Line 128: Every Man is a Piece

All the preparations were supposedly done, and no attacks happened after Jinzo's unreal arrival. "Oh greats its this room. We won the jackpot." By now Cherry, Charles and Tycho had seen some of the other rooms in this strange research center: but the one that they needed to go was the one that stuck with their memories the most: a round wide open chamber with a pillar of monitors and hardware at the center. The walls were lined with odd chairs inside glass compartments. "I am affraid so. But you will find this experience quite similar to the first test. Luckily we wont need hypnotic agents anymore." Renner assured them. "Those chairs you keep glaring at will be what transport you to our personal virtual network. You might have noticed our testing spaces outside, where we craft our personal projections. It is the first step towards recreating the miracle of STHEREA on our own and see if that can be connected to the existing framework."

"But how... can you do all this? And why?" Charles would not sin in any chair until he got a lot of answers. "Oh we are privately funded and own an independent satellite that allows us to connect to the global network despite out remote coordinates. "As for our mission. Well, this all started when Exeter created their virtual world, the offspring of intense labor I am sure. But they inserted it into something that they probably should not have: the human mind. What they call STHEREA grew into something they could not possibly understand on their own. That is where we come in. Our hypothesis is that by allowing a million minds to enter this network, they created a whole new realm not of matter, but of thought. You may have heard of the collective unconsciousness theory, this is basically it. Either this subconscious world existed before and they accidentally tapped into it, or they built it up mind by mind. We do not know the answer to that yet, and we are trying to figure it out."

"Hm, you know more than I thought then." Charles nodded. Still things did not add up perfectly. "What about Static? And Echo? And the third entity? I told you all I know about It, and that is that It exists. But they exist because of these unconscious connections and for all I know there may be even more. Did you know about them all along too?!" For instance, why did they never do anything about the problems on the network? "Because of our independence we were only allowed to consult Exeter, not to interfere with them. They let things get out of hand. This could all have been prevented if they were less discreet about their actions. Though the fact that the second entity you mentioned has started a campaign of terror that can even reach us here went beyond all of our estimates. We are in the dark about a lot of aspects of the network, like these Legacy Items." The researcher shook his head. Charles could not tell how genuine his regret was.

"But you do not have to make estimates anymore, it is happening right now! It sounds to me like you are just trying to avoid responsibility! But then again you havent even told us yet who you really are responding to!" Tycho said with a clear hint of disdain in his voice. "Haven't we?" Renner humored his outburst. "No, you havent? If you're funded privately, then you're not in direct connection with Exeter! So who do you work for? The country? The world? The greater good? Exeter also did a lot of other stuff besides making a virtual world for duelists. The game was just a front for their experiments like project flute! Did you consult them about that too?" Tycho used this to start ranting, making Charles regret that he told Tycho about that kind of stuff. "All I hear from you is propaganda! Why all the secrets? Why take us in like this? Why do you think I want to help you! You know my story. You know why I even became a duelist and joined the network! If I find out that you were in any way connected to the mess that happened at the factory! Then.."

"Then what will you do? Refuse to assist us?" Renner leaned in closer. "What?" Tycho did not expect his threats to fall flat like that. "When you entered the hypnotic state, you were the only one who did not connect with your previous subconscious identity. More than likely you never adapted to STHEREA as much as these two. They were some of the game's first players while you only joined this month. So your concerns about your involvement are largely unnecessary, as you have not even shown that much potential. And while your presence may add to the overall harmony of your partners, it will only provide a marginal boost" The man laughed softly. "Potential?" Tycho repeated the word with utter hatred. "Screw you! Stop dodging the question and answer me!" He shook his fist at the man, but was quickly stopped by one of the security guards in the hall. "If that pleases you. Then I can inform you that we had nothing to do with the incident at the factory or the cover-up of the afflicted. But that is all I am allowed to say."

"I don't believe that.." Tycho fumed. "This is not.. gah!" He could not handle it anymore. He rushed off, agitating the guards and surprising the lunching scientists around him. "Let him go. He has nowhere to run. Just watch him to make sure he does not try anything foolhardy." The researcher gestured at one guard to follow Tycho at a measured pace. "Now as for the two of you, we can begin our first test right now. That is if you feel up to the task: miss Kelly and mister Charles. Or should I say Void and Cherry Anise?"

"Charles is fine." He looked behind him. Tycho was already out of sight. He would have to tend to himself. "Finally! Let's get in there already!" Cherry did not seem to care about him much, she was just glad to get done with listening to all this talk. "Now she at least seems to be grateful for this opportunity. Even a mind with potential would take weeks or even months to take the steps we can cross in a single day." Renner said with an accusatory glance at Charles. "What? If you had not taken me here, I would have been able to get in contact with my friends! I don't care if I get back to the network, I just wanted to warn them!" Charles shouted. While what this man said might have been true, he would rather have done things his own way instead of having to depend on this more than suspicious organization. Now they owned him.

"You cannot undo what has been done. Trust me, the freedom you already have does not come easily in this place. Yes we need you, you could help us prove that it is all one great realm. But you need us as well." Renner nodded at one of his associates who opened two glass tubes to pulled out two suits with helmets. They looked different from the ones the researchers were wearing: tighter and softer. "What are these for?" Charles wondered, since people could not even see through those helmets. "These are sensory deprivation suits, they help ease the body so that the mind can become more active. First we tested your subconscious awareness, now we will test your closeness to the real deal. You came close, Charles Adami. But even you need a little push. Perhaps this will do the trick. Of course, we will be monitoring your every step. So do not try to be creative this time." The masked man chuckled. "If you ask me, creative is exactly what I should be.." Charles picked up one helmet and stared at it. Could it really be this easy?

Of course not.

"Agh! We were just getting to the good stuff!" Cherry groaned. Just as she and Charles finished putting on the suit, all the lights briefly went out and the familiar siren blared throughout the complex as emergency power lights turned back on. "A blackout? Nothing could cause that kind of damage to our facility! Our generators are insulted and shielded!" One of the scientists panicked. "Nothing besides a monster maybe.." Charles realized. "You are right. It's not coming from inside! We're detecting activity at base pillar 5 instead! The Echo entity must be attacking with another ADI again!" Another scientist shouted as he checked a nearby monitor. "For the last time it's not the work of Echo!"

"That's bad, right?" The rumbling and shaking lights already kinda answered the matter for Cherry "Yes! We have multiple generators and backups. But if too many are damaged, we wont be able to start the process! Whoever is attacking us, knows exactly where to hit us! What could be out there?" Renner turned a bigger screen on, so he could see the outside through a camera feed. There they saw restless waves splashing against the pillars that supported this base, and they saw a beast stirring in the waters. "A spiral serpent.. A leviathan to sink a ship." Charles muttered. The camera captured the monster in all of its nightmarish glory: the four-finned and longnecked blue Spiral Serpent. "Don't tell me we have to duel it out there." Cherry sighed. The only way to get to it was by going down the ladders. "We have to! It would be too dangerous to go in while.." Renner stopped mid-rant, when he saw someone descend towards the beast. "What?" It was Tycho. "That fool!"

...

Tycho and his guard had not gone far away. His anger never lasted long enough. It did surprise him that the security forces let him wander around so much, they let him enter the cafeteria and even go through a door that let him outside to a small walkway. Of course there he realized why they did not need to stop him. Outside waited nothing but a stormy sky and raging ocean. This facility rig was built on top of a small island with no main land anywhere insight. He could not escape even if he tried..

He could also not miss the monster that suddenly appeared in the sea and started biting at the large cables running up the pillars. "Another on eh?" On pure impulse he jumped down onto the island part. He was the only one who dared to get near it, his guard did not try to pursue. "Tycho! What are you doing?" Charles and the others could not reach him in time either. But the dueldisk he had on him did have a speaker function, which Rennerr accessed to talk to him. "Gah, don't distract me now! Friggin communicators. What do you think I am doing? I am gonna fight it to show you who has no potential!" Tycho did not know how to shut off the speakers, so he simply shouted back. He reached the lowest platform closest to the monstrous sea and entered his deck into the dueldisk. "Hey! Fight me you overgrown sushi meal!" His words managed to catch the attention of the Spiral Serpent and made it move away from the power cables.

Spiral Serpents LP: 8000 Tycho's LP: 8000

"Sssshyah! A tasty treat! Will you fight or die?" It seemed ready to duel despite its animalistic nature. "I will fight, whatever you are." Maybe he'd spent too much time in STHEREA after all, because the sight of this mythical beast with its own set of cards hardly disturbed him anymore.

-TURN 01-

"Then we shall duel, Shyah! And I begin. We activate Pacifis the Phantasm City!" Below the sea the Serpent carved its domain. The field spell of Pacifis covered the oceanfloor with ruins of an ancient battleground, where only phantoms now resided. "Megalomasher X!" A streak of light shot surged across the ruins, cast by the phosphoric tail of the long-jawed and armored Megalomasher(4/2000/0) [Zone 3]. The deepsea dinosaur possessed no abilities save for its proportionately high attackpower. This was good for the serpent, as it could not summon effect monsters if it wanted to use the effects of its field spell. Pacifis could add a 'Phantasm Spiral' card to the hand whenever a normal monster got summoned. "Phantasm Spiral Wave!" The serpant claimed an equip spell with that attribute, and equipped it to the Megalomasher. The spell caused a maelstrom to open towards the surface, and protected the deepsea dinosaur with a vortex of water. "Now come! Trespass if you dare!"

-TURN 02-

"Tycho, be careful. His cards are.." Charles cautioned the duelist who he knew had a bit of a temper. "I don't need your help, Charles!" Tycho also had no patience for the careful approach. Even if this was the kind of opponent you could not carelessly attack. "Tch, you are so much like him. Neither of you got it: nobody gets anywhere with being careful. You asked me about my friend, right? He was careful! He always did his job perfectly! He could never have hurt anyone, let alone a big company like Exeter! And they got rid of him anyway! That taught me one thing, the only people who get what they want are the ones willing to walk over everyone else!"

"Forget it Void. If Alpha wants to learn things the hard way, he will." Cherry did not have a lot of sympathy for him either way. "My name is not Alpha! I do not need to be Alpha, I only need a dueldisk and some cards for this kind of enemy!" He growled and showed the face of his monsters to the enemy. Allthough in this case it would be a face covered by a helmet. "I normal summon Sublimation Knight!" His steampowered knight(3/1300/200) [Zone 3] did what it could do best, and equipped a FIRE warrior from the deck to itself. "He equips Squeaknight! And I can special summon that card when it is equipped to a monster!" Sublimation Knight's new tool slipped out of his fingers and scurried across the floor.

"Squeaknight?" Cherry could not help but raise an eyebrow at the name of the armored grey mouse(1/500/500) [Zone 2] that wielded a mousetrap shield and a cheese-tipped lance. "I do not care about how these cards look. I just see their function! They're all materials in the end anyway!" Tycho said rather dismissively as he equipped Sublimation Knight with the Magnum Shield equip card. "Like this! I link summon Union Carrier!"

Like most link summons, the result looked quite different from the materials. Only two monsters with the same attribute and type, like FIRE and Warrior, were required to create the Union Carrier: a double cock-pit and treadwheeled train(1000/LINK 2) {Down/Left} [Extra Zone 1] with golden cargo cars. Of course when Sublimation Knight left the field, Magnum Shield disappeared along with it. But there was one FIRE warrior who could be special summoned by banishing equip spells from the graveyard. "I summon Immortal Phoenix Gearfried! And I will use Union Carrier's effect to equip a monster with the same type and attribute to Phoenix Gearfried!" The fiery god paladin(9/3000/2200) [Zone 3] burst out unto the field, though its simple holographic flames were no match for the sea in front of it. Nevertheless, Gearfried(4000/2200) intensified its fire by taking a new tool from Union Carrier's arsenal. Any card equipped with this effect would grant its wielder a 1000 more attackpoints. That monster could also survive one battle each turn. "I equip Infernoble Knight Roland! And attack Megalomasher X!"

"Weak! Shayah! That will not break my Phantasm Spiral Power!" Here the opponent revealed the insidiousness of its deck. "From the hand?" As long as a duelist controlled 'Umi', Phantasm Spiral trap cards could be played straight from the hand. And Pacific the Phantasm City counted itself as 'Umi'. "Tch." Phantasm Spiral Power negated the effects of the attacking Gearfried and cut his(3000/2200) power down by a thousand. "And then we will defend with Phantasm Spiral Wave!" Megalomasher X could not be destroyed either. Once a turn the monster equipped with the Wave would stave off death inside its vortex of protection. "This is what I wanted to say, Tycho!" Charles shouted again. Things would only get worse. At the end of the battle phase, the second effect of Phantasm Spiral Wave would activate and special summon a certain normal monster from the deck and abandon the old host for this new monster.

Spiral Serpent's LP: 7000

"Just get off this line, Charles!" Tycho could yell all he want, his opponent still managed to call the Phantasm Spiral Dragon(9/2800/2800) [Zone 2]., another fourfinned seadragon with a solid mass of horns on top of its skull. The spell's effect also forced Tycho to discard one card (Rocket Hand) from his hand, while the field spell used the summon of this new normal monster to place a new Phantasm Spiral card (Phantasm Spiral Crash) in the enemy's claws. "We are not a team! And we never will be!" Frustrations kept building as this was exactly what Tycho wanted to prevent. He could have, if not for that damned handtrap. "I activate Gearbreed!" He at least managed to keep one trap and a continuous spell. The latter's effect would let him shuffle Squeaknight back into the main deck to draw a new card. Unfortunately activating any kind of effect triggered Pacific the Phantasm City too. "!?" The deep sea ruins let out a geyser of phantom bubbles that pooled together into the shape of another four-finned seaserpent. Pacific had created a Phantasm Spiral-Token(8/2000/2000) [Zone 4]. "Rgh. I set a card. End turn!"

-TURN 03

"Sss. You will drown easily." A forked tongue moved across the jaws of the Serpent, and it proceeded to unload equip spell after equip spell on the Phantasm Spiral Dragon. "Spiral Phantasm Crash! Spiral Phantasm Grip!" The first equip spell added piercing damage, the second gave the Spiral Dragon(3400/2900) an attackbonus. And both spells would special summon even more Phantasm Spiral Dragons from the deck if their master inflicted battle damage with them. Yet none of these cards were as terrifying as the trap that followed. "And Spiral Phantasm Assault!" A trap that unleashed the full potential of a Spiral Dragon that wielded three Phantasm equip spells. If there was any effect that Charles had to warn Tycho for, it would be that one. "Tycho, if he destroys three of your effect monsters with that card! He will automatically win the duel!" The Spiral Dragon took off into the air on its four wings, followed by a spiral of ocean water. It roared and sent one stream blasting towards the Union Carrier. The cargo train got swallowed by the depths: one effect monster down for the count.

Tychos's LP: 5600

"Rgh." Tycho braced himself as the equip cards came into play. Both Phantasm Grip and Phantasm Crash special summoned the second and third Spiral Phantasm Dragon(8/2900/2900) [Zone 1 & 5]. Each one gained their retrospective equip spell from the first Phantasm Dragon. The Phantasm Grip spell also inflicted an additional 1000 points of damage, lashing at Tycho's arm with a tendril of water. "This is nothing. This is not real!" He did not want to believe that an attack could hurt him, Him. This was not the virtual world, and he was not going crazy. Still, his arm throbbed with pain.

Tycho's LP: 4600

"Is it not? Do you need more proof?" The Serpent hissed as it chained the effect of the Phantasm City to the summoning of the second and third Dragons. This time it added a trap card. "Phantasm Spiral Battle! We destroy your weapon!" That trap of course could be activated from the 'hand' as well, and it carried the unfortunate power of destruction. But he avoided Gearfried itself and destroyed the equipped Infernoble Knight Roland instead. Spiral Serpent needed the effect monster alive. "And we banish Phantasm Spiral Power! And equip the spread Spiral cards to one Dragon!" Of course normally a monster would only get one attack per turn, so it did surprise the onlookers that the serpent bothered to return all Spiral equip spells to the Spiral Dragon that already attacked. "And now the magic, Hunger of the Leviathan!" The next card cleared things up: a spell that should not have existed. "Huh?" The Hunger of the Leviathan discarded one water monster (Brinegir) from the deck to allow another WATER monster to attack again. The even stronger Spiral Dragon(4400/2900) unleashed its second bite and tore off the head of the Immortal Gearfried.

Tycho's LP: 3200

Hunger of the Leviathan, Quickplay Spell
Send 1 WATER monster card from your deck to the graveyard and target 1 WATER monster you control.
The targeted monster can attack up to 2 monsters during each Battle Phase this turn.

"Gah! Where did that come from?" Tycho winced again as Gearfried's dying agony transferred over to him. "What? The attackpower? Brinegir can add a thousand attackpoints when it is sent to the graveyard." Cherry scoffed. "Not that! The spell! That card is not official!" Tycho understood very well why the attack hurt him more than usual. "You've seen cards like that before!" Cherry yelled at him this time. She hoped that he would at least remember something like the Legacy of Millennium. "In the virtual world yeah! Not here!" There was a limit to how much crazyness Tycho could accept in a single day. "A custom card you say? Interesting." Meanwhile the researchers were still furiously taking notes and trying to analyze the serpent from a safe distance. They likely had learned a lot by now, but they dared not interrupt the duel. Not that it would go on for much longer if the Serpent got its way.

"Megalomasher X! Spiral Dragons! Spiral Token! Feast on the boy of flames!" Now satisfied with both its meals, the seacreature left the scraps for its four direct attacking brethren. "Not again, you bastard!" The scraps had other plans. "I activate Gemini Ablation!" Namely, a trap that could special summon a Gemini monster from the deck for the price of one card in the hand. "I discard Cursed Bamboo Sword! And special summon Evocator Eveque in defense mode!" Gemini Ablation also activated the effect of the summoned Gemini immediately, meaning that the red/white knight Eveque(4/1500/1000) [Zone 2] could use its special summon ability to bring Immortal Phoenix Gearfried [Zone 3] back to life in attack mode. "None of your monsters are strong enough to kill it!" He gloated as his reborn warrior scared off most of the sea dragons. Evocator Eveque was less lucky and got swallowed whole by the massive jaws of Megalomasher X. "Shyah. We could use another special treat anyway." The five Spirals retreated back to the water and ended their turn.

"Is that so? I guess you're waiting for your next turn to get your special win condition? Too bad I never end a turn on defense, Serpent!" Tycho did not just lose cards this turn. By discarding Cursed Bamboo Sword he activated that spells effect to add a different Bamboo Sword card (Broken Bamboo Sword) from the deck to his hand. And the Infernoble Knight Roland in the graveyard, if he got sent there that turn, would add one equip spell from the deck to its owners hand. "I will always go for the attack, no matter what! I add Assault Armor to my hand!" The more rage he showed, the more it looked like Tycho Rivers had learned nothing.

-TURN 04-

Yet he would not employ the same battle strategy this turn, not at all. "I activate Gearbreed! It will let me draw an equip spell from my deck or graveyard!" He chose to redraw the Cursed Bamboo Sword, as opposed to whatever random card lied on top of his deck. "I think you can see where this is going, Serpent. Or whoever is controlling you!" He prepared three equip spells between his fingers and layed them all on top of the Immortal Gearfried. "Assault Armor can be tributed to give my monster a double attack too! Broken Bamboo Sword does nothing but add zero attackpoints to my monsters. But Cursed Bamboo Sword can return another Bamboo Sword to my hand to give the equipped monster the ability to attack directly! So Phoenix Gearfried will get to attack you twice! You, Spiral Serpent!" The warrior Gearfried abandoned its electric armor of assault and tossed away the weak bamboo sword to fully embrace the cursed sword. However, all of that still would not be enough to deplete all of the Serpents lifepoints. "Me? You can hurt Me! But you cannot kill Me!"

"Because you are a monster that will never die as long as people believe in monsters? Don't give me that BS! I know who the real monsters are! You're just another legend to make the world look more interesting! And its time you were put to rest!" Tycho cursed. He could still draw upon one resource: Gearbreed. He activated the first effect of the continuous spell, returning the fallen Sublimation Knight to the deck, and drew another card. "Heh. Speaking of legends.. I normal summon the Blue Flame Swordsman!" The deck must have deemed it fitting that one classic warrior would come to help another. In this case the famous Flame Swordsman(4/1800/1600) [Zone 2] joined the battle, albeit with a blue spiked chestplate, blue eye-covering helmet and blue flame sword. "During the battle phase, Blue Flame Swordsman can give 600 of his attackpoints to another warrior monster!" The Swordsman raised his blue blade to the sky and shot one third of its light into the Immortal knight's body(3600/2200). "So, will you get hurt? Or will you die? Serpent?"

"You wretched human!" The monster had nothing left in its hands, nothing in its arsenal but hollow threats. "That's what I thought. Hmph. Maybe this time your boss will learn not to get in our way! This is our world! We don't need him to ruin it too! Immortal Gearfried! Double Direct attack!" Gearfried succeeded where all holograms before it would fail, he managed to split the sea water with a vertical and a horizontal burning slash. The attacks left the sea dragons exposed to the air and to the twin attacks of the cursed fire warrior. Once the ADI died, the cards disappeared along with it and the ocean closed back up to engulf and remove all traces of their presence. "I guess... there is some fun in this to be had after all." Tycho could not ignore what happened right in front of his eyes anymore. But at least this proved that he could do the mindspace mumbo jumbo they always talked about. "Was that all of them?"

Spiral Serpent's LP: 0

"It was yes. You may yet be useful for our tests. But I'd suggest you return to the cafeteria." Renner passed off his final instructions before disconnecting from the call. "It would seem we will need to keep at least one of you on guard duty." He lamented towards Charles and Cherry Anise. "This wont go away until you let us in there." Charles snarked. He'd waited long enough now. "Yes. I suppose this entity is targeting us to prevent your return. It will take a while to fix the damage, but we should have enough power.." The researcher gave a gesture at one of the other scientists, who in turn switched the machines on. "Please, if you will, step inside the pods and let your mind wander away. STHEREA may be right around the corner.."

(To Be Continued in World 027)

New Cards used by Tycho Rivers
Squeaknight
Infernoble Knight - Roland
Blue Flame Swordsman

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Union Carrier

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Cursed Bamboo Sword
Broken Bamboo Sword
Assault Armor

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Gemini Ablation

Cards used by Spiral Serpent
Megalosmasher X
Phantasm Spiral Dragon
Brinegir

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Pacifis, the Phantasm City
Phantasm Spiral Wave
Phantasm Spiral Crash
Phantasm Spiral Grip
Hunger of the Leviathan

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Phantasm Spiral Power
Phantasm Spiral Assault
Phantasm Spiral Battle