Since he escaped from XANA, Franz Hopper joined the gang to fight the enemy and protect her daughter, bringing with him his huge knowledge of the quantum computer he built, the virtual world he designed and the multi agent system he programmed.
He was yet testing a new virtualization protocol, allowing a lyokonaut to be immediately re-virtualized after a rematerialisation. This protocol was probably the greatest improvement after Aelita’s materialisation program. It permitted to enormously enhance the effectiveness of the lyokonauts, resurrecting them as often as necessary. So, it was urgent to finalise the protocol in order to use it on the battle zone. He worked on it for several days without giving himself a few minutes’ rest.
Hopper had a weightily ally in his enterprise : Waldo Schaeffer, his former boss when he worked on the Carthage project. Few decades ago, Schaeffer was the chief, now now he was the subordinate. Waldo left the army after the Carthage Project was aborted, and went back to Germany, his homeland. But then, because Hopper was still alive and operational to continue the fight against XANA, the new enemy after the fall of Carthage, Waldo joined the gang. Since Waldo Shaeffer joined him, Franz Hopper used to call him « My boy », which always made him upset.
Now, he was testing the protocol, risking his life instead of the five young’s one. Being virtualized, materialized, revirtualized, rematerialized, again and again was exhausting but necessary. It appeared to be safe for the lyokonaut, despite the strain and sometimes a headache. Nevertheless, the transfer between the Earth and Lyoko raised a problem : during each transfer, the scanner shell had to withstand the energy of a nuclear bomb. The flood of energy inside the scanners gave out heat, and the shell and the capacitors overheated dangerously.
- I’ve got an overheat alert ! Jérémie said.
- Derivate the power on the socket seven !
Jérémie executed the order.
- It’s done, but the stream is unstable !
- Take it easy… It should take it.
- We ‘ve got back discharges from the capacitors !
Hopper achieve the materialisation of Waldo.
- Yes ! He’s back… Damn ! I can’t open the door ! exclaimed Franz.
- The engine has broken… Waldo is locked, deplored Jérémie.
- And the shell is giving out more and more heat, because of the back discharges. We must found a solution quicky, or Waldo ‘ll die ! shouted Franz.
- There is no water in the scanners level, but there are liters of liquid nitrogen in the supercomputer level. I suggest we use it, said Aelita.
- If we do so, we ‘ll have to put the computer on stand by mode until we reload the nitrogen tank, but we have no choice. Jérémie, deal with the computer ! Aelita and Ulrich, go down to the supercomputer room and connect the tank to this cable sheathed in the corner you ‘ll use as a pipe. There are fireproofed gloves you could need in the wall cupboard near the elevator.
- OK, let’s go, Ulrich, exclaimed Aelita.
Ulrich took the sheathed, and the two teenagers ran into the elevator.
Arrived in the supercomputer room, Aelita opened the cupboard, took two pairs of gloves, gave one of them to Ulrich and weared the second one. She opened a trap door on the floor with the door of the nitrogen tank under it. She connected the sheathed with difficulty. Ulrich took the other end of the sheathed, and climbed up the ladder with the ‘pipe’ on his back. It was difficult but Ulrich was strong enough.
In front of the damaged scanner, Ulrich yelled :
- I’m on it ! Go head, Franz ! Waldo, hold out !
Franz hopper activated the cooling system pump that increased the nitrogen pressure and make the cold liquid flowing through the pipe to the hot metal shell. Ulrich held the pipe despite the feedback and the nitrogen clouds that was filling the room. The cooling fluid was yet a quenching fluid.
Few minutes later, the situation was normalised. The elevator door opened on Franz Hopper who ran to the damaged device, and asked with a worried voice :
- Waldo, are you OK ?
- Scheiße, Franz, das war Richtigkeit! Du bist geschlagen !
- Can you breathe normally ?
- Yes, I can. Open that bloody door !
- I can’t, the bearing has melt down and the engine is destroyed.
- And what about the return toward the past ? asked Waldo.
- Impossible, the quantum computer is on stand by mode until we fix its cooling system.
- Scheiße ! I’m trapped in this sarcophagus for few days.
- I’m afraid so. I’m sorry, my boy.
- For the last time, Franz, stop calling me like that ! I’m neither Jérémie, nor Aelita, nor Odd, nor Ulrich, nor Yumi. I’m not a teenager, man !
- No, you’re a tined German.