Episode 100: Frozen Dreams
In the Celestial Dome, Aelita was working with the Data Interface and sifting through the data in Sector Five trying to find something useful in the hopes that Jeremy could begin work on repairing the Skid.
"Hey, Aelita, can I have a look," Jacob asked a she tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Oh, sure, Jake," she smiled as she stepped to the side. "Here, just do this to work the controls…" she muttered as she quickly showed him how to work the screens. "And, you're in!"
"Cool," Jacob berkata as he backtracked to a section of the computer that Aelita had already searched.
"What? I already searched there, I thought," she berkata in slight confusion.
"I know anda did, but anda were in such deep thought, I didn't want to interrupt you," he berkata as he searched through the files and folders. "I saw something that I thought might help; I just have to find where…aha! There's the little thing!" he berkata as he downloaded a file with the heading "Stabilization Recombinant". "Jer, can anda check and see if this program will do anda any good in stabilizing the core of the Skid so we can start rebuilding it?" Jeremy pulled up the program as soon as it came through the connection and began running it through what he had rebuilt of the Skid's framework.
"Hm…" he muttered as he began fiddling with piecing together the fuel tanks and inner engines. Once he had pieced the power chamber back together, he launched the new program as he slowly materialized the power core into the center of the Skid. "Yes…yes…YES!" he cheered as Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. "That program anda dug up is exactly the piece I was missing to stabilize the core of the Skid! We can start really rebuilding it now! It will take some time to completely become stable, but once it is, Aelita and I can go to work redesigning the outer framework, the NavSkids, stuff like that! We're going to have a ship again!"
"Yahoo!" Odd cheered as Jacob turned back to the Interface.
"Jeremy, I'm going to take the controls again for a menit and see if I can dig up anything else useful," he berkata as he went to work again.
"Okay, but don't take too long. It's getting late here," he warned gently.
"Roger," Jacob replied as he resumed searching. "The rest of anda can go back; I'll be done in a few minutes."
"I'll stay," Aelita said. "I want to see what else anda find."
"Okay then, the rest of us are off!" Odd said. "See anda two later!" he added as Jeremy brought Odd, Ulrich, and William back into the real world. Once the other three had gone, Jacob resumed his work at the Interface. He was silent for a few menit before a Restricted Access file flew across the screen and Aelita said, "Stop!"
"What, Aelita?"
"It's my turn to interrupt. Go back a second; something looked strange about that last file." Jacob obliged and scrolled back until he reached the restricted file again. He tried to open it, but had no luck at cracking the seal. "Jeremy, Aelita and I came across a Restricted Access file deep in the Interface Memory. I'm going to send it to you. It's got a symbol on it that I've never seen before…" he berkata as he transmitted the file. Once Jeremy received it, he fought with the lock for a few detik before replying to them.
"It's going to take me a while to crack the lock on this file. But it does intrigue me. The subscript says "Property of the KGB" at the bottom of the cover sheet. And besides, it's getting late. I say we call it a night. Good work, anda two!" Jeremy berkata as he pressed a few keys and brought them both in.
Jacob and Aelita walked slowly back to the school, while Jeremy had stayed for a few menit lebih to make absolutely sure the stabilization programs were functioning properly on the Skid.
"Aelita, what do anda think was in that file?" Jacob asked her curiously.
"I'm not entirely sure…" she berkata as she walked, looking up at the stars. "I just had this feeling…that it was something we were meant to find…" she trailed off.
"It berkata 'Property of the KGB'," Jacob went on. "Who exactly are they?"
"Well, I didn't know what that meant until a few weeks ago. I always knew them as the 'Men in Black'. That's what Daddy called them. They were the government soldiers who turned against my father and tried to steal his work."
"Oh, ok…" Jacob muttered. Jeremy had briefly explained to him a little bit about Aelita's past, but he hadn't gone into great detail. He had mentioned the Men in Black though. "I wonder what they could possibly have wanted to keep so secret… Whatever it was, obviously XANA atau someone found it and hid it again. It must be something that we need to know!" Jacob concluded.
"Yes, I hope so…" Aelita muttered, thinking about the emblem that was in the corner of the file. She felt like she had seen it somewhere before…
--Flashback—
Soft piano-playing could be heard in the background as a young Aelita played on the floor of a kabin in the mountains… It was snowing outside, and she giggled as she tossed Mr. Puck the Elf into the air and caught him. "I cinta him, Mommy; he's so cute!" Antea smiled, and bent down to hug her daughter. "I'm glad anda like him, my dear. Whenever anda hold him, I want anda to think of me…"
--End Flashback--
"Hm…" Aelita murmured as she stopped in her path. Jacob noticed this after a moment, and stopped to turn around, realizing they had reached the gates of the school.
"Aelita, what's wrong?" he asked as he walked back to where she was. "Aelita?" he asked, noticing her eyes were slightly glazed over. "Are anda okay, Princess?" After a moment, she snapped out of her stupor and looked blankly at him.
"What? Oh, Jacob…" she berkata when she refocused and realized it was him standing in front of her. "I guess I spaced out for a minute…"
"Something wrong?"
"I…I'm not sure…hey, after classes tomorrow, will anda come with me to the Hermitage? There's something I want to check…" she trailed off.
"Does it have anything to do with the mysterious symbol on that file?" he asked curiously.
"Maybe…we'll see," she replied as the pair walked through the gates and towards the dorm building…
The selanjutnya morning, the rest of the gang was at breakfast, but Aelita was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, have anda seen Aelita this morning, Yumi?" Ulrich asked when she sat down. "She hasn't been in here yet and none of us have seen her."
"No, Ulrich, I haven't," Yumi replied. "Do anda think something's wrong?"
"Well, when we were walking back from the Factory last night, she was really lost in her head…" Jacob said. "I'm not sure what's wrong…"
"Oh, hey, everyone," Aelita berkata cheerfully as she finally came up to gabung her friends. "Sorry I'm late; I overslept this morning."
"Hey, Aelita," Jeremy berkata as she sat down selanjutnya to him. "Glad anda decided to wake up!" he jested cheerfully as she gave him a playful shove. "So, I was thinking, after class today, that Jacob and I would go to the Factory and work on the Skid a little more." Jacob and Aelita shared a quick glance, and he replied, "Uh, sorry Jeremy, but I've already got plans this afternoon."
"Oh, that's okay then. I can manage," he replied as the bel, bell rang.
"We'd better go," Yumi berkata as they all got up. "Don't want to be late. See anda all later!" she called back as she and William headed for their first class while the others headed for another droning lecture in Mrs. Hertz's class…
During Mrs. Hertz's lecture, Aelita slipped a note to Jacob, who quietly opened it and read, "Still okay with checking out the Hermitage with me?" He scribbled something on it and sent it back to her. "Yes. What is it anda think we'll find?" She scribbled one lebih note at the bottom and passed the slip back to him. "I'll explain when we find it; hopefully."
As soon as classes were done, Jacob, Jeremy, and Aelita walked out of Math class, and Jacob glanced quickly at Aelita, who caught his glance and looked at Jeremy. "I've got some things I need to take care of. Let me know how the Skid comes along. I'll be oleh later" she berkata quickly as she kissed him on the cheek and ran off.
"I—wait, Aelita…" Jeremy said, but she was already out of earshot. "Jacob…" he berkata as he looked up again, but he was already gone as well. "Something's weird around here…" he said, but made nothing of it, and went to grab his laptop so he could go to the Factory…
Outside the gates of the Hermitage…
"Aelita, are anda sure about this?" Jacob asked her as she pushed open the gates to the abandoned building that had once been her home.
"Yes. If I'm right, then we'll find the key to decoding that file here," she berkata as she walked purposefully towards the door, leaving Jacob to chase after her.
"Aelita, what is it exactly that anda expect to find?" he asked as he pushed open the door and followed her inside and up a flight of rickety stairs to a faded berwarna merah muda, merah muda room that appeared to have been Aelita's bedroom, although it was so old Jacob didn't know how that was possible. "Aelita, is this…?"
"Yes," she replied as she searched each brick, looking for a specific one. "Being virtualized on Lyoko stops the aging process. I was there for a decade before Jeremy found me. That's why the house is so old."
"Oh," he replied quietly as Aelita finally found the brick she was looking for.
"Found it," she muttered as she wiggled the brick out of the dinding to reveal a hole with a little, worn-out doll that looked like an elf inside it. She took it out and held it close to her for a brief detik before finding a small zipper in the back and opening the doll to reveal a tiny compartment, from which she took out a key. On one side, it was dull silver and had a white Eye of XANA on it, which caused Jacob's jantung to skip a beat, but this did not faze Aelita as she turned the key over. The other side was a rose-colored metal that had faded and corroded over the years, but the color was still visible as Aelita fingered the symbol at the top… Jacob took a look at it and saw a line of code engraved along the key itself, and the double-intertwined mawar at the top…the same symbol as had been at the corner of the file they had found in Sector Five! "I had a feeling…" she muttered as Jacob looked at her first in puzzlement, and then in understanding as he finally put two and two together…
Meanwhile, on Lyoko, a Tower began to glow red in the Ice Sector…
Meanwhile, the boys were eating lunch in the strangely-deserted cafeteria when William saw a spectre rise from the electric socket nearest to them.
"XANA! Run!" he berkata as Ulrich and Odd quickly got up. The spectre began to chase them, and Odd suddenly saw a narrow corridor they could use as an escape route.
"There!" he yelled. "On your right!" The three of them quickly turned into it and ran for the door, opening and closing it no lebih William had slid in. It was only once they were inside that Odd realized where they were… "Oh, no, it's the freezers!"
"Odd, anda can't be serious," Ulrich berkata as he tried the door. "Oh, no, it's locked!" he exclaimed as William looked around in horror…
Jeremy was working on the Skid's programming in his room when the SuperScan went off. He quickly opened it to see the coordinates of the Tower.
"Oh, no, not again…"
Aelita's phone rang, breaking the eerie silence at the Hermitage. She answered it in one fluid motion, getting up from the floor as she did. "Hello? Oh, hi Jeremy. What? We'll be right there. Me and Jacob. Yes, we…no, Jeremy, anda don't understand, I asked him to…Jeremy, stop!! I'll explain it when we get to the Factory!" she berkata loudly as she hung up. "XANA's launched an attack, Jacob. We have to get to the Factory. We can take the tunnel in the back garden. It leads to the sewers," she finished as she headed for the stairs and followed them all the way to the basement, going outside and opening a doorway in the garden that was well-concealed. "Here," she berkata as they climbed down the stairs…
Once they arrived at the Factory, Jeremy was already talking quickly into the headset, but stopped briefly when he saw the two of them. "Oh, good, anda two are here," he scowled as Aelita walked over to him. "We'll talk about this later, Aelita. Right now we have a Tower to deactivate. Yumi is already in Lyoko. Odd called me and berkata that he, Ulrich, and William are trapped in the freezers. We have to hurry!"
"Say no more, Einstein," Jacob berkata as the two of them raced for the Scanners.
Transfer Jacob, Transfer Aelita.
Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita.
Virtualization!
A few moments later, the two of them virtualized onto Lyoko in the Ice Sector.
"Hi, Yumi," Aelita berkata upon landing.
"Nice to see anda two again," Yumi berkata as Jacob looked around.
"I see the Tower!" he berkata quickly as he pointed east. "There, on that ridge!"
"Let's go," Aelita berkata as the three of them began running towards the Tower.
Meanwhile, the spectre that had been chasing the three boys drifted to the thermostat selanjutnya to the freezer door and entered it…programming the temperature setting to drop to 30 below…
"Unh…" Odd groaned, his teeth chattering… "Does anyone think its c-c-cold in here?"
"It's a freezer, dimwit. It's supposed to be cold!" William shot back.
"No, Odd's right," Ulrich replied through shivers. "I can tell. This isn't just normal cold. If we stay in here much longer…we c-c-c-could f-f-freeze t-to death…" he stuttered as his teeth chattered too…
As the three Warriors approached the Tower, Jacob said, "I'll clear the way!" and ran ahead slightly. A bend in the road caused him to vanish from sight for an instant, no more. But that instant was still enough as something sinister crept out from behind the Tower, and the selanjutnya thing Aelita knew, she heard a blood-curdling scream…
"AELITA!" Her eyes widened as she heard Jacob's voice, and she rounded the corner to what she already knew she would find…
"The Scyphozoa's got Jacob!" Jeremy gasped in shock. "Girls, do something! Anything!" he berkata as his voice cracked. "This cannot happen againl; this cannot happen AGAIN!" he kept thinking over and over in his mind.
"Hi-yahh!" Yumi cried as she threw her fan at the Scyphozoa. They managed to clip the tentacles, but oleh then it was already releasing Jacob, and a beeping on Jeremy's screens confirmed the worst.
"He's been taken over! anda have to devirtualize him, fast!" Jeremy hissed.
"Roger!" Yumi berkata as she flipped open her fan and prepared to do battle with her new friend. He just looked at her; the Eye of XANA flickering in his pupils as he conjured a black Energy Field and morphed it into a boomerang of sorts. Yumi laughed and said, "Fine. anda want to fight my way? Let's do this! Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fan at him. He countered with his boomerang, and the two met in mid-air and deflected off of each other, returning to their owners. Jacob just growled as he conjured an Energy Field and fired it at Yumi. She managed to dodge it, but in doing so accidentally backed herself in to an alcove with no escape as Jacob blocked the exit. "Urgh…" she growled as she realized it was over. But before she could react for her final strike, she saw a flash from behind her, and she saw a field of berwarna merah muda, merah muda light encase Jacob. While it wasn't enough to devirtualize him, it did distract him enough to allow Yumi to get out of the alcove and gabung Aelita.
Meanwhile…
The three boys were huddled together on the floor, trying to conserve any warmth left at all as they all shivered.
"They n-n-need to h-hur-hurry up," Ulrich stuttered as he continued to shake.
Back on Lyoko, the two girls continued to fight Jacob, looking for anything they could exploit to win the fight…
"Any ideas, Princess?" Yumi asked as she blocked an energy pulse from Jacob.
"Maybe," Aelita replied. "But you'll need to have perfect aim. I'll distract him!" she berkata as she waved her hand over her bracelet to conjure her wings and then took off. "Hey, dimwit! Try and catch me!" she taunted as she flew towards the Tower. Jacob just growled and took off after her, summoning an Energy Field and firing it. She managed to avoid it, and circled back, looking at Yumi quickly as she did. Yumi caught her glance and nodded, and when Jacob came back and was ready to api at Aelita again, Yumi yelled, "Hi-yahh!" and threw her fans. The noise startled Jacob, and in the instant he turned around, Yumi's fan sliced into him on both sides, and a moment later he was devirtualized.
"Yes!" Yumi grinned as she ran over and high-fived Aelita. "Girlpower!"
"Ungh…" Jacob groaned as he sat on the floor of the Scanner. "I will kill XANA…"
"Good job, girls. Aelita, it's your turn!" Jeremy berkata as she ran into the Tower…
The three boys had stopped shaking now. Ulrich suddenly felt warmer as he stopped struggling. Maybe fighting wasn't the answer…
AELITA
CODE:
L-Y-O-K-O.
"Tower deactivated," Aelita berkata as the screens fell around her. Jeremy hit a few keys after that, and then cried, "Return to the Past, now!" as the familiar white bubble enveloped the Factory, and the three boys…
Back in the Computer Lab…
"I'm so glad anda three are okay!" Yumi berkata in relief as she hugged all three of them in turn, taking a moment longer with Ulrich, which got a slight scowl out of William.
"So are we!" Odd sighed. "That is the coldest I've ever been in my life! I think I hate winter now!" he quipped as the girls laughed.
"So, Aelita…" Jeremy started, but stopped when Aelita came over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I—"
"See, Einstein?" Jacob said. "You have nothing to worry about! She loves you, so stop overreacting!"
"I—okay…" he sighed as he put a small grin on his face. "But why were anda two at the Hermitage then?"
"You two were at the Hermitage?" Ulrich asked.
"Yes," Jacob replied as Aelita pulled the small key out of her pocket and showed it to Jeremy. He looked at it for a moment, and then gave it back to her.
"Okay, so this does…what, exactly?" he asked as Aelita smacked her head and pushed him out of the Supercomputer chair. She fiddled with the controls for a moment before going into the Supercomputer memory and retrieving the Restricted Access file that they had found earlier… Jeremy looked at the file first, and then looked down at the key in Aelita's hand and saw that the symbols were an exact match!
"This," she said, like a parent explaining something to a young child, as she tried to open the file and it prompted her for a password. She looked down at the rose-colored side of the key and slowly punched in each character of the line of code, making sure to get it exactly right before she pressed "Enter". Immediately, a green exclamation point flashed up on the screen and the file opened!
"Aelita, that's incredible! How did you…?"
"My head…" she replied simply as she began scanning through the first pages of the file. "Wow, a lot of it is encrypted…" she muttered as she rifled through some lebih pages before stopping at a certain page. She froze, and her eyes went totally blank as she couldn't believe what she read. Jeremy scanned the text, and his jaw dropped in shock.
"What is it, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.
"I—I can't believe it…" Aelita whispered as Jeremy turned around to look at the rest of the group.
"I—this file—I mean—what we found is…"
"Spit it out, Einstein!" Jacob finally berkata as Jeremy just shook his head before speaking again.
"This file…which was compiled and saved oleh the Men in Black…is regarding and detailing information on one…Antea Hopper…" he finally said, and the pin dropped as everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief.
"You mean…"
"My mother…" Aelita whispered. "She could still be out there…" she whispered as a tear dripped down her face and she threw her head back towards the sky. "Mommy!" she yelled, her voice breaking as she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably…
In the Celestial Dome, Aelita was working with the Data Interface and sifting through the data in Sector Five trying to find something useful in the hopes that Jeremy could begin work on repairing the Skid.
"Hey, Aelita, can I have a look," Jacob asked a she tapped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Oh, sure, Jake," she smiled as she stepped to the side. "Here, just do this to work the controls…" she muttered as she quickly showed him how to work the screens. "And, you're in!"
"Cool," Jacob berkata as he backtracked to a section of the computer that Aelita had already searched.
"What? I already searched there, I thought," she berkata in slight confusion.
"I know anda did, but anda were in such deep thought, I didn't want to interrupt you," he berkata as he searched through the files and folders. "I saw something that I thought might help; I just have to find where…aha! There's the little thing!" he berkata as he downloaded a file with the heading "Stabilization Recombinant". "Jer, can anda check and see if this program will do anda any good in stabilizing the core of the Skid so we can start rebuilding it?" Jeremy pulled up the program as soon as it came through the connection and began running it through what he had rebuilt of the Skid's framework.
"Hm…" he muttered as he began fiddling with piecing together the fuel tanks and inner engines. Once he had pieced the power chamber back together, he launched the new program as he slowly materialized the power core into the center of the Skid. "Yes…yes…YES!" he cheered as Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. "That program anda dug up is exactly the piece I was missing to stabilize the core of the Skid! We can start really rebuilding it now! It will take some time to completely become stable, but once it is, Aelita and I can go to work redesigning the outer framework, the NavSkids, stuff like that! We're going to have a ship again!"
"Yahoo!" Odd cheered as Jacob turned back to the Interface.
"Jeremy, I'm going to take the controls again for a menit and see if I can dig up anything else useful," he berkata as he went to work again.
"Okay, but don't take too long. It's getting late here," he warned gently.
"Roger," Jacob replied as he resumed searching. "The rest of anda can go back; I'll be done in a few minutes."
"I'll stay," Aelita said. "I want to see what else anda find."
"Okay then, the rest of us are off!" Odd said. "See anda two later!" he added as Jeremy brought Odd, Ulrich, and William back into the real world. Once the other three had gone, Jacob resumed his work at the Interface. He was silent for a few menit before a Restricted Access file flew across the screen and Aelita said, "Stop!"
"What, Aelita?"
"It's my turn to interrupt. Go back a second; something looked strange about that last file." Jacob obliged and scrolled back until he reached the restricted file again. He tried to open it, but had no luck at cracking the seal. "Jeremy, Aelita and I came across a Restricted Access file deep in the Interface Memory. I'm going to send it to you. It's got a symbol on it that I've never seen before…" he berkata as he transmitted the file. Once Jeremy received it, he fought with the lock for a few detik before replying to them.
"It's going to take me a while to crack the lock on this file. But it does intrigue me. The subscript says "Property of the KGB" at the bottom of the cover sheet. And besides, it's getting late. I say we call it a night. Good work, anda two!" Jeremy berkata as he pressed a few keys and brought them both in.
Jacob and Aelita walked slowly back to the school, while Jeremy had stayed for a few menit lebih to make absolutely sure the stabilization programs were functioning properly on the Skid.
"Aelita, what do anda think was in that file?" Jacob asked her curiously.
"I'm not entirely sure…" she berkata as she walked, looking up at the stars. "I just had this feeling…that it was something we were meant to find…" she trailed off.
"It berkata 'Property of the KGB'," Jacob went on. "Who exactly are they?"
"Well, I didn't know what that meant until a few weeks ago. I always knew them as the 'Men in Black'. That's what Daddy called them. They were the government soldiers who turned against my father and tried to steal his work."
"Oh, ok…" Jacob muttered. Jeremy had briefly explained to him a little bit about Aelita's past, but he hadn't gone into great detail. He had mentioned the Men in Black though. "I wonder what they could possibly have wanted to keep so secret… Whatever it was, obviously XANA atau someone found it and hid it again. It must be something that we need to know!" Jacob concluded.
"Yes, I hope so…" Aelita muttered, thinking about the emblem that was in the corner of the file. She felt like she had seen it somewhere before…
--Flashback—
Soft piano-playing could be heard in the background as a young Aelita played on the floor of a kabin in the mountains… It was snowing outside, and she giggled as she tossed Mr. Puck the Elf into the air and caught him. "I cinta him, Mommy; he's so cute!" Antea smiled, and bent down to hug her daughter. "I'm glad anda like him, my dear. Whenever anda hold him, I want anda to think of me…"
--End Flashback--
"Hm…" Aelita murmured as she stopped in her path. Jacob noticed this after a moment, and stopped to turn around, realizing they had reached the gates of the school.
"Aelita, what's wrong?" he asked as he walked back to where she was. "Aelita?" he asked, noticing her eyes were slightly glazed over. "Are anda okay, Princess?" After a moment, she snapped out of her stupor and looked blankly at him.
"What? Oh, Jacob…" she berkata when she refocused and realized it was him standing in front of her. "I guess I spaced out for a minute…"
"Something wrong?"
"I…I'm not sure…hey, after classes tomorrow, will anda come with me to the Hermitage? There's something I want to check…" she trailed off.
"Does it have anything to do with the mysterious symbol on that file?" he asked curiously.
"Maybe…we'll see," she replied as the pair walked through the gates and towards the dorm building…
The selanjutnya morning, the rest of the gang was at breakfast, but Aelita was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, have anda seen Aelita this morning, Yumi?" Ulrich asked when she sat down. "She hasn't been in here yet and none of us have seen her."
"No, Ulrich, I haven't," Yumi replied. "Do anda think something's wrong?"
"Well, when we were walking back from the Factory last night, she was really lost in her head…" Jacob said. "I'm not sure what's wrong…"
"Oh, hey, everyone," Aelita berkata cheerfully as she finally came up to gabung her friends. "Sorry I'm late; I overslept this morning."
"Hey, Aelita," Jeremy berkata as she sat down selanjutnya to him. "Glad anda decided to wake up!" he jested cheerfully as she gave him a playful shove. "So, I was thinking, after class today, that Jacob and I would go to the Factory and work on the Skid a little more." Jacob and Aelita shared a quick glance, and he replied, "Uh, sorry Jeremy, but I've already got plans this afternoon."
"Oh, that's okay then. I can manage," he replied as the bel, bell rang.
"We'd better go," Yumi berkata as they all got up. "Don't want to be late. See anda all later!" she called back as she and William headed for their first class while the others headed for another droning lecture in Mrs. Hertz's class…
During Mrs. Hertz's lecture, Aelita slipped a note to Jacob, who quietly opened it and read, "Still okay with checking out the Hermitage with me?" He scribbled something on it and sent it back to her. "Yes. What is it anda think we'll find?" She scribbled one lebih note at the bottom and passed the slip back to him. "I'll explain when we find it; hopefully."
As soon as classes were done, Jacob, Jeremy, and Aelita walked out of Math class, and Jacob glanced quickly at Aelita, who caught his glance and looked at Jeremy. "I've got some things I need to take care of. Let me know how the Skid comes along. I'll be oleh later" she berkata quickly as she kissed him on the cheek and ran off.
"I—wait, Aelita…" Jeremy said, but she was already out of earshot. "Jacob…" he berkata as he looked up again, but he was already gone as well. "Something's weird around here…" he said, but made nothing of it, and went to grab his laptop so he could go to the Factory…
Outside the gates of the Hermitage…
"Aelita, are anda sure about this?" Jacob asked her as she pushed open the gates to the abandoned building that had once been her home.
"Yes. If I'm right, then we'll find the key to decoding that file here," she berkata as she walked purposefully towards the door, leaving Jacob to chase after her.
"Aelita, what is it exactly that anda expect to find?" he asked as he pushed open the door and followed her inside and up a flight of rickety stairs to a faded berwarna merah muda, merah muda room that appeared to have been Aelita's bedroom, although it was so old Jacob didn't know how that was possible. "Aelita, is this…?"
"Yes," she replied as she searched each brick, looking for a specific one. "Being virtualized on Lyoko stops the aging process. I was there for a decade before Jeremy found me. That's why the house is so old."
"Oh," he replied quietly as Aelita finally found the brick she was looking for.
"Found it," she muttered as she wiggled the brick out of the dinding to reveal a hole with a little, worn-out doll that looked like an elf inside it. She took it out and held it close to her for a brief detik before finding a small zipper in the back and opening the doll to reveal a tiny compartment, from which she took out a key. On one side, it was dull silver and had a white Eye of XANA on it, which caused Jacob's jantung to skip a beat, but this did not faze Aelita as she turned the key over. The other side was a rose-colored metal that had faded and corroded over the years, but the color was still visible as Aelita fingered the symbol at the top… Jacob took a look at it and saw a line of code engraved along the key itself, and the double-intertwined mawar at the top…the same symbol as had been at the corner of the file they had found in Sector Five! "I had a feeling…" she muttered as Jacob looked at her first in puzzlement, and then in understanding as he finally put two and two together…
Meanwhile, on Lyoko, a Tower began to glow red in the Ice Sector…
Meanwhile, the boys were eating lunch in the strangely-deserted cafeteria when William saw a spectre rise from the electric socket nearest to them.
"XANA! Run!" he berkata as Ulrich and Odd quickly got up. The spectre began to chase them, and Odd suddenly saw a narrow corridor they could use as an escape route.
"There!" he yelled. "On your right!" The three of them quickly turned into it and ran for the door, opening and closing it no lebih William had slid in. It was only once they were inside that Odd realized where they were… "Oh, no, it's the freezers!"
"Odd, anda can't be serious," Ulrich berkata as he tried the door. "Oh, no, it's locked!" he exclaimed as William looked around in horror…
Jeremy was working on the Skid's programming in his room when the SuperScan went off. He quickly opened it to see the coordinates of the Tower.
"Oh, no, not again…"
Aelita's phone rang, breaking the eerie silence at the Hermitage. She answered it in one fluid motion, getting up from the floor as she did. "Hello? Oh, hi Jeremy. What? We'll be right there. Me and Jacob. Yes, we…no, Jeremy, anda don't understand, I asked him to…Jeremy, stop!! I'll explain it when we get to the Factory!" she berkata loudly as she hung up. "XANA's launched an attack, Jacob. We have to get to the Factory. We can take the tunnel in the back garden. It leads to the sewers," she finished as she headed for the stairs and followed them all the way to the basement, going outside and opening a doorway in the garden that was well-concealed. "Here," she berkata as they climbed down the stairs…
Once they arrived at the Factory, Jeremy was already talking quickly into the headset, but stopped briefly when he saw the two of them. "Oh, good, anda two are here," he scowled as Aelita walked over to him. "We'll talk about this later, Aelita. Right now we have a Tower to deactivate. Yumi is already in Lyoko. Odd called me and berkata that he, Ulrich, and William are trapped in the freezers. We have to hurry!"
"Say no more, Einstein," Jacob berkata as the two of them raced for the Scanners.
Transfer Jacob, Transfer Aelita.
Scanner Jacob, Scanner Aelita.
Virtualization!
A few moments later, the two of them virtualized onto Lyoko in the Ice Sector.
"Hi, Yumi," Aelita berkata upon landing.
"Nice to see anda two again," Yumi berkata as Jacob looked around.
"I see the Tower!" he berkata quickly as he pointed east. "There, on that ridge!"
"Let's go," Aelita berkata as the three of them began running towards the Tower.
Meanwhile, the spectre that had been chasing the three boys drifted to the thermostat selanjutnya to the freezer door and entered it…programming the temperature setting to drop to 30 below…
"Unh…" Odd groaned, his teeth chattering… "Does anyone think its c-c-cold in here?"
"It's a freezer, dimwit. It's supposed to be cold!" William shot back.
"No, Odd's right," Ulrich replied through shivers. "I can tell. This isn't just normal cold. If we stay in here much longer…we c-c-c-could f-f-freeze t-to death…" he stuttered as his teeth chattered too…
As the three Warriors approached the Tower, Jacob said, "I'll clear the way!" and ran ahead slightly. A bend in the road caused him to vanish from sight for an instant, no more. But that instant was still enough as something sinister crept out from behind the Tower, and the selanjutnya thing Aelita knew, she heard a blood-curdling scream…
"AELITA!" Her eyes widened as she heard Jacob's voice, and she rounded the corner to what she already knew she would find…
"The Scyphozoa's got Jacob!" Jeremy gasped in shock. "Girls, do something! Anything!" he berkata as his voice cracked. "This cannot happen againl; this cannot happen AGAIN!" he kept thinking over and over in his mind.
"Hi-yahh!" Yumi cried as she threw her fan at the Scyphozoa. They managed to clip the tentacles, but oleh then it was already releasing Jacob, and a beeping on Jeremy's screens confirmed the worst.
"He's been taken over! anda have to devirtualize him, fast!" Jeremy hissed.
"Roger!" Yumi berkata as she flipped open her fan and prepared to do battle with her new friend. He just looked at her; the Eye of XANA flickering in his pupils as he conjured a black Energy Field and morphed it into a boomerang of sorts. Yumi laughed and said, "Fine. anda want to fight my way? Let's do this! Hi-yahh!" she yelled as she threw her fan at him. He countered with his boomerang, and the two met in mid-air and deflected off of each other, returning to their owners. Jacob just growled as he conjured an Energy Field and fired it at Yumi. She managed to dodge it, but in doing so accidentally backed herself in to an alcove with no escape as Jacob blocked the exit. "Urgh…" she growled as she realized it was over. But before she could react for her final strike, she saw a flash from behind her, and she saw a field of berwarna merah muda, merah muda light encase Jacob. While it wasn't enough to devirtualize him, it did distract him enough to allow Yumi to get out of the alcove and gabung Aelita.
Meanwhile…
The three boys were huddled together on the floor, trying to conserve any warmth left at all as they all shivered.
"They n-n-need to h-hur-hurry up," Ulrich stuttered as he continued to shake.
Back on Lyoko, the two girls continued to fight Jacob, looking for anything they could exploit to win the fight…
"Any ideas, Princess?" Yumi asked as she blocked an energy pulse from Jacob.
"Maybe," Aelita replied. "But you'll need to have perfect aim. I'll distract him!" she berkata as she waved her hand over her bracelet to conjure her wings and then took off. "Hey, dimwit! Try and catch me!" she taunted as she flew towards the Tower. Jacob just growled and took off after her, summoning an Energy Field and firing it. She managed to avoid it, and circled back, looking at Yumi quickly as she did. Yumi caught her glance and nodded, and when Jacob came back and was ready to api at Aelita again, Yumi yelled, "Hi-yahh!" and threw her fans. The noise startled Jacob, and in the instant he turned around, Yumi's fan sliced into him on both sides, and a moment later he was devirtualized.
"Yes!" Yumi grinned as she ran over and high-fived Aelita. "Girlpower!"
"Ungh…" Jacob groaned as he sat on the floor of the Scanner. "I will kill XANA…"
"Good job, girls. Aelita, it's your turn!" Jeremy berkata as she ran into the Tower…
The three boys had stopped shaking now. Ulrich suddenly felt warmer as he stopped struggling. Maybe fighting wasn't the answer…
AELITA
CODE:
L-Y-O-K-O.
"Tower deactivated," Aelita berkata as the screens fell around her. Jeremy hit a few keys after that, and then cried, "Return to the Past, now!" as the familiar white bubble enveloped the Factory, and the three boys…
Back in the Computer Lab…
"I'm so glad anda three are okay!" Yumi berkata in relief as she hugged all three of them in turn, taking a moment longer with Ulrich, which got a slight scowl out of William.
"So are we!" Odd sighed. "That is the coldest I've ever been in my life! I think I hate winter now!" he quipped as the girls laughed.
"So, Aelita…" Jeremy started, but stopped when Aelita came over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I—"
"See, Einstein?" Jacob said. "You have nothing to worry about! She loves you, so stop overreacting!"
"I—okay…" he sighed as he put a small grin on his face. "But why were anda two at the Hermitage then?"
"You two were at the Hermitage?" Ulrich asked.
"Yes," Jacob replied as Aelita pulled the small key out of her pocket and showed it to Jeremy. He looked at it for a moment, and then gave it back to her.
"Okay, so this does…what, exactly?" he asked as Aelita smacked her head and pushed him out of the Supercomputer chair. She fiddled with the controls for a moment before going into the Supercomputer memory and retrieving the Restricted Access file that they had found earlier… Jeremy looked at the file first, and then looked down at the key in Aelita's hand and saw that the symbols were an exact match!
"This," she said, like a parent explaining something to a young child, as she tried to open the file and it prompted her for a password. She looked down at the rose-colored side of the key and slowly punched in each character of the line of code, making sure to get it exactly right before she pressed "Enter". Immediately, a green exclamation point flashed up on the screen and the file opened!
"Aelita, that's incredible! How did you…?"
"My head…" she replied simply as she began scanning through the first pages of the file. "Wow, a lot of it is encrypted…" she muttered as she rifled through some lebih pages before stopping at a certain page. She froze, and her eyes went totally blank as she couldn't believe what she read. Jeremy scanned the text, and his jaw dropped in shock.
"What is it, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.
"I—I can't believe it…" Aelita whispered as Jeremy turned around to look at the rest of the group.
"I—this file—I mean—what we found is…"
"Spit it out, Einstein!" Jacob finally berkata as Jeremy just shook his head before speaking again.
"This file…which was compiled and saved oleh the Men in Black…is regarding and detailing information on one…Antea Hopper…" he finally said, and the pin dropped as everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief.
"You mean…"
"My mother…" Aelita whispered. "She could still be out there…" she whispered as a tear dripped down her face and she threw her head back towards the sky. "Mommy!" she yelled, her voice breaking as she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably…
