Bakura Ryou waited patiently in the admission line for the Expanding Galaxies Contemporary Museum, proudly sponsored by Kaiba Corporation. There was a large class of young schoolchildren in front of him; the supervising teacher was busy punching in the appropriate codes at the card register. His book bag weighed pretty heavy and he mentally urged the woman to hurry up. Even though he was patient, he didn't want to waste time- he had a vidbook report to finish, as well as a paper on "former Earth Politics and their influence on Current Interstellar Politics". One of his better subjects, he mused. It wouldn't be hard to get a perfect 100 credits score on this one!
For his seventeen years, Ryou had already meticulously outlined his future; he was going to study and graduate in Earth and Ancient History studies, and after his graduation- traveling. There were two options after the studies of his choice; become a teacher or a researcher, and fascinated as he was with the past and history of planets and Earth in particular, Ryou wanted to do research by traveling through the universe and galaxies- in search of clues and answers, completing and living history on his own. He considered teaching for a while - even though he had to apply for university yet, Ryou was already regarded and respected as a walking encyclopedia and source of knowledge on this subject- but decided against it in favor of traveling. No one was really interested in Earth studies- Earth didn't exist anymore, so why bother studying? Ryou was intrigued by the past and loved to dig around in libraries, searching for anything remotely ancient looking. It would be fascinating to find answers and discover new leads to reconstruct events from the past- there were so many holes left to patch in the history of the world... and with the full support of his father, a history lover on his own, he could...
"You're next, young man," a woman said behind him, fairly amused. Ryou jerked out of his thoughts, smiled apologetically and quickly pressed the LVS for identification, then swiped his school card. The glass door slid open invitingly and he stepped in; immediately overwhelmed by the visual attack of large vidscreens, announcing exhibits and presentations. There was so much to choose from; museum personnel were demonstrating objects and models of past cultures, or passing out flyers to call attentions to certain exhibits in particular. The large class of school children went to a "Technology through the Ages" demonstration- snickering, Ryou walked forward to one of the vidscreens, embedded in a pillar, and touched it.
"It's still here," he thought, relieved, when he saw the 3D announcement of the Ancient Egypt exhibit. It was his favorite; he would stop by later, after he'd done his homework. He took the stairs the old-fashioned way, not overly fond of the pressure-driven elevators and zip lifts. He knew exactly where to go; his father had taken him to the museum since he was five. Not to his surprise, there were hardly any people, let alone someone of his fellow students, in this section.
Ryou merely shrugged- Earth studies weren't compulsory, but it was good for some extra credits, and it would look good on his University application. He'd already read the most common works on former Earth Politics when he was thirteen and only had to verify some facts. After that, he was free to go to the Ancient Egypt exhibit; he could crank out the vidbook report within an hour. He walked past the long row of spotless clean, glass cases, displaying transparent discs one after another, neatly arranged to subject. He looked at the small imprinted description of the discs and smiled when he saw the one he was looking for.
"Open case," he said and the door slid open, soundlessly. With his index finger, Ryou touched the disc and a vidscreen popped up, displaying the contents of the book thanks to the holographic technology.
"Search for Europe, 2005."
"All content for Europe, 2005, displayed." The automatic voice was too soft to disturb other visitors, yet audible enough to hear at this distance. Ryou looked at the presented information on the screen.
"Narrow search to monarchies," he ordered.
"All monarchies in Europe, 2005, displayed."
Ryou took out his personal manager applicator, a handheld, powerful mini-computer that was the size of a cell phone, and disposed over a wide array of applications. He pulled up another vidscreen and quickly browsed through the information until he found his report. Checking with the information on the library vidscreen, he quickly added Belgium as another monarchy to his notes by merely giving a vocal command. Pen and paper went out of use ages ago- Ryou had both utensils at home, a birthday gift from his father. He used it to write letters to a certain someone, even though she wasn't able to receive any of them. There wasn't a mail delivery company anyway; current technological enabled everything to be electronically sent.
After verifying a few other details, he left the Earth section and quickly crossed over to the other side of the large Museum. Ryou entered the Ancient Civilizations hall and smiled when he saw the familiar statues and artifacts. He'd always went by the Ancient Egypt exhibit, though he didn't know why- just another quirk he'd adopted of his father.
It surprised him to see quite some visitors; normally it was very quiet around here. Shrugging, he went to his favorite piece of the exhibit - the three ceremonial tablets. Every time he looked at it, he discovered something new, especially the one that hung in the middle. Two great men, a Pharaoh and a Priest, facing each other with great power... they were preparing for a battle, but what battle... and what had their counterparts to do with it, two beings that had been identified as 'duel monsters', a game played when Earth still existed and...
A small kid came to stand next to him, face frowned.
"What's a Faa-raa-ow?" He asked, interrupting Ryou's train of thought. He looked down at the kid, and smiled.
"It's someone with great power from ancient times. He ruled over a very important country, Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians stood at the base of a lot of knowledge that we even use nowadays- mathematics, physics..."
"History is old and stupid," the kid whined. Ryou cringed. He didn't dignify that remark with a response, so he focused his attention to the ceremonial tablet again. He knew the information the museum offered about this tablet by heart; and was convinced there was still so much more to tell, to discover...the Priest, for instance. Ryou had always thought the person identified as the Priest bore a great resemblance to Seto Kaiba- the young CEO of Kaiba Corporation, the sponsor of this museum, and with great interest in a large number of other businesses. Only a few public images of Kaiba were available, and the resemblance was stunning, according to Ryou- he was, however, smart enough to keep it to himself.
"Who was that Faa-row?" The kid asked.
"It's 'Pharaoh'," Ryou corrected him, pronouncing the old title with some exaggeration. "And to answer your question... no one knows. His name has been lost throughout history... do you realize these tablets were already displayed when Earth still existed? Even then, they didn't know his name... it was said that the Pharaoh still roamed the Earth, in search for his name, because when he found his name, he could save the Earth and protect his people."
The kid scowled. "Boring."
"Can you imagine that you don't know your own name? The Ancient Egyptians were very carefully in naming their Pharaoh, because they saw the Pharaoh as God incarnated. To have your name removed, is one of the most severe disgraces to a Pharaoh- whether he must've been very cruel so people wanted to remove any memory of him, or he did it on purpose..."
Ryou saw the kid wandering away, bored again, and shrugged. He glanced at the tablet one last time, the resemblance with Kaiba still striking him, no matter how many times he'd seen it. He went into the next room, and saw the little kid standing in front of the prominent display in the middle of the room.
"Holographic images of the God Cards." Ryou had to bend a little through the knees to be at eye level with the three cards. They were on display thanks to Kaiba Corporation’s stunning holographic technology, and it was hard to believe they were only fragmented lights and pixels, instead of real cards. In the middle were The Sun of God Dragon, Ra, a golden phoenix and the most powerful of the three God Cards. On the left was a crimson red dragon with two mouths, The Sky of God Dragon, Osiris, leaving on the right The Tormentor, Obelisk, a blue giant, unmatched in brute force.
"Those things destroyed the Earth? I was hoping it was a bomb or such." The kid snorted.
Ryou scowled, having enough of the kid's degrading attitude. "These three Gods were a part of the game Duel Monsters, as it was played on Earth, and were only to be wielded by the Pharaoh. They are such powerful monsters that they were - and are - more than capable of wiping out an entire planet. Not a piece of land, but an entire planet. What exists today, is due to foreseeing visions of people who were smart and adequate enough to rescue whatever could be rescued and leave the world as they knew it."
The boy looked now with a bit more respect at the cards. "You really mean that... cards destroyed the Earth?"
Ryou shook his head. "No, not cards. Osiris, Obelisk and Ra destroyed the Earth. What exactly happened, has been lost as well. Some people think it's because of the malfunctioning, underdeveloped holographic technology at that time. You see, the technology we know today didn't exist back then. There could be a possibility that, when released, the Gods had free play, not to be restricted in any way or form by the bad technology at that time..."
"And what do other people think?"
"That the cards weren't wielded by the Pharaoh and they... got out of hand," Ryou said, gauging the kid's reaction. "Or the Pharaoh did wield them, but hadn't found his name yet... the Gods won't listen to a nameless Pharaoh. As I've said, it's not really clear what happened. Survivors of the disaster didn't want to believe a card game had destroyed the Earth and tried to forget about it- or find a, plausible logic answer...where they are still looking for."
"A bomb still was way cooler," the kid answered, but looked far less bored at the cards.
"There are rumors that the original cards still exist," Ryou said while tapping slightly on the glass.
"Really?"
"Nobody knows if that's true, of course- and if it was true, who are the owners, or where the cards are in the first place. The card game they derive from, Duel Monsters, is illegal anyway."
"Illegal? Cool!"
"There's nothing cool about illegal," Ryou scolded, "you can get fined or even imprisoned when you are caught playing the game. It's..."
The kid cocked his head and sighed, giving Ryou an apologetic look. "Mom's calling me, we're leaving. Hey, you work here or something?"
"No, I don't," Ryou answered him, but before he could tell the boy more, the kid waved at him and with a "Gotta go!", he disappeared to the other room, catching up with a woman Ryou had seen before- she was the one that had stood behind him in the admission line.
He couldn't suppress a smile. Working at the museum.. that option hadn't dawned him before, but he dismissed it as soon as he thought about it. He was going to follow his father's footsteps, becoming a history researcher, a traveler, always on the road to find out more about ancient times, digging around, exploring. Ryou heaved a sigh. He already knew that his subject of study would be the ceremonial tablets - he just knew that the available information on those was just too little. No matter how many people will make a fool out of me, I will inform Kaiba once of his resemblance to an ancient Priest. With a bit of luck, he knows something about reincarnation, maybe even stands open to it... He cursed himself when he realized he left his book bag in the Earth section. Walking back, he could only snicker at himself what great researcher he would make if he'd already forgot something as simple as a book bag, especially with the weight of the thing.
"Jounouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto, and Otogi Ryuuji are here to see you, mister Kaiba," the secretary announced sternly through the intercom. Kaiba pushed the door button. "Enter."
Immediately, the two large doors swung open and three men marched into the room, faces determined and composed. They didn't exchange greetings nor didn't offer any form of conversation, seeing as chitchat was wasted on Kaiba anyway. The CEO didn't appreciate mindless babble and expected his men to do the same- this was business, not pleasure. They were waiting for him to begin. Kaiba stood up from his chair, left his desk and walked to the table in the middle of the room, white trench coat flaring behind him, and activated the holographic projector. Immediately, an image of a young man with messy, platinum blond hair and a dark tanned skin appeared.
"Malik Ishtar." Kaiba crossed his arms in front of his chest. The three men gathered around the table, studying the image attentively. "Wanted for murder. Bounty: five million genz."
The man with emerald green eyes and raven black hair in a ponytail let out a low whistle. He knew Kaiba took only jobs and contracts for bounties over two million, as he was the only one capable of fulfilling those contracts; but five million was a whole different matter, and - even for bounty standards- very high for a murderer.
"Five million?"
"You heard me, Otogi. Ishtar has an alterfactor, which is apparently upgraded or altered. Mai wasn't able to get a 100% positive identification on him, but we have more than enough reason to believe it is him."
"So he was last seen on Wremmoor," the blonde out of the three said, voice sounding neutral. His light brown eyes flicked to his boss, for only a short amount of time. Kaiba suppressed a grin. He knew Jounouchi was still pretty ticked that his girlfriend had been shipped off to such a distant planet- but the blonde knew how to separate business from personal matters, and also not to go against his boss' orders.
Kaiba ignored his question. "There's an unidentified male with him, reported to be taller than Isthar and carrying weapons on display."
"What kind of weapons?" The last of the three immediately asked. He had dark brown eyes, almost as dark brown as his strangely groomed hair; short, commando cut, with a spiky forelock.
"You'll have a field day with this one, Honda- laser pack feed and double clips."
"On the same weapon?"
"On the same weapon."
Honda whistled. "Field day, indeed; I want to have a chat with this one."
Kaiba cleared his throat. "Listen up. This case requires special precautions, different from other cases. No harm has to come over Malik Ishtar."
If they found it a strange precaution, none of the three commented. Every bounty was different, every contractor was different. Working for Kaiba in this way virtually left them nothing to wonder about. Kaiba continued.
"I don't care about the second one. The contractor mentioned Ishtar only. He could be aware of his bounty and hired the other as bodyguard or something. If he attacks you, you have my full permission to retaliate. Lift him of his weapons and see if you can get any information out of him; concerning this case, he's not important. If he doesn't let out any information, he can be killed. Find out what his connection is to Ishtar- if he's some kind of renegade, no one will cry about his loss. Remember what I've said."
Jounouchi nodded. "You said that Mai wasn't able to get a 100% positive identification on him. What if it isn't Ishtar she's seen?"
"If it isn't him, we can dispose of him later. I'm very curious about his upgraded alterfactor. We're catching either a big fish or a big smuggler here. Check the ICDR for the other- there may be a bounty on him if he's carrying weapons on display. On Mai's description alone, I couldn't find a match." Kaiba switched off the holographic projector. He had allowed them enough time to study the image.
"Information on Ishtar and his last location are uploaded to your PMA's. Leave for Wremmoor as soon as possible. The contractor made it very clear that no harm is to come over Ishtar, understand? The other one is expendable."
"Okay gentlemen, pack your things. Honda, I want you to stock up on laser packs, recharge units, EMETS, the whole works," Jounouchi addressed him. Honda nodded briskly. "Otogi, you make sure you check ICDR for information on Ishtar and his friend, and you will find every shred of information about him. Notify the docks that the Time Wizard must be ready for launch in three hours."
Otogi nodded as well, and turned around to follow Honda out of the room, recognizing a dismissal when he heard one. Kaiba snorted. "If that isn't the stupidest name for a ship I've ever heard..."
Jounouchi addressed Kaiba, ignoring his remark. "Any time Mai can leave that dump?"
"Not unless she's really identified Ishtar. She was not sure. As soon as you've verified that it's really Ishtar and you bring him back, she may leave there."
"Not too soon," Jounouchi murmured. "Who's capable of changing an alterfactor anyway?"
Kaiba shrugged. "Don't break your head over it, Jounouchi. It's difficult enough for you as it is." He walked back to his impressive desk, with only a small stack of papers on it. Jounouchi knew that it wasn't any indication of Kaiba’s workload, just as this room wasn't Kaiba’s 'official' office. He knew from personal experience how Kaiba's real office looked like- you were only called there if you really, really screwed up and then you weren't really sure you would leave that office alive. Jounouchi had only been there once and lived to tell the tale, only to be reminded of it every time. For the rest of his life, Kaiba wouldn’t see him as the competent leader he was, even now he had more successful missions to his name than anyone else.
Kaiba sat down behind his desk. "Something the matter, Jounouchi? Are you waiting for something?"
"No," Jounouchi answered. "Any time path? Restrictions?"
"The contractor was very adamant that no harm should come over Ishtar. I trust you to at least respect that part."
"What is the catch here? Five million genz for a murderer who must be kept from any harm?"
"That is up to the contractor. I'd order you to pamper and bottle-feed him if need be; five million genz is a very high bounty for a murderer. I agree with you that there must be some catch, and I think it has to do with the second person, close to Ishtar. Mai mentioned that Ishtar called him the pilot. Maybe he's more than that, maybe not. Investigate it and remember my words."
Jounouchi knew better than to further question his boss and nodded. "Very well." He waited for half a minute for Kaiba to add more, but the CEO ignored him. Finally, the blonde turned around, leaving the office and closing the doors behind him. Jerk!