A/N: I've been watching a lot of Escaflowne lately so I had a hankering to write some steampunk. I've also been reading a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh! so I wanted to write Yu-Gi-Oh! This is what I came up with. While this chapter contains very little action, adventure or romance I must assure you that all three are to come. Eventually. What this chapter does contained are fairly longwinded descriptions of things that I felt needed describing and a whole lot of setting. With that in mind, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I just borrow. I promise, I'll put Seto back where I found him when I'm done.
Chapter One: The Invitation
Beautiful. Striking. Totally beyond her reach. Any of those terms could have been used to describe the object of her affection. But, alas, Serenity couldn't afford the dress, nor would she likely ever be able to. Even more than that, it was unlikely she'd ever find a situation to wear such a magnificent garment. Living alone in Domino City, much to her brother Joey's chagrin, was expensive and her on-again-off-again work didn't do much to help that. Moreover, her work was off-again at the moment, meaning she had to make do on her meagre savings until she found another one. Even if she could've afforded it, she couldn't waste the money. College was going to be expensive. She was actually building up the courage to go into the posh store and submit a resume, but the dress had caught her eye.
"Ogling things in the window, Serenity?" A voice piped up from behind her. She turned to regard the teenaged Mokuba Kaiba. With a girl on one arm and some rather full shopping bags in the other, the kid hardly looked like the Mokuba Kaiba she'd met years ago. He wore a pair of loose black jeans and a black dress shirt, his hair as long and ragged as ever. It was funny, she'd kept in touch with him, like with most of her other friends, and it had gone so gradually she barely noticed the change. Now, the boy was a good bit taller than she was and fairly muscular. The girl on his arm seemed uncomfortable but Mokuba, showing a bit of his brother in him, didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah…" Serenity admitted, pulling here eyes away from the gorgeous piece of clothing. "But I could never afford that. I'm between jobs right now and rent is due soon and I probably don't have the money and…" Serenity grabbed her mouth with both hands, "Didn't mean to gush like that."
Mokuba grinned broadly, "Don't worry about it," his face suddenly turned compassionate, his violet eyes giving a soft shimmer, "Are you really strapped for cash though? Because I could help."
"No," Serenity answered even before he finished the suggestion, "I couldn't let you buy my way out of trouble. Stupid as it may be I want to sink or swim on my own power." It was stupid, but Serenity was beginning to resent anyone wanting to do anything for her. Duke and Tristan still fawned over her and their constant attention was maddening. Joey treated her like a two-year old and Yugi treated her like an invalid. The next person to offer her charity was getting smacked and that was all there was to it.
Mokuba nodded, "Yeah, I figured. Seto's the same way, won't take help from anybody. But what I was going to suggest was that you give us a hand down at Kaiba Corp. No office work, don't worry," he assured her, catching the expression already forming on her face, "Seto just finished the big project he's been working on… since Kaiba Land, anyway. It's a virtual world capable of sustaining residents for weeks at a time. We're testing the quest system in it this weekend and I need a few more bodies. Seto said I was better 'at people' and that I should find some testers. You up for it? You'll be reimbursed for your time, of course. Fifteen hundred yen an hour for your time and effort."
Serenity paused for a moment and Mokuba could tell she was going to refuse. Before she could reply, Mokuba scratched the back of his head and admitted, "You'd actually be getting me out of a jam. I've been having a hard time finding people with the free time to spend at least a week testing the thing."
"I don't really play video games anymore Mokuba…" Serenity replied.
"Good," Mokuba retorted, having expected the reply, "because this is no mere video game. Seto's been working on this for years, this is a whole world. History, politics, everything. The one time plot they're using to test the quest system alone will take a week at least to complete. That's a lot of money, plus it's a while you don't have to buy food for and it'll be fun! Come on, Serenity…"
Serenity looked at the puppy-dog eyes Mokuba was making at her. He was a teenager now and yet he still had those damn eyes down. "Fine," Serenity acquiesced, "I guess I could use the work."
Mokuba sighed in relief. "Great, can you find maybe two other people to come with you? We're still short."
The redhead nodded a little, thinking who she could invite. Mokuba accepted the agreement for what it is and gave her directions to the test building in Kaiba Corp HQ, telling her the test started tomorrow at eleven in the morning. He started walking away, then turned back for a moment. "Serenity," he called, an apologetic look on his face, "Don't bring Joey. Seto wouldn't like it."
That made Serenity pout a little. Here she was doing a favour for him and he wouldn't let her bring her brother. Then again, in a way it was a situation of mutual benefit so she could accept it. Well, her wallet could even if her pride couldn't. She'd call Yugi for sure. Yugi was working at his grandfather's game shop and would be able to take the time off, especially for a game like this. Either Duke or Tristan would probably quit their job to get to spend a week with her. Tristan more than Duke, though. Duke had been drifting further away from her, no longer willing to spend all his time pursuing one girl when he could have so many.
Realizing that it didn't make sense to be submitting resumes and then saying that she couldn't work for the next week, she headed home. The bus ride was as crowded as it always was and she was forced to stand. Only one bus made the rounds from the part of Domino where she lived to downtown Domino and it was always packed. It was worse on weekends, but today was a Monday so she had room to wiggle. Finally, she reached the grey aluminum sided cube that held her apartment. She unlocked the door and walked in.
She lived on the fourth floor. The building's one elevator almost never worked and when it did half of the city's thrill seekers gathered in her building to see if they could survive the rickety terror. The hike up the four flights everyday kept her in shape but it did very little for her mood. When she finally reached the apartment she was more than a little frustrated. Ellis, the six-year-old kid who lived with his mother one apartment over, had spilled cola all over the stairs and it stuck on every step. The landlord hadn't had it cleaned in over six months so it stank and stuck and was an entirely miserable experience. Pounding the keys into her lock, she swung into her sanctuary. It wasn't much, but it was home.
It was barely anything, actually. The apartments didn't contain kitchens or bathrooms but instead had communal bathrooms and kitchens in the hall. While the tenants had come together to make the bathroom bearable the kitchen was still a place where angels feared to tread. As such, she kept a hot plate on a bedside table and used it for most of her cooking since she couldn't afford to eat in. The beige-on-beige room was the only room in her apartment; a pullout couch that had been pulled out since she moved in eight months ago took up most of the space, complimenting her two bedside tables and her black-and-white television. It was what 30,000-yen a month got you. No one else had seen her apartment. She wouldn't allow it.
Taking a seat on the bed/couch she turned on the television. It was hard to tell exactly what was on through the grainy reception but it appeared to be anime. Taking off her shoes, she grabbed the phone from the bedside table not occupied by the hot plate. She took in one more glance at the squalor that was her home and had to remind herself once again that it was better than living with her parents, and she wouldn't ride on Joey's coattails. Not that Joey was rich and powerful, but he'd managed to find a stable job despite the recession and his apartment had a bathroom and a kitchen.
She glanced down at the phone. There was no way she could turn down the money, over 200,000-yen if what Mokuba had suggested was true. She dialled in Yugi's number.
"Moto residence," Yugi responded brightly.
"Hi, Yugi, it's Serenity," Serenity replied unenthusiastically.
"Hey, Serenity, what's up?"
"You doing anything for the next week?" she asked, glancing down at her pile of clothes on the floor and wondering what to wear.
"Working, but I can get out of it. What did you have in mind?"
"Kaiba's testing a new virtual video game and I was asked to help test it. I need two more people to join in. I was wondering…"
"Absolutely," Yugi interrupted, "I'd love to go. Another virtual world, eh?"
Serenity nodded, and then answered, "Yeah. It pays pretty well too. I'm going to give Duke a call to see if he wants to go too. It'll be nice to have you there so that he doesn't try anything…"
"Duke's release for his new game is in three days, he won't be able to make it," Yugi reminded her.
"You're right," Serenity groaned, "I was supposed to go to that. Still, work goes first I guess. I call Tristan then."
"Alright, where and when?" Yugi chirped.
Serenity told him, and then hung up. Flipping through her address book, she found Tristan's number. She realized that while she'd spent hours on the phone with him in this apartment, this was the first time she'd called him since she moved in. He'd be thrilled. That almost made her not want to call. Still, she dialled the number.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kaiba stood in the central control room for the new virtual program they'd be running final tests on the next day. The work was the result of years of labour. Kaiba himself had planned everything. Having planned meteorological, geological and human forces on every area, he'd simulated forest growth for every copse, erosion for every hill. The world was shaped as though it had existed for millennia, undergoing every event in the falsified history of the world he'd made. And what a history! Rich in intrigue, magic and dark secrets, he'd created the perfect world for his steampunk fantasy empire. It was all based on Duel Monsters, of course. The beasts so well known and loved across Japan filled the forests, swamps and mountains of his world. Players that chose to play as summoners would find that they could call the beasts to their aid. Those that played as sorcerers or warriors would find themselves going into battle against the monsters.
Over ten thousand AI's roamed his world. Programmed with a state of the art artificial intelligence that he had designed, the inhabitants of his world were what he was most proud of. Their programming ran on principles. Each AI was given certain primary principles that told it parameters for what it could not, under any circumstances, do. Its secondary principles dictated its primary goals and objectives, and provided the driving force behind every action the AI performed. Finally, the AI was rounded off by tertiary principles, goals that were not of prime importance but that the being sought to enhance its life. By programming them that way, he had enabled the AI's to spawn new lines of code, test them against their principles and execute them based on those principles. The AI's were capable of thinking rationally and making educated decisions.
But that wasn't the height of his achievements with the denizens of his earth. He knew that in order to pass as human they had to be capable not only of rational thought, but of irrational thought, a trait more often found in humans. But that was difficult, so he had programmed the AI's with an emotional state in addition to their rational thoughts. Simulating reactions to events based on principle values, the AI's felt angry when you insulted what they believed in, and sad when what they believed in was harmed. He allowed these emotions a pull on their decisions. He allowed them to override rational decisions in favour of those backed by emotional surges. They could not, however, break primary principles. He had implemented those for the safety of those in the game and knew that they were the most important part of the program.
Each AI required a computer more than fifty times more powerful than the average commercial PC to calculate mundane decisions. As a result, a massive supercomputer was responsible for calculating the every thought and whim, simultaneously, of every character in the game. The computer, nicknamed 'The Overmind', sat in an argon-saturated room, kept consistently at fifteen below centigrade, silently humming away its thoughts. Capable of processing thoughts for every AI each second, the computer was the lifeblood of the program.
The halogen lights hummed in the player room, situated beneath and to the east of the main control room for supervision purposes. Seventy-five identical pods sat in fifteen groups, connected to a main pillar that processed commands in the network. Tomorrow, those pods would be filled with people to test the quest he had built for them. He, of course, would oversee from his own personal viewpoint, separate from this control room. Mokuba could be trusted at the helm of this test. There were certain things Kaiba wanted to observe that only the monitors he'd prepared would allow.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serenity walked into the main testing room to find it almost filled. People had already formed into groups, ganging with those they already knew. The room itself was fairly large, but the massive pillars housing the VR cells occupied most of it. It was made even less comfortable by the surprisingly high ceilings, towering almost invisibly over the room. Leaning over next to Yugi in order to be heard over din of conversation in the room around she whispered, "Do you know anyone here?"
Yugi nodded a bit, pointing to Duellists he recognized. Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood were there, having weaseled themselves a couple of invites. Mako was there too, as well as another handful of duellists Kaiba respected enough to invite. As they chatted amongst themselves, anticipating the game to come, Mokuba made his way down from the control room to greet them.
"Serenity! You're here. And you brought Yugi and Tristan with you. Great, I'm sure Yugi'll be quite the pro from the start," he commented as he joined the group.
"Well, maybe you can give us some details on the game," Yugi suggested, "We're still not quite sure what it's all about."
Mokuba winked at Yugi, "You'll see. I want you to discover it for yourself, one little bit at a time." Suddenly, Mokuba glanced to the control room, getting an okay symbol from one of the techs there. "And on that note, I have to cue my brother. Good luck in the game, all of you."
Returning to the control centre, Mokuba pressed a button and said something inaudible from where the trio stood below. A moment later Kaiba entered on a platform mounted on the wall above them. Surveying the crowd, Kaiba folded his arms over his chest and smirked. He wore his favourite white trench coat, straps and all, looking as intimidating as he ever did. Silence passed as everyone in the assembled group turned their attention to Kaiba. By the time he opted to speak, even his whisper would have been heard.
"Welcome," he declared, his voice confident and well projected, "to my game. Pending the success of this test, this game will be released within the month. When it is, it will revolutionize the gaming world. There have been virtual realities before, true. But never before has so complete, so complex a world been created by a human mind. Moreover, the people you will meet once you enter my world are the single most advanced artificial intelligences every created. Capable of thought, dreams and a full range of emotions, you'll have a hard time telling which are virtual and which are real. I only ask that you not tell the AI's that they're AI's. I'm not sure how they'd take the news. Now, please enter a virtual reality cell and allow one of the attendants to jack you in."
As she climbed into one of the pods, flanked on either side by the men she'd brought with her, Serenity couldn't help but laugh inwardly at Kaiba's bluster. The man was so self-centred it was striking. He'd probably end up chasing a girl exactly like himself, they'd get married out of mutual narcissism and divorce after having the most conceited babies ever conceived. The nearby attendant locked her into the cell. Every limb was bound to prevent rogue impulses from actually moving limbs. Next, the attendant plugged an IV cord into her arm, attached to a bag of colourless fluid. That worried her. Finally, it appeared the procedure was complete.
"A final note before you get started," Kaiba commented dryly, "the IV is responsible for giving you the necessary food to stay alive. It will only feed you when you eat in the game, so don't forget to stop and get lunch," he smirked slightly. "Once your mind is suspended the cell will be configured to handle other unavoidable bodily functions. If everything goes according to plan you'll never be aware of them."
Before any of them could protest the notion, the cells sprang to life. Serenity's vision suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. The next thing she knew, she was floating in a kind of lukewarm gel, supporting her suspended within it. She could breathe, she realized, and she did. Music played softly in the background, but so distant that she could barely make out the tune. A moment, or perhaps an hour, later, a soothing female voice spoke out of the nothingness.
"Welcome to character generation, Serenity Wheeler. In this stage, we will determine the specifics of the character that you will be portraying. Is this acceptable?"
"Yes," Serenity answered, barely aware of her own words. The suspension was so soothing, so pleasant. She could have been satisfied with just this for the duration of her trip, but alas, duty called.
"Three character classes are defined within the game for beginning characters. You may choose to play as a Sorcerer, a Warrior or a Summoner. For details on any class, simply state the class name. To select class, state 'be' followed by the class name."
"Sorcerer…" Serenity muttered.
"A sorcerer is capable of both combat and of the use of magic cards and certain special abilities. While experience gives no increase in physical abilities to the sorcerer, the magic cards that can be used are defined by experience level. Special abilities available to the sorcerer include spell-like abilities that can be evoked without the use of magic cards depending on the level of the sorcerer. Magic cards cease to exist after one use."
"Warrior…" she mumbled again, conscious of every word, though not of anything else.
"A warrior uses no cards, although they are able to equip most monster equip cards. Experience increases the physical abilities of the warrior, increasing their speed, strength and dexterity far beyond the threshold of the player, and in later levels, beyond the threshold of possible human ability. Abilities available to the warrior are limited to increases in physical and defensive prowess."
"Summoner…" she requested, sure that warrior was not the class for her. She lacked any real physical strength, given her height and build, and didn't care for the idea of virtually simulated strength.
"A summoner is capable of using monster cards to summon creatures to defend them and their companions. While not able to actually engage in combat, the summoner compensates by being allowed a vast arsenal of up to forty monster cards at any one time. Summoners are allowed higher-level monsters with more experience, and access to abilities to augment any summons made. Monster cards cease to exist after being used a number of times equal to their star level."
"Be summoner," Serenity decided. Avoiding any actual combat would be preferable, but she doubted she'd have to know-how to be a sorcerer. Summoning, on the other hand, seemed straightforward and simple. She quickly found that she was sinking through the thick, clear liquid that composed the area around her. Her feet sank faster than her body, until she was in a standing position. After sinking for what felt like an hour, her feet touched on something solid. As soon as it did, the liquid thinned into air, and the world began to form around her. It started with the ground, a level dirt floor pounded flat from use. Next, the sky formed above her, turning from white, to pale blue, and then to a rich deep blue like a summer's noon. Around, forms began to come into being and a moment later the world had formed around her.
She was in a courtyard, she realized, with the others that she had recently been in the test room with. Two of the walls were simple defensive walls, lined with battlements, composing the corner that she was standing in. The other two were part of a massive medieval fort, made of the same white stone that the other two walls were formed from. In the end of the courtyard she was facing, opposite the gated entrance, there was a wooden stage with what seemed to be a podium atop it. Many important looking men stood atop the stage, centring on a familiar figure.
Kaiba was wearing half plate armour on his torso, covered by a navy blue cape. It shone as though it had received recent loving attention, gleaming from the sun nearly at the apex of its climb. Around his waist he wore a white sash, immaculate, and a blade in a black scabbard, complementing the thick black pants he wore over his legs, ending in heavy black boots. As soon as she finished sizing him up, as if on cue, he walked to the podium to address the crowd.
"Welcome, graduates of the Cobalt Academy of Combat. As you probably know, I am Prince Seto. Today, you set out into the world around you to find your fortune. I wish you well, because you're apt to find as much trouble as adventure. Remember what you've learned here, but most of all remember this: strength and power are privileges granted to few. With them, you hold the power to change the world. Make any changes that you make for the better, and never use what you've learned here for ill." Having made his speech, he faded to the back of the platform and busied himself talking to the others. It was a pretty speech, but it would have been more effective if any of the people there had known what it was they were supposed to have learned.
It took Serenity a few moments to find Yugi, who was already with Tristan. All of them remained in their original clothing, in stark contrast to the burly warriors and sorcerers on the platform, and seemed as disoriented as she was. "So, what did you choose to be?" Serenity asked as she joined the pair.
"What else?" Tristan asked, posing to try and accentuate his almost non-existent musculature, "I'm a warrior!"
"And I'm a sorcerer," Yugi added with a smile, "How about you?"
"Summoner," Serenity replied quickly, "Why a sorcerer, Yugi? I though you'd have wanted to be a summoner like me."
"Sure," Yugi replied offhand, "I like to summon the Dark Magician, but I'd love to be the dark magician!"
Nodding her understanding, Serenity took a cursory glance around. Most of the others had formed into groups, and many had left already. "So, what do we do now?" she asked the air, continuing her survey of the area.
"I figure we start adventuring!" Tristan answered, as though it should be obvious.
Serenity simply rolled her eyes. "Gee, Tristan, it's great that we have you here to clear these things up. How does one 'start adventuring'?"
Tristan contorted his face as though he honestly hadn't thought of that, struggling to find the words to reply. "We… go to… where the adventures are?" he offered.
With a motion to where Kaiba still stood on the platform, Yugi made a suggestion. "Why don't we see if Kaiba wants to come along with us? It is his game after all," he ventured.
His two companions shrugged by way of reply, so the group made it up to the platform. The stairs they scaled brought them up before a man dressed all in yellow, a giant cloak over most of his body. His head was devoid of hair, shaved clean, and his eyes were narrow and seemed entirely black. A long crooked nose stood erect in the middle of his face, nearly hiding his narrow mouth. The man intercepted the group of youngsters and rounded them back to the stairs.
"What do you want, little ankle biters?" he asked coldly, glowering down at the gang.
"We wanted to talk to Kaiba," Tristan answered quickly, fixing the frail but authoritative ghoul of a man with his own stare.
A strange look crossed the man's face and he shook his head, "What nonsense is that? You can't talk to Kaiba!"
"It's okay, we know him," Yugi chimed in, placed rather precariously between Tristan and Serenity with less than a step of the narrow stairs to himself.
Again, the man shot the group a strange look. "Him? You know Kaiba? You make less sense every time you say something!"
"Sachiel!" a voice boomed from across the platform, "What's going on over there? Assaulting some poor young adventurers?"
"No, Prince Seto," the man in yellow replied, drawing away from the group, "These… confused children were claiming they could speak to, and knew, Kaiba."
The armoured man closed the distance to the gang, now piled onto the platform, in a few abrupt strides. "How exactly do you speak to a country, friends?" he asked.
"Countr--?" Tristan began, but was cut short from an elbow in the ribs courtesy of Yugi Moto.
"Ah, sorry, a miscommunication," Yugi replied, beginning to understand in his mind the explanation for the mix-up, "Prince Seto, we were wondering if we might speak to you?"
Seto paused, then nodded. "General Shale, I'll speak to you later," he called to a heavily armoured man awaiting him. Turning to the group, he looked at them expectantly.
With a smile, Yugi piped up, "We were wondering, K- err, Seto, if you'd like to come with us on… on our adventures. We could probably use your help."
The prince raised an eyebrow at them, and then sighed, "Actually, I'd love to. But, my duties prevent me from doing anything of the kind. You seem like a decent bunch, though, so I'll give you a bit of help," he offered, reaching behind his back and fiddling with some kind of pouch. "Are any of you summoners?" he asked as he fidgeted behind his back.
Serenity nodded, "Uh, yes sir," she practically squeaked as she fidgeted on the platform. Kaiba in any instance made her uneasy, even when he seemed somewhat affable as he did now.
Nodding, the tall teenager took a card out from behind his back and handed it to Serenity. It was 'Kagemusha of the Blue Flame', a fairly weak two-star monster with a mere eight hundred attack points and half that in defence points. The card, however, was not the usual yellow or orange of a monster card. Rather, it was brilliant silver, seeming as though it were made from burnished metal itself. "All I know, myself, about silver cards is that they can be used any number of times without disintegrating. It's valuable. Treat it well," he told her as he turned away from the group. "Good luck," he called as he left the bunch.
"What was that all about?" Tristan asked once the Prince was out of earshot.
"He's an AI, obviously. The real Kaiba probably doesn't have the time to participate in his own game," Serenity explained, eying the card in her hand.
Tristan rolled his eyes, "Well, even I got that. I mean why did they freak out when we called him Kaiba!"
"Because that's not his name," Yugi answered, "He's Prince Seto of Kaiba, the country we're in. Cobalt, judging by the name of the academy, is the name of the city, which would make us in Cobalt, Kaiba at the moment."
"Figures Kaiba'd name a country after himself. What an egomaniac!" Tristan declared as the group uniformly exited the stage. "So, what do you say we head into town and see if there's something we can buy or something. I'm going to need a weapon if I'm planning to go toe-to-toe with Garoozis any time soon."
Together, the group headed out into the city of Cobalt. Together, they made the first step into the wide world of Kaiba's imagination, where danger lay beyond every turn and death awaited the overeager or impatient. Together, they began their adventure.
A/N: Yes, I know it wasn't that interesting but it's just the set-up. Next chapter will be better, I promise. Filled with action, and adventure and maybe a duel monster or two! Let me know what you thought anyway, I appreciate any input that I get.