【84 - Intrusion! Stepping into a Strange Cyberscape!】

"What's happened? Where is she going?"

"I don't know," Kanoa repeated slowly.

They'd lost sight of each other racing through a dense forest.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Sinan's questions were spilling out. He'd asked over a dozen now, yet Kanoa remained patient. The irritation was there but not a hint rose out from his mind to taint his words.

Venus gently pushed into Sinan's awareness, redirecting him: "Find Amira first. She's one point three kilometres ahead. That's about three minutes away."

The phoenixes had honed their sensing, evidently.

The forest abruptly ended and Sinan stopped. He turned his head and could see Kanoa again, who'd halted also. The landscape stretching beyond was ash. Remnants of trees were blackened stumps or twisted hooks, most with no branches. There was no greenery at all, only dirt ground and a ghostly scattering of ash. They looked at each other before resuming their run to the ruined mountains beyond, broken like toys.

Amira was by a river, leaning over the water and pulling back her lip. The busted teeth were healing because: magic. She looked up. Sinan stopped a little behind Kanoa. Nobody spoke for a moment. Amira sprang over the river in one bound, landing behind them.

"Let's go back."

"Why'd Jacob and Heidi leave?"

Amira's flash of annoyance was greater and she refused to placate Sinan. Kanoa was having another of his slow, bewildered moments and wasn't answering either. Amira took off running, so did Kanoa, and with a scowl, so did Sinan.

Of all their minds Sinan's was the most strange. He reached different conclusions to other people because of a warping. Where most people's thoughts travelled in a straight line, his curved out to the side. The others didn't know what to make of this and neither did Sinan. When confronted with his mind's unusual shape he'd stared without words. He'd very rarely thought he was wrong about anything, and yet before him was proof that compared to the others he was odd. Huh. The revelation was still settling in.

They travelled wordlessly through the ashfall, then as they breached the forest Sinan continued with his newfound reflection. He was like Jacob in having an emotional sensitivity and nuance the others lacked. Their inner worlds were dreamy, receptive, romantic even. This made rational things impossible to judge pristinely, like refraction underwater, but allowed for a tremendous human understanding of feeling. Kanoa was only sensitive to his physical surroundings in that he liked controlling it, was agitated by mess and enjoyed nature. The girls were indifferent, basically. Sinan and Jacob felt deeply over a range of things, not just their surroundings but the emotional climates around groups, so were often retreating inward. Due to the limitations of language, this needed to be seen to be understood.

Together they were five normal teens, and yet normal people could be so different to each other. Jacob had active empathy, sometimes he was happy for it and other times felt like he was falling prey to it. Sinan's sensitivity rarely reached the point of becoming empathy. It manifested as the same explosiveness as Heidi, but whereas she got angry for having too much of herself most of the time, Sinan was easily triggered and highly reactive. His sensitivity was inhibited by the flawed curvature of his mind, failing to connect to other people. It made him naturally selfish, like Amira. Sinan was often subjected to the whims of his emotions, but his life was richer for it. The strength of being mostly unshakeable had been exchanged for complexity and heart. The others faced these emotions, mentally leaning back, able to see the scale but not comprehend them. Sinan couldn't comprehend his feelings either - and they were his. He could only feel them.

After returning to the base they understood the next order of business. Talk of a plan was still needed. They were putting it off.

Sinan sat by the charred firepit with his jejune stare. Kanoa crouched in his garden and started digging up another batch of carrots. Amira was pacing, walking in and out of the base, then in circles around the clearing, looking into the sky.

Sinan thought of something while watching them, "Do you think Heidi and Jacob are going to couple up like you two?"

Amira paused, Kanoa stopped digging.

"Well…" Amira remained facing away, "Our options are pretty shit, but if we populate this planet he's the better choice. No offence."

While no longer priggish, thinking about sex still made Sinan awkward. Formerly, he'd worked to suppress thoughts on it like any cultural taboo. The habit remained, and so Sinan averted his eyes and body from the almost-subconscious thrill at the subject. Kanoa fidgeted too. Amira rolled her eyes at them.

Sinan focused on Kanoa's back, now curious. He was glad he shared the mind-link with another pair of boys. Being linked this way with girls, or a girl only would be far too intimate to be appropriate. Sinan knew Kanoa had been deeply in love and that the two of them were together for a while. Sinan searched and learnt that Kanoa had never consummated that love with her.

"No… we never did that."

Amira and Sinan tensed, realising the unfortunate shift in topic.

Kanoa didn't talk about her. He didn't exactly think about her either, because she never left his awareness. She was the backdrop of his mind that every other thought was painted on and coloured by.

"Meilani…"

When chosen by Jupiter, the quiet and reserved boy had allowed the weight of expectation, of duty to swallow him. He served his phoenix, his tribe and the islands diligently, trying to feel worthy. When Jupiter rescinded his powers Kanoa became even more self-critical. Meilani had wanted to be intimate with him, but he'd not wanted to risk a single mistake that would let anyone down, besmirching her or his reputation. Their union was close to being officiated, but his old life and love was destroyed before that could happen.

The grief was heavy like a plunging sinkhole.

"I thought boys were supposed to think about sex more than girls do," Amira changed the subject back, crossing her arms. "You two are super repressed though. Jacob's different."

Sinan would've chosen to be a priest, but taking over as head of Jaakuma Industries one day hadn't been negotiable. He'd have liked to remain single to keep his focus on God, but in his puritanical city his urges may have made him consider marriage.

Amira was the only one with experience. Just once, and it was none of anyone's business.

Revelations like that were the reason they mostly ignored the mind-link altogether, only looking into each other when their curiosity demanded it.

The colourful inhabitant of the cave was already distressed when Heidi and Jacob ventured in. It clawed the ground, whipping a loose tail with a rattling, feathered end. The plate of bone that crowned its head made them think of a triceratops. They didn't need to scare it further, it suddenly darted past, evacuating its cave.

It was quiet again. In the nature all creatures were humming and clicking at cautious volumes; within the cave was dripping from mossy stalactites.

"Everywhere here, even the bigger animals are stressed out," Jacob murmured.

They entered.

The cave, while earthen, resembled the trachea of a giant, sloping upward into the mountain. They climbed a few boulders before turning and sitting. Rainclouds were forming outside, prompting their search for cover. Heidi suspected they were caused by all the fire Mars unleashed heating the atmosphere above.

"I think Amira was right about me, in the clearing." Heidi began, "No matter how I'm feeling now, I can't stop myself for long. I'm kinda stupid."

Jacob cracked a small smile. She looked at him, watched him empathise with her. Then his expression dropped.

"What is it?"

Jacob confessed, "Amira doesn't know. I've not told anyone… about what your sisters told me."

"You said they teleported somewhere safe, right?"

"Right."

Heidi figured so long as her family were in hiding there'd be no reason to involve them anymore. She really didn't want that. Jacob knew he couldn't conceal what he knew, and at any rate she had a right to know.

"Your sisters are in the creature world. Water civilization, to be specific."

"How? Why?"

"Tailee's research branch. With coordinates from Merc and me, they were able to send messages through the open vortex Urobach made, through hyperspace and to the water civ. The creatures then helped a small science team cross over a year ago. It's since become a larger operation and, you guessed it, the government has no idea."

Heidi thought for several seconds, "...The cyber lords are ambitious enough to invade Aurellia, just like Urobach."

"The cyber lords haven't ruled for aeons. But yeah, invasion is possible. Only instead of triggering doomsday, this might be what saves Aurellia. Drache der'Zen is staying out of the creature world conflicts, instead he's focusing on the water civ's excessive number of festivals. General Charles keeps contact minimal."

"And these guys are…"

"Drache der'Zen is the water civ's current leader, I meant to say."

"A magic command dragon," Mercury added.

"While General Charles is leading the expedition team," Jacob continued.

"And my sisters are part of his team. How many people?" Heidi asked.

"Last I knew, eighty-something," Jacob answered.

"If we don't go back for Aurellia, we should go there." Heidi wondered if sudden planetary annihilation was why her sisters were together, instead of finding some way to help on the front lines like she would've expected. Something wasn't adding up.

Jacob took a breath for the big reveal.

"Your parents are lost in the creature world too. They're alive."

Heidi stared, falling into an even longer silence.

It was over a minute before she spoke again.

"You're smart, Jacob. But if we decide to go fight Urobach on the moon, we need to go to the creature world first. We need to find out what tech or help Drache der'Zen will give us, figure out a plan with General Charles and my sisters, then go to Aurellia. Even as giant phoenixes, we can't fly through space… at least, I don't think so."

"It would be dangerous to attempt," Mars provided.

"But not impossible?" Jacob lifted his gaze.

"For any of you, getting to space would be easy," Mercury explained. "Surviving there, another matter. Crossing the three-hundred and eighty-thousand kilometres to the moon in a feasible amount of time, also another matter."

Jacob looked at Heidi as she stared out, her mind was stuck on meeting her parents.

"You don't have to justify yourself to me."

"Don't I?" Heidi remarked.

"No."

"Despite the most pressing concern ever, I might still want to find the people that birthed me. It's only the end of the world, right?"

"I'm not going to tell you how you should feel."

Heidi considered his unexpected empathy.

"For an antisocial guy who didn't like us, this is unexpected," she commented.

"I know… All of us being connected like this makes it harder."

Jacob was a bit like Amira and a bit like Sinan, but was very different to all of them. He was the least surprised by the mind-link because he could already read people well. His interpersonal understanding felt mature and highly-tuned. When it came to reading between the lines, he wasn't just great but perfect. This was no superhuman skill, he couldn't read minds, he simply noticed all there was to notice. Most often, he saw through manipulations as well as what people wanted, or were trying to hide or portray. He had the regular kind of genius too, but separate to that were his people skills and the Amira-like mental mobility. One of his strengths doubled as his weakness: his sensitivity made him retreat. He was friendly to all, but after a while found himself preferring softer company. He was slightly egotistical, and somewhat deviant - but not to an unusual degree as a teenaged boy. He was also kind and understanding, a trait that led them to where they were now.

Heidi stared at him and wondered. Wasn't slowly uncovering the mystery of someone what made people fall in love? She didn't know a thing about love, but to have a complex understanding of someone so suddenly, bringing on an instant familiarity, was curious. Only love should inspire anyone to try to understand another that deeply. Did that depth of knowing and love go hand-in-hand? Jacob wasn't bothered by her line of thinking, but Heidi became embarrassed and faced away. At any rate, Jacob had been born fully-grown. He was only interested in the realm of adults, never children. The rest of them had minds that even when old would feel partly peurile, partly blunt. Even Amira, whose mind was the most 'teenager', was crafty until her schemes invariably backfired because she couldn't plan ahead. There was truth in Jacob's comparing the task of working with them to babysitting.

To a lesser degree, he was also intrigued by her mind. Their natures weren't complementary, but clarity undid what would've been repellant in each other.

"Not just for filling in gaps, your mind showed me something I've never seen before," Jacob alluded, changing the subject. Heidi followed his thoughts.

"The New Age parasites."

"Your mind isn't curved like Sinan's. Pressure and - well, trauma - included, it's still a working mind. You frying technology, and Hillary's intuition, the others have those memories too so that stuff actually happened."

"I know they're real," Heidi muttered. "They were using us."

"So years ago, I spent a few weeks looking into NDE accounts. Multiple people corroborated New Age ideas coming from the mouths of different religious figures. Saying death is a freedom, kindness is the way to go and we should worry less in general. In the end I decided it was a common response, the brain trying to protect itself."

What felt like the beginning of a lengthy discussion was cut short by Mercury.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, an external signal's breached our intranet!"

"Is our equipment fixed?" Jacob asked.

"No, I'm far from finishing that. And yet, someone's taking a stroll through our systems."

Jacob stood, so did Heidi.

He looked at her, "Want to see the cyberscape?"

She felt a thrill.

Jacob offered his hand and they linked arms. Mercury's essence enveloped them, first like furling wings. Blue light seeped in, converting their mass into a wave. While useless here, Mercury made the mobile in Jacob's pocket into a powerful transmitter. They digitised into the phone and beamed out, it beamed itself after them too.

They'd lost all shape and swept through everything: trees, land, rocks, sunlight. Time slowed, thoughts were gone. In no time they penetrated the base. The computer pulling them was loud like a vacuum cleaner with teeth. It felt threatening, this single object interacting with them. They were powerless as it suctioned them into its glowing port, into its wiring. Compared to the dead outside, the tower case was chaotically alive. They were free and fast before, now suddenly there was pressure, electrical noise, and other disorienting senses.

Their bodies were rebuilt and they were floating in a corridor.

The surrounding space was an obfuscating blue, beneath it the walls looked like synthetic polymer, a porcelain-coloured plastic. With arms waving and legs kicking, Heidi failed to orient herself. Above and below was an inscrutable void. She noticed architecture. The walls either side of them weren't tall, revealing distant shadowy towers, neither their bases nor tops could be made out. From the closer ones she could see they were unorderly stacks. Ridges and cords provided small detailing, everything made from that same material.

"Hey," Jacob swam closer. Their bodies retained a glowing cyan outline. "Relax."

"Easier said than done," Mars was even more disoriented than Heidi.

She forced herself to calm down. Measuredly, she moved her arms and legs, hearing the electric buzz from the movements. Once she figured out how movement worked she successfully righted herself. Jacob nodded in approval.

"I'm used to being here now, but it's a lot to take in the first time."

"Yes," Mercury sounded louder than Mars, her voice echoed around both of them. "Jacob panicked much worse, his first time."

"I'm not surprised," Mars was peeved.

"Tell us about this place," Heidi asked.

"Do as I do," Jacob managed to turn, then he pushed off the nearby wall and floated off.

Heidi copied him, the buzz louder in her ears as she swam. She started blocking it out. They drifted, she could see no limits to the vastness.

"I can sense them too now, whoever they are, they're not far… So, where to begin? We're inside our computers now. If they get destroyed out there: we die."

Heidi thought about that, "Okay. Go on."

"Obviously, we're not in a void. Cyberspace isn't like space, it's an ocean."

"An ocean of electricity and data that dissolves almost everything, but my energy coating is keeping you safe," Mercury explained. "At this pressure I could protect you both for days, but there are places on the web you could only stay for minutes, if not less."

They floated between two proximal towers. There were blocky islands too, comparatively smaller like landing pads to nowhere, one such one had been their starting point.

"About here," Mercury announced. "They shouldn't be far."

They stopped swimming and peered around through blue smog. There, standing on the grooved segment of a tower: An older man with hands on his hips and a big smile.

"You…" Heidi whispered. Jacob spun, followed her line of sight then scowled.

The man's voice was somewhat distorted by the distance but carried.

"Is this familiar?" he pulled at the sleeve of his red and black chequered suit. "I've had a vibe change since, but this was my outfit in that photo you saw."

Heidi had seen his picture among candid shots her former mentor Narciel had shown her long ago. Gaigen's eyes were monochrome scarlet. Opposite in colour to Mercury.

"I can't believe he crossed over before we could…" Jacob grumbled. He shouted back, "So what's your plan?"

"The best outcome would've been: blow up another computer, kill you two and leave the others stranded forever."

"Not so long as I'm around," Mercury threatened.

"That seems to be the case…" His big grin was almost but not quite madness.

Three silver drones were flying in circles behind him.

Jacob started, "He got programs across. Three of them-"

"Four!" Mercury yelled as something whizzed at them from the side.

Heidi and Jacob kicked away from each other. The other drones flew up while Gaigen propelled himself toward them.

The four drones surrounded Heidi quickly, then linked up via lasers that formed a cube.

"I can't free her!" Mercury realised.

Heidi tried but didn't have access to her fire or strength here.

"Stay calm!" Jacob shouted back.

Gaigen drifted into duelling distance and raised his deck. He had a scattering of small scars, Jacob's payback for his own scars. Gaigen's grey hair was combed back, longer than his chin. He looked prideful and neat.

"Stay put," Mars advised Heidi. "Mercury is already working to free us."

She clenched her fists.

"Glad I ended up having a use for those," Gaigen said.

Jacob raised his deck. "You've actually been spying on us for a while, haven't you?"

"I'm not telling. This duel will be mano a mano; your stronger bodies don't mean jack here. If you lose, the impact will make weak spots in Mercury's protection. You'll be dissolved by the cyberspace around us."

"You mean, you'll be dissolved. Because I'm not going to lose."

Their tables generated as grid-lines before the surfaces frosted over solid. Heidi hit her transparent cage in frustration, it made a dull thud.

On his second turn Jacob turned over a nature-water spell, "I cast Earth Dragon God's Magic Encampment!"

"A different deck?" Heidi realised.

Three cards flew up and hovered side-by-side, "I send Deddam, Disaster to my mana zone." His deck levitated, the rejected cards sliding beneath as it repositioned itself.

Gaigen charged, setting darkness beside a water card.

"I summon a tamaseed."

"A what?" Jacob didn't get an answer. There was a flash of darkness and then he saw a new variation of Jenny, the Dismantling Puppet as a chibi statue.

"Could it be a discard deck?" Heidi whispered. "But what's a tamaseed? Gah, get me out of here!" She punched again.

"Another minute, Heidi!" Mars said.

"Jenny's Shadow," Gaigen continued, "You lose a card in your hand." A card flashed purple before snapping: Shuff, Eureka.

"What's a tamaseed?" Jacob repeated, louder.

"It's not a creature, nor a cross gear. It's a tamaseed, and not anything else." Gaigen said, messing with him.

"It's just another type of card, like M-006's magic tools!" Heidi yelled.

"But Heidi…" Jacob remained bothered.

"Your phoenixes have been away from the creature world for too long. You're not familiar with the DM22-EX2?" They'd only seen what was in their new decks and not the new set extensively. Gaigen read their faces. "No? What a pity…"

Jacob reached for his deck but was stopped.

"Hold it. I still have moves to make. Namely, Gravity Zero! Pet Puppet, Puppet Trick!" He flashed the spell. "Since I have a death puppet you lose another card!"

Snap! Hyperspatial Gallows Hole landed in Jacob's graveyard and he was much less comfortable losing that.

"Now it's your turn."

After his next pull Jacob smirked. He charged the other card, "I summon Deddam, Disaster!" A living statue of onyx spread its flexed arms. Three cards floated up. "Shuff to graveyard, Adamski to mana and this to hand!"

Gaigen charged his third mana card, "I pass turn."

"I summon Everyone Gathered Together! Aqua Three Brothers!" A liquid person that would bounce Gaigen's creatures if they were played for no cost, on his turns. "Deddam attacks and revolution change! Redgirazone, Roaring Revolution!" Light swallowed Deddam as it jumped, then it exploded upward, dimming to reveal a winged mecha giant. "Double break!" The steel segments of its fingers ground and groaned as it clenched, then it torpedoed its arm.

Two panels exploded, Gaigen spun over backwards. Instead of buffering them, their strange medium carried the shockwaves further. He fixed his position then revealed the worst outcome: two glowing cards.

"First, strikeback! I discard this to cast Order's Will! Redgirazone is sealed!" Chains fired out, wrapping the giant mech into a giant cocoon, bundles of the chains then reached to distant towers. Glowing characters marked it, presumably meaning 'seal'.

Gaigen snickered, "And the next: Shield trigger, AQ Network! I put another tamaseed for free so I choose Naga's Ring." What resembled a treasure chest, water-dark going off its design, revealed a simple albeit glowing ring. "I mill three and return a darkness or water card to my hand. I choose another Naga's Ring."

"Go," Jacob's voice was scathing.

"Again, hasty. First, I discard your final card." Deddam snapped to the graveyard and then Gaigen drew, "I summon Naga's Ring. Mill three, and return Drache der'Zen to my hand. Since I can't make you discard again, I'll draw this time instead."

"He has Drache der'Zen…" Jacob paled. That could mean nothing, or…?

"And three of those tamaseeds now." Heidi wasn't following, focussed only on the game in front of her.

Then Mars yelled, "We're out!"

Heidi punched, this time the cage shattered into squares, the drones looped away like drunk birds. She kicked off to go position herself around the duel.

"Stay out of it!" Jacob yelled, giving her pause. Gaigen's eyes narrowed fractionally. "He's too dangerous, and he's my problem!"

"He's our-!"

Jacob cut her off.

"I summon Umakin Star Project!" The merhorse with its wispy data-trail took on new life in the cyberscape. "Verde to mana, this to hand." His cards organised themselves. "Aqua Three Brothers, attack!" It reared back a fist then its liquid arm stretched far with its punch, clearing a panel, the pieces mercifully remained apart.

"Hm. Is that another rev change you took to your hand, I wonder? We can't have that. Gravity Zero, Pet Puppet." Once more Jacob was left with no hand. Dead-Damned Triple S-rank Disaster landed in his graveyard. "I summon Drache der'Zen!" An aquatic musician lowered, strumming the laser cords of his guitar. He was adorned in lapis and gold, with a cape and pointed hat. As a creature he didn't look special, but Jacob couldn't help fearing he was facing their planet's future dictator, maybe Urobach's new ally. Gaigen watched on with that stretched smile. "He's a tamaseed, but while I have four or more creatures or tamaseeds, he becomes a creature as well! And an 11,000 blocker. Tough gig, dear old nemesis of mine."

Jacob can't keep his cards or get through, Heidi thought while swimming around into position. "I'm stepping in!" she shouted, and much to Jacob's shock: "I choose five!"

"Don't! You'll die!"

Heidi's cards assembled while Gaigen chuckled.

"It's too late to make a difference," he wiped the moisture under his eyes.

Once ready Heidi drew, only two cards remained in her deck. She checked her hand and had nothing to speed attack with this turn.

"Problem?" Gaigen read her expression.

Attacking han't been her plan anyhow, "I summon Infelstarge! I send two non-creature cards in play to their owner's mana zone!" Ignoring the crucified Dokindam she pointed across, her plant dragon lunged while extending its branch-like claws. "I choose two of your tamaseeds! Drache der'Zen is no longer a blocker and I pass turn."

Gaigen's smile no longer reached his eyes.

Jacob drew strongly, "Umakin, double break!"

Its charge blew the glass apart, Gaigen failed to adjust fast enough. "Aqua Three Brothers todomeda!"

A stretched arm punched his middle and he folded over it. When the fist moved away they saw a gap, energy melted its way in and throughout. Gaigen gave a distorted cry as he pixelated into nothingness.

They stared before finally relaxing.

"Heidi…" Jacob began.

"I don't want to hear it. Sinan beat you in our first duel because he took a risk. We have to risk it all to win, so even if the intrusion penalty leaves me with two cards in my deck, I don't care!" she decided.

Jacob sighed. He moved on to ponder the larger situation.

"Mercury, his signal…?"

"I already tracked it. He came from the creature world."

"I was afraid of that."

"And also, that wasn't the real Gaigen. He was remote controlling an avatar."

Jacob cursed while Heidi blanked.

"Sounds like water civ tech to me…"

"Hold it! Are you telling me there's a lieutenant in the creature world! With my sisters!? My parents!?"

"Heidi…"

"We have to go there!"

"Heidi!"

"I agree," Mercury spoke calmly, Heidi was momentarily stalled. "My progress toward getting us back to Aurellia remains slow. If we travel to the creature world, we could enhance my powers with water civ tech and I could get us back faster."

Heidi stared away, thinking only of her parents. She couldn't bear to lose them after just finding out they were alive.

"It'll be much easier to do because of Gaigen's trail…" Jacob said.

"Yes."

"That means him coming here was the set-up for a trap."

"You're overthinking, Jacob!" Heidi whipped around.

"You don't know him like I do!" Jacob was proper shouting, in a paroxysm of anger. "And you were wrong! Gaigen is my responsibility! We've tangoed a few times now and there's always steps to his plans! I told you, this is like chess!"

If they weren't mind-linked Heidi would've yelled back. As it was, she bit back her response and let him stare off, fastidiously turning things over in his head, sifting for clues. She knew their next step would be the creature world, and that was enough to satisfy her. Her next step was finding her parents.

『AN: Thanks to Acuma for providing all the decks I've used in this arc, once more. Sometimes I get recipes from the Duel Masters Wiki, but usually it's from him. And thanks for lore information and having a keen eye for duel mistakes. Azure helps once in a while too, even if his interest in reading and writing online stuff has waned. And thanks Shuriken for generally thriving under pressure, reading and writing pretty regularly even when he's so busy. My night shifts make this a lot easier for me. I won't disclose the details, but I've made an update schedule that I want to stick to, despite the fact this final semester looks like it'll be a lot of work. To readers: Muchas gracias! Arigatou!』

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