96: A New Start
The bell rang. Loud and rather long, it screamed that the end of the day was done.
Students piled out of the classrooms facing the open courtyard, talking about their first day of the new school year at Kadic. Loud clamor rang in everyone’s ears.
Four of the students were last to leave one of the rooms. There was a pink-haired girl, and three boys, one brunette, one with a blond spike of hair and a purple dot on it, and another blonde, with a less-exuberant haircut. Stretching and exhaling, they made their way to the cafeteria for dinner with all the other students.
“Did you like our first Math class as eleventh years?” Aelita asked the others, grinning.
“Technically in America, we would be in tenth grade right now,” Jeremie said.
Odd and Ulrich laughed. “That was Math, Einstein,” Ulrich said, “not History class.”
“The lesson about differentials and advanced probability must have fried your brain,” Odd said. “Of course, mine was already so deep fried, I could have eaten it.”
It was Jeremie’s turn to roll his eyes. “Aelita and I already knew most of that stuff. It was kind of boring, to be frankly honest,” he said, smiling.
“I think Odd’s getting to you,” Aelita said, joking. “You’re starting to boast.”
All of the students were now in front of the cafeteria. Before Odd could protest, Ulrich opened the door, ushering the others in and winking at Aelita as she passed.
The four students got their dinner and went to their usual table.
There was a collective sigh from Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita as Odd sat down with a tray already laden with more food than the others.
“What?” Odd asked, picking up his fork and taking a bite. “The mashed potatoes are delicious! It helps to satisfy my longing for school food, because the two-week summer break didn’t help. I mean, my parents are great artists, but their cooking side definitely isn’t the best.”
“This is actually one of the first summers in a long time that we’ve spent with our families,” Ulrich observed. “And because of that, I’m surprised that my dad didn’t make his usual amount of rants about my work habits, my grades, and all that junk.”
“How many rants did he make?” Odd asked.
“Twenty-six, definitely less than last summer’s record of thirty-eight.”
Aelita was quiet. Jeremie noticed this, and signaled to Odd and Ulrich to stop talking about being with their families over the summer. Odd and Ulrich made faces, as if to say “Oops”, and hastily started talking about the video games they had played over the summer.
Two black-haired students, a girl wearing almost all black and a boy with a brown coat, walked up.
“Hey guys,” Jeremie said, smiling, as Yumi and William sat down. “How was your first day of school as twelfth years?”
“Which, technically, would be eleventh graders in America,” Odd mimicked. Jeremie rolled his eyes as everyone else laughed.
“Not that interesting,” William said, spooning a scoop of mashed potatoes into his mouth. “Mr. Fumet didn’t really give us an interesting lesson today, just some schloop about the Punic Wars.” Everyone else at the table grinned.
“It’s a lot more important than you think,” Odd said, winking at the others. “Franz Hopper based Project Carthage and Sector 5 upon it.”
“Well, then it’s not much used anymore because the supercomputer’s been shut down,” William replied.
“Speaking of the supercomputer,” Yumi said, “It’s been almost a year since we shut it down for good.”
“Yeah,” Ulrich said, “what about it?”
“It just seems…” Odd pondered, “strange, I guess, not having to go to Lyoko or the Network for that long.”
“Aelita,” Jeremie asked, “are you okay?”
Aelita gave a start, as if she had just come back to her senses. “Wha…what? Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“You seem rather quiet,” Yumi said. “Are you okay?”
“I guess,” Aelita said, sighing. “It’s just…I’ve been worrying about my mother recently. I mean, I’ve been wondering about what happened to her. There’s always this blank spot when I try to think about her disappearance; there’s just a part of my memory that just says that she just vanished, and there’s nothing more after that about her, just reminiscing.”
“Do you think she’s…” Ulrich asked, trailing off. “Do you think she’s…passed away?”
Aelita looked up. “I have no idea. And that’s what’s bugging me.”
Jeremie took her hand. “I can help you search for her, if you want. There’s a lot of places we can look, and eventually we’ll find the truth.”
“But…” Aelita said. “The world is so big. How can we have any hope of finding her if she’s alive or dead?”
“There’s always hope,” Odd said, “no matter what.”
There was a short silence.
Jeremie broke it. “I’ll help you first thing tomorrow morning. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so we don’t have any classes. Anyone else want to join us?”
Odd shifted. “Sorry, but I was planning on going for a walk around the Factory tomorrow, just for sentimental reasons. Does anyone else want to come?”
“I might as well,” Ulrich said. “We don’t have any homework for our first weekend, surprisingly, so I’m free.”
Yumi and William glanced at each other. “Sorry, all of you…but I promised to help William study for the Roman History test we have coming up.” Jeremie glanced at Ulrich to see his eyes flash a dark brown, but he said nothing and drank from his cup of water.
Jeremie turned back to Aelita. “We can meet up tomorrow morning in my room. We can start looking on the Internet for any clues.”
Aelita smiled. “Okay. And thank you, Jeremie.” She leaned closer to him.
“Oy!” Odd called, as everyone turned away, rolling their eyes and making faces. “We’re eating right now! We don’t need your lovey-dovey gooiness right now.”
“And how would you feel if I pecked you on the cheek right now, then?” asked Sissi, coming over with her tray and sitting next to Odd.
“I’d probably barf,” said Odd, grinning. Sissi whacked him as everyone else chuckled.
“Did you guys understand the whole thing about promadility in Math class today?” she asked, turning to Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremie. “I didn’t understand a word of it.”
“Probability,” corrected Ulrich, smiling. “I didn’t, but the Einsteins already knew the stuff.”
“Well, that’s the Einsteins,” Yumi said. “If there was a survey of the intellect of all the students in our school and the Einsteins were the only ones part of it, then the whole survey would be corrupt.”
“That’s true,” Sissi said. “And it’s not our fault that some of us have smaller brains than others.”
“You mean…yourself?” Odd said.
“No, you dodo brain,” Sissi said, rolling her eyes. “At least I’m not the one that got an average last semester equal to the root of e divided by m.”
“Say what…?” Odd asked, clueless.
“Think of Albert Einstein’s formula, e=mc2,” said Jeremie, laughing.
Odd merely frowned as everyone else on the table almost fell of their chairs laughing.
---
There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Jeremie called.
Aelita opened the door. “Hi, Jeremie.”
Jeremie turned around. “Oh, hi Aelita. I’ve been up since five in the morning searching for any information that might be useful to us.”
Aelita pulled up a chair. “Five in the morning? That’s insane. Even though I know you’ve pulled an all-nighter more than once.”
Jeremie smiled, but his smile faded when he turned back to his computer. “So far, I haven’t found anything. I’ve searched the Internet…what I can get to, at least. Although I haven’t tried to hack the government files yet. I was waiting for you so that we could do it together.”
“Well, let’s see what we can come up with then,” Aelita said, smiling. Both of them turned back to the computer as Jeremie started typing again.
---
Ulrich and Odd grounded to a halt on their skateboards. Ulrich jumped off of his and left his laying against the wall, as did Odd.
“Do you think the Factory’s changed?” Ulrich asked, as he climbed up the ladder.
“I doubt it,” Odd said, climbing up after him. “It’s probably still the old, rotting, run-down place we’ve come to love. Thankfully it hasn’t collapsed on us while we’ve been in it, or we would have been toast.”
Ulrich and Odd climbed out of the sewer. They walked toward the ropes, and slid down onto the Factory floor.
---
The doorbell rang. Hiroki came to the door.
“Who is it?” he called. He opened the door.
“Hi, Hiroki,” William said, smiling.
Hiroki stared. “You’re not Ulrich…”
William raised an eyebrow. “Uh…what?”
“Nothing,” Hiroki said. “Yumi’s in her room.”
“Thanks,” William said. He came into the Ishiyama home. As Hiroki closed the door, he stuck his tongue out at William’s back.
William knocked on the wall next to the open doorway. “Can I come in?”
“Hey,” Yumi said, smiling. She was sitting on her bed with open history books.
“Hey,” William said, sitting down next to her. “Well…shall we start studying Foam History?”
“It’s Roman,” laughed Yumi. “Honestly, I think sometimes your clone is still here.”
William frowned. “What about my clone?”
“Nothing,” Yumi said. She lifted a heavy book onto her lap. “Okay, when was the Roman Empire founded, and by whom was it named after?”
---
Ulrich and Odd were walking around the first floor. “Think we should check if the Lab is okay? The elevator should still work.”
“Sure, why not,” Odd said, as they turned and headed toward the elevator shaft. “It’ll be nice to reminisce about our Lyoko battles again.”
Suddenly, there was a loud metal clang, as if a piece of scrap metal had hit the floor. Ulrich and Odd froze.
“Hide,” Ulrich whispered. Odd nodded silently, and they quickly hid behind two pillars on either sides of the middle walkway, facing the opposite direction in which the noise had come. They peered around to look for the source of the noise.
Walking in the general direction toward them, looking at the Factory site, were three men wearing light gray coats.
Ulrich motioned to Odd across the way, and he nodded. They stepped out from behind the pillars and made they way to the men.
“Hello,” Ulrich said to them. The men turned as they walked up. “Who are you?”
The man in the middle smiled. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said, holding out his hand. “I am Nathan Peters, millionaire art collector.”
Odd shook his hand, as did Ulrich. “I’m Odd Della Robbia, and this is Ulrich Stern. We’re students at the nearby Kadic Academy. We were just taking a walk around the Factory, since it’s abandoned. But what are you doing here, sir?”
The man looked around, motioning to the walls around them. “I’ve been taking a look around at this abandoned Factory. I’ve been looking for somewhere to display my modern art, and I think I’ve found it. I’ve checked with the government, since this is government property, and they said that they would put this property on the market. At a generous price, too.”
Ulrich and Odd shifted nervously, glancing at each other. “But why would you want to buy this place?” Ulrich asked. “Or what for?”
The man smiled. “I’ve made plans to buy this property, demolish the Factory, and turn this site into an art museum. It will attract people worldwide. What do you think of my plans?”
Ulrich and Odd’s mouths just hung open in shock. Odd tried to say something, but no words came to his mouth.
“Speechless, are we?” said Mr. Peters, smiling. “So was my family when I proposed the idea. But they finally came around, after half an hour, and congratulated me on my plans.”
I don’t think we’re going to do anything of the sort anytime soon, thought Ulrich and Odd, still frozen in disbelief.
---
Jeremie pressed the enter key. “Now, what do we have here?”
Aelita blinked. “Hm…I don’t see anything, not even a DNA code fragment. Nothing.”
Jeremie sighed. “We’ve been looking for almost an hour, and we still haven’t found anything,” he said, taking off his glasses and wiping them. “I’m sorry, Aelita.”
Aelita glanced away, worried. “What if…what if there’s nothing about her at all? Not even in the rest of the government files?”
Jeremie took her hand. “We can still try,” he said.
Aelita smiled half-heartedly. “Okay, let’s keep looking.”
---
“But you can’t knock down the Factory!” Ulrich protested. “It’s…it’s a monument to all of Kadic, and to us!”
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Peters said, smiling. “But I’ve already made my choice. Now, if you will kindly leave this property, as this will be my property in a few days.”
“Until it is, you can’t force us to leave!” Odd said angrily.
The man’s smile broke and turned into a deep frown. “Listen, scrawny boy,” he said. Odd flushed, while Ulrich quickly looked away. “I will only say this one more time. Get off of my property.”
“No.” Odd and Ulrich said, folding their hands. “We will never let this place go.”
“That’s it,” Mr. Peters said, loosing his patience. Ulrich saw his eyes flash, and he gasped.
Mr. Peters motioned to the two men. “Get them, now,” he said, pointing at Odd and Ulrich. The two men nodded, and lunged toward Ulrich and Odd.
“Get away from us, you creepos!” shouted Odd, throwing a punch at one of the goons. The man fell backward, but got back up, cracking his knuckles
Ulrich jumped aside out of the way of his man’s path and kicked him from the side. The man tumbled down sideways, landing on his side. He got back up, shaking his head as he tried to regain his strength.
“I said get them, you idiots!” shouted Mr. Peters. His voice had become suddenly more sinister, and it sounded as if his voice was being run through a microphone.
Odd looked at Ulrich, wide-eyed. “Is he Xanafied?” he whispered, as the two men started toward them.
“I don’t know,” Ulrich whispered back as they started backing away. “But we’d better call for help.”
“Right,” Odd said, nodding. “I’ll distract them, you call the police.”
“Wait, Odd,” Ulrich said. “If they’re Xanafied, then it may not be good to involve the police. We can just call for backup.”
“Get out of my Factory,” Mr. Peters shouted, “or we will make you get out.”
The two men lunged. Odd and Ulrich dived out of the way. Ulrich quickly took out his cell phone and started dialing. “Hello, Yumi?” he said. “We’re in a bit of a jam right now.”
“What do you mean?” Yumi said. She suddenly gasped. “It isn’t Xana, is it?”
“Uh…” Ulrich said, dodging a blow. “We’re not sure. But can you and William get down here, please? Now?”
“Okay,” Yumi said, standing up. She motioned for William to follow her, and he raised an eyebrow as they started out of the house. “Where are you guys?”
“We’re at the Factory being attacked by a few goons,” Ulrich said, jumping out of the way of another punch. “Call Jeremie and Aelita and tell them where we are, although I don’t think they can do much.”
“Okay,” Yumi said, as she and William ran down the sidewalk toward the Factory. “We’re on our way.”
---
Aelita was sitting on Jeremie’s bed, reading a book. Jeremie was still at the computer. Aelita’s eyelids had begun to droop, as she started to get sleepy and bored.
Suddenly, Jeremie’s eyes widened. “Aelita?” he asked.
Aelita opened her eyes and turned to Jeremie. “Did you find something?”
“I think so,” Jeremie said. Aelita quickly stood up and sat down in her chair.
Jeremie was typing. “I was finally able to hack into the government files,” he said, “and I found something.”
Aelita started to read. “These are records of disappearances,” she said tentatively. “The record of missing persons.”
“Look at entry number 47,” Jeremie said.
Aelita gasped. “Antea…Hopper, age 45. Last seen October 14, 1993.”
“I also found something else,” Jeremie said, switching to another window.
This time, Aelita’s jaw dropped. “This is a page of the records of…the Secret Service.”
“I know,” Jeremie said. “I wasn’t able to find anything directly related to your mother, but…well, I did find a record of escaped prisoners from high-security cells in the US. There weren’t very many.”
Aelita’s blood turned to ice. “What…what does that have to do with my mother?”
Jeremie took her hand. “The name Antea Hopper was on it.” Aelita froze.
“But…” Aelita stuttered. Words finally came to her mouth. “Why would her name be on that?”
“I don’t know,” Jeremie said sadly. “But…well, it was on it, and we can’t change that.”
Jeremie’s phone suddenly started buzzing. He quickly took it off the table and pressed the answer button. “Hello?”
“Jeremie?” Yumi asked. She sounded as if she was out of breath. “Where are you and Aelita right now?”
“We’re in my room, trying to find data on Aelita’s mother,” Jeremie replied. “Why?”
“We’re on our way to the Factory,” Yumi said, panting. “Ulrich and Odd are being attacked by some goons that are trying to buy the Factory and knock it down to turn it into an art museum.”
“What?” Jeremie said, suddenly standing up. Aelita looked up, curious.
“You guys might want to stay there, though,” Yumi said. “It’s…well, not safe for you guys to come over here.”
Jeremie took the hint. “Do you guys want me to check for activity on the Network, maybe?”
“Yeah,” Yumi said. “Ulrich and Odd think it could be Xana’s doing, but they’re not sure because they couldn’t get a good look at the men’s eyes.”
Jeremie stared. “I…well, I sure hope it isn’t Xana. But Aelita and I will check. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Yumi said, hanging up.
Jeremie immediately started typing. “What’s going on?” Aelita asked.
“Ulrich and Odd are at the Factory being attacked by some goons,” Jeremie said. “Yumi and William are heading over to help them right now. Odd said to check for activity on the Network.”
“Shouldn’t we go help them?” asked Aelita.
“Well…” Jeremie said, hesitated. “You can, but I don’t think I’ll be any use fighting. And I need you here to help me check for Network activity.”
“Okay,” Aelita said. “Let’s get started.”
“It may be hard without a link through a virtual world, like Lyoko,” Jeremie said, starting to type, “but hopefully we’ll be able to get access and find something.”
“If there’s anything to find,” Aelita said.
Ulrich blocked another punch. “Why are you attacking us? You guys don’t have any claim on this place,” he shouted.
“I will in a day or two,” Peters said angrily. “And until something else happens, get out of my Factory!”
“You can’t tell us what to do!” retorted Odd, dodging a punch. “And the only one who will be leaving will be you!”
Suddenly, the two men were hit from behind. They tumbled forward; both Odd and Ulrich jumped out of the way.
“Leave our friends alone!” shouted William to Peters. “What did they ever do to you?”
The two men slowly got back to their feet. Peters looked around and glared. “Let’s go,” he said crossly. “I don’t want to build an art museum somewhere where there are brats around to ruin it.” They walked out of the Factory.
Yumi and William rushed over to Odd and Ulrich. “Are you two okay?” Yumi asked, helping Ulrich to his feet. William did the same for Odd.
“Thankfully, no,” Ulrich said, slowly standing up. “I don’t think either of us got anything worse than a bruise or two.”
“Those men are idiots,” Odd said, shaking his head in disgust. “They attacked us because the guy who was going to buy the property claimed that we didn’t have a right to be on it.”
William sighed. “Let’s get you two back to Kadic,” he said. “We can go and talk to Jeremie and Aelita.
---
Jeremie wiped his glasses with his shirt and put them back on. “So you guys weren’t able to get a look into their pupils?”
“Well, not a clear one,” Ulrich said, shifting. “We saw their eyes flash, but it could have been an illusion from reflected light or something.”
“But they were definitely angry with us when we refused to leave,” Odd said, pondering. “And they didn’t have any sort of claim on the place, so they had no right to make us leave.”
“You’re right,” Aelita said. “But why would they attack you? Were they that angry?”
“They sure looked angry when we got there,” Yumi said.
Jeremie closed his eyes, thinking. “Did you see them turn black for a moment or two? Any sign that a Xanafied person would give?”
“We didn’t see anything,” replied Ulrich.
Jeremie and Aelita looked at each other and sighed. “We weren’t able to find any activity that could be Xana-related on the Network,” Aelita said. “But it was mostly due to the fact that we had to patch it through a secondary connection, because now that the supercomputer is off and there’s no Lyoko anymore, we don’t have a direct link to the virtual worlds on the Network. If there are any, which there shouldn’t be.”
“How did the search for your mother go, Aelita?” Yumi asked.
Aelita shot Jeremie a swift glance, so swift that no one else noticed it. “We weren’t able to find anything,” Aelita said.
They all sighed. “Well, we didn’t make that much progress today,” William said. “But I’m sure you guys will find something if you look hard enough.”
“Anyway,” Ulrich said, standing up and stretching, “it’s almost lunchtime. Let’s go to the cafeteria to go eat.”
“I’m starving!” announced Odd as they walked out of Jeremie’s room.
“What’s new to that?” Aelita said, winking to the others. They laughed.
