A superior multi-agent program.

It wasn’t the same toys she was used to— the chemicals, the scalpels— but it was something she could  work with. Scenarios began to play themselves out in her mind. Long, drawn out scenes painted with screams and snapping bones and ripping flesh. 

XANA came into view, pulling their guns and radios from their holsters. She blinked, sanity fading back into view. Right, the supercomputer. 

Anthea swallowed before speaking again, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. (at some point the bloodlust had actually made her start salivating, literally drooling for chaos and destruction) 

"You might want to go ahead without me. Playtime might take a while. After all, I’ve got nearly twenty years worth of pain to pay back.” Her teeth clacked against each other as she snapped her jaw shut. 

That same look of death glinted in her eyes, of revenge and hurt and madness— but not directed at XANA this time. Oh, no. What he had tried to do was nothing compared to what these three had done to her. These three had stolen everything from her, under the orders of a cuel man. XANA— well, he had said he was sorry, in a sense. That it wasn’t anything personal.

But with these three? Oh yes it had been. They had enjoyed manipulating her, toying with her to make her let her guard down. Dragging her away, laughing at her as she pounded against the glass.

No. No, XANA was kind compared to them. Hell, he was helping her get revenge, wasn’t he? She had to respect him for doing at least that.

She took another step forward, glancing back at XANA. Cruel sanity and bloody madness fought for dominance in her eyes, in her mind. He had said something about EMPIRE, but the rest of the sentence was a haze of nonsense.

What were they here for again? Something about the computer. It seemed so far away now. So unimportant. Sounds, touch, taste, smell all mattered far more than higher thought processes right now. This was the primal mind coming to the forefront. The one that knew only violence and lust and survival. 

Anthea was slipping away with every second, every dopamine-laced thought, every shaking breath. Every heartbeat pumped more adrenaline through her, pushing her further towards the violence she was craving.

He hopped down to the factory floor. As he went down through the lift, he pondered. It was a bit of a dilemma. He needs to move the supercomputer, but doing so would require shutting it off, which would render him unable to move it. A bit of a catch-22. Possibly, he could get Anthea to move it at a later time, relying entirely on her. XANA still had other supercomputers worldwide, he just wouldn't be able to be physically present for some time. There was also the issue of where to move the supercomputer - it's not something you can place down.

Perhaps it would be unmovable. Other solutions. Defense. He could defend the factory, at risk of it being discovered and well, shut down. It was a good strategy. The risk just needs to be removed. XANA was not terribly fond of gambling, even if occasionally a necessary evil. He could slightly remodel the factory to make it mostly inaccessible. He also pondered having a system set up so that unauthorized persons would be possessed and have their memory wiped of this place.

Remodeling seemed the safest bet, though the second system might need looking into in the event that EMPIRE absolutely knows that there is a supercomputer here. With the loss of their persons investigating the factory, they may send more. However they may also not, with the chaos that will have ensued by the time they realize all their data has been destroyed. Still, it was a rather difficult situation all around, and XANA was annoyed by the amount of unknown variables. On Lyoko he had a nearly godlike reign, with full knowledge of its inner workings. Reality is not quite so simple. It occurred to him as a side-note that perhaps a perfected virtual world could better supplement the current one, as opposed to previous plans of completely "overwriting" the current world.

She felt her breaths shorten as she stared at the men more intently. Three faces stood out to her. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the side of the bridge. Three of the men that were in this crowd— they had been there on that day.

Mme. Hopper, we need to speak with you. It’s Schaeffer. Mme. Schaeffer. Right, terribly sorry. Mme Schaeffer, we need to speak with you— in private, if you don’t mind. The man with the curly blond hair, the hooked nose and smile on his face. He had introduced himself as M. Abel, right? The one who had seemed professional but kind, the one who had made her let her guard down in the first place.

"Kill them." The words came out as a hiss, a command more than a suggestion. Her earlier rage towards XANA was long forgotten now. Blood was pumping in her ears. Her hands were twitching, aching for a trigger to pull, a fist to swing.

You don’t need to start a fight, we don’t want to hurt your daughter, just come with us. You know too much, and that’s a problem. M. Samuel, he had called himself. All dark eyes and a bored expression. This was just work to him, nothing more. Anthea was nothing more than some bother, some mess to take care of. 

Anthea took a step forward, carefully grabbing one of the guns that was on the ground near one of the guard’s feet. She tested it’s weight, lifting it up to aim at the man in front of her. The third man, the violent one.

Where are you taking me? Where is my daughter? Aelita! Aelita, run! Anthea had started screaming, trying to find traction in the fresh layer of snow. Trying to fight them off.

That man, the third one, the tall one. He hadn’t said a single word. But he had been the one that picked her fully off the ground and shoved her into the grey car. Then when she had tried to fight back, tried to fight to get out of the car, he had been the one that had grabbed her by the hair and bashed her head against the car’s frame until everything faded away. 

She felt her lips pull into a smirk. Was there a hint of laughter in her voice? ”You can either kill them or make them hold still while I blow their brains out.”

She shook her head. No, no these monsters deserved more than that. Take them out slowly, right? Slowly and painfully. Arms, legs, gut. Let them bleed out, make them drown in their own blood. A headshot was too quick. They didn’t deserve that.

How much time would she have until another round of troops showed up? Would they show up? Did it even matter to her right now, as bloodthirsty as she was?

XANA gave a wicked grin and then gestured upwards. "For instance..." The possessed men jumped nearly seventy feet in the air, startling Anthea. XANA observed as they reached their peak, and dropped the possession as they began to fall. "Might want to back up, Anthea." And so she did, and the guards fell to the ground.

He observed, and it wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be - humans are more resistant than he thought. They were merely crippled, possibly internally damaged. None of them could get up. He took the liberty to remove their guns and radios from their holsters.

"You act all high and mighty like they were completely wrong to want to try to kill you and then you turn around and kill her. If that’s what you meant by ‘protecting yourself’ I don’t see how they were possibly in the wrong. She was twelve.”

Maybe an hour ago, she would have been more understanding. But she was exhausted, she was stressed. He tried to kill Aelita. Any sympathy she once had for him was gone. XANA she had no stake in. Aelita— Aelita was everything. If it was someone else— hell, even Waldo she could at least understand his logic. He was a true threat to XANA. But Aelita? How could she have possibly posed a threat? Why did she have to face death?

It was just a mother’s bias, and she knew it was. But that didn’t mean she was wrong. 

"Why the fuck do you need my help? Go protect the damn computer yourself. I’m done dealing with any of this. I don’t care about you, I don’t care about EMPIRE. I don’t care. I just want to see Aelita again."

But if they find you then you can’t ever see her again. Don’t be stubborn. If he fails they’ll come after you. At least do this to protect yourself.

Her jaw twitched as she grit her teeth. She was silent for a while, willing herself to cooperate. Trying to not be stubborn enough to get herself or Aelita killed.

"But I can’t see her again if they find me." She rubbed her temples, she couldn’t believe she was doing this. She looked up at XANA, reaching her own hand out.

The tunnel was not very interesting. While he found the feat of it at least somewhat admirable, the tunnel itself was of no aesthetic appeal. He wasn't totally sure what purpose it even served - it didn't seem used at all.

He jumped into the Factory's security systems, scanning the Factory. There was a crew heading from the Bridge in. What would they do? Would they check for Anthea and leave? What if they notice the supercomputer? What if they destroy it? What if they take it? They must not. There's no other way into the supercomputer besides the bridge though. What if they just don't know about it or care?

No, they'll notice the lift, notice it's been used. They'll know it's on. They'll know that it's a threat. Or, they'll take it. But the means don't matter, it's the ends. They have to stop EMPIRE here. They could either distract them or eliminate them, though elimination might draw attention.

Monster materialization? No, gives away too much. Nothing from inside the factory. Has to be from outside. What to- Ah, of course. Possession. XANA activated several towers, spawning as many ghosts from their vehicle. Each one jumped into a different person, some realizing what was happening just as it was too late. They each struggled but fell, just as every person did.