ARC ONE: Welcome Back

The story begins - an eerie raincloud has cast itself over much of Europe, as if trying to make a message known - a cold front moves through with it, bringing the continent down to a low, cool fourty as Fall closes its doors for Winter to seep through its windows. It's cold. It's wet. It's rainy.

The troops stationed today are rather relaxed due to the weather while the ones inside begin to look for any shut-in who may be plotting crimes on a supposed day of rest for the law. The lines are abuzz - many of the landlines in Paris have gone down due to unknown circumstance. Despite this, cellphones seem to be funtioning, allowing a cry for help to filter through to the right six people...

Your phone gives off a familliar buzz at noon, Central European. It's a text message from Jeremie Belpois - upon picking it up you notice something must be wrong; none of his words are capitalized, as if he was typing in a hurry. There are many characters in the text that don't belong, presumably from his panic.

It reads:

Quote :

urgent p1eas m33t me 2 factory asapindanger- i dont no how long ihave. plez hurry 2scaners iwill b3 wa8ting

As jumbled as it is, a few words will stick out - Meet. Me. Factory. ASAP. Danger.

Obviously you need to get going - your friend needs you. Upon calling him his line is dead - assuming his message is as urgent as it seems, it can be deduced that whatever caused his panic forced him to turn off his cellular.

[[ TURN ORDER: Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, William, Yumi - it is Ulrich's turn. ]]
[[ Post Requirement: Get your character to a transport unit by the end of your post, be it train, car, ect. There won't be a post requirement on all of these - I just want to keep this moving. ^^ ]]

Timing.

That was the first thing Ulrich was reminded of when he saw the unnerving text message on his cell-phone: with Lyoko, it was always about the timing. Here he was, waiting years on end to get some glimpse of the old days again, and it finally came just as he had flopped down on his bed (well, his couch; the apartment was too small for a real bed) for the first bit of shut-eye he'd managed to squirrel away for himself in weeks? It was almost enough to get a bitter little laugh out of the young man, but the serious implications of the hastily-typed message were enough to hold it back.

It was also enough to snap him awake immediately.

Throwing on his clothes, he texted his reply.

Quote :

hang on jer. on way from paris. stay safe wherever you are.

He was already running through the streets as fast as he could to the nearest Bus Station. Screw the rain or the weather. People seemed bugged about something as he ran by, and he caught murmurs about electrical problems and downed phone-lines, but he paid them no mind. There...there was the station. He pushed his way through to the front of the line, finding as cheap a line as he could that would nonetheless take him where he needed to go; he didn't know for sure if he had money enough to make it all the way to Screaux, but if he didn't, he would go as far as he could and run the rest of the damned way.

His friend needed him. Screw the distance.

The bus began its drive, and Ulrich found himself waiting anxiously from another text from Jeremie. Something to let him know he was OK. He considered texting his father, his boss...but neither one were exactly text-saavy. And frankly, he had no desire to get into a conversation with either of them right then. Even if he said it was an emergency, he knew neither would be eager to give him time off, to loosen the leash just this once. Well, screw them both.

Despite himself, Ulrich felt exhaustion tugging at him as he watched the scenery pass by outside of the moving bus...tempting him to rest along the way. But he fought it off. Jeremie might text him again, and he had to be awake for that.

A loud vibrating noise began to echo throughout the dark apartment. Odd was sprawled out across his bed, in such a deep sleep that he couldn't even hear the phone. Ruffling was heard, and a small figure jumped up onto the bed. A wet nose was soon pressed against Odd's face, then a loud groan was heard from the blond. With his eyes still closed he began to mutter pointless words towards the small dog prodding it's nose all over his face. He opened his eyes and looked towards his bed side table, he huffed, then grabbed his phone. With one eye open, he flipped it open and grimaced at the light. He read the text message, he quickly jumped to his feet and began to pull on clothes.

In a panic he made his way out of the apartment, he smiled a bit to himself, it was like old times, he then began his reply.

Quote :

Don't worry einstine, i'm on my way. Just stay safe, ok?

Odd stopped and looked around the area, how was he supposed to get there? He contemplated this for a moment, and began to head towards the closest form of transportation. A train would work, for now. It would at least get him close to Screaux. Once he got to the station he looked at himself in the reflection of the door. He frowned, seeing his hair flat against his face. He really hated rain, only because it messed up his hair. He made his way to the train, boarded it and waited to depart. He checked his phone hoping to see a reply from his friend.

Nothing.

Aelita had just taken the last bite of lunch when she got the text message. Living on her own for the first time had been intimidating at first, but she had eventually learned how to take care of herself, with time. It had taken a lot of work to get past the basics, though; macaroni and cheese, ramen, and other easy-to-make noodle meals had been her primary diet for a stretch far too long for Aelita's comfort, but at last her skills had begun to expand. Indeed, that very afternoon just before the text came, she had been enjoying a finely-smoked reuben sandwich with a side of freshly-made tomato soup.

And yet, for all that Aelita had grown, she nearly dropped the phone out of her hands when she saw the message. A fear, one she had not felt in ten years, churned in her stomach. It was as if the clock had wound backwards, and she was the same timid little girl she was back then...back when every day, the shadow of XANA lurked around every corner, waiting to strike.

The moment passed quickly, however. "Danger". That was her anchor, that word. Jeremie was in danger. He needed help. Even as she threw on a coat and began to lock up her small apartment, she hastily typed in a text in reply:

Quote :

Comin gas fast as I canholdonplease please please

Down the steps of the apartment building she ran, floor after floor, bursting into the pouring rain without a second thought. Across the street she ran, taking only a second to check for traffic, finding the parking garage she kept her car in. No time to wait for an elevator; faster to take the steps on foot. And at last, she reached her car, practically flying into it and peeling out of the garage as quickly as she could.

Lights, windshield wipers, and radiator all on, she began to drive through the rainy city as fast as she could without attracting unwanted police attention and keeping the slippery weather in mind. Toward Screaux. Toward Kadic Academy. Toward the computer that had been her sole home for years.

Toward Jeremie. And all the while, she whispered under her breath, "Be safe, be safe, be safe."

William stared at his phone for a few minutes after recieving the text from Jeremy. He was already in a sour mood having had a bad day at work. Such bad grammer and mispellings were out of character, too out of character. The way William saw it, there was two basic possible explanations. The first-and in William's mind much more likely-was that someone had taken Jeremy's phone as a prank and sent the message to all of Jeremy's contacts. The second was that Jeremy really was in danger and simply in too much of a panic to write a proper message.

Even though William had decided it was a prank there was something that nagged at the now a young adult's mind-something that made William take the last precious few hundred dollars from his bank account and board the first plane to Sceaux. It may be unlikely that Jeremy would send such a message, but it was even more unlikely that he would loose his phone. Plus from the email William had recieved from the blond genious didn't suggest that Jeremy would be working with someone who would pull such a prank.

This, however wasn't why he was on his way to the factory. No it was because, he wanted Jeremy's message to be true. William didn't wish harm upon his old friend but he wanted Xana to be back. He was going to make that digital freak pay for what he did.

With this in mind William got off his plane and ran for the factory that held the super computer in which Xana lived.

Aha, it was noon there but almost dinner time in central Japan - when Yumi's phone went off she looked to her room-mates and smiled, apologizing to them in Japanese. She pulled herself away from the low-sitting table quietly, removing herself from her position and taking her phone into the next room - if it was requesting a call it would be quite rude to take it right there.

Upon reading the text, the girl's eyes went wide. How unlike Jeremie - she quickly thumbed in a response but hissed as she had set her phone to Japanese Kanji for her location; she had no time to trifle with it. She quickly made travel arrangements and got into her car, to an airport, and in the air.

How could this have happened? How could Jeremie be in trouble? Worse yet, how could he be in trouble and need them at the factory? Had that fool let his paranoia win? Did he power the computer back on...? She grit her teeth at the thought of it as she reclined. It'd take her hours to get to France... If he was in trouble... she gripped her knee tightly, trying to keep herself calm.

"What did you do this time, Jeremie..." She breathed - she was concerned, but somehow she felt... maybe... this was his own fault... "I'll never forgive you if it is," she confirmed thought with vocalization, closing her eyes as the plane departed from Osaka.

Those closer to France will obviously get there before people cross country - like, say, Yumi - as soon as you land, however, you will find the security of the large Paris airport rather tight. They are checking everyone - people who are boarding and those near leaving. Obviously something happened recently to stir up the activity - could it be the outed phone lines?

Those who took the plane have to deal with security - their baggage must be checked, and those who came without will be searched through a metal detector. Those who drove, however, traffic is rather light as it was broadcast to stay inside if possible - the officers stationed at every corner are clumped in large numbers as crews down the powerlines to work on them. The city is well lit this time of night.

[[ POST OBJECTIVE: Get to Sceaux - arrive in the city, go through customs, and end your post at the factory. The only exception to the PO is Yumi, who will still be in the air due to the distance. Do not enter the computer room of the factory yet.]]

((OoC NOTE: Got permission from Goat to have Ulrich text the others.))

Ulrich rubbed the still-gnawing sleep out of his eyes. The bus was just about to Sceaux, and still no reply text from Jeremie. It was the anxiety of that alone which had kept the young man up throughout the ride, even as he found himself occasionally nodding off briefly every now and then.

Still, it left him feeling antsy. The need to do something, anything, to feel in control of the situation, or at least more active in it than sitting on his butt riding a bus and trying not to sleep.

He thus whipped his phone out anew. Flicking through his contact list, he prepped a mass text to send to all his old friends. Odd, Aelita, William...even Yumi. There was some reluctance on his part; he hadn't been in touch with any of them for ages, and especially in Yumi's case, there were a lot of stored-up emotions connected to them all; for his first time in touch with them again after so long to be a text about whether they too had been contacted by Jeremie...it felt almost dishonorable, insulting to the deep bonds they had once shared.

Still, the urgency of the situation proved the stronger force on Ulrich's mind in the end.

So it was that each of the team would receive a text on their phones from Ulrich.

Quote :

anyone else get creepy text from jer? im on my way to sceaux right now, just about there. Anyone else?
--Ulrich
p.s. hope youve all been well

It took a moment of conflict for Ulrich to ultimately decide that, half-hearted and awkward as it was, that little "P.S." note was better than nothing, and he clicked "Send" just as the bus pulled into the station.

Exhaustion notwithstanding, Ulrich made a bee-line for the Factory as soon as he'd made his way through security, a quick trip thanks to how well he knew his way there. After all those years having to find ways to the factory, he could reach it in a heart beat from any point in town. Still, he was unnerved by all the police he'd been seeing throughout town, not to mention the upped security at the station....

Odd sighed softly, it felt as if the ride into sceaux took days. That wasn't the case, it merely took a few hours. Odd was guessing that it was due to any anxiety he felt knowing his old friend was in danger. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, to make sure he didn't miss any messages. He was about to close it when it began to vibrate in his hand. He looked at it, and then smiled a bit. He was a bit surprised to hear from anyone else, but was glad that it was Ulrich.

Quote :

I did, it spooked me out. I hope Einstein is ok, I'll be at the factory as soon as i can, i'm in sceaux now.
p.s. It's good to hear from you.

He made his way off of the train to see the mass amount of security at the station. He frowned, he really didn't want to waste any more time. As he was waiting, he got his first glimpse of the phone outages. Sometimes he felt like he should have just stayed in Lyoko, he wouldn't have had to deal with any of this.

Once he got out of customs he headed straight for the factory. It was a bit of a distance, but he took a few short cuts to slim down the time. Once he got there he looked around, seeing if he could spot anyone else. He decided to wait a minute, just to see if he might get a text from Jeremie.

Aelita had thought, or at least hoped, that she would feel more at ease when she actually reached Sceaux.

In truth, however, she only felt all the more worried. The rain cast a fine mist over the streets, there were police officers on every corner (or at least that was how it felt)...even finding a place to park was eerily easy, there were so few other cars on the road.

She thus could not help but give a small yelp as her phone vibrated. A text? Jeremie? She tried not to be too disappointed when it was only Ulrich; indeed, it being only Ulrich carried a certain comfort of its own. But still...why hadn't Jeremie responded? Why hadn't he sent any other messages? If she just had an answer...even if it was a terrible one, even if he really was hurt, at least she would know, because not knowing was driving her crazy.

She was already in the sewer en route to the factory when she sent Ulrich a reply, but what it was quickly became irrelevant; once she exited...she spotted them. Both of them. Odd...Ulrich...!

"H-hello!" she called out as she spotted them; it looked like Ulrich had gotten there first, and Odd was just arriving. In spite of everything else...seeing them again...it was amazing. It felt wonderful. "How are you? Have you heard from any of the others?" she asked, the rush of joy finally serving to overpower her anxiety.

Despite his desperate sprint William didn't make it very far. After just a few feet he was greated by a mass of people waiting to go through the multiple stages of the airport security. William hadn't quite understood fully how restrictive his home country was becoming. He knew about the internet thing and he had read in the paper about people being arested for the simpilest crimse. But now he was facing it head on.

"At this rate I'll be here for hours" William muttered. Being the "slightly" rebelious guy he was William immediately searched for a way past the security-he had done it before. But there was none, there was even armed gaurds by the bathroom windows. William groaned in frustration, this only confirmed his suspicion that Jeremy's text was indeed real.

"At this rate he'll already be dead by the time I get there..." William wasn't in a state of panic because he didn't believe his own words. There is no way Jeremy would've only contacted him-not after what happened with Lyoko. Confirming this was a text from Ulrich.

Quote :

Yeah, I did. Though don't count on my help. The airport security is tight-I'm going to be here for a while

William growled as he replied not because it was Ulrich-that rivalry had died off long ago-but because he was frustrated at being stuck behind. Even more so that once again he was the useless one in the group, the dead weight. Much to his surprise, however, the new system might have been more tight but it was more efficient. Shortly after he replied William found it to be his turn.

William went through the stages of security as quickly as possible before resuming his sprint to the all to familiar factory, thankful he hadn't thought to bring any weapons. When he arrived at the factory he was pleased to find he wasn't the last to arrive.

"Hey, long time no see"

Yumi jerked awake as her phone vibrated - she wasn't supposed to have it on during the flight. She hissed, ironing her forehead between thumb and forefinger, pulling it out and checking it against her thigh. Oh, good - Ulrich. There was a flowery feeling of nostalgia as she turned towards the window, lifting her further leg so the steward couldn't see her motion.

Please, Ulrich - she wanted it to be a fluke. She wanted the message to say Jeremie was fine and there was no need to alarm, but...

Wishful thinking got adults nowhere.

"Shit," she muffled the word in Japanese, gritting her teeth.

Quote :

Stuck in the air. Got text from Jer - Im going to be few more hours. Keep me posted Ulrich.

She folded the phone and pocketed it - alone with her worry and the thoughts of the devil's advocate knocking on the back of her consciois, she simply closed her eyes and reclined against the cheap, padded seat. With any luck this problem would resolve itself and this could turn intoa peaceful reunion..

[[ I apologize for spelling errors - my spellchecker is on the fritz. <3 ]]

Another text would be sent out - a mass, the letters still quite jumbled with unecessary characters. This time however it was... literally unlegible - nothing about it would make much sense at all. It would take much... dissecting for the thing to even make the slightest lick of sense, but even then it would be up to interpretation.

Quote :

10150010150101101000ssssssssssssssssss0s5001

The factory was quiet, though it was quite obvious the party would have to take the long way however - the lift was ruined. There were bulletholes puncturing every inch of the lift - one right through the button that would send it down. Discarded ammunition, and more importantly, blood, lay strewn around the lift. An eerily human-shaped dent was left in the ruined lift door, half-opened.

In the bowels of the factory, shouts could be heard - the stomping of footfalls. Far enough to be non-threatening, but close enough to be weary of. The commands being shouted? Orders. Police, maybe? The group of others were too far off to judge faction... Regardless the group should make it a point to avoid being seen - for their own safety.

[[ Objective: Navigate your way down to the computer room while avoiding being spotted - pace yourselves. ]]

It was almost overwhelming, seeing his friends again...Odd, Aelita, even William. No Yumi, though. He wasn't sure how to feel about that; on the one hand, she was the one he'd most wanted to see again, but at the same time she was the one he was most anxious about. What would they say? Where would they pick things up between them? Her text told him that question was going to have to wait...she was still a ways away. Still, that simply meant he had to give the others the attention they deserved. "Good to see you too, William," he replied to his former rival, giving him a firm handshake.

He then gave Aelita a quick hug. "And you, Aelita."

And he gave some hair-ruffling to Odd, laughing just a little. "And you, Odd. How's Kiwi these days?"

And then Jeremie's...numbers...came in. The lift was ruined, and they were clearly not alone in the factory. Catch-up, unfortunately, would have to wait. "C'mon," he advised, finding his natural urge to lead rising to the fore again, "we'll take the stairs. Keep your voices down, and your eyes peeled; I don't know who these other guys here are, but until we know, we can't assume they're friendly."

He set his phone to vibrate-only, nodding to the others to advise them to do the same and then, slowly, cautiously, he began making his way toward the stairwell.

Odd smiled widely at his friends, he was very excited to see them again. After Ulrich , he hugged Aelita tightly, then turned towards him. His eyes went wide as he realized he walked out of the house and left Kiwi all alone. He flipped open his phone, and sent a message to a friend.

"Well, other then the fact that i left Kiwi all alone...He's great!"He laughed a nervous laugh, and looked at his phone as Jeremie's next..Message came through.

"Well, this is just a guess, but i think Einstein might be in some trouble.." Odd was always good at pointing out the absolute obvious.

He listened to the noises in the distance and frowned. Although being in the factory with his friends was exciting , and he could feel the adventure start to begin, he felt uneasy. He wasn't looking forward to finding out what all the commotion was further on in the factory. He nodded towards Ulrich, and also silenced his phone as he moved forward, standing beside his friend. Looking towards the stairs, he got a serious look on his face, and followed Ulrich,

Aelita giggled a little bit despite herself. "Oh Odd," she laughed a little, patting the boy's back as he texted his friend back home, "it's nice to know you haven't changed too much."

She nodded respectfully at William and Ulrich. "I just wish...we could be together under better circumstances...." she said, still smiling but a hint of sadness to her voice. "Still, right now Jeremie needs us. So let's...!"

That was when her phone got Jeremie's text. Aelita opened her phone enthusiastically, but her excitement dimmed when she saw only numbers. Even then, however, she knew...she knew there had to be something to it. The sequence seemed...familiar, somehow, like a distant dream she knew intimately while experiencing it but seemed faded and distant. Still, with those intruders hovering around the factory, she had to save that for later.

Also silencing her phone, she kept pace with the others, staying in the back of the group. "Jeremie...hang on. Please. Just a little longer," she thought...prayed.

William nodded at Ulrich and set his phone on vibrate before slipping it into his pocket. He was still sort of bitter about the way the others had treated him and the fact that they had not tried to contact him before this. William felt the urge to ask Aelita why she had not bothered to call once in a while if she wanted to see them so badly. But he held it back, there was more important things to deal with.

"Yeah" he replied simply before following. Some where at the back of his mind he began worrying about Yumi-he knew Jeremy was the one in danger but old habits die hard. William found that as he followed them quietly and carefully he began to feel some of his old malice for Ulrich. He shook it off.

"Don't be an idiot" he whispered to himself.

[[ Yumi is still in the air and will be skipping her turn until a few more hours pass for the sake of halfway realism. <3 ]]

The sounds of soldiers would fade in and out throughout the endless bowels of the factory. Luckily for the group it didn't seem like anything was too close.

The group would be free to traverse the factory and make their way to the computer room, Ulrich seemingly taking over the leadership position like olden days - as they progressed they would see several overturned old machines - there was boot-prints in the finely settled dust. People had obviously combed through this area, and the gang wouldn't be able to avoid confrontation for long...

[[ Jeremie will be skipping his turn until further notice - keep interacting and progressing. I'll shake things up once I'm needed. >8D ]]

Ulrich looked over the wrecked factory with concern. Whoever had been there...whoever was still there hovering about out of sight...had done a thorough job on the place. TOO thorough; it was so thorough, so intense...these people were looking for something. And if that something was the Super Computer....

"I don't suppose anyone's heard anything about the factory being investigated?" he asked tentatively.

Odd frowned at the state of the factory. Not that it was in great condition when they were using it a decade ago, but it was never this bad. Thoughts of the super computer also filled his head. He wasn't exactly looking forward to confronting whatever was in the factory, but he knew their friend needed them. He turned toward his group of friends, and thought for a moment. He thought back to when he was on the train. He remembered a couple talking about investigations of buildings..

"Actually, now that I think about it..when I was on my way here I heard that people were investigating buildings..but..it had to do with the phone lines.. " he stoped himself , There was no way that the super computer had something to do with this, right? They turned it off years ago. He tried to change the subject a bit, "did anyone else hear anything?"

Despite Odd's attempt to backtrack, that bell could not be un-rung, and indeed for Aelita got the implication loud and clear, like a dog whistle piercing right to the core of her being. And suddenly the familiarity of Jeremie's earlier text made sense. Binary...it was binary, the language of numbers. The same floating numbers Aelita had seen within the Towers of Lyoko every day of her life back before she'd regained her human form. She still couldn't recognize the specific message therein, but at least now she could start trying to remember it....

"I just wonder who these people even are," she said nervously. "Military? Government? Could they be the same people who came looking for my Dad before?"

"I didn't even know the thing was still standing" William replied to Ulrich gruffly. William had never been told the full backstory of Aelita's father and he could not remember anything from when he was possesed. As they disscussed the subject William shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. Always one to keep up his image and his rivalry for Ulrich in mind William decided to take the lead.

"If they're after the super computer, then we should go protect it" William said cooly while honestly scared out of his wits, there was a good chance someone would die before the day was through. 'please don't be Yumi' he prayed silently.

Despite himself, Ulrich bristled at William's behavior. At first, he thought William had gotten past their old rivalry; it had been ten years, after all, and Ulrich himself had paid the matter little mind until just that moment. It seemed, however, that old habits died hard, and indeed Ulrich too found, to his own surprise, that old fire was indeed still burning in his gut. Besides, it was easier to focus his anger on Wlliam than on the factory's intruders; William, at least, was right there in front of him.

"With what?" Ulrich retorted to William's earlier question, keeping pace with the dark-haired young man so that they were side by side at the head of the group. "We're not in Lyoko, genius. We don't have any weapons or special abilities; meanwhile, our 'guests' probably have guns."

Odd smiled a little, he always found their rivalry a bit amusing. He knew that Ulrich was right, and that who ever else was in the building, they most likely had weapons. He thought for a moment, he wondered where they should go next. He walked forward, and then coughed a bit.

"Well, maybe we should look for Jer..I mean, i feel like he's the most important priority right now..Maybe he's hiding..?Or something.."Odd was trying to be as optimistic as possible. He began to wonder how they could avoid whoever was lurking about. He thought they could try to go away from where they heard the noise, even if there was others about, it was better if they confronted two rather than two dozen. He looked at his feet, he was never very good at making plans. He was a much better distraction.