Ice Flower

Chapter 35

Varis looked around the meeting spot. He hadn't seen the General yet or any signs of an avatar who might be Glacier- er, Iris. 

He had followed Kayla's advice and added a temporary plain black cloak and mask to his avatar. No one seemed to have noticed him yet, which probably meant that Kayla hadn't either.

"That you?"

He turned around and found heat rising to his cheeks.

Iris, or who he assumed was Iris, frowned. "What? Is something wrong?"

"N-nothing," He stammered, trying not to think about how good she looked in this new outfit. He attempted to tell himself that it was just an avatar, but that didn't help because then his mind flashed to what she looked like in the real world.

Iris was wearing a navy-blue crop top with one short sleeve and one long sleeve on her right side. She had black jean-shorts, a silver belt with what looked like flower carvings on it, and black combat boots. Her green eyes which were slightly duller in color than they were in the real world had gray flecks were framed by elegant dark lashes. Her hair was loose down her back and was white as it had been before but now it had silver tips. The appearance was finished with light pink lipstick and small iris earrings.

"Do you see General around here anywhere?" He asked to take his mind off what she looked like.

"No. I walked around while I was looking for you, but he hasn't shown yet." She shrugged. "We did give him twenty four hours. He might just want to keep us waiting."

"I was just thinking the same of you." A man walked over to them. Iris' lips tightened. He was wearing a plain navy blue top and black jeans. "Varis, I presume?"

Varis nodded tightly. "I'm guessing that you're General."

"The one and only." He gave a mocking bow. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"  

"We want to know your motives for attacking Link VRAINS." Varis quickly got right to the point, not knowing how long he would stay. "SOL Tech has given you multiple warnings to back off and you have not heeded any of them. Would you care to say why?"

"Not really, but since she agreed to come looking like that, I suppose that I do owe you." He flicked a finger at Iris, who just glared. "SOL Technologies has nothing that can stand against us, even if they sent everything they had. We simply have too many skilled duelists and hackers. Iris can testify to that, since she used to be one."

Even though he had already known that she worked with them in the past, it was still surprising. Iris didn't bother to correct him, continuing to stay silent. She probably didn't trust herself to speak around him.

"There's only one thing that SOL Technologies can give us that we will ever accept," General went on.

"And what's that?"

"Control of all Link VRAINS of course. It's what we've been aiming for since the very beginning, though not many people know that." He smirked at Iris. "I just didn't trust you enough I guess. I had a good reason not to in the end."

"Maybe I wouldn't have defected if you had actually told me your plans and what happened to people who we defeated in duels," Iris snapped, breaking her silence. "So technically that's your fault."

"Are you sure about that?" He questioned, a slight smirk coming to his lips. "You're always cared about people too much, even though you don't like to show it. I bet that there's a reason you brought him along instead of Playmaker, despite him being your boss now. Not just because you trust him more or whatever ridiculous reason you gave."

"Oh, please." Iris scoffed, though Varis could tell that she was beginning to get angry. That was probably the point of General addressing her personally. He was trying to get her riled up.

"I know that I'm correct. I'm also betting from how he looked at you when he saw you like this for the first time that he feels the same."

Iris gave him a blank look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Varis didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. 

"Here, I'll prove it." A screen appeared in front of General. "I'm sure that you recognize this program."

Iris glanced it over briefly. She paused and read it again, her eyes widening with each line. "You wouldn't."

"Yes, I would. Though I will warn you, we've never used it before, so there could be some mistakes."

Iris spun towards Varis, looking frantic. "Log out! Now!" A screen appeared next to her and she was about to press the log out option when she doubled over, clutching her head.

"Iris!" He grabbed her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I just infected her with a little virus is all." General wiggled his fingers. "Everyone who's ever been in Spriggan has it implanted into their avatar, making it relatively easy to deal with traitors, though I've never had to before."

"That's why you wanted her to come like this," Varis growled. "You wanted to test out your program on her."

"In part, yes. At the same time, no. There's more to this than it seems." A crazed look appeared in his eyes. "You might want to say your goodbyes, because I doubt that you'll ever see her again." With that, he vanished into blue data.

"Iris, come on." He shook her gently. "Hang in there." He quickly called Yui. "Can you log Iris out?"

"Yeah, but what's wrong with her? Her duel disk just reported that her vital signs are spiking like crazy."

"I don't know, but things aren't going to improve if she stays here."

"Got it. Logging her out now."

Iris turned into blue data and vanished. As soon as he was sure that she was gone, he quickly logged out after her, waking up in the red room. The door slid open and he stepped out. Everyone else was already crowded around the door to Kayla's room, but Yusaku and Yui were the only ones actually able to fit inside. Yui was biting her lower lip, looking concerned, and there was a crease between Yusaku's eyebrows. 

"She's alive, but even though Yui logged her out, she won't wake up," Sky said when she noticed him. "We got that General infected her with a virus, but did he say what it did?"

"He didn't." Roken frowned. He looked over at Yusaku, who had picked up his sister. "We should get her to my house. General might have infected her to find out who she was, thinking that we would take her to the hospital, but I have more than enough medical equipment."

Yusaku nodded. "Okay."

"I'll go start up the truck." Kolter left, Sky following him.

"Please be alright Kayla," Yui murmured, running a hand through her friend's hair. "I can't imagine my life without you."

Roken wrapped an arm around her shoulders, surprising both her and himself. "I'm sure that she'll be fine. Kayla no doubt had to fight harder than we could imagine to get away from Spriggan the first time. She can do it a second."

Yui nodded, wiping away tears. "Of course she can." 

The truck started to move and they sat on the floor. Roken alternated between glancing at Kayla and staring off into space. He didn't know if they could actually save her. Baira would no doubt try to help, but would I be enough? And even if they did save her, would she ever be the same again?

AN:

Much longer chapter than normal, I know. But I couldn't imagine putting this in two separate chapters, so this is what you get! Don't worry, the second book will be out soon(ish).