Project S632
01: Stimulus

Kaiba's deep-set glacial eyes narrowed. Never in her life would she forget that glare of cold intelligence. It stripped its victim of all defenses until only the bare facts remained. His gaze glinted with omniscient intimidation, but Hanari Lain refused to relinquish her composure.

"You called me, Mr. Kaiba?" Lain lifted the frame of her rimless spectacles.

"Has any thought of why occurred to you?" Kaiba's head rested on the backs of his hands as he leaned over on his embellished CEO desk. His eyes were ravenous to devour the secrets she hoarded behind her gray-green eyes.

"I assumed that you would be addressing that issue in this meeting." Her hardened gaze never left his. A glint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

"Very well. Take a seat." Kaiba turned his back as he faced the three huge flat screen monitors, his fingers flashing over the keyboard faster than she believed humanly possible. Gingerly, she sat down. Her legs were crossed, her hands folded in her lap.

As clicks and beeps pervaded the computer, she waited patiently with a straight back and raised chin. Awkward minutes passed, and neither of them seemed to acknowledge each other's presence. With every passing second, the gravity of the atmosphere languished further. It was an old trick for intimidation, leaving the prey second-guessing with doubt.

Lain checked her watch. Eight minutes had passed where neither of them had spoken a word. The air sagged with a stirred animosity, an unspoken challenge. She was a busy professional with no time to play mind games with the multi-billionaire. Sitting there idly, before the CEO of Kaiba Corp who was consciously ignoring her existence, was not a task that fitted into her hectic schedule.

"If there are no pressing issues you must address now, I will take my leave." Stiffly, she rose to stand on her high black heels.

"I told you to take a seat. I did not give you permission to stand up," Kaiba interposed. He pressed one last button and swerved his chair to face her.

"Ah, I apologize. I suppose I now need your consent to scratch my head?" Her impatience showed through an annoyed tug at her lips.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated. When I order you to take a seat, you take a seat. When I ask you a question, you respond, no questions returned. When I command you not to breathe, your lungs stop inhaling. This is my company, and I run it my way. Frankly, if you disagree, you're welcome to go knock on the door of a neighboring industrial company." It took all of her discipline not to fluster. She was not particularly in the habit of becoming a verbal punching bag. "Looking through your proposal, your decision to swap the first two packet graphics is quite... amusing."

She blinked in realization. "If this discussion is about the new software Proxy, as assistant director, I have the right to take appropriate liberties to the preliminary blueprints," she said hotheadedly.

"Ah, but Miss Hanari, I think your pathetic justification is a bit of an understatement. You do not have the right to contradict my explicit instructions. If I didn't know better, I would have suspected that you were challenging my authority." His lips twisted victoriously. He leaned over, making their faces precariously close. Up close, she was irresistibly pulled to notice how attractive his features were: a strong jaw, loose brown bangs, a comfortable smirk. Lain grimaced in disgust at his smugness. She resisted the urge to smack him senseless.

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, setting his polished shoes on his desk. "But seeing us here, I think we both know better, hm?"

Lain inhaled and exhaled sharply. "Perhaps."

"You may take your leave now. I was taught to keep my friends close and my enemies closer. Let's just hope you'll stay as the former, not the latter," he dismissed flippantly. Restraining the fury consuming her insides, she clicked her heels as she abruptly turned.

"One more thing," Kaiba added casually. She stopped in mid-step in response. "I look forward to working with you, Miss Hanari."

Her face showed no visible response. "Likewise, Mr. Kaiba. Enjoy your afternoon."

An ocean of numbers reflected in Kaiba's pupils. He left the computation to his worthless accountants, but he trusted no one but himself when it came to double and triple checking. A company, he supposed, was eerily equivalent to a number. Seto Kaiba, the reigning CEO of Kaiba Corp, was the very first digit who controlled all the other digits. If the number shifted, the first digit was conscious of every variable, every distraction, every alteration. Yet, something internal was causing his perfect equation to falter. A single digit was subtly disrupting the premeditated flow, but Kaiba knew who that was: Hanari Lain.

There was something about her demeanor that piqued his curiosity. Perhaps it was her impassive veneer hiding an array of tantalizing secrets. With her diligent product before his eyes, he was equally impressed and perturbed. Behind those rimless spectacles lay a mind of ambition and talent. Yet he also detected traces of rebellious intent and thirst for independent control. Perhaps the irritation in his chest was due to the possibility that he saw hints of his own identity in her. She intrigued him—why would someone with an overqualified résumé accept a position lower than her previous vocation? She must be the puppeteer drawing strings with ease from the shadows. Her boss, the director, was a lackey with brawns and no brains. It was impossible that the director, or either of the two other assistant directors, crafted this meticulous program. Ever since her arrival, there had been an unanticipated boost in autonomous thought among his employees. That in itself was a blessing, perhaps, but evidence that employees were deliberately tweaking his plans was most certainly not desired.

After their confrontation, Kaiba was left without doubts. He would have to cut this miniature revolution short. Hanari may have believed that she could camouflage herself in a lower position of prestige, but she had underestimated him.

After finishing the document, Kaiba nodded smugly. This finished product was certainly a carefully crafted masterpiece of art with a very embellished personal touch. Perhaps it was worth having minds that could think without direct supervision.

His gut told him that there was something more to the blue-haired Hanari Lain than met the surface. Something important had slipped through his fingers, but not for long. He was going to crack the puzzle slowly, savoring each piece until there was nothing left to expose. After all, Seto Kaiba never backed down from a challenge.

"Perhaps I should give her a promotion."

"93HDMW."

"81DUVGS."

"20ASUBP."

"Project S632 is commencing. All information transmitted currently through the communication devices must be secured. No possible witnesses can remain—biological or mechanical."

"Are all of these precautions really necessary?"

"Absolutely. There is no such thing as being too prudent. Through these state-of-the-art radio transceivers disguised as ordinary headphones, our conversations cannot be tracked or bugged. Safeguard these in secure locations where not a single other being can obtain, be it man, monkey or machine."

"We've already been through this lecture. Just cut to the chase. How is Plan A proceeding?"

"The virus has exceeded my expectations. I am currently hacking into the mainframe supercomputer."

"That brat Kaiba didn't discover the virus in your recent Proxy project?"

"Affirmative, although he is not completely unaware."

"What do you mean by 'unaware'?"

"It is nothing to be concerned about. I will not defy his orders again, and I will do my best to gain back his trust. I suggest you two follow suit."

"Hmph, I think I've heard enough demands from that silver tongue of yours, woman."

"Oh? This silver tongue is going to lead the three of our names down every computer science—perhaps even history—textbook on the surface of this earth. The three of us are going to be eyewitnesses to one of the most eminent milestones in human technology."

"I could care less about textbooks. I just want the crisp clean cash in my fingers."

"All in good time. Procedure two will now initiate. Remember, according to the gods above, this conversation never occurred. Project S632 does not exist. Over and out, gentlemen."

Beeee—eee—eepppp.

"Do you really believe that slick woman can pull this off?"

"It's worth the gamble."

"I'm sick of her orders. After we capture the new technology once our plan succeeds, how are we going to get rid of her?"

"Blackmail maybe? That's always delicious. Hell, you're over-thinking this. If it comes down to it, she's a woman for goodness' sakes. Didn't you take weight training in high school?"

"Don't remind me. So we follow her little plans for now and once the cash is within our sight, we dispose of her, aniki?"

"Given her plan succeeds. If it doesn't... well, I'm sure someone would be quite delighted to be enlightened of her plan."

"You're going to blow this to Kaiba if she fails? How do you know she won't get us involved as well?"

"Just trust me. If she does succeed, we could choose any body we want. Our previous deeds will be washed into a clean slate. Either way, I wouldn't be any other person on earth, not even Kaiba-brat himself."

"Mm, inside the body of a cute swimsuit babe..."

"This is why I'm not proud to be seen with you around public."

"Excuse me?"

"Over and out."

Hanari's first name, Lain, is a reference and tribute to Serial Experiments Lain, a seinen anime that inspired and nurtured the creation of this fic.

I'm probably the most ecstatic person out there about this story, because even though readers and reviews are most encouraging gifts an author can receive, I'm ebullient about how this story will turn out. The first chapter turned out better than I had hoped, and I most certainly finish this story during summer vacation. In every respect, this story is a complete contrast to my last fic, Monster, a Prince of Tennis story. I'm well aware that my protagonist, Lain, is a fat, glaring Sue. Then again, so are half of the bishonen out there.

However, if you're willing to concede to that fact (like I have) then welcome to the implausible, the angsty, the cheesy, and everything in between, in this virtual experience called Project S632.

Also, a round of applause for my beta readers Stormrose Dewleaf and Oswaft.

A picture of Hanari Lain is posted on my homepage. Please do check it out, because I spent an hour on Deviant Art searching for this one picture.