After both incidents with the Big five and Noa in the virtual world, the Virtual Reality Pods Kaiba had created had been carefully disassembled and reworked from the ground up. It had started with destroying and rewiring the network that was integral to creating the vast feel of the world. Once that was finished, Kaiba had set to work with the pods themselves; the controls, the safety barriers, the fail safes just in case anything were to ever happen again. It shouldn't have, of course. Not with the amount of work the dedicated CEO had put into it. He was absolutely sure once he had nearly completed building the pods.
It led to some pretty intense weeks without sleep. He was almost excited about releasing the new version to the world- well. To the rich. The pods themselves would become a staple of the KaibaLand theme park. When he was finished with those he would work on a smaller model for the public consumption. For now, this would do. The only thing he had left to do was make sure the personal world of any individual player was just that- an experience all their own. Though the games and settings could shift at the user's will, he had to make sure first that that will could be read like a book.
Using himself as a test subject was an obvious pick. When he got right down to it, though, he started to become unsure of whether the game was reading its master's intent simply because he knew how to control the world. He was the creator. He knew how to pick through the codes, even break them down raw right in front of his eyes during a game. It wouldn't do. He couldn't be sure. Unfortunately he didn't want to trust any of his bumbling employees with something of this magnitude, something he'd put so much work into.
He definitely didn't want to interrupt Mokuba from his studies at college. Not for this. Especially not for this where the machine could easily backfire in this stage and become lethal. ...not that Kaiba Seto had actually told anyone of that possibility. It was only slight, so there was no need. Obviously.
The only other person he could trust this with was the one person he didn't want to. And the one person who had barged right into his business angrily enough after the fifth month without visit.
Atem showing up in his laboratory unannounced, leaning against some machinery as Kaiba had emerged from the fifth testing was just as unexpected as it was completely expected. That pest had a knack for showing up where he wasn't wanted. He'd said he wasn't going to put up with the unreturned calls anymore, and whatever Kaiba was working on, he wanted to be a part of it too. Of course Kaiba had laughed at such an idea. Atem was dense and thoroughly unfamiliar with this time's technology. He couldn't be of any use in a project like this ... if it had been in its earliest phases. Unfortunately, right then, Atem was exactly the participant Kaiba needed.
He'd never known anyone as unstable and unpredictable as Atem. If his machine could read the King of Games and bring him into a challenging and enjoyable environment, the CEO would know he'd done his job right. He was hesitant, of course. There was always the possibility of those unseen complications. But after a few hand waves from Atem and a smirk, the two had partnered up. As usual.
After the fourth dual test, Kaiba was almost convinced he'd done a near perfect job (and of course Atem still managed to beat him at whatever task was set towards the two of them). The next step was to test the connection world wide. Atem had had his qualms about letting Kaiba go so soon, but the brunet promised that once this was done, his work load would ease a little. He at least wouldn't be stuck in the lab basements for months for a while. It was with great reluctance that Atem had agreed, and soon his acceptance was met with kindness.
He was soon instructed to go down to the Kaiba Corporation basements and get into his pod. Once there, Kaiba stood before him. Clear and solid and nearly real. It was exactly what Kaiba had been planning on. He had successfully created a strong enough network that it could translate the five senses no matter how far apart two other users were. This network would be tested for months before actual release, of course, for security and promise, but just then Kaiba had felt a sincere swell of accomplishment. He decided to make sure the pod would do as it was supposed to on the network from directly across the globe, as far away as he could get.
The CEO would be traveling to places between there and Japan and testing along the way, dropping pods to his other business centers and leaving firm instructions for them. Each test Atem was the sole participant along with Kaiba and soon, very soon, the games turned into something much more intimate. The pods could not only be used for gaming, but to connect two people together from so far a distance that to feel the smaller in his arms was a nearly incredible feeling. He was always as warm and inviting as Kaiba remembered- somehow the virtual world was even able to capture his unique scent. His hair was just as soft as the taller remembered as he ran his fingers through it, and his skin just as flush as always as his hands slid downwards.
This world he'd created was becoming not only a mass stomping ground for gamers world wide, but a place where you could reconvene from the farthest reaches of the earth and be fooled into thinking the other person was right there with you. Many times Kaiba had been interrupted by the waking buzzer of the pod, disoriented, looking around for Atem. It was always noted afterwards, the feeling of loss and unease that went with such a startling realization- but for the life of him he honestly wasn't sure if it was a personal experience or would end up being a more broad label. He always forgot to ask Atem when they met up again.
The last test preformed in that month was when Kaiba was only a country away. He'd just signed the papers off on the last pod to be delivered and hooked it up in the basement. He'd given specific instructions not to be disturbed as testing was in process. The employees all complied, the basement was locked, and he stood before the pod. In Domino, Atem was doing the exact same thing. His hand moved up along the firm and cold casing, eyes lowering as he looked at the seat that, at this point, had taken his shape from so much usage. He never got to talk to Kaiba while he was gone in the real world. All this time he'd only received times when to show up at the lab and when to get into the pod to meet up with the other. The contact, seeing Kaiba again when he wasn't supposed to be able was an amazing feeling, but it left him wanting. That world wasn't the real world, no matter how real Kaiba had managed to make it feel.
After shaking his head, he bent his head to settle down into the pod. The lid closed around him and he began to feel an alarming sense of panic. It was always this way. He'd never once told Kaiba about it, simply because he knew it was his own shortcomings that caused him to experience such a thing. Thankfully the world went dark around him as he was dragged far, far away from reality. When he opened his eyes again he took a breath of that fake and unnecessary air, reaching a hand out to lean against a tree. He always arrived a few minutes before Kaiba for this purpose alone. Hiding it the first few times had been hard. On his own he could manage much better.
The scenery was generic. He could have willed it to be anything else other than what it was, and he was well aware of that fact. But for now, a park was just fine. He was sure the moment Kaiba entered it would shift into a business office or a bedroom or a dueling arena. The man was too predictable at times. And just on cue he blinked into existence in the world, a few feet away from Atem. He focused on the world first, only for a few seconds, before turning to locate his rival. Once Atem locked eyes with him, the shorter was surprised that the world hadn't shifted just yet. Even more, that same inner feeling of surprise was somehow being reflected on Kaiba's face.
It made him all too uneasy and he stepped forward. "What's the matter?" That look wasn't the sort to be wearing after what had happened those years ago. The last thing (and yet the first thing he expected) he wanted to hear was that something was wrong.
Kaiba seemed to pull himself together rather quickly underneath that worried crimson gaze. "A minor glitch, perhaps. Your avatar isn't registering as it normally would."
The technobabble, which sometimes flew right over Atem's head, wasn't appreciated. He nearly forgot he wasn't a real person here at all but just a representation. It lent him to looking down at himself. No words would come as he peered down at his body and his outfit which, as Kaiba had so eloquently put it, was not registering normally. He thought a full length mirror into existence, wedged deeply into that tree as he turned to look at himself better.
The body was not his- or rather, it was his, but some undeniable changes had been made to it that had not been passed by him. For starters he had a very noticeable pair of small breasts, wider hips, and somehow the ridiculous image of long shapely legs (yet he had not seemed to grow a single inch). His face looked slightly softer as he peered into the glass at a closer angle. His nails were more refined, his lips fuller. And that damnable blush somehow fit so well on those high cheekbones of his.
"Who did this?" He quietly demanded, willing himself not to get upset over this. It was just his avatar, after all. Just after asking so, he realized his voice hadn't changed in the slightest. He wasn't sure to take that as a blessing or an insult just then.
"No one should have access to our private data." Kaiba mused, unable to help but look at Atem. His eyes traveled down that body. It struck some very weird chords within him that he wasn't sure he was comfortable feeling at all. They were deeply, deeply buried quickly. The question of his sexual orientation had never been an important one, and as far as he was considered, it had been put to bed (quite literally) once he'd started fucking his very male rival. "It should be easily fixed." And with that he set to willing the raw data into existence.
Except unlike Atem's mirror, that he was still very busy staring at, the data did not appear. This angered Kaiba to some degree, to be disobeyed- to be disobeyed by a product of his creation was even worse. He tried once more, and when that did not work he barked to the sky instead. "Produce raw data list!" The command seemed to thunder in the sky loudly before it too was ignored, and they were left to their own devices. He scowled at the sky, which was the best he could do seeing as how his product had no face for him to glower at.
"You remember how you shaped the finer details of your avatar when you first came here? Try that again." Perhaps it was a personal thing. Maybe Atem could worm his way into the system just like he did with everything else. It was worth a shot.
Yet as he watched his rival try to concentrate, again with that odd sort of fascination, he felt a sense of displeasure. This wasn't going to work and he knew it. Atem must have known it too because he didn't look any less disappointed when he turned back towards that mirror and found everything was not as it should be. "Forget it," He said finally after a moment. "The program will be up after an hour and then you can look at whatever happened." That was, of course, if the world did end in an hour. Both men were very sure that it would and yet both were holding down a quiet hope not belief that it would. It was a minor problem, but it could have easily been the start of a large list of problems.
For now, Kaiba was inclined to agree. Nothing else felt off, and usually he wouldn't give that much credit in the real world. But this was not. It was virtual and it was his. If something was wrong here surely he would be able to feel it, as he had every time the Big 5 had interrupted into his plans. The virtual world felt much different from the real world; the average person would not be able to tell but for one so technologically inclined as Kaiba, so integrated into the world he had built himself, he would certainly feel a drastic shift.
"Let's duel." Atem commanded, rather than offered, obviously upset with the change. It was not what either of them had planned. The truth was both men had climbed into those chambers with the plan of enticing the other into a much more sensual game than what was intended in this world. Neither of them cared anymore, however. Once that line had been crossed there was no going back, and both reveled in it. Now with this... Atem was completely unsatisfied. He was left aching and upset and the only way to crush that feeling was to crush Kaiba on the battlefield.
It had the brunet smirking lightly despite the situation. "Are you sure you can handle it like that? Perhaps your strengths don't exactly serve you anymore." Kaiba's opinion on women had never been the hardest to decipher.
All it did was incense Atem all the more, something he was sure Kaiba was doing on purpose. "Either be a coward and sulk in a corner for an hour over your broken machinery or be my rival and duel me as you should. I am very much the same competitor." He raised his arm, commanding his duel disk and deck to him, ignoring the slight unusual sway and feeling of the avatar's chest.
Kaiba didn't ignore it as much as Atem was trying to pretend it to, and a sneer was quick to come to place. "If you wished to be ground into the dirt all you had to do was ask. Maybe you can even start to learn how to beg in that body." He mirrored the action to perfection, no oddness in him as he called his duel disk.
The two immediately started to fight in the best way they knew how. It was one of the most intense battles either could remember having- made all the more odd by Atem's appearance and how damnably enticing it was to watch him from time to time. The way those thicker lashes lowered in thought, the soft press of those lips, the sway of the hips... only after each time Kaiba caught himself did he realize that all these actions were purely Atem's- not woman nor man. He wasn't enticed by a body. He was enticed by the King of Games; his mannerisms, his tactics, his movements. All of it. It was uniquely Atem even with those breasts and rounded hips. It set Kaiba on an edge that felt familiar.
By the time his life points had dwindled to nothing he was left angry and wound up. There was only one way to fix the feeling of loss and that was to inflict it onto his rival. With a few large steps over their battlefield he was pushing Atem up against that tree with the mirror still in it. Atem didn't seem to be as quick to play this game as Kaiba was. His hands went to the taller's shoulders in a small attempt to push him away.
"What are you doing?" His voice was a little more uneasy now, a pitch higher, but that was all his own doing.
Kaiba easily thwarted Atem's attempts as usual, taking both of those tiny wrists in his hands and pinning them above the smaller's head. "Finishing the game how we always do." He growled before his teeth caught in the skin of Atem's neck.
The King of Games shuddered but still was not convinced. "Not like this. Absolutely not." There was something not right about this. He didn't want to participate when the body was not his. Especially when it was so vastly different from his own. It left more questions than he wanted answered. The main one being, was Kaiba really more attracted to this body? The thought pained him in a way he hadn't expected.
"Your body is disagreeing with you." The brunet murmured, dropping his head to brush Atem's shoulders with nips. Before he could stop himself his hands had dropped to those hips and he was pulling Atem closer to his own body, to his own need.
The smaller wasn't having any of it, though, body willing or not. "I said stop!"
Such a command couldn't be ignored by Kaiba, though he took Atem's hands in his again and pulled him closer. Their eyes met as their noses brushed. "Why? I'm giving you the same look I always give you. This has nothing to do with what we're doing and you know it." He voiced Atem's (and his own earlier) concerns aloud. He saw the small shock in the smaller's eyes. "Enough of this nonsense." Perhaps speaking to the both of them.
Without waiting for a response he engaged in a brutal kiss with the other, his hands trailing down that oddly new body before resting on Atem's hips once more. He pulled the other, using the tree as leverage. In the blink of an eye the smaller was declothed, a noise of surprise bubbling from him. "Bastard." He ground out as Kaiba's lips pressed down over his collarbones. He felt a cruel smirk suddenly pressed against his skin.
"At least this way we don't have to waste time." Not that they had to in this world anyway. But with one quick instant of an imagination his own pants were missing, and without giving credit to how ridiculous that all had seemed and probably looked, he'd positioned himself and entered Atem.
The smaller's head rolled back with a light gasp. The sensation was unfamiliar, and he wasn't sure he liked it just yet. He missed their usual way of contact. It was nearly unbecoming. Once more he felt a burning shame light hotly in his body and on his face. He was almost sure he didn't want this. He didn't want to be taken in a form that wasn't his own.
Kaiba could sense it nearly immediately with how tense Atem had gotten. It was all the other's usual tell-tale signs of being about to call things off. "Listen," He growled in the other's ear before shifting his hips in a few experimental shallow thrusts. "When I get home I will fuck you so hard you won't be able to walk for a month if that will prove anything to you." Atem's arms slowly wrapped around Kaiba's neck after hearing such a thing, a light moan leaving his lips. Kaiba couldn't help smirk again. "Let this just be a test in and of itself for the experiences of a switched avatar for user-"
"Shut the hell up." Atem breathed out, reaching to grab a fistful of that brown hair and lift Kaiba's head to meet his own. He then silenced the other with a harsh kiss. Kaiba's movements became harder almost on command and Atem felt like he couldn't keep up. It was definitely new, and the more he let go of his own dislike of the situation, the more pleased the avatar's body became. He felt like he was burning up inside. It was such a normal internal feeling but accompanied with such new sensations that things stopped making sense to him. The feeling of an oncoming orgasm wasn't as new as he thought it would be, but still different enough that he didn't want to speak up.
His nails dug into Kaiba's shoulders in the usual fashion, however, his breathing picking up speed. His head fell to the side before calling out Seto's name. The release was just as unusual, and nearly not as fulfilling with nothing actually being lost to him. It was only then that he realized Kaiba hadn't stopped moving. The sensation of the other inside him became intense then, nearly too much- he wanted to call for a stop, but then it dulled just a fraction and just as quick. It was too odd, too weird, too new for him to be able to understand what was going on.
To try and distract himself he engaged Kaiba in another kiss. It was a good thing Seto was too involved in what he was doing to question Atem's behavior or what the hell was going on anymore. Atem was sure he didn't want to talk about it either.
Once more he felt overwhelmed, like he was sure he couldn't take it anymore. He clung tighter to his rival. "Seto..."
It was an odd reprieve for Kaiba. He was sure Atem had already come. Thankfully he didn't have any mind to deal with it right then. Not that he was a greedy lover, but his end was coming on too quickly for him to put care into words. A low, throaty growl was let go of from him, his teeth digging into Atem's shoulder as his hips drove into Atem quickly in a near bruising fashion.
"Seto!" The man's cry surprised the brunet as he too was pushed too far over the edge to come back.
It left the two unmoving, Kaiba sliding to the ground with Atem still in his hold. After a few moments, once his breathing and logic came back in a calm fashion he only felt a light sense of terror and unfulfillment. How to voice it was a worse thought. He just didn't want to question his own fucking skills. But he ... couldn't help it.
"Did you come?" He asked as awkwardly as he felt about it and as quickly as he could as if that would help.
Atem leaned heavily against him, unsure of what all the uneasiness was about. "Twice."
The answer had somehow been unexpected and yet boosted Kaiba's ego all the same. He couldn't help a tired smirk. "Hn." He nearly purred, extremely pleased with his own abilities. "Consider the number doubled the moment I get home." It was a real promise. Almost after it he could feel the odd disconnect of the world starting to fade around them. He pulled Atem tighter, possessively, as if challenging the world to try and take that man away from him, no matter the form. It would end in failure he knew, just like it always did.
"Come home soon." Atem whispered, holding back tiredly, not ready to go. "...and fix my avatar."
Kaiba couldn't help the smirk that still laid on his lips as he pulled back to look at Atem. "This one isn't so bad."
"It's not me. That's bad enough." The pout was still genuinely Atem's. Everything had been.
It was unquestionable now.
"When I get home." Kaiba promised in a hushed murmur before everything darkened around him.
Both men sat up wide eyed and disoriented as usual, nearly at the same time, just a country apart. Both hands laid shakily on the casing as they propped themselves up and looked for the other in the room. And once the other man was nowhere to be found they both released a breath that almost felt like they'd been holding it the moment they'd both stepped into the pod. They got out, straightened their clothing, cast a last look around the room, and left the basement.
Of course the routine had ended as normally as usual for Kaiba. For Atem... well, one last time he was stuck casting a glance to a reflective metal surface just to make sure.