A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been on a Kingdom Hearts binge lately. To understand what's going on in this chapter, re-read the previous chapter. It explains what's currently going on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or CL: Evolution in any way, shape, or form.
Beta read by FP7ETDP43
The first few scenes are flashbacks, just so you guys aren't confused. So pay attention to the dates.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
"Anthea creates a simulation bubble in hopes of reuniting with Aelita face-to-face. However, XANA takes this chance to accomplish its own goals."
A World Without Danger
Code Lyoko: Evolution Rewrite
Season 5, Episode 21: Vis à Vis
~November 1981~
Waldo and a pregnant Anthea sat by the fire one cold autumn night. As they let the flames warm them up, the two soon-to-be parents were racking their brains, trying to think of possible names for their unborn baby. However, they weren't having much luck agreeing on one single name.
"Guenther and Annaliese?" Waldo suggested.
"The names of your parents?" Anthea lightly scoffed. "In that case, we should add Eugene and Evelyn to the list as well."
"Hey, all four of those are good names, and two of them belong to your parents," he defended, before adding under his breath, "Besides, my mother may riot if you don't at least consider using her name..."
"Middle name," the pink-haired promised, quickly reaching a compromise, because she didn't want to think about it. "I appreciate her giving me a chance, but I want our child to have their own name."
Waldo chose not to delve into that. The relationship between Annaliese Schaeffer and Anthea Hopper (now also Schaeffer) had been a roller coaster from the start. Now, while not super close, the two were on cordial terms with each other, enough that his mother had not been left out of the couple's pregnancy updates. So there was some level of trust there.
Regardless, he decided not to address that, "I suppose that makes sense. In that case, what names are you thinking of? I assume you have some already in mind."
"Well, I do have one," Anthea admitted, burying herself further into his side. "'Aèl'. It's the name my parents were thinking of giving me. I just think it's worth considering for our daughter."
"'Daughter'?" Waldo asked, curious. "How do you know it's a girl?"
She gently scoffed again, "Mother's intuition." She gazed into his forest green eyes, silently daring him to speak against her.
He wisely chose not to. "If you say so. I just have a name suggestion I wish to throw into the ring as well."
Not taking her eyes off of him, she asked, curiously, "Oh?"
"Aelita."
Somehow, hearing that name out loud caused a switch to be flipped inside both of them. If their baby wasn't actually a boy, they'd be crushed, but if Anthea was right, and it was really a girl, then another piece would be added to their little family.
The soon-to-be mother softly smiled, her eyes glowing in the firelight, "It's perfect."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
~March 1982~
Returning from tucking their one-month old daughter into bed, Anthea joined her husband in his study. She found him going over the design sketches she had given him, regarding their virtual world idea.
She hugged him from behind, leaning down since he was seated at his desk, "Well? What do you think?"
Both sets of eyes glanced at the sketches of the glaciers that would eventually become common in the Ice Sector, the trees that would later make up the Forest Sector, the oasis that XANA would hide a tower behind in the future Desert Sector, and the various narrow walkways that would eventually litter the Mountain Sector.
"They're great," Waldo's praise was genuine. "I will always be amazed how well you can take my ideas and expand on them. From a small island to a full-blown explorable world..."
She shrugged, "We're in this together, remember? You're the technical mind, and I'm the creative one."
He pointed to the three pages of sketches that would be known in the future as Sector Five, "What biome is this sector supposed to be?"
"A castle," Anthea explained. "At first, I was thinking of a volcano sector, but since it's where the heart of the virtual world is, I realized that a castle has better defense mechanisms."
"Ah," her husband nodded in understanding. "But we still don't have an official name."
"Unfortunately, no. I mean, we can continue calling it 'Xanadu' for now," Anthea replied, "but I don't feel comfortable with that name."
"Neither do I," Waldo agreed. "I intend to use it for the world's artificial intelligence guardian instead, but we don't have any other names."
Anthea waved him off, "It's alright. We can keep brainstorming. We have plenty of time before it can be perfected. After all, the supercomputer needs to be built first and foremost, and that will take at least a year. And to build it, we need a laboratory that isn't our workplace or our house."
"Indeed," he confirmed, before turning solemn. "But I wouldn't count on Lowell to help us."
Anthea was quiet as she caught onto his emotions. Her husband was a generally stoic man, able to hide his emotions behind an expert poker face. The only person he really showed emotions to was her, and as a result, she knew how to read him best.
He and Lowell Tyron had been friends in their childhood, sharing similar experiences as lonely children of well-off families, since any potential friends were scared off by their wealth or status, or by their uptight parents having near-impossible rules and conditions for friends (Anthea knew personally well what the latter felt like). But then Lowell was sent away to another country for finishing school, and he and Waldo parted ways. When they reunited for Project Carthage, it was evident that their separation had resulted in differing emotional paths.
She and Waldo were engaged and deep in the wedding planning phase when Lowell had decided to court her, seemingly not caring that she was already taken. He didn't take the rejection well, and now the new parents were continuing to watch Lowell's downward spiral.
Part of her did feel responsible for where the man was now, but honestly, he had brought it on himself. He was the one who decided to flirt with an engaged woman.
Meanwhile, her husband felt guilty for introducing her to his very first friend, thus resulting in her being forced to choose between them. He was constantly wondering where he went wrong and what he could do to fix things, and get his friend the help he needed.
"Don't blame yourself, Waldo," Anthea softly told him with self-assurance. "No one forced me to make any choice, and sometimes friendships fall apart. Don't feel bad about that. Besides, sometimes it's best to focus on what you still have rather than lament on what you're about to lose."
Waldo gently smiled, a rare occurrence. "How are you so wise?"
"Because I didn't grow up in a rich family."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
~May 1983~
It was a bright sunny morning when the name for their virtual world came to them. Anthea was teaching a one-year-old Aelita how to read, using a children's book, on the couch, while Waldo was playing the piano.
Following her daughter's toddler mumbling that sounded vaguely like words, the pink-haired woman smiled, "Very good. How about this next sentence? Can you repeat after me," she read from the book, "'Then, Lea and Coco went to the park together'?"
Aelita started babbling again, "Teh lee oco ta pah..."
"Good," Anthea continued to give her praise, obviously going easy because her daughter was still technically a baby.
The girl had said 'lee oco', which was the two names with the 'and' between them being skipped. But Waldo's brain connected the sounds, so he had heard something different.
"Lyoko," he breathed with realization, as he inadvertently stopped playing.
He also said it out loud, without warning, causing his wife to pause in her helping Aelita read and ask, "What?"
"The name of our world," he explained. "Lyoko."
Amended from 'ryokō', the Japanese word for 'travel'. It was fitting for a fully explorable virtual world—and Anthea knew that, judging by her smile and response, "It's perfect."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
~Early December 1987~
Anthea had just finished wrapping a present when her five-year-old daughter sped into the room. "Maman! We're back!" Talk about good timing; the gift was for Aelita. As the woman tied the bow on the wrapped gift, Waldo entered the room after their energetic child, carrying a couple of shopping bags and looking exhausted despite the day only being half over.
"Hey there," she greeted her daughter. "Did you enjoy Christmas shopping with Papa?"
"Yeah!" Aelita cheerfully replied. "We got you something! But we can't tell you what it is," she put a finger to her lips, "because it's a secret."
"Good," Anthea shot a knowing smile at Waldo. "Because I want to be surprised. I'm sure you do too."
Aelita spotted the present in her mother's hands, "Yeah!" She was visibly vibrating with excitement.
"Yes, this is yours," her mother gently said, "but to get it, you have to be good and wait until Christmas morning. Can you do that?"
The girl nodded in delight.
"Good," Anthea softly smiled. "Now go wash up for lunch."
"Okay!" Aelita chirped, before bounding off towards the nearby bathroom, thus leaving her parents alone in the living room.
Waldo watched his wife place the wrapped present underneath the tree, and quietly asked, "So you finally finished the doll?" It was phrased more as a statement, but she answered it anyway.
"Yes, I did." Anthea felt accomplished, and she looked it too. "One handsewn elf doll that took three months to make."
"Are you sure she'll like it?" he wondered. "I hope so."
There was no doubt in the woman's mind whatsoever, "She will."
"And how are you so sure about that?" he asked, already knowing her answer.
"Never doubt my mother's intuition."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
~25 December, 1987~
"Did you see my giant snowball, Maman?" a five-year-old Aelita called out to her parents, both of whom were nearby, watching her roll an enormous ball of snow for her snowman. She was innocent and ignorant, unaware of what was about to happen.
"Yes, we see," Anthea called back. "Don't go too far, sweetheart!"
As she continued constructing her snowman, Aelita suddenly tensed up when she felt someone else's eyes on her—someone who wasn't any of her parents. Glancing around, however, she couldn't see anyone or anything. She didn't like the feeling she was getting, and when remembering this moment later, she would perceive this unseen enemy as a wolf, stalking her from the shadows.
"Papa...? Maman...?" she quietly asked, afraid, with her instincts preparing for the fight or flight response.
No reply from either of them. Studying her surroundings, she saw nothing but snow and trees around her. Did she get lost or disobey Maman by wandering too far?
Aelita ran towards the house—what her parents told her to do whenever she found herself lost—and went inside. But the chalet was deserted.
"Papa? Maman?" she called out again, but it was in vain.
Still no response.
But when she exited out onto the patio, she understood why. Her parents were outside, still in the snow, not far from the house. They seemed to be having a conversation with a couple of men in fancy black suits. She jogged down the stairs to see what was wrong, in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.
"You're not taking anyone," her father was angry, a rare sight. He'd always been able to handle his emotions very well; seeing him like this was disconcerting. "Over my dead body."
"That could easily be arranged," the taller stranger retorted, wearing a sick, twisted smile, "if the boss didn't need you alive."
The stout man in black grabbed her mother's wrist, "Apologies, Miss Hopper, but you need to come with us."
Anthea immediately began to struggle against her kidnappers' grip. Waldo promptly rushed towards her, only a tall man in black to punch him in the face. As blood dripped from his nose, the genius found a gun in his face, "You're not allowed to follow us, Schaeffer."
"Waldo!" his wife cried out, before being unceremoniously pushed inside the two strangers' black car.
The tall man stashed his gun away before giving Waldo one last uppercut before joining his partner in the car. They then drove away, Anthea desperately watching from the back window in raw horror as she was taken away from her loved ones.
She noticed with a sudden start that her daughter was now chasing after the car as it tore away through the snow. Wolves howled as Aelita's little legs eventually gave out. "Maman! Maman!" the girl cried out, breathless, before collapsing.
The snow continued to fall as Aelita sat up, helplessly watching the car drive away. She'd never be able to catch up to it, to save her mother. Even her father had failed. She started crying, as her father scooped her up in his arms, his clothing torn from the fight he was in with the taller stranger, and took her back to the chalet.
She grabbed Mister Pück—the plush toy her parents had gifted to her just this morning—for comfort, and watched as her father packed up all of his research notes into a suitcase. Once he was done, he seized his daughter by the hand and led her out of the house through the back door. He wildly packed her into their car and sped away, narrowly escaping a second car of men in black attempting to bar the way.
The little girl sobbed, "Maman... where's Maman?"
Gritting his teeth, Waldo quietly, yet unconvincingly reassured his daughter, "She's fine. She's just going on a very long trip."
Aelita didn't respond, instead remaining silent as she watched her childhood home get smaller and smaller on the horizon with tear-filled eyes. She tightly clutched Mister Pück to her chest, her last remaining link to her mother.
At the time, she didn't understand what had happened, so her mind filled in the blanks with wolves to represent the enemies. She would remember and understand more details the older she got, but one thing would remain the same no matter what.
She always missed her mother.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Seventeen-year-old Aelita found herself wandering through the snow. The weather was pleasant, but her gut was telling her that it wouldn't last for much longer. She had to hurry.
"Maman!" she called out, as she felt threatening wolf eyes on her, watching her every move from the shadows.
When she came upon a familiar-looking snowdrift, she realized where she was. She was back home in Switzerland. Her childhood home should be around here somewhere.
"Maman! Where are you–?"
A terrified scream cut her off, "AELITA!"
"Maman?" Scared herself, Aelita ran in the direction where she heard the voice calling her name. Whoever it was—likely her mother—they were frightened enough to cry for help.
She reached her destination in no time, which was her old home. However, instead of her mother, she found Jérémie where her snowman once stood. He was surrounded by wolves, which clearly represented two different enemies wanting him captured for two different reasons.
The pink-ette began to panic due to her boyfriend being in danger, exactly what she was afraid of, before looking back towards the chalet when someone else softly called her name, "Aelita."
There on the patio balcony was none other than her mother, looking vibrant and healthy, and waiting for her daughter to join her. There was a hopeful expression on her face.
In no time at all, it felt like she and her mother were the only ones in the world. Others would call the feeling tunnel vision...
"Don't forget who else is here," said a familiar voice in her head, one that always filled her with dread. Her cynical self was back.
Jérémie's scared yelp brought her back to reality, "Aelita!"
She turned back to him in time to see him reach out for her. He was visibly struggling against the grip of the wolves surrounding him, wolves that now had human figures and hands that could grab his shoulders, wolves that now resembled the threats that were XANA and Tyron...
"What are you waiting for?!" her cynical-self demanded. "For Papa to swoop in and save the day?! Choose!"
Aelita glanced back one final time at her mother, whose sad expression struck the girl's guilt senses, but she swallowed it down before running after Jérémie. Like her instincts had previously warned her, the weather was no longer peaceful; the mountainside was now being engulfed in a snowstorm.
The pink-ette chased after the trio, but she quickly found herself unable to run very fast. She felt like she was running backwards; she wasn't going to catch up.
This situation was familiar, she suddenly realized... too much so.
Chasing after a loved one, despite knowing she would never catch them in time...
Sure enough, she soon tripped, collapsing into the snow. When she glanced up, XANA and Tyron were gone, taking Jérémie with them and the snowstorm covering their tracks.
Aelita breathed in and out deeply, panicking, before louding out a loud scream of anguish and frustration.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
~Present Day, Mid-March 2009~
Aelita opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, all in very quick succession, "Jérémie!"
But studying her surroundings, she slowly began to realize that she was no longer in the snow, failing to catch up with the wolves that wanted her boyfriend gone. Instead, she was in her warm bed that was located in her dorm at Kadic Academy, and her alarm clock was going off, the interface reading 7:00 am. As she steadied her breathing, she repeatedly told herself that it was just a nightmare, nothing but a bad dream.
She wiped her tears away with her blanket, before cuddling Mister Pück closer to her chest. "Please, don't make me choose..." she whispered to no one in particular. "They're both equally important to me..."
It was a choice she didn't want to have to make, but judging by recent events, she had a feeling that she would need to eventually. She would have to decide whether to save her mother and preserve her past, or save Jérémie and secure her future.
Maybe Jérémie was right to make the choice for her...
Her solemn reverie was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She picked up, "Hello?", trying not to sound like she just woke up from a nightmare.
"Hey." It was Jérémie, the very person she was just dreaming about. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No." Truth. "Don't worry about it. Um... have you finish decrypting my mother's letters?"
He apologized again, "Not yet, sorry. I'm calling because your mother has sent me another message. Like the letters, it's encrypted, but I managed to decipher it using her code. I can't tell you what it says, though. At least, not here over the phone. Meet me at the factory. The others are on their way."
Genuinely curious as to what that message said, she agreed, "Alright. I'll be there in half an hour. I just have to get dressed first."
"Alright. I'll see you then," he replied, sounding pretty chipper. Apparently, he was in a happy mood. Either he had gotten enough sleep or that message held good news.
He then hung up, leaving her in silence once more, with only her thoughts for company.
"Please, don't make me choose..." she repeated in a whisper, before getting out of bed.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Yumi was the last one at the factory. The others were already there, but they were waiting for her before Jérémie revealed the contents of the message he had received. The moment the elevator doors opened, she asked, "A message from Aelita's mother, you say?"
A bright smile was visible on Jérémie's face, "Yep." It certainly matched his cheerfulness and positivity over the phone.
Aelita leaned in closer, "What does the message say?"
The boy genius typed in a command that brought up Anthea's message, the encrypted version first, which was then promptly translated into a language they could all understand.
Ulrich read the message aloud, "'Jérémie, I apologize for reaching out to you without warning, but I have a surprise prepared on Lyoko for my daughter. I acknowledge how risky this is, but it may be the only chance we have to meet face-to-face. Best regards, Memory'. Plus a string of random code."
Said daughter turned to her boyfriend, "Is it true? Is she really waiting for me on Lyoko?"
Another command brought up the holomap. "Yes, she is." It focused on the Forest Sector, which contained a familiar reading, and showcased a brightly-lit dome in the middle of a clearing. "There's a simulation bubble in the Forest Sector. I can't read directly inside of it, but I guarantee that's her surprise."
"That's true," Odd chose to be optimistic. "She did say that she wanted to talk to Aelita 'face-to-face'."
William held up a finger, "Hold on. How do we know the message is actually from Anthea, and not XANA or Tyron? I mean, there's a good chance that her codename has been blown by now, at least to XANA."
The eldest of them had every right to be cautious, but the youngest had an answer ready, "XANA would have sent that message to Aelita directly; we know, because it has done so before, in order to not involve the rest of us." Twice, Aelita remembered, using both her father and her mother. "Anthea used me as a buffer. And I know it's not Tyron because that string of code at the bottom isn't random or even an error, despite popular belief. It's actually an inside joke that uses key points of her cipher." One that he evidently understood.
"Ah," Ulrich realized, "so it's a secret code like spies use to out themselves to each other without actually blowing their cover?"
"Something like that," Jérémie amusedly confirmed. "I also placed her cipher key in the same restricted area of the supercomputer that the Return program and Hopper's diary are located in. No one can get their hands on it unless they go through me."
Aelita thought about his reasoning, and looking back on it, he had a point. Her mother was using Jérémie as a buffer in the same way her father had. While in hiding, Franz Hopper never contacted Aelita directly, not even after the original Lyoko was destroyed. Yes, he had addressed her in it, but he had sent that encrypted message to Jérémie. When finally showing his face to her, while also giving Jérémie the data necessary to complete the Anti-XANA program, her father had yet again used her boyfriend to contact her. If she didn't know that it was for her own safety, she'd be hurt by this.
"You know we trust you, Jer," Yumi spoke up, "but William's right. There's no harm in being cautious. I mean, how do we know that XANA won't take advantage of this?"
"Oh I don't trust XANA to stay quiet in the slightest," Jérémie quickly agreed. "That's why you four," he pointed to Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and William, "are going with her, as her bodyguards."
"Sounds like a plan!" Odd exclaimed, as he noticed Aelita practically hopping up and down on the balls of her feet with anticipation. "Now, let's go before Princess here explodes with excitement."
The resulting laughter echoed throughout the lab.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Virtualization!"
Ulrich, Odd, and William dropped down from the sky once their avatars had formed. One by one, they each got to their feet as they surveyed their surroundings. The Forest Sector was as green as it ever was, save for a bright yellow energy dome located in the nearby clearing..
"What do you see?" Jérémie asked them.
"Nothing but a bright bubble!" Odd chirped.
Ulrich gently rolled his eyes, "I think he means concerning XANA. No monsters in sight, Jer."
"I mean concerning anything," the young genius corrected, amused, "but thank you anyway. I'm sending over the girls now. Virtualization!"
Within a couple of seconds, Yumi and Aelita appeared in the sky before landing in front of the boys. The geisha joined the guys in studying the area, constantly watching for any enemies or anomalies, while the angel's gaze immediately stopped on the simulation bubble.
Her mother was waiting for her in there...
She let herself get excited and become hopeful, for once throwing caution to the wind. Ever since she watched that car drive off, she had dreamed of this moment, of reuniting with her mother. Now, it was finally going to happen.
Aelita didn't realize she had run up to the bubble until she found herself right in front of it. Her legs had moved on their own.
Turning around, she saw that her friends had followed her. She must have looked hesitant, because they answered her unspoken question before she even asked.
"Don't worry," Odd reassured her. "We'll be right here."
So they did understand her wish to be alone. That made her feel so much better, which she conveyed with a smile.
"However," William said, "for safety reasons, we'll have one of us as the messenger if there's trouble that warrants you needing to help us. Okay?"
That was fine with her, but with her luck, XANA would find a way to interject somehow.
Aelita nodded, accepting this arrangement. "Thank you," she told them, before turning back to the bubble. She cautiously stuck her arm inside, followed by her whole body.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Her eyes closed and hands out in front of her, Aelita walked through an invisible wall and into a snowy landscape. Startled, she fell onto her knees, but quickly recovered as she looked up and glanced around. She found herself in yet another recreation of her old childhood home. Bad memories of XANA once doing the same thing returned in that moment, but this simulation felt different. It felt... almost sad but definitely more comforting than her enemy's trap.
But whether this was a trap or not, her friends were right outside. So she allowed herself to get her hopes up.
She quickly got to her feet and approached the chalet. She slowly, cautiously walked up the patio steps before entering the house. It was exactly how she remembered it. Everything was clean, but the place looked lived in—it was like time did not pass at all. It made Aelita's heart ache with thoughts of what could have been.
Then, she spotted a pink-haired woman standing in front of the fireplace, looking at the framed pictures on the mantle.
"Maman...?" Aelita breathed.
Anthea turned around to face her, a warm smile on her face. Her hair was just as long as it was in the security footage, but the woman looked much healthier. The sight made Aelita's heart nearly leap out of her chest with hope.
"Hello, Aelita. I've been waiting for you."
Tears stung the girl's eyes as Anthea held out her arms to welcome her daughter into a hug. Aelit wasted no time in running straight into her arms, crying, "Maman!" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt the warmth of her mother's embrace. She missed her so much, and now she could finally be with her again, however short a time it would be. "I can't believe it," Aelita muttered. "This is real."
"This is real," Anthea confirmed in a whisper, as tears streamed down her own cheeks.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Outside the bubble, Yumi, William, Odd, and Ulrich were constantly surveying the Forest around them, keeping a lookout for any enemies. Currently, that number was strangely nonexistent.
Disconcerted, Ulrich muttered, "No sight of anyone or anything. What's the word on the holomap, Jérémie?"
"There's nothing on my screens," their resident genius replied. "The superscan is showing some digital activity, but it's not located anywhere near your location."
Yumi raised a curious eyebrow, "Really? What's XANA doing?"
"No idea," Jérémie confessed. "I wish I had a better answer for you guys, but the reading is weak and random; it's not going anywhere specific."
"Let us know the moment the activity changes in any way," Odd piped up.
"I always do," came the response.
No matter what XANA was planning, or if Tyron intended to step in at some point, the five all knew for certain that they had to buy Anthea and Aelita as much time as they possibly could. No matter how much she tried to hide it, they knew that their Princess wanted nothing but this—reuniting with her mother at least one more time. She'd been rather depressed lately; they could all tell.
She deserved no less than this chance.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Inside the simulation, mother and daughter were next to the fireplace, looking through one of the photo albums that Anthea had recreated from memory. On the page they were looking at were two photos, each of an elderly couple.
"I can't believe it," Aelita muttered, a hint of joy in the softness of her voice. "I actually have an extended family."
"Of course you do." Her mother pointed at the photo on the left side, "That's Guenther and Annaliese, your father's parents. They're very rich and currently live in Canada, last I checked. They didn't like me at first, due to our different classes, but once they saw how I was able to keep up with their son on an intellectual level, they decided to give me a chance. And I'm glad they did. Annaliese was surprisingly helpful during my pregnancy with you." She then pointed at the photo on the right side, "That's Eugene and Evelyn, my parents. They started as third-class, before Papa got a promotion. Now, they're comfortably living in middle-class England, again last I checked. All four are aware that you exist. I mean, Maman was in the delivery room with me, but unfortunately, they're likely all convinced that the three of us are dead, ever since they lost contact with us twenty-one years ago after my–..." she swallowed the lump in her throat, "my capture."
Hesitant, Aelita meekly asked, "Did the men in black really take you because of your connection to Papa and Project Carthage? We've always suspected it, but there's still a lot of questions that we don't have the answers to."
However, her mother didn't answer the question directly, "All of the answers you seek are in the letters I wrote through Jérémie."
Aelita was briefly put off by this, wondering why her mother didn't want to talk about that. She was in a safe place, here on Lyoko with her daughter, wasn't she? But then again, there were moments of her past that Aelita didn't feel comfortable sharing with anyone. This instance was probably something like that.
So she let Anthea change the subject, "I noticed you kids have a virtual submarine. What's its name?"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Surveillance of the surrounding trees continued in the meantime. Everything was calm and deceptively peaceful when Jérémie's announcement tore it all down, "Red alert: tower activated in the Ice Sector!"
"And there's the rugpull," William commented, cracking his knuckles. "I knew things were going too well."
"You can always trust good ol' XANA to ruin everything," Odd quipped.
"Indeed," Jérémie agreed. "You guys also have some visitors."
As if on cue, four small cracks appeared within the ground in front of them. Hearing the cracks, Ulrich muttered, "Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of that." All four cracks grew wider and wider, until the ground broke apart into fragments, leaving holes wide enough for Bloks to slip through.
Behind them, three Tarantulas were virtualized. Once they landed, they assumed their offensive positions.
In no time at all, the four Lyokowarriors were facing off against seven monsters. Yumi and William split off, focusing on the Tarantulas, while Ulrich and Odd took on the Bloks.
"Should we tell Aelita?" Odd asked, in the midst of dodging lasers.
"What? Why?" Yumi quickly disagreed. "This fight is manageable for now, and we have Jérémie, remember? We can handle this ourselves."
"That's right," said genius cut in. "Let's keep Aelita out of this for as long as we can. Ulrich, Yumi, you two head for the Ice Sector. Way tower is 34 degrees, south, southwest. I'll meet you there."
"Okay," Yumi agreed, before taking off after Ulrich.
Only for the two to be halted in their tracks by two Krabes emerging from behind a couple of trees framing the path to the way tower.
Apparently, XANA had other plans.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
XANA cutting off Ulrich and Yumi's trek towards the way tower was not lost on Jérémie. He was setting up the self-virtualization when he glanced back at the holomap window focusing on the Ice Sector. And he paused.
There was a noticeable lack of monsters protecting that activated tower. Normally, XANA would have at least two guards by now. It seemed a little too easy, on purpose.
Regardless of his suspicions, he chose to continue typing in commands to warm up the scanners...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie dropped down from the sky, landing on the ice below. The activated tower was a few hundred meters away, situated at the edge of the large, flat plateau they were both situated on. Still no monsters waiting for him...
Yeah, there was no way this wasn't a trap.
But he was already here. He could still deactivate the tower before anything happened, or involving anyone else.
With that in mind, he moved towards the direction, but before he could take a step, the ground underneath him started to shake. Beneath his feet, cracks began appearing in the ice. He backed away from the cracks as they widened, until it was evident that the platform he was standing on was being separated from the surrounding plateau.
Sure enough, when the trembling stopped, he was on an isolated platform, with the other glaciers around him too far away for comfort.
In the distance, he caught sight of the tower's halo turned from red back into the neutral white. Still no monsters–
A familiar screeching accompanied by the slithering of tentacles interrupted him.
Fear immediately filled his entire virtual body as he turned around. Sure enough, the Scyphozoa was floating towards him.
This was a trap, after all; he should have listened to his instincts...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
An oblivious Aelita repeated what her mother just told her, "You knew Papa was gone this whole time?" She had just informed the woman of the news, only to find out that Anthea already knew. "When did you find out?"
"The moment I was virtualized," Anthea quietly confessed. Sorrow and grief filled her physical features as she recalled that moment. "At the time, my focus was on him and you, and when you're first scanned, the supercomputer's database reads your mind and personality, and projects your desires and interests at the time onto your digital incarnation."
"Jérémie theorized the same thing," Aelita softly cut in.
"He's very bright, then," her mother smiled.
The girl nodded. "Though he didn't have any explanation on why Papa was an energy ball instead of a humanoid..."
"Probably because adults have less of an imagination," Anthea explained. "I mean, Waldo and I set it up that way on purpose; it supported our idea of Lyoko being a world without danger, pain, or fear. It was the reason we initially thought of creating it, up until we left Project Carthage, that is. Long story short, Tyron normally has control of the Cortex scanners, and he's programmed them to produce uniform avatars, but when I virtualized myself, I temporarily modified them to act like those on Lyoko, so my desire to see the two of you again created bonds between your father and me, and likely us as well."
Is that why she got that nightmare of her mother escaping from Tyron's lab? Is that how she knew her mother was still alive long before the woman showed herself as Memory?
Cynical-Aelita was the embodiment of her fears and insecurities—she knew that—but was Optimist-Aelita a symbol of that connection between mother and daughter?
No, that couldn't be right... Jérémie had been brought up a few times during those conversations.
Then again...
Anthea cut through her thoughts, "Aelita? What's on your mind?"
Said pink-ette was promptly brought back to reality, "I-I think Jérémie and I... have the same connection. Or did at one point..."
Anthea leaned in ever so closer in curiosity, "Really? Tell me how the two of you ended up in that situation."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie reached a hand towards his bracelet, intent on activating his wings, only for the Scyphozoa to use a tentacle to slap his hand away. Its tentacles snaked around the blue elf's torso, paralyzing him upon contact. He wasted no time in pressing three tentacles to his head and stealing his memory.
"He and I got into a fight while working on my materialization," Aelita recalled, her hands fidgeting in her lap. "He went to Lyoko to apologize to me in person, only for Yumi to accidentally hit the wrong button, sending him to virtual limbo. I could... I could feel him, intimately..."
On the supercomputer screen, the memory count window popped up, but no one was there to see it...
"Was it his first time being virtualized?" Anthea asked.
"Mm-hmm. His talents work best if he's at the controls, rather than fighting with the rest of us."
Her mother fondly smiled, "Just like Waldo."
Outside the bubble, the other four continued to fight back against XANA's welcoming committee, wanting to protect Aelita and Anthea, as well as meet Jérémie in the Ice Sector. With their luck, the Scyphozoa was all that was waiting for him.
The fight continued on, as said monster drained Jérémie's memory without interference.
"Waldo and I intended for the Keys to be used as a safety measure to prevent anyone from being trapped in limbo," Anthea explained, "so that's why you were able to sense him there. But you were able to read his thoughts and feel his emotions because of the bond set up by his desire to see you when he was virtualized. Like soulmates."
Aelita was quiet, "It was very hard not to read his mind and feelings too deeply as I was working to save him. It was very tempting, but I knew that once I went down that rabbit hole, it would have been impossible for me to come back to reality." A pause. "I could also feel his emotions like they were my own..."
"Not surprising," her mother replied. "The two of you were young at the time, and it was also the first time you both were virtualized simultaneously, so it obviously would have been hard to control that bond."
"But...?"
Anthea concluded, "But you two have grown, both as people as well as in your relationship. Now, you know how to read each other so well that it's become second nature."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The fight in the Forest Sector raged on. Now, one Krabe, two Bloks, and two Tarantulas remained, and Ulrich and Yumi were struggling to get past them, despite them clearly holding back.
"Why aren't they going all out?!" Ulrich demanded, despite knowing the others likely didn't know the answer. "They know what they're capable of, right?!"
William reverted to his smoke form and snaked up to the remaining Krabe, but once he appeared in front of it, in human form, a simple shot to his hand—the one holding his Zweihänder—knocked it out of his hand and him down to the ground.
What was going on? The Krabe had a clear shot at William's chest, but chose to disarm him instead. Ulrich was right; these monsters really were holding back...
A thought came to the raven-haired boy's mind, "They're doing it on purpose."
As William summoned his Zweihänder back to his hand, Odd quickly caught on, "To keep us from helping Jérémie, whether from Lyoko–"
Yumi cut in, "Hence the blockade."
Odd continued, "Or from the lab–"
"Hence them holding back," Ulrich finished. His fists clenched in frustration, "We have to try. Hang in there, Einstein..."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Mother and daughter continued to chat by the fireplace, still oblivious to what was really going on outside with the others.
"Your father and I met at university, in England," Anthea was explaining. "It was a very prestigious school, and he got in through his parents' fortune and recognition, but I earned my way in through a scholarship. We didn't like each other at first. I hated the thought of him just waltzing his way into the school while I had to work myself to the bone, and he hated the fact that someone poor like me was able to keep up with him so easily. But that all changed when he defended me from some mean girls who wanted to cut and dye my hair. He loved that it was pink and different... It was the first compliment he ever gave to me." On her face was a fond smile. "We started dating in our final year." She took a deep breath, her soft smile now gone. "I met Tyron in a coding class that I had to take in order to finish my computer science degree."
Aelita raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Not music?"
"Oh, heavens no. Music is my hobby; I'll never feel comfortable turning something just for me into a career to make money from." The woman continued, "Anyway, Tyron immediately took a liking to me, and despite Waldo and I already being engaged by this point, he decided to court me. Naturally, your father didn't take this well. I had to turn Tyron down a few times because I was just too nice; I didn't want to hurt his feelings. But when he finally got it through his thick skull, Tyron and all of his relationships just started to degrade, until it all came to a crashing halt when Waldo had to turn him in for stealing government documents."
Aelita was quiet when digesting all of that. Even after needing to reject him, her mother still invited Tyron to the wedding as an olive branch, an attempt to repair the trio's friendships. Remembering that video file, the girl then thought of something else.
"One of Papa's diary entries talks about Tyron," she softly cut in. "In it, Papa explains how if Tyron ever found out that I existed, he'd never forgive me for being born."
"It's true," Anthea solemnly confirmed, "and I hate how I know that. Though I strongly suspect that Tyron already knows about you." Aelita gave her mother a confused look. "Refer to the letters."
Aelita put up an impressive poker face via a fake smile. She didn't know why it bothered her, just that it did. But she chose to change the subject, "Did I really come up with Lyoko's name?"
Anthea brightly smiled at her, "You sure did," before cheerfully telling her daughter the story.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Back in the lab, the supercomputer screen was still showing the window portraying Jérémie's memory count.
The counter reached zero, and a short alert sounded...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
On Lyoko, Jérémie fell to the ground when the Scyphozoa released him, but to his amazement, he was still alive. What? He should be dead... shouldn't he?
Moreover, the Scyphozoa was acting strange. Its brain seemed to be getting fried with white-colored electricity. Almost as if it was bugging up because XANA had received the wrong information...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
An alert, shown via a red exclamation mark, appeared on the monitor, relaying that an error had been made. If anyone had been there, the readings would have indicated that the error was made by the Scyphozoa capturing a clone, rather than the real deal.
Down in the scanner room, the real Jérémie had his laptop hooked up to one of the scanners, controlling his clone from it. He was smiling with unrestrained smugness.
Thankfully, he had foreseen that trap and had prepared for it. Now, XANA had been fooled with yet another clone, despite having the previous XANA's memories of the first one.
And it had the nerve to call humans 'predictable'...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
In the Forest Sector, the cornered quartet became confused when the remaining five monsters began short-circuiting, one by one, before self-destructing. They all glanced at each other, before shrugging; no one had the answer.
"Guys?" But Jérémie did.
"Einstein!" Odd exclaimed. "Why aren't you at the tower?"
"Don't worry about it," the young genius explained. "It was a trap set by XANA. It saw Anthea's little surprise and counted on her preoccupying Aelita so it could steal my half of the keys without interference. But I sent a clone in my place and it worked. XANA deactivated the tower, and the resulting short-circuit cut off its remaining energy for today."
"So we don't have to join you in the Ice Sector anymore?" Ulrich asked, as he sheathed his katanas.
"Nope. Crisis averted."
There was a collective sigh of relief, before Odd asked, "Um... should we tell Aelita?"
None of them liked lying to her, so they wouldn't. Instead, Jérémie suggested, "Let's wait until she and her mother finish their meeting first."
"Agreed," spoken by the other four simultaneously.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
A couple of hours later, Anthea glanced at the clock on the nearby wall, "Oh dear. I didn't realize how much time has passed in the real world. It's time for what you kids consider to be 'dinner time'."
"It is?" Aelita jumped up, her eyes going directly to that clock. Sure enough, her mother was right; it was currently 6:35 pm. "But..." Crestfallen, tears began to fill the girl's eyes. "I don't want to say goodbye yet..." Or ever, went unspoken.
Anthea wrapped her daughter in one last hug, "Don't worry. We'll meet again soon." Aelita immediately sunk into her mother's warm touch.
Outside, the other four were sparring with each other, using only Pencak Silat and no weapons, when the simulation bubble began to glitch out. They paused in their activity to turn to the bubble right as it broke apart, the pieces of the outer shield shattering and falling to the ground the same way glass did—like a snow globe.
Aelita felt warm, and the next moment, she felt cold. The snowy mountainside and the chalet had been replaced by Lyoko's Forest Sector, and her mother's humanoid form had disappeared, a human-sized pink crystal flower now in her place. The large flower lingered for a moment—Anthea not wanting to leave either—before she forced herself to leave, retreating back into the Digital Sea.
The warmth returned, however, when Yumi wrapped a comforting arm around the pink-ette's shoulders. Aelita sunk into the touch with a grateful smile.
At least she got to say 'goodbye' to her mother this time.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Once devirtualized, the five entered the lab through the elevator. Jérémie was still at the controls. He turned around to greet Aelita, but she beat him to it.
"When were you planning on telling me about XANA's trap today?" Her hands were on her hips, not in the mood for anything other than the truth.
Jérémie glanced at the other four, "You had to tell her?"
"We had no choice," William shrugged. "She asked if anything happened to us while she was with her mother, and we couldn't lie to her."
"Yeah," Odd chirped, "you told us not to, remember?"
Aelita raised a stern eyebrow at her boyfriend, repeating, "When were you planning on telling me?"
Jérémie was honest when answering, "Once you were done talking to your mother, so about now." She would have found out somehow; so he wasn't at all angry with the others for telling her.
The pink-ette gently sighed, "I believe you. Sorry for being so hard on you, but XANA is after your half of the Keys, so you can't take any unnecessary risks, even if you saw right through this trap. Next time, you may not be so lucky."
She could take her own advice, was Jérémie's first thought, remembering her impulsiveness in the past. But he didn't comment on that at all, merely relenting with a simple, "Yes, dear."
Odd coughed, "Whipped!"
Jérémie scoffed as he rolled his eyes, "So are you, Odd." With Sam. "Change my mind." This shut Odd right up. The genius turned back to his girlfriend, "So, how was your surprise?"
A hopeful smile came to Aelita's face, "I loved it. Thank you, all of you, for being so understanding, and protecting my mother and me." She felt so much better. Reuniting with her mother was exactly what she needed to regain the spark she had lost with her father's sacrifice. "But there were some questions that she couldn't answer. She only told me that those answers were in the letters. Have they been deciphered yet?"
Jérémie met her smile with one of his own, "Yep." He looked particularly proud of himself.
"Could you show the letter addressed to all of us?" she asked, understanding that the other letter was probably for her eyes only.
"Sure," her boyfriend began typing in commands, opening an audio file of all things. "Sorry, deciphering the letters has turned them into audio files."
"That's okay," Yumi softly cut in, as she, Ulrich, Odd, and William joined the two sweet lovebirds around the monitor. "Just play it."
Jérémie pressed play, and Anthea's voice promptly rang out, "To Jérémie Belpois, Ulrich Stern, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and William Dunbar—I first wish to thank you all for saving my daughter, on my own behalf as well as Waldo's. I've searched the entire internet during the past few months and I now have proof that the only iteration of XANA left is the version taking refuge in Tyron's supercomputer. If you need that evidence, I'm more than happy to hand it over; all you must do is ask for it. However, I must warn you that Tyron is currently working on a way to place XANA under his control, something the artificial intelligence does not want. So do not be surprised if, when faced with a choice concerning its fate, XANA chooses to let you destroy it."
That was something Cynical-Aelita had said.
"Tyron also has a weapon he has yet to perfect," Anthea continued. "He calls it 'memory-snatching' gloves, and its purpose is exactly what it sounds like—it's a tool that enables the user to steal a person's memories and then re-inject them into the digital world. Last I checked, he was still building a prototype, specifically to use on me, but you are still warned. Do no underestimate him."
Also something Cynical-Aelita had said. Maybe, Aelita realized, her bond with her mother had also bled over into her cynical self...
"He plans to use Lyoko and XANA in order to restart Project Carthage and regain Green Phoenix's hold over the world," said mother's voice continued. "He had me kidnapped that Christmas Day in order to use me against Waldo. His men disguised themselves as government agents specifically to scare Waldo into running away. He attempted one last time to court me using blackmail, but I refused, so he simply imprisoned me instead. It killed two birds with one stone, because Waldo was driven away regardless. Aelita, on that day, was just collateral damage, but Tyron, no doubt, knows she exists, and he has no proof, but he has his suspicions that she's still alive. During my twenty-one years of imprisonment, he forced me to build the Cortex and its supercomputer after seeing the sketches of Lyoko I had previously done for Waldo. Last year, I overheard a couple of guards talk about Tyron's suspicions that Aelita Stones—the opening act for the Subdigitals—looked familiar, though he couldn't remember where. He's likely sent out a spy to Kadic by now to search for Stones, but that was the last straw for me. I had to confirm that my husband and daughter were still alive and safe, so I escaped from him, into the network, encrypting my digital profile so as to hide from Tyron, as well as prevent him from simply materializing me back." A sigh. "I apologize to you, Aelita, for not disclosing this to you during our meeting, but your friends also know about Tyron, and he knows about you all as well. I feel responsible for this current situation, so I need to do all I can to help you kids win the war. I wish you all luck in your fight, but remember that Tyron's threat level is much higher than XANA's."
The audio file then ended, and Aelita wanted to cry. Her cynical self was right all along, and that was because her mother's fears—felt through that bond—were bleeding over into her daughter's. But on the other side of the coin, her optimistic self was also empowered by her mother's joy and relief in knowing her daughter was safe.
"Wow," Odd breathed, "that's, um... that's a lot to take in." His jokester aura had taken a backseat here, showing just how serious he was.
"Yeah," William muttered. "Taking control of XANA, inventing memory-snatching gloves, and planning to restart Project Carthage..." He sighed. "Never in my life did I think I would feel bad for that AI..."
"But XANA still needs to be stopped," Jérémie cut in. "Yes, Tyron's the bigger threat, but we can't ignore XANA either. One wrong move and both sets of Keys are in its virtual hands."
"And who's to say that's not what Tyron's waiting for?" Ulrich brought up an interesting thought, phrased as a rhetorical question.
All six teens were quiet as they let Anthea's revelations sink in.
Then, Odd asked, "Can we... bring Anthea back here?"
Aelita's heart started pounding.
"Can we?" Jérémie was in deep thought. "I'm not sure. To do so, I have to decrypt her digital profile, and that may take a while. But she was also virtualized through Tyron's scanners, not ours, so I'm uncertain she'll be able to return to the real world without the Cortex's supercomputer. Now," he continued, "should we? I don't think that's a good idea. Tyron's still searching for her, and XANA may use her to trap us for the Keys."
"Jérémie's got a point," Yumi agreed. "Let's wait until this whole thing with XANA and Tyron is over, but we should at least try and free Anthea if we can."
Aelita cut in here, "W-Wait! Don't I get a say here?"
"You do, 'Lita," her boyfriend softly, solemnly told her, his gaze piercing her very soul, "but I know that this isn't a choice that you want to make." He was right. How was he always right? "It's a choice you shouldn't have to make. So how about a compromise: if you decide, Aelita, that XANA or Tyron come too close to victory for comfort, then we'll use the completed patch for the Anti-XANA program to destroy Tyron's supercomputer. No questions asked." He turned to the other four, "Okay?"
Odd, William, Yumi, and Ulrich all gave swift, determined nods in agreement, finding that a good plan.
Jérémie turned back to Aelita. The pink-ette let slip a grateful smile, "Okay."
She had the best, most understanding friends, and she wouldn't trade them for the world.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
Inspiration: CLE's "Resolve"/"Obstination"/"Tenacity" & "Espionage"
Up next: Episode 22, Dissension - "Jérémie's insecurities come to a boil when his cyberbully makes their most devastsating strike yet. Meanwhile, XANA tries a new plan to protect its tower."
A/N: Chapter Meaning: In terms of being a noun, it means 'face to face', referencing Anthea and Aelita's reunion.
-According to an interview with Sophie Decroisette and Nicolas Atlan, in-universe, Aelita's name was inspired by the name her grandparents originally intended to give her mother Anthea: "Aèl".
-The relationship between Anthea and Annaliese is important in understanding their relationship in Bridge Across the Milky Way (the upcoming Jerlita-Ulumi swap that I will start writing once I finish this story), more specifically where the divergence is concerning Aelita's backstory from TBITC.
-The flashback detailed on 25 December, 1987 is from the original script of Distant Memory, except it's a more realistic version.
-XANA's tower is the same one (or rather, a copy of) the one it activated in "The Secret".
~Evolution concepts~
The only thing really worth discussing is the concept of Aelita reuniting with Anthea. Evolution ends on a cliffhanger, with the finale revealing that he's Aelita's stepfather (which Mr. Delmas believes for some odd reason), having married Anthea. He offers Aelita the chance to see her mother again, but given how Anthea's necklace that he gives her has a tracking device in it, he doesn't actually intend on letting them reunite. Knowing what's really important, Aelita refuses, and the Cortex is shut down to prevent the virus from spreading, thus cutting off her access to Anthea. Here, the circumstances are different, so the two are allowed to have at least one final conversation before everything goes to hell.
There's also the ending scene with the deal that Aelita agrees on. Again, different circumstances, but it's still the same deal. It concerns her mother versus defeating XANA, with the others trying to give Aelita as much time with Anthea as they can.