It was his last smoke. He'd quit if everything went according to plan. Of course, being Seto Kaiba, he ran the probabilities over and over again, analyzing every detail— every possible facet of today's turn of events. Kaiba always tried to predict the future, even if he occasionally wished he could see it. For example, he'd forgotten to factor in the simplest of calculations. The goddamn weather…
If only he'd been able to see the future, he would've been able to plan around it. But everything was ready, and if Kaiba waited another day to test out his new virtual world system, he would risk falling behind. Even worse, he'd risk the possibility of dragging Tea into the mess.
The drops of abysmal dark blue that dotted her irises reflected the way the impending storm appeared. Even the way the wind howled in his ear reminded him of her violent temper tantrums. She was like a child he felt the need to protect. Kaiba had finally come to terms with his feelings for her when he realized everything was somehow reminiscent of her.
A few stray raindrops came crashing down, landing hard against his face as he tried to puff his cigarette. The wind was making his last smoke a difficult one, considering it took him almost four attempts to light, but now the rain… A portion of him didn't mind it, though. It camouflaged the tears that were streaming down his cheeks.
Yes, the great Seto Kaiba was crying— leaning up against a secluded part of the Kaiba Corp. building, smoking and sulking about the weather as he endured it. How could he have not planned for the weather? How could he have let his technology get this far? Why did he have to call Tea and let her know what he was doing? She hadn't called him once since he visited her in New York, so clearly, she didn't care. Then why did he care so much?
Thunder cracked, and a forceful gust of wind almost made the young man topple over. His cigarette was practically pulled from his mouth, but Kaiba's reflexes were quick, and he caught the tobacco in time. Unfortunately, the wind had put out its embers. Taking the object from his lips, Kaiba stared at it intently, deciding on whether or not he should struggle to relight it. His hand lingered over his jacket pocket, reflexively reaching for another one, feeling as if his last smoke was cut short. After minutes of stray tears and deciding if he should continue smoking or not, Kaiba tossed the half-used item into the wind and watched it rapidly roll away. Ultimately, it was his last smoke.
"Seto, you're all wet! Where have you been?" Mokuba shrieked as his older brother walked into the control room sopping wet from head to foot. Every lab technician stared momentarily before quietly returning to work.
"Outside," Kaiba replied flatly. He shrugged off his sodden white trench coat, draping it over an arm as water dripped all over the floor.
Mokuba made his way over to his brother, taking a peek at the floor and then Seto while dumbly asking, "I'm assuming the weather forecast was right?" He chucked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"What do you think?" Kaiba's voice remained unequivocal.
Mokuba switched gears, concern coursing from his voice, "Will the storm be as bad as they're predicting?"
"It's hard to say…"
Mokuba's eyes saddened, "Do you still want to take the risk? What if the power goes out while you're in there?"
Kaiba began removing his shoes. The water trapped inside sloshed around, creating an awkward noise. Kaiba spoke over the uncomfortable sound, "That's why we have back-up generators."
Mokuba refused to press the subject, knowing this was a losing fight. Seto was determined to go.
"Prepare my virtual pod for loading," Kaiba bossed around the young CEO like he was still in charge. Every technician in the room nodded as if they were all being directly addressed by the elder Kaiba. "I'm going upstairs to change. I want everything ready by the time I get back." Placing his wet socks over his drenched trench coat, Kaiba put his soaking wet shoes back on and stormed out of the room.
Mokuba sighed. His brother was really going through with this, whatever the circumstances.
It took no more than five minutes for Kaiba to sneak into his office. The elevator ride went uninterrupted and was rather short since he had relocated his office to be closer to the Research and Development department. The space was smaller than what he was used to, but still private. The office lacked the floor to ceiling windows he'd grown accustomed to, and it wasn't nearly as high up as he'd have liked it to be, but it would do for now.
Locking the door and shutting the blinds, Kaiba quickly changed into fresh, dry clothes. The faster he changed and got back down to the lab, the less chance of Tea arriving. He needed to spare her in case anything went wrong. There was nothing he wanted more than to protect her.
Not that he could forget her beautiful face, but Kaiba wished he had just a small picture of her. Just something to look at before he left. The last time they were together was almost a year ago. So much could've changed. She could've cut her hair… It was passed her shoulders when he went to visit her in New York City. She never cut it. It had grown out when she was in the virtual world and it seemed as if she had no desire to go back to the short hairstyle she had back in high school.
High school? Kaiba glanced over at his bookshelf. It was littered with business etiquette books, books on economic trends, sales and marketing guides, everything someone would need to know when running a company, but….
Dashing like a cheetah toward his bookshelf, Kaiba began to tear apart its contents. Shortly after graduating high school, he recalled getting his yearbook delivered to Kaiba Corp. instead of his home address. He remembered his secretary delivering it to him on his desk and him snapping at her, instructing her to "throw it on the bookshelf or something." Now he wished he would've actually seen it himself. It would make the searching process much easier.
"Dammit! Where are you?" He cursed through gritted teeth, sending books flying across the room in a desperate search for his damn high school yearbook. Eventually, he came across an unfamiliar book with the plastic wrapping still on it. He'd recognized every book on this bookshelf. Gozaburo made him study every single one… except this one.
Kaiba tore through the thick wrapping, and sure enough, it was his yearbook. Flipping violently through the pages of nostalgic nonsense, Kaiba found his class and eventually Tea's senior year photo. She was smiling brightly, happy and oblivious to the dark future that life would soon take her down.
"Damn…." Kaiba cussed, thinking of all the trouble he caused her. Deep down, he'd never forgive himself for risking her life, even if it was by accident.
Kaiba took one last moment to soak in her short chocolate locks, beautiful blue eyes, and cheeky smile before ripping out her picture from the yearbook. If he couldn't physically take her with him to test out the virtual world, then he'd take her picture along as a memento.
Traffic was hell. It took them nearly twenty minutes just to leave the airport. Tea was tugging on the taxi driver's arm, begging him to go faster, to swerve around traffic, to do anything that would get them moving quicker. Holding back his irritation with her, the driver insisted he was doing the best he could.
"But we're running out of time!" Tea was frantic, bordering on the edge of hysteria.
"It's rush hour, and people are evacuating because of the weather, miss. Now please, sit down and buckle up!"
"But—"
Yugi yanked her arm, pulling her back into the seat next to him. "He's doing the best he can, Tea. Please just let the man do his job," Yugi politely insisted as his voice held onto its unfamiliar sternness. He reached over Tea's body, grabbing hold of her seat belt and strapping her in.
"I can't let Kaiba leave without me," she pleaded.
"We'll get there as soon as possible, but the weather's terrible." The two glanced toward the windshield, eyes darting back and forth as the wipers moved in periodic unison. Visibility was low. Lightning flashed across the sky. The chances of them reaching Kaiba in time were slim.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I can't just sit here. Her thoughts were eating away at her. The truth was that she had to sit there because they were still way too far away from Kaiba Corp.
Another few anxious minutes later, Tea's eyes caught a glimpse of a distinct bright yellow 'KC' poking out through the low-hanging clouds. "I think I can see the building," she pointed to a tall, obscured shadow across the skyline.
Yugi nodded. Sure enough, it was Kaiba Corp. They were getting close—
The two in the back seat were launched forward as the taxi came to a screeching halt. Their seatbelts locked and practically knocked the wind right out of them. After regaining composure, Tea and Yugi peered through the windshield. Tea's heart immediately sank. Over a mile-long line of taunting red tail lights blocked their path.
"Everyone's taking 41 out of town."
The taxi man's comment made Tea's mind race as the vehicle idled onto the freeway entrance ramp. What was she going to do? She couldn't let Kaiba leave without her. It was now… or never.
Without warning, Tea bolted from the backseat, rain instantly soaking both her and Yugi as she climbed out of the yellow vehicle, fighting the wind as she tried to open the car door wider.
"Tea!? What're you doing!?"
"Going on foot!" She yelled, the wind howling louder than her. "It's my only chance!"
A panic-stricken Yugi tried to reach for her but she dodged him, slamming the door with little effort as the wind voluntarily took it. He rolled down the window, but only a crack, "Please, Tea! Get back in the car! You could get killed out there!"
She didn't argue with him. Instead, she just gave him the business, a method that eerily reminded her of Kaiba. Did she happen to pick up some of his lofty habits? "Meet me at Kaiba Corp.," she shouted over the wind and rain, "I'll pay you back for the cab fare."
She ran without looking back. She had to run. Her legs would be her only chance. Funny, the very same legs he'd taken from her were the same ones that were going to bring her back to him. It was ironic. Like rain on your virtual reality testing day…
Whipping open the laboratory door with unnecessary force, Kaiba strode in with demanding vigor, "Is everything ready?"
When all the lab technicians stood at attention like mindless soldiers, too afraid to breathe, Mokuba was the first to fearlessly acknowledge his temperamental sibling. He nodded, placing his hands on his hips with newfound confidence. "Are you sure you want to go through with this, bro?"
"I won't repeat myself, Mokuba… I do." He turned to the technicians, shouting, "Prepare for launch!" He stomped across the room, his new, and dry, black trench coat swinging gallantly as he moved, "And don't forget to run detailed diagnostics while I'm in there! I expect the report analysts to have something to comb through when looking for patches in the system!" The door was harshly slammed the moment his last syllable left his lips.
This is bad… Mokuba thought, I hope he knows what he's doing… He turned to the technicians and said, "He's clearly going through with this despite the weather. The most important thing I want you all to focus on is the power and the back-up generators. If they fail, there's no way we're going to be able to get him back out."
All at once, like a chorus of militias, there was a congruent, "Yes, sir!"
Mokuba glanced down at his brother from the large control room window. Seto was in the virtual reality pod getting cables and IV fluids attached to him via the doctor. A temporary nasal cannula was the last step for the doctor. Seto looked like a hospital patient, and Mokuba hoped he didn't end up like one again. Granted, these were the precautions they had to take. Seto wasn't hooked up to any of these vitals last time and it nearly killed him. Mokuba kept reminding himself that everything had been examined and was ready for this very moment. But there was just a sinking gut feeling that lingered over Mokuba's conscious. He had to push it to the side for now, for Seto's sake.
Thunder crashed outside, causing a rumble to roll through the room like a small quake. Touching the speaker button, Mokuba hesitantly spoke into the microphone, "Ready whenever you are Seto…"
Seto spoke back through his pod speaker, speaking confidently and clearly, "Ready, Mokuba."
Mokuba gulped before pushing the dreaded upload button.
The room waited in anticipation, something to tell them it worked. After a minute of complete and utter silence, Mokuba's blood began pumping. Something wasn't right. There should have been a ding, or a green light, or something by now.
Mokuba glanced at his dashboard of controls. Nothing was lit up. That's bizarre— Darkness suddenly shrouded them like an uninvited guest. A rumble of thunder and a wave of panic swept over the room. No one could keep their shrieks to themselves.
"The power! The power's gone out!"
"Someone, find a flashlight!"
"Hit the breaker!"
"Mr. Kaiba!"
"Did he go in? Has his mind been uploaded?"
"Mr. Kaiba! Mr. Kaiba!"
"SILENCE!" Mokuba had never shouted like that before. His voice was shaky, plagued with panic, but it managed to send a swell of silence throughout the room. "Someone, find the back-up power generator and turn it on, IMMEDIATLEY!"
"On it, sir!" Someone shouted from the darkness. Footsteps could be heard but the individual who ran to save the day was never seen.
A few flashlights lit up and were being waved across the giant control room dashboard, checking out all of the switches, buttons, and computers. Nothing was on.
Mokuba pounded on the glass, "SETO! SETO, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"
There was no response.
Tears streamed down the young CEO's face as he screamed and pounded on the glass in futile desperation.
A few minutes later, a dull roar of electrical current fired up and the control room came back to life. As the technicians swiftly rebooted their computers, Mokuba demanded they check on Seto. From the other side of the glass, they could see his form. Eyes closed, relaxed face.
"Did he make it!?" Mokuba shouted to the first technician that was able to reboot. Tears were still pouring down his face, melding into his skin.
The tapping of fingers rapidly moving across a keyboard was the only sound that echoed throughout the room as everyone waited in dreadful anticipation for the technician's response. He didn't blink as his eyes scanned his computer screen for more information. Even though his response was less than ten seconds later, everyone's world seemed to stand still for what felt like hours.
Mokuba's breathing ceased. His tears dried up. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Time stopped when the technician's voice penetrated through his consciousness.
"He's gone…"
A/N: I'm going to be mean and end it there. Hopefully I'll update sooner, instead of like, a freaking month and a half! I'm a slow updater during the summer… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know how I did. Thanks!
