Annex 005: When Adventure Calls
"The cards? You know about them?" Uno did not expect this so soon. This woman was confronting him with information few would have. He had to be careful not to give her more. "We know about every card that exists, thief. That includes your performapals, your odd-eyed dragons and your magicians." But Iria Silver already had already completely assessed Uno's deck. "What else?" She could actually be the one to give Uno the answers he wanted. "I am asking the questions here. You have in your hands an unlicensed dueldisk, and cards that were never brought to the market. The records on this disk confirm it. Explain to me how you got a hold of them."
"You don't scare us!" Alice suddenly jumped in. "Let's see you talk like this!" She waved her hand through the womans projected image, distorting her shape. "Do not play with what you do not understand, child." Iria's voice still came through though, and soon so did the rest."Ah!.." Alice was pushed bac by the repaired form of the virtual Iria. "Ow! How did you do that?" That was not just any old shock, the dueldisk had built an electric barrier around itself. It was manipulating energy. "There is no negotiation. You will talk. If your answers do not satisfy.." More beams of energy came from the dueldisk, erecting four walls around the three. "I will be forced to call upon local authorities." They could not get at the dueldisk or away from it. "Ms. Silver" This was going a bit too far. James had to say his piece. "What is so severe about taking these cards that two of your company's top people would come all the way here?"
"Hey.." None of his words seemed to interest her. Iria's gaze never left Uno. "Look, miss, you won't like what you'll hear. But I don't remember anything before yesterday so I can't give you the answer no matter how much I want to." Yes, Uno was aware of how unbelievable it sounded. This was all he could give her. "You are right; I did not like what I heard, thief." So Iria absolutely did not believe it. "But it's true. He woke up in this town, and he forgot everything, even his name!" Alice tried to back him up. Coming from her, the story sounded a touch more genuine. "You realize what kind of story you are presenting. The convenience is rather trite." She stared at Uno again. "You have no name. Then what do you call yourself?" She at least wanted to something to write down, and Bob did sound fake. "Uno. As far as I can see, that is my name." At least it was one thing he could tell her. "No..." In fact it was something that seemed to shake her steely demeanor. "Is that an attempt at subterfuge? Where have you heard that name?"
"Is it important?" Uno asked her back. She did not delve in deeper. "You.. stay here." The Iria hologram dismissed itself, but the barrier stayed. "Did you scare her away?" Alice wondered. "Something did."
...
"You mean your colleague followed you? Why?" Emily just heard from Zach what was going on with the dueldisks, how hers was now placed online and how it fed a line to Uno's disk. "If I were to place a wager, I'd say it's because she did not expect me to succeed." Zach spoke his mind. He soon learned a lesson not totalk behind the back of someone who could hear everything. "I did expect you to..." As Zach's own disk projected the image of Iria. "Oh.. Good morning, Silver."
"Greetings Creffield. Your defeat though unlikely, was deemed possible. Thus I prepared the back-up plan which is now in effect. Like I said; why deal with a problem in person, when you can just do it from a controlled position." She continued as if noone else was in the room. "Hey! Are you this Silver person? What did you do? If something is going on with my family.." At least until Emily shouted in her virtual ears. "I spoke to them too and am detaining them until we can sort things out. Perhaps you could speed things up."
"Her? Did you not get any data from them?" Zach knew Iria well, enough to think it was uncommon for someone to exist who could deny her what she wanted. "Just his name, he claims to have forgotten everything else. He says his name is Uno.." As she uttered a name, Zach's eyes went wide. "Uno? He can't be Uno!" He protested. "Clearly." Iria rolled her eyes. That was not the issue here. "Uno? You know someone named Uno?" This gave Emily . The name 'Uno' remembered was not his own? Then whose was it? "I will tell you what I told them. I do not answer questions, I give them. You can begin by telling me where you found this 'Uno'." The way she spoke was unnerving. Emily knew Iria was not physically here and still she felt intimidated. "Iria. Is this really necessary? She probably has no part in all of this, they just wanted to help someone out." Zach pleaded. "The reason for their association is not relevant. This whole area has to be quarantined. Nothing less will.."
"Hey Emily. Did you see that helicopter outside? Also your backdoor is open for some reason, just thought you should..Whoa!" Eric took this unfortunate moment to stroll into the living room. He did not pick up on the severity of the situation until he stared right at the two Disciples. "Eric! What are you doing here?" Emily wanted to alert him to the danger before it was too late. Iria already had her eyes set on him though. "Eric? You must be the one who dueled 'Uno' last. Your name is logged in here along with Alice and Emily. Tell me what happened exactly, what made you lose that duel?" Eric was scrambling for words as the holographic Iria closed the gap between them. This woman was determined to get the truth, she would not stop. "Rgh!" Emily did the only thing she could come up with. "Hey, now hang on.." She grabbed Zach's dueldisk and tossed it to the floor as hard as she could. Then she destroyed her own dueldisk the same way. "!?" Iria Silver blinked out of existence. Without the disks projectors, she could not be projected here.
"What the hell? Are you guys in trouble? Also.. who or what, was that?" Eric stood there befuddled by pretty much all of what he had just seen. "Was that.. one of those artificial ladies?" The way she looked and talked, Eric almost mistook her for a machine. "No.. No she is quite human." Zach revealed as he looked over his own smashed dueldisk. "She is nuts." Emily summed up how she experienced miss Silver. "Silver is very devoted to our Master." Zach said sighing. He knew his words would not come across so trustworthy after that display. ".. You said the disks were linked right? So can she still work with Uno's disk if this one is gone?" Emily was hoping that she had interpreted that problem right. "I imagine so, considering it was my disk's codes that allowed her to influence the others in the first place. Mind you, Iria will not take this sitting down. Nor will she be fond of someone who interfered and destroyed two Dreamworld dueldisks. My suggestion is for you to stay here and tell your friends to come back as well. I can not stop you, but I'd much rather talk this out than watch Iria chase you."
...
The results of Emily's actions were noticed all the way down the road. "Huh?" The barriers created by the disk had been switched off. "Is she letting us go? Well, it doesn't matter. I am going back." James was not going to sit around here when he had no idea of what was happening to his daughter. If they could, they had to start moving. "I will go with you. Maybe I can get them to leave you alone if I talk with them." Uno jumped into the back of the pickup truck. "Maybe." Mr. Brandt started the vehicle and turned it around. Alice also got back to her seat and opened the rear window. Just to say something quickly. "I knew you'd come back." She smiled and closed the window again. "Yeah.." That girl had more faith in him than he did in himself. "Uno, you owe these people." He told himself. What was with that name anyway? What caused Iria to withdraw? That was not the only question mark to stick around. "My Pendant, she did not mention anything about that." If Dreamworld Technologies was only after the pendulum cards, then how did this pendulum jewel factor into all of this?
Brandt drove back as fast as he could and he called his daughter and put her on speaker-phone. "You're okay? Thank god." He was not sure what he thought could happen, he was just glad nothing came of it. "We're heading back. We found him, and he is coming with us." However that was not the kind of news Emily was hoping for. "What? Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean Uno must be long gone by now." She was careful with her words, her father could tell why. "That man is still with you?" Zach likely could not hear what he was saying. Unless they were tapping the phone. "These people.. they will come after us even if he isn't here. Okay, Emily, I have a plan, I'll be there soon." He turned the phone off. "Uno, Alice. I'll park the car in garage again. Stay out of sight. I know you said you wanted to see this man, but it's better if we can make him think you ran the opposite direction. Maybe we can get them to leave the town alone for a little while. When the coast is clear, I will get you out of here..."
Moments later, the family was back. Uno stayed in the back of the truck, while the Brandts came in through the front door. Eric and Emily were there, and so was Zach. "Ah. Sir Brandt. I missed you before." Zach extended a hand to the man of the house. "I'd like to offer my sincere apologies for my associate's.." The disciple struggled to find the right word for a second. "...extreme methods. You and your family were only doing what you thought was best." Brandt eventually shook the mans hand, but with a strong grip. "Is that what you are doing it for as well? All this noise for cards.." James did not get the outside world anymore, how could a cardgame company have this much power? But changed the world had. "This game has gotten bigger than you seem to realize. The technology put into these things is no child's play. If an outside source got their hands on it, who knows what could happen."
Brandt released Zachs hand. Zach winced a little. "To use that term of phrase; we are not the bad guys. We are merely trying to understand what happened. It is simply healthier for us all, including Uno, to cooperate. I doubt Silver will let him escape the region." Who knew what Zach meant with that. This company could have people patrolling the road to the city to catch Uno. James did not want to know how close the authorities were. They did not have a big headstart. "Kids. Leave the room. This man and I have something to discuss." On the surface, Brandt seemed to concede to Zach's request. "I appreciate it sir. Ah, before I forget.." Zach glanced over the mans huge shoulders to look at Eric fiddling with the broken dueldisk. "Could you please leave that behind? It is evidence." What could be salvaged could be analyzed by the boys and girls back at the lab. "Eh, fine." Eric let it go. He'd never put this mess back together anyway.
He and the sisters retreated to the halls. There Alice whispered what Emily already figured, that Uno was here and in hiding. "Here? Isn't this the last place he should be?" Eric panicked, forcing Emily to shush him. "Pipe down. Dad's good at this. You should see him out-talk telemarketers. He'll have this guy packing in a heartbeat, and then we can slip Uno out of here." This time they would have to accompany him to make sure he made it to safety. "But what if he did really do those things, steal those cards?" Eric couldn't help being skeptical. "He couldn't have. He's too nice to be a thief." Alice insisted. Then she came with her own idea. "Maybe we can make a break for it now. Emily you can drive the truck!" She knew her sister had had learned to drive a little, in case she needed to help her dad. "Not that well. And we are not doing anything without dad." She responded angrily.
"I can drive, if you need me to." Out of nowhere, Uno joined the conversation. "Uno!? You..you can't be here!" Emily gasped. "I can't be anywhere, so I might as well be here. Listen, maybe I did really steal those cards and I do deserve all of this. But you don't, I want to help fix this."
"But.. Huh?" Emily shuddered as her phone began to vibrate. "!?" She looked at the screen and saw a textmessage. "Is it dad?" Alice asked softly. Her sister nodded. "He wants us to.. No..." There was a lump in her throat. This could not be happening. Alice read it instead. "Take Uno to mom. There are supplies in the truck, do not worry about me. Oh.." He had texted this while Zach was distracted with his own speech it appeared. "Em.. Dad will be alright, wont he? He's tough. He only wants us to go before more of them arrive." For once Alice had to be the stronger voice. They could not stay here, they could not fight a company like this. "To your mothers place?" Uno had been wondering where the other half of the parent duo was. "She works for the government and its an election year, so she has to travel a lot. Right now she's staying at some hotel far down south." Going to her place would take them away from the city. One one hand it was a day-long drive, on the other hand the cops would not think to look for Uno there. "And if this is what dad wants.."
Inevitably they snuck back into the pickup truck. "Eric you should go to your mother, she'll probably be worried." Alice noticed that Eric was still around. He looked concerned. "But..Uno.. you were going to teach me to be an awesome duelist." He did not want to say goodbye, not after the things he had seen. "Maybe another time." Uno said. Dragging someone else into this mess was not what he wanted on his plate. "Are you sure? I could already be in trouble." Eric was sure that they'd want to interrogate him. That was something he did not want on his plate. "Just go, Eric." Emily was having none of it either way. She started the car, and moved out of the garage. She was hoping to make a getaway without being spotted.
"Hey!" But this time Zach did not let himself get fooled, he recognized the noise of the truck by now. "Where are they going?!" He rushed out the house , joined by his two bodyguards. "He saw us!" Eric yelled. Things were taking a turn for the worst. "Leave them!" Yet they were saved. First Mr. Brandt stormed out his house and surprisingly Mrs Stonewell then stormed out of hers. "You leave my boy alone. He hasn't hurt a fly!" The woman hollered at Zach before turning to her son. "Run, Eric! I won't let these bad men take you away!" She screamed. "Wow, mom." There was an image Eric did not think he ever would be seeing. The bodyguards had a lot on their hands with her. "Madam, there is no need for drama. Sir get out of our way." One guard managed to slip by, only to come in contact with the rest of the townfolk flooded in. "What on earth?" The people came to complain about the noise, about corruption in the industry that was trying to extort the children, and so forth. The disciple and his men could barely move, much less get to the helicopter.
"Uh.. do you think dad called in some favors?" Alice wondered if these people were genuinely mad or just trying to help Brandt. In this small town everyone knew each other, and liked each other. "Not really important! Eric, looks like you are coming with us after all. Get in!" Time was too short to think twice. "Aw yes!" Eric jumped inside, along with his backpack full of cards. This was how he prepared himself. Then, at last, they were off. Uno took over the wheel while Emily tried to catch a glimpse of her father through the rearview mirrors. She spotted him as he gave her a thumbs up. A minute later, it was all behind them. "I can't believe I did this."
"It will work out Emily." Alice tried to reassure her. "We are going to see Mom again. There is a bright side to all of this." Uno would take them to their mother and they would see things from there. "Yeah, I suppose. At least now they have no reason to bother dad anymore." Not even Dreamworld could be that vindictive. Though Emily did not look forward to hearing what mom had to say about this. "..You're a good driver, Uno." Alice was impressed. He did not look old enough to get a license. Not that he had one anyway. "I suppose.. muscle memory is a real neat thing." Instinctively Uno knew exactly what to do. He'd be showing off tricks, if this was the place for it. Things had to calm down a bit first. "Here, Alice." Eric took this chance to hand Alice a deck of cards. "Oh, thank you! I nearly forgot!" It was her own Mermail deck. "I would not know what to do without them." She was so happy that she gave Eric a big hug. "Ehr yeah.. you're welcome." Eric pried himself away. He recalled something else he had to give. "Hey Uno. Those guys; they said something about knowing your name. Or knowing someone with your name."
"They did?" This was news to him, big news. "What does that mean? That you aren't Uno?" Or there were two Unos, but that sounded like too big a coincidence. "I think it means I gotta meet whoever this UNO is. Not that it matters, I am going to keep this name. I like the sound of it now." Did this mean that the other Uno was a duelist or someone who worked for Dreamworld Technology? It could be the answer to everything or just a starting point. The downside to all of this was that he would inevitably have to see those Dreamworld people again. Just thinking about them made a picture flash through his mind. It was gone before he could give it a good look, it only left behind the sensation of vague familiarity. "One step at a time, Uno. The whole world lies ahead. Who knows what else is out there."
(To be Continued in Annex 006: Room to Breathe)