( Code Total Drama Reality Introduction Song Starts )
( No Pain No Game (From Btoom!) )
(The ending of this story)
The song starts, showing the end of Code Lyoko where the Supercomputer is shut down and the former Lyoko Warriors leave the factory seemingly for the last time.
(I will hold it close as I wonder so aimlessly)
A single computer is shown coming online, lines of 1s and 0s streaming across the screen before the screen is replaced by a glowing sphere with the Eye of XANA, at least eight variations appearing on it. From the sphere came lines of data emerging in eight different directions. The lines of data formed into various regions, all of them floating landscapes resembling a forest, a desert, an arctic, mountains, volcanoes, swamp and a jungle.
(Into this new world)
The new lands orbited the golden sphere as the camera zoomed in on the Eye of XANA staring at the screen.
(The game has only just begun)
The Eye then flashes red, and the sphere turns black.
(I can see it in your eyes)
A girl with pink hair sits on her bed, panting as she turns to see two pictures of her friends and her father. She smiles briefly but that smile turns to a look of horror as both her friends and her father are engulfed by a great darkness and the red Eye shines down on her. The Supercomputer, thought to be shut down, is reactivated and there is a flash of light.
(This is where tomorrow brings a new game)
Aelita is shown alone both in the real world and in Lyoko, hordes of monsters surrounding her.
Geoff is first shown in his human form before transitioning to his Lyoko form.
Next to him is Bridgette, holding her surfboard in the real world before changing into her Lyoko form, her board splitting into two swords.
(It's time to learn that pain is gain)
Gwen is shown sitting in front of tree, looking up and is instantly changed into her Lyoko Avatar, brandishing her scythe.
DJ is shown in the woods, tending to a little rabbit as he stands up and morphs into his Lyoko form, turning to face the camera with a stern glare.
LeShawna is last, ready to fight in both her human form and her Lyoko form.
(Ready fight!)
William and a dark reflection of himself as XANA's General are shown standing back-to-back, turning to face each other and swinging their swords.
The screen is split by the two swords, showing New Lyoko as the title appears:
CODE: TOTAL DRAMA REALITY
(I gotta crush and paint away the anguish)
Aelita is shown first, sitting at the computer before she is then shown as the DJ of a party. She morphs into her Lyoko form and conjures an energy field.
This was followed quickly by Geoff wildly waving his hat while riding something with Bridgette holding onto him by the back.
(Of my past for the sake of my future)
Gwen is shown next, drawing in her sketchbook and signifying with a sad face as Duncan, Courtney and Trent appear behind her, their backs facing in her direction.
(Until my life comes to an end)
DJ is shown running for his life from appears to be a giant bear.
(I am gonna fight to tear apart that destiny)
LeShawna is shown next, standing confidently with her team, ready to face whatever crazy challenge comes next.
(Aoh, break out and start a revolution)
The antagonists of Total Drama: Heather, Courtney, Justin, Anne Maria, Jo, Lightning, Scott and Alejandro in the Total Drama Machine are shown from left to right, grinning or glaring at the camera, holding up an imaginary case of the million- dollar prize money in their hands. Chris Mclean is shown next, arms crossed as the chair he is sitting in spins to meet the camera, zooming out to show it is the monitor room for the Total Drama show.
A dark shadow appears above them, scrawny in appearance and hair falling over the left eye as it glares darkly at the screen.
(Until you find the answer you're looking for)
The camera then shows Aelita with the new Lyoko Warriors, the TD Lyoko Warriors and William sitting around a campfire, all of them staring up into the starry night sky, a picture of her friends and father resting in Aelita's hands.
(I'll challenge all my limits)
Aelita in her Lyoko form with her wings sprouting from her back is shown, clutching Mr. Puck in her hands as she seemingly falls back, her friends and relatives in the background.
The camera moves down to show William kneeling down, clutching his sword in both hands. As this happens, the camera moves down, showing depictions of the TD Lyoko Warriors and other characters in the background.
The camera continues to move down to show Geoff pulling Bridgette into sharing a picture with LeShawna bringing her face up over Bridgette's shoulder, the three of them in their Lyoko forms. While this happens, Harold, Lindsay, Beth, Trent, Katie and Sadie are shown in the background.
Below them is Gwen with her arms and legs curled around her with her cape swirling behind her like wings while Heather and Courtney are shown in the background glaring at each other followed by Sierra clutching Cody who looks distressed, Eva crossing her arms along with B and Beth both waving, the latter looking very shy. Behind Gwen appeared Dawn in her own Lyoko form in a meditative pose while upside down while facing Gwen with her eyes closed, her light robe contrasting with Gwen's cape with dark clothing, almost forming a yin-yang symbol.
Behind Dawn appears Scott, snickering evilly.
(Knowing this could be my only chance now)
DJ is shown last, seemingly falling back while holding his pet rabbit: Bunny in his hands with a happy smile. His teammates shown in the background starting with Duncan, Tyler, Justin and Alejandro ending with Chef Hatchet and Chris McClean.
He is followed by Mike and Zoey, both clutching their hands and smiling at each other as in background appears Brick, Jo, Lightning, Sam and Staci.
And lately Cameron appears staring up at the others.
(To overcome this fate that has come over me)
The screen turns black and the Eye of XANA immediately flashes into existence, glowing red and shadowing the outline of a singular person with red glowing eyes.
(The ending of this story)
Aelita is shown, standing in a meadow now with the wind gently blowing through her hair.
(I will hold it close as I wonder so aimlessly)
She holds up a hand, gazing sadly up as the images of her friends and parents appear in the sky.
(Into this new world)
Her hand then becomes digital, transitioning to Lyoko.
((The game has only just begun))
She gazes up a little longer before she notices her new friends and allies standing with her and smiles before looking forward, seeing a tower in the distance.
(I can see it in your eyes)
Just as they are about to rush towards the tower, the camera angles up into the digital sky as the song reaches its end.
The scene then shifts to pictures of Aelita and her friends both old and new on a desktop as the title appears on last time:
CODE: TOTAL DRAMA REALITY
( No Pain No Game (From Btoom!) Ends )
Episode 14: Stressed
Gwen tossed and turned into her sleep. She dreamt she was once again falling into the Digital Sea, her life flashing in front of her eyes as she fell, wishing that she could apologize for the things she did that she regretted. She woke up in a cold sweat. Looking at the digital clock, she scowled.
6:30 a.m.
"Great, one of the only days I get to sleep in, and I can't." She muttered as she tossed her covers onto the floor.
She stretched herself, silently thanking Aelita for showing her where the camera was in her room so she could cover it up. Doesn't Chris know the meaning of the word privacy? She sighed as she thought back to her dream. When she fell off her board, she honestly thought she was going to die.
Sure, there were times when she thought Chris was going to get her killed during the show but her fall towards the sea was perhaps the closest time, she had ever come to actually dying. Remembering her mom, her brother, her friends, her times with everyone on the show, wishing to apologize for the things she had done wrong. She remembered how Aelita warned them how dangerous it would be. Well, after what nearly happened with Geoff and the others, fighting that materialized Tarantula, and almost falling into the void she now understood just how dangerous it was.
Gwen had met some pretty mean people in her life. There was Heather, the stuck-up Queen Bee whose snobbery, manipulative plans, and strategies had led to everyone disliking her especially those who trusted her. Courtney was extremely selfish, ruthless, and aggressive, which combined with her bossiness made her almost everyone's enemy. Alejandro manipulated most of the female contestants along with her friends LeShawna and Bridgette to get his way.
She knew about Scott and about how he was so rotten that basically none of his castmates had particularly cared that he had been mauled by a mutant shark. Not that Gwen could blame them as she had heard about his behavior in the fourth season, in particular about blackmailing Mike over his multiple-personality disorder. Someone like that is not someone you want to stick close to but he was pretty much harmless in that chair of his.
Chris openly takes pleasure in seeing the cast suffer through his challenges and was heavily self-absorbed. Of course, none of these guys even came close to her newest enemy.
XANA.
One difference was that the others were human while he was not. Another was that the others hadn't really attempted to kill anyone. Well, Courtney did try to kill her but that was because Duncan kissed her. Another difference was that they didn't want to destroy mankind.
The mad AI out to dominate the world nearly killed Geoff, Trent, Beth, Eva, Katie, Sadie, and Justin and perhaps hundreds of others on the first day when he sent out his message, then there was that monster that had chased Aelita through the park, and just yesterday when he possessed the entire cast and tried to kill them and destroy the supercomputer. The others were nothing compared to him. Even Chris had more regard for human life.
Now she was on his hit list.
But she remembered her fights on Lyoko, remembered the adrenaline rush that came with fighting those monsters, danger came with excitement she had never before experienced. She walked into her bathroom to freshen up. Throwing on her day clothes she walked out of her room to get something to eat.
"Couldn't sleep?" asked a voice.
She spun around and saw DJ sitting at a table with a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.
"I blame Chris. Ever since I signed onto this stupid show I am so used to waking up early." Said Gwen as she walked to the counter.
"Yeah, somehow I don't think that's what's going on." Said DJ.
Gwen sighed as she sat at the table.
"I had dreams about that fall. Remember our trip?"
"How could I not? That was intense."
Suspecting Chris had left the cameras on the group had practiced on how to talk about Lyoko without revealing anything. DJ knew Gwen well enough to know that was thinking about the attack yesterday.
"You had Geoff to save you. If I wasn't so lucky I would be dead. When I was falling my entire life flashed before my eyes. My mom, my brother, all of my friends, the things I wouldn't have been able to do, the things I regret, all of them just popped into my mind."
"Man, that must have been tough. Even after all that's happened to us on this show I don't think anyone was that close to dying." DJ took a sip of his milk.
"I know. What would happen if I was not so lucky? Would I have felt anything? Would I have just fallen asleep? All these questions just popped up in my head."
"I had those too. I thought of what they would tell my momma. I couldn't bear imagining the broken look on her face if they told her I was gone."
Gwen sighed.
"Did we have any idea what we were getting into when we said yes?"
"Hey, people could have been hurt. We had to. No one else would have done it in time."
"I guess you're right. But what happens if one of us is voted off in the next challenge? How can we do anything when we're sent back to Canada?"
DJ shrugged.
"We'll just have to try hard to make it through."
LeShawna was in the room Chris had designated to be an exercise room, lifting weights with Geoff spotting for her.
"That time thingy was useful; if we didn't use it my arm would have fallen off where that weird spider thing got me." LeShawna said.
"Yeah, man that thing was big." Geoff said.
Bridgette was running on the treadmill next to them. "So...any calls from Aelita?"
"Nope, guess things calmed down for her." Geoff shrugged.
"No offense but I'm actually dreading when she calls, whenever she does, weird crap happens." LeShawna said, setting the weight down.
"I don't blame you, but we agreed to help her if anything goes wrong." Geoff said.
"Yeah, and with her friends...occupied, what do you think could happen if she...loses?" Bridgette asked.
"I don't even want to think about that." They looked up as DJ came in.
"Is Gwen taking this any better than us?" Bridgette asked.
"Well, she honestly thought she wasn't going to make it after that fall, and after what Aelita said would happen I don't blame her." DJ shuddered. "I don't see why they call it a sea. That was anything but a nice, comfy, calm sea."
Geoff looked around for a second. "Ok, that's it, I vote we get the hell out of here, Chris definitely put something in here, I just know it."
In the control room, Chris snapped his fingers. "Damn it."
LeShawna was sitting in the lounge, slowly drinking from a bottle of pop. She took a deep breath and set her glass down. 'Ok girl, just get through the day.'
"Hey LeShawna." Darth Alejandro wheeled over. "Uh...have you seen where my wallet went?" He wasn't able to look down and see his wallet was taped to the front of the Total Drama Bot.
"Uh...here." She untapped it.
"Thanks!" He managed to take it in one claw. "It's been so hard get anything with these claws I have for hands."
Of course, the lack of hands would be considered the least of Alejandro's problems. Ever since that finale in Hawaii, Alejandro's life had been…for the lack of a better word: nonexistent. The robot suit may as well be a coffin.
He couldn't walk.
He could move the suit through the wheels installed at the bottom thanks to the controls built into the suit but he couldn't move up stairs, the suit was big and cumbersome and didn't fit into small spaces and his real legs remained cramped inside at awkward angles that ached even after a year.
He couldn't touch.
His hands were placed in large robot arms with claws at the end which he could barely lift. The suit's arms were stronger than his real ones, but they were so restricted he had to make an exaggerated effort to even get them to lift. The arms worked through cable implants attaching his arms to the robot's control unit.
He could not see.
His new 'face' was a joke, a robotic mask that covered his real one to ensure no one could look on the burnt and scarred face underneath while ensuring that his damaged corneas and retinas couldn't be further damaged by outside light. He could barely turn the suit's head and thus was stuck looking forward.
He could not hear.
Like the rest of his body, his ears had been burnt thus had needed implants installed through the robot's head into his inner ear, but the sounds came like they were underwater.
He could not breathe.
Chef had attached a tube to Alejandro's chest through a thick cable that wrapped around his body and was linked to a breathing apparatus and a pacemaker.
He could not speak.
His vocal cords had been burnt, thus requiring an electronic voice box to be installed and hooked up to the robot suit so he could speak.
He was barely alive.
He hadn't been saved so much as he been forcefully confined for possibly the rest of his life. The only one who he could admit had it worse than him was Scott, having been nearly torn to shreds by a mutant shark. His body was likely busted up and cracked in on itself while being stuffed into a literal box for a chair that's smaller than the robot suit that Alejandro himself was stuffed in.
And that was after nearly every bone in his body had been broken.
The chair was the only thing keeping Scott alive and Alejandro was convinced that at this point, Scott was only a head and spine, surviving on some sort of life support system in that chair.
"You'd still be a squid." LeShawna rolled her eyes.
And no one cared.
Why would they?
He had lied and cheated through the third season of Total Drama, turning friends into enemies, breaking apart lovers and just when he had it all…He lost it all. He even tried killing one or two of them on live television but the producers had encouraged him so he could bring in more views. It's not his fault he outsmarted them all.
Alejandro just sighed. "So, you say."
"Yeah...you're going for revenge on that daddy's girl aren't you?" LeShawna asked.
"... Maybe." He looked down. "Hey, if she got you scorched with lava, you'd be mad too. I mean, can you imagine what my family thought of me when I came back as a robot? Jose rubbed it in my face! The only upside is that he broke a knuckle trying to hit me in the arm."
"Yeah, good for you, Al." LeShawna smirked.
Shaking his head, Alejandro wheeled away.
LeShawna leaned back. 'Maybe this won't be so hard after all.'
Gwen was sitting by the window sketching the city outside. It was beautiful with the sun rising into the sky this early in the morning.
"Hey, Gwen."
She turned and saw Trent walking into the living area.
"Trent, what are you doing up so early?"
Trent shrugged.
"Couldn't sleep in. What about you?"
"Same thing."
Of course, the reason why Gwen couldn't sleep was most likely very different from Trent's. They were both silent until Trent spoke up.
"So . . . How are things with Duncan?"
Of all the questions he could have asked he had to pick the most awkward one.
"Good. They are good." Gwen answered simply.
"Oh, good." Trent chuckled nervously.
"And you're okay with it?" asked Gwen.
"Yeah, I'm fine with it." Trent said with smile.
However, Gwen was a bit suspicious when he smiled like that. After his behaviour in Total Drama Action how could he be nonchalant about it?
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" asked Gwen looking out the window.
"What do you mean?" Trent asked her with a puzzled look.
"How can you say you are okay with us when you acted all crazy and jealous of us when I was your girlfriend?" Gwen said in a quite but hard tone.
She turned and looked at him again. He saw a small tear fall from her left eye.
"How can you say that when you wouldn't trust me every time I hung out with Duncan? Every time you saw us talking you acted like I was cheating right in front of you. Why?" Gwen's tone turned from hard to sad as she looked down.
Trent had a guilty look on his face as he watched Gwen look down with a sad look on her face. He thought Gwen might have gotten over it, but she was still feeling guilty for what he had done. He blamed Duncan and being on different teams, but the truth was none of them were to blame but himself. He let himself be driven by jealousy and paranoia.
He reached to Gwen and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Gwen. I messed up and worst of all you ended paying for it. I saw you and Duncan hanging out together, laughing over some joke and I acted crazy. My dad was right, I overreact like he does. And everyone turned against you when I made them sorry for me with my crying and singing."
Gwen looked up. "So, you're not upset with me?"
"I admit that I don't trust Duncan. I mean what if he does the same to you that he did to Courtney? But I do trust you." Trent said smiling.
Gwen smiled back and hugged him. She was glad that they could patch things up. She was afraid he would hate her for what happened. For a moment she allowed herself to forget about the show, forget about the million dollars, forget about Chris, Chef, Heather, Courtney, Sierra, Duncan, her new responsibility to help Aelita protect the world from XANA.
Just one moment of peace.
"So, we're okay?" asked Trent.
"I think so. Just as long as I say I am sorry for having your team vote you off." Said Gwen.
Trent smiled. "It's okay. I deserved that for sabotaging them."
Gwen got up. "I need to go talk LeShawna about something. See ya."
"Yeah, see ya." Trent waved her.
She waved back as she walked out of the room. She smiled happily knowing that she managed to sort things out with Trent.
Cameron was in his room, looking up various topics on the theory of AI, the possible evolution that could lead to potential danger.
There are many sci-fi based films and franchises that features a form of artificial intelligence playing an antagonistic role for one reason or another. Skynet, AM, HAL 9000, Ultron, and other similar AI villains stem from the idea of machines evolving beyond their programming and achieving a form of consciousness that motivates them to see themselves as better than humans due to them being in a position that allows them control over many of the machines we humans depend on for day-to-day life or believing humanity to be a threat in some form of twisted logic. While sci-fi should not be considered real, it is important to note that with the advancement of technology, it is more than possible that one day artificial intelligence will make a significant leap in evolution, creating machines that are capable of learning and show a form of sentience. It's been an ongoing debate back and forth on what the possible stages for how an AI reach what has become known as 'metastability.'
Metastability is a state of a system that can persist even when slightly disturbed but can change to a more stable state when disturbed more strongly. It can be observed in many fields, including physics, chemistry, electronics, and neuroscience. In electronics, metastability is the ability of a digital electronic system to persist for an unbounded time in an unstable equilibrium or metastable state. It can also be described as a circuit suddenly acting unpredictably, which can lead to system failure.
In the possible case of AI, we refer to Metastability as the final stage of an AI attaining a form of awareness that is then followed by rampancy.
Melancholia
The first stage of AI rampancy is melancholia, in which the AI enters a state of depression, becoming apathetic or uninterested in the world around it. The melancholia stage is not considered dangerous, and, at times, can even go unnoticed.
Anger
The second stage, anger, is the first observable stage of rampancy. During this stage, the A.I. develops hate that is directed towards its handlers and other AI. This stage is unique for each AI program.
Jealousy
The third stage of rampancy, jealousy, can be considered a safe stage. In this stage, the AI will seek situations in which it can gather intellectual and physical knowledge.
Metastability
The fourth and final stage of rampancy is metastability, in which an A.I. can, theoretically, be considered fully human, showing the complexity and emotions that are needed for one to be considered as sentient as a human being. To this date, though, no artificial intelligence has ever shown the signs of reaching this stage.
'Until possible now.'Cameron mused as he finished reading the article.
With yesterday's challenge done, the cast forced to take the day of while Chris reassures their families and the producers that no one was in danger from a second(technically third cyber-attack), especially the contestants. It had given Cameron time to think and consider carefully what he and the rest had learned from their new friend on the source of the attack.
An actual artificial intelligence.
Or so Cameron considered. Technically speaking, Aelita never actually referred to XANA as an artificial intelligence, but as a multi-agent system even though XANA seemingly fit the criteria as to what is needed to define as an artificial intelligence. Having read up various topics, including computer programs, Cameron knew that the deeds XANA had committed alone in the last day and two years ago according to Aelita had gone far beyond what any simple computer program, multi-agent or not, was supposed to be capable of.
Was it the power of the supercomputer and Lyoko that gave XANA his strength or was it something else?
As someone who spent his early years in a form of isolation, Cameron had a deep curiosity that he tried to satisfy through knowledge. It didn't matter what topic: science, religion, philosophy, animals, history, he would find a book on every little thing and read it down to the last page number. And right now, his curiosity about the Supercomputer, Lyoko, and XANA was causing him to look over all theories surrounding virtual worlds and AI. Aelita had warned them of the danger XANA represented to not just anyone who was a threat to him but to the entire world as well and it was that brief but harrowing experience on Lyoko that made it all too clear what they had signed up for.
A war.
Not a war between countries and nations but if Aelita was telling the truth, it was a war of man against machines like the few sci-fi franchises Cameron was looking over. Cameron had never intended to enlist in the military, let alone take part in any war but circumstances had forced him and the others to join up with Aelita to help her. He wasn't sure if he was comfortable keeping this a secret from his closest friends like Mike, Zoey and Brick. Outside of Dawn, he didn't know any of the other contestants other than the fact that they were the first contestants to compete on the show and he knew a little bit about them.
He had watched the third season, so he had a fair idea of how most of them thought and acted. He was still afraid of Izzy after that whole 'Spider-Izzy' episode and had even helped against Heather when she stole a blimp and the prize money last season.
'Um, I wonder if I should apologize to her.' Cameron winced, remembering that the incident had left Heather badly injured.
Not as injured as Alejandro or Scott but she got her hair burnt, confined to a wheelchair and barely escaped drowning when the blimp crashed into the lake. Funny enough, that had made him become very popular amongst the rest of the cast since outside of a handful, Heather was still hated for how she had behaved in the previous seasons. Despite surviving one season of Total Drama, Cameron was not sure how he could contribute to this ordeal he had found himself in other than believing he needed to learn as much as he could about the Supercomputer housing this amazing virtual world and the enemy they now faced.
Perhaps he could talk to Aelita about studying up on Lyoko.
In a clearing in the woods, about a few miles away from the Total Drama studio, Dawn sat on a stump in the middle of a forest. In front of her was a roaring fire that she stared into with a look of intensity. Dawn had been up early, having watched the sun rise and shine down on France. She had easily evaded the cameras meant to watch her and the other contestants for she had wanted to meditate in peace about the previous events.
A digital world.
A great evil.
And a child in need.
This was beyond anything Dawn could have believed possible. In fact, not even the tea leaves predicted something as big as this. She had been led to the park where Aelita had been attacked and journeyed with them to the factory where they had learned about Lyoko and XANA. Before the sun had risen, she had looked up at the night sky, seeing ominous clouds forming.
Aelita had explained that the dark storm during the 'Red-Eye' virus attack had been the work of XANA, highlighting his return even more so than showing his symbol all across France. The storm had intense and more ominous than anything Dawn had ever felt in her life. She held out her tea leaves and tossed them into the fire before reaching into her sweater and pulling out a white powdery substance that she then threw into the fire next. The fire seemed to roar in an angered response to the strange powder before the flames became a rainbow of colors.
As the last of the tea leaves burned, a black smoke was spewed out and Dawn began to see…
A giant bird screeching into the midnight sky…
Dark electrical clouds, moving through the air like dark liquid as it infected anyone it touched…
People, some that she knew and others she did not screaming in terror and panic…
A familiar looking dark-haired boy in all black wielding a large sword with a familiar symbol in embedded in the hilt…
Another familiar looking boy, hair covering one of his eyes laughing maniacally…
A dark suit of armor, wielding a red glowing sword…
Monsters of all shapes and sizes rising…
And a single eye blazing with red light…
Dawn gasped in fear, falling off the stump she had sat on, the fall breaking her vision.
She looked at the fire in shock. "This is bad…This is very bad…"
She didn't fully understand the vision she had been shown but she recognized the warnings Mother Earth was trying to convey to her. Up until now, she thought only XANA was the great danger that threatened the harmony of Mother Earth and while she recognized his connection in her vision he was not the only threat.
"Mother Earth." Dawn bowed her head. "I want to help as best as I can but I am only one of your children. How can I help the others against what is on the horizon?"
As the sun rose, a black cloud blocked it and left Dawn and the fire she had made in shadow.
A dark omen had fallen over her and the others.
At Kadic School, Aelita was having to deal with the one thing she didn't need right now: School Work while at the same trying to decode the information William had found.
So far, she hadn't been bothered too much since the disappearance of her friends, but she could hear whispers from time to time. And Hiroki had called last night wondering if Aelita had seen Yumi. The boy had sounded upset; that was understandable considering his sister had vanished off of the face of the planet without a single word. Despite how he and Yumi did not get along too much she was still his sister.
One surprise that came to Aelita was an event she thought she would never see: Elizabeth 'Sissy' Delmas asking about Ulrich and the others not in a demanding tone, but out of sincere concern and curiosity. She had asked Aelita about it in the cafeteria earlier but hadn't pushed the topic after Aelita said she had no idea where they were. She immediately headed back to her room and sat at her desk, looking at Jeremy's computer that had originally been boxed away. After shutting down the supercomputer Jeremy had practically renounced the field of Information Technology and had boxed everything away in his wardrobe.
It was his way of marking the passing of the virtual world and a means to visually manifest that mourning. For the last two years, on the desk in his room there was instead a TV, a laptop computer on which to surf the Internet, and some books and magazines. She knew it might be a matter of time before the questions came more and more often, she needed to get the others back and quickly.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
Aelita sighed, getting up from her desk and coming to the door. "Who is it?"
"Open this door at once!" A voice barked from the other side.
Aelita blinked as she slowly opened the door to see… "Mr. Stern?"
Walter Stern, Ulrich's father.
Aelita had only met him a few times and she did not have a good view of him. Walter was highly intelligent in school, having straight A's and already preparing his college application when he was Ulrich's age. He later became a businessman that afforded his family an upper middle-class lifestyle. As a result of his success, Ulrich's father has similarly high expectations for Ulrich.
In the few times she has met him, he has shown to be unsympathetic towards his son simply because doesn't get good grades, and in Odd's words: 'if you're not first in everything, you're nothing in his book'. Odd once told her that because Ulrich was good at sports, Odd says the only time Ulrich makes his dad happy is when he plays soccer. Even after they shut the supercomputer down and Ulrich's grades had improved it hadn't been enough in Walter's eyes.
Aelita had doubted even having a top grade in every class would be enough for Walter Stern.
It wasn't just him.
With him was Carole Stern, Walter's wife and Ulrich's mother.
She hadn't met Ulrich's mom and Ulrich never talked about her much either. Odd theorized she didn't talk to him much either.
"I want answers, young lady." Walter immediately said, not giving Aelita even a chance to break. "My son, where is he?"
"I don't know." Aelita took a step back.
"Don't lie to me." Walter stepped forward into Aelita's room. "You and those other good-for-nothings were up to something, weren't you? It's bad enough Ulrich shirked his potential and responsibilities because of your bad influence but now he's probably run off because of you!"
"That's not true!" Aelita immediately argued. "We were separated during the strange cyber attack and when I came back to my dorm, I never heard from them again."
"Liar!" Walter reached to grab her, but someone grabbed him by the shoulder from behind.
"Mr. Stern, I know you're upset but do not lay a hand on Miss Stones." Jim Morales spoke in an authoritative tone that even Aelita had barely heard from him. "She has already been questioned by the principal and has answered everything the best she could."
"Get your hands off me." Walter batted Jim's hand away and pointed at Aelita. "She knows what happened to our son. I know it."
"Even so, you are not allowed to interrogate a student without a teacher or the principal present." Jim retorted.
"Then get someone here! Like the police!" Walter snapped. "I want answer and if she won't give them-"
"Mr. Stern!" Jean-Pierre Delmas appeared at the door. "Say one more word and I will call the police to have you removed from this school."
Walter remained quiet but gave Aelita a harsh glare as he walked out of the room, followed Jim and his wife. Once the door was closed, Aelita fell to her knees and rubbed her face as a few tears threatened to slip.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stern, while I understand you are worried about your son this school in no way condones harassing students like that." Jean-Pierre stated as he sat down. "Especially when it's in the wake of a terrible disaster."
"That girl knows where our son is." Walter retorted, refusing to sit down. "She should be here answering our questions."
"Miss Stones has been nothing but a kind and exemplary student who has been close friends with your son and along with the other missing students. I can tell she was honest in her answers, and she is genuinely worried about them." Jean replied before the door opened.
"Mr. Delmas?" Jim peeked his head. "There are a few more visitors here."
"Can this wait?" Jean-Pierre sighed, rubbing his head.
"I'm afraid not." Jim opened the door fully, revealing several more adults.
"Mr. Belpois."
Jeremy's father, Micheal Belpois.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama."
Takeho Ishiyama and Akiko Ishiyama.
"Mr. and Mrs. Della Robbia."
Marguerite and Robert.
The parents of the missing children.
"I see." Jean-Pierre sighed and gestured for them to enter. "Very well, come in. Everyone, come in."
One by one, the parents entered the office with Jim closing the door behind them.
"Principal Delmas," Micheal Belpois began. "I am sure you know why we're all here."
"I think anyone can guess at this point." Jean-Pierre answered.
"Then let's get straight to the point. What do you know?" Michael asked.
"All we know is that yesterday there was a massive cyber terrorist attack not just here but potentially all of France. The attack crippled communications and left a strange message." Jean-Pierre held up a paper showing XANA's Eye and message. "I assume none of you recognize this symbol."
Micheal and the other parents shared a close look at the symbol, all of them glancing between each other and shaking their heads.
"No, we don't." Micheal answered for the group. "And we don't understand the message either."
"What about the girl?" Walter cut in. "She knows something."
"The girl?"
"Aelita Stones, a close friend of your children and a member of their group. She's the only one who is not missing." Jean-Pierre explained. "And she has already been questioned by the police and detectives."
"She knows something." Walter argued. "There's no way she couldn't have known what happened to my son and the rest of those brats."
"Watch who you're calling a brat!" Micheal Belpois, Marguerite and Robert Della Robbia, Takeho and Akiko snapped.
"Yumi would never run off anywhere." Takeho argued. "She's been nothing but a hard-working honest child."
"Ha! She is probably the reason Ulrich ran off! I knew she'd be a bad influence on my son the moment she sunk her claws into him!" Walter snapped.
"Excuse me?!" Takeho and Akiko narrowed their eyes.
"You heard me! I told him time and time again that he could do better than her, but he never listened and now they've both run off somewhere!" Walter continued, not even pausing.
"How dare you?!" Akiko shouted, standing up from her chair. "Now I understand why Ulrich never liked talking about you. It is clear you are a horrible man who only cares about his own image."
"I will not be insulted by some Chinese witch who knows nothing of what she's talking about!" Walter snapped.
"We're Japanese!" Both Takeho and Akiko snapped, now infuriated at the Stern patriarch.
"Excuse me-" Jean-Pierre tried to speak but was cut of.
"You know, we've had Ulrich over at our home from time to time and he's been nothing but a sweet and generous boy. How someone as considerate as him could ever have someone like you as a father is mind-boggling to say the least." Takeho snarled at Walter. "Our children are missing, and you just want to pointlessly assign blame instead of trying to find them."
"I told you, that Stones girl knows where they are." Walter retorted. "Drag her in here for answers."
"Why are you so sure?" Michael asked.
"How about the fact that I've looked into her background and found nothing about her before she got here." Walter replied. "There had to be a reason why she's still here while the rest have gone missing."
"As I said, Miss Stones has been nothing but a good student…" Jean-Pierre trailed off. "But there is something to note."
The parents all stared at him.
"When they all first attended this school, there was a period of when they would disappear for long amounts of time. In fact, Jeremy was absent nearly twenty times." Jean-Pierre explained.
"Twenty?" Michael gasped. "He never mentioned that."
"If not for his stellar grades Mrs. Hertz would have reported him." Jean-Pierre replied. "The limit for absences is eight at this school but Jeremy continued getting good grades, so it was overlooked. Miss Ishiyama missed class in the eighth grade about eight times and it was the same with Stern and Della Robbia, but both made up for it by doing well in gym class. Then after the second year when Stones arrived, they stopped and were on time at their classes like they were supposed to, and it was like nothing had happened."
The parents all shared looks of surprise with wide eyes as they processed this.
"And now, following this cyber attack that virtually disrupted every form of electronic communication in France, they have disappeared." Jean-Pierre continued. "I fear this means they have might have been involved in something dangerous during those first couple of years and whatever it is they tried to cover up might have come after them."
"All the more reason, that Stones girl should be hauled out of her room in cuffs and questioned." Walter stood up. "I demand she be arrested!"
"We can't just assume she's responsible." Jean-Pierre retorted, slowly losing his patience with the Stern patriarch. "Especially since she's a relative of Odd."
"Excuse me?" Both Odd's parents asked at the same time.
"You don't know her? Miss Stones was admitted to this school because Odd gave me a letter of recommendation signed by the both of you saying she was a family member." Jean-Pierre asked and explained.
"That girl's not a member of our family." Robert shook his head. "We were told she was a pen-pal who transferred to Kadic and Odd introduced her to his friends."
Jean-Pierre was silent as he considered this new information.
Aelita Stones was not Odd's cousin, meaning that her transcripts must be fake.
"That proves it!" Walter shot up. "She's connected with this!"
"Did the all the kids know?" Akiko asked, now worried that Yumi had lied to her and Takeho and had hidden something dangerous from them.
"So Odd lied to us to get this girl into this school?" Marguerite Della Robbia asked with a flabbergasted look on her face.
Before Jean-Pierre could say anything else, his desk computer started beeping. He turned to it and saw that a message window had appeared and on it was the same eye symbol from before.
"Everyone, stop!" He barked, stopping the parents from speaking. "There's a message with the same symbol as the Red-Eye virus!"
Everyone stopped speaking and looked at the monitor, seeing the strange message with the messenger's name being a strange one.
X.A.N.A.: JEREMY BELPOIS, ODD DELLA ROBBIA, ULRICH STERN AND YUMI ISHIYAMA HAVE BEEN APPREHENDED FOR VARIOUS ILLEGAL CRIMES THEY HAVE COMMITTED DURING THEIR TIME AT YOUR SCHOOL. EVIDENCE IS ATTACHED.
"Illegal crimes?" Jean-Pierre slowly uttered as the parents silently read the message and accessed the attached file.
It was a recording.
"Aelita has no parents, and she hasn't got a birth certificate. What's more, she's not enrolled in any school. Okay, that's no biggie but all that together means she doesn't exist-" Ulrich's voice began.
"I could put her up at my house. My folks wouldn't mind." Yumi's voice spoke next.
"And you could plug into the City Hall computers and create a phony identity for her. Find her a new name, all the stuff she needs." Ulrich spoke again.
"Then you just have to enroll her at our school. And try to put her in our class, that would be really cool, huh?" Odd's voice was next.
"I had to hack a military satellite." Jeremy's voice then said before the recording ended. "Because that dumb principal wouldn't let Yumi leave the school grounds."
The office was silent, the parents and principal all staring at the computer screen in silent shock, their eyes wide.
Jean-Pierre typed a reply. "Who are you?"
"I AM X.A.N.A. AND AELITA IS NOT WHO YOU THINK SHE IS. SHE GOES BY MANY NAMES BUT THE NAME YOU KNOW BEST IS HOPPER."
(Credits)