Authoress here.
I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG ABSENCE! I do have a reason, however. My room was redone (Squee!) and my compy was dismantled for some time. But now, I return, and here's the chapter.
Yujo Chronicles: Final Chapter
Chapter Thirteen: Calculation
"I'm glad you could come." The man pulled the fedora down lower on his forehead in a nervous gesture. His eyes were rimmed with dark circles and full of anxiety, telling of sleepless nights. His face was pinched with lack of sleep and worry.
Narrin Fujimiya studied the Prince of Spirit World closely. He continued to speak, but Narrin was distracted from his words by the pain in her back and feet. Being pregnant, and far along as she was, standing or sitting for a long time wore her down easily. However, Narrin didn't dare shift her weight or support herself on something, lest the ever-overprotective Ran would notice and immediately begin to fuss and worry. No, he needed to concentrate on the information Koenma was giving them. That reminded her of where she was and she snapped to attention.
"-and you might have already missed them. I contacted Seto Kaiba and he told me they already left his company building."
"Excuse me," Narrin broke in. "Who has already left?"
"Emiko and Katsu." Koenma said impatiently. "You've met Emiko before. But what I'm worried about is Katsu. She has no demonic powers, being human, and she's never exhibited Spirit powers before, and I highly doubt she will."
"Why is that an issue?"
"Because," Koenma explained. "Miss Katsu is bound and determined to go with Emiko to save Yusuke. And she would be defenseless."
"Emiko knows better than to let a human go into Demon World unaided." Ran ventured. He sounded doubtful.
"Aha. There's where you're wrong." Koenma said grimly. "I've only known Emiko for a short time, but I do remember hearing of her when she and Kurama were still yokai kitsunes. She left her father to be with him, and evaded capture to do so on more than one occasion. Devoted little thing that she has been (and still is) I doubt the danger factor for Katsu has barely crossed her mind."
"That's not the way I remember her." Ran argued. "And Katsu is a smart girl as well."
"If Narrin were kidnapped…?" Koenma let this thought sink in, and watched a closed, determined expression settle behind the redhead's eyes.
"Whatever." Narrin broke the two men's silence. "Let's just catch up before something unfortunate happens."
Somewhere in Demon World
Kahiru cursed violently as Tei rushed into the room
"I heard the alarm sound. What happened?"
"We've got a slight problem." Kahiru managed to effectively control his anger as he glared at the computer screen in front of him, fingers skating over the keyboard. "The fox just tried to kill himself in the dream."
"But I thought Tokuiwa-"
"I know what Tokuiwa said." Kahiru interrupted smoothly. "But unfortunately Tokuiwa was incorrect."
Just then the demon in question flew into the room, almost stumbling over the chords criss-crossing over the floor in his haste. "The alarm! What's wrong!"
"Your calculation." Tei's voice was curt as she scanned the data scrolling on Kahiru's computer screen. "You said that the captives wouldn't be able to concentrate on one scenario of the hypnosis long enough to start acting on a suicidal basis."
"Which one tried?" Tokuiwa hurriedly pulled on a lab coat and safety glasses before running over to the generator to check the immense power levels.
"Fox." Kahiru scrolled further down the listed schematics. "And now I have the nanites temporarily disabled for him. We cannot afford for him to be out for more than two minutes, or he'll regain full consciousness."
"Can't we just put him back under?" Tei looked at the shorter demon with concern.
"Not without an extra boost from the generator." Kahiru started typing again, and then hurried to the tank where Kurama was submerged. "Tokuiwa, give the surge switch one half turn to jump the nanites….now."
The lights burned slightly brighter for a second, and then returned to their normal level as the power hummed at a regular setting.
"Back under hypnosis." Tei announced, strange eyes perusing the data on the computer screen. She turned to Kahiru. "And why can't we boost the generator if he regains consciousness?"
"An extra surge of power added on to the normal functioning rate of the working nanites would destroy them." Kahiru made a few adjustments on a large machine. "Meaning if we jumpstarted Kurama from no power to full we'd explode any nanites running with Urameshi and Kuwabara, effectively killing them."
"I still don't understand how that fox could have even gotten to suicidal thoughts." Tokuiwa shook his head, massaging his temple. "They aren't supposed to be able to concentrate that long on one scenario."
"Remember when we told Urameshi that his "fists-first" style would help him?" Tei said after a short pause. "Perhaps we were right. Perhaps Kurama's more organized mind is trained to focus to the point where he won't allow the nanite system to randomize his thoughts in order to switch scenarios."
"If this is true," Kahiru said. "Then we'll need to shut down and reboot his nanite system every scenario that's played. He'll probably try to die every time if he keeps himself so focused."
"Damn!" Tokuiwa swore. He seemed to be trying hard to not kick something in frustration. "This was not in the calculations."
"We'll just have to sell them quickly." Kahiru said shortly. "Tei, what was the last bid?"
"Not as high as we hoped." Tei's usually emotionless face looked grim. "Only a little over two million. There was an offer for five if we caught Hiei, but seeing as Tsurukai isn't back yet…"
She trailed off as Tokuiwa started cursing. "Two million? That's not even enough to pay off all of our debts!"
"We must wait longer." Tei's voice had a slightly pleading feel to it. "Kahiru, you must agree that we have to."
"Fine." The shorter demon's response was curt. "But we must be watchful. If Kurama dies, we'll become pariahs to our own kind."
Domino City, Kaiba Corp
"Emiko?"
The walkie talkie crackled for a moment, then Emiko's voice sounded over the static. "I hear you, Kiamo."
The pretty blonde nodded to Seto, who returned his attention to the large screens in front of him.
"Okay, Seto's working on refining the signal." Kiamo reported. "Where are you guys?"
"We're just entering through a portal." Emiko's voice faded in and out like a badly tuned radio. "Can you still hear me?"
"Yes." Kiamo turned up the volume a little so Seto could hear Emiko's voice as well. "You in?"
"Yes, and I'm giving you over to Katsu."
Seto's fingers literally skated over the keyboard, typing so fast the schematics were barely listed before switching to something else. The teen's eyes scanned the data expertly, missing nothing as the screen changed swiftly.
"I'm picking up on some flocculation in the hypnosis pattern for one of them." Seto announced, eyes still trained on the flashing screen. "They were momentarily taken out of it, why I'm not sure."
Kiamo relayed this back to Katsu who had taken over the walkie-talkie.
"Well, if you find out why, give us a shout."
Kiamo nodded, although Katsu couldn't see her. "Will do."
End Chapter
Authoress here.
I am really, really, really tired, and I have to roadie tonight. And I'm not feeling motivated to write. So I'll do a longer chappie next time.