Flight 2: Different as Night and Day
Steam erupted from vents on either side of some machine. Enormous gears spun and even more enormous doors opened, giving the approaching airship enough space to land. A small group of people secured the airship to the ground. Finally, a brass door on the side opened, a gangway folded out and three people stepped out: a young man, a young woman and an antique-looking man.
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen," Ray said gleefully.
"I don't get it," Lilith said. "It shouldn't have taken us all night to reach Paris. And what are we doing here if the Eldricytes are in Greece, anyway?"
"One second," Julian raised his hand, then briefly chatted with one of the workers. When he returned, Lilith was tapping her foot impatiently. "Sorry. There are two reasons why we're in Paris. Number one..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We didn't have enough fuel to make it to Greece." Lilith's face suddenly took on the least impressed expression anyone in the hangar had ever witnessed. "Number two, I received a telegram recently from one of my friends here in Paris who claimed to have seen an Eldricyte."
Ray glanced at Julian excitedly. "We're going to get an Eldricyte this early?"
"This wasn't supposed to be a long job," Julian replied. "But yes, I'm curious as well. I honestly didn't think the original owners would part with them so easily."
"But aren't we only getting them by betting? Who's to say the original owners haven't already lost them?" Lilith asked.
"Well, they were tournament prize cards. The players who own them are the best of the best. And the tournament was fairly recent..." Julian stroked his moustache. "Yes, this is much different than I expected."
"This is awesome!" Ray clenched his fist. "First day, first Eldricyte. Let's go!" He ran out of the hangar. Lilith and Julian calmly walked after him, meeting him right outside the hangar door. "It occurs to me that I don't know where we're going," Ray admitted.
"First, I'd like to talk to you about your decks." Julian pointed towards a card store. "Basically, I think Lilith, you should focus less on Lunar Impact, and you, Ray, should have some of your own protection cards so that you don't have to rely on Lilith to keep your monsters alive, and so you can protect hers."
"No offence, Julian, but we know what we're doing!" said Ray. "I didn't get through the Ireland Nationals by wasting cards on anything other than killing my opponent, and Lilith didn't get through whatever tournament she was in – "
"Britain Nationals," Lilith said.
"Yeah, that," Ray said. "In short, I'm going to keep my deck the way it is. Right, Lilith?"
"No," Lilith said. "That's stupid. I'm hoping you can end the game faster than Lunar Impact, as long as I keep us from dying. I'm going to go find some more Xyz monsters."
"But..." Ray stammered as Julian and Lilith entered the store. "Poor Gravity Queen." He sighed and followed. As Julian and Lilith looked through binders of cards, Ray watched a duel in the centre of the store. By the end of the game, after a dragon-riding alligator attacked over a series of humanoid reptiles, Julian and Lilith returned.
"I could never find these cards in London," Lilith said, showing off a black-bordered card. "Ice Priestess of Lunanima is one I've been looking for for a while."
"Ooh!" said Ray, as he grabbed the card and moved it back and forth to see the picture shine. "Only two materials... nice effect, too."
"I couldn't find enough cards to actually replace Lunar Impact, so I'll just be adding a couple cards for now," Lilith explained, snatching Ice Priestess back from Ray.
"Well, why don't we go get an Eldricyte?" Ray suggested.
"Indeed!" Julian said. With that, they began walking the streets of Paris. Ray's eyes darted around the city. Lilith and Julian dragged him away from watching a duel in a park.
"Come on!" Ray argued. "It's Guardian Sphinx versus Ojamas. That's such an awesome game!"
"We have things to do!" Lilith said. As they followed Julian around one more corner, a knee-high dog leapt towards them, barking playfully.
"Aww," Ray said, patting its head. "You feel weird, doggy."
"It looks weird, too," Lilith said, kneeling down to it. She ran her hand along its side. "What are these holes?" She got her answer as steam burst out of the holes. Lilith jumped to her feet as the dog ran back down the street. "What the hell...?"
"We must be getting close," Julian said. "That telegram of mine mentioned something about robot dogs."
Lilith shook her head and clenched her fist. "So people just make things that run around spewing burning steam at people?"
"It was so realistic. I thought it was awesome!" Ray exclaimed.
"I'm not surprised." Lilith muttered.
-
Finally, the trio approached a small building that Julian said was their destination. Julian approached the door. There was no knob; instead, a tall, vertical lever and a comically-huge keyhole. Julian cranked the lever. Lilith and Ray expected the door to open after he did so, but instead, a small hole opened in the wall beside the door. It spat out a small cube that fell to the ground with a ting. After a second or two, the box began sprouting more parts. It finally ended up as a short, cubic humanoid, somehow balanced on a single wheel for its leg. Its face was two lightbulbs for eyes and, where its mouth should be, a long glass tube holding an electric current.
"Automated Butler Unit ABU-020203 activated," It said in an eerily monotone voice, the electricity in its mouth moving like lips. "Please state your business."
"This is Otto and Fritz's Lab, right?" Julian asked, seemingly unfazed by the transforming robot.
"Affirmative," ABU replied. "Mr. Otto Hahn and Mr. Fritz Strassman are the owners of this laboratory."
"We'd like to see them, if possible." Julian said.
"Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman's current status..." ABU computed, leaned back on its wheel without falling over, somehow. "Available. Guest status accepted. Please follow me." The robot spun one of its arms until it became a giant key, fitting neatly in the ridiculous keyhole. The door folded into the wall.
"Are you coming?" Ray asked Lilith, who was hiding behind a tree.
"Is that thing going to shoot steam at me?" Lilith demanded.
"I didn't see any vents, but I promise nothing!" Julian called, entering the lab.
"How about you just ask Otto and Fritz to come out here?" Lilith pleaded. It was then that the tree she was hiding behind started glowing.
"Intruder alert!" said the tree, in an equally-monotone voice. "Beginning electric shocks in 3..." Without a further word, Lilith sprinted into the lab.
ABU led the guests down a spiral staircase, somehow hopping on each step with its one wheel. As they descended, a strange humming seemed to get louder and louder.
"I'm not a huge fan of this," Lilith said.
"I'm not surprised," said Ray. Lilith glared at him.
They finally approached another door. This one had no robot-producing lever; ABU simply knocked. "Guests have arrived," It said.
"Bring them in!" said a cheery, finally-human voice from the other side. ABU opened the door with a giant key produced from its other arm before folding itself back into a cube and disappearing into a hole in the wall.
"I wasn't expecting company," said a man, not looking up from something on a desk. His body blocked exactly what he was constructing, but it shot a spark periodically.
"My name is Julian Nobel," Julian said. "This is Ray Ashford and Lilith Huron. We'd like to talk to you about the Eldricyte you have."
"Eldricyte? Oh, the trading card. Yeah, gotcha." He spun his chair around to face them. He was wearing a pair of giant goggles that would've made identifying his face nearly impossible. He had messy, dark hair and some clothes that were either originally brown or had been stained by decades of dust. What caught Ray and Lilith's attention, however, was that he had no right leg; only a strange disk where his pant leg should've been. "Nice to meet you. I'm Otto." He noticed their concerned gazes, and then said, "Oh, right." He grabbed a brass limb off the table and stuck it into the disk, twisting it until it locked with a click. He wiggled the foot before standing up.
"Is that your own work?" Julian asked, as Otto walked around the room.
"Nah, Fritz made it. I couldn't have made it; when it was built, I was screaming in pain and trying to stop myself from bleeding to death." Otto said, looking through stacks of blueprints. Lilith glanced nervously around the room. There was a giant machine in the middle that seemed to have no purpose other than periodically shooting lightning to a similar machine on the ceiling. There were desks all around the room covered with gears and sprockets and bits of machinery that Lilith didn't recognize.
It was then that another man walked into the room, whom the others presumed to be Fritz. He was wearing a gas mask for reasons that made Ray and Lilith both worried about the contents of the room he had just come from. This man had all his limbs intact, though had a large chunk of his torso replaced with a brass case that clicked with the eerie regularity of a heartbeat. "What's up?" He asked, though muffled through the mask.
"Fritz! You seen that Eldricyte card?" Otto asked.
"Oh yeah," Fritz said. "It's in my room." He turned to the guests. "Follow me!" They walked into another room, luckily avoiding the part of the lab that apparently required a gas mask. This room looked like it was entirely shelves, floor to ceiling, filled with containers of chemicals. A workbench in the middle had on it an odd box that shot an arc of electricity into a dish every couple seconds or so.
"What exactly do you do?" Lilith asked, inching away from the electricity-shooting box.
"Science!" said Otto proudly. "But professionally? We just build machines to do whatever people in the city want machines to do."
"Then we use the money to fund our own experiments – though lately a few people have been paying us with Duel Monsters cards, so we have to sell them and then work on our experiments." Fritz added. He pointed to the box on the table. "That there is one of Otto's pet projects. I don't know what your chemistry background is, but put simply, he's trying to break elements down at the nuclear level." Ray glanced at Lilith, who glanced at Julian. Julian shrugged to Lilith, who then shrugged to Ray.
"It's called nuclear fission," Otto said, noticing the confused looks. "I accidentally turned uranium into barium one day, and it released a ridiculous amount of energy. Much more than I expected, in fact." He tapped his mechanical leg. "If I can replicate that experiment, and not blow any more of my limbs off, we might have ourselves a really efficient fuel source. It could change the world."
"I've heard that from other inventors," said Julian. "But I have yet to see anyone change the most important things."
"Well, you can't solve all your problems with nuclear fission," said Otto. "But we'll solve as many as we can. All right... here's Fritz's room." Fritz entered alone and swiftly returned holding a white card and two duel discs.
"Let's see what you'll wager," Fritz said, pulling off his gas mask. Otto looked over his shoulder as he flipped through a binder Julian handed him. "That one's cool. What do you think?"
"Lorelei the Symphonic Arsenal. Sounds neat," Otto agreed. "All right. We'll bet our Eldricyte against your Lorelei."
"Can I see the Eldricyte first?' Julian asked. Fritz shrugged and held the card in front of Julian. "Ah, Eldricyte Neutros. Sounds good." He handed it back to Fritz before Ray and Lilith could see it. "Do you have a location in mind?" He looked around to the assorted debris in the current room.
-
"Why are we on the roof?" Lilith demanded, as she and Ray stood opposite the two partly-mechanical mechanics.
"You heard them. It's the only place big enough that isn't covered in things that can explode." Ray activated his disc. "I hope you're ready for this."
"Of course. I was hired for a job, so I'm going to do it." She glanced at the two opponents, who were shuffling their decks. "Just don't screw up."
"Duel!" All four of them said simultaneously. (Ray and Lilith: 8000, Otto and Fritz: 8000)
A giant holographic coin determined that Otto and Fritz would make the first move. "Would you like to do the honours?" Fritz asked.
"If you insist," Otto replied. "I'll go first." He glanced briefly at his hand. "I activate Ancient Gear Castle." A giant, medieval castle covered in cannons rose from the ground behind him. "Now I summon Ancient Gear Soldier." A dirty, grey automaton appeared; gears whirring. (1300 - 1600 ATK) "That adds a counter to Ancient Gear Castle. That's all."
The last person to go gets to attack, Lilith considered. And since I barely attack, Ray should obviously go last. So... She put her hand on her deck, but Ray interrupted her.
"My turn! Draw!" Ray said, over the sound of Lilith slapping her forehead. "I summon Solanimus Burning Snake!" The lava-like serpent appeared; hissing its fiery tongue. "I'll set one card. End turn!"
"And I'm up," Fritz said. "I'll summon Yellow Gadget. This adds a counter to our team's Ancient Gear Castle and lets me add a Green Gadget from my deck to my hand." A small yellow robot leapt into the air, landing on its card. (1200 ATK) "I'll set one card and it's off to the lady."
"Thanks," Lilith said dryly. Last game, Ray started with Solanimus Wild Explosion. If I give him a good target to use it on, I can summon Ice Priestess and let him summon a monster at the same time. "I summon Sacred Sprite of Lunanima!" The water-winged pixie appeared, hands clasped in prayer. (600 ATK) "Go for it, Ray."
"Go for what? Otto's up next."
"I..." Lilith sighed. "Dammit. I set one card. End turn!"
"Then it's back to me," said Otto. "Now that Gear Castle has two Counters, I can Tribute it for Ancient Gear Golem." The castle exploded; its pieces reconfigured in mid-air into an even larger mechanical giant. (3000 ATK) "Soldier attacks Sacred Sprite." The robot aimed its gun and blasted the pixie full of holes. (Ray and Lilith: 7300)
"When Sacred Sprite of Lunanima is destroyed, I can Special Summon two more!" Lilith announced, as two identical sprites hovered into place. (DEF: 1700) I should use Moonlight Veil now – it's perfect. But wait, no. Ray's going to charge in like an idiot on his turn. I'll need Veil to protect him. She sighed. This is going to suck.
"Ancient Gear Golem attacks another Sprite," Otto commanded. His giant punched one of the sprites. "And I'm not sure if you knew, but my Gear Golem has Piercing." The shockwave blew past Lilith. (Ray and Lilith: 6000)
"I did, actually," Lilith muttered. This is fine. I can still activate Moonlight Veil when Ray runs into something – and if he doesn't, I'll just save this sprite to make Ice Priestess next turn.
"My turn!" said Ray. "By discarding a Solanimus monster, I can Special Summon Solanimus Shining Star!" The shining humanoid figure took a stance, blazing brightly. "Now, I Normal Summon Solanimus Blinding Blade." A white-and-gold knight leapt onto the field. "I activate Blinding Blade's effect!" He pointed at his snake. "I can now reduce Ancient Gear Golem's ATK by my Snake's 1800 ATK." The knight's sword released a bright light; the Golem clutched its visible eye. (ATK: 1200) "And now it's time to Synchro. Thanks for the material, Lilith."
"What?" Lilith asked as her Sprite disappeared in a flash of light. "Ray, wait wait wait!"
"Master of destruction, burn down everything in your path. Synchro Summon! Solanimus Raging Dragon!" The enormous, orange serpent descended onto the field.
That... idiot... Lilith clenched a fist.
"And of course, when I Synchro with Shining Star for a Solanimus monster, I can Special Summon one of the monsters."
Oh, I guess he had a plan after all. I owe him an apology. She thought.
"Oh, wait, never mind. The non-Tuner has to be a Solanimus." Ray realized, ignoring Lilith's expression of absolute fury. "Oh well. Back me up, Lilith. Raging Dragon attacks Gear Golem!" Ray pointed dramatically. The dragon released a stream of fire from its jaws, which froze in mid-air.
"Mirror Force," Fritz said. "I got your back, Otto."
"And Lilith's got mine, I'm sure," Ray looked towards his partner, who was giving him a soul-piercing glare. "Right?"
"You. Idiot." Lilith growled, as Raging Dragon's flames swept away Ray's entire field of monsters.
"Why didn't you do something?" Ray demanded.
"What could I have done?" Lilith cried. "I could've used..."
"Um... I'm going to assume it's my turn," Fritz said, as Ray and Lilith continued yelling at each other. "I hate to interrupt, but I'm Tributing Yellow Gadget and Ancient Gear Soldier to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon." The clockwork dragon let out an eerie roar as it stretched its wings. (3000 ATK) "It gains an effect from the Gadget, but I'm just going to play Limiter Removal and attack. Cool?" He asked as the giant dragon descended upon Ray.
"Do something, Lilith!" Ray cried.
"You do something! I can't!" Lilith protested, as a shot of flame from the dragon struck Ray. (Ray and Lilith: 0 LP) The holograms faded. "Why did you Synchro with my monster?"
"It had less ATK than mine. Why didn't you play any Traps?" Ray asked.
"Enough!" Julian roared. "Both of you..." He exhaled deeply. "We'll discuss it later." He tossed Lorelei to Otto. "Otto... Fritz... would you be willing to bet that Lorelei and the Eldricyte against... say, five more of my cards?"
"Five more?" Otto asked incredulously.
"It's very important to me that I get that Eldricyte," said Julian.
"All of his cards were worth a lot," Fritz said to Otto. "And that duel went pretty well."
"All right," Otto agreed. "For the first five cards in your binder, round two."
"I'll be your opponent," said Julian. He borrowed Ray's disc. "As these two obviously have much to learn."
"Two against one?" Fritz asked. "You realize that you'll have half our life points and you'll be playing half as many turns, right?"
"I do realize that," Julian said, shuffling his deck. "But I clearly can't rely on Ray or Lilith."
"All right," Otto said, shaking his head. "Your funeral."
-
"Duel!" The three said. (Julian: 4000 LP / Otto and Fritz: 8000 LP)
"The least we can do is let you go first," said Otto.
"Thank you," said Julian, as he drew a card. "I summon Duality – Pungo." A white-and-black lizard with an extremely spiky tail appeared. (ATK: 1800) "Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Third Eye of Enlightenment." A beam of light shone down on him, and a holographic eye opened in his forehead. "Now I'll set one card. Your turn. But first, during my End Phase, I activate the effect of Third Eye." He pointed to his lizard. It hopped up onto two legs and grew to about four times its original size. It now had a third eye right between its normal eyes. "I transform Pungo into Duality - Pungo Exertus from my Extra Deck." The dinosaur-like creature let out a tremendous roar. (ATK: 2400)
"Dualities?" Lilith asked. "I've heard of those cards. They're supposed to be ridiculously rare."
"Well, so are all of Julian's other cards," Ray said, shrugging.
"An impressive first turn, Mr. Nobel!" said Otto, drawing. "I summon Ancient Gear!" A robotic torso rolled itself onto the field. (ATK: 3000) "Next, I play Machine Duplication." Two identical copies appeared in a flash of light. "And next... Spell Gear. I tribute my three Ancient Gears, and now I can Special Summon two Ancient Gear Golems!" Otto raised his arm as two mechanical giants descended onto the roof. (ATK: 3000)
"What a weird card," Ray said.
"No kidding," Lilith agreed. "It's bizarre that he can use it even though he already Normal Summoned, and that it Special Summons a monster that can't be Special Summoned."
"And it's my move," said Fritz. "I summon Green Gadget." A green gear-robot spun onto the field. (1400 ATK) "Adding Red Gadget to my hand. Next, I'll play Smashing Ground. Say goodbye to your dinosaur." A gash appeared in the ground, carrying away the yin-yang reptile.
"When a Duality is destroyed, I can activate this card!" Julian flipped a switch on the back of his disc, flipping with it his Trap card. "Shattered Duality." A yin-yang symbol appeared in the air and dissolved. "Now, I can Special Summon two Duality monsters from my deck, as long as they have the same level and different attributes. Behold, Duality – Calco!" An enormous black-and-white elephant stampeded into play. (6*, ATK: 2400) "AndDuality - Cogito!" A similarly-coloured octopus surfaced from the roof as if it were water. (6*, ATK: 2100)
"Dang, nice move," Fritz said. "I'll set a card. Your turn."
"My turn, then," Julian said. "Currently, my elephant is LIGHT and my octopus is DARK. However, Duality monsters can change Attributes. I'll convert Calco into a DARK monster and Cogito into a LIGHT monster."
"To what end?" asked Otto.
"Their effects change with their attributes," Julian replied. "Now that Cogito's LIGHT, I can take control of one of your monsters until the End Phase." Cogito's tentacles disappeared below the surface of the ceiling. One of the Golems disappeared and resurfaced on Julian's field. "Also, now that Calco's DARK, you can't activate card effects during the Battle Phase. But first, I'll summon Duality – Servo." A turtle shell spun onto the field, and the turtle it contained popped out its limbs and head. (ATK: 500) "Servo's originally a DARK monster, but I'll change its Attribute to LIGHT – switching the ATK and DEF of your monsters. Now! My Golem attacks yours!" The two giants collided, causing a cloud of smoke and the destruction of both.
"Nice move," Otto said, instinctively covering his face from the holographic smoke.
"Thanks," Julian said. "Cogito attacks Green Gadget whose ATK is now only 600." The octopus fired a jet of white ink that struck the machine, shorting it out. (Otto and Fritz: 6500 LP) "Now, Calco and Servo attack directly!" The elephant stampeded into Otto; the turtle spun into Fritz. (Otto and Fritz: 3600 LP) "I'll set one card. Finally, during the End Phase, I'll transform Duality – Servo into Duality – Servo Lente." The turtle became a giant tortoise, standing almost as tall as the elephant. A third eye opened in its forehead. "With Servo Lente on the field, I can negate two card effects or battles per turn that would destroy a Duality. Also, the ATK and DEF of all monsters become whichever of the two is higher for mine and whichever is lower for yours." He pointed at the tortoise. "For example, Servo Lente's 2800 DEF is higher than its base ATK of 1600. So, its ATK is now 2800. Calco is unaffected, since its ATK is naturally higher. Cogito has 2600 DEF to its 2100 ATK, so its ATK becomes 2600 too."
"This is insane!" Ray cried. "His cards have so many effects!"
"My turn!" said Otto. "I'll play Pot of Avarice. I shuffle my Ancient Gears and two Golems back into my deck..." he did so. "And then I draw two cards. I'll activate Lightning Vortex. I discard Ancient Gear Golem to..."
"Do nothing," Julian corrected. Lightning bolts descended from the sky, but the great tortoise caught them in its mouth. "Twice per turn, Servo Lente negates a card or battle that would destroy Dualities."
"Well, I can't Normal Summon because of Spell Gear; I had to do something. Your turn, Fritz!"
"It's enough!" Fritz promised. "I activate Ancient Gear Workshop. Luckily we share graveyards in a tag game." Otto tossed him the Ancient Gear Golem he had discarded. "Now, I play Polymerization!" The mechanical giant appeared in the sky, along with the Gadjiltron Dragon Lilith and Ray recognized as well as a Chimera that they hadn't seen. "Its gears spin after the advent of a new millennium. One machine equal to the Gods! Fusion Summon! Ultimate! Ancient! Gear Golem!" An enormous centaur stepped onto the field; dwarfing the rest of the creatures. (4400 ATK - 3400 ATK)
"Oh," said Julian. "Didn't expect that."
"Ultimate Gear Golem attacks Servo Lente!" The centaur's clawed hand flew at the tortoise, but stopped at the shell. (Julian: 3400 LP)
"Servo Lente stops its destruction and destroys the attacking monster!" said Julian. "However..."
"Ultimate Golem summons the original Ancient Gear Golem when it's destroyed!" Fritz cried, as the centaur ripped its forward half out and dissolved. The remaining pieces formed the much more tolerably-sized giant. (3000 ATK) "My Golem attacks Servo Lente too!"
"I hope you're watching, Ray and Lilith!" Julian cried, as his tortoise disappeared. (Julian: 3200 LP) "The key to victory is not one ultimately-balanced creature. No matter how powerful one person seems, they can never hold true balance."
"It's your turn when you're done monologuing," Fritz said.
Julian didn't draw. "One person being perfectly balanced is a fairy tale. It simply doesn't exist. That's why I need the two of you!" He looked back towards Ray and Lilith, who were watching eagerly. "I need you to accomplish what I can't alone, just as I need Calco and Cogito to accomplish what Servo Lente could not! I activate my facedown Duality Dual Beam!" He flicked a switch, flipping with it his facedown card. "When I control Dualities of different Attributes, I can destroy up to three cards on the field, provided at least one is a monster and one is a Spell or Trap." He pointed towards Fritz' unactivated Set card as well as the Golem. The elephant fired a beam of purple light from its trunk, meeting a beam of yellow light from Cogito's tentacles. The two beams spiralled around each other and tore through Fritz's cards. "And that was, of course, during your End Phase, as the selected monsters can't attack during the turn I use Dual Beam." He drew a card. "And now that it's a separate turn, Calco and Cogito attack!" The octopus leapt onto the elephant's back; the two stampeded towards Fritz and Otto, each striking a target. (Otto and Fritz: 0 LP)
"That was amazing!" Ray cried.
"I'm not sure if I believe what you said about us being able to accomplish what you can't," Lilith said. "Seems like a load of crap after seeing that."
"Yes, well," Julian said, passing Ray back his disc. "Cogito and Calco work together a lot better than the two of you."
"I am in awe, sir," said Otto, handing Julian the Eldricyte and Lorelei. "Please duel us again sometime."
"It would be my pleasure," said Julian. He prodded the back of the Eldricyte, then sighed.
"What's wrong?" Lilith asked.
"It's a fake," Julian said, sighing again. "A very good fake, but a fake nonetheless."
"Seriously?" Otto snatched the card back and stared at it. "It looks fine to me. The right font, the right paper..."
"I'm sorry. I can tell," Julian said. "Well, that explains how the card got here, anyway. Someone must have just heard about it and printed a fake to give to you as payment. Ray, Lilith, let's get going."
As they exited the lab, given farewells by ABU, Julian said, "Next stop – Greece. But before we get there, the two of you have some work to do."
"Right," Lilith and Ray said simultaneously.
"That's a good start," Julian said.