Chapter 22 Frontier
A.N. – Ok, so like I mentioned in the last chapter, there will be a small change towards the end that I think fits well. So let's begin!
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the plot, or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, the plot is owned by the creators, and the idea was submitted by LittleRedRebel.
It's late at night and Jeremy is working on Aelita's materialization program. "It's fine as of now. I'll test this part here again," he's convinced he's made progress, sweating as the test starts. "Come on!" A beep announces that the program did not work. "What do you mean, uh? I don't believe this! Why does it always happen just then? Aelita, did you deactivate the external sinusoidal modules like I told you?"
"Of course," she answers honestly. "And I even defragmented the internal matrix."
"But I already did that!" Jeremy stands up, losing his calm on her. "The system is bound to screw up if it gets the same data twice! If we keep working against each other, we're never gonna succeed, never!"
"I'm sorry." He gives a look of surprise, turning around.
"Uh, no. Well, I'm not one who should be sorry Aelita. Forgive me. I shouldn't have gotten so angry…"
"It's okay," she replies. "But I think we should stop for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."
"No, wait Aelita!"
"Goodnight" she logs off. He stares at the screen, feeling sorry and sheepish…
The next morning, the students are going to breakfast. Yumi walks to the four near the vending machines. Ulrich, Jeremy, and Nadia are standing, while Odd sits down. "Hi guys. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who was up so late. What were you guys doing? Studying, huh?"
"Not exactly," Ulrich reveals a game device from his shirt. "Tetrax Annihilator! Till three in the morning."
"I should've guessed it was something like that. Nice going" Yumi comments.
"Thanks! How'd you know I won?"
"You actually beat Odd at a videogame? And I thought Odd was the gamer of the group" Nadia comments.
Yumi turns to Jeremy, who just grips his cup as he's thinking about his fight with Aelita. "How are you Jeremy?"
"Me? I didn't sleep even a wink. I've got an awful lot on my mind."
"Oh yeah, the usual worries about materializing Aelita?" Yumi asks, not even noticing that he's so upset. Nadia and Ulrich look at him.
"No no, well yes, actually. There's a lot more to it than that." The bell rings before he can say more. "I'm off." He runs off. "Nothing like a little math class to wake me up!" They stare after him, Yumi and Ulrich glancing at each other.
"I'll begin again since it's a bit complicated," Mrs. Meyer starts to write a formula on the board. "Now I want everyone to-"
"Hey Jeremy" Ulrich whispers.
"What is it?" Odd is sleeping from his late night game battles.
"What's going on with Aelita?" Ulrich wonders, since usually Jeremy wasn't this upset after a talk with her.
"Well, last night, we…we had a bit of a fight."
"Yeah, about what?"
"Nothing. It was on a account of me. I yelled at her, and I think she got mad," Jeremy explains. "Ulrich…Nadia…I really have to go…to Lyoko."
"What?!" Ulrich exclaims, a little bit too loudly at Jeremy's explanation.
"Ulrich!" Mrs. Meyer turns around to him. "Repeat what I just said." The whole class turns around to stare at him.
"Uhh…"
"Odd, go on, help him" she knows that Odd's been sleeping, the class laughing at him.
"WHAT?! No way!" Yumi protests, Jeremy having just told her what he told Ulrich and Nadia in class.
"Not very long, just for an hour," Jeremy begs. "I could go at lunchtime."
"But that's not the problem Jeremy. The problem is the supercomputer. You're the only one who can use it" Yumi retorts.
"Yeah, but once you get the idea, it's not complicated. I can launch a simplified transfer program and explain the procedures to you!" Jeremy offers.
"It doesn't feel right. I'm sorry Jeremy" Yumi tells him.
"Yumi, listen. I had an argument with Aelita, and I want to ask her to forgive me in person." Ulrich, Nadia, and Odd glance at each other.
"What if Xana attacks while you're there?" Yumi turns around to him.
"Then we just have to bring him back immediately and take his place on Lyoko. Anyways, Xana's been quiet lately" Odd answers. Yumi turns away, unsure.
"That makes this even more concerning," Nadia comments. "Knowing Xana, he could activate at any time."
"Now, I've already calculated the variable virtual mass, so you don't have to worry. Since I won't be fighting, I used the default option for the exponential memory transfer, okay? As for the fractal encoding for the blocks, piece of cake" he explains to Yumi and Nadia. Since Nadia's mom was an expert in computers, he though she would help Yumi make it a little easier.
"Piece of cake?! Hey, this may be easy for you, but it sure isn't for us. You do all this every time?!" Yumi says is surprise.
"Well, yeah. What do you think that I take a nap while you're on Lyoko?" Jermey walks up to an important, but extremely thick book of notes. "Anyway, we'll stay in contact and if you have any trouble, just check my notes." Their eyes widen in surprise, giving surprised noises.
"You know how this works?" Yumi asks Nadia.
"Basically, yes. If the virtualization is all set up, all we have to do is hit the right keys" she responds.
"And if we hit the wrong ones?"
"That's not something I want to think about."
The elevator doors open, Odd and Ulrich grinning at him when he arrives. "Your scanner is waiting sir" Odd says as they move out of the way, Jeremy walks up to the scanner.
"Okay, be brave Jeremy" he tells himself.
Odd smirks at him. He steps inside, looking around. "Have a good trip." The doors close on him.
Yumi begins typing. "I'm starting the transfer now." Jeremy looks around, not believing that this is what the others experience all the time. "Go." Yumi presses enter, Jeremy's body being scanned. At the moment of virtualization, an error message appears on the screen.
"What did you do?!" Nadia asks in horror.
"I don't know!" Yumi replies, equally as scared.
The boys turn around in alarm as the process is done incorrectly. They gasp and Jeremy is nowhere to be seen.
"I just scanned the data chain. Yumi made a data capture error that blocked the system," Aelita explains as they've explained what happened. Yumi gasps is shock. "Which means that the memory used for transfers was deactivated at the worst time."
"Where is he?" Yumi wonders.
"He wasn't transferred to Lyoko, and he didn't come back to you, and so he's…he's out there…blocked somewhere between us." Jeremy is stuck between Earth and Lyoko, floating in a yellowish void. "Don't worry, he's okay." They look in shock. It turns out Aelita is able to communicate with him.
Aelita, you have to retrieve memory.
"Are you in contact with him?" Ulrich questions.
"Yes. Well, let's say I think what he thinks. It's as if he were part of my mind."
"Is there a way to save him?" Nadia asks, not wanting to lose her first friend, as well as the others friend.
"Yes. Jeremy says we have to recover memory in the four passage towers and redirect it to the three scanners to complete the transfer. But it's going to take time."
"That's a hopeful sign, how much time?" Ulrich wonders.
"Well, the time to go to each sector and do all the necessary manipulations the reinitialize the system, according to Jeremy, one of your afternoons" she explains.
"That means there's no time to lose."
"Okay, I'm off" Aelita logs off, standing up in the ice sector. She runs down the path to a way tower, the others watching the screens.
"Thank you Aelita" Yumi says gratefully.
"Look girls, it wasn't your fault. Jeremy's the only one who can run the computer without it breaking down" Ulrich says.
"I'm more disappointed in myself. With the knowledge in computers I know, I should have known this was a bad idea" Nadia says.
"I just hope Xana takes a day off. With Jeremy in limbo, if he attacks-" Yumi starts.
"Don't sweat it Yumi. Aelita's gonna get Jeremy home soon, I'm positive. Xana won't have time to do anything" Odd reassures her.
"Let's just hope Xana doesn't catch wind of this. Right now, he's in a position to make our lives a living hell…" Nadia murmurs.
"You'd better go back to school. If we're all absent, they'll get suspicious. I'll stay here just in case" Yumi offers.
"Herb."
"Present" Herb calls out.
"Valerie."
"Here."
"Jeremy? Jeremy isn't here?" Ms. Hertz looks around.
"Uh," Odd rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "He's, uh, in the infirmary ma'am, trying to get unblocked?" Everyone just stares at him before turning around.
"Not surprising, you children eat much too fast. Now for chemistry."
Sissi eyes them, growing suspicious. Jeremy would never miss class as far as she knew. "Hey, what kind of no-good are you creeps up to now?"
"None of your business" Ulrich narrows his eyes.
"Well, with that kind of answer, now I'm sure you're up to no good" she gives a smug look.
"Can't fool you Sissi. Well, actually, Jeremy is working on a new project for making worms intelligent" Odd starts, preparing for a joke.
"Oh?" Sissi actually looks interested.
"That's right…and he'd like to test it on you!" He grins widely, giggling with Ulrich. She narrows her eyes, turning while crossing her arms. Nadia shakes her head in disbelief of Jeremy making worms intelligent and referring to Sissi as a worm. But inside, she was laughing.
"Alright, alright. Quiet down."
"Yumi, I'm coming to the second tower" Aelita is in front of the tower in the desert sector. She goes inside, walking to the platform. She then floats to the top. She walks up to the interface and signs in. She successfully transfers the memory data.
"Great Aelita. Memory recovered," Yumi starts sweating. "Two down, two to go."
"I'm off to the forest" Aelita says as Ulrich, Odd, and Nadia return.
"How you doing Yumi? Let me see" they look at the screen.
"How's it going?" Odd asks.
"Aelita just left the second tower. Two to go," Yumi reports. "Things are going almost too well."
"Hey Yumi, you ought relax a little bit. Aelita will be finished soon," Ulrich offers. "Why don't you go back to school? It'll take your mind off it."
"Yeah, we'll take over for you. We're not missing class; we're supposed to be in the library" Odd explains.
"Okay," Yumi stands up, taking her bag and leaving. "I'll see you guys later."
Ulrich sits in the chair, putting on the microphone. "Aelita, me, Odd, and Nadia are replacing Yumi. Do you read me?"
"Yes, loud, and clear Ulrich. I'm almost at the third tower" she walks out into the forest sector. A kankerlot passes by, but she doesn't see it. Aelita runs across the path.
"Is Jeremy okay?"
"A little worried, but yeah, he's okay." She stops when the kankerlot stops in front of her. "Uh-oh, Trouble." It fires at her, and she jumps out of way, hiding behind a tree.
"Odd, Nadia, we got a problem," Ulrich says as he watches the map, Odd and Nadia run up to him. "Aelita, I get the feeling you're not alone out there."
"You're right, I'm not" Aelita responds as three more appear.
"Watch out! Three more on the way! Better run!"
She jumps onto a lower platform. The kankerlots chase after her.
"Careful, in front of you!" She stops as two more kankerlots block her path. All three concerned for her. "Aelita, on your left! There's a platform!" She sees it and runs, jumping across as she avoids the lasers. She pulls herself up, avoiding more lasers before running off to the way tower. "Well done. Jeremy would be proud!"
"I'll get you connected" she restores 75% of memory.
"That's three down. What do we do now? Should we tell Yumi?" Odd wonders.
"Leave her be. I'm concerned Xana knows what's happening, but Aelita has succeeded so far" Nadia tells him.
"Right. We haven't needed her up till now" Ulrich adds.
"By the 1950's, radio and television had become the most important means of spreading culture." Yumi is not paying attention as she's drawing a picture of Jeremy, worried for him. "In addition, the cinema had its role to play and did so very dynamically. In the 1990's, computers entered people's homes and by the end of the 20th century, there was a new means of planetary communication with the development of the internet."
Aelita has made it to the mountain sector, exiting out of a way tower. "I'm in the mountain sector" she starts running. "Just one more tower to go."
"Why is she stopping?" Odd wonders as Aelita stops. She sees the final tower, but with two bloks guarding it.
"Ulrich, I'm at the tower, but it's being guarded by two bloks. Xana's gotten the message." The three give worried looks. There is no way for Aelita to fight, and Jeremy's time was limited.
"This is what I was worried about. Xana is trying to make sure Jeremy never returns" Nadia says.
"There's no way you can get through?" Ulrich asks.
"No, and if I can' t transfer the memory from the tower, we'll lose Jeremy for good…"
"There's got to be a way Aelita."
"Wait…Jeremy says that there may be a way of redirecting memory elsewhere" she explains.
"But where? In another tower, another computer?"
"This is the only supercomputer and Lyoko that exists. What else could we possibly use?" Nadia wonders.
"I don't know. Another tower is impossible, and Jeremy's convinced that an external computer's power wouldn't be enough to operate the three scanners" she says.
"What about one?" Ulrich asks.
"Just one scanner? I'll check with him."
"But why only one? To bring Jeremy back, all three scanners are needed" Odd reminds.
"Think it over Odd. If one of us can succeed in getting transferred to Lyoko, Aelita will be able to get into the tower" Ulrich explains.
"Fight back. Smart" Nadia compliments.
"Ulrich" Aelita starts.
"Yeah?" He answers.
"Odd, Nadia, I've got a problem. It's becoming harder and harder to contact Jeremy. I'm afraid he's starting to delete himself."
"Huh? What do you mean Aelita?!"
"He's disappearing. The computer is confusing him with an outdated file. You've got to bring him back as soon as possible" Ulrich's mouth opens in shock.
"Okay, we have no choice" Ulrich says in determination.
"Now, who would like to answer?" The teacher asks as Yumi's phone buzzes. She glances at the front, the teacher not seeming to look in her direction. She picks up her phone.
"Ulrich. How are things going?" She whispers. "Huh? Trapped by some bloks? Jeremy's laptop? Okay, I'll go and get it." She hangs up, raising a finger. "Sir, can I please got to the infirmary?"
She tuns across the hall, Jim looking around the courtyard. He sees Yumi and chuckles, following her. Yumi opens the door to Jeremy's room, seeing his laptop right on his desk. "There it is" she closes it and take sit, turning around in surprise to see Jim. "Well, um, it's always good to exercise your mind after Phys Ed class, huh Jim?" He narrows his eyes. She whistles as she looks away, knowing she's in trouble as girls are not allowed in boys rooms, especially when it wasn't time to be in the dorms.
Odd plays on his handheld device, glancing at Ulrich and Nadia.
"I wish Yumi would hurry up!" Ulrich says impatiently, taking out his phone. "What's taking so long?"
"Yeah, well, I got caught red-handed by Jim" she explains.
"What?!" Ulrich exclaims, Nadia and Odd turn to him.
"Uh, look, I'm sorry, I can't talk right now" she hangs up.
"Yumi got caught. She's in the principal's office, and she's got the laptop with her" Ulrich tells the others.
"We're done for now!" Odd says in disappointment. "There's absolutely nothing we can do!"
"Well, there is one thing, and Ulrich knows exactly what it is" Nadia says, in disbelief she's actually suggesting this.
Ulrich is talking with Sissi in the courtyard. "Listen Sissi, I really need your help this time." Sissi looks unamused and he smiles sheepishly.
"Well well, what do you know?" She retorts. Herb and Nicolas laughing.
"I'm serious Sissi, come on!" He grabs her arm, pulling her away to her surprise. Herb and Nicolas just watch.
"That's what you've gotta do. It's really important Sissi, you don't have any…" Ulrich starts.
"What?! You're completely out of your mind. The only way I would do something like that is if you promise to be a little more cool with me!" Herb and Nicolas snicker. "And when I say a little, that means…well, you know."
Ulrich thinks to himself as he stares at her. "Okay, look. I'll, um…I'll go out with you for a…for a week! How's that?" Her eyebrows raise in surprise, turning to him.
"What! A week? To help Yumi, the price is two months minimum."
"One month and a down payment" he offers.
"What kind of…of down payment, huh?" He grabs her waist and places a hand on her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. Sissi closes her eyes, everyone around them watching in shock.
"I don't understand your story, Ms. Ishiyama. Jeremy couldn't possibly have asked you to get his computer, because he happens not to be in school today. It's noted here" Mr. Delmas holds up Ms. Hertz's attendance record.
"But he is on the school ground sir, he's in the infirmary. In fact, Yumi herself was reported absent for part of the day and as for Nadia, Ulrich, and Odd, they're-" Jim states.
"Enough of that," Mr. Delmas interrupts. "You and your friends have accumulated a number of reasons for being suspended in just half a day. What do you have to say in your defense?"
"Daddy," Yumi looks in surprise to see Sissi. "I've…I've got to speak to you, it's important." She runs up to his desk.
"Sissi, can't you see I'm busy?"
"I know Daddy, but it's about Yumi."
Mr. Delmas hands her Jeremy's laptop and ushers her out. "Behave yourself, I won't warn you again." He shuts the door, Ulrich sitting near the secretary.
"You're gonna have to explain to me how you did that" Yumi says.
"I don't want to talk about it…Yumi, um, you mind if we don't see a lot of each other for about a…month?" She gives him a look.
Aelita looks at the tower behind a rock, the two bloks seeing her.
"Watch out Aelita!" Odd calls out. She gasps and runs away, the bloks close behind her. She comes across a small gap but jumps over it. The bloks do as well and continue after her. Aelita approaches another gap and jumps, landing on the ground. The bloks bump into each other, one of them falling into the digital sea. Aelita stands up as the other blok moves around, confused.
"One down. The others are coming. Hang in there Aelita" Odd says.
Yumi and Ulrich are descending down into the lab, the silence tense.
"Listen Yumi, what I did was…I mean-"
"Ulrich, it's your problem."
"But it's not what you think!" He protests. "I swear."
"If that's all you can think of to say, don't say anything! For the time being, I've got a computer to connect, so give it, huh?" She walks away, Ulrich groaning in frustration. Yumi connects the laptop to the supercomputer.
"Well, Nadia and Odd, how's Aelita doing?" Ulrich asks.
"Pretty good up till now. Fortunately, she runs a lot faster than you" Odd jokes.
Nadia slaps him on the back of his head. "Try and be serious. Right now, we run the risk of losing both Aelita and Jeremy."
"The big problem is that she's losing contact with Jeremy!"
Ulrich sighs, having no choice. "I'll head for the scanners" he runs off.
"Ulrich?" Odd calls out, Ulrich running back to him. "I can't believe that you kissed Sissi!"
"If you tell Yumi, you're dead" Ulrich threatens.
Nadia stops him. "When I suggested that, I didn't mean go that far" Nadia tells him.
"She made it difficult; I basically had no choice."
"Okay, all we can do now is hope," Yumi explains. Ulrich appears in the scanner room and runs to a scanner. "Aelita? Ulrich's gonna try and reach you. The computer's connected, what do we do now?"
"You've got to configure the auxiliary port to transfer the memory. Here's how to do it" Aelita shows her a diagram.
"Okay Aelita, I did it. I've just entered all the data" Yumi reports.
"Good Yumi. You can transfer Ulrich now."
Ulrich steps into the scanner once he's learned he can go in. He turns around. Yumi still looks nervous, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. Nadia places a hand on her shoulder.
"Let me take over," Nadia tells her. She gets up and Nadia sits down. "Ulrich, I'm taking over. Transfer Ulrich." She presses enter without hesitation.
Ulrich braces himself as he closes his eyes. Unfortunately, the virtualization doesn't go through. Ulrich opening his eyes in confusion.
"Not enough memory. We came so close, but it's just not enough! We need another 10 bytes!" Yumi explains. Odd's face turns in realization as he looks at his handheld game. He turns back to the girls with a smile.
The blok is still trying to steady itself, Aelita peeking from her hiding spot. The blok sees her and fires three times. Aelita moves out of the way, sighing in relief.
"Aelita, behind you!" Nadia warns. Aelita turns around sharply to see another blok. "Transfer Ulrich." Ulrich is scanned. The blok fires at Aelita, hitting her once. The other one jumps over. "Scanner Ulrich." Aelita is now surrounded. "Virtualization."
Ulrich is successfully virtualized just as the bloks prepare their lasers. Ulrich jumps in front of them, blocking their shots. He jumps onto one, hitting the eye. "Impact!" He throws his sword hitting the other one. Both of them explode. Aelita looks up to see him.
"Ulrich."
"Sorry, I'm late Aelita. Hey Odd, how'd you do it?"
"A lot of credit should go to Tetrax Annihilator huh? Hope you weren't planning on playing it." The gaming device is now no more.
"Don't worry, I've got enough to do here without playing other games," Ulrich helps Aelita up. "Okay, it's up to you now. Bring back Jeremy."
She nods and heads for the tower, jumping over the gap. Ulrich watches to make sure she got there safely, and she steps into the middle of the pad. She starts floating to the top and lands safely. She steps up to the interface and logs in.
"We did it, we retrieved the scanners memory" Yumi says.
Jeremy floats in the void. "Jeremy? Jeremy, can you hear me? Jeremy? Wake up." He does so, noticing his surroundings. "Jeremy." Aelita appears in the distance.
"Oh Aelita!" He reaches a hand out to her. They approach one another to touch fingertips and then there's a flash of white light.
Everyone stands patiently in front of one scanner. Finally, Jeremy is materialized as the smoke clears. The light is on their faces as he sits there. They all gasp, running up to him.
They all look down at him as he sleeps on his bed. He slowly opens his eyes to see his friends. "How are you feeling?" Ulrich asks. He sits up.
"It was…it was…fantastic!" He sounds giddy and they all cheer. Jim looking around outside in confusion.
"Your crazy idea of going to Lyoko gave us a real scare" Yumi explains.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I gotta go," Ulrich rubs the back of his neck. "I promised Sissi."
"What are you, her slave?" Odd narrows his eyes, putting a hand on his hip. "With that down payment you gave her, she should leave you alone tonight."
"Hm?" Jeremy looks confused.
"Odd, did you have to give me a bad visual image" Nadia asks.
"Down payment?" Yumi stands up, looking angry. "What's all this about Ulrich?" Odd whistles to himself.
"That…nothing. See you later!" He runs out of the room.
"Wait, I want an explanation! Ulrich!" Yumi calls out.
"Catch you sometime!" Ulrich yells back.
"I was afraid you were mad at me" Aelita says to Jeremy when his friends have left.
"I thought you were mad Aelita…but I understand how you felt about me when you came…when you came to get me" he gives a bashful look, blushing.
"Jeremy, when you're really in love, does it mean you fight all the time?" She wonders.
"No, not all the time, but it can happen" he explains.
"Really? You oughta tell that to Ulrich and Yumi" she offers.
"Oh, I'd rather stay out of that one!"
"Let me talk!" Ulrich protests, outside as he's on the phone.
"There's nothing to talk about. I am fed up with your lying!" Yumi yells.
"But I'm not lying, there's nothing between Sissi and me!"
"Sure, goodnight!" She hangs up.
"Hey, wait, Yumi, let me explain. Yumi, are you still there? Yumi!"
The following night, Nadia is unable to sleep. Never before has she used the supercomputer, but when virtualizing Ulrich, she felt like it was natural, like she knew what to do. The only person who had answers was her mom. She pulled out her phone and dialed her number.
"Nadia? What are you calling about?" Her mom asks after picking up.
"Hi mom. I wanted to ask you if you know anything about quantum physics?" Nadia asks quietly.
Her mom fell silent for a moment. "May I ask why?"
"I had a dream where I was operating a quantum based supercomputer, and it felt like I knew what I was doing yet not knowing how to operate one."
"Well, I worked in that field before you were born. I also know your godfather built a supercomputer, but I never knew where."
"Well, it was just a dream."
"Maybe, but I think you might have learned more than I was expecting. Perhaps this dream is a sign in a way."
"Thanks anyway mom."
"Goodnight dear."
After Nadia hangs up, she sighs heavily. First Aelita, now this. Did her godfather build this supercomputer, and if so, why? Still, she couldn't explain how she used the virtualization command with ease. Maybe her mom unintentionally taught her how to operate one. But there was still some unanswered questions. Nadia then looked at the sky from her room window, wondering if these questions would ever be answered.
A.N. – And the victimization of the Lyoko Warriors ends because next time, everyone is a target. The Lyoko Warriors especially, but Xana doesn't discriminate. Next one won't have much changes. I am currently researching season two right now and I can tell you, I'm very excited for the whole season to shape up. Only seven chapters left till season one wraps up and then the mystery season begins. But I like introducing some mystery now. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97