As the sirens rang out, I used the thermal vision on my visor to scope out two certain areas in the distance. Just as planned, two large explosions detonated moments after, and a long trail of smoke climbed to the sky - the sleeper cells I had inside the two main Dominion military bases overloaded the bases' reactors and destroyed them. While that wouldn't completely prevent Dominion intervention, it would make any kind of immediate retaliation prohibitively dangerous. Their military strength was effectively cut by at least 70% in this area, and if all went according to plan, the other bases around the country would be unable to react in time. Once I verified all that, I began the next step.
On my signal, the demolition charges that were planted simultaneously exploded. Two of them were used to destroy the auxiliary generator, and the other two were used to create precise openings in the facility. We were mainly here to rescue the captured Shinobi and other people of interest, but my secondary objective was to infiltrate their underground facility where they were supposedly doing some kind of experiments involving immortals. If at possible, I was going to find a way to destroy them before they could be a major threat. The two openings I made would serve as an entrance and exit route. With powerful monsters summoned, we were prepared to strike. We had moved from the top of the cliff to the wall of the facility to infiltrate while our other operatives were distracting the opposing forces.
"Activate your DMI, you two," I ordered to Latch and Shirley, as we prepared to infiltrate.
"Right," Latch agreed.
"Got it," Shirley followed. Seeing their expressions as they witnessed for themselves the power of the DMI, I began to move onward. After passing through the initial wall and into the courtyard, we made a quick sprint to the other opening that was created. With Matasaburo right behind me, we entered into the mess hall, and according to the building plans I had managed to get a hold of, we were directly above the first cell block. I wasn't entirely sure where our targets were being held, but that wouldn't be a problem soon enough. Taking full use of my Blue-Eyes, I blasted a hole in the floor, causing it to crumble and open a path downward.
"You three, clear this level of hostiles, then join me down below," I ordered.
"Will you be okay by yourself?" Shirley asked.
"This is Kaiba we're talking about, right?" Latch smiled, full of confidence, "He'll be fine!"
"Very well, Kaiba-sama. May the spirits watch over you," Matasaburo replied, heading off.
I quickly continued through the opening, landing in a cell block full of prisoners. They appeared terrified of my presence, but I had no idea who they were. None of them immediately caught my eye as anyone we were here for, but I noticed a guard taking cover behind his post and speaking into a radio - most likely calling for reinforcements. While Shirley, Latch, and Matasaburo were away, I quickly sprinted over to the guard's position, vaulting over the counter and landing in front of him. He attempted to pull out his sidearm, but I grabbed him by the face and used my power before he could reach for it.
"A group called the Vengeful Shinobi were brought here recently. Tell me where they are," I ordered.
"...They're being held in Block C..." he said, calmly.
"And these people?" I asked, showing him pictures of several other key targets. He scanned over them with his eyes taking in all the information he could before he answered.
"...They should be in Block B...unless they've already been executed..."
"Executed? What are you talking about? Explain."
"...Most prisoners who are brought in for sedition are to be executed after a designated time frame..."
So, they just completely eliminate the civilians who oppose them...I suppose it's smart to get rid of the radical elements before they gain support and rise up, but these people weren't capable of something like that. The fools in the Dominion were targeting the wrong people...Or perhaps they were executing innocents in hopes it would discourage the Rebellion already in place...
"I need you to do something for me, so listen carefully..." I told the guard.
"...Yes, sir..."
I waited a short ways behind Daisuke with my Duel Disk readied as he slowly opened the front door to peek out. Very slowly, the door crept open until his whole head was staring out there. He was supposed to give me a signal if it was all clear, but...he just stood there.
"...Something's not right..." he murmured, loud enough for me to hear.
"What's wrong?" I whispered to him, getting closer.
"They saw us come into this building, didn't they?" he asked, opening the door a little more, "Where is everyone?" After a few more seconds of looking around and making sure the coast was clear, we stepped out into the night air. No matter where we looked...there was no one. It was weird. I was totally expecting an ambush or even just a few soldiers waiting for us here.
"Did they...just give up?" I asked, confused. Before Daisuke could answer, though, we heard what sounded like explosions going off miles away. Only moments after, a distant siren began to loudly sound and spotlights shot up into the sky.
"...Or maybe they have their hands full with something else," Daisuke suggested. Just after he said that, we heard what sounded like helicopters approaching. Glancing upwards, we saw that they were flying towards us pretty quickly and even had spotlights illuminating the streets. At the same time, small robotic drones were pouring out of the helicopters, spreading out across the city with spotlights of their own. Daisuke quickly closed the door and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Looks like traveling the streets isn't an option. If one of those drones spots us, we're toast. They're all over the place right now, too," he told me, "What's going on, though? Did Tachibana tell you that he was going to be doing something?" I shook my head.
"He hasn't mentioned anything, but I can't imagine anyone else could drive the Dominion into such a panic," I replied.
"Can't argue with that..." Daisuke agreed, rubbing his neck, "But, now what? Where are we supposed to go? It's not like we can fly away with our monsters, either."
Just as he finished that sentence, I felt a strange presence behind me. Looking back, I saw a blurry white and gold mass of...something...floating down the hall.
"What? Do you see something?" Daisuke asked me.
"You don't see that?"
"See what?"
Was I just hallucinating? It was so vivid, though...I felt as if I had seen it before. This couldn't be just some weird illusion, right? On top of that, it felt like it was leading my somewhere. I didn't really know what else to do but follow it.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Daisuke asked as I began to follow the anomaly.
"I...don't know..." I mumbled in response. I could tell he was reluctant, but he followed behind me anyway. Wherever this thing was leading us, I had a gut feeling that it was where we needed to go.
"Kaiba-sama, we've cleared the first floor of hostiles," Matasaburo told me, Shirley and Latch following behind him.
"Excellent work," I said, nodding to them, "From what I've discovered, our targets aren't in this cellblock. We'll need to go deeper."
"Then, who are all these people?" Latch asked me, looking at the prisoners who were scattered through the different cells.
"Actual criminals," I informed him.
"C-Come on...we can help you take out the guards and stuff if you let us out..." one prisoner tried to bargain with me, sheepishly looking through the cage doors.
"Quiet. We're here to release those who were wrongly imprisoned," I told him, "We'll take care of the soldiers ourselves. Let's go."
Without another word humoring the scum sitting in those cells, we continued through the building, following the building plan I received and making it to the stairwell. Blocks B and C were below us, and from what I understood, the lab containing the immortals was even lower.
"Where are all the guards?" Latch asked me as we reached the lower floor, "There were a ton upstairs, but there's almost no one down here."
That would be because of the soldier I used my abilities on. I ordered him to direct the other guards upstairs and away from the lower levels. Shirley, Latch, and Matasaburo would have more to deal with, but our path downward would be nearly risk free. Telling them all that would be unnecessary, though.
"I triggered an alarm elsewhere. They're most likely concentrated in that location, or are on their way there," I suggested.
"As expected of you, Kaiba-sama," Matasaburo said with a smile, "Resourceful as always."
When we finally made it out of the long hallway and into the next block, I got a look at all the prisoners in the cells. They had a much different demeanor than the ones before us. Though we had just entered the room with large monsters in tow, they paid almost no mind to us. They sat in their cages, weak and limp, their eyes empty - devoid of life and hope. Though their hearts were still beating, these people were already killed by the Dominion's cruelty.
"These poor people..." Shirley whimpered, seeing their horrible fate for herself.
"Yes, this is the true face of the Dominion," I agreed, "But, fret not." I began to search the area for a control booth like the one in the other cell block. While I was doing so, I heard Latch run up to a cell and grab the bars forcefully.
"Mom! Dad! Auntie Hibiki!" he called out, passionately, "It's me! It's Toshiro!"
"Mom? Dad?" Shirley murmured, shocked.
"To...shiro..." the woman inside the cell whispered, not even looking at him. His father looked towards him, but didn't say anything.
"My god...you're alive..." he said, starting to get choked up, "You're still alive!"
"Are they, though?" Matasaburo asked, seeing their horrid condition. I had finally found the control board along with the emergency release lever for every cell in the block. I pulled it quickly, a short alarm going off and a red light illuminating the darkened corners of the room. The cell doors slid open simultaneously, but the prisoners didn't try and leave. They just all sat in their cells, practically unaware of the situation. Latch quickly ran into the cell to assess their condition, but I knew without even looking that they were going to need a lot of rehabilitation. If what he told me before was true, they had been in here for over twenty years. God only knows what the Dominion did to them all this time.
"Latch, I know you're happy to see them after all this time, but their safety should come first," I reasoned, "I'll call in the evac team and we'll get them somewhere safe. Your reunion will have to wait." Latch looked back at me with a desperate expression, almost as if he were saying "please just give me more time", but it quickly changed as he realized I had their best interest in mind.
"...You're right. Let's get them to safety," he agreed. With a nod of confirmation, I radioed the other infiltration team on standby.
"Zeta Squad, begin infiltration and head towards the beacon I'm setting up," I ordered, dropping a homing beacon on the ground, "We need evac for the prisoners in this cell."
"Yes, sir," they agreed, beginning their operation.
"Latch, Shirley, Matasaburo," I called, redirecting their attention, "Let's continue. We still have comrades to rescue."
"Yes, sir!" Matasaburo agreed, with burning enthusiasm. Shirley and Latch both nodded, but before we headed out, Latch walked up to what remained of his family and embraced them, even though they might not even know who he was.
"I don't care what it takes...I'll get those bastards for doing this to you, I promise..." he said to them, afterwards returning to us. Shirley gently rubbed his shoulder and offered him a sympathetic smile for support before we carried on towards the lower block.
"Kaiba! This is Strike Team Bravo! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon one and two are down!" Bravo reported, unexpectedly, "Please advise!"
"Acknowledged, Bravo. I want a SitRep immediately," I ordered over the comm, as we continued on.
"We just got hit by some kind of energy blast out of nowhere! It was even more powerful than the Superdreadnoughts!" he replied, panicked, "I think it's going to-...Oh god, no! No!"
"Bravo! What's going on over there?" I barked, receiving no answer, "Bravo! Respond!"
"Kaiba? Is everything okay?" Shirley asked, running behind me.
"Not everything - but the mission must continue," I told her, just as another transmission came through.
"Kaiba. This is the Air Raid Unit. Are you there?" she called.
"Go ahead, Air Raid Unit," I replied.
"Thermal's showing some kind of giant machine moving towards us," she informed me, "It looks like it could be a Duel Monster."
A Duel Monster? So, Viviana was launching a counter attack...but wait...she said "machine"...Viviana uses an exclusively Warrior-type deck. Some of those monsters do look mechanical, though. I suppose it's not impossible.
"Is that what took out Bravo Team?" I asked.
"Most likely. It's the only thing that's charging our position for miles, as far as we can see. We're getting almost no resistance within the facility itself and all communication has been cut off," she explained, "Whatever this thing is, it got word of our attack before we were able to cut off the facility."
"Continue your observation. Let me know as soon as it reaches the operational perimeter," I ordered.
"Yes, sir."
"Hey, Yuki? Are you sure we should be going through here? This place looks pretty...old," Daisuke said as we traversed the tunnel. Following the apparition I had seen led us deeper into the building, and eventually to a hatch - similar to the one I found at school. What's more: the hatch led us to a tunnel exactly like the one under the school. Yusuke once told me that the tunnel under the school was built during the Dominion's invasion of Japan or something like that. It was used as an escape route. I guess it's possible more were built that he just didn't know about. We had been walking for quite some time now, so wherever we were, we were far away from our initial entrance location.
The only light we had was from our phones, and they were running out of battery. As such, I was trying to hurry as much as possible. At this point, the apparition was even farther ahead of us than before, so we were just chasing the tail end of it. I could still "feel" where it was going, though.
"Yuki? Come on, talk to me," Daisuke pleaded, since I had been almost completely silent the whole time.
"Sorry, Daisuke. Just bear with me a little longer," I requested, "I know we're getting close."
"Have you been down here before?" he asked.
"No, but I just...know," I responded, half-heartedly. He sighed, but as usual, stayed with me. As we got a little bit further, he noted something I didn't pay attention to until now.
"Hey, is it just me or are the sirens getting louder?" he asked. Though I kept moving, I tried to pay more attention. Without much time or effort, it was clear that the sirens sounded louder than before. But, they weren't necessarily increasing in volume.
"They're not getting louder. We're getting closer," I told him. Just as we rounded one last corner, we saw our destination. Another ladder, just like the one we climbed down. This one seemed to just lead to a solid ceiling, though. As we got closer and shined our flashlights on them, we noticed that the color of the ceiling above the ladder didn't match the concrete around it. Or maybe it would match it with a couple years of weathering.
"Looks like this part was paved over well after this tunnel was built," Daisuke noted, "Is this where we're supposed to go?"
"Yeah," I told him, "But, I guess there was supposed to be a hatch here..."
"Well, guess this is where I come in," he said, pulling up his Duel Disk.
"Wait - Daisuke, you can't be-" Before I could finish, he activated a spell card that opened a hole right on the spot where the new pavement was.
"...serious..." I finished. With a smile, he gestured for me to climb up first. Accepting his offer, I climbed up the ladder and through the hole he made, but when I saw what was there, I was extremely confused. I finished entering the new room so Daisuke could follow, and he was just as puzzled as I was.
"What in the world...?" he asked. Looking around us, we saw nothing but rows and rows of large, cylindrical tubes filled with some kind of green liquid. The liquid seemed to give off light, because even in this room without any visible lights, it was a illuminated a sickly green. It was obvious that this was some sort of lab, but what they were doing here was anyone's guess. We didn't even know who "they" were, but it was pretty safe to assume it was the Dominion. The tubes had large piplines running along the ground and up into the ceiling attached to them, so I figured we were still somewhere below sea level.
Most of the tube-pod-things appeared empty, but as we walked through the area a bit more, we came across a doorway that led to another section with fewer tubes. There were three on either side of us and one straight ahead, but what was inside was even more mind boggling than this entire lab. In all the tubes were identical girls, all floating in an unconscious state. They weren't just any girls, either. They all looked exactly like Viviana, except they had white hair instead of the golden hair she championed.
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..." Daisuke noted, glancing around at them all. I remembered at that moment that he had never met Viviana proper, so obviously this wouldn't shock him so much. At best, he got a passing glance at her from a distance when we went to rescue Yusuke.
"Is your phone still working?" I asked him. He pulled it back out of his pocket and checked, but showed me that he wasn't getting any service. Considering we were so far underground, that's kind of expected, but I wanted to try anyway. I needed to tell Yusuke about this, but if we were in a dead zone, there was nothing we could do. Still, this was trippy as hell. A bunch of Viviana clones, floating around in some basement? I can't imagine Viviana being okay with this, so there must be stuff that even she doesn't know about the Dominion. Maybe they aren't as friendly with her as I thought...
As I walked around the area, looking for any more clues, I approached the tube at the very front and stepped on something that broke when I put pressure on it. It startled me, so I stepped away and accidentally bumped a button of some sort. I was fully expecting some sort of self-destruct, but luckily that didn't happen.
"Administrator Password required for activation sequence," a digital voice said after I moved away from the button.
"Thank god..." I sighed, having dodged a bullet.
"Password Accepted. Beginning cell merge."
"What?! No! Abort! Abort!" I called out to no avail. The other six tubes around us glowed even brighter than before - to a blinding degree. On top of that, the girls inside began to blend with the water, almost as if they were made of some kind of gel, and the water began to drain into the bottom of the tubes. The only tube that remained normal was the one in front of me, but it didn't stay that way for long.
From the bottom of the tube, green liquid starting filling into it. At the same time, the girl inside seemed to be disturbed by this. She started moving around gently, and eventually started to flail in the water as more of the green liquid filled in. Eventually, she was completely enveloped by the green liquid and was no longer visible. I thought that she was being tortured or something, but I didn't know what to do to help her. As I was thinking of some kind of solution, the liquid in the tube began to change from green to white.
"I still haven't the slightest idea what's happening," Daisuke said, deadpan and confused.
"Don't look at me!" I exclaimed.
Just as the liquid in the tube became a pure white color, the glass around it began to crack. Daisuke and I both knew what was going to happen, so we quickly took cover behind some nearby machinery. We were lucky that our gut was right, because the glass around her chamber exploded like a shrapnel grenade. If we were standing in the open, we'd have a few extra holes in us right now. Steam filled the ground under us and we heard something fall to the ground. Looking out from our cover, the girl had emerged from her tube. She was on her hands and knees, completely nude. I guess because of the murky liquid, it wasn't as apparent before. When Daisuke's eyes widened at the sight, I quickly turned his head away. I decided to step out and see if she was okay myself. As I got nearer, I got an increasingly uneasy feeling in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it.
"Um...Miss? Are you alright?" I asked. Slowly, she glanced up at me. When her crystal-like blue eyes locked with mine, I felt what I can only describe as the terror of looking at an alien being. Normally, when you look at someone, you can sense some sort of...I don't know...humanity? But this girl...looking into her eyes...it was like staring into a black hole - or what I imagine staring into one would be like. It was terrifying and enrapturing at the same time.
"...Designation...?" she asked, softly.
"Eh?" I stuttered, snapping out of my stupor.
"...Designation?" she repeated.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied. When she heard those words, the emotion of her eyes changed from soft and emotionless to angry and serious.
"...Failed to authorize..." she murmured, beginning to stand up, "...Failsafe activated..." With those vague words, she held her arm in front of her in a very familiar fashion. I was almost expecting her to pull out a Duel Disk, but I was floored when a digital one appeared out of nowhere in front of her arm. It was like her arm was projecting the blade of the disk itself, but she didn't appear to be a robot or anything, so I wasn't sure how that was possible. On top of that, digital card holograms appeared in front of her as well, and just by tapping one, she summoned a monster. It appeared to be some kind of knight with a black and gray color scheme. Without my Duel Disk active, I couldn't get exact stats. I didn't even have time to pull it up to activate it, and all I could think to do was run.
Acting solely on instinct at this point, I quickly ran the other way, grabbing Daisuke by the hand on the way out and dragging him with me. He quickly got his footing and followed behind as best he could, not understanding why we were running anyway. After one look back, he figured it out right quick. Even though we were getting close to the hatch again, the monster quickly lunged for it, blocking our only exit.
"Why are we running?!" Daisuke asked, "Can't we fight?!"
"I don't think we can take her!" I replied, uncertain as to what brought me to that conclusion. Maybe it was because she looked like Viviana, or maybe because we just have no idea who, or what for that matter, she is. While I was lost in thought, the monster lunged at us with his sword, ready to strike. Though I was paralyzed by fear, something else jumped in front of me and took the blow. With all the sparks flying, I could hardly see what had happened, but it was obvious it was Daisuke's doing. By all the shards flying about, I realized that he shielded me from the attack with the Duel Disk itself. Luckily it was sturdy enough to deflect the attack at the cost of destroying the machine.
"Come on, Yuki! Snap out of it!" he barked. Before I could act, a loud explosion came from somewhere behind us.
"Freeze!" another voice called out.
"Kaiba-sama! You came to rescue us!" the Shinobi cried out as we opened up their cells.
"Yes, but we're running shorter on time than I anticipated. You need to head upstairs to the B Block and link up with our Evac Team. They'll get you out of here while we finish up here," I said to them, afterwards turning to Matasaburo, "And you. You've done well. I'm sorry that your father turned on you all like this, but your people need you now more than ever. Go with them."
"Yes, Kaiba-sama," he said, bowing down on one knee, "For rescuing my brethren and undoing the sins of my father, I am forever in your debt. As long as I draw breath, the Vengeful Shinobi shall follow you to the very depths of hell, should you wish it."
"Thank you, Matasaburo," I said, "Now, go with them." With a last nod of acceptance, Matasaburo ran off with the rest of the Vengeful Shinobi. While this may have seemed like an act of kindness, allowing him to reunite with his comrades and give him authority, I simply didn't trust him enough to let him see what we were after next.
"Right, then. Let's keep-" before I finished, we felt the entire building shake as a large explosion rang out from the courtyard. I quickly got on the comms to see what was happening.
"Air Raid Unit, what's going on out there? I gave orders to contact me once the operational perimeter was breached!" I called. Though I waited, there was no answer.
"Air Raid Unit! Respond!" Still nothing. I quickly changed channels and called once more.
"This is Commander Kaiba. Any remaining units, respond immediately." There was a brief silence, but one transmission came through. There was coughing at first and what sounded like background explosions, but the person began to speak shortly after.
"This...this is Strike Team Alpha..." he answered, "We're getting shredded up here, Kaiba...Bravo, the Air Raid Unit, most of Alpha...all gone..."
"Are you telling me that a single unit did all that?" I asked.
"...It's like the wind, Kaiba...like the wind..." and with those final words, I heard the radio transceiver hit the ground. The transmission ended, and I was left speechless. The Air Raid Unit, Bravo, and Alpha were all destroyed. All that was left was the Infiltration and Evac Teams, and judging by how things sounded, they weren't going to last long, either. Although I was prepared for up to a 98% loss on this mission, I never thought it would actually happen.
"Kaiba...?" Latch asked, seeing my shocked expression.
"I'm not going to lie to you...they're getting crushed out there," I said, turning to face Shirley and Latch, "I don't know exactly what it is yet, but the Dominion deployed some kind of secret weapon that's tearing us apart."
"I guess there's no way we could have seen this coming, then..." Shirley replied, solemnly.
"No matter. We have achieved our two primary objectives and the rest of our forces are pulling out as we speak," I assured them, regaining my composure and carrying on, "Now we finish the job and rejoin everyone else."
"Yes, sir!" they agreed, as we charged down the hall and towards the stairwell. I was beginning to see what Descartes meant when he said the entire rebellion relied on me. Even while their comrades fall around them and we face near total annihilation, these two remain calm and collected. I suppose as long as I'm alive, they will persevere. That also means that if I were to be captured, they would fall apart, wouldn't it? I suppose having a command structure situated around a singular individual has its benefits, but it would carry an enormous risk if it were anyone else. Luckily, my immortality will allow me to carry on even if everyone else is wiped out. My goal will be accomplished - no matter the cost.
By this time, we had reached the bottom of the stairwell, and before us was a steel security door. There appeared to be some kind of scanner on the wall next to it, and chances were that we wouldn't be able to just hack it. We were far enough below the surface that we couldn't hear any explosions anymore, but the sirens were still clear. If that was the case, they probably wouldn't detect a break in down here. All the personnel stationed here were taken care of, so reinforcements would be unlikely. Without another thought, I called forth my Blue-Eyes and had it blast the security door. Without even using a full force strike, it completely destroyed it. I wasn't expecting it to be so fragile, but once the smoke cleared, I witnessed the reason - yet another security door.
"Another door? Is there just a long line of them?" Latch asked, calling forth his Dark Simmorgh to destroy it.
"Looks like they really don't want intruders down here," Shirley suggested, also calling her Radiant-Eyes Dragon. With our combined, fully-charged attacks, we blasted the door ahead of us, but also seemed to tear through at least four other security measures, including some kind of turret that was set up. The only way we could tell was from the debris left behind. Now all that was ahead was a tunnel we carved ourselves - a single path to our objective. At least, that's what I was betting on. We had enough evidence to support it at this point, and our intel was almost certainly good. We continued on without hesitation, and as we got further in, we heard what sounded like fighting. A green light lying at the end of the tunnel marked our destination, and as we rounded the corner, we quickly prepared our monster's attacks and called out to the enemy.
"Freeze!" I shouted. However, as I gazed down upon the scene, I was completely floored by two things: Yuki and Daisuke in the top secret lab that I worked tirelessly to uncover, and a white haired, blue-eyed woman who shared the same face as Viviana. Her eyes were empty and cold, and her gaze sent a chill through you. It was not unlike staring into an unknowable abyss. The woman looked back at me, almost as if staring through my helmet and into my eyes. After staring for a brief moment, she quickly spun around to reveal a holographic duel disk being projected from her arm, as well as several projected cards. This was technology we had not yet encountered before, but now was not the time to analyze. It was the time to act. She was obviously a Duelist, and if her face was any indicator, it would be dangerous to allow the duel to continue.
"Isn't that...?" Shirley murmured, in awe.
"Sure looks like it..." Latch agreed.
"Y-Yusuke!" Yuki called out.
The woman called the monster she had on the field over to her, directing it away from Yuki and ordering it to go after me. I quickly blasted it away entirely with Blue-Eyes, then rushed at her with great speed. Latch and Shirley were both surprised at my reaction, but I couldn't hesitate against this person for more than one reason. I quickly tackled her to the ground and restrained her arms so she couldn't use her Duel Disk.
"That face doesn't belong to you. Who are you?" I asked. Her battle-ready scowl continued as answered me with a stoic monotone.
"Designation?" she asked. Designation? My designation, or her designation? Considering I had very little knowledge about this situation, I only had moments to piece together what I could. This lab was supposed to house clones which were somehow being used to create immortals, of that much I was nearly certain. This woman had the same face as Viviana, and when we charged into this room, we saw many incubation tubes filled with liquid, so my only conclusion is that instead of creating immortal beings from scratch, the Dominion decided to work off of the foundation of Viviana's DNA. Considering she was still vastly different to the original Viviana, I could only think that this woman was their first successful "prototype". Having come to those conclusions, I activated my ability on her.
"I am Kaiba, and you will serve me or die," I ordered her. Strangely, despite making direct contact, the golden crest that usually appeared on someone's forehead did not appear. Clothing such as the gloves I was wearing were not a suitable barrier to stop commands from working - I had confirmed that time and time again. Either way, she had no clothing on to stop the connection, either. I was certain she should be affected.
"...Designation...Kaiba..." she mumbled, the scowl disappearing from her face and turning neutral again, "Authorization code?"
Authorization code? She wasn't affected by my ability?
"Serve me!" I ordered again, trying harder to enforce my will through the ability. Once again, she appeared completely unaffected.
"...Unauthorized facial pattern detected..." she said, squinting her eyes a bit and scanning over my helmet, "...Valid authorization code detected...proceeding under contingency protocol A9..." After that, her body completely loosened. Her expression changed to a neutral one as well. I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but I could venture a guess.
"Are you going to attack any of us?" I asked her.
"Is that what you desire?" she asked back.
"No. I want you to remember everybody in this room. They are to be protected," I said, getting off of her. She continued to lie on the ground, looking at everyone around her.
"You can get up now."
"Understood," she accepted, standing up.
"...what the hell just happened?" Latch asked after a brief silence. Shirley, Daisuke, and Yuki all looked similarly baffled. What had happened was the acquisition of an instrument with such potential that it made our losses in this battle look like a pittance in comparison - but they didn't realize that yet.
"I'll explain later, but for now we must make our retreat. Our mission is complete," I replied.
"Wait, that girl is what we came here for?" Latch asked, as I took off my cape and began to approach the girl to cover her, "She's the thing that was in this lab?"
"As I said, I will explain later. For now-" Before I could finish, this girl grabbed me by the helmet and forcefully pushed me away. The force she used was so immense that I was flung into the next room through the doorway. At the very same moment, the building shook with great force and the ceiling where I once stood collapsed. If I would have stayed there, the debris would have crushed me. The girl was able to avoid it as well, thanks to what seemed to be precognition on her part. Her strength, her perception, her apparent immunity to my ability - due to all these extraordinary factors, I absolutely could not let the Dominion have her.
"Kaiba!" Shirley exclaimed, running over to me as I picked myself up.
"I'm fine," I said, "But perhaps you have a better idea now of why this girl is so important."