Chapter One
Kaiba walked through the double doors leading to the laboratories of the Kaiba Corp. main building, on the seventeenth floor. Men and women, all his employees, were running around in white coats, safety goggles, and rubber gloves, holding dangerous chemicals or piles of research papers. None paid Kaiba any head, but he didn't mind this. He was looking for a specific lab and specific person.
Three hallways and two computer labs later, he arrived at the genetics lab, where more scientists were hard at work testing serums on animals and different methods of growing plants. He stopped in front of a glass structure that held inside a small greenhouse. Seeds that had been genetically enhanced were now being planted and subjected to a wide array of different methods of growth. A man with a clipboard stood in front of it, taking notes as the watering machine sprayed a light layer of water over the dirt.
"Karachi," Kaiba said as he approached.
The man turned at the call of his name. He had sandy brown hair and dark circles under his eyes, no doubt form overwork.
"Ah, Mr. Kaiba," he said in a slow, deep voice. "I'm glad you could make it."
"You said you've made progress," Kaiba said, eyeing the greenhouse. "I'm afraid I have yet to see a difference."
"Yes, well," Karachi said, "the pods have not been responding to any kind of treatment so far. But we have confirmed that, if we succeed, we might be able to grow tarnished or poisoned seeds, making them healthy again and thus increasing food stock and the population of plants around the globe."
"That is your progress?" Kaiba asked incredulously. "I'm glad to hear that you know what the results should be, but without the right path to those results we are as good as nowhere. I need to see action, otherwise I am terminating this experiment."
"But, Mr. Kaiba…"
"Karachi, this company works on game design and technology, not plants. Unless I see some real progress soon, you will be terminated."
Kaiba turned round and began making his way to the exit, leaving a very disheartened Karachi behind.
Back at his office a few floors up, Kaiba began work at his computer, and then the phone rang. He heard the secretary outside answer, and a few minutes later she paged him.
"Mr. Kaiba, there is a Mister Ryuji Otogi on line one."
"Fine," Kaiba said. He knew that name. He was one of Yugi's friends, the man who created Dungeon Dice Monsters. What could he possibly want?
Kaiba pressed a button with the label "one" on his phone and sent the call to speaker.
"This is Seto Kaiba," he said.
"Hello, Kaiba," Ryuji's voice said through the speaker. "It's Ryuji, Yugi's friend?"
"Yes, I know."
"Well, I have a business proposal. You know about D.D.M., right? And I had an idea. Since your portable Duel Disk product was so successful, why not do the same with D.D.M.?"
"Go on," Kaiba said, intrigued.
"Right now, the only way to play D.D.M. is if you go to one of my special arena's. But, what if we make something like the Duel Disk? Something that would allow people to play the game wherever they go? If you're interested, I was hoping we could meet and talk more about it. I've actually got a few sketches of what it would look like."
"Hmm," Kaiba thought a moment. "Yes, that does sound interesting…. How does Sunday look for you?"
"E-excuse me?"
"Sunday, for a meeting."
"Oh! Y-yeah, sure. That would be great. I'll see you Sunday, then. Where…?"
"The Kaiba Mansion should be fine. The secretary will give you the address."
"Yeah. Thanks, Kaiba."
Kaiba pressed another button that patched the call to the woman outside. Then he continued to work at his computer.
About an hour later, a man from his security staff walked in, holding a small brown package.
"Sir," he said. "This package just came for you. It's from America."
"Thank you," Kaiba said without looking up. The man placed it on the desk and left. Kaiba pulled the box toward him and looked at the return address. It had a weird insignia on it. It looked like this:
Underneath were the words Metropolis, Kansas, USA. Kaiba knew who this was from; a good friend of his who lived in America. He slid the blade of a letter opener across the masking tape, cutting the box open and releasing the flaps. He pulled the cardboard flaps apart and almost gasped.
Inside was a large emerald crystal, glowing with a strange green light. Kaiba could tell this was no ordinary crystal. He could feel a sense of immense power radiating from its depths. The felling increased as he touched it and lifted it out of the cloth interior. Then he noticed a paper in the lining of the box. He pulled it out and read the handwriting. It was a slanted, looped kind of writing. Kaiba was glad he could read English well. It said:
Having trouble with your experiments?
Try using this. Best effective when heated at
1000degrees Kelvin.
L.L.
Kaiba turned the small piece of paper over, but saw it was blank. What did he mean, heat it at 1000 degrees Kelvin? How could it help with anything? Kaiba decided to trust his old friend, and replaced the crystal inside the box. Then, his computer blipped, announcing he had a new email. Kaiba opened it and read the message, noticing it was from his friend.
The message explained the mysterious origin of the green rock, and how to use it with certain experiments, such as plant reproduction. Kaiba raised his eyebrows in surprise. It looked as though Karachi had lucked out on this. This was probably the breakthrough he was looking for. Without finishing his message, Kaiba stood and took the box down to the laboratories, hoping his friend was right about this.
It was unfortunate, however, that Kaiba never finished reading the email:
Be careful, Seto. This meteor is unstable. If anything happens, please notify me and keep it locked safely away from anyone else. Best wishes.
L.L.