A/N: You don't need to re-read TTOE to understand this, but you should keep the final day of that story in mind when you read this, because it's very important.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or CL: Evolution in any way, shape, or form.
Beta read by FP7ETDP43
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
"Ulrich helps Yumi get her parents back together. Meanwhile, a trip to the Cortex answers a question that's plagued the group since the start."
A World Without Danger
Code Lyoko: Evolution Rewrite
Season 5, Episode 19: Family Matters
It was late in the afternoon, and Jérémie found himself on his computer as usual. He was alone (which he didn't mind), but due to the headphones he was wearing, he would not notice if someone snuck in and scared him.
He was listening to the playlist Aelita had mixed for him (for the third time today; the hundredth time overall) as he went over the mystery avatar's digital profile yet again. He was getting frustrated at this point—almost a year had passed, and he still had no idea who this person even was. Aelita had a feeling on who it was, but there was no evidence to support her intuition.
It may have been a coincidence, but he caught something in the profile at the same time the song he was listening to sang a romantic-esque set of lyrics. It was strange, but it made him pause and think.
He paused Aelita's playlist before bringing up Hopper's diary. He'd have to dig pretty deep to find the exact entry, but he knew precisely what he was looking for. He fast-forwarded through multiple entries, until he found it. He rewound to the start of the section and played it.
After listening to Hopper's words, Jérémie pondered for a moment before reaching for his phone.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Chilling out by the vending machines on a Saturday afternoon was always nice and relaxing for Ulrich. Only Aelita was able to join him today, but she had just gotten her soda when she received a text.
She wasted no time in reading it, "Jérémie needs me. Apparently, he found something he thinks I should see."
"Okay," Ulrich told her as she placed her phone back in her jacket pocket. "I'll see you at dinner then."
Aelita bought another soda for her boyfriend before leaving, giving the brunette a wave as she did so.
Ulrich waved back, before he turned back to the courtyard and sat on a planter. On a bench nearby, Odd and Sam were listening to music from the former's Walkman. On the other side, William and Laura were walking to the library together. He knew where Jérémie was and where Aelita was headed. And Yumi was at home with Hiroki due to today being a half-day.
Sometimes, he wanted to hang out, but it was still nice to be by himself. He leaned back to relax, only to become alert by a familiar, small-sounding voice.
"Ulrich...?"
The brunette turned to see Yumi cautiously approaching him. His instincts immediately flared; she seemed so sad and afraid. What happened? Why was she upset? Where was the threat? Who on earth dared to harm his beloved?
Surveying the area for any problems, he asked her, "What's wrong?" Why was she back here? Classes had ended about three hours earlier, and she had already gone home by request of her parents.
Instead of verbally responding, Yumi glanced behind her. Ulrich followed her gaze in time to see Hiroki—of all people—run up to Johnny, Milly, and Tamiya. He couldn't fully see the boy's face, but Ulrich had a feeling that Hiroki was also upset. Probably for the same reason as Yumi, if he had to guess.
Ulrich turned back to his girlfriend, "Wanna talk in the park?"
She could only nod, and he had never missed her smile more than he did right now.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita knocked on Jérémie's door and entered when she heard his cue. She closed the door behind her as she asked, "What did you find?"
Her boyfriend was in his chair, turned around to face the door with an arm hanging over the backside. He was clearly expecting her—otherwise, he wouldn't have texted her in the first place.
"Something I should have connected the dots to a long time ago," he told her. She grabbed a folding chair from his closet and sat down. "I have a hunch, but I'm not sure where to start explaining."
"The beginning is always a good bet, you know." She shot him a knowing look. "Where else?"
His expression, in response, silently told her that he knew that, before verbally starting where she said to, "I was studying the digital profile of our mystery guest. They hadn't made a single peep since we first discovered them, good or bad, so my curiosity got the better of me and I started studying it again. I was also listening to the playlist you made for me," again, "as I remembered this avatar's immense talent in coding as well as their connection to your father. Your music finally made me think to combine those two details together, because I could have sworn I had heard those two exact things in the same sentence before."
"Where?" Aelita asked, her curiosity only increasing.
Jérémie pointed to his screen, where she only just now noticed that a clip from her father's diary was open on it and paused. Before she could ask any questions, he just slipped his headphones over her ears and pressed 'play'.
"21 May, 1990. The supercomputer has officially been completed after approximately fourteen months. Now, the true hard part begins—coding the weapon." Jérémie and Aelita both knew from personal experience just how hard that part could be. "It is an artificial intelligence I have decided to dub as XANA. Using data hotspots called towers, it will be able to hack into any network and sabotage wherever Project: Carthage decides to infiltrate—all with the utmost discretion. It will be housed in a virtual world I call 'Lyoko'. I must give credit for the designing to my dear Anthea. Without her input on the designs and her expertise in coding, I would not have gotten as far with this project as I have already. The two of us have always been interested in making a virtual world one could actually visit, but it was just for fun. I don't think she ever thought of our creation as a weapon..."
Aelita found it a bit strange to see any sort of emotions on her father's face. He was always aloof, especially during their time at the Hermitage, but even when they lived in their Swiss Alps chalet. It was a little uncanny, but it was also comforting—it proved that her father was indeed human.
Hopper continued, back to his usual stoicism, "My original vision was a small island in the middle of a sea, named 'Xanadu', but Anthea suggested a world that was much larger and able to be explored. However, the sea still has to be there; it is, after all, the physical manifestation of the worldwide network in virtual form."
Huh. That actually answered a question the teens had ever since their maiden voyage in the Skidbladnir. They were unsure if Hopper created the Digital Sea himself or if it always existed. According to the creator of Lyoko himself, it always existed, in a sense.
"Anthea and I were both unsure of the name, until Aelita—a year old at the time—gave us an idea. Anthea was reading her a story and she mispronounced the first part of a sentence as 'le-oko', both syllables individually yet the mumbling caused them to sound like one word. Thanks to that, I thought of 'Lyoko', amended from 'ryokō', the Japanese word for 'travel'. All of these are my hopes and intentions anyway." Hopper then smiled, the first time any of the teens saw him doing so, before he added a fond, "Where would I be without my girls?"
The clip ended, and Aelita took off the headphones. She turned to Jérémie, "Okay. So where did this clip take your train of thought next?"
It was Jérémie's turn to smile, "You're kidding, right? I thought that would make it obvious. There is indeed a common denominator between Lyoko and the Cortex."
"My mother..." Aelita muttered in realization. "The two worlds share similar coding, though Lyoko's is more refined. Papa and Tyron both worked on Project: Carthage and were suitors of Maman."
Glad that she was catching on, the boy genius added, "Your father also credited your mother for Lyoko's design. It's just a theory, and it's gonna be hard to prove, but I believe that our mystery guest has a connection to Anthea Schaeffer."
"Or they are my mother," Aelita corrected him.
Jérémie went quiet, "That's going to be even harder to prove, with their profile being so encrypted." A beat of silence, before he confessed, "Again, it's just a theory, but I thought you'd like to know."
The pink-ette smiled with gratitude, "Thank you for the consideration." She scooted closer to him. "So I'm the one who came up with Lyoko's name?"
He smiled back, "That's what your father says."
She suddenly became rather shy. "Are there any other stories like that?"
"I'm...not sure," he replied, trying his best to rack his brain. "There's no harm in checking."
He then began typing, an eager girlfriend of his waiting and watching.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The park was always a good place to be by yourself. It wasn't in the public eye, but it wasn't the factory or the Hermitage either—just a location that was suitable middle ground.
Ulrich led Yumi to the bench there by her hand. She sat down first, still evidently upset, and he sat down next to her, "We're alone now. What's wrong?"
She sighed, "My parents are fighting again. Hiroki couldn't stand it, so he asked them if he could go see Johnny, but they refused to let him out of the house unless I went with him." Oh. "So in addition to being upset at their fighting, I'm now also mad at my parents for making Hiroki stay and listen to their arguing. I mean, what if I couldn't go with him because of homework or chores? I get their concern about his safety, but..." She trailed off.
"But?" Ulrich gently prodded her.
"But he was literally crying as he pleaded with me to come with him." She sounded as if she was about to cry, and it took quite a bit to get Yumi Ishiyama to shed tears. "He needed to get out of the house. There was no way I was going to say 'no' to him, given his reason for asking...but him being so upset is the main reason I am."
Ulrich sling a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his touch, finding much needed solace. "Do you know what your folks are fighting about now?"
She shrugged, "Something about not being appreciated enough. Honestly, I was too focused on homework to really pay attention to how it started. All I knew was that they were yelling at each other the minute they got home."
A thought suddenly came to Ulrich, and it disconcerted him. "Can I ask you something personal? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."
"Go ahead."
"Did you friendzone us partly because you were afraid we'd turn into your parents?"
She was quiet. "Yes. I knew you wouldn't be happy about it, but I had no choice. Our jealousy was getting in the way and would have destroyed us."
"I already told you, Yumi, that you don't have to justify your decision," he quickly cut in. "No, I wasn't happy about it, but you were right to do so. I don't want us to turn into your parents either, or my parents, for that matter."
She finally smiled, "One step at a time. We're still kids ourselves, y'know."
He promptly blushed at the thought, "I know."
There was a beat of calming silence, before she admitted, "I don't want to go home."
"You can stay the night here, if you want," he told her. "You just have to ask Jim. He monitors the dorms, after all."
"And will limit me to the girls' floor," she added, "but that's fine."
Just then, Hiroki came into view and ran up to them, "Nee-chan!" The lovebirds straightened up and readied themselves to intercept him. Johnny, Milly, and Tamiya joined them, but hung back as Hiroki sat on the bench next to his sister.
"What's wrong?" she asked, ever so vigilant.
It was strange seeing Hiroki so shy and sad, "Can I stay here tonight? Johnny offered to let me room with him, but Oto-san and Oka-san won't let me unless you stay with me."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, "I was actually thinking of the same thing. Ulrich here says that we just have to ask Jim." She got to her feet. "Let's go talk to him, okay?"
He copied her motions, "Okay."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jim had given his permission, as had Takeho and Akiko, and when Mr. Delmas asked for the reason why, the Ishiyama family cited work-related reasons concerning the parents. Yumi and Hiroki returned to campus later that evening with their school bags filled with their toiletries, their pajamas, and an extra change of clothes—all retrieved from their house a few streets away.
After dropping off their bags in the rooms they would be staying in, they went to the cafeteria for dinner. After getting food, Hiroki joined his three friends, a smile on his face at last, while Yumi joined the other Lyokowarriors, also in a good mood.
"Glad you're feeling better, Yumes," Odd commented, sincere.
"So am I," she replied. "While at home, I finally got my feelings out. I gave my parents a reality check, telling them outright and upfront why Hiroki and I were sleeping over here." Because of their fighting; their kids were tired of hearing it. "It felt good, and I feel better knowing that Hiroki also does."
The six snuck a glance back at the boy. He did seem much happier now, which was always good. No one liked seeing him so heartbroken.
"Plus," Yumi added, as they turned back to each other, "there's the added bonus that I get to bunk with Aelita tonight, just like old times."
The pink-ette smiled in response, remembering the brief amount of time when she stayed at Yumi's house fresh after materialization.
"I'm sorry your parents are fighting," Jérémie said, "and that they fight so much."
"It's alright," Yumi shrugged. "Do your parents ever fight?"
Jérémie was silent as he processed that, "If they do, I'm never home or in range to hear it."
Yumi went quiet once more, "I was confused when hearing their first fight as a kid, but I really only became bothered by it when Hiroki was around to hear their arguing too. In the past, all I could do was wait for them to stop fighting and make up, but now, they know that their fighting is affecting their kids."
"Yeah," William agreed. "They need to talk it out."
"Easier said than done," Yumi responded. "My parents never seem to talk out their problems, instead choosing to ignore them in the end."
"You could try locking them in a closet and not letting them out," Odd suggested.
But Yumi shook her head, "Mm-mm. They're still my parents."
"Besides, that's a pre-teen tactic," Ulrich added, before ignoring Odd's pout. "How about an influence? A positive one?"
"You mean show my parents how a mature couple handles disagreements?" Yumi asked.
Ulrich nodded, "Exactly. Tomorrow is Sunday, the day I have dinner with your family every week."
"Of course," she quickly caught on, "which is the perfect time." She became hopeful, until her smile fell in realization, "But tomorrow is also the scheduled final mission to the Cortex..."
"The last mission for the patch," Jérémie corrected her. He sighed, "All five of you being there is preferred, but I will allow the two of you to ditch this time."
Yumi blinked in surprise, "Really?"
"Really," the boy genius admitted, "because this is clearly important to you, and to Ulrich."
She promptly wrapped him in a grateful hug, "Thank you for understanding, Jer!"
"No problem," he replied, not minding the gesture. Thanks to his past experiences with bullies, it had taken him a while to learn not to flinch or brace himself whenever his friends touched him. He preferred being asked for permission first, but he couldn't control his friends' emotions.
"Just be careful about the Cortex's new security system," Ulrich warned.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" was Jérémie's response, a rhetorical question.
Ulrich just shrugged; he shouldn't have said anything.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
That night, the two Lyoko girls were settling into their sleeping positions, both in Aelita's bed (on the pink-ette's insistence). Aelita was closer to the wall, while Yumi was on the edge, and the former was concerned about comfort due to the bed only being twin-sized.
"Are you comfortable?" she asked her friend. "Should I move over more?"
"I'm fine, 'Lita," Yumi replied, her voice soft. "I'm used to sleeping on a futon, remember?"
Aelita couldn't deny that so she didn't. A silence fell over them, before she quietly asked, "Yumi? Do you and Ulrich still have fights?"
"Besides sparring?" Yumi replied. "Yeah. Sometimes, he and I disagree on something, but our arguments are never as explosive as those we had before we started dating. I like to think that we're much more mature now. Do you and Jérémie still fight?"
"Yeah, but like you and Ulrich, they're really just disagreements, mostly on how much Jérémie tends to overwork himself. But he's getting better at controlling it."
"It's because you're helping him this time," Yumi reminded her, "way more often than you did before."
"That's because he and I both share the burden of protecting Lyoko from both XANA and Tyron, especially since my father's no longer around to help us..."
Yumi personally thought they were doing pretty well so far, even if Aelita still got sad every time Franz Hopper was mentioned, even by herself.
She gently nudged the pink-ette's side, "Hey, you're lucky that your father loved you so much. But no parent is perfect, and no couple is perfect, because we're all human. Every couple is going to have disagreements and arguments, but the important part is learning to talk things out in a way that's diplomatic, and not resort to violence to solve your problem. You and I are both fortunate to be in relationships that lean to the diplomacy side, but arguments are a part of life. It's just what naturally happens whenever there are two different sides. The important thing is understand the side opposite of yours."
"That sounds like advice your parents need to hear," Aelita softly smiled.
Yumi smiled back, "I know, and that's part of mine and Ulrich's plan tomorrow. My parents still love each other; they just need to communicate better."
"Good luck."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The next day saw Jérémie, Aelita, William, and Odd in the factory elevator after lunch hour. They were psyching themselves up for what they hoped was the final mission to the Cortex to retrieve the world's source codes.
Odd groaned, "I'm still hungry."
"How?" William raised an eyebrow at him. "You took three helpings for lunch two hours ago."
"I know, but I eat whenever I get nervous. I think this is a bad sign."
William just rolled his eyes as he turned to Jérémie, "Are you sure this will be the last mission for the patch, Jer?"
"Hopefully," the blonde admitted, looking just as nervous as Odd felt. "It depends on how smoothly things go today." The lift doors opened to the factory, and as he entered the lab, he told the trio, "Off to the scanner room."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Meanwhile, Hiroki walked in between Yumi and Ulrich towards the Ishiyama house, both siblings also carrying their bags. All three of them were wary of what they'd find; none of them had heard from Takeho and Akiko since last night, so it could be anything. Hence why Hiroki hid between the two as Yumi unlocked the front gate and then the door.
"Yumi, Hiroki, welcome back!" Akiko exclaimed the moment the trio walked in the door, rushing towards them but she didn't hug them. "And Ulrich, we're glad you're here. Come on in, you three. Sit down and relax. Dinner will be ready in about an hour."
She ushered the kids in and closed the front door behind them, before heading back into the kitchen.
They entered the sitting room and found Takeho at the table, typing away on his laptop.
"Oto-san, we're back," Yumi softly called out to him.
He looked up and shot them a warm, yet subdued smile, "Welcome back, kids. Hello, Ulrich." Ulrich didn't say anything, only waving at the man. Takeho then closed his laptop and got to his feet, "I need to finish this report and submit it within the next hour. If you need me, I'll be in the master bedroom."
He left, and the teens were alone in the clear tension that was in the air. The two adults were still not on good terms with each other, as they were trying their best to ignore each other but pretending like nothing was wrong for the kids' benefit.
Yumi and Ulrich shared a concerned glance, as Hiroki snuggled closer to Yumi.
As they sat down at the table that Takeho just left, Yumi commented in a low voice, "It's worse than we thought."
"Then we'll just have to step up our game," Ulrich replied.
"Huh?" Hiroki was rightfully confused by what they were talking about. "What are you guys planning?"
The two elders shot him identical warm smiles, as his sister told him, "Nothing malicious, we promise, and no, you don't have to do anything."
"Just leave it to us," Ulrich added. "Now, why don't you tell us how you're doing on asking Milly out?"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The Skid approached the Cortex's floodgate, with Aelita rotating the ship back to its vertical position. She placed her hand on the interface, which scanned her hand, before flashing, "Digital Key, activated."
A beam of light shot at the center of the floodgate in front of it. It took Jérémie a few seconds longer than usual to gain access.
"Tyron changed the password," he informed as the beam dispersed, allowing the floodgate to open. "It's no longer a specific date."
"So he learned his lesson from last time," Aelita commented as she maneuvered the Skid inside.
"Clearly. Cortex system, connected."
The Skid emerged from the Digital Sea and ascended high into the ugly yellow sky. The angel docked the Skid right beyond the barrier, and waited a few seconds for the geographical shifting to stop before disembarking herself, William, and Odd. The three vehicles were waiting for them.
Before the trio could take off, Jérémie interrupted them, "Hold on! XANA just activated a tower on the Cortex!"
Everyone came to a halt. The teens quickly became torn.
"What should we do?" William asked. "We need those source codes, but deactivating the tower usually takes precedence!"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Do we know what XANA plans to do with the tower?" Aelita asked.
"Not yet," Jérémie replied, but before he could make a choice, he received a call. "Stand by." He promptly answered, "Ulrich?"
"Yumi and I got the alert for the tower," the brunette was speaking in a low voice that was mildly echoing. He must have been in the bathroom to make his call away from Yumi's family. "Do you need us there?"
His decision on that was quick, "No. Don't worry, it's on the Cortex. It means that XANA probably needs something from Tyron's supercomputer, and if it does want to launch an attack against us, it will be a fairly weak one. It activated the tower, though, the moment we stepped foot on the Cortex. Something tells me that it's using the tower as a distraction from the last group of source codes. Stay on the lookout just in case, but for now, you two just focus on Yumi's parents."
"Okay. Good luck."
"You too." Ulrich then hung up, letting Jérémie address the trio still virtualized. "You guys still there?"
"Yep," Odd answered. "What's the word?"
"As I just told Ulrich, it's probably a distraction." The call with Ulrich had allowed Jérémie the time to breathe and make a choice. "Split up. Aelita, head for the tower, direction north-northeast and look up. Odd, William, head for the Core."
"I see it," was Aelita's response. It was a different tower than the first one created.
"Roger that!"
The three then went their separate ways, with Aelita's yellow arrow ascending and Odd and William's green arrows remaining on the ground level. Jérémie mentally prepared himself for the split attention; he's had lots of practice with XANA's Replikas, but it was still stressful.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita, on the Overwing, reached the upper level of the Cortex where the tower was in no time. She had surprisingly met no reception on the way, but when she got up to the base, she discovered why.
Two Ninjas were fighting against one Megatank and two Tarantulas. The Megatank charged up its laser and fired, taking out a Ninja, just as a Tarantula shot down the Overwing. Aelita fell until she activated her wings and took flight.
The Tarantulas opened fire on her, and she proceeded to dodge laser fire, her wings giving her a speed boost. Meanwhile, the Megatank kept its eye trained on the Ninja, who was watching her warily.
In the midst of avoiding shots aimed at her, Jérémie cut in, "Be careful, Aelita. The superscan's just picked up another tower activated on the Cortex, but not by XANA."
She glanced behind at the tower that was first created and quickly spotted it from her bird's eye view. "I see it." It stood out like a sore thumb. "Its aura is purple. So Tyron did find out how to activate a tower..."
"Of course he did. He's smart and talented enough to create a virtual world as complex as Lyoko."
"Which one should I focus on?" she asked, still dodging lasers from the Tarantulas.
"XANA's," Jérémie told her. "If Tyron really wanted to hurt us, he'd activate a tower on Lyoko, not on his own world."
Oh yeah. Her boyfriend's brain was hard at work here, playing a mental chess match against Tyron, this time as a three-way free-for-all against XANA as well. Right now, he was trying to figure out what reason Tyron had for activating a tower at all, much less on the Cortex and at the same time as XANA.
"Roger that." She formed an Energy Field and threw it at one of the Tarantulas, promptly destroying it.
The lone Ninja continued to watch her with a careful gaze.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Odd and William were given access thanks to Jérémie hacking into the spiral door and opening it by force (in other words, he used his Creation power from the other end). The downside, however, was that it took up quite a bit of energy from Lyoko's own Core to do so—hence why he didn't do this all the time.
As the two teleported inside the Core, he gave them a warning, "Remember, tread carefully with the new security system. It may have gotten another update since we were here last."
"We're on it," William replied. He and Odd glanced around at the Core chamber and found it empty. "We appear to be alone for now."
"Expect at least three Ninjas," Jérémie added. "Tyron only has five scanners, and unless he updated them too, the cooldown period is about six hours."
The moment he said that, the protruding walls of the Core suddenly began to move, shifting like how the platforms outside usually did. William was able to launch himself to a nearby platform, but Odd lagged behind and fell as a result of the platform moving to an awkward angle.
The cat felt himself plummeting to the ground below before seeing a cloud of black smoke catch him just in time.
"Thanks, William," Odd said, embarrassed because Jérémie had literally just warned them about the updated security system Tyron had in place.
"No problem," William replied, before pulling his friend back onto the platform as it went back to normal. "Jérémie?"
"I saw it. I have it patched into the shift detection program now; it's timed, just as the outside shifts are. It was tripped when I opened the spiral door."
"Let's hurry then," William said, before leaping to the next platform.
Odd followed him all the way to the interface. It was a short trip, but very tense. If this went right, then this would be their final trip until the mission to destroy the Cortex's supercomputer.
"We're here, Einstein," the cat reported. "You'll guide me, right?"
"Of course, I will. Now don't drag your feet."
A blue digital card—the hacking bug—appeared above Odd's paw. He grabbed it and promptly inserted it into the interface. Meanwhile, William turned around, his Zweihänder in hand as he kept watch for any enemies.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The sun was starting to set below the horizon as Hiroki explained in detail what was currently going on between him and Milly.
"Thanks to me joining the News crew, we're closer than we've ever been," he was saying. "Johnny and Tamiya have been trying to help me, but that new closeness is making me more nervous than before."
"It's because you and Milly are friends," Ulrich explained, "and you don't want to ruin that. Yumi and I both know that from personal experience."
"Should I wait to ask her out when we're older?" Hiroki asked. "Or do it now? I mean, what if some guy asks her out before I can and she says 'yes'?"
"That's a choice you'll have to make for yourself," Yumi told him. "And no matter what happens between you two, you will learn from this experience and use what you were taught for a future situation. Just be careful about your jealousy. That's what plagued us," she motioned to herself and Ulrich, "before we got together."
The younger of the trio leaned in closer, "Really?"
All of them missed Takeho and Akiko both listening in.
"It's a dark period in our lives that we both regret, and always will," Ulrich solemnly confessed.
"And it's why we had to friendzone each other," Yumi added, "so we could both mature more before giving a relationship a shot."
"Do you guys still get jealous?" Hiroki asked, less out of curiosity and more out of genuine interest.
The two lovebirds paused, before they replied in unison, "Yeah."
"Yes, we still get jealous," Yumi softly disclosed, "though it's now smaller and less verbally violent than before."
"Jealousy is a natural emotion," Ulrich advised. "It will never go away, but Yumi and I have learned to trust each other, and if either of us is feeling upset, we're upfront about it and the reasons why so we can talk it out, rather than hide it and then argue, thus making it worse." That used to happen, but not anymore. "Don't fear disagreements, Hiroki. Instead, fear arguments."
The boy just raised an eyebrow in confusion (due to his age), "Huh?"
Yumi merely gave him a gentle smile before imparting some wisdom, "If both people don't grow, the relationship can't. It takes teamwork to maintain. Every bond—romantic or platonic, doesn't matter—is going to have disagreements, because that's what happens whenever there's more than one side to something. What matters is avoiding the arguing, the yelling, the fighting, so it doesn't come back later to haunt you or anyone else."
Hiroki paused. "Huh. Thanks for the advice. You guys are pretty smart."
"Wise," his sister corrected. "Not smart. There's a difference."
Unbeknownst to the three kids, Takeho and Akiko turned to face each other in the kitchen, both with concerned and thoughtful expressions on their faces.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"The bug has reached the source codes," Odd reported to their mission control.
"Just in time," Jérémie replied. "Three Ninjas are approaching you two from behind. William!"
"Spotted," William said, as three black blobs emerged from the floor in a faint green light, and morphed into adult humanoid figures with no necks.
The raven-haired teen charged at their enemies. He blocked a couple of strikes before slashing one's stomach, devirtualizing them. As William faced the second, the third Ninja teleported up behind Odd and knocked him away from the interface.
The cat landed a few meters away, almost over the edge of the platform, and he regained his senses in time to see the Ninja turn back to the interface and move to eject Jérémie's hacking bug. Panicking and acting quick, Odd instinctively fired a flurry of Laser Arrows, devirtualizing them before they could stop the extraction process.
The second Ninja moved to side-step William and reach the interface, but as William blocked their path with his Zweihänder, Odd disappeared from his spot on the ground in a flash of green and reappeared next to the interface.
"Odd, you just lost thirty lifepoints!" came Jérémie's concerned report.
"I just used Teleportation, Einstein, I'm fine," the cat reassured his friend. "And I'm sorry, but I had no choice. That Ninja almost ruined this entire mission, and the countdown is almost up." Said countdown was down to fifteen seconds.
William blocked more strikes before dismissing his Zweihänder to catch his opponent off-guard. He used a couple of strikes from Pencak Silat to disarm the Ninja, separating them from their sabers, before re-summoning his Zweihänder and devirtualizing them from behind.
"Source codes retrieved!"
Odd promptly took out the digital card with two seconds to spare. "Mission accomplished!" he exclaimed as he let Jérémie dismiss the card.
"Well done, both of you," the boy genius replied. "Now get out of there and help Aelita."
"Right!"
The two raced out of the Core chamber with no resistance.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The last remaining Ninja saw their chance to destroy the second Tarantula, while Aelita took out the Megatank with a large Energy Field. She then met the Ninja's eyes (or where she thought their eyes would be), and they stared back at her.
They raised their sabers across their chest in an X-motion as she dismissed her wings, lowering herself to the ground. She was ready to fight.
But the Ninja performed a salute before sheathing their sabers, and then stepping away from the tower.
She blinked in surprise, "Jérémie, I think the Ninja's letting me go."
"I'd take advantage of it. We have to stop XANA."
And she did so, entering the tower at a sprint. The Ninja just watched her, never once moving to stop her or stab her from behind. She breathed a sigh of relief, as she ascended to the second platform.
The moment she landed, she stepped towards the center. The interface popped up like normal, and she raised her right hand to log in, only to stop once she saw what data the interface was showing.
"Um, Jérémie?" she called out, knowing he'd answer.
"Something wrong?"
"I'm...not sure, but XANA's using this tower to copy more data from Tyron's supercomputer," she explained. "Or it was, until Tyron activated his tower to increase his database's security. The copying process is currently paused."
"I see," her boyfriend replied. "Can you see what XANA's trying to copy?" She knew that he was about to ask her what that data was.
So she beat him to it, "Yes. That's why I'm letting you know now. The data is a file...with my mother's maiden name on it..."
Jérémie was silent with realization. "No wonder Tyron activated a tower," he commented in a low voice. "Copy the file and send it to me."
Aelita's heart fluttered with joy—because she didn't have to ask for permission—and hope. She may finally get answers as to where Anthea Hopper-Schaeffer really was...
"Okay." She promptly turned back to the interface. Instead of logging in, she pressed the center, bringing up more data windows. She quickly got to work.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Takeho and Akiko were in the kitchen, deep in thought, both standing on opposite ends of the room. It felt like the physical equivalent of how far apart this argument has emotionally made them feel. The two were quiet as they digested the words that their daughter and her boyfriend had just spoken.
"Yumi has grown up," Takeho softly commented. "Ulrich is the perfect match for her."
"Like soulmates," Akiko finished his thought. "And the advice they gave Hiroki was also meant for us."
"'If both people don't grow, the relationship can't'," the Ishiyama patriarch muttered from memory. "Let's take it to heart." He saw Akiko nod in agreement. "Why do you feel like I don't appreciate what you do?"
"I do all the housework," she explained, "especially when the kids are at school, and I'm the one who works from home. I rarely have time for my friends, so when I need a break or I finally get a day off, the least you can do is give me that time by taking up the chores every now and then."
"I'm sorry." And he meant it.
She stepped closer, "I accept your apology. Why do you feel like I don't appreciate what you do?"
"I'm at the office all day, working," it was his turn. "I rarely have time for my own friends, so when I need a break or I'm stressed out, the least you can do is give me that time by letting me relax and not nag my ear off."
"I'm sorry." And she meant it.
He stepped closer, "I accept your apology. So, the next time our days off collide, neither of us will freak out."
"I promise. And from now on, both of us will take the time to understand each other's feelings before we start arguing, and talk it out and compromise–"
"–so Yumi and Hiroki aren't dragged into it next time," he finished her thought. "I promise. This one was both of our faults, not just mine and not just yours." He briefly paused. "My co-worker knows a marriage counselor. I think we should see one for the kids' sake."
Her voice was soft. "I agree." After witnessing both of their kids break down, and Yumi venting out her frustrations, Akiko had never felt so guilty in her entire life. Takeho felt the same way.
Takeho and Akiko didn't realize they had gotten closer to each other during this conversation until they were close enough to share a kiss. Once this awareness sunk in, neither wasted any time in making the said gesture happen.
"Dear, would you please help with dinner?" she asked.
"Of course, dear," he replied, with a gentle smile.
Both of them failed to notice their audience in the form of Yumi, Ulrich, and Hiroki, watching from the doorway. The former two shared a smile of their own, their plan a success.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita was tense as she watched the interface, searching for any information that told her what the file contained. Said data wasn't visible, but she was curious and impatient.
"File received, Aelita," Jérémie told her. "You can enter the code now."
But her boyfriend would decode the file and tell her exactly what was inside; she trusted him. So she nodded (despite the fact that he couldn't see her), before pressing her hand to the interface. logging in.
AELITA_
CODE_
She entered the code.
LYOKO_
The data windows started falling around her, and she descended to the bottom platform, her work done. She exited the tower to find the Ninja still there, but this time, they were joined by Odd and William (and the other two Overvehicles). The three were staring each other down, neither party moving until Aelita emerged from the tower.
Once the Ninja saw the tower panels close back up, signaling that the tower had been deactivated, they saluted the trio once more before disappearing into the ground.
"The Ninja's gone now," William reported to their mission control. "They just left, like you said they would."
"I figured," Jérémie explained. "Tyron could only do so much with his tower, and he knows that only Aelita can deactivate towers operated by XANA."
"He was waiting for us to step in?" Odd asked, finding the idea incredulous.
"Out of a sense of desperation, probably," the young genius added.
"Speaking of," Aelita cut in, "what about Tyron's tower?"
The trio stood at the edge of the platform, overlooking the rest of the Cortex. They had a clear view of the tower still outlined in violet.
"Stand by. Don't engage."
The three obeyed. Then, they watched as—from their bird's eye view—as Tyron released control of the tower. The violet color disappeared as the tower panels merged back into the main structure, signaling deactivation.
"You were right, Jer," William noted. "Again. Tyron deactivated his own tower."
"Because he no longer needed it," Jérémie elucidated. "Aelita said that he was using the tower in order to stop XANA from copying more data, and again, if Tyron really wanted to hurt us, he'd activate a tower on Lyoko. And he can't do that if he doesn't have Lyoko's IP address."
Besides, Aelita thought, she might not have been able to deactivate Tyron's tower anyway, due to not carrying the administrative commands of the Cortex.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The rest of dinner went by smoothly. There were no other arguments, and the Ishiyamas held off on telling their kids what they had agreed on until after Ulrich was gone. But they did apologize, to their kids for making them listen to the arguing, and to Ulrich for getting him caught up in their interpersonal affairs.
After dinner, Ulrich had to leave and Yumi left with him, under the guise of escorting him back to Kadic. He thanked Takeho and Akiko for the meal and their hospitality (even when they were arguing), and they in turn thanked him for his advice to Hiroki, as it had helped them in more ways than one.
As the two teenage lovebirds approached the sewer passage, Yumi stopped Ulrich with a gentle hand on his arm. He turned to her and was immediately met with a kiss on the lips. It was quick, and over too soon for his liking. "Thank you," she whispered, her eyes filled with an immense amount of affection and fondness. "I couldn't have done it without you."
His response was a smile, as he knelt down and uncovered the sewer passage. "After you."
She faked a curtsy before climbing down. He quickly followed her.
It was now time to focus on their other mission.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Ulrich and Yumi emerged from the lift out into the lab, and Odd and William promptly greeted them. Meanwhile, Aelita was intently watching something on the screen, with Jérémie hyper-focused on whatever program he was coding.
"Hey, guys," the purple-loving blonde said. "Right on time. We retrieved the rest of the source codes, and they're legitimate."
Ulrich looked hopeful, "We did it?"
William nodded, "We did it. The anti-virus program came back clear. It's not booby-trapped."
Yumi's smile widened, "So now we can attack the Cortex?"
"Not yet," Jérémie cut in, though he wasn't taking his eyes off of the screen. It was as if his full attention was required to keep the world intact. "I still have to put all the data together for the patch, and then make sure that patch will work as intended. Aelita and I will work on it, but for now, Aelita downloaded a file that XANA was trying to copy, but was unable to thanks to Tyron stopping the process by activating his own tower."
The other four approached the monitor. Ulrich and Yumi saw that Jérémie was decoding the said file.
"What does the file contain?" Yumi asked, curious. This was the first time the Lyokowarriors had gotten to the file before XANA could.
Aelita was quiet, "Likely information on my mother. Her name was the only one tagged in it."
Ulrich and Yumi both went silent themselves. They split up as Yumi crossed over to where Aelita was standing and slung a comforting arm around the pink-ette's shoulders. The angel's response was automatic, as she leaned into the geisha's touch.
Meanwhile, Ulrich commented, "No wonder Tyron went to such lengths to protect the file. He probably still has feelings for her."
Jérémie typed in one last string of rapid-fire commands. "Decoding is finished. Be warned, this is a huge file." He pressed 'enter', opening it.
The six teens were instantly met with photos, all of them of a woman with long pink hair similar to Aelita's, complete with light brown eyes—Anthea Hopper-Schaeffer. There was a large variety of them, with old childhood photos, photos from university and most of them dated with Britain in the 1960s, wedding photos with her in a beautiful white dress with flower lacing, and snapshots of her against a snowy and mountainous background.
The last photograph was dated '25th of December, 1987', the same date she was taken, and it was a prison turnaround.
The last image was the one after that picture, and it was a missing poster, asking people if they knew the whereabouts of Anthea Schaeffer. It was accompanied by missing posters for Waldo Schaeffer and their daughter Aelita, all three of them submitted by their neighbors.
Aelita, in the present day, swallowed a large lump in her throat. She wasn't about to cry, but she was upset. This was a lot to process, and they hadn't even seen the entire file. Yumi, fortunately, was right there and hugged her tighter.
"Princess?" Odd softly, cautiously asked. "Should we take a break and come back later?"
"No." Her voice was hard with emotion. "Keep going."
Jérémie was quiet, "There's only a single video file left."
"Play it," she ordered in a whisper.
Her boyfriend nodded before opening the file. He didn't play it yet, though, instead focusing on the date. "It's surveillance footage. '7 May, 2008'?"
Aelita gasped with hope.
"That's very recent," Ulrich realized, as he snuck a glance at his pink-haired friend.
"Last year," Jérémie confirmed, "the day I turned the supercomputer back on." He took a deep breath before pressing 'play'.
The video opened on a very different version of Anthea. The photos had depicted her as a healthy and happy person, but the video showed the reality—a thin and weak shell of a human being stuck behind bars in a grey-teal shirt and sweatpants set. Her pink hair had faded and her wrinkles were making her face look sunken in. But her eyes...
They were blazing with determination, as she muttered, "She's alive, she's alive, she's alive..." over and over again, like it was a mantra.
The footage sped up until two guards came by her cell to give her food. It didn't look appetizing, but Anthea ate it anyway. The footage sped up again until three seconds later, she took the empty tray and somehow used it to mess with the lock on her cell. The exact angle made it impossible to determine what exactly she did.
Once outside, she then walked up to the security camera and used the knife to screw open the control panel underneath and hack into it.
A red alarm started blaring just as one of those commands blackened the camera feed, as well as the screen of the video.
The footage quickly began coming back, turning from black into static.
"Jérémie?" Odd asked.
But the genius' hands were off the keyboard. "It's not me. These adjustments were most likely done by Tyron after the fact in an attempt to figure out what happened."
Those adjustments appeared to have worked, as the video began coming back, though the feed still had a bit of static.
The video showed Anthea running through the facility, via multiple angles and feeds, the timestamp showing that it was ten minutes after the blackout. Flashing red lights were the only things that lit her path, but she seemed to know exactly where she was going.
This is what I saw in my nightmare that night, Aelita realized. Like with my father's death, this was real.
She reached a room and began using a crowbar that she had stolen in order to pry open the double doors. Likely due to her lack of muscle strength, it took her about two minutes to get inside, and the door immediately shut and remained locked behind her.
The feed changed to a familiar one: the scanner room from the view of the computer webcam in that room.
Anthea wasted no time in typing in rapid-fire commands, with a speed that easily rivaled Jérémie's. She clearly knew what she was doing, as there was no indication of confusion or frustration. Just determination.
As she worked, the feed changed to the camera in the security office, where Tyron himself was shown to have been during this time. The building's comm system crackled to life and Tyron's familiar voice came through in the video, "I know you're still here. You have nowhere to go." His voice was accompanied by a good deal of static, indicating that he still had a long way to go before he undid her hacking. "Acting against me is a very bad idea. You belong to me, and always will." She shuddered. "How did you get out of your cell? How did you manage to disable all of my cameras, movement sensors, and door-opening codes? How are you preventing me from tracking you down?"
The feed changed back to Anthea, as she smirked, "Don't underestimate me, you cretin. We met in a coding class, remember?"
Jérémie mentally took note of that in real time.
Back to Tyron, who seemed unaware of her response, "I don't know what you overheard, but no matter what you believe now, your husband and daughter are gone. They disappeared twelve years ago, and there's no way they're still alive today."
In the present day, Aelita tensed up at the indirect mention of herself and her father. This was it—the truth. She was finally getting it.
"That's complete bull," Anthea muttered.
"Whatever you heard to provoke this behavior from you is a lie," Tyron finished.
Back to the feed on Anthea, as she typed in some more commands before pressing 'enter'. Her face lit up with the same hope on her daughter's in real time, before she ran towards one of the scanners, which had opened upon completion of the program. She entered the device and took a deep breath.
"Waldo, Aelita..." she whispered, "I'll see you soon."
She smiled in contentment as the scanner doors closed on her.
The feed switched back to Tyron in the security office, as he got an alert of the program that she had activated and just used. He cursed, "Dammit!"
"Did she...?" one of his assistants asked, also seeing the alert on the monitor in front of them.
"She virtualized herself!" he confirmed, before typing on the keyboard in front of him. "And I can't do anything! By the time we bring the security system back online, it'll be too late!"
"If she escapes, that's bad news for us!" the assistant reminded him. "Can you track her down?"
"No, I can't! She disabled the radar!" Tyron shot back, translating the codes on the screen into a language the security officers surrounding him could understand. "She virtualized herself directly onto the worldwide network, so I can't materialize her back either!"
He angrily punched the wall in front of him, before storming out of the security office. The assistant quickly followed him.
The view changed to multiple angles and feeds as the footage and his assistant followed him down the hall.
As they did so, the assistant asked, once they caught up with their boss. "Sir, where are you going?"
"I'm going to turn on the supercomputer," Tyron replied. "It will give me full control over the system. Only then, will I have a chance at finding her."
The assistant and surrounding interns immediately reacted in horror, and the assistant immediately replied, "But, sir, what about the virus?! To our knowledge, it's still there!"
"That's true," one of the interns agreed. "It's what forced us to turn off the supercomputer in the first place! Who knows what will happen if we turn it back on?!"
Their boss immediately snapped back, "We have no choice! Anthea Hopper is our only link to both Waldo Schaeffer and his weapon against Project Carthage! If we're able to track her down, she'll lead us to both. Then, we win."
"Schaeffer," Aelita swiftly and angrily corrected in the present day. "Her name is Schaeffer, Tyron. Get it right."
The final camera feed was of Tyron reaching the supercomputer room. With the assistant and interns' help, they were able to pry the door open. He swiftly entered and watched as a tall rectangular supercomputer emerged from the ground. Once it was fully revealed, he walked over to the main interface and pulled the main lever up.
On the monitor of the main interface, a question was immediately posed, 'Are you sure you wish to turn this supercomputer on?'
The man typed in 'yes', and the facility's lights all flickered back on. Main power was restored, overriding all of Anthea's hacking.
With one simple pull of a lever, the video itself became a lot clearer before ending on Tyron's disconcerting, villain-like laugh...
The six teens were quiet as they digested this.
"So we were right," William said in a low voice. "XANA was revived because of Tyron turning his supercomputer back on."
"Yeah," Ulrich replied. "And now we know why."
With this, the others turned to Aelita, who was dead silent as she processed all of the information she had just been given.
"'Lita?" Yumi gently nudged her shoulders. "You okay?"
The pink-ette was honest. "Not really. My mother is probably still alive. The Cortex is the last place she would be, given how she's trying to hide from Tyron, so she's somewhere on the network, like my father was." Aelita's fists were clenched tight in the same determination that her mother had worn in the video. "I have to find her. She was trying to reunite with me and Papa. I have to..."
Jérémie got up from his chair and quickly wrapped her in a tight hug. "We will," he whispered. "We promise."
The other four quickly joined the embrace as tears of hope and desperation began filling Aelita's eyes.
Anthea was still alive.
TO BE CONTINUED_
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
Up next: Episode 20, Resolve - "One morning, Jérémie acts strangely out of the blue. Could XANA be controlling him somehow? The answer comes to our heroes via an activated tower on Lyoko."
A/N: Chapter Meaning: Refers to the Ishiyamas' arguing, but could also include Aelita finding the file on Anthea.
-The playlist Jérémie listens to was referenced back in Chapter 8/Episode 103: Isolation.
-In the timeline for this AU, Hopper begins work on Lyoko and the supercomputer immediately after purchasing the factory deed (17 March, 1989; reference Chapter 2/Episode 97: Old Acquaintance). One and a half years later, he finishes the supercomputer and begins actually coding Lyoko, because it takes time to build a computer, much less a supercomputer. Also, Hopper didn't have a team to help him, so it'd take longer.
-The tower XANA activates is a new one. The one Tyron activates is from Isolation.
-Yes, the clip at the end is the first chapter's opening scene.
~Evolution concepts~
Nothing really worth talking about, but Tyron activating a tower on the Cortex in "Time Warp", I feel, isn't talked about enough. Here, the accomplishment gets a bit more fanfare.
Also, EVO never explained how Anthea became Tyron's wife, likely saving it for a second season that never came. But I will be explaining how Anthea, in this story, became Tyron's prisoner, and why.