4 Aisu
//Don't pull me down//
//This is where I belong//
//I think I'm different//
//This is where I belong//
Blink 182—"Pathetic"
In the Kaiba mansion...
Kaiba Seto pored intently over the computer. *Perfect...* The virtual tests were going as planned. Now all he needed to do was to upload the data to Kaiba Corp's master computer, and run some full-scale splicing tests the next day.
Splicing. Something odd and new. Something that had captured Seto's interest. Now he was finally pursuing it.
"...so tomorrow you bring this to Kaiba Corp?"
Seto jumped. He had forgotten that Campbell was behind him. "Hai. I've been developing it virtually, but tomorrow...it becomes reality."
Campbell sounded uneasy. "I once read a science fiction novel about splicing. It didn't have a good ending."
"Why? What happened?" Seto asked with half-interest.
"The antagonist of the story stole the secret of splicing and nearly destroyed the world."
Seto scowled. "That's not going to happen," he promised grimly. "I alone hold the information." The brown-haired teenager ejected a compact disc from the computer. "No one's touching this."
Campbell stared at Seto for a long time. Sometimes she couldn't believe how much he had changed. No longer was Seto the small bullied kid who never spoke. He was still notably silent, but neither small nor bullied. He seemed confident, but confidence and promises guaranteed nothing, she had learned.
Midian had confidently told her that their mother wouldn't die...
Her classmates had confidently told her that she would love America...
Her soccer teammates had confidently told her that she would receive the MVP award...
*Promises guarantee nothing but false hopes...* Campbell had told herself repeatedly in the turbulent days after her mother's death. She had come to believe those words, and they resurfaced in her memory as she heard Seto's promise...
****
The next day was dark and cold. It perfectly matched the Nemuriko twins' mood as they hurried to Kaiba Corp after school.
They arrived just as Seto opened the doors of the testing room. Campbell took up a headset, fitted it around her head, and sat with her fingers poised over a small computer's keys, ready to record results. Midian took his post at the window beside Mokuba.
Takaishi Ran, one of the best computer technicians in Kaiba Corp, entered the small control center.
"Everything ready?" he demanded commandingly. Takaishi had been an officer in the Japanese army; he didn't tolerate nonsense.
"Hai, Takaishi-san," everyone replied almost in unison.
"Good. Maken-san! The report?"
Maken scanned his computer screen. "All systems green. Eh...48% chance of injury..."
Mokuba glared at him. *You had to say it, didn't you...?*
"Anything else?" When Maken shook his head, Takaishi continued. "Master Kaiba says to proceed with the fusion."
"Yes, sir," the others replied. Takaishi took his place on the master computer.
"Should we begin, Kaiba-san?" he asked through his headset. Seto nodded slowly, taking his place in the pod which sat in the middle of the room. The pod was identical to the ones used to travel to the virtual world. But it served a very different purpose...
"Begin aisu fusion...now!" Takaishi ordered.
"Hai!" Midian pulled with both hands at the lever on the control panel before him. "Aisu fusion begins now!"
Light illuminated the testing and control rooms with fierce brightness.
Try as he might to silence his fears, Mokuba was still worried. *Seto...!*
The technicians waited breathlessly for it all to be over.
Finally...after what seemed like hours, the light faded. The pod opened. Mokuba bit his lip. *Big brother...*
Seto stepped from the pod as if nothing had happened. Campbell was puzzled.
"Okay...what just happened here...?"
Takaishi pointed. "We fused Kaiba-san with a small amount of aisu. So the effects are hard to see."
One of the other men hurried down to the testing room to run some body exams. He came back mystified. Seto was just behind him
"Everything's normal. It's as if this never happened," the man reported.
"Look again," Seto said. He held up a hand, ice swiftly covering it.
Midian stared. "What-?"
Seto smirked. "A small amount of aisu is easily controlled by the body's nervous system. See?"
Campbell typed furiously. "It's like something out of the X-Men," she muttered.
"Tomorrow, we'll work up to large-scale tests," Seto told them.
"Yeah," Midian chimed in. "Go home and be content with your progress. We've made good progress, and no one's been hurt."
*Yet...* The thought tore through Mokuba's mind.
****
"Master Kaiba?"
"Yes, Ryumi."
"I thought you should know...Kaiba Seto just ran the first splicing tests."
"And?" Noah turned halfway.
"They were successful."
The boy nodded. "Domo, Ryumi." The man bowed slightly and left the room.
Kaiba Noah swiveled back to his contemplation of Domino City. A smirk twisted his lips.
"So, the splicing has finally begun, eh, Kaiba Seto? Well, you made your move..." He rose from his chair. "Time for me to make mine.
"First I shall oust Nemuriko's pest of a father. Then..." Noah chuckled malevolently. He picked up a small portrait and looked at it with a glare of pure hatred.
"Mokuba, little one, there's no need to fear. I'm not going to hurt you...yet."