Part II-I

you can't run from karma

"Hey. Judai?"

Judai vaguely turns his head, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he tries to make the clay wing stick where it's supposed to belong. "Uh-hmm?"

"What's this 'Synchro' you mentioned the other day?"

If Yubel ever sees what Judai turned his art project into, she'll have his head, sworn to protect him or not. Even with the second wing, it doesn't look anything like her. Maybe a bit like Trauriger Drache. If you squint your eyes and tilt your head. His eyes flicker to Ruri. On her workbench next to his, her lump of clay has astonishing similarities with an actual bird. "Oh that? It's another Special Summoning method. Like XYZ. Or Fusion."

Ruri, in the process of attaching the beak, breaks the head clean off. Her head turns to him with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me? What do you mean 'another'?"

Erm.

Chris watches Kaito's eyebrows rise with every word.

He understands the feeling. Having listened to the recording a number of times already and having made a number of hypothesis on what seems to be every-day knowledge to the boy, Chris feels vaguely like a beginner.

And here he was, thinking they were actually pretty well educated on Duel Monsters and what other worlds might be like. Evidently not. The Barian and Astral Worlds both share their affinity with XYZ Summoning. Funny how it never occurred to Chris that there might be one that would favor Fusion.

Of the multitude of programs they have monitoring the city (and the world) the one that has given them the most information (on what is hopefully not going to become another mess) is a passive, flag-triggered observation program that has technological devices within a certain radius of Eriksen Judai pay special attention to him.

The Tenjos all but rule the city so no one would protest too much if they found out about this invasion of privacy, but the thing is, it was not supposed to be an invasion of privacy. It was just meant to be a way of cautious supervision and a way to have quick access to information if Eriksen did turn out to have bad intentions. Orbital monitors it and many others at the same time - it really was set up to be just like a slightly specialized security camera. Yet the first thing Chris nearly stumbled over when he set foot in the lab after weeks of being out of country was a crazy-going Orbital and a distinct lack of Kaito.

Putting down the earphones, Kaito's brow gains a furrow of deep thought. Chris smiles wryly. "You know, it would be much easier if we just invited him and asked him personally. Going by how much he drops in casual conversation I don't think he's trying to hide or keep secrets." Folding his hands, resting them on their elbows on the table, Chris studies his younger friend's expression. "Don't you want to know more about this 'Synchro'?"

Kaito snorts, shooting him a glare. "Obviously. And if it were only that, I would."

"Then what is it? What have we got to lose?"

Kaito turns his back, taking the labcoat on the back of the chair on the other side of the table and pulling it over the casual wear he'd not yet changed out of after his near-sacred (and "not to be interrupted, Orbital") Haruto-time. "Did you see the report on the spatial disturbances? The recent ones?"

Chris follows Kaito into the (one of their many) lab. The neutral lighting illuminates a large hologram of their planet, color coded dots and zones spread all over the globe. "Not yet. I was planning to," he admits. He'd been on a research trip with his father and only just returned today after weeks of absence, so there is a lot he's behind on. "I was distracted by looking for a Duel School that focuses entirely on Fusion, a reference to Synchro and then by the implications when I, as expected, didn't find anything."

It still takes his breath away. The idea that there might be more worlds or dimensions or universes out there that are so near that they speak the same language, have closely aligning cultures, are populated by humans, yet are so far away that even with all their research and all their disastrous dimensional incidents in the past they haven't even caught a glimpse of them.

Wordlessly, Kaito points him at a terminal where an open document fills the screen.

Chris leans over the back of a stool, not bothering to sit down. At first. "They're all the same as...Eriksen-kun's?" He mutters to himself. Their equipment recorded half a dozen spatial disturbances, all show the same frequency as the one Eriksen Judai made shortly before he was caught setting fire to a duel disk.

Chris scrolls further down, then cross-references with the data gathered on these other people that have come to their attention and that, upon further investigation, don't have any past whatsoever. Also just like Eriksen.

However…

The more Chris reads, the more uneasy he gets. These people...try to blend in. They are so far spread over two capital cities but in six different social classes. They even have fake records. Of graduations. Diplomas. Marriage.

Chris stands up. His chair topples over.

Kaito flicks him a neutral glance as Chris joins him at their prototype of a spatial frequency wave generator.

"They're infiltrating us." Chris' fingers tap nervously against his palms as he double checks Kaito's adjustments, their work suddenly like a weight on his shoulders. "...We need to tell the others."

What intentions these strangers have they don't know. It might not be anything bad. They might merely be cautious. Certainly, Chris would be were he in their shoes. But Chris and Kaito don't know if that's merely all it is. Given their experiences, and the secrets someone might target this world for, they can't afford to not plan for the worst.

"Droite and Gauche will be returning to Heartland later this week," Kaito replies simply, preparing a sample for microscopic study.

Of course. Chris' heartbeat slows. Of course Kaito has already taken steps. If there's one thing he doesn't have in hand, though..."What about Yuuma?"

Kaito's eye twitches. Bingo. Chris sighs, a hand lifting to massage the bridge of his nose.

"What?!" Kaito snaps.

"Nothing," states Chris in a tone that very clearly says it is something. "You do realize that if anyone one wanted to get their hands on the Numeron Code, Yuuma is going to be their target." A key to rewrite reality is without a doubt the most valuable object (for a given definition thereof) anyone, in a worst case scenario, could want. It's fortunately removed from the fickle hands of humanity, safely stored with a near-immortal being of steady, no-nonsense, difficult-to-be-swayed heart. Astral has one weakness, though. It's one many of them share. This weakness also coincidentally happens to be crucial for a stable bridge between the Astral World and theirs - without Yuuma the Emperor's Key is unreliable.

"I realize that. How about you try breaking that to him."

Naturally, Yuuma completely fails to realize his own importance. As always.

It should be fine, the Numeron Code and Yuuma being a particularly closely guarded secret. Some alien spy or the like shouldn't be able to find out about that when even this world's governments haven't the faintest idea.

Point is however that they can't rely on that should.

Children. Chris should really not have to think that about people in their twenties. Who have seen more than people trice their age. "I'll speak to Michael," Chris sighs. Maybe his little brother would be able to make Yuuma disappear for a while under the pretense of a friendly camping trip or something.

Kaito grunts.

Chris takes that as the thanks it is.

TBC

...you bet Kaito is keeping an eye on Judai. No way he isn't, not with the multi-dimensional stuff that ambushed them way too often in the past. The only reason Kaito (and others) haven't taken a more direct (rough) approach is that Judai is a kid. Eleven. Way too young, and very much not suspicious precisely because he isn't trying to hide his suspiciousness. I mean, what sort of evil-intended kid with a long term plan fails so completely at being normal?