To be honest, I'm not sure if I can trust this guy. At this point, I don't think there's anyone in the world I can trust. At least that's how I feel. But this guy's making it sound like I really saved the world from mortal peril or something! It's obviously made up; what's a XANA? A super-storm? He told me that I didn't remember anything because he set the world back in time. What a crock of crap, really.

But what disturbs me is the fact that he knew about my program, Bridge. I hadn't even finished it before the guy told me that he could find a use for it and that it did, in fact, save the world. How did he know? I mean, I had only been hacking for about a week, figuring out the programming language, and even that, I had just started Bridge.

This man of mystery is something else, and I find myself drawn to it. I'm playing his game. Like it or not.

~~~

"So, Jeremie," the voice called from behind, "have you found any new uses for that program?"

Jeremie Belpois, the genius of the group, looked over his shoulder and adjusted his glasses. Walking toward him was Yumi Ishiyama, one of his good friends, and a substantial warrior.

"Well, Yumi," replied Jeremie, who adjusted his glasses once more, perhaps trying to look good, "The only test I conducted was 'bridging' some small values together. It was pretty cool, actually." A smile appeared on Jeremie's face. "It freed a lot of space on the supercomputer, enough so that programming your vehicles on Lyoko and virtualizing you and the others is a lot faster, among other things."

"That's pretty cool, I guess." Yumi looked down at her boots, then looked up at Jeremie again, brushing her jet black hair out of her face.

"What about that...guy? The guy who made the program?" she asked, innocently trying to spark a converstaion.

Jeremie turned to face a vending machine, trotting over to it and staring at the buttons.

"He claims to be American, and calls himself Jack Fawzi. I don't think that's his real name though. No self-respecting hacker would go by their birth name."

Jeremie pushed one of the buttons, and after a short period of rumbling, the machine dispersed a small, green bottle with a "plunk" as it hit the bottom. Jeremie picked the bottle up, but didn't bother to open it.

"He really got us out of that big mess we were in, with that program of his."

It was still fresh in Yumi's mind. Under the water, the freezing water, rain pounded the surface like a million mallets. She couldn't breathe; there was no air, live-giving air. And on top of that, she had almost lost her younger brother.

Not to mention herself.

"Don't forget," she said, falling into a vengeful mood and tone, "he led us right into the mess as well."