whips it open, and then slams it almost close, then slowly and carefully closes it the rest of the way so it doesn't make any noise.
Ulrich is on at desk studying. Ulrich had brown unkempt hair. He had a thick olive green jacket with a high collar and rolled up sleeves on over a tan t shirt and blue jeans. He wore black sneakers and there was a green shoulder bag hung over the back of his chair.]
Ulrich: [without even looking up] What did you do this time?
Odd: It's bad. It's after me.
Ulrich: [alert] XANA's back?!
Odd: Worse!
Ulrich: [knowing he's exaggerating] [uninterested] Oh. [goes back to studying.]
Odd: You don't understand. A girl is after me.
Ulrich: Again, what did you do?
Odd: NO. As in she likes me and won't leave me alone.
[Ulrich starts laughing.]
Ulrich: Just when I thought you were out of material.
Odd: I'm being serious.
Ulrich: Why is this bad?
Odd: Because I'm with Sam & on good terms for once. [Ulrich doesn't get it.] You know. The cliché where the girl makes a romantic gesture and then the guy's actual girlfriend sees it and thinks he's cheating on her. [Ulrich still doesn't get it or doesn't care] The point is, she's after me and I need to escape.
Ulrich: [sighs] What do you need me to do? I'm studying for music quiz.
Odd: Why bother? You know how well you're going to do. Move [Starts to climb out the window]
Ulrich: Odd, we're on the second floor.
Odd: [looks at Ulrich's paper as he's standing on the desk.] And number 8 is "Espressivo", not "Minuet". Good luck later today.
Ulrich: Huh [starts erasing the answer] Wait, you're really going to go through all this to avoid a misunderstanding with Sam?
Odd: I refuse to become a meme. [Jumps out the window]
Ulrich: Uhhhhhhh, too late. [closes the window and curtain]
[There's a knock at the door.
A girl opens it. She wasn't a very tall girl. She wore her fair blond hair cut short and tied back by a colorful little ring. It didn't even reach her shoulders. She had a large pink streak in her hair. She had a golden complexion and large, celestial blue eyes covered by long eyelashes. She was dressed in a white blouse and a vivacious, multicolored skirt. On her back she has a tan guitar case.
Ulrich: [thinks] OMG, they're perfect for each other.
?: Hi, I'm Eva, but my friends call me Diva. You wouldn't happen to have seen Odd?
[She walks into the room as she talks and takes it in.]
Ulrich: [sarcastic] Yes, I will take a break from studying. Yes, you can come in. [non sarcastic] [sigh.] Nice to meet you. No, he hasn't been here. He was supposed to be in the cinema room working on his film.
Diva: He jumped out the window, didn't he?
Ulrich: How-
Diva: Did I know? [points to his paper] Because # 8 is "Giocoso", not "Espressivo"
Ulrich: [eyes the homework menacingly and goes back to erasing.] OH COME ON!
Diva: The terms are similar, but that's the kind of mistake Odd would make.
Ulrich: [surprised] Huh, I guess you do know Odd well.
Diva: Of course. If I want a chance with a success machine like that, I have to try my hardest and learn all I can about my subject.
Ulrich: [holding back a grin] You know he might reject you. Just prepare for that.
Diva: I know, but what's the point if I never try. I only need to succeed once. On that topic, good luck later. Remember your own advice. [exits out the door]
Ulrich: Finally, some peace and qu… wait, how did she know about today?
[Cut to an interior room. Rows of servers made aisles and wires ran in cages across the ceiling. Aelita is in the rows of servers hooking up machines on a cart to the boxes in the shelves. Jeremy is sitting a desk copying something from a binder in front of him onto a spreadsheet. Both are wearing the company uniform. Blue polo with kakis. It clashed a bit with Aelita's pink hair but looked alright against Jeremy's blond.
Their manager comes in. Late twenties something. He's wearing the same uniform as them.]
Jeremy: I fixed the connection issue.
Mr. Bisset: Great, I'm glad I came up with internships at Kadic. Usually interns don't know anything and just expect a desk job. It's refreshing to have someone who could fix problems without having to call me. And three of them at that.
Jeremy: Anything else we should do sir?
Mr. Bisset: Nothing new for today. Keep at it and give Hertz my thanks for sending you my way. [leaves]
Jeremy: [enthusiastic] This is the best job ever.
[Aelita comes back.]
Aelita: [sleepily] Well, it's okay.
Jeremy: What are you talking about? You're great at it. You heard Mr. Bisset. We're above average.
Aelita: I just wish it was something a bit livelier. You know. With more people and less machines.
?: [helpful] You could ask for a customer service position.
[Aelita and Jeremy turn around to see Laura come in. She had long blond hair tied back in a bun with trailing locks draped over her shoulders, blue eyes, and naturally the uniform looks perfect on her.
Aelita: [instantly frowns and gives her the cold shoulder.] I meant something like an aid position.
Laura: Well, then just think of this job as a resume filler. Just something difficult you have to deal with.
Aelita: [eyes Laura.] Oh, I do.
Laura: [throws a smile in the boy's direction] I'm glad we get a chance to work together Jeremy.
Aelita: [retort] I hope you can handle being a team. Don't want the stress of standing up to expectations to get you down.
Laura: [retorts back while still smiling.] Oh no, no need to worry about me. I can handle anything they have to thrown at me. Peer pressure is no problem.
[Laura leaves.]
Aelita: I was wrong. Three's a crowd.
Jeremy: That was a little mean wasn't it? I mean she's not Sissi, or at least, she isn't how Sissi used to be. I think she's just trying to be friends since we all share a common interest.
Aelita: Or that's just what she wants you to believe. I think she has a different goal.
Jeremy: Aelita, I think she just wants some friends. Even if it's a bit clunky, she's just trying to relate to us and be helpful. Wait. [thinking to himself out loud.] Was I like that?
Aelita: Was?
[That gets a smirk out of Jeremy.]
Aelita: I don't know. It's just…you never know when someone tries to gain your trust just to betray it.
Jeremy: Yes, but also like Sissi, Laura doesn't remember her betrayal. As far as I'm concerned, she has no reason to trick us just to be friends. So… I guess give her a chance is what I'm saying.
[Yumi is coming in the entrance to the school. She had long black hair she let partly cover her eyes. She had on her standard black biker jacket. The lapel has a few blue stars on it. Her undershirt was a looser fitting black T with long sleeves. It was cut short above the naval. Below that she had black pants that reached just below her knees. She wore heavy, black boots and a maroon smart watch. As she's walking through the courtyard, she sees Hiroki leaving the consolers office in his dark blue t shirt with a golden yellow jacket thrown on over it. He wore black shorts with gold lines down the side and orange slip ons.]
Yumi: How did you do?
Hiroki: [Enthusiastic] Tell Odd he's going to have to come up with another nickname, because I'm just as smart, I mean, "intelligent" as Jeremy.
Yumi: [proud] Well, you did skip another grade. You'll do great. Or are you going to worry about not being able to see your friends anymore?
Hiroki: [unsure] Well, the only person I really hang out with is Johnny and we're still tight. [switches topic] Are you good?
Yumi: What do you mean?
Hikoi: It's something Mr. Klotz said. He wanted me to remind you about submitting your college choices.
Yumi: Oh, right. I'll … I'm planning to do that.
Hiroki: You don't sound like it.
Yumi: Well it's none of your business.
[awkward silence]
Hiroki: [to break the tension] OMG! I almost forgot something important.
Yumi: What is it?
Hiroki: You have to tell me Yumi. It's critical for my survival.
Yumi: What?!
Hiroki: [simply] You going to ask Ulrich out yet?
Yumi: For the seven thousandth time, we are just good-
Hiroki: Yeah yeah yeah, keep lying to yourself. But literally everyone knows that you two like each other and you two are perfect together. So, you have no other option but to ask each other out.
Yumi: You are such a brat. [smiles] Thanks.
Hiroki: [smiles, then notices something] Oh look, there's Johnny. Gotta run. We've got an important business opportunity coming up.
[As Hiroki runs off, the camera focuses on the background behind Yumi. It's the lockers in the hallway lining the courtyard. Sam is there. She has black hair with red highlights topped by a white Fedora. She wore an open jacket loosely drawn over her dark tawny skin. She's putting away her electric skateboard and sees William doing the same. He had on a white jacket over a black T shirt. The shirt had a red logo of his favorite band on it. He complimented it with tight dark blue jeans with the knees worn off. They had orange stitching running down the side and were rolled up above his brown boots and were fastened in place with a leather belt.]
Sam: Hey you're… William right? Odd's friend?
William: Yeah, I guess we're bros.
Sam: He talks about you all the time. You should come with us sometime. We scout out locations for my trick videos.
William: Oh, yeah, I heard you had gotten pretty big.
Sam: Scholarship even.
William: No way, that's awesome. Sure, I could check it out.
Sam: You should bring your girlfriend along. Double date?
William: Uh, I don't have-
Sam: [realizes her mistake. Knuckles her own head] Oh, I dolt. Can't believe I forgot on today of all days. Ah [thinks of something else to talk about] Seen Odd anywhere.
William: I'm sure he'll drop in.
[Odd's feet appear from the outside the hallway. He drops down from hanging on the courtyard wall into full view of the hallway.]
Odd: Sam, William?
William: Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Odd: Devil? Please, demigod at minimum, but I'm more of the angel on your shoulder.
William: No, that would be Aelita.
[Odd kisses Sam on the cheek, a bit awkward about it.]
Sam: I was just inviting William to hang out later.
Odd: Awesome. I don't think we're ever gone boarding together.
Sam: Yeah, what were you up to during that skateboard competition Odd and I were in?
William: I was… detained.
Sam: [Turns to Odd] I've got chemistry with Hertz in 3 min. Skip and hang out?
Odd: Sure.
William: Wouldn't you want to go so you don't get detention?
Sam: Fine. Odd, your bro's right. He's the angel.
Odd: [wants the last word] And I would say he's the one with smoke and brimstone.
William: What was that?
Odd: [smirks] Nothing.
William: [While they wait for Sam to get something out of her locker.] You two are great together.
Odd: I was worried for a bit, but thanks to you, we ended up finally working something out.
William: What did I do?
Odd: You know, you're inspiring speech about positivity and having hope towards the things you want.
William: When did I say that?
Odd: The attack with the krabs. The one you Leyroy Jenkins for the second time. The one where you said you still had hope for you and Yumi?
William: Okay, one, every other attack has krabs, two, that was my first Leroy Jenkins. The first time in Carthage the monsters I was fighting weren't the problem, and C, I do still have hope. In fact, I think I'll get my chance soon enough.
Odd: [doubtful] Riiight.
William: Speak of the time, I've got to get going. I don't want anything going wrong today.
[William leaves. Sam finishes getting her bag out of her locker and closes it.
Without even turning to face one another…]
Odd: Who did you bet on?
Sam: Who did you?
Sam and Odd: Ulrich.
Odd: [matter of fact] It's his game to win.
[The shuttle pulls up to the huge gates at Kadic. Jeremy, Aelita, and Laura step off and go to the gates. They all had changed back into their normal clothes.
Jeremy had fair long hair that is long enough that it's obvious he hasn't had it cut in a long time. He has rectangular glasses, a wrist watch and a tan canvas shoulder bag on. He had changed into his usual outfit. Tan cargo pants and a sky blue button up short sleeve shirt. He also wore blue slip ons.
Aelita had her pink hair in a pixie cut. She was wearing a dark red jacket with short pink sleeves. It had pink fur on the fringes of its collar. She had a white blouse under her jacket, a pink skirt, a black sash belt to hold her skirt in place and tall red zip up boots with white fax fur cuffs. On her left wrist there was a smart watch with a pink strap. It's obvious that Aelita is trying to walk fast to get ahead of Laura while pulling Jeremy along with her.
Laura had long blond hair she wore in a bun and draped the long ends over each of her shoulders. She liked to wear a bright green button up jacket, which she kept open to show a white button up shirt. Also, she had a black skirt and green shoes. She did have tiny green earrings and a tan leather shoulder bag she kept her tablet laptop in.
Just as they enter the gates another vehicle, a limo, pulls up. Someone in a suit steps out and looks at the three geniuses entering the school.]
[Cut to a hallway in the school. A girl caught Ulrich's attention. It was Sissi. She was wearing a short pink crop top with yellow heart on it. Her long black hair was held back with a thick yellow hairband, with a yellow heart logo, and pinned with, again, a red heart pin. The ends of her hair were still bleached from when she dyed it blond. She was wearing yellow earrings and a maroon skirt held in place by a rainbow braid belt. She had a manila dyed leather purse and white Mary Janes on her feet.]
Sissi: Hey Ulrich, I wanted to talk to you.
Ulrich: [uncomfortable] I'm really just to prepare for something coming up, so I'd like to be-
Sissi: Just shut up and let me talk for one minute. I know I was horrible to you and Yumi and the others in your group in the past.
Ulrich: That's great but-
Sissi: [snippy] Don't you know not to interrupt when a girl is apologizing to you? [sincere] I just wanted to say I'm sorry for that and that I'm glad that I'm getting along with Yumi and Aelita. And after talking with them I realized the person who I should be getting to forgive me is you.
[Ulrich leans in to get a closer look at Sissi's eyes]
Sissi: What are you doing?
Ulrich: Just making sure you aren't from another dimension or a shape shifting specter.
Sissi: Oh haha. I'm being nice so I can't be real?
Ulrich: I guess things change for the better.
Sissi: So are we good?
Ulrich: Yeah.
Aelita: Oh, Sissi. You're here. Did you do it?
Sissi: [cheery] Ahuh.
Ulrich: Huh, I guess you two did make up. Now, I got to get going. If anything urgent comes up, I'll be in the woods.
Jeremy: Is he moping again?
Sissi: Meditating, I think.
Jeremy: Wow. Meditation in the woods. He doesn't take final exams this seriously.
Sissi: No one does but you, but that's beside the point. I bet on Ulrich for sure. You?
Jeremy: Ulrich. Only logical choice.
Aelita: [raises hand] Ditto.
[A red head girl with a scarf of the same hue around her neck appears around the corner of the pillar between the hallway and the courtyard.]
Milly: Ulrich here too.
[Her friend with black hair and braids soon follows. She was in a pink hoodie with a tall collar.]
Tamiya: Ulrich.
Aelita: Milly. Tamiya. Can we help you with something or do you just like to snoop?
Milly: Well, we do like to hear what people are talking about when they don't think anyone's around, but we actually wanted to talk to you Aelita.
Tamiya: Yeah, we had heard that you were going to reunite with your mother after being separated your entire life.
Aelita: [frustrated. She turns away from them.] That turned out to be a mistake.
[A man in a red track jacket with the school's crest on it and black sweatpants,Jim, lumbers up to the group. He was accessorized with his trademark bandage on his cheek and sweatband on his forehead.]
Jim: Stone. [Aelita turns around.] There's someone here to talk to you about meeting your mother. He's waiting in the principal's office. Come with me.
[Aelita looks to Jeremy with a pleading look. She wants him to do something. She leaves with Jim.]
Milly: [holds a mic up to Jeremy's face.] Jeremy, how does it feel to date a two-faced liar. Our viewers and listeners would love to know.
Jeremy: Don't you have a grudge match to document?
Tamiya: [remembers] He's right.
Milly: But this sounds like it could be a super scoop.
Tamiya: Okay, I'll get the Mrs. Einstein story and you take the match. [gives her the camera] Hiroki really wanted you for some reason.
Jeremy: That's not going to happen. I don't even know how I can listen on the conversation without Delmas's secretarynoticing.
Sissi: That's not an issue? [they turn to her.] I'll get Nicole out of the room.
[Cut to the school gymnasium. There are gym mats in a stack along one wall by the doors. There were windows along the wall to the right. The wall to the left had the bleachers and the far wall held doors to the locker room and boiler room. William is putting MMA gloves on near the bleachers. Hiroki is looking at a list of numbers on a tablet. The door to outside opens as Milly walks in.]
Milly: Another story came up, so Tamiya's not coming. Divide and conquer.
William: Wait. You said the only people who would know are you, me, and Ulrich.
Hiroki: Well, I did, but then I realized that you and Ulrich would probably argue over someone cheating so I figured that I should get someone experienced to document the entire thing, so we can have a final result once and for all.
William: That's …surprisingly thorough.
Milly: Let's record the intro now.
Hiroki: [clears throat] Well, you all know about the infamous love triangle in the school. Now, here to settle the score once and for all, Ulrich and William will duke it out to see which earns the right to one whole week with no interruption from the loser to ask out Yumi Ishiyama, my sister.
Milly: Good.
William: Why are you filming an intro if we're the only ones to ever see this.
Milly: [shrugs] It's good journalist practice.
[William moves to finish preparing.]
Hiroki: [whispers] So how long do you think it will take for word to get out?
Milly: [whispers] Knowing these three, tomorrow. So, I'll have the video uploaded by the day after.
William: [stands up concerned] Something is up? Ulrich should have been here by now. He isn't the kind of guy to miss something this big.
Hiroki: Especially this one.
Milly: He was doing some warm up in the woods before the match.
Hiroki: I'll go look for him.
[Cut to the interior office of the principal, Mr. Delmas. He is sitting at his desk and Graven is in the guest chain in front of him. Delmas had on his usual brown suit over his tan sweater vest. A good look against his full gray beard and hair and dark mustache. He had on rectangular was dressed in a simple black suit with a red pen in his breast pocket. Simple, sophisticated, to the point.]
Delmas: Well, I'm sorry that Mr. Tyron couldn't make the return trip. I at least would have thought her mother would want to see her after all this time.
Graven: [false smile] They are both obligated to oversee a project Deckard Industries has had in progress for sometime now. Luckily, its completion will be soon. Hopefully in time for her to be reunited with her daughter.
Delmas: I'm glad you could return to us so we could get this issue resolved once and for all. I do have some questions about the familial relation Mrs. Stone, Well, I guess that would be Mrs. Tyron now, has.
Graven: Completely understandable. I'm here to settle any discrepancies that may have arisen after all.
Delmas: Now it's my understanding that Aelita's mother Anthea has been married to Tyron for 4 years. But Aelita has been attending this academy under the permission of her cousin's family after they took her in from an orphanage. Yet when I tried to find the connection between Della Robbia and Schaeffer for the release papers, I couldn't find a thing.
Graven: [wanting the conversation to end] Unfortunately, there seems to have been a mix up regarding her paper work. Part of the reason it took so long to find her. It seems her father completely scrubbed all connections he had to aid in his disappearance.
Delmas: I see. [pressing the issue further] And why was she separated from her mother in the first place?
Graven: [carefully, as if reciting something he prepared in advance] What I've been told is that there were some disagreements between her father and Tyron. This was during a project all three of them worked on. Waldo and Aelita left the project without her mother. They disappeared after that and only reappeared when Anthea happened to spot a picture of the two of them before the separation.
[Delmas looks as if he wants to ask another question. Graven is looking strained to keep up the act. Delmas raises an eyebrow as if he doubts Graven's story. There's a knock on the door. Delmas relaxes.]
Delmas: [Drops his concerns] Ah, that would be them now. I'll leave you two with some privacy.
[Aelita can be seen with Jim behind her in the waiting room. Aelita enters the office. He and Jim then leave and Delmas shuts the door behind her. Both men exit out the main door and only the secretary is in the room at her desk. A second after they leave the room, the door opens and Sissi steps in.]
Sissi: Excuse me Nicole. I wanted to talk to you about Mr. Klotz. Well, I mean, I think YOU should talk to him.
[Cut to outside. Jeremy and Tamiya are watching the door from behind a pillar in the foir of the administrative building. They see the secretary leave. Sissi usurers them inside. They go to the principal's office door. Jeremy takes out a cylinder with an earbud attached. He hooks it in one ear and puts the cylinder to the door.]
Graven: [sets down a tablet on the desk in front of Aelita. Up pops a hologram of documents about Aelita.] These are forged documents for "Aelita stone". False birth certificate, false ID, false papers from the "orphanage" you're from. There is nothing true about you legally speaking. You don't exist.
Aelita: Is there a point to this non-existent history lesson?
Graven: Now, someone had to make these forgeries. Jeremy Belpois perhaps?
[Sissi and Tamiya, who both have different versions of the listening device (Sissi's is covered in sequence and a keychain decoration) turn to Jeremy. Jeremy lets out a little squeak at hearing his name dropped. Graven eyes the door. He sighs and takes a device out of his pocket. It's a round disk with a button on it. He clicks it once. Outside the door, Jeremy, Sissi, and Tamiya go from hearing the conversation inside to buzzing in their ears.]
Graven: Now, were this to happen, the only thing about you that can be confirmed, through DNA testing and what have you, is that you're Anthea Tyron's daughter. And Mr. Tyron has authorized me under his status as your "legal" guardian to remove you from this institution and return you to Deckard Inc. You have no say in this. This is entirely up to our discretion.
Aelita: [gruff] What do you want?
Graven: [smiles cruelly] Now we're understanding each other. You give me the location of Franz's supercomputer and we don't expose your fake identity.
[Aelita takes that in for a moment.]
Graven: [tries to reason with her] Your mother wants to see you. You heard her yourself. We could arrange a visit if you cooperate.
Aelita: And what stops you from going back on your end of the deal? How do I know she wasn't just reading lines?
Graven: Nothing and you don't.
Aelita: [frustrated and raising her voice] Why are you doing this?
Graven: [almost confused at how ridiculous her question is.] Did you think we would just leave you alone? [matter of fact.] You vandalized our company property. We don't care about you; we just want to be uninterrupted with our work. We're only asking for you to fix what you broke.
Aelita: We only infected your supercomputer to stop XANA. It attacks by activating towers. Since the Cortex and Lyoko are offline, XANA no longer has access to any towers on any compatible supercomputers on the global network and can't infect or disrupt any other systems. We aren't going to do anything else to you.
Graven: A bit drastic don't-
Aelita: We tried to warn Tyron about it, but he WOULDN'T LISTEN! [slams her hand on the table.] XANA is trapped. If he turns on his supercomputer without removing the virus, XANA will be destroyed. But if he removes the virus, XANA will be free to do whatever it wants.
Graven: [considers her version for a second] Currently, the only proof behind your story is offline. However, in your two previous conversations with Mr. Tyron, you're been adamant about this. I will admit he can be …
Aelita: Narcissistic?
Graven: Overbearing at times. He may not have believed children about something so dire. I however… am willing to listen.
Aelita: Even if I explain why we're doing what we're doing, you won't believe me. No one ever does.
Graven: I am the one adult you've ever met who will believe half of your life story. [dares her] Try me.
Aelita: My father built the Lyoko supercomputer & XANA to destroy Project Carthage.
Graven: [immediately interrupts] Why?
Aelita: [fires back] All I know about it was that it was an experiment to control communications systems around the world, but people were going to use it for evil. So it had to be stopped. But XANA went corrupt for some reason and then it got out and infected other supercomputers like your cortex. It created experiments with cyborg organisms and an army of robots to help it take over the world. My father helped us destroy it everywhere on the internet and on every device it infected.
Graven: Then how-
Aelita: [doesn't let him interrupt] But it held a part of itself in the cortex. It managed to survive by planting sources codes. It's already stolen back 95%. And when it gets 100% it will escape and take over the world.
Graven: [his face doesn't give anything away about his thoughts on the story] …A very interesting tale. But a few questions. First, how do you know it wants to take over the world? Are you judging that based on movie plots?
Aelita: It-
Graven: [he doesn't give Aelita a chance to answer.] And how do you know what will happen when it gains back 100% of its "source codes".
Aelita: I … uh… we know from experience.
Graven: Has any of those things you said will happen happened before?
Aelita: [realizes she's heading downhill] Well, no but-
Graven: So, all you have are assumptions. [leans back from his straightened position. He's clearly at ease.] One last question. If this artificial intelligence-
Aelita: Multi-agent system. It's not one "thing". It's many that work collectively to make a whole.
Graven: Right, multi-agent system. If it's as intelligent as you make it out to be that it can invade any system on Earth and is capable of making such elaborate plans, then when was the last time you had a conversation with it?
Aelita: [it takes a second for her to comprehend what he just asked her, let alone answer] …What?
Graven: Talk. Have you ever talked with it?
Aelita: It… it isn't the type of thing you can call or text. It doesn't give anything away, it's too smart for that.
Graven: Have you ever tried?
Aelita: NO!
Graven: So, what you're saying is, you have no idea what XANA wants. You only have its actions to base your assumptions on. And you have no idea what will happen if it achieves its goals.
Aelita: [desperate] We can tell what it wants from what it's DONE. It just attacks people whenever it wants and it defies the laws of physics on a daily basis. [grasping at straws] It can manipulate electricity, control phenomenon of the earth and the weather, and reverse gravity. It can create specters, ghosts that shoot lightning. It can possess anyone, turn them invincible, and make them do anything it wants. It can bring trees, chemicals, the Earth itself alive and under its control. It's made a zombie virus. Yes, a zombie FREAKING virus, nanobot swarm, and deadly soundwaves all to try to kill the 6 of us. There's no limit to what it can do, and it only tries to hurt people. SO YES. I'M ASSUMING DESTROYING IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND!
[Graven tries to argue back but the sass queen has only just begun. She stands up and takes methodical steps around the desk toward Graven]
Aelita: I've walked away from death; I've seen machines made entirely for destruction. Experiments that are beyond human. Terrors that you can't comprehend. So, you go back to Tyron and tell him there is something bigger than just me or my friends lurking in his supercomputer. It's bigger than you, than him and it won't stop until-
[Her eyes go white and she falls back on the floor.]
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