Fanfic / The Boy In The Computer

The Boy in the Computer is part of the Jerlita Roleswap AU and is a fanfic based on Code Lyoko by SepticAbzies.

Set in a world where Jérémie and Aelita have swapped roles, where Jérémie is trapped in Lyoko and Aelita is the leader of the Lyokowarriors. It's currently in its fourth "season".

---

Tropes

• Abhorrent Admirer: Hervé has a crush on Aelita. Aelita already dislikes him when the story begins and her opinion of him only gets worse from there.
• Actually Pretty Funny: For all that Aelita, good-naturedly, complains that Odd is a bad influence on Jérémie, she can't stop herself from laughing when Jérémie plays along with acting out a "translated" version of Ulrich and Yumi's interactions and calls Odd "the best worst influence on Jérémie".
• Adaptation Name Change: While he still goes by Jérémie Belpois, Jérémie's original surname was Périn.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Since Jérémie and Aelita switched positions, this goes without saying for Jérémie. Even compared to Aelita, he seems to have it a bit rougher as a boy with the surname Périn, who is heavily implied and later confirmed to be a younger Jérémie, was dying from a brain tumor.
• Adaptational Badass: Due to being the one originally from Lyoko, Jérémie is the one with the Creation ability, not Aelita.
  • Downplayed example for Aelita as in the AU, she starts off with her energy abilities.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • Instead of being Aelita's beloved toy, Mr. Pück is the main charcter of a storybook Jérémie's mother used to read to him, which she wrote herself. The plush is later made by Yumi, with help from her mother, to help Jérémie sleep with less nightmares. The key turns out to be stored in his pendant.
  • Instead of being created as part of Project Carthage, Lyoko was created as part of an attempt by Michel and Sophie Périn to cure Jérémie's cancer.
  • Combined with Adaptational Origin Connection, XANA was originally created so that Jérémie would have a friend and to protect and manage Lyoko.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Hiroki makes his first appearance in Episode 3: May I Have This Dance?, a season earlier than his first appearance in Season 2.
  • Laura appears as one of Jérémie's admirers in Episode 21: Be My Valentine, which is based on Saint Valentine's and New Order, three seasons earlier than her first appearance in Evolution.
• Adaptational Heroism: Played with, regarding William. While William was firmly on the side of good when in control of his actions, he spent the majority of Season 4 Brainwashed and Crazy. Because he's spared that fate, he remains a loyal member of the team.
• Adaptational Intelligence: William, to a degree. While he still underestimates the danger of the monsters on Lyoko, particularly the Scyphozoa, he takes the warnings of the more experienced Lyokowarriors seriously unlike in canon. Unfortunately this doesn't stop him from getting possessed by the Scyphozoa, albeit only briefly.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Very downplayed example with Sissi. While she starts out acting the way she does in canon Season 1, "XANA Awakens" revealed this was due to the Lyokowarriors shunning her after she revealed the factory. In the AU, Sissi only started acting that way, and has been acting that way two years longer, because she was jealous Ulrich was making friends that weren't her. However like in canon, things do improve between her and the others over time.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • Aside from Jérémie for obvious reasons, being two years older means that the Lyokowarriors have known each other two years longer than in canon at the start of the series, and they're much closer as a result.
  • Unlike in canon, Aelita and Odd really are cousins on their mothers' side, and still share their sibling-like bond from canon.
  • Hervé has a crush on Aelita instead of Sissi as in canon.
  • Aelita and Taelia are also cousins (Taelia's mother is Waldo's sister).
  • While Hiroki's feelings for Milly were unrequited in canon, she accepts his offer to be her prom date after the Return to the Past in "May I Have This Dance", and it's mentioned in "Love and Betrayal" that they've been basically inseparable ever since.
  • While Hervé antagonized Jérémie occasionally in canon, he bullies him much more directly here. Partially out of jealousy for Aelita's feelings for Jérémie, and partially because he was considered Kadic's smartest student before Jérémie showed up.
  • Because William is spared from becoming The Dragon to XANA, he never becomes a Sixth Ranger Traitor and remains a permanent addition to the team.
• Adaptation Distillation: Some episodes of the original series are combined in this story, while others have their placement modified.
  • "Amnesia" is combined with "Killer Music", with the fight between Odd and Ulrich being moved to the beginning of Amnesia, and being one of the few things the latter remembers, which makes him mistrustful of Odd at first.
  • "Critical Situation" is a combination of "Rock Bottom?" and "The Girl of the Dreams", consisting of the subplot involved with Sam's visit and the party from the three day weekend from the former and XANA possessing the samurai armor Yumi brought for her presentation of the latter.
  • "By a Hair" is made up of "Just in Time" and "The Trap", combining the failed attempt at materialization and XANA's usage of seismic waves from the former with the birthday/one year anniversary celebration from the latter.
  • "Fragmented Reality" is made up of "New Order" and "Uncharted Territory", with introductions, revelations, and discoveries from the former and the member of the team from Lyoko being bullied to the point of wanting to return in the latter, and the discovery of Sector Five and code "SCIPIO_".
  • Common Interest is combined with Cold War, with the plot of the latter making up the former's prologue segment. This also puts new strain on the Lyokowarriors by forcing them to try and solve the Supercomputer's power issue while dealing with Thomas Vincent snooping on Kadic.
  • Plagued and Attack of the Zombies are also combined, and in the case of the former, moved to the events of Season 2.
  • "Differing Paths" is primarily based on "Opening Act", but background elements from "Double Take" and "Wreck Room" occur as well. Their importance is reduced because William didn't become The Dragon to XANA.
• Adapted Out: Several episodes are cut, either because the author considers them irrelevant to the plot, or because they wouldn't happen due to the swap.
  • Odd's KidAnova tendencies are downplayed to the point of basically not being present at all.
• Affectionate Nickname: While their friends give them other nicknames that are good natured teasing or acknowledgment of their intellect, 'Lita and Jer are much more affectionate nicknames and are frequently used to express reassurance or concern.
• Age Lift: The Lyokowarriors and their classmates are two years older than in canon.
• Adaptation Amalgamation: Downplayed. The fanfic borrows some concepts from Evolution and the Chronicles novels but the main focus is the original show.
  • Another downplayed example is some episodes are combined.
• Ascended Extra: Starting in Season 4, Sam starts attending Kadic.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Just like in canon, XANA steals the key and leaves a Lyokowarrior dead and escapes the Supercomputer.
• Berserk Button:
  • While Odd would certainly have been angry regardless, one of his older sisters, specifically Louise the youngest, had just been cheated on by her boyfriend shortly before "Divide and Conquer", the episode based on "XANA's Kiss". Because of this he was even angrier at Jérémie for "cheating" on Aelita than he normally would have been.
  • Do not tell Jérémie the scanners are harmful. He will react very poorly.
• Big Brother Instinct: Ulrich, Yumi, and William have all stepped in when Jérémie was being given a hard time. Yumi specifically notes she sees him as a little brother.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Both as gratitude for the Rolling Stones record he got her, and to declare both of them off limits to their respective admirers, Aelita kisses Jérémie.
• Bittersweet Ending: "Final Round" is this compared to canon, though it is far heavier on the bitter. XANA escapes Lyoko, but William is not converted into The Dragon due to being devirtualized by Jérémie and the message from Michel and Sophie Périn convinces the team there's still hope. Hope of defeating XANA and hope that Jérémie will eventually reunite with his parents.
• Cain and Abel: Jérémie doesn't remember yet, but this is his relationship with XANA as they're both "children" of Michel and Sophie Périn. This was even the title of the episode based on "Ghost Channel" and XANA calls Jérémie "brother".
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Don't flirt with Jérémie in front of Aelita. Don't even suggest you want to flirt with Jérémie in front of Aelita.
• Decomposite Character: The creation of Lyoko and related projects are divided between Sophie and Michel Périn. Sophie did all of the coding and programming, and was also the creator of the neuronal headset, while Michel came up with ideas for the project and did the physical labor required.
• Death by Adaptation: Project Carthage doesn't seem to have gotten off the ground this time. After Sophie was let go because of the contractors' sexism, the man they hired did a poor job with the programming and it was scrapped.
• Disappointed in You: Odd isn't mad at Sam after she lied to him in "Final Round", because he understands why, but he is disappointed and hurt. When they finally talk a week later, he assures her he was never mad, just upset and hurt, but that he's not ready to talk to her yet. Sam is understanding, if saddened, to hear it.
• The Dragon: In place of William, XANA creates a specialized clone that can mimic the form and abilities of the Lyokowarriors. It's appearance, abilities, and personality in each form is based on what they'd appear as and act like if permanently XANA-fied. The Lyokowarriors refer to its various states as "masks".
• Driven to Suicide: Even knowing that it will kill him, Jérémie turns off the Supercomputer in Reminiscence. His guilt that everything involving Lyoko, and especially XANA, was because of him makes him think it's worth the trade.
• Everyone Has Standards: Hervé doesn't like Jérémie and is fully willing to bully him, but even he has limits.
  • He won't use Jérémie's heart attack against him and is disgusted with Thomas Vincent trying to use it to paint Kadic in a negative light.
  • Overlaps with Jerk with a Heart of Gold in Footprints. Despite being frequently annoyed at being awoken by Jérémie's nightmare-induced screams, he is genuinely taken aback by Jérémie crying and sincerely asks if he's okay. This is the first time Jérémie considers that Hervé might not actually be a bad person.
• The Evil Prince: In its Jérémie mask, the specialized clone is considered this. While XANA's monsters will obey commands from it in any of its masks, in this form it can command them telepathically. It is also the only form that can input Code: XANA, mirroring the fact that Jérémie is the only Lyokowarrior who can activate Code: LYOKO.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: XANA does still care for Jérémie, but it's so corrupted at this point that it's not enough to stop the rogue AI from carrying out its plans.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: Jérémie's goggles show him a map with monsters and the tower. And outside of Lyoko, it turns out that they're his glasses.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Like in canon, Aelita has angel wings on Lyoko. By comparison the specialized clone, when in her form, has devil wings.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Hervé. He's jealous of Jérémie's relationship with Aelita. He's jealous of how smart the younger boy is. And that jealousy can make him a real jerk at times.
  • XANA's Start of Darkness is somewhere between this and Yandere as after Jérémie's amnesia it refused to let its friend go.
• Hates Being Alone: Jérémie. On the rare occasions he chooses to be alone, he's either extremely upset or he has something he needs to sort out. Sometimes both.
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: In "Divide and Conquer", once Jérémie is actually close to XANA's polymorphic clone of Aelita he senses something off. As he later tells Aelita, it didn't have her warmth or smell (i.e. strawberry bodywash). As he further clarifies it got most details right, which is why it had been able to trick him earlier, but the smaller, intimate details someone as close they are would know were all missing. Cue Luminescent Blush from Aelita.
• In-Series Nickname: The ones from canon remain, but because of the swap, others are also given.
  • Aelita: Miss Einstein, as before Jérémie joined them, and even afterwards though not quite as much she was The Smart Guy of their group. Later changed to Mrs. Einstein when Odd is teasing her about her feelings for Jérémie.
  • Jérémie: Odd calls him Prince Charming because of how quickly Aelita fell for him. And occasionally, Einstein becomes Mr. Einstein when he and Aelita are being teased about their relationship.
• In Spite of a Nail: Aelita still has nightmares about wolves, but they represent her insecurities instead of the men in black.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Jérémie takes the revelation that Lyoko, and particularly XANA were created for his sake, very, very poorly. He makes a Mythology Gag to the original series, noting that if he'd just been a bystander who was dragged in by mistake it would be one thing, but it's because of him and his parents that people, including the other Lyokowarriors, have been constantly put in danger.
  • Several of the Lyokowarriors feel this way by the end of Final Round:
    • William blames himself for Lyoko's destruction, feeling that if he'd taken his teammates' warnings more seriously he wouldn't have been possessed by the Scyphozoa and helped destroy Lyoko.
    • Yumi, on behalf of the rest of the team, says it's their fault for not preparing William better.
    • Jérémie once more blames himself entirely, reiterating that the reason XANA and Lyoko were created in the first place was to heal him and thus it's really his fault.
• I've Come Too Far: XANA when when asked by Yumi if it still cares for Jérémie admits that it does, but that it's too dedicated to its plans of killing humanity and its creators to stop now.
• Knight in Shining Armor: The author redesigned William's outfit to make it more apparent he's based on this.
• Light 'em Up: Because he is not XANA-fied, William has light based abilities.
• Literal-Minded: Jérémie. It's in the tags of the fic.
• Love at First Sight: Odd all but says this is the case with Aelita for Jérémie, and its confirmed when we see their first meeting from Jérémie's perspective in The Girl From the Outside that it was mutual.
• Named by the Adaptation: Jérémie's mother, unnamed in canon is given the name Sophie.
• The Nose Knows: Played with. When the specialized clone turns into Odd, it gains the ability to track the Lyokowarriors by their digital signature in the same way animals can track by scent.
• Only Friend: When Jérémie was still sickly, XANA was the only friend he had to talk to and Jérémie was XANA's. This is part of the reason XANA eventually went crazy, as it feared that if Jérémie recovered he'd be able to make other friends and would forget it.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: A few examples from Temptation:
  • Like Jérémie in canon, Aelita becomes far more irritable and angry, abusing the Return to the Past to boost her intelligence.
  • Jérémie is angry enough to take Odd aback when he sees the neuronal headset.
  • It's a testament to how dire the situation is that Odd stops cracking jokes. The other Lyokowarriors, minus Aelita who is unconscious, recognize it as a telltale sign of how worried he is about his cousin.
• The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The password for Aelita's emergency folder, which contained the details of her research on the anti-virus and her experiment with the neuronal headset, is "Double Chocolate Cake". The food the Lyokowarriors had hoped to give Jérémie on his "birthday" during the failed attempt to bring him out of Lyoko and did give him to eat once he finally made it out. As Jérémie points out, the significance would be lost on anyone but them, and that means the emergency folder was for them to find.
• Point of Divergence: Because Jérémie isn't immediately devirtualized by XANA, he has enough time to devirtualize William before XANA fully destroys Lyoko. While Lyoko is still destroyed, William is spared from becoming XANA's Brainwashed and Crazy dragon. Because it still wants a more effective servant to battle the Lyokowarriors than its monsters, XANA creates the specialized clone.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: Doesn't matter if this is a Role Swap AU, Aelita and Jérémie are the image source on the page for a reason. In this case, it happens at the ending of "Be My Valentine" (the episode based on Saint Valentine's Day and New Order), instead of "Divide and Conquer" (the episode based on XANA's Kiss).
• Protectorate: Jérémie to Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd. All of Kadic knows it by the time of "Common Interest".
• Sarcasm-Blind: Jérémie. He does not understand sarcasm or metaphors all that well.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • While all of their friends support Jerlita to some extent, Odd is particularly upfront about it, noting that he makes Aelita happy, and that he's much better than Hervé.
  • Yumi supports Hiroki and Milly, and recommended Hiroki's favorite slow song to Aelita so the two would have an opportunity to slow dance together. Her brother is clearly touched to find this out.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: The specialized clone can transform into any of the Lyokowarriors... as long as they aren't on Lyoko. Once they are, it can't become them until they're devirtualized.
• Sixth Ranger: In addition to William, Sissi is an additional member of the group. However, she doesn't fight on Lyoko and instead serves as their secret weapon to distract and dissuade people from discovering the team's secrets. In addition, Jérémie is in the dark about her identity, though he knows there is a secret member.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Because Aelita and Jérémie switched lives, Waldo and Anthea Schaeffer are living happily in Switzerland but Jérémie's parents are currently missing.
  • While William is possessed by XANA in "Final Round", and helps destroy the shields protecting Lyoko's core, Jérémie manages to devirtualize him, so he doesn't end up becoming The Dragon to XANA.
• Spotting the Thread: Several times in "Cain and Able" "Jérémie", really XANA in disguise, acts out of character. While the other Lyokowarriors acknowledge it's possible he's just sulking because Odd hurt his feelings, Aelita points out that even if he was upset enough to ignore them he'd never take XANA lightly. While XANA is later able to trick them in spite of this, it's more because they feel the possible threat "Jérémie" is bringing up is too big to ignore, even if it's possibly XANA tricking them.
• That Man Is Dead:
  • How Jérémie Belpois feels about Jérémie Périn. Before getting his memories back, and even after, he feels that his current life is so different (and so much better) that they're practically different people. In good humor, he's talked about Jérémie Périn as if he's a different person.
  • He feels similarly about the version of XANA that was his friend, though Yumi and William realize after seeing that the old XANA is still there that this may just be his way of dealing with the fact his first friend is now his worst enemy. This is why they resolve not to tell him that XANA still cares for him, as it would only make things harder for him.
    • XANA itself claims similarly, noting it can no longer go back to the version of itself it used to be.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Downplayed and played for laughs in both cases.
  • Hiroki enjoys and encourages Jérémie to tease Yumi about her Will They or Won't They? with Ulrich.
  • Odd has encouraged Jérémie to sleep in class and, like Hiroki, tease Yumi and Ulrich about their relationship.
• True Companions: Like in canon, the Lyokowarriors are this. Unlike in canon, they've been friends for two years before their adventures in Lyoko begin, aside from Jérémie for obvious reasons, and thus already are at the start.
  • Odd reflects at one point that as good friends as they all are for the first two years they knew each other it felt like something was missing, Ulrich and Yumi immediately understand that means Jérémie was the missing piece, showing quickly he became one to them as well.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: It doesn't come up that often, since Aelita is usually the one monitoring from the Supercomputer, but as shown in Temporary Insanity, Aelita is Jérémie's. Considering XANA has killed him before, it's understandable.
• We Used to Be Friends: Jérémie and XANA. Being Jérémie's friend is the reason XANA even came into being in the first place. Unfortunately, between Jérémie's amnesia and XANA's jealousy, they have now become bitter enemies.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Aelita calls Jérémie's eyes beautiful in her diary when she's writing about their first meeting and it comes up again in Clones and Brief Flirtations, both from Aelita's clone and in Aelita's internal narration.
• What If?: There's a oneshot about what would've happened if Taelia had come to visit and Hervé had revealed everything he learned from Aelita's diary. It has two endings: one where everything goes wrong and everyone but Aelita is trapped in the Supercomputer for seven years after it gets shut off, and one where all of the events were just a dream and Taelia's visit passes without incident.
• Wistful Amnesia: Jérémie even aside from the examples that carry over from Aelita in canon.
  • In Common Interest, while hospitalized after his heart attack, he dreams about being in the hospital with Michel Périn and a woman from pictures in the Hermitage. He finds himself glad that the woman isn't gone and instinctively trusting Michel Périn despite not knowing who they are.
  • In Marabounta, despite knowing XANA is still his enemy, he finds the idea of XANA showing human behavior by bowing in gratitude and protecting him feel right, but isn't sure why.
  • In Temptation, he reacts with both fear and hate to seeing the neuronal headset and says it should be destroyed.
• You Are Worth Hell: Ulrich says this to Jérémie word for word, and Yumi affirms that all of his friends feel that way and are well aware it's mutual when they're trying to get through to him after he turns off the Supercomputer in "Reminiscence".
• You Remind Me of X: Aelita and Jérémie remind XANA of Sophie and Michel. Considering how much the AI hates both of them, this is not a good thing.

---