It started out like any other morning in The Castle that Never Was, really – a bunch of disorganized commotion that eventually wakes everyone up. Zexion had been up all night in the library, so when he departed to the kitchen for an early breakfast, he was a bit startled to find Vexen conducting some sort of experiment in the fridge.
Not looking up from his work, the scientist casually acknowledged the schemer, "Hello, VI. I trust you slept well?"
"I suppose…" Zexion trailed off, not wishing to discuss his less than perfect sleep schedule. "Vexen, if it's not an integral component of your experiment, would you be as kind as to pass me the yogurt on the second shelf?"
"Ah yes, of course," Vexen replied, handing the yogurt to the younger nobody.
Unable to keep his curiosity from getting the best of him, Zexion asked, "So what sort of experiment are you conducting here, anyway?"
"I am studying the effects of temperature change on a super-saturated solution. As such, I must be very careful not to move this beaker around too much, lest the solution cease to remain in a liquid state, and it will crystallize and explode everywhere."
"Would it not be more suitable to use the temperature-controlled chamber in your lab for this?"
"Yes, it would, though I'm sure you recall what happened last week when we let Axel in there. The chamber is currently in a state of disrepair and is unusable until further notice."
Zexion nodded, and began to walk over to the other side of the kitchen, but paused when he saw Roxas dashing in from upstairs. As the kid ran by, he bumped into Vexen, the impact causing the scientist to lose his grip on the vial he held, causing it to drop, and subsequently explode into a mess of crystals, destroying the fridge in the process.
The clamor was enough to wake everyone in the castle, barring Demyx, who could sleep through a zombie apocalypse if he had to.
About an hour after the refrigerator incident, Xemnas called for a meeting. The timing of such a thing made Vexen fear the worst for his permission to conduct independent experiments without the need of prior authorization from his superior.
"Due to a notable decrease in productivity on missions among the members of this organization, I have decided that an incentive must be given," Xemnas instructed. "For the next month, all members will compete to see who does the best on their daily missions, and they will do so in randomly selected pairs of two. The pair who successfully collects the most money on their missions will receive all the money collected by all members of the organization during this month-long period." Many heads turned at the mention of so much money, suddenly very interested in every detail of this so-called competition.
"Saix, if you would, read off the list of partners for this event," Xemnas ordered the berserker, who held a parchment which presumably held the pairs of nobodies upon its surface.
"Superior and III, XIV and IX, II and IV, VIII and X, VI and XII, XIII and XI, and V and myself," Saix listed off.
"You all know your assigned missions for today, so partner up and go make preparations. Meeting adjourned ... Oh and Vexen?" The superior turned his gaze to the scientist. "In order to best avoid dilemmas akin to the one that occurred this morning, you will not be conducting any future experiments outside of your lab, understood? I'll see to it that the temperature-controlled chamber be fixed by tomorrow." And with that, Xemnas vanished through a portal. Xaldin quickly followed suit, not wanting to be left behind by his newly assigned "partner."