Just a fic that I found buried in my files...this may be updated often as I attempt to rescue my fics off my busted laptop (see other stories for details). Think of it as stress relief.

Disclaimer: Totally my plot. Not my characters.

Chapter I

Year: 2097 AD

Day: 244. Friday 23rd August.

Journal entry 486.

The Network is still down after the war started a few months ago. At least, I believe it was a few months. So much has happened between then and now, that it feels like years ago. Seems like we've been fighting this war forever.

Though, I guess we always have been. We've been so reliant on the Network for our whole lives that when it crashed and was taken over, most people connected at the time were killed. And that was a lot. We use it for everything, to talking to others in other cities, to telling the dishwasher to start it's cycle. Abut 60% of our world is connected to it at one given time. The ones that survived are little more than vegetables now, so everyone has been banned from accessing the Network to fight back.

And without the Network between cities, we're helpless to fight the battles that destroy us in the real world. Armies from the Outer Rifts swarm over our few remaining cities, killing everyone and slowly taking over more of the Network that keeps us alive.

My parents and my grandfather were in one of those cities. I swear I can almost hear my grandfather now, telling me to 'stick it out and find a way to survive'. I love Gramps, and the stories he used to tell me about the Shadows. They were unique beings (yes beings, not people), that could literally go into the Network and control it with just a thought. But the remaining base of the Shadows was destroyed over 50 years ago, and he says that there are no true Shadows left, only those who wish they were.

I wish the government hadn't wiped them out, we need them now more than ever, to fight and save us. But ever since Kaiba took over, nothing has been how it was. The division between classes was first, and eventually it led up to training everyone over 14 to fight in the army. And they all killed the Shadows, so only Lights were left.

I was lucky, I didn't get drafted in to fighting because of my leg. Ever since it got crushed when I was 6, I have to use that blasted cane to walk. The doctors at the clinic say it's never going to work again, but I'm still holding firm to the belief that I can walk again, if I just build the muscles up again and get it working once more.

The siren's are sounding now, which means I have to hide. That particular siren only sounds if we're being attacked, and this time, the siren sounds different, so it's a big army.

Gramps, mom, dad, if this is it, I'm coming to see you soon.

I lo-fghh010iskhgs926j9sgjs0j...

-ERROR-

The screen flickered and died, and the teenager glared at it before throwing the useless (and now thoroughly dead) piece of technology aside. The ear-piercing siren was increasing in volume, and the boy grabbed a cane leaning against the seat beside him, struggling to his feet and gripping the armrest so he didn't topple over. A shockwave rattled the ground under his socked feet and the slim boy hurried toward the door leading to the basement.
It opened slowly, creaking in protest, and he stepped through into darkness, trusting his cane and feet as he slowly went down the cold, stone steps. After 24 steps (he always counted), he paused and stepped forward, blindly feeling in the darkness for the latch that would open the hidden door to the underground safe house. It was put there for hiding money originally, his dad had said, but now he had to use it to hide himself.

Fumbling around on the wooden wall, he felt a small catch under his fingers and twisted it, then pulled. A sharp pain lingered in his finger but he ignored it, knowing it was only the catch checking his blood to make sure he was granted access. Hearing the sound of a panel sliding open he stepped inside, the secret door sliding shut behind him just as another shockwave hit him. His cane slipped out of his fingers and cried out as he fell, hands moving forward to stop himself hitting the ground too hard. There was the whisper of displaced air and suddenly he felt himself stop, hands inches above the floor which was now glowing an iridescent blue. His large eyes widened, shimmering as they stared at the light that was spreading over his front, seeming to stop him from falling any further.

"W…what is this?" He whispered and slowly felt himself being lowered to touch the ground again, the light leaving his body and disappearing back into the floor. The only light in the room was coming from said floor, and the boy looked around at the strange room. "This isn't the basement…"

"Voice identification confirmed: Yuugi Motou. Starting allocated programs." A voice echoed and he jumped, sitting back to look at a old-fashioned computer screen that was glowing brightly. Grabbing his cane and climbing to his feet, he stumbled forward curiously to look at the screen. The face on the screen made him nearly drop his cane as tears pricked his eyes.

"Gramps…" He whispered, sitting numbly in the chair before the screen.

The figure smiled. "Hello Yuugi, if you're hearing this then you found my secret, hehe." His grandfather laughed slightly, scratching the back of his neck as he spoke. "I'm pretty sure you're wondering what's going on, so I'll tell you as much as I can. I'm sorry, my boy, but you'll have to figure the rest out on your own." He sighed, looking at something (or someone) off the screen and Yuugi felt the tears threaten again when he saw the elderly man wipe his own eyes.

"The attack that most likely killed us, if we are dead when you see this, would have been by the Outer Rift, no doubt about it. But think, Yuugi." His face hardened and Yuugi paid close attention. He'd never seen Gramps so serious. "How did they know where to attack, and when? The cities are close to impenetrable, yet they had somehow gotten in. And knew where to attack our 'weak points', so to speak, to wipe us out. Ah, I guess we're not as strong as we used to be, right?"

Yuugi puzzled over his grandfather's words. "So someone from the inside betrayed us?" He whispered, his mind racing with the implications of what that would mean. There was a traitor in each city, helping the Outer Rift destroy each city. Destroy their own friends and family. It made him sick to even think about who could have betrayed his family.

"But never mind about that, you're probably wondering about the room. Well, it's my computer lab. It's a family tradition passed down from the late 20th century, since 1997 I believe. So some of the stuff would be over 100 years old by this point. Be careful with it." He laughed and Yuugi grinned back, already curious to explore the room.

"And don't tell anyone about it, let alone bring them down. It's secret for a reason, Yuugi, and you'll figure it out soon enough. Let's just say, you and I are more alike than you'd think." Gramps glanced off screen and Yuugi could hear yelling and the sound of gunfire. His heart stilled, he knew immediately when this video was taken.

A woman and man crouched down beside his grandfather, the man with spiky black hair, his mother with the red-purple colour her son inherited, but her hair was long and straight. They smiled sadly at the camera and Yuugi absently felt tears trickle down his cheeks as he touched the screen, trying to carve the image of his parents and grandfather as much as he could into his memory. His mother reached forward and touched the screen as well, and Yuugi moved his pale hand so it covered hers, wishing he could actually touch her again just one last time.

"We love you, Yuugi. Take care of the puzzle for us, I doubt you'd be able to solve it but if you do, you'll like the reward." She smiled, though the tears on her cheeks mirrored everyone else's. Yuugi nodded as she pulled back, holding tight to her father as Yuugi's dad stood up, pulling a gun, to Yuugi's horror, out from the back of his belt and pointing it toward the door.

"They're coming." He hissed and Gramps held tighter, looking back at the screen with a sad smile on his face as he said one last message.

"Trust the Shadows. The Light hides dark secrets." He looked toward the door before the screen went black, but not before the sound of gunfire filled the air and one last message from his mother was heard before everything cut out.

"Trust the Puzzle, it will help you!"

Yeah, a rushed start. But things won't pick up pace for a while yet, the Puzzle still has to be figured out ^^