Episode 07:
Science Project- The First Meeting, Part 2
The girl was quiet. Not that it mattered, anyway, thought Seto.
After all, he was used to the stunned silence of his pathetic, shunned opponents. And besides, he didn't feel like talking- not that he even did much of that.
But as he glanced at her sidelong, he reflected back on the day they first met, and wondered how such a small, weak, clumsy thing could possibly contain intelligence high enough to bring her to his advanced science class. It seemed like some kind of mistake.
Or maybe she had contacts in high places. But then, a piece of logic smashed his theory. Ree Zephyron- he had never heard of her before. An Internet scan on his laptop had revealed nothing. It was as if she was... completely normal. Just one in a few billion people in the world. Reads the newspapers, never in them. Ordinary.
And yet, she was moved up into his science class.
Seto wondered if it was just by sheer luck that the girl had obtained a test score high enough to change classes.
Then he wondered if she was a lot smarter than she seemed.
And staring at her hair ribbons, her dress, and her shoes, he also wondered why she liked the colour purple so much...
He turned his attention to the front. Smart or not, thought Seto, she's going to help me beta-test my new holographic projection device...
Ree was gazing out of the window. Reflected in the glass was Seto Kaiba, cold and untalkative as usual. Outside, she watched as the streets went past in motion blurs, the street lights glowing amber; lit across the dark roads like great beams of fire. However, the limo passed many streets, ending up somewhere out of the city. The road was deserted, but as they drove, hills and purposefully planted rows of bushes began to appear, and Ree realised that soon she was going to set eyes on her companion's private estate.
The hills and trees opened up to a lengthy, stone-paved driveway leading up to high gates of black trellis. Beyond them, Ree saw a large, marble-white house with many windows. Columns stretched up towards the sky, holding up the navy-coloured roof... Kaiba Mansion.
She had known what to expect, but still she struggled to mask her expression of awe. She had never seen a house so big! Well, on television, perhaps, but never like this... Ree tried to keep an expressionless face, but failed, miserably.
In the end, she maintained a expression of mild interest with relative success, and held in her urge to gaze about her in wonder.
The limo pulled up to the gates, where two men in suits stood guard. The chaffeur rolled down his window and one of the men walked toward the vehicle and peered in. Spotting his superior in the passenger seat he said, "Ah, Mr. Kaiba! Welcome back, Sir."
Seto merely gave the man a curt nod, who then stated, "Proceed," and the great gates swung inwards to admit them.
As the limo drove up the driveway and neared the colossal building, Ree suddenly felt overpowered, nervous. She started to feel very out-of-place with the whole situation. After all, she was the guest in this place. Who would have thought? Her family wasn't important, or even wealthy.
And yet, she was invited to a meeting in such a place... What was her partner thinking?
How were you supposed to act? What was she supposed to say?
Could you blink and breathe only when you were told? Would she have to politely agree to everything said?
Take a deep breath, Ree told herself. There's nothing to panic about... the only reason I'm here is to discuss ideas for the science project...
At this point the black limousine had parked in front of the mansion, where an escort of suits had already lined the sides of the doors, waiting for their passengers to appear.
The door on Ree's side was opened by one of the men. "Right this way, Miss," he called, an arm flung out in direction of the colossal, white household. As she stepped out from the limo, Ree noticed that Seto was already striding up the polished steps of his home. She hurried along after him, not wanting to be left behind and lost. At the top of the steps, her partner gave a slight, indifferent glance as to whether she was following, and then together they entered through the large oak doors.
Ree gasped without thinking. The place's interior was absolutely stunning. From the marble floor, expanses of expensive decorative carpeting, the great white walls that led to the many rooms and a labyrinth of hallways, and adorned with beautiful and interesting paintings; to the ceiling itself- with intricately carved figures and creatures holding up crystal chandeliers- a sure sign of luxury.
Everything seemed clean and polished; even the doorknobs shone. Too perfect, thought Ree. It was as if someone had meticulously cleaned every speck of dirt and dust and had covered everything in a layer of Silvo.
After a few minutes gazing at all the sparkling finery, Ree realised that she had just lost her tour guide. She quickly scanned the place and found that he had was nowhere to be seen. Cursing herself for being so distracted easily, she began to walk further down into the main chamber of the building. It wouldn't be at all good if she managed to get lost here- there were simply too many places to go!
Finally, after walking past several rooms and through a hallway, she found herself in what seemed to be a dining room, if the 12-metre table wasn't anything to go by. Not knowing what else to do, or what else she should do, she pulled out one of the dining chairs from the table and sat down. Ree then took this chance to gaze at her surroundings. Not far from this chamber was a staircase leading upstairs, and past this one led to more hallways.
Hmm, she wondered, perhaps if I should walk past here through to the hallways...
Suddenly, the girl conjured up a vision of herself forever wandering an expensive maze of hallways and rooms, haunted by images of luxury, and doomed, never to find the exit... Ree shuddered, and mentally crossed that option out. Exaggeration though it may be, it was possible. After all, it is a mansion after all. If she was lucky, she could come across a maid or butler in a couple of days...
No- she would much rather prefer to resort to her alternative. And besides, after meandering aimlessly through the first level, she would eventually have to explore upstairs, anyway. So, thought Ree, stairs it is.
As she began to manoeuvre herself out of her seat, she heard something. Footsteps. The girl froze. From the head of the staircase, appeared a small figure. It was young boy, no more than perhaps ten or eleven, with long, dark hair, and blue-black eyes. He stopped at the sight of Ree, half-cautious, half-curious.
"Who are you," he demanded, "and what are you doing in my house?"
Ree was rather surprised to be reprimanded by a child, least of all state ownership over the building. She spoke gently- children were known to be walking timebombs; calm one minute and explosive the next.
"I'm Ree," she stated, "and... I'm Seto Kaiba's project partner.
'So... I suppose I'm a guest. Um, I think."
The little boy's eyes lit up. "Oh, so you're Seto's partner for that Science thing. He told me all about it. Kinda surprised you're a girl, though," he added.
"My name's Mokuba, by the way. I'm Seto Kaiba's younger brother." His voice was full of pride. Then his expression became confused.
"Wait a minute," he began, "If you came for the project thing... why are you down here and Seto's not with you? Are you lost?"
Ree blinked and smiled sheepishly. "It seems I lost him when we first walked in. Since I didn't know where he went, I decided that I had better keep walking and ended up here..."
Mokuba seemed eager to help. "Oh he'll probably be upstairs in his study. Here, I'll show you!" And with that, he bounded up the staircase in great energetic leaps. Ree followed, and was led past several more hallways through to a row of doors. How can anyone remember the routes to this place? She thought. It's nothing but rooms and corridors!
"His study is the eighth door to your left," said Mokuba, when they had stopped. Ree thanked him, but didn't bother to move.
"Well?" asked Mokuba. "What are you waiting for?"
Ree shifted nervously. "Well," she said. "I just have a feeling that your brother isn't going to be very happy when he sees me..." She didn't tell him that she was actually rather scared- no, intimidated by his older brother. Especially since she had gotten lost...
"He's not as bad as everyone says he is, you know," said Mokuba quietly.
Ree was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"I know he acts really cold and mean to people, but Seto's not like that. He's actually a really nice guy." What Ree thought then was, really nice guy, my foot.
Mokuba continued, "Ever since we escaped the orphanage, Seto's been looking after me. He's my brother, and the best friend in the world." He smiled.
"You guys... lived in an orphanage?"
"Yeah... I don't... really like to talk about it..."
"Sorry."
"It's okay... just... believe me, alright?" He looked determined. "Seto's nice!" Then all of a sudden, his expression clouded. "But since then, he hasn't smiled much..."
But he brightened as quickly as his face had saddened. "So, anyway," the boy said imperiously, as if they were still continuing with their previous topic, "I hope your science thingy goes well. And if you need anything, call at my office; it's the second door next to Seto's! See ya, Ree!"
Then Mokuba scampered nimbly away, and Ree shouted another thank you after him. After she was left standing alone, she began to make her way down to the eighth door to her left. As she did so, two thoughts ran through her mind.
The first, was: So Seto had a rough childhood. I guess if I was him I would be pretty cold towards the world, too. The second, was: Mokuba has an office?
And then she was at the door. Ree sighed, knocked twice, and upon hearing no answer- she turned the doorknob and walked in.
She was instantly hit by a sea of white. Everything in the room seemed to be that colour- aside from the computers and chairs, which were silver, and Ree herself, of course. The room was minimalist, simplistic, and modern, with soft fluorescent lighting. Ree took a quick glance round and spotted Kaiba's brunette mop protruding from a chair parked in front of the centremost, and largest computer. On the desks and screens surrounding him were displays of complicated equations, bits of research material, and desktop simulations of what appeared to be Duel Monster duels. The centre computer displayed a complex series of codes and computer jargon- it was evident he was programming something.
Kaiba did not bother to turn and look who had come in. After all, she was reflected in the glass of his LCD computer screen.
"So, Ree," he said, typing. "You finally made it. Got lost, did you?"
"Actually, I decided to take the scenic route."
Ree thought there was a ghost of a smile in his computer screen reflection. "I'm guessing you missed the elevator when you walked in."
Elevator? What elevator? "I prefer the stairs," Ree replied, ignoring the question.
"Oh, so you saw it then?"
"Well, actually... no," she stated truthfully. "Obviously, I got lost."
"Hmmm, I'm surprised you even found the way to my study."
"I had help. Your brother, in fact," said Ree. "He's nice."
At this Seto merely hmphed, and then began to get into the crux of the situation.
"Now that you're here, let's get down to business, shall we?" He swivelled his chair around to face her, arms crossed. "I told you to bring ideas, so now, let's hear them."
He was staring at her so intently and expressionless Ree couldn't help feeling unnerved. She always felt nervous speaking to him face to face, and much preferred to speak to his reflection. Nevertheless, she fought to get her words out. "Ideas," she started. "Well... I was... I was thinking that, maybe we could..." Ree looked down at the floor and instantly felt better. She looked Kaiba in the eye and said, "I was thinking we could do some sort of visual presentation. You know, 3D models, graphics, that kind of stuff. Maybe we could somehow add a narration or text while the presentation plays... about the mechanics of forces and such..." She was losing her confidence, and Seto remained expressionless.
"That was what I was thinking," she finished quickly, and looked away for a few seconds in anxiety. Seto did not speak or react for a while- Ree almost preferred it if he insulted her. Almost... but then again, not really.
When he did speak, however, it surprised her. "Very well, then. Let's go along with this plan of yours. I'll be making adjustments, of course, but nothing too serious." Ree blinked. This was the second time he had simply agreed to her statements. He was definitely up to something, that's for sure... but she didn't know what.
This was answered soon enough, and brought Ree to the reason she was here in the first place. From a drawer under his desk, Kaiba produced a small metal object shaped like a disc. It was painted white, with red and blue detailing.
"Catch!" he said, before Ree could react. The disk spun towards her in the air in a straight line. When it came closer, she noticed that the disc had not lost any altitude and was still going the exact direction when it was released. She caught it, barely. She had never been good at sports.
What is it? Ree thought as she held the object in her hands. "A UFO?" she accidentally said aloud.
"Not quite," said Seto. "There should be a blue manual start switch underneath it. Flick it on."
Ree obeyed, and was surprised to see a three-dimensional model of the Kaiba Corp insignia floating in the air in front of her. It quickly changed to a rather realistic simulation of a living, breathing Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It roared at her, and blasted realistic balls of fire. Had it been bigger, Ree may have dropped the disc in shock. Gingerly, she tried to touch it. Her fingers went through the projection without so much as a flicker in pixels.
"A hologram," she noted. "without the technical flaws." Ree was rather impressed, though she hid it.
"Indeed," replied Seto, "it's a holographic disk projector. My company has been working on virtual reality software for months- "
"I know," said Ree automatically. When Seto raised an eyebrow, she said quickly,
"I read an article about it in the paper. Word gets round when you're famous, right?"
Seto dismissed the statement and continued. "And so," he said, "this leads me to my suggestion to our little project." He then unfolded his arms, rested his elbows on the arms of his chair, and rested his chin on his clasped hands.
"How about beta-testing Kaiba Corp's latest holographic breakthrough on our Science project?"
Ree then realised how calculative he was. He had planned for this all along! And what better excuse to test his technology than the school science project?
"You schemed this all along, didn't you?" Ree accused.
Seto shrugged. "I didn't think it would be like this, but since Kaiba Corp needed a test-subject, and the science project was assigned this week... it's logical, isn't it? Of course, originally, you weren't a part of this plan... but I decided it would be more useful to keep you as my partner."
Ree glared at him, but then remembered something. "How..." she began. "How did you know I was going to set up an idea compatible with holographic technology? I mean... I could have said to do a physical demonstration or something... and besides, I could have asked for a solo project..."
Seto reclined in his chair, closed his eyes, and smirked. "Quite simply," he replied.
"It was a risk," he admitted, "but it was one I had to take. You may not think I noticed, but I was well aware of the commotion you caused with Mr. Maneco with your drawings. Guessing you were mainly a visual learner, I hypothesised that you would pick a visual presentation style for our assignment- perfect for adapting to Kaiba Corp's current project.
'And in answer to your other question, I knew you wouldn't back down from the partnered project, since, as a newcomer, you would most likely keep to your place. Besides, you would need help.
Basically, you require my help, and I require yours. It's a fair exchange, isn't it?"
Ree wasn't entirely convinced. "Just... like that?" she asked, uncertain. "I help you, you help me- and that's it?"
"Well, you do get a good grade, of course-"
"No, that's not what I meant," said Ree, shaking her head. "Since you've stringed me along this far... I'm pretty certain you get a lot more out of this than you're telling me."
Seto looked surprised. "Well, in a way, yes," he agreed. "I get to have a finished demonstration of the power of my company's virtual technology... outside advertisement to the public of what's to come- a preview, if you like. A way of creating unofficial demand before the real model comes out."
He leaned forward. "And also," he said quietly, "I get your full-sworn secrecy."
Ree instantly became confused. She frowned, the expression blatantly obvious on her face. "Secrecy?"
"Kaiba Corp's current project is top-secret," explained Seto. "I can't have you exploiting the mechanisms of my work to my competitors, can I? Therefore I need a way to ensure your word on secrecy." Then he added, "So what can I tempt you with? Gold?"
Ree was rather offended. "Well unlike some people, Seto," she said, "I can keep secrets without the use of bribes."
"And I just have to take your word on it?"
"You just have to take my word on it."
Seto paused for a bit, as if he hadn't expected this. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" he asked, incredulous.
"I don't need to be... to be blackmailed, Seto!"
Kaiba refolded his arms. "Hmph, fine then," said he, staring at her thoughtfully.
Then he swung his chair back around to face his computer. "I think that's enough for today," he announced, typing. "We shall have another meeting here, same time tomorrow. But next time, I would expect you to bring exact plans of design. We'll be integrating aspects of the holographic technology into it."
Ree nodded in understandment, though she wasn't sure he was looking. As she made her way out of the room, Seto added, "I hope you know your way out."
He stopped typing. "Oh, and Ree?"
"Yeah?"
"Try not to get lost."
As Ree closed the door outside the study, she swore he was laughing.
