Chapter One – Uncovered
Wind howled and sand whipped against the body of Gen Kurokawa as he pushed deeper into the sandstorm. Looking down at his disk, he could see that the marker sent to him was drawing closer, the green light pinging closer every second as he placed one black boot in front of the next. Holding his left arm up to protect his face from the barrage, the overlay on his goggles popped up as it scanned ahead for any sign of the target location. Nothing came, and so he continued forward.
Eventually though, as the dust and sand continued their relentless assault on his figure, his goggles locked onto something in the distance: stone, too smooth to have been carved by the dust around him. Breathing slightly harder as he picked up the pace, Gen eventually found himself leaning against what seemed to be the remains of an old stone wall. Hiding behind it to get his body out of the storm, he breathed a sigh of relief, having finally arrived at his destination.
After taking a moment to recompose himself, Gen brought up his disk and pressed through a number of screens until a blue orb appeared from within the top of the flat glass screen. Getting back to his feet and standing atop the stone wall, he released the blue orb into the air and it floated just in front of his eyes. Pressing one more button on his disk, the blue orb began to instantly expand, and soon passed through Gen. The instant it did, the dust storm around him was gone, and soon the sand below began moving out of the way as the program was executed. Within moments, all sand within a thirty-metre radius had been removed as the program held steadily against the battering of the wind and dust outside.
Removing the scarf that covered the lower half of his face, Gen looked down into the now open area below the wall he was stood upon. Around five metres below him, a door made from the same stone as the wall he stood on. Glancing down at his disk, he could see that this was where the green light had been leading him to.
"Guess that guy wasn't sending me on a wild goose chase after all," Gen muttered to himself.
Attaching his climbing hook firmly into the wall, Gen quickly rappelled down into the newly formed chasm before landing on the doors, which were diagonal to the way he was standing. Kicking one open with a solid hit against the stone, the door opened surprisingly easy for a structure that had been buried in sand for who knows how long. Heading down into the cavern, the stairs were fortunately still intact, and as the flashlight in his disk began to turn on from the lack of light, the ground began to level out, and he soon found himself in a stone cavern with walls reaching far above him, the sound of the raging storm outside now well out of earshot as he delved deeper into the cavern.
Taking his time to ensure that no traps were in place, he noted that there were many tables and stone chairs lining the outer edges of the room which were many metres across, but curiously noted the lack of books or any other forms of entertainment or study that would have ordinarily been present. Anything like that here must have been digitized, Gen presumed. Still, nothing noteworthy yet. Better move further in.
Noting the large pair of twin doors at the far end of the room, Gen moved towards them before coming across a control panel on the right side. The algorithms present within the tech in his goggles immediately went to work, quickly deciphering the code needed to get inside by highlighting previous usages. These readings are from nearly twenty years ago, he thought as he entered the passcode, and the doors slid open. The VR network was still young compared to what it has evolved into today. Makes sense, though, considering this is a dead network.
Heading down the corridor, there were many rooms that branched off from what had to be the main hallway. There was very little of interest though, as most of the rooms not only appeared to have been abandoned long ago, but very little had been left behind to suggest what their functions may have been. Some showed marks on the floor which indicated the use of heavy equipment, but there was no way of telling what that equipment was.
Growling disapprovingly at the lack of progress, Gen eventually made it to the end of the hallway, where he was met with another set of doors, this time without a control panel. Giving one side a push, he struggled in vain as the doors remained steady, preventing Gen from moving any further into the building. Scrunching his nose up at the delay, he again turned to his disk, as this time he removed a green orb from it and wrapped it around his right hand like a glove.
Placing it on the door, the green glove flashed once, and the program within it began to execute, green tendrils stretching out as it began to identify the edges of the door's data, until eventually the entire door was surrounded by a green outline. After only a thought, the green outline flashed once more, and the door's data began to crumble away into nothingness. Within a minute, the door was gone, and the green light on his hand faded and Gen proceeded further.
This room, however, was different. The moment he entered the room, torches began to automatically flicker on, with fire bowls doing the same, three on either side of the door's opening as they led to stairs at the far end of the room. There must have been a program left dormant to activate whenever someone entered, Gen reasoned. I have to be on guard. Whoever left this place expected someone to come looking.
Wary now, Gen moved slowly into the room. Slightly more open than the previous hallway, he noted the seemingly impossible moat that existed around the stairs at the far end of the room, with the water slowly trickling in from two holes in the far wall where the moat touched it. Torches lined the outside of the room, and the fire bowls led up to the stairs, where a great bonfire suddenly shot up, illuminating what was left of the darkness in the room itself.
Placing his goggles on the top of his blonde hair, Gen noted that there appeared to be nothing dangerous in the room around him. Moving slightly quicker now, he made his was to the stairs where he noted that their appeared to be a table in front of the bonfire. Walking up the stairs while being careful not to trigger any hidden pressure plates, he was quickly at the top, and face-to-face with a number of glass tablets.
"What the hell…"
They're cards, he thought to himself, placing one hand on the glass as he wiped away the dust that had gathered on top. Hold on… these are Cyberses. What in the world...? Ever since the Tower of Hanoi had fallen one month ago, the existence of the Cyberse monsters, as well as the Ignis, had become known to those within the bounty hunter community, as SOL Technologies had hired a few of them for the express purpose of hunting them down. SOL said that the Ignis were the ones that created the Cyberse monsters, but this structure pre-dates any data anyone has on them.
Gen let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. This is big, he thought. I have to get this back to my employer. Since he sent me here, he surely knows about their existence. Feeling around the edges of the tablets, he eventually found a button of some kind. After scanning it to make sure it wouldn't set off any alarms or fail-safes, he hit the button, and the cards within the tablets shuffled themselves into the centre of the tablets before the glass tops split apart and presented the cards forward. Taking the cards from each of the tablets, he placed them within his disk as a means of storing them for the time being, while simultaneously executing a program to begin copying the data of the cards so that he could study them himself later. Can't be too careful.
He had only just moved his goggles back over his eyes when the roof of the structure exploded inward. Throwing one hand into the air, a red shield appeared before him, bearing the brunt of the stone that came crashing down as the roof fell in. As the stones stopped falling and the dust settled, Gen lowered the shield and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight that came pouring through the massive opening in the roof. Outside, it appeared as though the storm has ceased, and in the centre of the hole hovered a figure atop a board.
"You know, you really shouldn't have left that program active," a voice called down as the board lowered itself into the room. "That made you way too easy to track."
"What are you doing here, Prism?" Gen asked, recognising the figure before him, who wore the same symbol as Gen on his white shirt, immediately, as he held his arms behind his back.
"I could ask you the same question, Phantom," Prism replied, glancing at him through a purple vizor. "I was hired to scout this network for a client."
"So was I," Gen said. "It seems our client is looking to cover a lot of ground quickly."
"So it would seem," Prism said, before looking around. "Find anything?"
"No," Gen said.
"Right," Prism said, smirking slightly. "So that program that's running on your disk right now isn't scanning anything important?"
Damn it. "Mind your own business, Prism," Gen snapped.
"Oh, but this is my business," Prism said. "You're not the only one who's found stuff for this client, Gen."
- DUEL MODE ENGAGED –
Gen's disk lit up. "How did you –"
"You really think I haven't made myself familiar with your programs by now, after all this time?" Prism said. "Don't you want to see what I found in another network? I think you'll find it to be most interesting."
Did he find evidence of pre-Ignis Cyberses too? Gen wondered to himself. Huffing, Gen pressed a button on his disk and a portal opened nearby, with his duel board coming out and hovering in front of him. With a satisfied smile, Prism shot off into the sky as Gen hopped on his board and shot after the purple and white clad figure. Bursting out into the sunlight, he could see that the storm had indeed dissipated. Prism has stepped up his game, he thought, making a mental note to review his own programs later on. He always has been a lot of more brazen about his actions though. Silencing a dust storm isn't surprising.
"By the way, you better not try and switch out whatever those cards are for your own deck," Prism warned. "Doing that while my program's active could be… messy."
"Sure it would," Gen said.
"Ladies first," Prism said, readying his duel disk. "Show me what you found, Phantom!"
Speed DUEL!
These cards are… strange, Gen thought as he looked down at his hand. It may take me a while to figure this out, however… bending his index finger to one side, he revealed the card that he had drawn first and was now at the back of his hand. This will do, at least until I figure out what Prism is playing.
"I set one card face-down!" Gen said, the card materialising before him. "Turn over!"
Phantom – 4000 LP/Hand – 3/Field – 1 face-down
Prism – 4000 LP/Hand – 4/Field – nil
"One face-down? Did you brick or something, Phantom? My turn!" Prism smirked as he drew a card. "I set one card face-down, and then, when two or more cards are in the same column, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. Come, Mekk-Knight Blue Sky! (Level 5/ATK 2000/DEF 2500)."
A beam of blue light erupted from between them before disappearing in an instant, leaving a monster on the field in its wake. Draped in a deep blue cloak, the monster had white swords for both hands and feet, with golden plating covering the rest of its blue and black body. A blue crest adorned his chest, similar to the one in the swords on his hands and face. I've never heard of Mekk-Knights before, Gen realised. Did he –
"Blue Sky's monster effect activates!" Prism announced. "If it's Normal or Special Summoned from the hand, I can add different Mekk-Knights from the deck to my hand with different names, equal the number of cards you control in the same column. Since you have one, I will add Mekk-Knight Red Moon!"
"Where did you find these cards, Prism?" Gen demanded.
Prism just smiled. "Next I will activate my skill, Mekk-Knight Advance!" he said, raising a hand into the air. "Once per duel, I can summon a Mekk-Knight from my hand! Appear, Mekk-Knight Red Moon! (Level 7/ATK 2300/DEF 2600)."
A beam of red light appeared just as the blue light had before, before disappearing just as quickly. The new monster had a similar body to Blue Sky, except it was highlighted red instead. Clad in silver armour with a red gem in its chest, the monster wielded a large axe on one hand with a similar aesthetic to its own body.
"Battle!" Prism declared. "Mekk-Knight Blue Sky, attack Phantom directly!"
Figures. "I activate my Continuous Trap, Augmender Start!" Gen declared, revealing it much to Prism's anger. "When this card is activated, I can Special Summon an Augmender monster from my hand. Appear, Augmender Kekada! (Level 3/ATK 800/DEF 2000)."
A portal opened up next to Gen and out popped a crab-like creature that came up to knee-height. However, one claw and half of its torso had been completely consumed by what appeared to be dark grey robotics of some kind, completely contrasting the deep orange of the monster's shell.
"What the… a Cyberse?!" Prism exclaimed.
"Kekada's monster effect activates!" Gen said quickly. "If is Special Summoned from the hand while you control monsters and I control no other monsters, I can draw one card!"
"And since Blue Sky has 2000 ATK, it can't destroy Kekada in battle," Prism grumbled as Gen drew his card. "Red Moon! Destroy his Kekada!"
The red knight charged forward, slicing through the crab's mechanical claw like butter. Once the dust had settled, Red Moon had returned to its original position, and the crab was nowhere to be seen.
"I end my turn," Prism said. "Show me more of these Augmenders, Phantom!"
Phantom – 4000 LP/Hand – 3/Field – Augmender Start
Prism – 4000 LP/Hand – 3/Field – Blue Sky, Red Moon, 1 face-down
I need to try and draw this out, Gen thought to himself. If those cards really are ones that Prism found on a different abandoned server, there could be much more going on here than I thought. Given he's probably in the same boat as me, he probably doesn't know the deck too well yet. Turning his attention to the field, he knew that he had to at least throw up some kind of defence against the Mekk-Knights. Being able to summon high-level monsters from the hand easily was an issue, but it wasn't impossible to beat by any means. And even though the Mekk-Knights are Psychic, if he found evidence of Cyberses…
"My turn, draw!" Gen said. "I summon Augmender Kukura (Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1300) from my hand!"
Like the Kekada before it, this monster was half-mechanical, but Kukura appeared in the form of a hound, with half the head, torso and its left front leg covered in the machine parts that had also been present on the crab. The eye the mechanical parts covered glowed green as it landed on the field, howling at its arrival.
"Kukura's monster effect activates!" Gen said. "If it is Normal or Special Summoned, I can pay 600 LP to add one Augmender monster from deck to hand, and the one I choose to add is Igala!"
"You're smarter than that, Phantom," Prism mused as Gen's LP dropped to 3400. "What are you planning?"
"Igala's monster effect activates!" Gen said, ignoring the question. "If an Augmender monster effect was activated this turn by paying LP, I can Special Summon it from my hand! Come, Augmender Igala! (Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1500)."
"A Link Summon…?" Prism wondered as the mechanical, golden eagle flew onto the field.
"Kukura's second monster effect activates!" Gen continued. "Once per turn, if my LP is lower than yours, it gains 300 ATK!"
"But that means…"
"Battle!" Gen declared as Kukura's ATK finished clicking over to 2100. "Augmender Kukura, attack Mekk-Knight Blue Sky!"
The Mekk-Knight crossed his sword arms in defence as the hound howled, a blast of sound echoing forth and shaking the monster to its core. Grunting under the effort, Blue Sky eventually gave way, disappearing in an explosion of blue light as Prism's LP dropped slightly to 3900.
"And with that, my turn's done," Gen said. "Your move, Prism."
Phantom – 3400 LP/Hand – 4/Field – Augmender Kukura, Augmender Igala, Augment Start
Prism – 3900 LP/Hand – 3/Field – Red Moon, 1 face-down
"My turn, draw!" Prism said. "I activate the face-down Continuous Trap, World Legacy's Secret! With it, I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster from my graveyard. Reappear, Mekk-Knight Blue Sky! (Level 5/ATK 2000/DEF 2500)."
This is bad, Gen thought, reading from his duel disk as the knight appeared from the blue beam once more. That Trap Card is ridiculously powerful. If he plays this out right…
"And then, since you have both Igala and Start in the centre zones, I can summon a Mekk-Knight to my last open monster zone that just so happens to be in that column!" Prism declared. "Appear, Mekk-Knight Green Horizon! (Level 6/ATK 2100/DEF 1600)."
A green beam this time, and in its place stood a new monster. With green undertones where Blue Sky and Red Moon had blue and red respectively, it also donned silver amour with a green crest in the middle. Holding a staff in one hand, where it joined to his limb was another green gem, and with a skirt shooting outward from its hips, it formed a trio of formidable opponents. And with that trap set…
"Appear, the circuit that splits the light!" Prism cried, the Link circuit appearing in the sky above him.
What is he doing?!
"I set Green Horizon, Blue Sky and Red Moon in the markers!" Prism said, with the monsters turning into three tornadoes of green, blue and red and flying into the three down-pointing arrows. "The cascade of light bursts forth onto the battlefield! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme! (ATK 3000/Link-3/BL, B, BR)."
A rainbow of colours exploded outward from the summoned circuit, and a ray of white light descended from the heavens as the Link monster appeared. A horrifying, yet beautiful amalgamation of what appeared to be several different Mekk-Knights, including ones Gen had seen before, the monster was much larger than any before it. With a multi-coloured core in its chest, Red Moon's axe out in front, the head being Blue Sky's and said monster's cape billowing out behind it, the monster truly was a sight to behold.
"A Cyberse…" Gen said. That confirms everything I wanted to know.
"It seems our client knew what he was talking about," Prism said as he looked up at the new monster. "Spectrum Supreme cannot be targeted nor destroyed by your card effects when it is not pointing to any monsters, and since it's in a column all by itself, it can attack you directly!"
"What?!" Gen said, shocked.
"You think I didn't read Kukura's effect that grants battle protection?" Prism scoffed. "Battle! Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme, attack Phantom directly! Chromatic Craze!"
The monster's core began to spin faster and faster, a rainbow of light showering outward as the different parts of its body began to power up. His cloak shimmered, and seven different rays of light, the colours of the rainbow burst upward into a single ball above it. The ball grew and grew in size, until eventually a beam of pure white light exploded outward, engulfing Gen in its brilliance. He screamed under the assault, barely able to keep his feet on his duel board as the blast threatened to send him tumbling down to the desert sand far below.
"You're still standing," Prism noted as Gen gasped for air while his LP fell to 400. "No matter. I'll end it next turn. Your move, Phantom!"
Phantom – 400 LP/Hand – 4/Field – Augmender Kukura, Augmender Igala, Augmender Start
Prism – 3900 LP/Hand – 3/Field – Spectrum Supreme, World Legacy's Secret
"My turn, draw!" Gen said, before looking at the card. A monster. Good. "I summon Augmender Sinha from my hand (Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1600) and activate its effect! If it is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send one Augmender card from my deck to the graveyard!"
"Not so fast!" Prism said, the lion with its left side and back left leg covered in machinery stopped in its tracks as he did so. "Since Sinha is in the same column as Spectrum Supreme, World Legacy's Secret comes into effect. Your monster effect is negated!"
"I know," Gen said.
"You… oh," Prism replied with a huff.
"I play the Continuous Spell Card, Augmender Shift!" Gen said, the Spell activating next to Augmender Start. "Once per turn, I can target one Augmender I control, and until the end of this turn, place it in one of your unoccupied Main Monster Zones!"
"What?!" Prism exclaimed.
"I place Igala under Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme's down-facing arrow!" Gen said, with the eagle taking flight and landing behind the chromatic behemoth. "In doing so, not only does Shift then grant me LP equal to the ATK of Igala, but your Supreme now loses its protection!"
"Phantom…" Prism growled as Gen's LP rose back up to 1600.
"Augmender Shift's second effect activates!" Gen continued. "Once per turn, if my opponent controls an Augmender monster, I can target one Augmender monster in my grave whose ATK is lower than the combined ATK of all Augmenders you control, and add it to my hand. I return Kekada to my hand!"
"You still can't get over Spectrum Supreme!" Prism shouted.
"Kekada's monster effect activates!" Gen said, holding the card out in front. "If my LP is lower than yours, I can Special Summon this card from my hand, but for the rest of the turn, I can only summon Augmender monsters. Appear once again, Augmender Kekada! (Level 3/ATK 800/DEF 2000)."
"In attack," Prism noted. "That can only mean…"
"Appear, the circuit that guides the hand of evolution!" Gen proclaimed, and the circuit appeared above him. "I set Augmender Kekada, Augmender Kukura and Augmender Sinha in the Link markers! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! Augmender Barghest! (ATK 2300/Link-3/BL, T, BR)."
The three monsters disappeared in tornadoes of orange, red, and brown as they disappeared into the bottom left, bottom right and top middle arrows. Darkness then poured forth from the circuit as the sky darkened and two glowing red eyes appeared in the mist. A giant grey and black paw stepped into the light, and soon the rest of the giant, hulking wolf-like creature followed behind. Its head had been completely engulfed by the mechanics on its body, with its right hind leg covered too, and a stretch of technology running from between its shoulder blades sideways along its stomach and then back up to surround the entire tail, which was wagging back and forth as machinery whirred inside. Letting out a howl that far eclipsed the one let out from Kukura earlier, the boards of both players threatening to shake out from under them as the clouds were forced to part by the sound.
"What the hell is that thing?" Prism demanded.
"Battle!" Gen said. "Augmender Barghest, attack Mekk-Knight Spectrum Supreme! Talons of Torment!"
"What are you hiding, Phantom?" Prism demanded. "Barghest's ATK is lower than Supreme!"
"I activate the effect of Augmender Kaga in my hand!" Gen said, revealing the monster. "During the Damage Step, if an Augmender I control attacks a monster, I can send it from my hand to the graveyard and pay LP in multiples of 300, up to 1500, to have Barghest gain that much ATK, and then, if my LP was lower than yours when I activated this effect, one monster you control loses the same amount of attack!"
"Even if you pay the maximum, that's still not enough!" Prism said.
"By dropping my LP to 100, Barghest becomes 3800 ATK, and Spectrum Supreme falls to 1500!"
"Giving me Igala to raise your LP was a smart move, Phantom, but next turn I will defeat you!" Prism promised.
"There won't be a next turn," Gen said. "I activate my skill, Power Augment! Once per duel, if my LP is 1000 or less and is lower than yours, I can target one monster I control and give it ATK equal to half the difference between our LP!"
"But that means…"
"Barghest gains another 1900 ATK!" Gen said, and the giant wolf roared as its ATK grew once again to 5700. "Augmender Barghest! End this duel! Talons of Torment!"
The wolf ran at Spectrum Supreme who braced for impact, but there was nothing that could be done. With one swipe of its gigantic claws, Barghest tore through the monster like it was nothing, and it exploded in a cloud of brilliant colours. Red eyes glowed through the dust as they turned to Prism. The man screamed as Barghest jumped forward and slashed at him, his LP reaching 0 as he was sent flying off his board and down to the desert below.
Closing the duel program, Gen directed his board to fly down to Prism's location as Barghest disappeared with one final huff in his opponent's direction. As he approached the landing site, he could see that Prism was already getting to his feet, holding one side as his steps were more than ginger.
"Good thing these old networks tended to be a bit more lenient on the damage you'd take," Prism said with a laugh, which caused him to cough several times.
"Where did you get those cards, Prism?" Gen asked. "You must know what this all means."
"I do, and I sure as hell aren't about to tell you," Prism said. "I'm taking these cards back to our client, taking my pay check and leaving. I don't want to get messed up in all this."
"You, of all people?" Gen asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Yes, me," Prism said. "After the lengths the Hanoi were willing to go to just to wipe out the Ignis we know of… I'd hate to see what they'll do to those that get in their way if they learn that there might be others out there. I suggest you do the same, Phantom, or I might just end up missing you."
And with that he was gone, his body disappearing into purple data as Gen's disk read that he logged out. Looking down at his own disk and to the deck that it now held, his thoughts began to drift to the anonymous client that had employed him a few days ago. How much did they know about this? he wondered. Who does he represent? What does he want? And most importantly, will I get out of this alive?
Coming Soon - Secrets