Hey everyone, RobotFish again!
Here's the next chapter. Things are about to get exciting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh 5ds, but I do own my own characters and plot.
Chapter 2: The Introduction
It was a dark, cloudy day in November when I first met Kalin Kessler.
The factories were working more efficiently than ever, thanks to me. Or rather, thanks to my 'alter ego' that took over when my fits of narcolepsy occurred. Our group didn't fake many order forms any more, due to the fact that my extra pay was enough to cover most of our mechanical needs. That promotion was the best thing that had happened in a good while.
But I didn't have much time to enjoy it. I had, more or less, succumbed to my insomnia, and I was halfway ready to give up and live the rest of my life in this distant state of inattentiveness that had plagued me for so long. I had tried everything, and I literally mean everything, to lose consciousness and dream again. I even attempted to knock myself out cold in order to gain a few hours of rest. A massive headache was all that I gleaned from that experience.
It was getting to the point where my friends were becoming concerned with my state of affairs. Jack and Crow simply asked if I was alright once in a while, a question I waved off with some sorry excuse for an answer. The guys never pressed any further, knowing that they would get the same answer they always got in the past two years; I can't sleep, I'm tired, I need to find a way to rest.
Akiza was different. She genuinely cared about my pain, meaning she didn't just ask because something seemed wrong with me. She asked because she was concerned and because she didn't want me to be suffering, as I was. After a few attempts to coerce me into talking, I opened up and told Akiza about my insomnia, the pain it caused me, and the blank spaces that were proliferating in duration and volume.
She tried to help me, but nothing worked. I left out the reason for my state of restlessness, my love for her and my worry she would reject me, so any help she could offer was in vain. It wasn't her fault, it was mine for being such a coward, but the thought of losing her was too much for me to bear. I would rather not sleep a day in my life than live without Akiza.
That morning was one of the times when she was concerned about me.
"Yusei," she said.
I paused in my welding, lifted up my mask and gave her what was left of my smile. "Yeah Akiza?" I was working on my runner, but I always had time for her.
She sighed, knowing the road we were about to travel. "Are you sure you are alright today?" she said. I had reassured Akiza that I could function despite my condition, but she always insisted I take a day off if the pain became too much to bear. I always declined and said I was fine.
"Yeah, I'll make it," I said. I flipped my mask back on and started the welding torch again. "Cover your eyes, it gets bright over here."
I tuned my attention back to my runner and was about to start welding again, but I felt a gentle hand fall on my shoulder. I looked up and Akiza was staring at me with hopeful eyes.
I stood up, took off my mask and shot her a quizzical glance. "What's gotten you so happy?" I asked.
"You remember Sayer, from the education center?" she asked.
My blood boiled. "What about him?"
"Well," Akiza started. "It turns out...he's a psychic duelist as well!"
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I thought they were...never mind. As relieved as I was, this new development was interesting, and I wanted to know more. That scrawny prick was psychic?
"Really?" I said. "How'd you find out?"
"He told me," Akiza said. "I was dueling with the kids, and he must have noticed. He showed me his powers after we got done teaching, and I think he might even be better than me!"
I chuckled. "Well, I doubt that. But sounds like this Sayer guy has been hiding some things." I still hated Sayer. Always have, always will.
It was Akiza's turn to raise an eyebrow at me. "Since when did you get so suspicious of people?"
I shrugged. "He just...rubs me the wrong way..."
"I guessed as much," Akiza said. "There seemed to be a little tension between you two..."
You have no idea, I thought.
"Well, I'm off to work," she chirped. "I won't be home until late, Sayer is going to help me out with my powers afterwards."
I froze. What the hell did I just hear? My eyes widened, and all of my conscious nightmares came rushing back to me. I couldn't let this happen, I couldn't let him take Akiza away from me!
"O-oh, really?" I asked, trying to sound casual. "I was, ah-...actually thinking we...could grab dinner tonight?"
Akiza frowned. "Oh, well...I kinda already told Sayer I would be there. He's really good with his powers, and I need some help controlling mine..."
My heart sank. My greatest fear was coming true; Akiza was choosing another man over me. It was childish to jump to such a conclusion with such minimal evidence, but my sleep deprivation had driven me to the borderline of lunacy. In my mind, this was a step down the long and painful path to heartbreak, and I knew that I wouldn't ever be able to sleep if Akiza ended up with Sayer.
I nodded. "Okay...well...have fun, I guess," I choked out. I flipped my mask back on in an attempt to hide the hurt that crossed my face.
So Akiza left for work, Jack and Crow too, and I worked on my runner for an hour more. Or rather, I tried to work while visions of Akiza and Sayer danced through my head like rotting sugarplums. Time passed by, and I eventually left for work as well.
I was inspecting Factory 6 today, a routine check-up that all manufacturing centers in the Satellite went through at least once every two weeks. The walk over to Factory 6 was short, considering it was the closest factory to Martha's orphanage. My feet fell heavily as I sleepwalked through the streets, weariness eating through my bones.
If you couldn't tell already, I was in a bad mood. Knowing that Akiza was going to be with Sayer made my day all the more difficult to get through, and it felt like twice the weight of the world had been piled on my shoulders. I think that was the only day that I ever welcomed my mind to space out and drift out of reality. Anything that made that day go faster was fine with me.
I arrived at the factory a few minutes late, which my manager dismissed since I had been performing my duties well. He handed me a clipboard and pointed me towards the west sector of the factory. I was supposed to check each machine's integrity and efficiency, making careful note of any deviations from protocol. Fun.
It was around the fourth machine that I spaced out. I couldn't tell you for how long, but this episode was different from those before me. I didn't just zone out and wake up as if nothing happened. I actually felt...rested. I woke up as if from a dream, and some of the mind-numbing pressure behind my eyelids was gone. I smiled for the first time in weeks and found myself sitting in the east sector, watching some workers reassemble a machine.
That was...refreshing...I had actually slept! Even thought it was borderline narcolepsy, the amount of relief I felt was immense.
"Interesting isn't it?" a voice said beside me.
I turned to my left, and in the chair next to me sat a man with snow-white hair. He looked to be about my age, perhaps a little older, and his amethyst eyes gazed at the workers with expert patronization.
I was taken aback. "Erm, what is?" I asked.
He turned and flashed a toothy smile at me. From his uniform I could guess he worked at a higher end position in the Factory, probably a sector manager. "Interesting..." he elaborated, "how machines keep breaking every week."
"I guess so," I said, not really caring. I didn't care about most machines, save my duel runner.
The man leaned in closer, as if to whisper a secret, and there was a menacing gleam in his eyes. "Do you know why every single machine in the factory requires extensive maintenance on a weekly basis, even those recently repaired?"
My ears perked up. Was this guy crazy? I cleared my throat. "Because...they're all pieces of crap?"
Still smirking, the man shook his head. "Nope. These are some of the finest models on the market, built for maximum efficiency and superior production." His voice was almost reverent, but in a mocking sense.
He leaned in closer. "You see, the Satellite produces more goods than New Domino city could ever use. Where do those extra goods go? Well, the logical answer would be the Satellite, right? Give the hard workers some much deserved compensation, throw the blue collar laborers a bone? But no. They get rid of it."
I opened my mouth to speak, about to tell him that overflow was stored for repair and distribution to the residents in each sector of the Satellite, but there was no pause in his practiced rant. His words were coming out at an incredible rate.
"I know what you're going to say," he countered before I even offered an explanation. "Redistribution, repair for valuable assets, giving back to the people, blah blah blah. Thing is, New Domino wants us to stay as the bottom feeders, and shrimp aren't shrimp if they rise out of the mud and start swimming."
I think his zoology was a little off.
"So," he continued. "How do they remedy this situation? Simple, they waste the overflow. A broken gear here, a malfunction there, and all of the sudden our overflow disappears into the machines and businesses of the Satellite. Perpetual expenditures, that's how they control us."
My head was spinning. This guy was insane, and yet the workings of his mind were strangely and dangerously attractive. "So...you think that Security intentionally breaks the machines so there is no overflow to redistribute to the workers?" I asked.
"Yup," he said, leaning back in his chair again.
"That's an...interesting theory," I replied.
We sat in silence for a moment. As wild a conspiracy theory it was, I wouldn't put it past security to squander any extra goods produced in order to keep us in check. This guy ranted like a madman, but it all made perfect sense in a strange sort of way. I couldn't help but feeling like I was making a friend.
He leaned in again. "Did you know that if you mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm?"
Okay, maybe not. "No...I didn't know that. Wait, is that really true?" Friend or not, this guy had sparked my interest.
"That's right," he said. "One could make all kinds of explosives, using simple household items."
I was stunned. "...Really?"
"If one were so inclined," he answered, shooting me a clever grin. There it was again, that dangerous excitement. He was the kind of person that you didn't have to understand, only listen to in silent awe. He offered his hand to me, the first civilized gesture I had seen him perform.
"Kalin Kessler," he said.
We shook. "Yusei Fudo," I said.
Kalin stood up from his seat and gestured towards the other end of the factory. "Well, I've gotta go pretend like I give a shit about productivity," he said. "Nice meeting you, maybe we can duel sometime."
I felt a spark of excitement that someone so interesting would want to duel someone as commonplace as me. "Umm, sure. How'd you know I was-"
"Saw one of your duels by the docks a week ago," Kalin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You've got a reputation for being a fierce duelist where I come from."
This made me do a double-take. If I was well known in the Satellite for being a good duelist, it was news to me. Sure, I was on a pretty big winning streak, but that was nothing for everyone to fawn over.
I smiled. "Thanks...where exactly do you come from?" I asked.
Kalin shrugged. "Around," he coolly replied. With a raise of the chin and a half wave, Kalin began to walk away, but not before muttering one last pithy remark to me. "By the way," he said. "Next time you forge an order, make sure you let me know ahead of time. It's hard enough to cover your ass as it is."
He was gone before I could ask any questions.
The only thing I could think of for the rest of the day was what Kalin meant. Perhaps I wasn't as flawless with my forgery as I believed. Perhaps the only reason I had successfully defied security was because I had help from a complete stranger who pushed all the right buttons to make sure my extortion remained a secret. But why would anyone do that?
The only explanation I could think of was that Kalin held the same contempt towards security the rest of us did. Perhaps he didn't care who was breaking the rules as long as the rules were being broken. It seemed strange, but Kalin was a far sight from a normal youth.
The rest of the day was uneventful, but I did not space out once after meeting Kalin. I made my rounds, apathetically inspecting machines and writing down orders. I didn't forge any that day, Kalin's cryptic farewell made me weary about how closely the order forms were actually being watched. I would back off for the time being, at least until I could figure out a foolproof way to falsify the forms again.
I heard the quitting time bell, and I did not hesitate to vacate the premises. Home wasn't far away, and I wanted to see if I could manage to make some progress on my runner. I tried not to think about Akiza with Sayer, which was my main motivation for delving into mechanics; numbing my mind until Akiza got home.
The walk home was short, but only because I was still deciphering the motivation behind assisting someone you've never seen in a crime that is of no benefit to you. It just didn't seem like Kalin was telling me the whole story, although he barely told me anything at all save the fact he knew about my forgery.
I arrived at our garage at Martha's orphanage to find the door unlocked, which meant someone was already home. Strange, I thought, since Jack and Crow were still working and Akiza was with Sayer. God, I hated that.
I opened the door and strode in to find a duel disk thrown carelessly on the floor. Cards were strewn out on the ground, and I recognized several of the ones face-up. Glow-up bulb...Dark Verger...Pollinosis...this was Akiza's deck. But what was it doing there?
I heard a strange sound coming from the bedrooms, and I slowly walked towards the source. I soon recognized the sound to be muffled crying, and I immediately rushed through the hallway and into the bedroom.
Akiza had her head buried in a pillow, weeping into it with frame shaking sobs. I ran over and knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. My heart broke when she looked at me, her face stained by tears, and I felt a gut wrenching pain that my precious rose was hurting inside.
"Y-Yusei..." she choked out.
"Akiza, I-" I froze.
Across Akiza's cheek was a dark blue bruise.
My insides lit on fire and a terrible rage built inside of me as I surveyed the damage. I raised a shaky hand to the mark and brushed it lightly, causing Akiza to wince in pain. She looked into my eyes with her hazel orbs filled with fear and sorrow. Then she buried her head in my chest and began to cry again as I held her tightly.
"Akiza," I barely managed. "What happened?"
She spoke between sobs. "It was Sayer...we were practicing our powers and...he told me that I should...come away with him to...another sector...where a bunch of psychics were...and I said no, and he...he grabbed me, and he...hit me..."
I hugged her even tighter as I felt a surge of guilt tear through my chest. She had trusted Sayer with her most valuable secret, and he had betrayed that trust. That bastard hurt my precious rose, and I let it happen. If I had told her what I really thought, if I had done more to protect her, this wouldn't have happened. I silently thanked the heavens that nothing worse had happened, the mere thought making me shudder.
She wiped her eyes and sat up. "I thought someone else understood me, understood my powers. But...he just wanted to use me," she said, lamentation in her voice.
"Akiza," I said. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault-"
"No," she said. "It's not, Yusei. Bad things happen...let's just move on."
"But what about Sayer?" I said. "You'll have to face him tomorrow at work."
Akiza closed her eyes. "I...I'll think of something..."
We stayed that way for a while, her in my arms. It would have been a wonderful feeling if the circumstances were different, but I was glad that Akiza found comfort in me. I made myself a promise that I would never let anything bad happen to her ever again. I would find a way to get rid of Sayer, or at least keep him away from Akiza.
And that, by a turn of unusual events, was where Kalin came into the picture.
So, for those of you asking where Kalin was going to come in, here ya go!
Next chapter, how will Kalin and Yusei resolve the situation with Sayer?
