Virtually Yours

By: Robin J. Sky

Part One

            Kaiba sat in the backseat of his limo, tapping away at his laptop keyboard. Well, that's what he was supposed to be doing. His history homework had really piled up in the last few weeks.

            But that's why I can't possibly concentrate on it now... he thought. He had been working day and night for the past month and a half, trying to undo the damage those corporate suits had done to his beloved virtual adventure game. Now, it was finally ready for testing. But he had made sure personally that nothing would go wrong this time. Along with himself, six other teens from the city had been recruited to test the game out. This afternoon, he was going to embark on his life's dream. One of them, anyhow.

            The limo slid to a smooth stop in front of the KaibaCorp building. He could hardly contain his anticipation as he stepped out of the car. Then he looked down at himself.

            Priorities first, he thought. I've got to get out of this god-forsaken uniform! He entered the towering building and took an elevator to the 52nd floor- his private loft.

            He exited the lift and looked around the plush apartment. Well, it wasn't exactly penthouse material, but it was close to his work, which was good enough for him. It was really just a big living room and kitchen, with a few doors leading off to other rooms: one bedroom, one full bath, and another room that he had turned into office space for himself. He thought back to a time when that really had been a second bedroom, with a small set of bunk beds. He and his brother Mokuba used to sneak in when their adoptive father was working.

            Shaking the memories from his mind, he made his way to the bedroom to change. He looked in his closet, which was filled mainly with his business suits. He wrinkled his nose. Not exactly what I had in mind... Then he spied a plain black shirt with no sleeves that seemed to be buried amidst the rest of the materials. Hmm...

            Not my normal style but...maybe we'll consider this an experiment. It was perfect. If he dressed differently than normal, maybe the recruits would think he programmed himself into the game. It would be the greatest way to find out exactly how realistic this virtual world was. He donned the black shirt and a pair of black pants, then looked in the mirror.

            This should do it, he thought. Kaiba heard the door to the apartment creak open, and poked his head outside the bedroom door to see who it was. His sister Raia strolled in.

            "Hello, Seto," she said. She looked at his outfit. "Hmm...It's a new hairdo, right?" she asked jokingly.

            Kaiba narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm testing out the new game today, in case you've forgotten," he said.

            "So you're trying to look like..." She stopped.

            "Like who?" Kaiba asked.

            "Nevermind," she answered. Raia started towards the door.

            Kaiba ran in front of her, blocking the exit. "Like...who...?" he asked more seriously.

            "I said nevermind," Raia answered. She stepped sideways, trying to get around him, but he stepped sideways too, blocking her path.

            She quirked her brow and gave Kaiba a "Don't-even-try-this-'cause-you-know-you're-gonna-lose" look.

            He took a slow step towards her. "Look...like...who...?" he asked, each word slow and deliberate.

            Raia took one cautious step back from him, then looked straight into his eyes, trying to stare him down.

            It didn't work.

            He charged towards her, and she bolted across the room, giggling. She leapt and cleared a coffee table, landing on the sofa in the living room. He followed, but jumped up over the armrest instead of the table. By the time he got there, though, she had rolled herself off the couch and was squirming along on the narrow space of floor between the couch and table. Kaiba himself tumbled off the couch and landed on his back, but managed to reach out and grab his sister's ankle.

            Struggle as she might, she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp. He got to his knees and crawled closer to her. Then he knelt on one of her legs.

            "Ow!" she cried. "That hurts!"

            "Look...like...who...?" he asked again.

            "Ow!" She couldn't help laughing. "Get off me!" She tried smacking him but he grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the floor.

            He repeated the question for the fifth time. "Look like who?"

            Raia was panting, trying to calm herself from the effects of the adrenaline and her own laughter. "Your outfit," she said, still chuckling. "You look like Yugi."

            Kaiba's eyes narrowed and his face hardened. He stood up and let Raia go. When she saw his expression, she sobered up quickly.

            "It's not meant to be an insult, Seto," she said quietly.

            "Well, it is as far as I'm concerned," he snapped.

            Raia just shook her head as she left the room.

            Seto went back into the bedroom. He changed the shirt for one with long sleeves and threw his white coat overtop. Much better, he thought as he glanced in the mirror. He checked his pocket to make sure his deck was inside, and then headed out for the KaibaLabs building.

            When he arrived, he breezed through the door, and was soon joined by a young woman in her twenties.

            Never underestimate the benefits of having your own personal secretary... he thought, hiding the grin on his face.

            "KaibaCorp recruited six teens to test out the virtual game today," the woman said. "They are gathered in the main building, and they're being briefed right now."

            Kaiba ran over the conditions in his mind. Each player will be transported to a different location in the game. Each one must make their own way through the adventure. After two hours, the game ends and everyone gets a free crash landing back into their bodies.

            I love my life.

            He finally made his way into the lab room. Situated in the very center was the virtual-pod. From it, tubes, wires, and cords created an intricate web of duck-or-you'll-hit-your-head and watch-out-don't-trip-over-that surroundings. The woman following him went over to the control panel on one side of the room while Kaiba hopped into the pod.

            "Virtual screen- closing." the computer recited.

            Gotta kill that computer voice, Kaiba thought. Very annoying.

            "Virtual screen- locked," the computer continued. "Insert dueling deck into the drive recognizer."

            Kaiba pulled his deck out of his pocket and placed it into the slot. All this felt eerily familiar. The last time he tried out this game, had got trapped inside by those slugs who *used* to work for him. Then his little brother had to rescue him. Very embarrassing. Adding insult to injury: Mokuba brought Yugi and Joey along for the ride. Well, those suits got exactly what they deserved. Memo to self: hire window repair man on retainer...

            The woman's voice broke into his thoughts. "The computer registers all other pods ready and standing by."

            "Excellent," Kaiba replied. "Execute virtual uplink."

            The woman threw a switch, and that's all there was to it.