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Gym class. Jeremy’s least favorite class, and everyone knew it. Actually it might be his least favorite because everyone knew it. Jim was on one of his long rants again, going off about something about survival as he always did. Jeremy smiled to himself, he was sure that Jim knew nothing about actual survival. There was no way the man had and experience. “Survival is more than knowledge! It’s more than just knowing procedures and tactics. It’s emotional. You want to survive? You have to feel it. You have to feel that you’re going to survive. You know that chilling feeling you get on the back of your neck, that’s paranoia. Listen to it. Trust your paranoia. It has something to teach you.” And Jeremy was gone again, not focusing on the continuing rant of the gym teacher. Just day dreaming about when this class would all be over. … Jeremy was alone. All of his friends virtualized. This was always one of the hardest parts. He honestly couldn’t do much at the moment, just give updates to his friends. It was cold in the room, it had to be to keep the supercomputer cool. He was safe from XANA’s attack here, the program deciding to unleash its attack on the capital directly. All Jeremy could do was wait. He shivered. And he kept shivering. But not from the cold. The hairs on the back of his neck stood, and nerves rushed into him. He gripped the fabric of his pants to calm himself down. He needed to ignore it and stay focused. Just in case the warriors needed him. He had to stay with the supercomputer. The feeling grew and Jeremy ignored it. He had to.
Trust your paranoia. It has something to teach you.
The thought flashed through his mind right as the nerves reached their peak. Jeremy couldn’t help a scream and threw himself out of his chair. Three spike like crystals embedded himself in his chair, right where he was sitting. There was a crystal monster force-grown by XANA, dangling from the ceiling. Jeremy gasped as he realized XANAs true plan was to kill him. Everything at the capital was a ruse to get them distracted. To make him feel safe. His paranoia saved him. Nothing else. Aelita’s voice came from the computer, “Tower Deactivated.” Jeremy was pushing himself to his feet as the crystal monster shattered. He ran to the supercomputer, typing in the quick command, “Return to the Past Now!” … It was yesterday again and Jeremy actually paid attention to Jim. The words that sounded so ridiculous before made sense today. Jim might not look it, but he did have good ideas. It was the best gym class that Jeremy had ever been a part of. Afterward, Jeremy went up to Jim. Smiling, he said, “Thank you.” And walked away. Jim looking confused, but gave a small smile back, “Uh… You’re welcome.”