Chapter 6:
Suspicions
Jeremy was working on programming the Megapod when he heard a knock at his room. When he opened the door he saw it was Aelita. Instantly, he grinned from ear to ear.
"Hi Aelita"
The girl entered the room and approached her friend, who was working frantically at the computer.
"So, have you finished the modifications for the Megapod?" Asked anxiously. "Are we going to be able to go back to the Cortex?"
"I still have some finishing touches to do, but if I keep going at this pace I think I'll have it done before lunch"
He wanted to go back to work at the Megapod, but Aelita's sad, worried expression wasn't lost on him. He got up from his seat and grabbed her hand, holding it gently. It was his way of telling her Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'll always be by your side. Aelita smiled and said what had been gnawing at her heart for weeks.
"Since I saw that picture of my father in there, I think about it all the time"
Jeremy nodded. He, too, was troubled by that image of Franz Hopper in the Cortex archives, but the first thing was to get to the Cortex core without killing themselves.
"I understand, but I won't let you go there without an adapted vehicle. Last time, Yumi could have died"
"Then when will we use it?"
"Patience" He still had things to do.
He continued typing on the computer and almost danced with excitement when he found the programming code he was looking for.
"Now!" He exclaimed without thinking, but immediately corrected himself. "I mean, after lunch"
Aelita smiled happily and hugged Jeremy, crushing the air out of him.
"I love you, you're the best!"
"It's crazy!" Exclaimed Odd. "You mean that hurricane blew through the whole villiage of your relatives"
Ulrich, Odd, Selina and Yumi were sitting on a bench in the courtyard, and could hardly believe Yumi's news of the hurricane that had ravaged her home of origin.
"And other towns in Japan as well" Continued Yumi. "I'm sick about it. My cousin's school was torn to pieces. I really want to do something to help them"
"Like what?" Ulrich asked, having no idea what to do. "Against XANA I know what to do… but storms are not really my thing"
"Ulrich, not everything is about the virtual world. The real world needs us too"
"I've got a great idea!" Exclaimed Odd. "What about auctions? Every girl at school would fight to me and you…"
"What you have is a lot of nerve, you are a scavenger vulture" Selina complimented him. "But that aside, I have to say that the auction isn't a bad idea" Then she turned to Yumi. "I think to help your cousin you could throw a benefit party at the school to raise money to rebuild the school and help the hurricane victims"
Yumi grinned from ear to ear. It was at those moments when she wanted nothing more than to hug Selina for her ideas.
A sound of footsteps startled her. When she turned around she saw that it was Jeremy and Aelita. The latter was smiling so brightly that it seemed as if her face was going to split in two.
"Are you ready?" Announced the pinkette excitedly. "We will finally go to the Cortex!"
"Come on Einstein, tell me that my favorite little tubby is finally ready!" Odd said, excited.
"Totally! You'll see all the great things I added"
"But… I really want to do something for Japan" Yumi whispered, worried.
"Obviously" Aelita replied, sympathetically. "But we really need to go back to the Cortex"
William got up from the bench.
"And what if Yumi doesn't go with us?"
"Are you serious?" Asked Ulrich.
"Well, there's only four places on the Megapod, true?"
Jeremy nodded, understanding what the dark-haired boy meant.
"It's true, you're not all forced to come"
"Ok so I'll stay here then!" Yumi replied, grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks guys!"
Aelita nodded and then turned to Selina.
"Do you want to come with us or would you rather stay at school?"
The girl bit her lip. As much as she wanted to go to the lab and keep an eye on the mission at Cortex, she felt much more useful staying at school and helping Yumi set up the party.
"I think I'll stay at school to give Yumi a hand with the party stuff. However, if during the mission you come across something complicated, like a data packet that you can't decipher, call me, I'm on my way"
"Okay" The girl got up, but before leaving she turned to Selina. "One more thing: don't even think about using your powers unless it's a life or death situation. That even though your methods are quite effective, if you fry the school's electronics again, the principal is going to call in the Ghostbusters team"
"Don't worry, Aelita. Nothing is going to happen.
You don't believe that yourself.
As Jeremy, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and William walked through the factory, Odd kept peppering Jeremy with questions about the Megapod upgrades.
"So what are the modifications?"
"I improved the direction, uploaded the suspension bio-particles and strengthened the power of the engine if we ever need to put on the turbo"
Ulrich asked the million-dollar question.
"And if we are attacked?"
"I added a cannon"
"You rock, dude"
"Guys!" Aelita exclaimed as they headed up the elevator. "We will talk about modifications later"
At Kadic Academy, Yumi was presenting the case of the hurricane that had devastated Japan to Principal Delmas. He was a man in his fifties, who looked like a mix between Santa Claus and a Neanderthal man.
"So… to finance the reconstruction, I thought it would be a good idea to organize a party in the gymnasium" Yumi finished explaining.
"It's not a good idea"
Yumi's heart sank.
"What? No, you can't, I mean…"
"It's an excellent idea, miss Ishiyama" He exclaimed proudly. "Let me check when the gymnasium is free…" He looked at his agenda. "Volleyball, gym, dance, bridge. I guess that the only time slot for you is… tonight!"
"Tonight? It's impossible I'll never have the time…"
"I'm sure that sirs Stern, Belpois, and Della Robbia will be glad to help you"
The problem was that Jeremy, Odd and Ulrich were on a mission to Cortex. She had to get a party going before nightfall. But something was better than nothing.
"Alright then, thanks Mr. Delmas"
She said goodbye to the director and left the office. Outside, Selina was waiting for her.
"Well, what did the principal say?"
"We have to have the party ready before tonight"
Selina bit her lip. Although Aelita had forbidden her to use her powers unless absolutely necessary, she could make an exception to help set up the party. After all, she wasn't about to take on a swarm of specters either.
"Don't worry. If you're facing a psychotic AI almost every day, throwing a party in a matter of hours is going to be a no-brainer"
The elevator doors opened and Aelita, William, Odd and Ulrich entered the scanner room. There were only three scanners, so William handed over to Aelita.
"After you, Aelita"
"Thanks, you're a gentleman"
Ulrich shook his head, annoyed.
"What a showoff…"
From the lab, Jeremy explained the latest developments in the virtualization process.
"I fiddled with some virtual peripheral devices, they are going to allow you to throw away the data of the dome directly in the supercomputer. Settle down, I launched the virtualization"
"Hurry up Jeremy" Aelita said from the scanner.
Jeremy typed on the keyboard and started the virtualization process.
"Scanner Aelita, Ulrich, Odd. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Virtualization"
A few seconds later Aelita, Odd and Ulrich were in Sector 5. William virtualized shortly thereafter, nearly squishing Ulrich.
"Hey, could you not be more careful?!"
"Calm down, nobody died"
Aelita snorted. They couldn't waste their time with stupid arguments.
"That's enough, let's go"
They dashed down the hallway and in a matter of minutes reached the elevator. In no time at all they had reached the hangar.
Shortly thereafter, the Skid was in the Digital Sea. Aelita keyed in the control panel and the ship moved into position.
"I'll activate super speed" Announced Jeremy.
A few seconds later, the Skid activated the turbo jets and shot off into the darkness.
The door to the gym opened and Jim, Yumi and Selina walked in with a bunch of stuff for the party. As they loaded the stuff, Jim bragged about one of his adventures before he became a gym teacher at Kadic Academy.
"Ah, this reminds me of the time I took charge of the Rolling Stones's tour"
Yumi frowned. The name rang a bell, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Rolling Stones, is it a band?"
"Yep, I even made their whole tour in Europe, something crazy. But I'd rather not talk about it"
Selina nudged Yumi, smiling mischievously.
"No wonder the teacher keeps it so quiet" She said with a chuckle. "The Rolling Stones were famous for sprees that laugh you at those of Sodom and Gomorrah. The guy, among other things, must be a hypnotist. Because otherwise, I can't explain how he got the principal to give him a job as a gym teacher at school"
Jim, who had heard her, turned into a tomato when he understood what she was implying.
"Girl, watch your mouth" He growled trying to show authority, but all he got was a snicker from Selina.
The teacher set down a box full of electronic equipment in a corner of the gym and gave Yumi a friendly pat.
"So… The only thing left to do is… do it"
Jim left and closed the door, leaving Yumi and Selina with the task of preparing the party in just one afternoon.
"Yep, let's do it" Muttered Yumi.
The Skid emerged from the Digital Sea and approached the surface of Cortex. Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and William were energized in no time. Now it was Jeremy's turn to prepare the cab for them.
"Here we go, the new Megapod is ready!" Announced the blond genius.
The Megapod materialized in a flash, but William wasn't entirely convinced.
"I have the feeling it's the same… isn't it?" He turned to Ulrich. "You wanted him to update the body, and what next?! Don't exaggerate"
While Ulrich and William were throwing each other barbs Odd, his eyes twinkling, approached the Megapod.
"Come here my little tubby on castors. I'll pilot you like you've never been piloted"
This comment caused Ulrich and William to stop teasing each other, at least for the time being.
"What?" Said the brunette, frowning. "Why would it be you?"
"I agree with Ulrich" Replied William. "It should be me…"
Aelita, fed up, cut the discussion short.
"I vote for Odd. He practices all the time with his video game"
"You're right!" He said euphorically. "I improve like a boss in Galactic Destructor. I rock"
"I saw you're high scores, you're definitely the best" Jeremy seconded, giving him a thumbs up. "I'll give you the control. Transfer"
In an instant, they were inside the Megapod, with Aelita in the co-pilot seat and Ulrich and William in the back seats, like little kids.
"Thanks Einstein, I was waiting for it for too long. You'll see, I'll be perfect"
"Are we going or do you intend to speak for an hour?" Snarked Ulrich.
For all response, Odd took the controls and put the pedal to the metal. The Megapod rocketed across the surface of Cortex. Just then, there was the familiar sound of a ship's horn indicating that the ground was about to change in a big way. A gap opened up in the ground, but Odd gripped the controls tightly, knowing what was to come.
"Watch out, things are going to shake!"
The Megapod jumped the pothole with no problem, but in the process headed off a cliff. Unable to brake, the vehicle plunged into the void, only to land a few seconds later on the platform below. Shortly thereafter, it slammed sideways into a wall, stopping at once.
"Isn't it a sport?" Odd exclaimed, once they were able to catch their breath.
"If you say so…" William mumbled, his guts churning.
Odd glared at him and turned his attention back to the Megapod. He hit the gas and entered a passageway on the left, but just a few meters from the exit, the tunnel began to close.
"Wait, it's not over yet" Warned Aelita.
Odd, undeterred in the slightest, put the pedal on the metal and shot through the tunnel like an arrow, emerging outside just as the passageway closed.
Jeremy shook his head, amazed. Certainly, video games were great training for driving virtual vehicles.
"Great guys, but be careful"
Said and done. The walls of Cortex began to close in, but Odd, determined to get to the core, sped the Megapod into a tunnel whose walls were closing dangerously, about to crush the vehicle.
"Do something or we are going to end up in pieces!" Shouted Ulrich, terrified.
"Hold on, I'll handle this"
Odd took the controls and the Megapod shot off like a rocket. The increasing pressure from the tunnel walls caused the vehicle, instead of being blasted out of the tunnel, to be spat out of the tunnel, ending up on a platform in front of the core. A few skids later, the Megapod finally came to rest.
Odd stuck out his chest, proud. He was definitely a much better driver than Yumi.
"So, who's the best?"
William looked at him in amazement. Decidedly, when it came to breaking all the rules of driving, Odd was the best. But in those moments, he felt his heart tangled in his duodenum and his head spinning like a top.
"You're a psycho, Odd!"
"Well then next time take the bus"
At Kadic Academy, Yumi and Selina were trying to recruit students to help them set up the benefit party before nightfall, but apparently no one was interested in helping them. That I had a math test, that my parents wouldn't let me go out at night. The thing was that there was no way.
Things weren't going much better for Selina. She must have asked half the school, but all she got was denials. Disappointed, she turned around, but she was so deep in thought that she practically bumped into someone.
"Selina, watch where you're going!"
The redhead looked at the girl she had almost run over and instantly smiled. It was her friend Laura. The blonde must have noticed her worried expression, because she asked her:
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Yumi and I are trying to enlist the help of classmates to help us put on a party to raise money to help the victims of the hurricane that hit Japan, who, by the way, has relatives there. But so far all we've gotten are refusals"
"If you want I can help you"
"Are you serious?"
"It's been a while since I finished my homework, and I have nothing else to do all afternoon" She shrugged. "We could take care of the audio-visual part of the party or something like that"
Selina, crazy with joy, hugged Laura.
"Thank you Laura, you are a treasure!"
The blonde tensed. She wasn't used to being treated so warmly, but Selina was one of those people who lavished affection in spades. So she couldn't help but return the hug.
"You're welcome, but we shouldn't claim victory yet. We need to find someone to take care of the decorations. And another person to take responsibility for the catering"
"Theo Gauthier is the best in Art, and Heidi Klinger is the daughter of some pastry chefs" She mused aloud. "Now, let's see how I convince them to help me if we have a Math test in three days"
"You're very good at math. I think you'll be able to come to an agreement with them"
"You're quite the scavenger vulture, Laura" Said the girl, smiling happily. "But it's clear that what works here is quid pro quo. I'm going to go find them, see if I can convince them to help out for the party"
She waved goodbye and ran down the hall to find Theo and Heidi. Laura watched her go with a distracted smile. She'd never had any friends before, Selina was her first, and she liked that warm, reassuring feeling she got whenever the redhead was around. But every now and then Laura wondered why she spent time with Jeremy's gang. To see if while she was helping to set up the party could pry the truth out of Selina.
After recovering from the scare produced by Odd's psychotic driving, they energized themselves outside the Megapod and began walking toward the core. William frowned. The hatches that gave access to the interior of the core were closed.
"Ok, how does it open?" He asked Aelita.
"The last time it was oppened during a shock"
"And when we need it, there it's not" Odd snorted. "Of course"
They continued walking until they were in front of the entrance. Aelita took a deep breath and decided to trust her instinct. She put her hands on the gates and concentrated with all her strength. She wanted them to open up, to open up...
A bluish light enveloped her and a tremor ran through the gates, opening before the astonished gaze of Odd, Ulrich and William.
"What the heck?"
At Odd's amazed comment, Jeremy checked what had happened and could hardly believe it.
"It's weird, it looks like… Aelita activated the opening"
"And what if this door had simply been created by my father?"
Ulrich turned to her, puzzled.
"You think so?"
William, knowing that Aelita was about to lose herself in ramblings about whether or not her father was responsible for XANA's rebirth, decided to cut to the chase.
"The last time you went in the dome, you saw a picture of your father, didn't you?"
"Yes"
"Then why can't we stay here, the answers to your questions are inside" He sentenced, before walking through the entrance into the core.
"Incredible" Whispered William. "The place is mind-blowing"
Aelita had been inside the core once before, but she was still just as amazed as Ulrich, Odd and William. And they had every reason to do so. The interior of the Cortex core was a huge black sphere with walls lined with obelisk-shaped protrusions. Many metal platforms surrounded a glowing orb of light that seemed to contain all the colors of the rainbow, and gave the room a soft bluish light.
For once in his life, Ulrich agreed with William. Cortex's core possessed an absolutely rapturous beauty.
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that"
"Look, the console!" Aelita exclaimed, pointing to a platform many meters below. "It's there that we need to put the virtual keys Jeremy made"
Ulrich, sensing Aelita's concern and fear, put a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Aelita. You don't have any reason to be worried, your dad is a good guy"
"Yeah" Added Odd. "He even sacrificed himself to let us destroy XANA"
Jeremy, always prioritizing logic over emotions, brought the conversation back to the objective that had brought them there.
"I 100% agree with you. With the information you'll get, you'll see that he has nothing to do with XANA's return"
"I hope you're right Jeremy" Said Ulrich, gloomy.
"Here are your peripheral devices" A golden card materialized in their hands. "Go on"
Odd watched his card and Aelita activated her wings.
"I'll go" She said before flying to the platform where the interface was located.
Ulrich, Odd and William jumped onto the platform several meters below, and then jumped to the nearest plataform.
"Hop!" Odd exclaimed, as he jumped from platform to platform. "I love to play leapfrog"
From the lab, Jeremy kept an eye on the mission's progress. Let's see if this time they could collect the necessary information and thus decipher the mystery of Cortex's creation. A beeping sound startled him.
"Watch out, something's happening!"
Aelita, who was about to insert the card into the interface, was startled to hear a rumbling sound that vibrated everything inside the core. One of the obelisks that lined the wall shot out and collapsed the platform where Aelita was standing, making her fall into the void.
By sheer miracle, in the fall she managed to hold on with one hand to the edge of a lower platform. William's heart recovered a few beats when he saw that Aelita was safe, at least for the moment.
"Quick, we need to catch her!"
Odd took off running across the platform, but another obelisk shot out and devirtualized him on the spot.
"Oh no, Odd!"
Ulrich could hardly regret his friend's fate, because in a matter of seconds, another obelisk devirtualized him.
William, seeing what had happened to Odd and Ulrich, used his Supersmoke to reach the platform from which Aelita was hanging without risking an obelisk coming out of nowhere and devirtualizing him. He regained his human form and held out his hand to Aelita.
"I got you"
The scanners opened and Odd and Ulrich came out looking like they had a tummy ache. It had all happened so fast that they hadn't had time to react, but now Odd wanted to slap himself for being a jerk.
"We're idiots"
Ulrich shook his head. What was done was done. There was no use regretting it.
"We were taken by surprise, that's all" He called the elevator and turned to Odd. "Come on, maybe we can help Jeremy"
The Cortex core had entered anti-intruders mode. The platform from which Aelita was hanging was vibrating dangerously, and had William not been holding her by the arm tightly, she would have fallen. As she turned her head she saw that an obelisk was about to shoot out of the wall.
"William!"
William wasted no time. Just before the obelisk shot out and devirtualized him, he threw Aelita as far as he could. The pinkette watched helplessly as the boy was devirtualized, but before ending up impaled on one of the obelisks that covered the wall, she activated her wings and flew back to the platform where she was.
Aelita landed on the platform and put the card in the interface, which swallowed it like an ATM. She then flew towards the entrance of the core, exiting that chamber of death. In the lab, everyone was euphoric.
'She made it!" Exclaimed Ulrich in relief.
"That's good, it's downloading" Said Jeremy, without taking his eyes off the screen.
"We were so lucky" Odd commented, thinking about how quickly he and Ulrich were devirtualized.
Ulrich, having very fresh in his mind the memory of Aelita consumed with worry as to whether or not his father was involved in the creation of Cortex, turned to Jeremy.
"Can you think of something to reassure Aelita?"
"I hope so, I got a lot of data to analyze"
At that moment the elevator door opened and William entered the lab, who was greeted with cheers. Had it not been for his quick thinking, Aelita would not have been able to access the Cortex data.
"You were great dude!" Exclaimed Odd.
"I've been trapped too"
"Yeah but without you Aelita wouldn't have succeeded. Bravo!" He smiled from ear to ear. "It's great how you're good when you're not playing solo"
At Kadic, preparations for the party were going smoothly. Selina had managed to convince Theo and Heidi to help with the party preparations, and the gym was now a whirlwind of activity. As they were setting up the sound system for the party, Laura asked the question that had been gnawing at her for so long.
"Hey, what are you and Jeremy up to?"
Selina, who was discreetly using her powers to fix the speakers, nearly fried the circuits from fright.
"What do you mean?"
"I've seen you talking to Jeremy and his gang over the last few days. Are you playing consultant to him on his top-secret video game?"
Selina nearly sighed in relief. Between Laura being suspicious about her secretly helping Jeremy with the creation of an online video game and her being the trainee assistant on missions in a dangerous virtual world, she preferred the first option a million times over.
"Damn, you got me!" She snorted. "Yeah, the other day I found him about to wreck the computer because he had a big fat programming bug and was about to lose all the work he'd done up to that point. I managed to fix it, and he told me I could be his research assistant"
Wow, you're a good liar.
"And why didn't you tell me before?"
Selina lowered her head, embarrassed.
"I was afraid you'd get jealous and no longer want to be my friend" This last she said from the bottom of her heart.
Laura let go of the mixing desk and grabbed her tightly by the shoulders.
"Selina, I will never be jealous of the friends you make. And I'm very angry, but not because you weren't helping Jeremy with his video game behind my back, but because you would think something like that would make us stop being friends" The blonde wasn't very good at expressing her emotions, but for Selina she was willing to do her best. "I know the definition of a friend, but I never knew what it really was until I met you. And having you as a friend is so much better than what the definition said. You are the first friend I ever had, and you will always be special to me. But that should never stop you from having other friends"
The redhead, touched, smiled and hugged her friend, who hugged her back. Laura separated and gave her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder.
"And now back to work, we still have a lot to do!"
Back in the relative safety of Sector 5, Aelita was still pondering the unknown contained in the data they had obtained in Cortex. Was Franz Hopper the creator of XANA's new home? Jeremy's voice startled her.
"Aelita. Aelita?"
"You found something?"
"Listen. It's the data. Aelita, the data of the supercomputer containing the Cortex"
"What?" She was consumed by anxiety and worry. "What does it have?"
"It's quantum"
"Like the one of my father?"
Jeremy took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say this.
"Not like the one of your father, it's the same. Exactly the same"
That made Aelita's heart jolt, as if she had been shocked with a defibrillator.
"No I can't believe you. Why would my father do this?" She took a step back. The room was spinning in wild circles. "A supercomputer that XANA could use to come back? It's a nightmare…"
"Sorry. It doesn't make sense, but I'll keep searching the data. Take your time to come back if you want"
Aelita dropped to the ground and looked around. The labyrinth of Sector 5 seemed to want to absorb her distress.
"Dad? Is it you who has done this? It's you who created this machine?" Whispered, heartbroken. "Answer me, please… Was it you who has allowed XANA's return?"
Thanks to the hard work of Yumi, Selina, Laura, Theo and Heidi managed to set up the party before dark. The only thing missing was for the students to arrive.
Yumi plopped down on the bench, exhausted but satisfied. They had made it. Selina approached, two steaming glasses in her hand.
"Here, I bought you some hot chocolate. You're so pale you look like a bucket of bleach has been dumped on you"
Yumi chuckled at her friend's comparison. She lifted the glass to her lips and almost moaned with pleasure as she savored the hot chocolate.
"By the way, I'm going to be off duty for a few days" Selina explained. "It turns out that in exchange for helping with the party, I have to help Theo and Heidi prepare for next week's math exam, so I won't be able to come by the lab for a few days"
"That's okay, you've already helped us a lot. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been able to set up the party" She put a hand on her shoulder. "You should really give some time to yourself"
They were quiet for a few moments, enjoying their hot chocolate, until Yumi's voice broke the silence.
"I didn't know you were so good at choosing songs for the playlist and making mixes of songs. Have you ever gone to music lessons or anything like that?"
Selina blushed and took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"At my old school I had Music as an elective, but the whole making proper playlists and mixing songs thing I learned it on my own. No big deal" She didn't notice Yumi's look of disbelief, and continued to explain her dreams. "I'd like to become a singer someday, but every time I tell my mom I want to go into music she tells me that doing covers and songwriting isn't going to feed me..."
There was a trace of sadness in his voice. Yumi realized that she didn't know much about Selina. Sure, she knew what the redhead was like: kind, smart, sarcastic and brave, but she had no idea who she was. From what little she had told Yumi in their talks about Harry Potter, she knew that she was an only child and that she had a somewhat strained relationship with her parents. But nothing more. She didn't know what her life was like at her old school, or what her reasons were for moving as a boarder at Kadic. Her past was like a blank slate.
But she could not reflect too much on it. A tune straight out of the 1980s startled her and she watched as Selina pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Jeremy, what happened?"
"Selina, could you come to the lab?" The girl put the cell phone on speakerphone so that Yumi could also hear the conversation. "Aelita and I discovered a heavily encrypted data packet. We've been trying every decryption program you can think of and nothing"
"That data may hold the key to who Cortex's creator is, doesn't it?"
"That's what we believe. The problem is that it's heavily encrypted and it's impossible to access. But I know you can do it"
Selina bit her lip, holding back a smile. She knew perfectly well that Jeremy was more than aware of her abilities, and although she was a little tired from the party preparations, the prospect of dusting off her data decryption skills sent a tingle of excitement throughout her body.
"I'm coming right now"
She hung up and jumped to her feet. Yumi stood up and threw the glass in the trash. She too had the incognita about Cortex's creator on her mind, but she had nowhere near the same twinkle in her eyes as Selina. And it's that the redhead couldn't resist a challenge.
The elevator doors opened and Yumi and Selina entered the lab. The latter looked very upbeat, as if she had had a dozen cokes.
"Thanks for coming!" Jeremy exclaimed. He had spent so much time trying to decipher the encrypted data to no avail that he had his head ringing.
Selina walked over and stared at the myriad of source codes.
"Where do you want me to start?"
Jeremy typed for a few moments and some sort of video appeared on the screen.
"By this" He explained. "The file is pretty messed up, but I could hear some loose phrasing. I think it might give us the key to who Cortex's creator is"
Selina glanced sideways at Aelita, who had just returned from Lyoko. She knew that her father was the creator of Lyoko, and considering the similarities Cortex had to Lyoko, there was a good chance that Franz Hopper created the virtual world that allowed XANA to survive. That video could ease Aelita's conscience and clear up the mystery of Cortex once and for all.
Jeremy rose from his seat and gave the seat to Selina. The girl sat down and looked intently at the corrupted video. Since the age of eight, the first time she had had access to a computer, she had been able to decode any corrupted or encrypted file. No one had taught her, she simply knew how to do it, the same way one knows how to breathe or speak.
She began to decode the video. The file was a mess, but for Selina, it was no more complicated than solving a 30-piece puzzle. After a few minutes, both the sound and the image looked perfect. She pressed play and the voices of two men were heard as clearly as if they were in the lab.
The video showed a kind of office in which two men were arguing loudly. One of them was Franz Hopper. He looked very angry.
"Bring out the codes Tyron! The instructions were clear..."
The other man, with a round face and saffron-colored curls, looked at him with a smirk.
"I wasn't going to sell them. Calm down"
"You want to use them for your own interest!"
Aelita frowned, puzzled. It was her father, and he was really angry. Who was the other man, and what were they talking about? Selina gave him a half-smile, along the lines of We'll have to watch the rest of the video to find out.
She turned her focus back to the video. After a few seconds she got the answer.
"Those plans weren't supposed to be brought out of the vault! My instructions were clear"
"It's only you, Hopper, who should think bigger. You're a small ambitionless guy"
Franz gritted his teeth so hard it felt like he was going to pop out a filling.
"You're not worthy of participating in my research! You don't belong, anymore, on my team!" Seeing Tyron's sly grin, he snarled. "You're unable to work without my supercomputer!"
Franz stormed out of the office and slammed the door shut. The other man, Tyron, shook his head, a look of pure malice painted on his face.
"You're way too naïve, Mr. Hopper"
The video ended. Jeremy blinked, trying to take in what he had just seen. He looked at Aelita, who had been relieved of a weight on his heart.
"Well, now we're sure. Your father's not responsible for XANA's return. The one who betrayed him is behind this. It's..."
"Tyron" Aelita interrupted him. "His name is Professor Tyron"
Selina closed the video and went to work on the rest of the data. It was heavily encrypted, but if there was one thing Selina was damn good at, it was decrypting data. A quarter of an hour later, she had all the data clean, and ready to read.
"All yours Jeremy, because I don't understand a damn thing it says here"
Selina got up from her seat, partly to give Jeremy room, and partly so she could be at some distance from the rest of the group, as she felt the blood run cold in her veins and didn't want anyone to notice. Franz Hopper's face sounded vaguely familiar, as if she had seen him in a dream. However, Professor Tyron inspired in her a terrible, almost ancestral fear, as if he were the stuff of her worst nightmares. She inhaled deeply, trying to anchor herself to the real world. She hated those panic attacks that seemed to come out of nowhere and that she couldn't control. She hated losing control, whether it was of her mind or her powers.
By sheer force of will, she managed to calm her body and soul. Jeremy's exclamation of surprise brought her back to the real world.
"Jeremy, what have you found?" Murmured Aelita. "You look pale"
"No wonder XANA survived by hiding in Cortex. I'm sure it even mistook the place for Lyoko"
"Why do you say that?"
"According to the data, Tyron stole your father's research and used it to build Cortex. Structurally speaking, Cortex and Lyoko are identical: a virtual reality that is organized around a core"
Ulrich blinked, as if trying to remember something.
"As an invasive species" He turned to Odd and Selina. "Remember Mrs. Hertz's class on ecological niches and invasive species?"
"I think so" The blond replied. "You take a tiny little crocodile from Egypt, then when you get tired of it you flush it down the toilet and that's why the sewers of New York are full of albino crocodiles"
Everyone snorted at Odd's comment, but Selina nodded, understanding what the boy meant.
"That's a really weird analogy, but I know what Odd is talking about. XANA was exiled from his original home, Lyoko, and managed to survive by turning you into his Horcruxes, but other than that, he was completely powerless. He needed an optimal environment to thrive, and that environment was Cortex, almost identical to Lyoko" To Jeremy's stunned gaze, she continued speaking. "Once there, he was able to regain his strength to the point where he once again took over Lyoko and launched attacks again. Lyoko is at the moment, the only place from which he can launch attacks, but his lair is located in Cortex"
Jeremy was dumbfounded. He couldn't have explained it better himself. That girl was really sharp. Yumi's voice broke the silence.
"Invasive species aside, did you know that your father worked with someone on the creation of the Supercomputer?"
Aelita shook her head.
"I've never seen that man before in my life" She turned to Jeremy. "Do you think Tyron was a scientist involved in the Carthage project?"
What we call brainstorming. A hurricane of theories. Let's see who can come up with the biggest one, let's see who can get it right.
When they returned to school, it was almost dark. The party was about to begin. Everyone was itching to put the whole Cortex and Lyoko thing aside for a moment and enjoy a night out. They each went up to their rooms to change clothes. They could not show up in the clothes they had worn all day. Yumi and Selina were the last to go down to the party. Yumi wore a black tank top with a skull print, black skinny jeans, and ankle boots of the same color, all matching her raven hair. She had opted to keep her makeup light, though her eye shadow was the same color as the rest of her outfit.
Selina's look was much more elegant, as if she were going to a nightclub. She wore a maroon mini-dress, gladiator ankle boots, and her ubiquitous black leather jacket over her shoulders. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her eyes painted with black kohl, making them appear more blue and vibrant than usual.
As they entered the gym, they were assaulted by an avalanche of decibels. It was pure electronic music, vibrating every single cell in your body. And the disco ball lights turned the whole place into a neon paradise. The night was young and had just begun.
"Finally the hostesses are here!" Exclaimed Odd. "What the hell were you doing up there?"
Odd still had his usual spiky hair but was wearing a purple shirt, black jeans and black sneakers. He wasn't bad at all.
"Getting ready for the party" Replied Yumi. "And you're not the best one to talk about it, you've dressed up nicely. Do you have a girl in mind?"
"I'm not leaving here without dancing with Elodie" He answered, as he drained his glass of soda in one gulp. "Although either of you two could serve me for a dance" He snickered as he received a death glare from Ulrich. "I was kidding, dude!"
Ulrich was looking handsome too, in his olive shirt, black jeans and white sneakers, all highlighting his lean but muscular build. Yumi had the feeling that suddenly the air conditioning in the gym had broken down.
A slow song began to play. Yumi smiled tantalizingly at Ulrich, as if to say Shall we dance? but the boy was paralyzed. Every time he found himself in this kind of situation with Yumi, his brain stopped working.
"Odd, will you teach me how to dance a slow song?" Said the Japanese girl, grinning from ear to ear. "Ulrich doesn't seem willing to teach me"
The boy hold back a laugh and led her friend to the dance floor. Ulrich wanted to slap himself, for an idiot. Odd was quite the casanova, but Ulrich was absolutely incapable of flirting and when it came to taking hints he was a total disaster. Where did he get the courage to face XANA and her monsters in Lyoko if he couldn't cope with the stage fright he felt in Yumi's presence?
"Hey, can I talk to you alone for a moment?"
The boy blinked at the sound of William's voice. What did he want to talk about?
Puzzled, he motioned for him to go with him toward the drinks table. Away from prying eyes, William began to talk.
"Listen… I'm probably not the best person to tell you this but I think stop being so afraid of rejection and go talk to Yumi"
Ulrich almost choked on his drink, unable to believe what he was hearing. Had somebody spiked the punch?
"Yeah?" He replied cooly, doing his best to suppress the urge to run away. "Why do you think I should do this?"
Dude, you're officially an idiot. William thought. Repressing the urge to shake him like a salt shaker, he reorganized his thoughts and picked up the thread of the conversation.
"Listen, I know it's easier to fight on Lyoko than to cope with things like that but but you should accept the following: you care about her not only as a friend, and she also feels the same way about you"
"You've got to be kidding - are you serious? You have a crush with her. What are you looking for, then?"
William shook his head.
"I'm just fed up of being seen as the bad guy" He paused before continuing. "Believe it or not, Yumi only sees me as a friend. And yes, I'm in love with her, but I have no choice but to see her as a friend. And that's why it makes me angry that you, having the chance to have a relationship with her that is something more than friendship, throw it away because you're not able to admit it"
Ulrich stared blankly at him, an unamused look in his eyes.
"Are you quite done?"
William rolled his eyes and started to walk away towards the dance floor, but before leaving he turned to Ulrich.
"Just... forget your fears and ask Yumi to dance" He said, a smile finding its way onto his lips as he added. "And don't worry, you have the whole night ahead of you"
He walked towards the dance floor, ready to get drunk on the electronic music that was setting the air ablaze, and leaving behind a mortified Ulrich and his hanging jaw.
"Yumi, Selina, congratulations!" Shouted Odd, grinning like a madman. "That was the best party ever!"
It was close to 2:00 a.m. when the gang went up to the dormitories. Jeremy had taught Aelita how to dance to a slow song, Ulrich had worked up the courage to ask Yumi to dance, which she had gladly accepted. And Odd, besides being able to dance all he wanted with Elodie and more, had one too many sodas and now had such a sugar and caffeine rush that it seemed like he wouldn't sleep for a week.
"And it's going to be the worst night ever for Ulrich if you don't calm down a bit" Aelita commented, shaking her head in amusement. "Well, see you tomorrow"
They each went to their respective rooms. Odd held back a laugh as he watched Ulrich and Yumi's awkward goodbye. At least at the party he had gained quite a bit of confidence from dancing with Yumi, but how long would that moment last?
Selina watched the exchange with a half-smile. It had been a good night, no doubt, dancing with her new friends and generally having a good time, but she couldn't shake that feeling of dread that lurked in her heart. Ever since he had seen Franz Hopper arguing with that man, Tyron, she felt like a radar on high alert. She was scared, and it was an ancient, primal terror, the kind of fear that warns of impending danger.
She waved goodbye to her friends and went to the girls' bathroom. Even without makeup, she looked older than she really was. Although her appearance at first glance matched that of a fifteen-year-old girl, her eyes revealed a soul already in her twenties. Too much had happened since July: the "accident" that had almost killed her mother, the discovery of her powers, the move to Kadic, the revelation about XANA and Lyoko, and finally who was behind the creation of Cortex. All of this had caused her to mature by leaps and bounds, and there was barely a trace left of the happy-go-lucky teenager whose goals and interests barely went beyond getting decent grades to keep her parents happy and spending her free time drawing, programming video games and composing songs.
She went into her room and changed into her pajamas. After the events of the afternoon and evening Selina thought she would never fall asleep in a million years, but as soon as she turned off the light and closed her eyes she went out like a light.
She fled through the forest at night, terrified. The howls seemed to come from everywhere. A pack of wolves was on her heels. They were after her and wanted to tear her to pieces.
She tripped over a branch and fell. When she sat up, she noticed that her hands were soaked with a thick liquid. She felt the unmistakable iron smell of fresh blood.
When she looked up she saw that the blood was coming from a shapeless silhouette under a tree. She approached the silhouette, thinking it might be the carcass of a deer or something similar, but when the moonlight illuminated the body, she saw that it was a human being. Horrified, she took a step back. A young woman in her early twenties was staring at her, her blue eyes lost in the void. She wore a white dress in which a huge stain of fresh blood stood out on her chest.
Frightened but determined, she approached the woman, to find out if she was alive. The girl brushed her fingers against the woman's neck when...
"Selina, get out of here!"
She turned around. A young man dressed in black approached her, concern written all over his face. In reality, he must have been about Selina's age, but his eyes and movements said otherwise.
"Selina, you have to get out of here!" The boy shouted. "He killed Maya and he'll kill you for the sake of getting your power!"
Selina looked frightened at the corpse of the woman lying on the ground.
"Who killed Maya?"
A howl startled her. From one moment to the next the wolves were going to pounce on them.
"Maya died because she refused to give her soul to the phoenix. The wolf wishes to devour your body, but the phoenix will devour your soul"
Several wolves appeared from among the trees and pounced on the boy. He tried to defend himself with his bare fists, but couldn't prevent the largest of the pack from coming out of hiding and going after Selina.
The girl shrieked in terror and tried to escape, but the wolf jumped on her and pinned her to the ground. Selina thought wolves had golden eyes, but this one had blue eyes, as cold as a block of ice. The animal bared its bloody teeth and roared, ready to rip the redhead's face off. She was about to be devoured...
"Nooooo!" She screamed, her eyes widening. Her muscles were cramped, her sheets were soaked and her forehead was pearly with a cold sweat. With shaking hands, Selina rubbed her eyes awake. It was a nightmare... Just a nightmare... A nightmare that felt bone-chillingly real.
She looked around her. The moonlight illuminated the room with a soft silvery glow and as she looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand she saw that it was four in the morning.
Unable to fall asleep again, Selina got out of bed and walked over to the desk. She opened her sketchbook and turned a few pages until she found what she was looking for. She hadn't seen Maya for months, but that night her face reappeared with terrifying intensity. Since she was very young, that woman appeared to her in dreams and nightmares, like an angel of death. Selina called her Maya, which meant "good mother", because although her visits were quite disturbing, from time to time she offered her comfort and affection, like a mother.
In a matter of minutes, Selina had drawn her dream: the wolves chasing her, Maya's lifeless body under the tree, and finally the boy's face. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the boy, with his tousled blond hair, his bright blue eyes and dimpled smile.
If Maya was the angel of death, that boy was her guardian angel. Although she had only seen him in dreams, Selina considered him her closest friend. Every time she had a nightmare, that boy would appear, protecting her or helping her escape from the monsters that haunted her. But that night he had come to warn her. The question was, from whom?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't find an answer. Exhausted, she closed the sketchbook and went back to bed. But as she tried to fall asleep, she remembered the boy's words.
The wolf wishes to devour your body, but the phoenix will devour your soul.