The rain pours down around me, the neon lights blaring overhead. I know this is illegal, but I have to. I pull my crudely made cards out of my pocket and twist the handle of the metal steel door in front of me. The door decompressed and slowly opened in front of me, revealing a dark stairway with lights lining the walls. The stairs to the shady custom yugioh underworld. It takes me a moment to process everything that's happening. I gulp. "Is this something I want to do?" I think to myself. I almost back away, but I know I have to. So, against my best judgment, I descend down into the depths. Alone with my thoughts. My mind echoes of who I may meet and what I may see down there. A drop of water hits the ground. My body freezes in place before realizing what it was. A bigger light eventually appears at the bottom of the stairs. Upon reaching there, I see a man sitting at the entrance. I equip my AR eye piece and look for his name. It's concealed by some kind of interference.
All of this is sending my nerves into overdrive as he speaks. "Deck?" He echos, his voice booming through the stairway.
I stumble over myself, almost dropping my deck, but I'm able to reorient myself and hand it to him. "H-here you go." My voice shakes with each word. He takes it and places it on a lift to his left. The deck drops down and I hear some tubes take it away.
"The council will decide," he said.
"The council?" I asked.
He answered, "The council is of 4 select individuals who will decide if your deck meets our standards." His voice was menacing and cold: To the point, with little to no remorse behind it. No gratitude for those making it in. No remorse for those who were rejected.
"R-Right…" I stumbled out "So what now?"
"Now?" He responded, "We wait."
"Wait for what?" I questioned back.
"Wait for the council to make its decision. You will be notified when or if this happens. Until then, leave." I gulped at the leave part. I felt like if I didn't, I wouldn't leave to live another day.
"A-Alright then…cya then." I said turning around. I heard some beeping come from behind me. Most likely the man doing something on his eye piece.
* * *
It was an agonizing process, weeks went by with no response. I would come home everyday waiting for any kind of message or response from them, telling me if my deck met their standards. I paced around my room, if you could even call this concrete bunker filled with nothing more than a bed, a kitchen and a TV a room. My thumbs went over and under each other constantly in a cycle. Like DNA constantly circling each other. My eyepiece beeped and I reached for it. My grip held tight onto it, feeling as if it were about to snap. I put it on my ear and adjusted it. There it was.
"You have been accepted into the EXU underground dueling ring," is what it read. My heart skipped a beat. This was it. I made it. My mouth agape like a toddler seeing candy in a store on a trip with their mom. I wiped the drool from my mouth and read the rest of the message "Report immediately." I gulped but did as commanded. I strapped on my holodisk and went on my way.
The streets were filled with neon lights and cameras watching at each and every corner. Drones patrolled from on high while a duel played on a nearby billboard. I saw a mechanical dog ripping a man to shreds for using Proxy cards. I gulped, thinking how those dogs' teeth would feel cracking my bones. God what they'd do if they found out what I was doing. A carbon fiber jacket covered the length of my body. It shut out my IP signal to all those looking. I should be safe…for now.
The walk was tense and stressful; at any moment they could pull me over and ask me why I was concealing my IP address. Where I was going? Who I was? What was this message from "EXU"? I couldn't imagine what would happen if any of these happened, I'd be dead on the street. I turned the corner into the alleyway, kicking a can in the process. I heard a loud roar and a robotic dog, an automated K-9 Search and Destroy unit or as most people called them, the hounds. It turned the corner with a sharp turn, ready to kill. I stood there, motionless, as the dog scanned the alleyway. Its metal feet clanked against the ground as it moved through the alleyway. I held my breath and tried to keep quiet as I narrowly avoided it. It detected 238 shapes in that alleyway but none of these had an IP signal and none of them were me.
But it seemed to detect something else. Its eyes narrowed and it turned to its left. The metal mutt found a card on the ground "25th Century Striker." It was announced. It let out another automated response "Unauthorized card. Sending a report." Its eyes returned to normal and it went on its way. I let out a sigh of relief and continued my way onwards.
I once again reached for the metal handle and spun it, opening the door, but this time it looked different. The staircase down was covered with notable cards. Customs all recognized by the higher ups with a brief description of them. In between these cards were tidbits of information about EXU and newcomer knowledge. I eventually made my way down to the man from before, his IP appearing before me. "Sock" was his name and he was "The Database Manager". He said "Looks like you made it. Take the door to your right." He points towards an originally blank wall, now turned into a mess of code.
I looked towards it, slowly approaching. My eyes are shaking and my hands are trembling. "Was I really going to do this?" Ran through my mind. I could've turned back now. I would be free from any punishment the authorities may give me, right? Maybe, I would even be rewarded for turning them in. But it was too late now. More likely my mind would be digitized. I pushed my hand forward into the code which gave me a new rank "Common Member." Couldn't turn back even if I wanted to, I was branded now. I kept pushing through, phasing through the wall into the room behind it. Loud noises and an intense battle could be heard. My eyes were flashed with bright lights and for a moment I couldn't see until they finally adjusted. Here I was, EXU.