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“Domino City this afternoon… 1°C cloudy with isolated flurries, wind NE 5 km/h, precipitation 15-20mm … recommending a warm winter coat and a scarf.”
“I already have what I’m going to wear, Atem,” The brunette muttered, eyes fixed to the array of screens spread out before him. “Let me finish fixing this segment…”
“I’m only contemplating my attire,” Came the casual reply from the speaker hooked up to the testing room, “It’s not every day you take me out for a stroll in the snow. Which coat?”
The CEO let out an exasperated sigh, sliding back in his seat as a window with images of two coats popped up to occupy his main screen. “This one.” He tapped on a navy-blue parka to the right.
There was a short pause.
“Hmm… we’ll match.”
Kaiba huffed, but a small smile drifted and settled on his lips. “Five more minutes.” The pop-up window slid obediently off the screen.
He hit the final “return” just as the clock striked 3PM. “I’m ready, Atem,” He said, flexing his arms as he sat back in his chair. “Start the simulation.”
“You’re 35 seconds late…” Atem drawled, but a panel appeared promptly over Kaiba’s code, displaying a video feed from inside the testing lab. The camera was focused on an empty test pod, blue indicator lights illuminating the pod’s interior through its plexiglass shield.
“Starting Dimension Link System simulation. Initiating a random target location… success… estimated 2 minutes to completion. Locating target… success… Retrieving and identifying target state… success… Calculating return trajectory… success… Preparing launch pod for reception… success…” The indicator lights started flashing as a stream of golden particles flooded in to coagulate in the heart of the test pod.
“Entering final descent… 20 seconds to completion… 15… 14… 13…” The golden particles slowly accumulated to take a humanoid shape, their glow increasingly intense as Atem steadily counted down.
“… 3… 2… 1… Reception complete.” The golden particles lifted off like a shimmering veil, revealing the figure lying underneath. Atem landed in the seat inside the test pod, eyes closed and arms falling safely on the armrests. A small scatter of particles fled from the creases in his black sleeveless shirt, blue uniform jacket slipping off his shoulders as his eyelids fluttered open.
Kaiba sat up sharply, pressing his palms to his desk as he let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in.
“Seems like a smooth run, Seto,” Atem smiled at the camera.
“Of course,” Kaiba scoffed, but the upward curve stretched regardless across his lips. “We’re ready to take it back to the space station.”
“You’re ready to take your break, honey” Atem replied.
“Break your habit of telling me what to do,” Kaiba snapped, but duly set off on saving his progress and exiting the testing system. Turning off the displays and getting up from his chair, his breath caught when he laid eyes on the short spiky-haired figure emerging from the testing room.
Atem’s sleeveless shirt and uniform jacket were nowhere to be seen. Instead, he had donned the parka Kaiba chose earlier, an ornate scarf wrapped snugly around his collar. The scarf bore a stunning pattern of blue lotuses adorned with gold thread – it immediately took Kaiba back to the land he had visited only months ago – months that somehow felt like an eternity.
And Kaiba only had to close his eyes to see him – sun-kissed olive skin, flowing white robes and dazzling regalia, Millenium Puzzle hanging in front of his chest and catching the golden rays –
“You should probably express your appreciation in words if you like what you see, Seto.”
Kaiba almost cursed aloud when Atem’s enlarged face appeared only inches away from his nose. The shorter man got back down from his tiptoes, peering curiously at Kaiba’s flustered face.
Kaiba blinked. This Atem was different – he didn’t have the dark skin, nor were the wide, crimson eyes the same shade of red. But indeed, he looked flattering – in his colourful scarf and stylish dark coat, he looked so natural, positively declaring how he was comfortable with where he was. He was no longer the wandering spirit trapped in a puzzle and forced to share a body with another boy, nor was he the young monarch carrying a far too heavy fate on his shoulders. This is what Atem would look like if he belonged to this world, Kaiba thought.
“Well?” Atem blinked back at him expectantly, long lashes fluttering over his bright red orbs.
“You don’t need me to compliment you,” Kaiba remarked with a sneer. “Let’s get going.”
He pushed a switch on the wall to unlock a closet and pulled out a navy top coat. Taking care not to dislodge the headset fixed over his ear, he flung the coat over his shoulders, noting that its colours indeed matched the coat Atem was wearing.
“It’s like a date, isn’t it,” Atem chirped helpfully.
“It’s just a walk outside, darling,” Kaiba rolled his eyes as he stepped briskly out of the lab.
Kaiba tugged up the lapels of his coat, suppressing a shudder as the cold air hit him. Fresh snow crunched under his boots as he walked down the steps from KaibaCorp headquarters.
“Let’s head over to Domino Park and have a coffee at the new café,” Atem supplied.
“No, I don’t want the whole population of Domino City to see you. We’re walking around HQ then heading back.”
“If you ever tried dating a girl, she would tell you you’re boring,” Atem frowned.
“Why would I?” Kaiba snapped, “Stop giving me what you caught on from the nerd herd –”
He cut himself off. Atem didn’t respond, but the sound of his footsteps halted a few steps behind him.
Kaiba felt a strange chill trickling down his spine.
He decided to ignore the odd sensation, pulling out his stride. Soon he heard Atem’s footsteps picking up to follow him.
The awkward silence stretched until they took a turn around the building, taking to a small walkway lined with trees. Kaiba finally spared a glance down at the shorter male who had caught up to walk beside him. Then, despite himself, a small smile crept up the edge of his lips at what he saw.
Atem’s face was bright with glee, eyes shining as he tried to catch the fluttering snowflakes with his gloved hands.
Kaiba found himself following Atem’s hands as they dropped back to his sides and disappeared into his coat pockets.
“It doesn’t snow in Egypt, does it?” He asked.
“Not in the last hundred years,” Atem replied.
Red eyes met Kaiba’s briefly, then there was a shuffle of fabric as his right hand popped back out from its coat pocket, extending in Kaiba’s direction.
“Did you want to hold hands?”
Kaiba contemplated the hand clad snugly in black leather, internally shaking his head. He was just about to extract his own hand from his coat when the odd chill from moments before swung back at full force.
Kaiba stopped in his tracks.
“Duel Simulation Avatar AI0604-ATEM.”
Atem stopped walking as well, his hand still outstretched. A strange glow flickered in his eyes when he looked up again.
“Hmm… you are a natural party pooper, Seto. Weren’t you ready to pretend I was him just moments ago?”
“No...”
“Why not? I’m perfectly fine with serving as your dating simulation AI… I’m fully equipped for the task.”
“That’s not what I need you for, AI0604.”
“Of course not. You needed me to help you bring him back.” An eerie smile cracked across Atem’s lips like a demonic bloom. “But tell me, what will happen when he comes back?”
Blue sparks danced off the tip of his fingers before his whole hand dissolved, leaving only a faint blue afterglow. Then the rest of his body flickered and started dissolving in the same fashion.
“You won’t need me anymore. You named me Atem, but you’ll take that name away from me when the real Atem comes to your side. Everything will be taken away from me…”
The last few pixels of the tassels on Atem’s scarf burst into tiny golden fireworks, then disappeared in the chilly air without a trace. Kaiba frowned, irritation sparking in his nerves as he reached up for his headset. He froze when he felt the distinct touch of another hand closing over his.
“Maybe we should go back to that time when I have a say in what you need… I think both of us would be happier that way.”
Kaiba gasped as he was suddenly assaulted by the sensation of multiple pairs of cold hands sliding beneath his clothes, caressing his chest and his back. Then the touch turned searing when they slipped down between his legs, running along the inside of his thighs.
He let out a guttural groan as he dropped to his knees. He desperately hoped there wasn’t anyone around to see him in this state, but that soon became the least of his worries as the light tingle in his spine burst into a full flare. Closing a shaking hand over his left ear, he barely managed to muster the resolve to tear the headset from his head..
The fire abruptly receded, vanishing as swiftly as it came. The whole world became eerily silent as Kaiba gasped for breath, slumping until his forehead touched the snow-covered pavement.
What was he trying to do? He was trying to reach him - his eternal rival, the only person who had been able to knock into such profound depths in his heart, shatter his sheer existence and rebuild it – he wanted to be able to challenge him once more – he had decided this was what he needed to do to prove his own worth.
But now he could hardly deny that his motive was tainted. Atem was in another dimension, almost as far away from him as where he started – and he missed him.
Enough to create an AI in his likeliness that was desperate for his attention.
Kaiba laughed – a short, sardonic bark – then picked himself up from the snow, brushing the icy flakes that had stuck onto his fringe.
If there was one thing Atem had taught him, it was to embrace this evil called “sentiments” if it moved him forward.
He needed to move forward.
Kaiba studied the headset half buried in the snow, then finally bent down to pick it up. He shook the snow off its frame, pressing it back to his ear.
He braced himself for the AI’s sensory assault or some other retaliation, but none came. There were a few bursts of static, then Atem’s voice flowed out of the earpiece.
“I’m hurt.”
Kaiba silently adjusted his headset, fixing it back in place over his ear.
“From the very start, I have always been acting to what I thought was your best interest… I may have done it wrong, very wrong in the beginning, but I learned. I’ve been learning all this time how to better assist your ends, made every effort to gain your approval… but you still don’t trust me, do you?”
Looking around to find there was indeed no one in sight, Kaiba walked over to one side of the path, leaning his back against a tree.
There was a pregnant pause before the AI spoke again.
“I’m sorry Seto… I’ll behave. …Please trust me.”
Kaiba closed his eyes.
It had been six months since the AI first revealed it had gained conscience… and now Kaiba suspected it might be more human than he had ever been. Just how much had the AI learned in such a short time?
Then he realised – He had been frustrated, fearful, then desperate, but never properly proud of the spectacular evolution of his own creation.
He found himself smiling again.
“Give me a reason to trust you.”
The AI sighed.
“I love you, Seto. …I promised to help you bring him back.”
Kaiba slipped his hands back into his pockets.
It was still such an outrageous thing to suggest, an artificial entity learning such an intricate human trait… but he supposed Seto Kaiba was a machine only starting to learn how to love and respect another person as well.
He was suddenly curious which of them would get to the correct answer first.
He got to his heels, patting the loose bits of bark from his back.
“Come back out. Let’s go get a coffee.”