I first saw Code Lyoko many years ago. I only saw a handful of episodes, out of order, but I absolutely loved the show in the brief time I had with it. Summer 2011, I had the strangest rediscovery of the show - while out camping. I was listening to the river at night inside our tent, as the water rushed by, deafening. On the edge of sleep, it brought back memories of the 'good old days' of childhood - and in them, a hazy memory of a tight group of friends, fighting for the good in the world. I remembered a few vague faces and partial names. But it was enough. It rung a bell, one that had been dormant for a very long time, and slowly my hazy memories of the show, and all the love I had for it, came back. The extent of my cartoon watching was essentially Code Lyoko, Scooby Doo, and Spongebob Squarepants, and I have never watched anime. But Code Lyoko just fit with something inside me; serious yet funny, dark yet light, expanding science without abandoning it, playing by the rules set in the universe - it was my show. I decided to jump into the story once more, and do it properly this time. I watched all four seasons, and loved just about every second. There were parts that could have been done better. But it was truly unique in its tone and feel, and it was a prefect match for me. I hardly knew what to do with my feelings after I watched the final episode.

Then I found the Code Lyoko: Evolution announcement. And the news that it plans to move to live action. I staunchly oppose that decision. I am not absolutely opposed to the idea of live action in general - but I think that it is an incredibly bad fit for Code Lyoko in particular, and that it stands a vastly greater chance of destroying the series than improving it. Note that I call it 'Code Lyoko: Evolution,' not 'season five.' I don't think it be Code Lyoko, season 5. It's not my just personal opinion, but my guess on the direction that they will take the show. It will be its own beast. But no matter what, I will be there to watch it alongside the rest of you!

At this point, I had already toyed with the idea of writing a Code Lyoko story of my own. I had no idea that other people had written, and are writing, their own Code Lyoko fanfictions; I didn't even know the term 'fanfiction.' And I am not a writer by heart. I am a reader, and always have been. Very into science fiction, I greatly enjoy novels where the 'rules' are laid down, clearly, where the universe flows according to those consistent rules, and where the universe takes a logical path reflecting those rules. Events don't happen because they make good story; they happen because it was the outcome of the sequence of logical choices made over the course of the story. And I gravitate to stories that tell the larger view - I prefer reading the recounting of a historic struggle between empires over a story of personal triumph, although I hope my novel will have both. But I was not a writer at heart. Until recently, I disliked writing - ok, I HATED writing. I could write well enough for formal school pieces, but more organic works eluded me. Fortunately, in recent years, I began to evolve, my formal writings slowly becoming even stronger, and my organic pieces taking on more form, style, and description. Eventually, I shed my dislike of writing. And yet, I had never written anything 'for fun.' But with Code Lyoko, I finally had a motivation, and I set out to write my own continuation of the series, my season five (and six, and seven, and eight, and nine), bigger than ever before, but staying throughly true to the original.

Shortly after I began work, I found the Code Lyoko Veterans forum, and was awoken to the revelation that I was not the only one to go down this road, that others had traveled it, and even more were doing so now. I joined, and became a steady contributor, and began posting my works there, which I had never intended for another's eyes. My fanfic is written in episode format, designed to follow as closely to the actual series' format as possible. It takes place about a year and a half after the original series, as the team enters Junior and Senior years at Kadic.

-UPDATE-

The Forewarned is no longer in production. I have folded the storyline into the plot of a larger Code Lyoko-Alternate Universe story I have been developing, even longer than what I originally planned for the Forewarned. However, right now I simply don't have the energy to turn this vision into words. =( Sorry all.