Code: GRID (Code Lyoko x Tron)

[Flameal15k]

Finally scraping this story over from SB and SV. Enjoy!

XXXXX

"You sure about this, dad?"

"Yes, Keeva. Your mother and I decided it is for the best."

"Really?"

"Really. Look, I know that you don't want to go to boarding school. I didn't like it either. But for your safety, you'll need to."

"Does it really have to be in another country?"

"Couldn't find anywhere safer. Besides, I have some things to look into there."

"So you're going to visit from time to time?"

"I'll try. And I will call when I'm available."

"I'll hold you to it."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"You too, daddy."

XXXXX

"Thank you, Simon. Now, in other news, ENCOM International has finalized its purchase of an abandoned Renault factory, and intends to refurbish it for the company's recent expansion into the automobile market. According to their spokesperson-"

The female reporter continued on, but to the group of five watching, her voice was soon forgotten. What she had already said was of more concern to them.

The young teens attended the boarding school known as Kadic Academy, located in Bologne-Bilancourt, France. As it so happened, the factory the news had mentioned was relatively close to said school, so there was a chance that they would see construction crews and vehicles traveling to and from the factory in the days to come. But for these five, who knew of the secret underneath the factory, there were much bigger problems that came from this purchase. Ones that had world changing implications.

"So, Jeremie," asked one of the group - a blond haired boy clad in red, purple, and periwinkle - "is that factory-"

"Yes, Odd," answered the only other blond of the group, a boy wearing a red shirt and green and blue pants alongside glasses. "It's the factory."

"You think it's a plot by X.A.N.A.?" Asked one of the two girls in the quintet, this one with hair and clothes colored pink. Her name was Aelita.

"Would be a first if he did," answered Ulrich, the past boy in the group. "He normally prefers more aggressive ways of dealing with us."

"He's done weird things before," countered Yumi, the second female of the group. "Maybe he took control of someone in the company to make the purchase?"

"Unlikely," was Jeremie's reply. "These kids of business transactions take time, and finalizing such a purchase usually take place after significant periods of negotiations. This was probably decided a long time ago."

"I don't believe it," noted Odd. "I understood everything in that sentence."

Jeremie raised an eyebrow at his friend, before refocusing his attention on the screen. "I can't believe this is now we're going to lose the supercomputer. And after me and Aelita only just started rebuilding Lyoko."

"How long do you think we have until they start sending in the construction teams?" asked Yumi.

Jeremie sighed. "At worst, a few weeks. And this isn't something we can fix by using Return to the Past - there's too many people involved."

"So, any idea what we can do, Einstein?"

"Well, Odd, at the moment, our only option is to get Lyoko fully restored ASAP and defeat X.A.N.A. before the factory is, well, repurposed. And that means that Aelita and me need to get back to working on restoring Lyoko."

"What this you're saying about 'Lyoko'?"

The whole group let out a shocked shriek as they found that they had a guest - a girl wearing a matching blue blouse and skirt, and similarly colored pants. She had modest brown hair and black eyes, which were currently looking at the shocked expressions of the quintet.

"Um, well," started stammering Odd, "it's a..a...a video game! A new video game!"

"Really?"

"Y-yes, actually," added Jeremie. "It's a video game. It's one that me and Aelita are working on?"

"Is it?"

"It is," confirmed Aelita, who was starting to sweat. "We're doing it as a programming exercise."

"I see."

"Yeah...wait, I don't we've seen you around here before," noted Ulrich. "Are you new here?"

"I admit I am. My parents have business here to attend to, and request I be schooled here for the duration of their stay, and perhaps a little longer."

"Oh. Well, good to know. And speaking of things to know, I'm Ulrich. Ulrich Stern."

"Jeremie Belepois."

"Odd Della Robbia."

"Yumi Ishiyama."

"Aelita Stone."

"Thank you for the introduction. And now for mine: I'm Keeva. Keeva Flynn. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The same...wait, you said your name was Flynn?" Asked Aelita.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Nothing, it's just that the news was mentioning a factory being purchased by ENCOM. And if I remember right, the current majority shareholder is named Samuel Flynn."

"Yeah, that's him," admitted Keeva.

"Huh?" Inquired the group.

"That's my dad." Suddenly, Keeva's expression hardened. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. I don't want to be known just for who my father is."

"Don't worry, we'll keep your secret," assured Yumi. "Do you need any help getting moved in?"

"Actually, yes."

"Then let me and Aelita help you with that."

XXXXX

"Um, wow. You have a lot of stuff," noted Yumi.

Keeva couldn't help but smirk. She had brought reasonable amounts of essentials for boarding school (clothes, hygeine products, some food), but it was safe to say that she had also brought more personal items that was necessary - a few grid warrior figurines, a poster of Construct Vera in her Rosen frame, a model light cycle, a limited figurine of Architect holding her...nuke launcher(?), a kubrodon plushy, and a Lord El Melloi II Case Files Blu-Ray.

"I know. I just didn't want to leave any of it behind."

"So I can see. I didn't peg you for an anime fan."

"More of a video game enthusiast, but I find a few I like."

"I see. You also brought a high end laptop here too."

Glancing at said laptop, Keeva shrugged. "I like to code. Even made a few simple games in my spare time. Working on one right now, actually, though this one is more complex than the others I've made - those were just Pong and Galaga knockoffs."

"Really?" asked Aelita. "What's it called?"

Keeva looked pensive for a moment, glancing around to check if anyone else was watching - Yumi and Aelita had warned her that Kadic had some particularly nosy students, especially the principals daughter and the New Club.

"Can you promise to keep it a secret?"

"Aren't we already keeping another secret of yours?"

Keeva laughed nervously. "Good point."

Taking a seat at her desk, Keeva started up her laptop and swiftly cycled through its functions, until she found her target. Smiling, she clicked opened up the program titled 'Grid 4.0'.

"Welcome back to the Grid!" spoke a computerized voice. "What would you like to do today?"

"Wow, it talks to you," noted Yumi, in a tone that told Keeva the Japanese girl was somewhat exaggerating her interest.

"Yeah. See, my grandfather worked on a bunch of these games when he was just a low-level member of ENCOM, and he kept developing them even after he became CEO. He was working on something called The Grid when he flew off the map and, some would say, went crazy, but nobody quite knew what it was." Keeva's enthusiasm faded as sorrow-filled memories filled her head. "My grandfather passed away before he could share this with the world, but he did manage to finish the Grid and pass it on to my dad. Unfortunately, the Grid he made had a significant number of corrupted files in it, so my dad couldn't share it with the public. He's been working with my mom and Uncle Bradley to try and salvage it to this very day."

"Oh. That's sad," noted Aelita.

"It is," admitted Keeva. "Anyway, while he was working on trying to recover the old Grid, my dad started working on a new one with my mom. They called this "Grid 3.0", because my grandfather apparently made two different versions of the Grid - an initial testbed one and the consumer model that he shared with my dad."

Hitting a few keys, Keeva moved through the Grid, revealing a racetrack, two arenas, and what looked like a town. "Grid 3.0 is really a goldfish game right now, which runs several simulated cities filled with programmed people. Grid 4.0 is an offshoot of that, being just one city that I made with my parent's help."

"Wait, you made a whole virtual city?" asked Aelita.

"Yeah, why? You jealous?"

Aelita said nothing, but her face had a curious look upon it. Keeva couldn't decide if this was envy, surprise, or thoughtfulness.

"...No."

"I see. Well, my grandfather apparently intended the original grid to be something of a virtual meet and play place, almost like the OASIS from Ready Player One. My parents are still trying to recover it because even with the power of computers today, they're having trouble replicating its intended functions."

"Interesting. Is there anything else you need help unpacking?"

"No. Hey, do you mind if I introduce you to some of the programmed people in the city?"

"Sure."

"Alright. First off, there's Lovelace - she runs the city and handles day-to-day functions. Next would be Lamarr - major scientist who runs the simulated research institute. Third would be Steven, charged with running a local factory that makes all kinds of things. Last would Floyd, head of security."

"Those are all rather...simple job descriptions," noted Yumi.

Keeva glared slightly. "I'm barely twelve years old. Even if I sacrificed all my free time to work on this and never had any friends or hobbies, there's only so much I can make."

"I didn't mean that as an insult," was Yumi's defense, holding her hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"..Okay, I think I overreacted. Sorry."

"It's fine. You need anymore help?"

"No. I can unpack the last of my stuff on my own."

"Okay then. If you need anything, call us."

"I will."

The duo soon left the room, leaving Keeva alone aside from her computer. Said girl took a deep breath, then closed and locked the door to her room. Setting a timer on her laptop, she pulled out the one remaining item she had yet to unpack - a high-powered laser. Connecting it to a very large battery and then to her laptop, Keeva activated the machine, then set a specific program to run. Donning a pair of goggles, she turned her attention back toward the computer and hit enter.

A moment later, as the timer began its countdown, the laser fired, and in that instant, Keeva vanished from the room.

XXXXX

AN:

There is a world, that is virtual and different.
It can be so cold, make us stand up for what's right.
Our hope through our life, is if we reset it to the start!
Here we are, going far, to save all that we love;
If we give, all we've got, we will make it through.
Here we are, like a star, shining bright on your world;
Today, make Evil go away!
Code Lyoko, we'll reset it all.
Code Lyoko, be there when you call!
Code Lyoko, we will stand real tall.
Code Lyoko, stronger after all!

I LOVE THIS SONG!

Ahem.

Yeah.

I am a really big Code Lyoko Fan. I am also a moderate Tron fan. So now I went and made a crossover of them.

Fun fact: the factory that the supercomputer is located under is based upon an abandoned car factory in Paris that, in real life, was eventually demolished. I've always wanted to do a crossover with Code Lyoko where someone just outright bought the factory and the group had to figure out how to deal with it. So, here we are.

Now to get some stuff out of the way:

Keeva is Sam and Quorra's daughter.

Keeva is the closest I've found to the feminine version of Kevin, in case you are wondering who she is named after.

Keeva's about 12-13 years old.*

The lines Keeva fed to the Lyoko gang, and especially to Yumi and Aelita, are not-quite half truths. Something did happen to the Tron System, but what it was will be elaborated on later.

I will be pulling elements from all continuities of Code Lyoko and Tron into this story. So keep that in mind.

Coincident with Keeva's age, and when Tron: Legacy takes place, the starting point for this story is sometime in Summer-Fall 2022. Major events in real life (especially the pandemic and a certain ongoing conflict) will only be referenced as needed. Also, Aelita and Franz Hopper were in the Supercomputer for about a decade longer than in canon, to go with this.

In case Jeremie's dialogue didn't clarify it, we're starting sometime into the beginning of Season 4. Jeremie has managed to reprogram Sector 5 of Lyoko into existence, but he's still working on the rest. He did get the William clone working, though.

*Keeva has been inside an iteration of the Grid for enough time that she's mentally about fifteen.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

*woosh*

*clang*

"ARGH!"

"Match point. Victory goes to Keeva."

"Great. Guess that means the current score is five-two, your favor?"

"Right on the money, Lemarr."

Said program sighed. "How is it that I lose so much to you but you only have one win against Floyd?"

"I'm a dedicated combat program."

"...Point taken."

"So," intoned a new voice, "how are things going at your new school?"

Turning, Keeva found herself staring at a girl who looked just like her, down to the smallest details. "I just moved into a dorm. Nothing big has happened yet, Mu."

"Understandable."

"What about you? Any reports from the sea?"

At the mention of that, Mu's expression darkened. "Despite my observations, it seems your mother is still the only known example of her kind currently in existence."

"...Oh well. Guess that's how things are going to be."

"They might change," spoke Floyd, "but for now, you should focus on your immediate future. Like, for example, settling in to school."

"You have a point. Keep this place running while I'm gone."

"We will. And please, do be careful."

"I will."

XXXXX

Moments later, Keela found herself back in the Analog World. Glancing at her computer, she saw that only five minutes had passed. Smiling, she organized the last of her belongings, then made her way to the cafeteria - time to eat!

XXXXX

Keela couldn't help but smirk.

In front of her were the five students she had met earlier - Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie - though now they were confronted by another girl. She thought she heard that girl being named Sissi. Regardless, it seemed that Sissi was harassing the group - apparently she felt she was in a relationship with Ulrich. The boy in question did not reciprocate, and based off her reaction, it seemed that Yumi was happy with this.

Ah, young love - something that Keeva had minimal experience with. Okay, none - Zeke and her were just friends.

Eventually, the group managed to get Sissi to leave, and she stormed off, shoving aside Keeva as she passed by.

"Hey!" Shouted the annoyed American girl, but Sissi paid her no mind.

"...Rude."

Shaking off her annoyance, Keeva walked toward the quintet.

"Hey, it's Keeva," noted Odd. "You all settled in?"

"Indeed. What just happened with you five and, um, Sissi?"

"Oh, nothing big," answered Ulrich. "Just her assuming some things that aren't true."

"I got that feeling. Though I need to ask, is Sissi her real name?"

"It's Elizabeth," was Yumi's answer. "She's Principal Delmas' daughter."

"Oh. Guess she gets a lot of privileges from him."

"She does," acknowledged Odd, "but if she gets busted, the punishment is so much worse!"

Keela chuckled at that remark. "I can certainly see that."

"Word of advice," interjected Jeremie, "you might want to avoid Sissi - she's not the nicest girl in school."

"I'll take your word for it. And while, I'd love to stay and chat some more, I need to grab lunch."

The group acknowledged her needs and allowed her to pass. As she received her lunch, Keela allowed a smile to grace her lips - it looked like today would be fine.

XXXXX

Several Hours Later...

Not fine! Not fine! Definitely not fine!

Keela was mentally raging and screaming as she ran down the hallway, a titanic horde of cockroaches following her. She had no idea where they had come from, only that they were unnaturally aggressive and seemed to want to eat her. Apparently someone had noticed them earlier, but nobody had believed them. Oddly, she did remember the five students she had introduced herself to reacting with suspicion upon hearing the tale - maybe they knew something?

Her pondering would have to wait, though, as Keela found herself at a dead end, with only a fire extinguisher to use in defense. Sighing, she grabbed the extinguisher and pointed it at the roaches...which suddenly froze up, then scattered away from her.

Keeva could only stare at the scene in shock before white light filled her vision.

XXXXX

"-but if she gets busted, the punishment is so much worse!"

Keeva started to chuckle at that statement, but came to a sudden stop, much to the surprise of the quintet.

"Um, is something wrong?" Asked Yumi.

"Sorry. It's just that..well, I feel like I've already had this conversation with you."

The five shared a worried glance, after which Jeremie decided to speak up. "Really?"

"Yeah. And I also feel extremely scared of roaches for some reason...It's probably nothing."

Mentally, the quintet was starting to panic, but they managed to keep that off of their faces. "Maybe you just had a bad dream?" Offered Odd, fully aware of how unconvincing he sounded.

"Maybe. Whatever it is, though, I can't ponder it on an empty stomach." And with that, Keela went forth to grab lunch. Again.

XXXXX

As the hours dragged on, Keela became acquainted with others at Kadic. The faculty were nothing to write home about - though the gym teacher Jim (fitting name) apparently had quite a past.

She also became acquainted with several of the students, including the budding reporters Milly and Tamiya, Sissi's henchmen Herb and Nicholas, and William Dunbar, who was something of an oaf.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd already done all of this before...

XXXXX

"So, do you think the Return to the Past didn't make a clean sweep with Keeva?" Asked Ulrich.

"That has happened before," acknowledged Jeremie. "I'm not sure how, but it did happen with William."

"And we know how things turned out with him," finished Yumi.

"I know. But I'm worried about our options going forward."

Aelita glanced at Jeremie. "What do you mean?"

"Every time we've introduced someone else to the supercomputer - Sissi, Jim, William - it's ended poorly."

"So we just modify the Return to the Past program and use it to get past whatever is allowing her to keep her memories," affirmed Ulrich."

"That'd be my suggestion," continued Jeremie, "but we need to consider the big picture here."

"What do you mean, Einstein?"

"There are only five of us that can enter Lyoko -four since I'm stuck here - and we have an uncertain deadline for beating XANA before the factory gets refurbished. Keeva's parents happen to own the company that owns the factory."

"So you're saying we should let her in on our secret?" Inquired Yumi.

"It might buy us time to beat XANA. And we could really use the help - every day we wait gives more time to find a computer that could hurt a lot of people. There's a war going on right now in Eastern Europe involving a nuclear armed power. If XANA got into a computer in charge of a nuclear silo or submarine, he could wreck the world."

None of the group needed that image in their heads. "Alright," sighed Ulrich, "what's the plan."

"As previous as time is, we need to be sure that Keeva can keep a secret. We wait a week, then we decide if we can tell her. All in favor?"

There were no dissenting voices.

XXXXX

"Wait, you've found aberrant memories in the identity disks of some programs on the grid?"

"Ms. Flynn, we've found aberrant memories in every program's memory disk," was Lovelace's response. "All of them have reported problems. It's freaking us out."

"Well, um, I..I...I got nothing. This is beyond me."

"Do you have any leads we could investigate?" Asked Steven.

"...There is one. Though it isn't one you could investigate."

Steven raised an eyebrow. "You know we can access the internet, right? Wear be in the Grid while you are in the Analog World, but we can still access the World Wide Web."

"Good point. Well, there's this group of students - Jeremie Belepois, Aelita Stones, Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern, and Yumi Ishiyama. They know who I am, and they had a noticeable reaction when I mentioned my feeling of deja vu."

Already, Lemarr was typing in the names into her terminal. "Lets see, lets see...got it!"

"Huh?"

"I've got their files!"

"Did you just hack Kadic?"

"Are you surprised?"

Keeva thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not really. You guys don't seem to care about any rules not defined by my family or Alan's. So, what did you find?"

"Well, the five of them are good friends and hang out a lot. Additionally, all of them have been struggling with academics from some time, starting around a year before Aelita joined them. Also, there's something else you should know."

"And that is?"

"Aelita's files appear to have been forged."

"Huh?"

"I cannot state who did so at this time, but whoever made them was a talented hacker."

"I see. Keep me po-"

A knock at the door halted the conversation dead in its tracks.

"Keeva, it's Aelita, I wanted to talk to you-"

"AAGH!"

XXXXX

Aelita's eyes widened as she heard so mind of commotion coming from Keeva's room. It started with the American girl shrieking in surprise, followed by the sound of hectic shuffling and things falling over. Eventually, the sounds subsided into heavy breathing, after which the dorm door opened, and Keeva peered at the pinkette. "Hello?"

Aelita felt really embarrassed about what she presumed had happened. "Oh, I'm sorry if I scared you!"

"Relax, it's nothing. Just calling a few friends."

"I see. Um, I just wanted to check on you, see how you're doing."

"I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking."

"Great. If you want, you can have lunch with us to-"

The sudden ringing of her phone cut brought a halt to Aelita's offer. Flashing an apologetic look at Keeva, Aelita fished out the machine, finding that it was Jeremie calling her. "Jeremie, what is it?"

"XANA's attacking!"

"What?! But the scan-"

"He hasn't activated a tower. He's trying to take down Sector Five again. I need everyone at the factory now!"

"Alright, I'm on my way." A moment later, Aelita ended the call.

"What was th-"

"I'm sorry. Something just came up. I need to go help my friends."

"Can I come with you?"

Aelita froze up for a moment, unsure how to respond - she needed to figure out a way to dissuade Keeva from tagging along. "Um, well, it's a personal thing for us."

"It sounded rather urgent for a friends-only thing."

Darn! "I need to go far off campus for this."

"I can deal with that."

"...We're using scateboards to get there?"

"Do rollerblades work?"

...DARN IT!

Aelita hoped Jeremie would understand.

XXXXX

Hearing the sound of the elevator opening, Jeremie let out a relieved sigh - Aelita had finally arrived. "Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd are already in Lyoko. I'll get you virtualized in a moment and then-"

"What's all this?"

Freezing up for a moment, Jeremie turned toward the elevator. Aelita was in there, as expected, but so was Keeva.

Before Jeremie could throw a question in, Aelita spoke up. "She was with me when you called, Jeremie. She insisted on coming."

"I have no idea what's going on, but I want to help."

Jeremie groaned, then let out another sigh. "Fine. Aelita, get to the scanner. Keeva, just...stay here for now."

Aelita obliged Jeremie, as did Keeva. Once the pinkette was out of sight, Jeremie turned his attention to Keeva. "Give me a moment to get Aelita virtualized, then I'll explain things."

Keeva noted the words that Jeremie used, but declined to bring them up at the moment.

At that exact moment, Aelita stepped into the scanner. Immediately, Jeremie got to work.

"Transfer: Aelita. Scanner: Aelita. Virtualization!"

XXXXX

As soon as she hit the ground, Aelita started looking around. "Jeremie, where are Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich?"

"Due North of you. Sorry, but they already grabbed their vehicles."

"I see. How many monsters has XANA sent to destroy the core?"

"Look due East of your location."

Aelita did just that. She really wished she hadn't.

There, soaring through the skies of Carthage, were at least two dozen mantas.

"...Oh."

"I know. You should hurry."

XXXXX

"On it."

Keeva glanced at Jeremie. "I know I asked you all to keep my identity a secret, and that it would be rude of me to dig into your secrets after asking that, but I am a little lost here, so can I get a few answers on what is going on?"

"It's a long story and I'm not sure I have enough time to explain it to you right now."

"...Did you find a supercomputer that housed an evil AI on it and now it wants to take over the world?"

Jeremie froze, then turn to look at Keeva. "How'd you know that?"

"That is a long story that I certainly don't have time to explain to you right now."

Jeremie couldn't help but groan at this response, but he knew that some amount of honesty was needed right now. "Well, you're pretty much spot on with what happened. But we found two entities inside the supercomputer - one called XANA, which is what you described, and the other, which was -er, is, Aelita."

Keeva's eyes widened. "Aelita's an AI?!"

"No - she's actually the daughter of the man who created this Supercomputer - his name was Franz Hopper."

Though Jeremie didn't notice, Keeva's expression fell.

"He's also the one who created XANA, and-"

A ringtone suddenly filled the air, effectively bringing a halt to the conversation. Blushing in surprise, Keeva took out her phone, a sheepish look on her face. "Hello?"

"Unbelievable!" shouted Jeremie, already feeling his trust in this girl going down.

"Yeah, I with the five students I told you about earlier...well, it's a long story. But apparently they found another digital world in a different supercomputer-"

"ANOTHER?!" shouted Jeremie. "What do you mean by another."

"...Yeah, he heard me mention the Grid...Hey, Jeremie, can you pull up phones you using that Supercomputer?"

"Yes."

"Could you dial this number?"

"..This better not be a trick."

"Trust me, if this was a trick, I'd try harder."

Raising an eyebrow, Jeremie nonetheless complied with her request. A moment later, and much to Jeremie's surprise, a new face appeared on the supercomputer - one that looked just like Keeva.

"Hello, I'm Mu. Who is this?"

"I'm Jeremie, and could you tell me what is going on right now?"

Even though Mu could tell this was a serious situation, she couldn't help but laugh at Jeremie's shock. "Well, this could be a while-"

"Jeremie, we've got a problem," remarked Ulrich.

"What is it?"

"XANA's sent in more monster than expected - ten creepers just materialized in Sector Five."

"Oh no. You think you can handle things?"

"Not sure, Einstein," interjected Odd. "Yumi's taken a few hits, and Aelita just got here. We might be able to hold things down if William shows up, but I don't think XANA's that kind."

"ARGH! And just when me and Aelita were getting things fixed!"

"Excuse me?"

Jeremine turned his attention to Keeva. "What is it?!"

"If I am reading the situation right, you are trying to save this virtual world from destruction, and you're in need of extra help. If so, may I volunteer.?"

"Absolutely no- wait. You mnetioned another digital world earlier, correct?"

"Yes, I did."

"Can I assume that means you've been inside of said digital world?"

"Yep."

Jeremine weighed his options for a moment, but it soon became clear he had little choice in the matter. "...Okay, it looks like I don't have any other options here. Take the elevator down a floor - that will lead you to the scanner room."

"On it."

A few minutes later, Keeva found herself before a trio of pillar-like structures, one of which had just opened up.

"Step inside the scanner."

"Jeremie, what's going on?" asked Yumi.

"Keeva was with Aelita when I called her to the factory, and ended up tagging along. I'm sending her in to aid you."

"But Jeremie, we just met her! We said we were going to wait a week and-"

"If we lose Lyoko again, I'm not sure we'll be able to rebuid it before XANA completes his plans. So please, just help Keeva when she gets inside."

"...Okay."

"Jeremie, I'm ready."

"Right. Transfer, Keeva. Scammer, Keeva. Virtualization!"

As soon as he hit the final key, though, something unexpected happened - rather than simply virtualize the girl, a loading bar popped up on the supercomputer's screen.

"What the-"

XXXXX

All the programs in the Sanctuary stopped their daily hustle as they felt a strange sensation, as if the air itself was charged. Then, without warning, the tower at the center of the fourth iteration of the Grid charged up and fired a pulse of light.

Though they had no way of knowing it, the pulse contained a specialized set of data, including three different baton functions.

All of which was now headed to a foreign computer.

XXXXX

AN: And cliffhanger!

I wanted to get into the Lyoko action as soon as possible, but I did want to explore the idea of how Return to the Past was handled from an outsider's perspective, especially since it isn't delved into much in canon with William.

Figuring out how to justify Keeva tagging along with the Lyoko Warriors was difficult.

Also, since the show never explained why XANA didn't launch attacks on consecutive days, I'm just assuming he was lazy.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!