First Prototype Test Ch.14

FF Three Weeks Later

After that dream Riley pretty much avoided Seto at all costs. She only talked to him in regards to work related stuff. She didn't know how to face him after that kind of dream. Riley still hasn't talked to her mother yet. She focused all her time on making sure the project was going on smoothly, as well as fulfilling her duties as an assistant. Seto was nice enough to let Riley get involved on some of the engineering meetings giving her an opportunity to learn more about how the equipment works and what procedures are to be taken in regards to getting things approved and what guidelines are to be followed to ensure all products meet up to code as sanctioned by the government.

Riley

It seemed like the weeks went by quickly for her. Drowning herself in work really made her focus and get the job done. It made her forget everything. The argument with her mother and that weird dream she had with making out with him.

Mokuba was awesome to be around. He kept her company in her office as they discussed the project and Mokuba showed her a thing of two of programming languages and syntax. He was a fun kid to be around for sure. She was reminded of her cousin, Ayleanne, who was also as vibrant and smart as he was. It was also nice that they were close in age. Snapping her out of her thoughts was Mokuba who burst into his office.

"Riley are you going to come for the duel disk test today?" Mokuba's smile was just as bright as the sun's.

"I think so." Riley giggled at seeing his happy face. "I would love to see the engineers test it out today."

Mokuba knew how to make her smile. It was like the kid was a natural charmer.

"So, is your brother scanning the system?"

"Yup, Seto is working on it. He hopes it'll be done scanning by four. He's in a meeting right now; I think yeah, he is." Mokuba stared at the ceiling trying to think.

Riley chuckled at his cute expression. Mokuba almost looked like Seto the way he was just trying so hard to think.

"What's so funny Riley?" Mokuba tilted his head in confusion.

"Nothing." Riley giggled some more. "For a second there, you almost looked like your brother." She giggled a little more thinking about how serious her boss was when he was thinking too hard.

"Well, I'm gonna go wait in Seto's office. Catch you later Riley." Mokuba ran out smiling.

After Mokuba left, Riley was reviewing the project report and making sure Seto didn't have any appointments before testing the new duel disk. He was currently talking about his new project in his meeting and she wondered how that was going.

To be honest, she was curious to see how the new duel disk would work and who would test it today. She never thought she would ever get to see a test of any product up close until she was in her senior year of college, but here she was, given a rare once in blue moon opportunity to see one of Kaiba Corp's product initial test phase.

Seto

Seto was sitting with his three primary investors. They were discussing the prototype and the three men were in awe of the finished product.

"I have to say Mr. Kaiba, you never fail to disappoint." Tanaka was inspecting the duel disk thoroughly.

"Who will be testing the new duel disk today?" Honda asked.

"One of our chief engineers will be conducting the test today." Seto replied.

"That girl who presented the duel disk, how about she tests it today?" Yamada chimed in.

"Pardon me sir?" Seto asked surprised.

"That girl who presented this project a few weeks ago, why doesn't she test it to make sure it runs. Assuming the engineers did their job correctly, it shouldn't be a problem should it?" Yamada looked at Seto seriously.

"Of course sir, I'll let her and my team know right away. My brother Mokuba will show you to the testing room as I make the final preparations. Sound good gentlemen?"

All three men nodded and Mokuba led the trio down the stairs.

The scan on the program and system databases was all ready to go. He saw that he could test the duel disk very soon, even at this very hour. Making a quick phone call to the lab, Seto requested that they set up a testing room. After that, he informed Riley of the test that was about to take place in about half an hour and that she was allowed to observe the test run as part of her "experience" she could apply when she would be pursuing her mechanical engineering degree.

Riley

She paced around her office. She was both excited and nervous at the same time. Almost a month making sure the prototype was ready to go, and here was the day to see the result of all the hard work everyone put into the project. As she stared out the window, Riley blanked out. Her mind wandered off to her mom. How was she doing? How would have things turned out if her mother was still here instead. She shook her head and did a final check on the report. Everything looked good and she took a deep breath as she watched the clock in her office slowly tick by the minutes.

"Riley!" Mokuba burst into the room making the brunette jump.

"Gosh kid, you really have awesome ninja skills." Riley put her hand over her heart. "So, is the testing room ready?"

"Yup, up and ready. Seto already got confirmation from the lab techs that the android is functional and nothing is wrong with it so yeah c'mon let's go!" Mokuba dragged Riley out and into the elevator.

Testing Room

Riley was having a hard time keeping up with the raven haired boy. When she arrived, her giggling stopped. She was met with the cold gaze of her boss and the three investors were present as well.

"Ms. Castaneto, was it?" Yamada stepped forward. "We would be delighted to see you test the new duel disk today."

Riley's eyes just widened in shock. "I see." Riley recovered at the shock of receiving the news. "I thought the chief engineer was going to test it out today." Riley said slowly.

"Change of plans." Seto replied quickly and gave her a serious look. "You can duel right? I want you to test the prototype." Seto looked at Riley seriously.

"What? Are you serious?" Riley was handed the prototype duel disk and was shoved into the test room before she could even retort back.

'Man I should have worn flats today, not heels.'

"You ready Ms. Castaneto?" a lab tech said over the microphone.

"Sure, as ready I'll ever be…except I really suck at dueling." Riley looked down at the ground mumbling the last part.

Seto stood with his brother and the three investors in the observation room as they looked at Riley modeling the new duel disk. Their expressions were serious. Seto's heart was racing. He hoped that the duel disk would be a success.

"Now, I am initiating android's data of Yugi Mutou's dueling strategy sir." The lab tech was setting everything up. "Ok, Ms. Castaneto, you start first."

Riley hesitantly drew five cards. She scanned her cards. The basic of Duel Monsters was all she knew. She just went with her instincts.

After twenty minutes, Riley lost the duel by a slight margin. With a resigned sigh, she carried the duel disk back up to the lab.

"Well Mr. Kaiba, you've done it again." Yamada slapped Seto on the back. "This is quite a wonderful improvement from your first duel disk. Please give us details when you'll be holding your tournament. We will provide any money for endorsements or for production."

"Quite extraordinary Mr. Kaiba, this will revolutionize the holographic technology and this could be applied to other industries out there." Honda chimed in.

"We are quite pleased with the outcome. Gentlemen, I think we are quite satisfied with what we saw today." He gave a curt nod to the CEO. "Please call us again when you're ready to initiate your tournament plans. We look forward to hearing from you soon."

"Thank you." Seto bowed. "I'll be in contact with you soon."

As soon the men left, Seto let out a sigh of relief. Everything went as planned.

"You really did well out there." Mokuba hugged Riley around her waist. "Can I try?" the boy looked at her with pleading eyes.

"I honestly see no problem with it since the robot proved to be safe. I would ask your brother though to see if it's alright."

"Can I Seto? Please can I go try it out?" Mokuba eyes were pleading and desperate.

Seto's brow furrowed in deep thought. The android proved safe right? With a huge sigh, Seto nodded briefly. He couldn't refuse his brother with his pleading, doggy eye look.

Mokuba squealed in delight. He hastily grabbed the disk out of Riley's hands and ran into the testing room.

"Mokuba, do your best kiddo!" Riley said over the microphone.

Seto crossed him arms with an unreadable expression. Riley ignored him like she always has for the past few weeks.

Before she could even blink, Riley caught small sparks coming from the android. Ten minutes barely passed, and already there was danger.

"Mokuba, you should get out of there, the android is beginning to spark." Riley said over the microphone.

"It's only been five minutes, so it can't be possible." Mokuba turned towards the frantic brunette.

"Seto, here." Riley ignored the fact she called her boss by her first name, and rushed down to the room. Mokuba's safety was at the top of her mind.

'Fuck these heels man.' Riley ran as fast as she could to try to get Mokuba out of that room as soon as possible.

The android started showing signs of evident sparking. Mokuba's cheerful, sparkling expression turned into fear. Seto now saw the sparks coming from his testing robot. His eyes filled with worry for his brother.

"Mokuba, get the hell out of there!" Seto yelled over the microphone.

Mokuba stood stiff. Riley shook her head and pushed Mokuba to the base of the steps.

"Go on, listen to your brother. Get out of here!" Riley egged the young boy on.

After a couple of seconds, Mokuba snapped to his senses and ran up to his brother. Riley smiled at the young boy.

The sparks started to worsen. Riley figured she could get out if she was fast enough. Taking a deep breath, she started to run towards the steps, but before she could make it, the android exploded, sending shards of metal stabbing various places in her back and legs.

Riley screamed in pain as the shards penetrated her skin and her head impacted the first stair of the test room making her a little disoriented. Seeing the blood trickle down from her thigh made her faint.

Mokuba started screaming Riley's name as she collapsed onto the first step of the staircase. Seto shook his head in anger at the failure of the robot.

"Who ran the damn tests this morning?" Seto clenched his fists.

The lab techs looked to each other and at the same time, pointed to each other.

"I don't care who tested it as long as it gets fixed! Call an ambulance and get Ms. Castaneto to a hospital!"

Mokuba clung onto Seto's trench coat scared about what happened and worried for Riley.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Mokuba stared at the motionless body of Riley.

"The techs are here, so they can do it. Come Mokuba, I'll take you home."

"No I don't want to leave her!" Mokuba cried.

"I'll call her family to go to the hospital." Seto picked up Mokuba and left the room. "Look, I'll call her uncle and ask her how long she is and how long she'll have to be at the hospital if that makes you feel better."

Mokuba sighed and just looked down as he clutched onto his brother's neck.

Meanwhile, in the lab, one of the techs, Hiro, took a part of his sleeve off to reduce the bleeding.

"Oh man, when are the ambulance guys going to come over?" A lab tech by the name of Gina started panicking at the fact that Riley was still lying on the stairs unconscious from the impact.

"Everyone clear the walk way please!" the medical team came in with a stretcher and hauled Riley away amidst the shocked employees of Kaiba Corp.

Seto's Office

Seto was sitting at his desk what could have gone wrong. If his testing robot was ok on safety, why did it suddenly just malfunction? He had to analyze that as soon as possible. Turning his chair around, he stared out the window. Riley saved his brother without even hesitating to do so.

'How could I have not seen that? She risked her own safety for my brother. Why would she do that?'

Mokuba sat on the couch with a melancholy expression. He really wanted to see Riley, he really liked her. The younger Kaiba wished his brother would too, but he was a hard person to get through.

With a heavy sigh, Seto called Riley's uncle talking about the accident. He requested he come by later and he'd give details on where she was.

He felt his chest constrict, and he didn't know why. For the past three weeks or so, he noticed that she wasn't as feisty as she usually was which he found quite unusual. She seemed more compliant and was curious as to why. But that's something that shouldn't be on his mind right now.

'I hope her injuries ain't serious. I can't have her out for too long. My secretary Haruhi is pregnant and who knows when she's going to request her maternity leave? As much as I hate to admit this, I have to thank her for saving my brother's life. One second later and Mokuba would've been in the same position she is right now. I don't get it, what does Mokuba see in her that makes him like her so much? I honestly don't see anything redeeming about her except for what she did today. I honestly can't be thinking about her right now. I have no time for that. Ugh what am I doing, I gotta make sure that damn robot is working so I can conduct another test soon.'

It was sure a long day for him, and he wished that for once, at least once in his life, something would go as planned.