Even though Mokuba had sold the blimp, the research team was still riding in style in KaibaCorp's privately commissioned Learjet Global 5000. Mokuba had 'graciously allowed' the jet to be painted like a Blue Eyes White Dragons since Seto was also forced to decommission the Blue Eyes jet and put it as an attraction at KaibaLand. If Seto truly had wanted to keep either of them, he would have put his foot down as CEO, but he loved and trusted his brother's judgement enough when it came to making money for the company.
It was a 24-hour flight to Thebes, via New Delhi, Abu Dhabi, and Alexandria (where they were only stopping to take on Ishizu) giving the team plenty of time to get to know each other better and hammer out the finer points of their responsibilities from their superiors. There was plenty of food, a variety of drinks and even a small bunk section to keep everyone comfortable. The CEO had certainly spared no expense. Since few members of the team had worked together, he wanted them to bond in as comfortable of a setting as possible. After twenty hours in the air, the team as a whole had gotten to know each other and had a feel for the strengths and weaknesses for the group as a whole.
Only Seto steered clear of the mingling, choosing to work from the bunk area until Leo Caspari, the burly Swissman came back and began snoring loudly. Within five minutes, he was in the rear of the cabin where two seats faced two others with plenty of leg room, frowning with crossed arms.
"Dibs on not rooming with that guy when we get to the hotel," he insisted, knowing full well he'd probably be getting a room all to himself.
"Perhaps this will be a safe environment to get to know Sabrina," Yugi whispered to Kaiba.
Seto looked over his shoulder to see Sabrina chatting with Karin and Setsuna Noriega, the three ladies on the project. "I…I don't…It'll look like I'm flirting," Kaiba hissed back.
Mokuba leaned forward to contribute. "Trust me when I say this, bro: no one will ever think you're flirting with a girl."
"So everyone thinks I'm….?"
"Far too interested in making money to delve into the dating scene," Yugi interrupted, flashing Mokuba a wary glance.
"So, I'm exactly like Gozaburo?"
"Technically, no," Mokuba replied holding up a finger, nonchalantly gesturing to Sabrina.
"Can you just stop talking, yenta?" Kaiba snapped loudly enough that the two men sitting opposite the aisle looked their way. He lowered his voice, but kept the ferocity, "It's your fault she's even on this plane."
"It might not be so bad that she's here though. Perhaps being in Egypt around the artifacts in the Valley of Kings will give her memories of who she was," Yugi tried to placate the situation.
"I'm not sure I want that to happen," Kaiba rounded on him. "You of all people know that it's an awkward burden to bear."
"Just go talk to her," Yugi urged. "You just have to make it look like it's all part of the job. Make the rounds, talk to everyone so it doesn't look like you're singling her out."
Kaiba died a little internally. Talking to people was already a chore but talking to people casually and as equals was an exercise in humanity he absolutely loathed. Outwardly, he sighed until his shoulders sagged.
"Come on, Seto," it isn't hard," Mokuba chided, "You can talk about the project, or current events, or travel; anything to get them engaged. Or better yet, ask questions. They'll talk about themselves if you ask nicely."
"I know how to talk to people, Moki. I'm actually kinda good at it, I just don't like to." Kaiba frowned but stood and made his way across the aisle to where Dzam was sitting at a table working on his laptop.
"Already ad work before we're even there?" Seto asked.
Dzam started, jolting upright. "I'm sorry, you startled me," he apologized, "I'm just making sure the coders can start as soon as we get them the information. I'm hoping to have a skeleton of the room done before we even get back to Domino." He turned his laptop around to show the CEO his schedule, highlighting the critical path. "The visuals should be easy and fast to design and if we get those out of the way early, we can focus on the textures."
"It looks good," Kaiba commented, "I'm glad you're at the helm."
"That means a lot coming from you, sir," Dzambul smile, appreciative of the praise.
"I won't waste any more of your time, I'll let you get back to it." Kaiba stood and walked forward to the recliner chairs.
Akira Yamamoto, the lighting specialist, was sleeping, but Honda Tohsaka had his phone connected to the plane's wifi and was watching a news clip with one bud phone in.
"Anything interesting?" Kaiba asked over his shoulder. Honda swiveled ins head upward, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Two more death row inmates were found dead in their cells this morning."
"Again?" Seto watched a few moments of the feed, reading the headline captions. "This puts the body count up to what? Twenty?"
"These two are officially nineteen and twenty, but France, the US and China are starting to also claim that they have a high count of death row suicides or heart attacks that they are thinking might be linked. This reporter is saying the Prime Minister is considering asking the FBI for help."
"That's crazy," the CEO muttered, "No leads, no connections," the footage showed the kanji figures drawn with the fingers of the deceased, "and now the weird drawings."
"And the moral dilemma," Honda mused.
"Beg pardon?"
"It raises the question if killing someone already marked for death is murder or just expedited civil service. Plus, there's the plummeting crime rate. Does the end justify the means of vigilante justice?"
"That's a delicate topic," Kaiba agreed, "To condone the actions of a vigilante would be to disregard the rule of law entirely, and what is mankind without civil law?"
"I think the better question would be: is any civil law worth supporting when vigilante justice produces better results?"
Seto was unsure if the question was loaded or not, "Personally, I'd prefer a flawed system over anarchy." He stood upright correcting his posture.
"I'm honestly not sure where I stand," Honda admitted, pulling his phone down and swiping to a different news app. "Though I think you're right: if it were every man for himself, it will only thin the population."
"You're quite the philosopher," Seto noted, "Perhaps we can exchange economic theories some time,"
"I'd like that," the texture specialist nodded seriously, "I'm interested to see how the 1% sees the world of economics."
"Perhaps over drinks then?" his boss offered as he retreated back to his seat beside Yugi. Honda nodded a farewell before putting his other bud phone in.
"He sure bent your ear," Yugi commented as Kaiba ordered an ice water from the single flight attendant on board.
"I'm sure his politically charged rants are doled out indiscriminately," Kaiba breathed.
"Why are you back?" Mokuba demanded from behind his laptop. You didn't even talk to her."
Kaiba shot his brother a glance that was met with an equally menacing glare. Yugi looked from one brother to the other as they silently clashed in one of their infamous public quarrels. They fought like normal siblings in the comfort of their own mansion or in the private elevator at headquarters: yelling, aggressive posture, forceful gestures, and throwing objects, but in public their method of settling disagreements never escalated beyond a glorified staring contest. Their eyes would lock and communication was conveyed through the slightest facial expressions, mostly twitches at the corner of the mouth and eyebrows. Seto proved the fiercer this time as his younger brother backed down, hiding behind the laptop screen. The elder sat back in his chair to enjoy the quiet atmosphere and his drink for just a few moments.
"Now, for the ladies," he said standing to continue his rounds.
"You got this," Yugi beamed with mock enthusiasm, "you just have to believe in yourself." He was being facetiously peppy, giving his old rival an ostentatious nudge and his trademark thumbs up.
Seto let out an audible laugh. "I honestly thought you were going to say you just have to believe in the heart of the cards for a second there."
Yugi only laughed in reply as he went his way. The three ladies were chattering in hushed tones but were deep in conversation. Karin and Sabrina were looking at a spiral bound sketch book while Setsuna perused her phone for Egyptian artwork, showing the screen to the two sitting across from her when she found something she liked.
"I'm not interrupting girl talk, am I?" Kaiba asked to announce his presence. The trio shook their heads. "I just wanted to check in with everyone before we land. Everything going well so far?"
Setsuna scooted over to the window seat to allow her superior to sit on the aisle. "We're trying to get Karin's creativity flowing." As the head of the storyboard, it was Karin Kurosaki's responsibility to come up with the objectives, tone, and general flow of the constructed environment as well as the major scripted sections. Setsuna Noriega, as the environment coordinator had to ensure that the story and the hologram elements meshed seamlessly, hence she would be active in both elements but only directly over Sabrina's expertise.
"I have so many different directions I want to go," Karin admitted. "Most of the storylines I want to do however are a single player focus. I need to get ideas for a group adventure. Which leads me to a question. If people come in to this holodeck with their street clothes on, won't that shatter the illusion of the entire room?"
"Perhaps," Kaiba thought it over, "Unless they were from the future thrust into the past."
Karin's eyes went wide, "Sent to the past to save the future. I could make it a team effort on the players to assist an NPC, maybe a priest, or the pharaoh, or a general. It would also give a chance for the tutorial to be more like an orientation to the time period rather than just a boring introduction." She ripped her laptop case from under her seat, hastily removing it and signing in almost in a panicked manner as if she'd forget what was in her head before she could get it all out. "A general, fighting against the forces of evil, prays to the gods for aid against the enemy who summons creatures from the realms beyond. As he prays in earnest to the pantheon, he would never have guessed that help would come not from above, nor below, but from a different time." She muttered the words one at a time as she typed them out. "Thank you," she said when she finished, "I have a seed of an idea that I'm going to expand as inspiration hits me."
"So much for all our concept art," Sabrina replied, pulling her sketch book back into her lap.
"Hey, speaking of art," Karin said, her fingers whirring at the keyboard as she spoke, "Show Mr. Kaiba the ones you did earlier."
Sabrina clutched the book shut defensively, "How about: no?" she insisted.
"Come, on, they're good," Karin entreated, reaching slowly for the book.
"It's just basic. It isn't even anything special," Sabrina protested.
"What it is a drawing of?" Kaiba asked.
"Us," Setsuna answered for her.
"Come on, there's no point in putting it on paper if you don't want anyone to see it," Karin put her hands on her hips.
"Fine," Sabrina huffed, whipping the book open and pushing it into Seto's hands. It was clear she didn't want to but quit protesting so as not to draw undue attention.
Seto turned the pages, looking at the bare boned pen and ink sketches she'd done from earlier in the day. One was of Yugi and Mokuba laughing, Yugi's outrageous hair was accurately captured in hyperbolic spikes, Dzam pouring over his laptop complete with a sparkle on his bald head as he sipped a coffee. Akira sleeping with his mouth open and a book open on his chest. Then there was the one of Honda and himself looking at the newsfeed on Honda's phone, both with pensive looks on their faces. Even with the minimal lines, the resemblance was captured effective.
"I had no idea you were an artist," he said quietly.
"My love for art turned into my major which in turn made me love it all the more." She explained. "I usually do graphite sketches and charcoals."
"Question," Karin interrupted, "How do the players get to the past?"
"Mystical artifact that they bought as souvenirs or were gifts from a mutual friend," Kaiba replied, not taking his eyes of the sketchbook.
Karin pursed her lips as she looked at her screen trying to make ideas work. "Too hackneyed?" she asked. Setsuna and Sabrina looked at each other first then to Kaiba, unsure if she had asked him, them, or the screen. "Maybe not," she muttered, letting her hands glide across the keys. "It can be gifts that were unwittingly stolen from an archaeological dig, each one with a special power they can use in the room. It might be a good idea for a prop to help with the immersion. The artifacts activate and pull them into the past and when their destiny is fulfilled, they go back to their own time." She squinted, trying to create a coherent, yet unique story for the environment to follow. "Or…the artifacts can put them into the bodies of people already existing in the past. Like Quantum Leap: player's consciousness in NPC bodies. That will let me build backstories for different characters that the players can choose to be, or better, just let them know the possibilities and not let them choose, just throw them in."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "How do you know what Quantum Leap is?"
Karin was pinned. "I am a closet sci-fi nerd," she admitted.
The pilot came on over the intercom asking the passengers to buckle themselves in for their descent into Alexandria, effectively ending the conversation. Seto returned to his original seat and the plane landed at a tiny private airport on the east side of the city. Ishizu Ishtar boarded as the crew and passengers were stretching their legs.
They hadn't seen Ishizu in almost ten years, but to Yugi, Seto and Mokuba, she hadn't aged a day. Her eyes, still clear and sharp darted immediately to Sabrina the instant she walked on the plane. She was visibly shaken.
"By the gods." The words came out of her mouth in breathy disbelief.
"Ishizu, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the project heads," Seto headed her off before she said anything else, " The one at the computer is Dzambul Yadamsuren, our project lead. This is Akira Yamamoto, lighting; Honda Tohsaka, textures; and of course you know Yugi Muoto and my brother Mokuba. And these lovely ladies are: Setsuna Noriega, the environment coordinator, Karin Kurosaki, the storyboard developer and Sabrina Harrison, the head of art design." He made a subtle point of emphasizing Sabrina's name and her role, hoping she'd understand the situation. She still stared but nodded as each person greeted her when introduced. "Also, there's one asleep in the back; Leo Caspari, the sound manager, who is currently creating the sound effect of a plane engine, or a generator or something."
"So that's what that was," Akira laughed.
The captain stepped back into the cabin. "If you'd all take your seats, we can take off again. I know you want to get there as soon as possible."
They all resumed their original seats, Ishizu sitting next to Setsuna where Kaiba had been only half an hour before.
"Only three hours left," Yugi said optimistically.
"Yeah, but we still have to go through customs," Mokuba noted. "We'll get to relax after we get to the hotel though."
Leo suddenly emerged from the sleeping quarters, turning sideways to fit through the tiny doorway. His eyes were only half open and his hair stood up in bedhead spikes that could have rivaled Yugi's.
"Are we there yet?" his voice still had the scratchy undertones of someone just awakened.
"No. Three hours left," Mokuba replied.
"Close enough, he muttered as he slid behind the table Dzambul was sitting at, resting his elbows on the tabletop.
"And that's my sign I can go get some work done in peace. I'll see you in three hours." Seto stood and left, welcoming the isolation and dark. Even though he planned on working, he was asleep in under fifteen minutes.
The captain's instructions to prepare for landing jolted him awake, though he'd determined to stay in his bunk as long as possible, figuring Mokuba would summon him as soon as they were through customs and ready to head to the hotel. He pulled his laptop out and began working on the coding for the upcoming project, integrating sounds, visuals, and feeling. The plane had been stopped for well over an hour when Mokuba strode in, clearly agitated.
"Customs won't let us into the country." He said flatly, crossing his arms in frustration.