A/N: I apologize profusely for the delay in the posting of these two chapters, but I had initially only planned to release it as a single chapter and was having a hard time figuring what to cut it down to before realizing I wanted all of it to stay in.
"I'm not spying on her for you," Ishizu folded her arms in defiance. "She is her own woman and deserves her privacy."
"We aren't saying to rummage through her drawers," Mokuba said, trying to backpedal on his older brother's choice of words. "We are just asking you to keep your eyes and ears open for anything helpful."
"And report it to you like some kind of informant?" I won't do it. Sabrina was kind enough to open her home to me. I won't exploit that.
"Look, she has a past like us and we've already been made targets by Coliseum. She is in danger and isn't even aware of it." Seto took a step toward her to appear more formidable. "And if history is repeating itself, then she was born with a powerful creature inside her body. That alone threatens the safety of more than just her. Ishizu, please. You know this is beyond any of us."
Ishizu leaned back against the mirrored walls of the Kaibas' private elevator. Her traditional robes traded in for professional business attire, she now blended in seamlessly with her peers at KaibaCorp wearing a white blouse and black floral skirt that covered her knees. She had even foregone the earrings and necklace and was wearing her hair up. It was undeniable she looked nothing like her former self but was every bit as beautiful and sophisticated. She exhaled sharply. "I won't play matchmaker for you two, nor will I ever press her for information."
"We aren't asking you to do either."
She was silent in thought for a few moments before continuing. "She lives in sizeable house that is paid for in full, but she doesn't want anyone from work knowing she has a small fortune. Hence, she is at least discreet with her inheritance and her identity. As far as her past life goes, she seems to be less connected with her memories since we left Egypt. The dreams and headaches have since stopped."
"And she has no idea?" Seto asked.
"Of her past life? No. She has yet to link Kisara's identity to the dragon or herself. On the other hand, she is getting progressively more suspicious of Coliseum."
Mokuba looked up from his cell phone. "What do you mean?"
"She suspects their involvement in both the robbery in New York and the attack on the tombs, but thinks it is some vendetta aimed against you personally. She may be blind to her past but not to her present."
"Which means we will all have to be careful to watch what we say around her," Seto half stated half commanded.
"Why not just tell her?" asked Mokuba, "Just take her to the museum and show her the giant rocks and explain it to her the way you explained it to me. If she's asking questions, she might be ready for the truth."
"What do you want me to tell her? Even if she does believe in reincarnation, I don't think there's an easy way to tell her she had a past life that ended prematurely due to giving up her life force to a literal dragon."
Mokuba frowned. "I can see how that would sound a bit odd.
"While I think now might not be the right time, I do think you ought to tell her." Ishizu said. "And she needs to hear it from you. And it needs to be before she finds out on her own, because if she finds out from someone other than you, she will feel incredibly manipulated. For now, however, we should keep focusing on Project Dawn and stopping Coliseum."
"Abouth that," Seto's demeanor changed, "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your brother's and how cold I was when you asked to go back. I was thinking of doing what I thought was best for you without regarding how you felt and what you were going through. I would be devastated if I lost my brother and you lost both of yours. I wanted t offer my condolences even though they're delayed and promise you will we go back when we are able and give them a proper funeral, and we will make Coliseum pay."
She could tell his speech had been rehearsed. Mokuba had probably written it for him, but by the gods was it sincere. She smiled. "Thank you, Seto. It helps to know everyone around me cares."
Satisfied the 'meeting' was concluded, he pressed the button on the elevator panel to resume their descent.
"We are grabbing something to eat before we go home if you'd like to join us," Mokuba offered.
"Thank you, but Sabrina is waiting for me in the lobby. She's my ride home."
"You could invite her too."
"No," Seto interjected, "We don't need to be seen favoring certain employees over others, Mokuba. It's bad for business."
Mokuba crossed his arms, sulking in the most professional way he knew how.
When the doors opened to let Ishizu off, Sabrina was waiting for her, standing opposite the main elevator. "Where have you been? I thought you said you were on your way down…" her eyes darted ot the open doors of the private elevator. She didn't have to say anything more; her eyes sharp with icy indignation conveyed exactly what she was thinking toward Seto. Mokuba had the audacity to smile and wave as the doors closed, only serving to infuriate her more.
"What was that about?" Mokuba scoffed.
"She was probably waiting a while and was upset we kept Ishizu so long."
"Or maybe it's the other elevator incident, the one we never talked about." He looked at his brother, waiting for him to expound. Seto merely replied:
"Perhaps."
"That's isn't very insightful. How can I help the two of you happen if you don't tell me what happened?"
"Mokuba, I don't want your help on this," Seto said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "Not that I don't think I could use some advice, but I don't want to force my relationship with Sabrina or manipulate it, or have someone else manipulate it."
"Since when does Seto Kaiba not want absolute control of everything?"
"Since Ishizu and I had an existential talk about destiny and free will. If Sabrina and I end up in a relationship, I want it to be because we chose it as individuals, free of obligations, incarnations, and any matchmaking schemes to push us together. That goes for Yugi, too. If what we have is created artificially, neither of us will ever know if it is genuine or not." Seto was usually serious, but this statement carried an air of gravity Mokuba had rarely seen.
The elevator slowed and lurched into place.
"Speaking of Yugi," Mokuba said, changing the subject to something lighter as they walked to the cafeteria. "Setsuna is going to be running some tests in the VR lab next week to perfect the environment. Most of the away team will be there: Dzam, Honda, Akira, Sabrina, plus the SME's."
"Let me guess," Seto predicted, "You want the two of us to go 'pop in' in the name of it being a good chance to touch base with the project and take some PR photos but you actually just want me to be in the same room as Miss Harrison."
Mokuba kept a straight face, replying merely with a: "Perhaps."
"Did you not hear what I just said about not manipulating this?"
"This isn't manipulation, this is keeping you informed. It's just letting you know where she will be and when. Answer me this: how will you ever find out if you two have chemistry if you never interact with her?"
He had a fair point.
"PR purposes only." Seto grudgingly agreed. "No set ups."
"No set ups," Mokuba promised. "No sending flowers with your name on the card, or conveniently ensuring you two are sitting together at company dinners, or chance encounters at the same restaurant."
"You've thought a lot about this, haven't you?" Seto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I just want to see you happy." Mokuba shrugged.
"You know what would make me happy right now? Food…and you and Yugi putting a stop to the conspiracy."
"I can give you at least one of those." Mokuba said, but he intend to specify which one.
The VR control room sat perched overlooking the testing room that lasted almost the full length of the floor. An observation gallery sat opposite the control room, communication between the two accomplished by a monitor in both. Setsuna stood and pointed, furiously doling out orders like a ship's captain.
'Keep a close eye on the heat output.'
'Saturate the colors a bit more.'
'Too much wind, I said a gentle breeze, not a tornado.'
'Add things one at a time. Background first, then static assets, then moving ones.'
In the observation gallery, some thirty employees on the project crammed into standing room only to see their project coming to life. Before their eyes, the test chamber transformed into an Egyptian bazaar. Tents, wares, merchants, camels decked with jewelry and saddles lined a wide, sandy pathy leading to the chiseled steps of a temple. The room erupted in applause when the sounds were added, completing the environment.
"Heat output?"
"Thirty-six," the technician replied.
"And that's holding steady?"
The tech continued looking at the monitor for a few seconds longer before giving her the thumbs up.
"Alright," Setsuna looked into the monitor that shoed the observation deck. "I need three volunteers to go try the environment out."
Almost every hand shot up, begging to be selected like a student still in primary school. Setsuna selected a few to head down to the floor, sending Akira down with a walkie talkie to join them.
"Let's keep the four of you together for now. Later I will let you spread out." She instructed.
"It's hot." was the first comment Akira made. "But it looks so amazing." The three moved slowly through the bazaar. Akira and his peers had been adding various shading and lighting to the 3D models for moths, but seeing it and feeling it on a full scale was almost overwhelming. "The fur physics on these camels are amazing, Honda."
"Pet one!" Honda shouted from the observation room, hoping Setsuna's walkie had picked it up.
Everyone watched through the glass as Honda reached his hand to touch the creature. The camel roared at him in a sharp disapproval, sending Akira sprawling backward while holographic merchant begged his forgiveness.
"Interaction is good." Setsuna commented.
"That wasn't nice." Akira's voice crackled through the walkie.
"Let one of you split off," Setsuna instructed. One of the four was allowed to wander off, then two, then the third, putting all four in a different place on the floor.
"Engines are still running well," one technician said as he carefully observed the reactions the environment was making to each of the individual players.
"That's also the threshold," another said, "39.8, less than a degree shy of overheating."
Setsuna thought for a moment. "Switch to the night setting and increase the wind. Try and bring the temperature down."
The sky rapidly faded from bright blue to a dark purple. Stars dotted the sky with no moon, leaving only the torchlight at eye level for a light source. The wind along with an additional whistle blew through the floor via silent fans.
"Breeze feels a little better, but we're all getting sweaty. Is the temperature dropping?" Akira asked.
"Already back down to 39 and continuing to decrease."
"It's so weird to feel something with perfect texture and then feel it melt away," one of Akira's test mates commented, "It's like warm, sublimating hand gelatin."
"But it's dry." Another chimed in.
In the control booth, Setsuna moved from the monitor to one of her coordinators. "Initiate a brawl," she commanded, "No weapons, just fists."
"One brawl coming right up," He selected an npc close to Akira to brush his shoulders on the way past. The npc's lifelike face scowled and squinted at Akira before shoving him backward with both hands. Akira swayed back from the force.
"Was that part of the demo?" he asked into the walkie. In reponse, the hologram took a swing at him Akira dodged two blows before taking a third in the jaw.
"What am I suppose to do, Setsuna?"
"Fight back or lose him," Setsuna replied.
Akira took the first option swinging wildly at his adversary, his fist making contact with the hologram's left pec. The Egyptian grapped his chest where he'd been hit, panting as if the air had been knocked out of him. Rallying, he took another lunge at Akira. This time, Akira was ready, planting his feet and waiting delivering another blow to the side of his adversary's head. The npc flew to the side, skidding on the ground kicking up dust and disturbing the other merchants. Soon, all the npcs were looking on at the fight, women shouting for their children to stay put and men either cheering them on or encouraging them to break it up. The Egyptian looked as if he was going to try for another attack, but Akira's teammates show up. Eying the four of them, he thought better of a four on one fight and backed off to nurse his wounds.
"That was incredible," Akira panted. I felt it. I felt the force of his punch and him pushing me, but it didn't hurt, but did you see that? Did you see how everyone reacted?"
"It looks good, Setsuna," Dzam said as Akira continued to rant over the walkie talkie.
"Anything you think it needs?" Setsuna asked.
"Besides a moon?"
She froze. Her mouth open in embarrassment she looked for words. "I don't know how I forgot it, I was just so focused on making sure the star patters were correct, I totally forgot to include the moon."
Dzam laughed. "It's something that should be easy to fix. I would also recommend thinning out the npcs. It will reduce the heat and we can always add them back in depending on how big our initial chamber is going to be and how cool we can keep it. I did notice some of the character models froze up while moving. We'll have to patch those. I will say though, I liked the camel's reaction."
"All of the mobile assets respond negatively to being engaged to keep teenagers and kids from trying anything stupid."
Dzam looked out at the environment again. "Let's rotate in a few new people as I'm sure they'd all like a turn."
The observation deck erupted in varying levels of agreement. Four more were selected and Akira passed off the walkie to rejoin the control deck.
"What about essential npc's? Are any of those on the floor now?" Seto asked.
"I haven't loaded to test any of those yet. I can if you'd like."
"Let's do it."
One by one, under Setsuna's instruction, the priests, bandits and pharaoh were spawned on the floor. While the demonstration was specifically for Dzam and Seto, Sabrina seemed the most excited by it.
"They're perfect." She breathed. She removed her sketchbook to hand to the project heads. "They look exactly like how I wanted them rendered." Dzam perused the sketchbook with Seto looking over his shoulder. The pictures were exquisite, only matched by how accurate and realistic they looked in the environment.
"Sabrina has worked countless hours with Karin and Ishizu to get everything from the exact skin tones to the fabric and dyes that would have been available back then." Setsuna commented as they looked from sketchbook to VR chamber, "I dare say it's paid off."
"What is this supposed to be?" He folded the book in half, holding up the image in question. It was a stunning likeness of Kaiba himself sitting in his high-backed office chair, his left leg propped up on his right knee and his right elbow resting on the armrest so he could rest his head on his knuckles. His left hand rested on the small blue eyes white dragon that was sitting in his lap like a spoiled pet. He was smirking arrogantly, looking down his nose at whoever his observer might be. The bottom edge looked as if it had been erased and rewritten several times before the current caption:
There are some things money can't buy
Unless you're me
The majority of the room marveled in silence, both at the artwork and the potential fallout. Until Akira got a closer look at it. Then he laughed out loud.
"I didn't think you'd actually drawn it! It's perfect. Can I have it?"
"Can I buy it?" Mokuba asked.
Sabrina was too embarrassed to address either of them, keeping her eyes on Seto who stood impatiently waiting for some sort of answer.
"I…Karin suggested it and I thought it would be funny. We joked that it would be a funny promotional poster and I was bored on the flight home," she rambled, "and I never thought you'd see it, but if you did, I didn't think you'd mind, but I guess you do…"
"I need the Ishizu, Sabrina, and two other volunteers from the graphics and art department. I want you to look over the essential npc's and the environment. Look for anything we missed need to fix." Whether Setsuna's call for her was intentional or not, Sabrina exhaled in relief.
"I'm sorry, they need me. If you could just leave the sketchbook over there with my bag. Thanks." She scurried out, blushing a vibrant red with embarrassment.