Annex 025: Objects in Motion
In the wake of the attack, Dreamworld left no stone unturned. They investigated every possible lead and that included possible card providers; sources for Augusts deck. The disciples started with the guildrunner who was already in the vicinity. "Nobody requested anything related to Red Dragon archfiend or any other card we saw in Augusts deck, not of us. I assume your checks will tell you the same." Cassius wanted to help, despite his partners objections. "Why are you asking him? Can't you see that these people are trying to frame Cassius? That guy's gotta be from that illegal circuit you keep talking about." Emily had come along because she wanted to be know what they knew and then pass it along to Alice and Uno. "It isn't that simple, Mrs Brandt." Zach answered her hastily. He saw the deathglare Iria was giving the girl. He figured he would be better at doing the talking. "We investigated Vice and his shop completely. Though we found a few ties to known dealers, he and his associates had no knowledge of anyone that fit the description of the one you called June. Whoever they are, they are not from that circle."
"Yet the first point might be valid. First fusion, now Synchro; someone could be trying to put the guilds against each other. But who?" The logical culprit would be the XYZ-guild. They were the most aggressive and disliked both the Fusion and XYZ-guild. "That does not explain why they would attack Dom." Iria spoke up. "Or how they possess cards that we do not." Cassius coughed. "He escaped us.. somehow. I missed something." Iria muttered. She still did not comprehend how he did it. Her barrier showed no signs of disruption, and she had given him no openings. It was unfortunate that August got away with his cards before they could analyze them. "The cards he used; there were no traces of unauthorized updates on either dueldisk. The cards themselves must have had the original code. Except they couldn't have come from us. His cards are the same as.. Uno's."
"The codes?" The conversation had lost Emily with the technicalities. "A digital print needs to be inserted in any card for it to work with our dueldisks. That is why fakes inevitably get found out, you cannot copy the codes without degrading them." Zach explained it to her. Vice's fusion monster did glitch out when a guild dueldisk tried to play it. "Shouldn't we be getting to the more important mystery? Like, a duel monster doing real damage?" Cassius looked out the window. They were inside the very building that had been attacked. Down below men and women were already hard at work at repairing the hole in the wall. "Is that part of the code as well?" He glared at the two disciples. One had heard enough. "That will be all, guild leader Cassius." She nodded at two bodyguards and they forcefully shoved Cassius and Emily out of the interrogation room.
"Hey! Watch it!" Emily freed her shoulder. The guards withdrew in silence. "What did you say that made them get all uppity?" She vented at Cassius instead. "Just a rumor that we picked up on. People were saying that Dreamworld was working on technology for hardlight constructs. Basically they'd be making touchable holograms." Given the kind of destruction he had seen August unleash, that technology seemed to be more than just hearsay. "That's possible? They are just holograms, right?" Emily had a hard time believing the rumor despite the visual evidence. "Light is energy, energy can be molded. If they can make barriers with projections, they can do more. It does not mean Dreamworld itself is doing it. Someone inside Dreamworld may.. Ah never mind. It's just rumors. Let's just go see how the others are doing."
...
A new guild was born. "Here ya go!" Alice and Uno handed their request and their medals to another secretary and she processed their information in a matter of seconds. "That was it? You're telling us it is that simple?" James Brandt only saw the woman press a button. There was none of the strict formality one would expect from such a transaction. "Well there is still a contract they should sign. And a questionnaire to fill in." The woman still had large paper stacks waiting. "I see. And what about Dom? Is he not going to give his stamp of approval?" Uno was hoping to see the man in person. He missed his chance earlier. "I am forwarding the information to him now. After the recent attack on his life, I am sure you can understand him not doing any more meetings for the rest of the day.." The assistant kept typing until her eyes fell on Alice's profile. "It says here your deck of choice is Mermail?" She looked at the girl. "Uh, yeah? Is that bad?" Alice echoed her apparent concern. "You might say that. The tournament has a one-deck per entry rule. The Mermails are already taken by someone from the XYZ-guild." A "So I cant use them? But.. But I wanted to use the cards I have. Mom and dad bought them for me on my 12th birthday!"
"Good grief, Cora. Don't scare them like that with the details." Said the master of dreamworld, as he appeared on her left. "Guh." Uno wanted Dom to show up, but he did not think he could be that stealthy. "Sir? I was only citing your rules..I can handle this." Cora groaned, softly. She could not exactly deny him access. "I dont often get the chance to talk to people, so let me." The hologram waved her off. "Little girl, I had no idea those cards were so precious to you. It warms my heart I tell you. Unfortunately I cant go back on my own rules, I have to promote variety after all!" Nobody wanted to see a tournament of 32 mirror matches. It also did not sell well. "So when is your next birthday ? Maybe I can buy you a new gift." The master offered. "Uhhh.." Alice placed a finger on her temple. "January the 27th." Her father gave the answer before she did. "Oh yeah. I always forget." She grinned. "Waaaait a second. Are you trying to buy me off?"
"You're right, I probably shouldn't be spending company funds on new friends for the tenth time. January is too far off anyway" Dom stroked the underside of his mask. Then he snapped his fingers. "Tell you what! The other guy is from the XYZ-guild. He's in the top 10 of the guild, and I can't see him being kicked off any time soon. But if you could focus your deck on Synchros and add in a few tuners and a few less Mermails. Maybe I can write you down as an Atlantean promoter. How does that sound?" He excitedly rubbed his hands together. "I'm sorry. But I don't like to use Synchro monsters. Can't I just use main deck monsters?" She had gotten this far without them. "You can. Of course, you can! Though I wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep your friend Uno afloat. Your deck will need a lot of luck to survive. If an independent wins, they gain a lot of points because their odds are the worst of any guild. If they lose, they also lose a lot of points. You can drop to the bottom of the chart in one duel. Are you sure.." He tried to make an offer again. Alice shook her head. "That's okay. If I'm getting something new, I want to get it on my own. People can't keep helping me.."
"Very well. If that is all." Dom nodded his featureless head and turned it away from the trio. "Wait!" Uno called after him. "Don't you have anything else to say? To me? What more do I have to do to get you to talk to me? You let me get this far! I would have joined your tournament either way, what does this all prove?" Uno yelled and his hand reached out to where the master stood. "You didn't get anywhere actually." But he was gone. Uno's hand only touched the air where he once had stood, where his voice still echoed. "A hologram?" Dom had never been here in the first place. "Damn it!"
"What? What did we miss?" Emily and Cassius returned just in time to witness Uno's outburst. "Dom refused to help Uno! He said he doesn't trust him!" An admonished Alice said. "What!? He said that after you saved him?" Emily folded her arms and scowled. Zach had jumped in first, but Uno's help had to count for something. Not to mention all the other things Uno had done for him to promote his cards. "You do trust me then?" Uno asked. "Why wouldn't we trust you? You're not a bad guy." Alice made her stance loud and clear. "Well, now.. yes. I am not out to get anyone, as far as I know. Maybe Dom is worried that I could be a sleeper agent. What if my memories were taken so I could befriend Dom." Uno could not speak for his past self, clearly. But if August worked with June, then they could have put that plan up together. "No offense. But that sounds like the most pointlessly complex infiltration plan in the world. Dom must be paranoid as hell to believe something like that." Emily said. "But it could be worse,.. at least he didn't kick you out."
"So it sounds like the tournament is still going to have to happen. We know it starts next Saturday now, but where?" James sighed deeply. It seemed every duelist was willing to go on despite the attack. "I can come up with a few places. But trying to predict Dreamworld never works well." Cassius assumed Dom was waiting until the last moment to fill everyone in. Brandt would not get much more info right now. "Then we're done here? I only have a few hours left before I have to get back home. It's gonna be a longer trip with that truck."
"I think so!" Alice quickly filled in the rest of the forms and handed them to Cora the assistant. "Great." She thanked them dryly and reviewed the papers. Cora found one blank spot. "...You are required to give a name for your guild. Just a simple 'the-blank-guild' will do." She took out her pen. "Oh... Alic?" Uno looked to his partner. "Me?" She was surprised that he was not trying. "It was your idea in the first place. I can't come up with anything right now, and I bet you have a dozen ideas already." Truth be told, Uno was still too upset with Doms actions to get into his creative side. Luckily Alice was there. "Eh..yeah..sorta. I thought we could go with Oddball, Wonderland, Uno and Pals, Showstopper, Uno Dos Tres, ExExtra, OrangeBlue, Axis Symmetry Parabola..." She could have gone on for a while like this, if the assistant had been patient enough. "Oddball it is." Cora simply wrote down the first name immediately and excused herself. "Huh? What? Wait I wasn't sure yet! Oh.. Aww.. it works, I guess.." Alice also sighed deeply. "Dad's right. Let's do something fun somewhere else."
The duelists made the best of their remaining time with their father and friends before the time came to say goodbye. "Are you sure you girls don't want to come back with me? The house feels empty. And it will be lonely on the road." Brandt was about to go home alone, because his daughters had decided to stay with Cassius. "Ah. Maybe we should, Em?" Allthough Alice clearly had second thoughts. "Dad. Stop trying to guilt-trip us. We'll come home as soon as we've dueled enough people to make it into the tournament." Emily was a bit more resolute. "Hey Iknow that it's handier to find duelists here than in the hill area. But I'm not gonna stand in the way of a family reunion." Cassius quickly absolved himself of any responsibility. But James was not sad, he was smiling. "Heh. I can't get you to stop once you want something, Em. I understand, and I am sure the missus will too." He had seen how his girls could take care of themselves, and how Cassius would keep them safe.
"What about you, Uno? You don't have a place to sleep in, do you?" Alice brought up another subject. Uno had never told them what he planned to do now. "I keep getting talked to like I am gonna jump of a bridge. Don't worry, I'm sticking with the group. Just because we are on different guilds, does not mean we should be enemies, right?" He gave Cassius a wink. Uno had no intention of giving up that nice bed in the castle, despite him not being a part of his guild. "Heh. Very true. We don't need to duel each other until the tournament. I will try to keep my guys off your back until then too; Oddball Guild." He snickered. "Hey! You will fear that name before long, Cassius." Uno laughed right back at him. "But the ones who should really fear it are Dom and his pals." Uno glared at the horizon, as the red sun vanished behind Dreamworlds tower. "Then we will see."
...
"They seem to be leaving the city, sir." Back in the head office, Master Dom received the final report from Iria. "I see. I'm glad they really want to give it a shot." He placed his hands on his spherical mask and took it off. A long grin crossed his face. "Maintain our current surveillance status. Give them some privacy. That will be all." Iria nodded and walked towards the door. She stopped and hesitated. "Sir? If it is not too impertinent of me, I would like to propose a question." She turned back to Dom. "Okay, shoot." He sat down in his swivel chair and propped his hands against the back of his head. "Do you have any idea what that man, August, could have been talking about? It would help with our investigation." She spoke boldly. Dom could detect that she was already regretting her words. "Not a clue." He answered nonchalantly, though he wasn't facing her. "Alright, sir." Iria believed him regardless. She bowed and left the room. "..." Dom leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "We're still going. So are they. And I think I know what they want." He opened a drawer in his desk and took three blank cards out of it. "We'll need precautions UNO."
...
Elsewhere, in one of the many dueling hubs that the XYZ-guild had claimed for themselves, a few troopers came to the commander on his thrown. Adamant was displeased. "Who gave the retreat order?" His duelists had failed to record the entire event at Dreamworld. "Me, sir. I felt it was wise to fall back considering the damage that man could create." His second in command admitted. "Someone who allows fear to dictate his actions is not fit to be my second. You are demoted." The guild leader growled. The man did not even make a peep of protest. He just shuffled away, ashamed. "Roma. You will be the new second in command." Adamant offhandedly promoted the next duelist standing near him. "Thank you Adamant, sir." The duelist bowed. "Save it. Get me every scrap of data there is on this August person. I want to know how he got his hands on technology like that. He may be working with the Enemy."
...
Down on the island casino, the Fusion Guild formed their own opinion on today's crisis. Several managers and lawyer used the elevators to descend to the lower levels of the building. There they met with their top duelists in the shadows. "Creating real monsters out of projections. I like this idea.. I want this idea." The woman with a deep voice cackled. "It is such a scary thought, that our opponents could get their hands on it before we do. Scarier that Dreamworld might have hidden it from us." The other girl with the softer voice sounded had a more concerned reaction to this news. "What should we do, Dame?" The managers inquired. "Well we know what the the XYZ-guild will want to do. Let them. The one who takes the first step is the first lose. We have our own secret."
...
The days went by pretty fast after that. Emily, Alice and Uno found plenty of opponents to take on. Allthough there had been some tough encounters and setbacks, all three eventually made it to the top 64. It had been close, and they had to stay active to not lose their spot. But the deadline came soon enough. Their positions were secured the second to last day before the tournament, albeit with the lowest seeds in the bracket. That day was also when Dreamworld officially announced the scene of the tournament. Dom invited all 64 duelists with their families and friends, to come to the creatively named 'Dreamworld' amusement park. They would get suites there in hotels, free tickets to all the rides inside the park, and front row seats for every duel that would be held in the tournament. But first, Emily and Alice would use their remaining days to spend time with their father, in their own home. Uno was welcomed there as well. He was happy to spend his time there in peace, watching TV, using the net. But all this time his mind wandered to what lied ahead. Thankfully Saturday was there before he knew it.
"Come on kids!" Dreamworld park was not exactly around the corner. Worse yet, James had failed to get the week off. He was only given the time he needed to drive his two daughters to the trainstation... if they hurried up. "Still packing I guess." Uno was already done, but he did not have much clothes anyway. He had only bought a handful of sets this last week. It would be enough to make him stand out. The shades though, he kept those, no matter how tacky they looked.
"Hey Em! Can I borrow some of your old clothes?" Alice asked her sister. "What? Why?" Emily asked her back. "I thought I should wear something cool, you know? A lot of people are gonna watch the duels on TV. You already have Aarons jacket to look cool in." Alice did not want to make a weak impression.. "Just take whatever. We're gonna be late!"With her lighter case Emily rushed downstairs. Alice eventually followed with a dozen sweaters, vests and what not stuffed in her case. "You think we should say something to Eric?" She asked right as everyone reached the pickup. "He hasn't talked to us all weekend. If he wants to mope, let him." Emily grumbled. Yes it sucked that Eric could not make it. But him telling them to get out whenever they tried to knock on the door did not make him more sympathetic. "Come on." The family would have to leave without saying goodbye, they did not have the time. "You know. I am gonna miss this place." Uno looked one last time at the town as they began to leave it behind. "But I am ready to go, more than ever."
(To be Continued in Annex 026: A Heavy Metal Overture)