Currents- Chapter Nine

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 “Shit.” Yugi lunged forward, scooping Atem’s fallen form into his arms. “Atem? Atem?” He shook the android gently. Atem’s head lolled to the side, not showing any reaction. Shit shit shit. Yugi could practically hear the way the Commander would yell at him, damaging irreplaceable military property. Gozaburo would have him shot dead on the spot, or even strangled. Maybe he’d shove his fat cigar into Yugi’s eye, destroying it. He didn’t even want to think about what Dartz would do, but then, Yugi really didn’t care about Dartz’s opinion.

Atem was unresponsive, his body limp and heavy against Yugi’s arms. His breathing seemed fine though, which Yugi was thankful for, but he wasn’t sure how much longer it would stay even and regular. The reason for Atem’s sudden blackout was still a mystery to him, but he had a fair few theories lined up.

One thing was certain; they needed to get back to the outpost. Yugi shrugged Atem’s body closer to his chest, pulling them both upwards and heading back to the mech.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yugi kicked the handle open, the old door to the outpost easily giving way. He pushed inside with his back, swinging Atem’s body around.

“Anzu!” He yelled, even though she was already there in the room. She jumped, throwing him a dark look.

“I’m right here, Yugi! There’s only one room!” She hissed, but then stopped. “What happened?” She asked immediately, walking quickly over to him. Yugi lowered Atem’s body down to the floor, grunting at the weight. He wouldn’t call himself weak, but he also wasn’t the best when it came to physical strength.

“He just collapsed.”

“Nothing to suggest why?” Anzu crouched beside him, looking Atem over. She checked his pulse, hand over the head, the usual basics they could only do.

“I found some gouges in a canyon nearby, looked like a mecha fight happened there, but the marks were old and the metal pieces nearby were rusted. He reacted to it, I think. Said it was familiar to him.”

“What was?”

“The area, I assume. He didn’t give me details. I pressed him and he blacked out.”

“Another memory?”

“I think so. He was definitely nervous being in that ravine. Something happened here involving him, and if a fight was involved, I don’t think it was good.”

“It never is,” Anzu sighed, standing. “What do we do? We’re kind of underprepared to give medical attention. Not that I think that would help, but then we’re also underprepared to give mechanical treatment as well.”

“We better hope neither of us needs help then, or we’re in trouble.” Yugi said, and Anzu groaned.

“The best we can do is wait to see if his mechanical system reboots his brain.” He continued, rising to join Anzu. “There’s nothing else we can do.”

“Want me to radio Ryou to get Yusei? He might be able to help.” Anzu offered.

“Sure, in the meantime I’ll be taking notes and watching over him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ERROR…

UNIDENTIFIABLE MEMORY BANK…

“Wait…!”

…

DELETING…

“Don’t touch me!”

“He’s acting up again-”

“Someone sedate him then, we still have experiments to perform on the others first. He has to stay… pure.”

“I’ll kill you all! Release my friends!”

Friends? Who…

ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.

I don’t… understand. Was that… me?

Flashes. Images. A dark night in a canyon-

Canyon? The General was-

“She’s too far away!”

Loud screaming, tones desperate.

ERROR.

“Stop…!”

Ambush… there was… a trap?

“…Atem don’t!”

The clunk of a mecha, gears screeching in protest at how far they were pushed-

ERROR.

Who…

“…”

Who is…

“Atem no!”

I can’t…

ERROR ERROR ERROR.

BACK UP DRIVE ACTIVATED.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yugi was scrawling down notes in one of the corners, chewing the end of his pencil more than he was writing. He huddled between the two walls, the lack of chairs in the room not really giving him many options for comfort. They had one soft blanket among the supplies, but Yugi had relinquished it to Anzu, who was currently curled around it, sleeping away peacefully. Lucky, Yugi sighed, tapping the lead of his pencil into the page of his book and splitting the paper.

He couldn’t write properly right now anyway. Just what the hell had happened in that canyon? It hadn’t been normal.

Maybe Atem had collapsed from a lack of energy? No, that can’t be it, Yugi internally groaned. Yusei had him on a drip before they left, and Yugi had given him food not even an hour before they had reached that ravine.

It’s something to do with his memories, I’m sure of it, he thought, drawing useless circles below the notes he had written. He skimmed over them, the points he had made about the location, and possible theories for Atem’s collapse.

So if it was a memory then, what could have triggered it? Atem had said he had been there before, that the outpost and canyon were familiar. In his human life, something must have happened there. Maybe it’s directly linked to the events before his mechanisation, Yugi mused, the tip of the pencil worming its way into his mouth again. Something that forced him into this area. Or lured...

A trap, then? A way to off Atem quietly? But there had been marks to suggest a struggle, and the wreckage of what Yugi knew to be a mecha fight. The signs were there, and he had been in the field long enough to know what a mecha fight looked like when he saw the debris.

“Don’t touch me!” Atem yelled suddenly, his body snapped upward.

Yugi jumped, not having expected the move. “Atem, what’s wrong?” He put the book to the side, standing.

Atem looked at him, head jerking rapidly, and for a split second Yugi was worried Atem didn’t recognise him, those red eyes wild. Then it passed, and he dipped his head, hands scrunching on the harsh cement under him.

“I… one moment, please. My system is… unorganised.” Atem shook his head, bangs dancing around his face where they weren’t stuck to the sides. Yugi noticed the beads of sweat rolling down the android’s face, his pupils flashing in… worry?

“Atem?” Yugi approached cautiously, hands reaching out. Atem stilled, his eyes closing briefly before reopening. 

“General Mutou,” he said, voice quiet. “Apologies for my… outburst, before.”

“It’s fine. I’m more worried about you. Are you all right?”

“My systems are fine, sir. I am functional.”

“What happened back at the canyon?”

Atem pursed his lips, frowning. “I… do not understand, sir. What canyon?”

“The canyon we were in earlier today. You collapsed when we exited the mech to examine a wall,” Yugi supplied. “You don’t remember?”

“There is a gap in my… memory, sir. I cannot call upon information from today.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Atem thought for a moment, shifting his position, letting the tension out of his fingers. “We were doing a perimeter check.”

“And?”

“And nothing else.”

Yugi sighed, moving away. “Well, that can’t be helped. We can look into it later.” He hunted down his supply bag, the worn fabric nestled away amongst several other bags, from where Anzu had tossed them earlier. He reached around, locating a liquid breakfast carton box.

“Here. Drink this.” He tossed it to Atem, who caught it clumsily. He turned it over in his hands, curiously staring at it.

“Sir?”

“You need to eat something. A full stomach will help take your mind off all this.”

“This is food? It does not have the same appearance as the last object you had me consume.”

“Yeah- here, let me…” He held his hand out, and Atem gave him back the carton. He broke of the straw, digging it into the top of the box before handing it back to Atem. “Drink from this.”

“Yes sir.” Atem said, taking back the carton. He eyed it a moment longer, bringing it carefully to his lips, the straw disappearing between them.

For some reason, Yugi felt bad to be watching, but he found he couldn’t turn away. I just need to check he drinks it, he told himself as Atem’s throat bobbed and-

“Oh shit, he’s awake!” Anzu said, right as she slammed the door open.

Yugi frowned, glaring at the carton in Atem’s hand, like it was the source of all his problems. “Yeah, he is,” he grunted, standing up to face Anzu. “How did the call go?”

“Yusei doesn’t know what it is, but he said it probably has something to do with Atem’s human memories.” Anzu lowered her voice, hands cupped to her side as if to help direct the flow of it.

Yugi glanced to his side, but Atem was still busy with the carton. “We kind of already guessed that.”

“He doesn’t know anything about this either Yugi. We’re all flying blind here.” Anzu shrugged, walking away to another part of the room.  

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Yugi asked, voice low, turning back to Atem.

“I will be fine, sir.” Atem nodded.

“…If you’re sure.”

~~~~~~~~

The night brought no relief for Yugi, insomnia clinging to his body and refusing to let him rest. He paced around the room lightly, careful not to disturb anything. He was all too aware of how grouchy Anzu would be if he woke her without a decent excuse.

The space was still cramped, however, and he had little room to circle around in. Between avoiding Atem and Anzu’s sleeping forms and the supplies scattered on the ground, he was tip toeing around fabric and limbs, hardly appropriate for the kind of twitchy pacing he preferred to take in the open space of his quarters back at base.

This isn’t working, I’ll be up all night at this rate, he quietly tutted to himself. He was already worn out from little sleep the previous night, and his reaction time was suffering from it. He paused, eyes trailing to the door, the windows on either side sheets of black, the darkness outside revealing nothing. He looked back at Anzu and Atem’s sleeping forms, biting his lip. It wouldn’t hurt to just wander for a bit… He knew Anzu would give him hell if he went alone without some form of protection, so he grabbed the wrapped package of his pistol, pulling the strings and shaking off the cloth.

He stared down at what he could see of the metal, the surface trying in vain to gleam in the darkness. He stroked a hand down the length, smooth and cold under his touch. He shivered at the sensation, his fingers already feeling icy from the chill of night.

He quickly pocketed the gun, exiting the building, closing the door as quietly as he could manage.

Outside the air was crisp, a slight chill ghosting over the open areas of his skin. He pinched the sleeves of his jacket further down, trying in vain to save the skin there. When that didn’t work, he shoved them into his jacket pockets, shrugging forward. Damn this desert area gets cold at night, he silently grumbled to himself. And here I was thinking we coped it back at base. Guess it doesn’t really compare to the southern wasteland.

The quiet sound of the door opening and closing behind him went almost unheard, if it wasn’t for the silence of the night. Yugi turned his head, watching Atem walk slowly up to him.

“Sir, why are you out here so late by yourself?” He asked, voice soft. Yugi could barely see him, nothing more than a silhouette of darkness, his red eyes barely visible, and yet still piercing through the night eerily. Yugi couldn’t look at them for too long, seeing them almost glow inhumanly was unsettling.

“I want to check out that canyon again.”

“Is that wise sir? It is hard to see at night for humans. We could be ambushed.”

“’We’?” Yugi smirked.

“I cannot allow you to go out in the night alone, sir. If you insist on going, then allow me to accompany you.”

“As you wish. We’ll be quick, I promise.” Yugi said, starting off.

The darkness stretched across the night, filling in everything with inky shadows. Yugi couldn’t see more than a few metres in front of him without the aid of a light source, which he was reluctant to use, with them being so close to enemy lines.

It seemed Atem had some kind of night vision, though, and was able to guide Yugi back down into the canyon. Once in the ravine, it didn’t take long for them to reach the spot with the gouge marks, although the closer they got, the more Yugi realised that he could see awfully well ahead of them-

“Wait, there’s someone here.” Yugi whispered, crouching down. Atem glanced in front of them, lowering himself next to Yugi in a pile of shrubbery clinging desperately to the edge of the wall.

“What is it, sir?” His ruby eyes turned to the canyon, scanning in the darkness. Yugi pointed ahead of them, and Atem’s eyes zeroed in.

A few metres away, near the gouge marks on the wall, someone was kneeling, their head lowered. There was a lantern off to their side, illuminating the area around the figure in a small bubble of light. Yugi thought he could almost see something clenched in their hands from the way their arms looked to be held together, but that could have been a trick of the shadows cast by the light, it was hard to tell.

“Who is that?” Atem asked, turning to Yugi for answers.

“I couldn’t tell you. No one else is supposed to be here, though.”

“An enemy patrol?”

“That would imply there are others.” Yugi glanced around, peering into the darkness. “Can you… sense something? Other people?”

“How so, sir?”

“Heat signatures?”

“I wasn’t programmed to track humans, sir. Just to destroy.” Atem replied, like it was the simplest thing to say. Yugi gave a hesitant smile.

“I guess so.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, we can deal with this one for now, and if other’s show up, you can do your thing.”

“My thing, sir?”

“Kill them, Atem.”

Atem hummed, nodding. “Understood, sir.”

“Okay, here’s the plan. We both sneak up on either side, I’ll jump them, sending them in your direction, then you hold them down, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Let’s go.” Yugi split off, sneaking off through the bush. He took each step carefully, shooting the kneeling figure glances every now and then to check they weren’t aware of his movements.

Once he felt he was a good enough distance away, he stopped. The cover of the shrubbery was not much, what grew in the canyon was tough and stringy, the foliage on the plants short and stubby, but it was enough. He crept forward, veering off to the side, walking through exposed ground. The rock underneath was not too loose, although sand was scattered across it, making Yugi’s boots crunch down on the grains. He silently cursed, but it seemed luck was on his side this night, as he managed to get close enough without being noticed.

“Stop!” Yugi shouted, lunging forward. The figure jumped, head whipping to face Yugi. They stumbled backwards, scooting away. Yugi strode forward, giving them nowhere else to turn to.

Atem appeared behind them, closing his arms around the figure’s waist.

“Hey! Let me go!” The figure squealed, high pitched voice shouting. Yugi gritted his teeth as they continued to loudly struggle, although Atem hardly budged at the assault.

Yugi swiped up the lantern on his way past, shoving it into the figure’s face. It was just some girl it seemed, he didn’t recognise anything about her, and her appearance was rather dirty. She looked nothing more than an average citizen. So then why was she out here, in the middle of nowhere? More to her than it seems, I’m sure. A disguise of some kind, perhaps, Yugi narrowed his eyes, moving closer.

“Who’re you?” He grunted, moving the lantern partially out of the way, making sure to keep himself in the shadows. The girl shot him a glare spitting at his feet. Yugi curled his lip back, stepping back. Disgusting, what is this, high school? She’s a brat.

“If you don’t answer my questions, I’ll be forced to get Atem here to crush your arms.” Yugi said flatly. The girl’s eyes lit up at that, but instead of screaming or struggling like Yugi had expected her too, she spun her upper body around, staring wide eyed, level with Atem’s glowing robotic eyes.

“Wait… Atem? Is that… you?” The figure gasped. Atem froze for a moment, eyes narrowing.

“I do not know you,” he said, “answer the General’s question.”

She paused, unable to take her eyes off Atem’s it seemed. “You don’t… but… Atem…! I’m your best friend!”

Atem reacted to that, eyes growing wide. His arms loosened around the girl, and she wriggled away, stepping back.

The three of them stood in a triangle, both the girl and Yugi’s eyes on Atem, while Atem stared at the girl, confused.

“Friend…?” Atem tilted his head.

“Yes!” The girl nodded enthusiastically. “You and I are best friends! You’ve been missing for months, Atem. What happened? Where have you been?”

“I… don’t remember…” Atem closed his eyes, head shaking minutely. Just who is this girl? Yugi wondered, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Her concern was genuine… perhaps… she really was someone from Atem’s past.

“You must! We grew up together! Look,” she pointed to the wall, the vague marks in the rock barely visible. “This is where I last saw you. We were under attack and you pushed my mecha out of the way to save me!”

“I… did?”

“Yes! Please, Atem, you have to remember!”

“I… don’t… memory banks… error.” Atem muttered, dropping down onto one knee, hands shooting to his head.

“Atem!” Yugi shouted, only to reel back in surprise as another voice joined in. The girl turned to him, equally as shocked.

Yugi just grunted, ignoring her in favour of approaching Atem. The girl lunged forward, pushing him off course.

“You stay away from my friend, you fiend!” She spat, eyes blazing in fury.

“Look, I don’t know who you are, or how you know Atem, but they guy’s already collapsed once today, let’s not go for twice.” Yugi held his hands up, trying to appear diplomatic.

“Why is he with you? Why didn’t he remember me straight away? I’m his best friend! What have you done to him!”

“I haven’t done anything,” Yugi stressed. “But I’m more concerned with who you are. You’re wearing clothes from Armes. Don’t you know this is the Empire’s territory? You’re over the border.”

The girl had the grace to look flushed, which told Yugi yes, she did know where she was. “If you don’t mind, I’ll ask the questions then.”

“I’m not going to tell you anything else. Not to a dog of the Empire.” She spat, the venom in her voice thick.

Yugi snorted, shoving his hands into his pockets with a carefree shrug, surprised to feel the hard end of the handle of his pistol. I forgot that was in there… He smoothed his fingers around the grip, flicking the safety off carefully. “Call me what you want, but you’re not getting answers either, so we’re at an impasse here. Why don’t you just-”

“Mana no!” Atem gasped suddenly, his eyes shooting wide open. His head whipped around, confusion marring his face. His eyes locked with the girl- Mana, Yugi presumed, at the way Atem’s body slackened, relief washing over his face.

“There you are! What happened? Where…?” He finally seemed to take in his environment more, and the confusion returned.

Now this is interesting, Yugi thought, staying where he was, observing. Mana stumbled forward, her eyes wide, the whites reflecting in the lowlight.

“Atem…? Do you… remember me now…?”

“Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?” His voice softened, although he still looked confused. “Why wouldn’t I…?” He repeated, almost to himself. His brows scrunched together, and he suddenly groaned.

“I… M-Mana...? What’s…going on?” He shook his head.

“Atem…” Mana’s eyes were teary. She took a hesitant step forward before her gaze flickered to Yugi.

But Yugi’s attention was on Atem, and as those ruby eyes turned to him, Yugi couldn’t stifle the gasp that escaped his lips. None of the blank, expressionless void that marred Atem’s gaze was there anymore, replaced with a hard, confused look. He was scared and unsure. The eyes widened when they took Yugi in, then they narrowed, and Yugi was suddenly staring down a very angry Atem.

“You… You’re the…!”

“Careful Atem, he’s the-!”

“General Yugi Mutou of the Domino Empire.” Atem sprung forward, a dagger suddenly in his hand.

Yugi had no time to react, finding himself pushed to the ground, lantern falling out of his grip. Atem pinned him down, the dagger pressed to his throat.