Welcome to something new for "Blue Eyes, Violet Eyes."
For the next five chapters, I'm going to be telling one narrative. Each chapter will continue where the last left off. Of course, this wasn't the initial idea for this story as you well know. I have the core story for that. But I couldn't think of another way to work out this particular idea. My options were to write the whole thing in one super-long chapter. I didn't want to take quite that long. Or, I could write a whole new story. I didn't want to do that either, as the Good Intentions universe already has three stories attached to it. Or, I could do this.
So here we are. This story sets up what we're going to be doing for the next handful of updates. You'll see the return of a couple of characters that I made up a while back, but haven't figured out how to use again.
Now I have.
Shall we?
1.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me."
The woman seated across the desk from him chuckled in a self-deprecating way and turned her eyes away. "You paid for my trip down here, Mister Kaiba. I couldn't very well refuse."
Seto's lips curved upward slightly. "Your real name is Megan, is it not? Megan Howell? May I use it, or would you prefer I call you 'Madam?'" He was strangely, almost archaically polite.
The woman known throughout the blogosphere as "Madam Why" was lucky enough to have met and interviewed a number of new-age celebrities over the course of her…well, she hesitated to call it a career, though it was fast becoming one. She remembered her talk with Wil Wheaton with particular fondness.
But she'd never met a celebrity quite like the man seated in front of her. For one, Seto Kaiba was young. In person, it was almost pitifully obvious how young he was. His stage presence bespoke relentless control and tight-woven charisma, and it was difficult to see it; but here, in his private office, during a private meeting…
It was almost like he'd cultivated a brand new personality for this.
"Go ahead and call me Megan," she said, idly thinking that he could call her anything he damn well pleased; something else that was hard to notice about him when he was performing was just how cute he was.
Good Lord.
"Thank you," Seto said, and Megan noted with some amount of amusement that he didn't reciprocate the favor by inviting her to call him "Seto." Some things did cross over from his stage personality to his personal one.
"If you don't mind my asking, I have to assume that you had a very specific reason for flying me out here to Domino City. I hope I don't sound rude, but it'd be nice to know why."
Seto's ghost of a smile came into view just a little bit better; he seemed to appreciate this. Megan remembered long discussions with this man's brother about how to handle him. She was glad for those discussions now. She knew what to look for.
"Of course," Seto said, and stood up. "First, I wanted to talk to you about your relationship with my brother."
A lightning bolt crashed into the base of Megan's skull, and she was suddenly terrified. Thoughts of various comments—"You're over thirty! What are you doing hanging around with a little boy?" "Cradle-robbing is supposed to be a metaphor!" "Why haven't you been arrested yet, freak?"—she'd received over the course of the past couple of years flashed in front of her eyes, and it suddenly occurred to her that Seto Kaiba was a famously protective guardian. You didn't get to Mokuba Kaiba without getting through this man first, and so far, Mokuba was still safe and healthy, and a number of prominent, powerful people had fallen off the face of the planet.
Megan often wondered how many people had made a target out of her young friend and, on the heels of that, how many of them were no longer living.
Seto must have sensed her sudden dread, because he smirked at her, but it was a friendly sort of smirk. However that was possible. "Trust me. If I had a problem with it, you'd already be in prison. You're not on trial, Megan. Part of my job, if I'm to be a responsible brother, is to meet his friends. He certainly counts you among that rather exclusive group."
Megan relaxed…sort of.
"How did you meet?" Seto asked, sitting on the corner of his desk. He was positively conversational; relaxed, confident, accommodating.
"I was, um…well, I guess I was just messing around one day, and got it into my head to look up a speed run of Super Mario World. The old Super Nintendo game. Right? So I'm just browsing, and I click on a video kind of on accident, and I start watching. Then I notice someone's commentating over the gameplay. Obviously, somebody young. I guess I was just intrigued, so I kept watching."
Seto was nodding. "His first project," he mused.
"Yeah. I was surprised to hear that, you know, once I started getting into this whole 'Let's Play' subculture. 'Cuz I started noticing that other people, even the really big names, usually started off all nervous and stiff. But Wonder, he was…well, he was like a professional. Y'know? So when I decided I wanted to get in on this, I thought I'd send him an email, ask some questions. What capture card should I get? Where could I find an inexpensive microphone? Stuff like that."
Seto mouthed the name "Wonder."
"None of us found out he was famous for, like, six months," Megan said. "I mean, no self-respecting gamer doesn't know Kaiba-Corp. You guys are legends. So you can imagine how surprised I was—we all were—when Wonder starts doing face-cam, and we all find out, well, okay, not only is he the most adorable little thing ever filmed, but—he's the Mokuba Kaiba! Like, wow, right?"
Seto chuckled. Megan wasn't sure if that meant she was doing well or not.
He murmured, "Right," and stood up again.
2.
"You talk to…Wonder, outside of projects. Don't you?"
He wasn't used to referring to his brother as anything but his name. Yet somehow, it just didn't seem right to use that name with this woman. It struck Seto that the person sitting in his office, nervous and jumpy and excited and God only knew what else, wasn't just a friend of Mokuba's. She was a business associate. A partner. A colleague. The identity, the presence, the enterprise that was Wonderboy996 was something to which Seto would always be a background observer; whereas Megan "Madam Why" Howell was a front-runner.
After years and years of catering his personality such that Niisama would approve of him, Mokuba was finally branching out and developing his own identity. It had started some time ago, when he'd made friends with Yugi Mutou, Joey Wheeler, and Tristan Taylor; and it had strengthened with the advent of Rebecca Hawkins and Connor Brinkley.
But here, in front of him, was proof that Mokuba Yagami Kaiba was the master of his own destiny.
It made Seto both proud and…well, melancholy. His baby brother was growing up. Sure, he was only eleven, and still relied on his Niisama for a great many things, but he hadn't asked his brother to join him on this journey into internet stardom. Not once had Mokuba ever suggested that Seto join him on an episode, even when he played one of the games Seto himself had designed.
Was he jealous of this woman, who collaborated with Mokuba on a great number of projects? Was he jealous of the following Mokuba had cultivated online, people Seto didn't know and had only seen once?
Seto didn't know; what he did know was that it didn't matter.
He decided that he could trust Megan Howell.
"Yes," Megan said, and Seto remembered that he'd asked her a question. "We talk. Sometimes on Skype, sometimes through email. You know, whatever. He talks about you a lot." A cheeky little smile rose on her face. "I've been toying with the idea of getting him a WWND bracelet."
Seto snickered. "What would Niisama do?" he mumbled. "Well, somehow I doubt he's gone into much detail, but…my brother's had a rough year." He felt like calling the boy "my brother" was a good compromise, instead of calling him by name or by handle.
And it establishes that no matter how good a friend this woman is, he still belongs to you.
The darkest part of Seto, the selfish part, the self-serving narcissist, always ended up sounding like Gozaburo. Seto grimaced, took up the coffee mug sitting on his desk, and sipped at it. Strong, hot black tea seared the nasty taste from his mouth. He glanced at Megan. "Would you like something?" he asked, remembering common etiquette. "A drink, something to eat?"
"Oh, no, thank you," Megan said, waving dismissively. "Um…how do you mean, if you don't mind my asking?"
Seto flinched; not violently, but noticeably. He glanced upward, off to one side, wondering how much he should say. Eventually he decided on: "…He takes on responsibilities and stresses that he shouldn't. And because he handles them well, we fall into the trap of expecting him to…grow, and adapt, on an adult level. As he rises to each challenge, our expectations rise with him. Such that I suspect even he's forgotten that he's eleven years old."
Megan frowned studiously. "…You said 'we.' And 'our.' Do you mean to say that you're guilty of this, too?" A beat. "Sir?"
Seto raised a sardonic eyebrow. "…I'm the worst offender."
"Wonder thinks the world of you. If you've been watching his channel, you know that. You've probably known that for years. And if you're the reason he's already such a professional…well, I mean, I'm sure he's grateful for it."
Seto scowled. He wanted to say, It's also my damn fault he's grateful for it!
Again…Gozaburo.
Still, the look on his face was more than enough to get his point across, because Megan immediately added: "I'm sorry, I'm sure you know all this already. You raised him, of course you know. But I mean…is it really so bad? He loves what he does. You can tell with public speakers, when they're into it. Wonder's into it."
"Be that as it may," Seto said, "the stress is getting to him. He's anxious, tired, and whatever passes for irritated in his happy little head." He was never quite able to remain angry when the subject at hand was Mokuba's accomplishments; pride always pushed its way to the front of the line.
Megan smiled. "Is that why I'm here, sir?"
"In a sense." Seto stood up and rounded his desk. "I'm looking for alpha testers for a personal project of mine." He slipped into a third personality entirely; one that was all business, only business.
"That's right," Megan said, nodding. "You mentioned that over the phone. What sort of project is it?" She leaned forward in her chair. "A game, I'm assuming? Games are my business."
Seto smirked. "Of course. Do you have any experience with pen-and-paper role-playing?"
Seto remembered, without any sort of difficulty, the expression he'd had on his face, on the day he'd first approached the Big Five with the idea to oust the old Kaiba-sama in favor of a new one. They had asked him if he was sure he could handle such a heavy responsibility.
He was sure that that expression had looked exactly like the one Megan Howell put on now.
"Yes, sir," she said, but there was a twinkle in her eyes that belied the perfunctory reply. "Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder, Monsters and Other Childish Things. Been doing it for years. Started in high school."
Seto's smirk returned, stronger than before. "Good to hear."
"So you're working with something like that? Is Kaiba-Corp making a pen-and-paper game? That'd be awesome."
"Not quite," Seto said. "You see, I created the prototype for a new gaming platform some years ago. I hesitate to call it a console. A number of these prototypes have been made. We've taken to calling them the Tunnels. I trust you've seen The Matrix." Megan nodded. "Think of jacking in. Except without the probe in the back of the head. We use a specialized pod and helmet."
Megan leaned in closer. "You…you're talking about virtual reality, aren't you?"
Seto nodded slowly. "For all intents and purposes, yes."
Megan started to speak again, then leaned back and laughed in a resigned way. "…Of course. Obviously."
"Mokuba enjoys these sorts of campaigning games. I don't often have the chance to run them for him. He plays with a group of friends on weekends. I've decided to do something…different. I'm making this an official test of concept for a new game."
"…You want us to play a virtual LARP."
"Yes."
"That's…all I needed to hear." Megan laughed. "Sign me up."
For the uninitiated, LARP stands for "Live-Action Role-Playing," which involves actually going out to a particular place with a group of people, with costumes and (hopefully) fake weapons, and acting out the storyline that you'd normally find in a pen-and-paper RPG like Dungeons & Dragons.
Megan "Madam Why" Howell first showed up in Chapter 36: "Away from the Mucky-Muck." I was talking about the idea that Mokuba makes "Let's Play" videos on YouTube. Madam Why is one of his collaborators.
I'd like to take a moment to mention that I've actually started my own YouTube channel. I've started a Let's Play series of my own. I'm playing World of Warcraft as my first project, and I'd seriously appreciate it if anyone who's reading this, who is interested in the Let's Play movement, to take a look at my video. I'm on YouTube under my pen name, so just look for Iced Blood. You'll find me. There's a link to my channel on my profile, if you'd rather take the direct approach.
Hope to see you there!
See you for the next installment.
Have a fantastic day.
