Code: Lyoko || 5 + 1

(S1 E2) Seeing is Believing

Clementine sat in her afternoon science class next to Ulrich, listening to a lecture by a guest speaker and bored out of her mind. Dr. DeLaker was his name? Eh, she couldn't remember. She had her head resting on her hand and her eyes continuously fluttered shut. The warm sunlight shining down on her did not help ease her drowsiness.

"... this plant is one of the most powerful in the world. As chief engineer I'm particularly concerned with safety and to guarantee this safety, security measures have been applied at every level of production ... " The speaker droned on, pointing at an image of a nuclear plant on the board with a pointer. Clementine would've normally listened-she really would have!-but she had been up the night before finishing a large pile of homework from her classes thanks to the returns to the past that were like undo buttons. Now here she was, sleep deprived and totally bored. She suppressed another yawn as she continued to listen.

"We call this combination of safety measures: In-Depth Defense." He turned towards the front of the class. "I'll be glad to answer any questions," he said, finally concluding his presentation.

Jeremie was the first to raise his hand. "Uh, sir?" Ms. Hertz nodded at him. "Yes, go on, Jeremie."

The blonde genius stood up and addressed the scientist, "I'd like to know if an atomic process exists for fusing virtual particles and materializing them in the real world." At this Clementine raised her eyebrows. From what she could decipher from the scientific jargon, he was secretly asking about a way to bring Aelita from Lyoko to the real world. Nice going, Mister J she smirked.

The scientist, on the other hand, didn't look impressed and pushed up his glasses. "Son, that is in the realm of science fiction, sorry," he responded. An awkward silence filled the air.

"Jeremie is an excellent student, but he's a bit of a dreamer," Ms. Hertz apologized, gently pushing down the blonde genius as she passed by him. Mocking laughter filled the air, most notably Herve's, which was a nasally chortle.

Odd and Clementine turned to stare down Herve and Sissi, who was also giggling mockingly. Clementine held up a clenched fist for good measure. Even though they glared at the two, their laughter had stopped. Not long after, the projector casting the blueprint of the powerplant fizzed out.

Ms. Hertz stared at the machine in surprise. "Well, now, what's happened here?" she wondered aloud and began to fiddle with the machine. "Oh certainly nothing, just a blown fuse, that's all," she reassured everyone after a moment. Odd, Jeremie, Ulrich and Clementine glanced at each other, a questioning look being shared between them.

"I'm saying that maybe XANA is behind this," Jeremie insisted as the four of them exited the science building.

"Don't get so excited, Jeremie, it was just a short-circuit," Odd shrugged, having already dismissing the incident as nothing more than a freak accident.

Yumi raised an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? What happened in science?" she asked.

Clementine waved her hand in nonchalance. "Jeremie here thinks that XANA caused a blown fuse," she replied as she stretched upwards.

Jeremie turned his head towards her. "I'm telling you, it really could've been-"

"Odd?" A baritone voice interrupted. The quintet quickly turned their attention towards the direction of the voice. It was Principal Delmas. "I've thought it over; you can form your group the, uh, Foxtrot Fanatics?"

"Yes!" Odd whooped. This was good news for him.

"It's the, uh, Pop Rock Progressives, sir," Yumi corrected gently. Clementine nodded. "It's gonna be super big!" she added.