Love and Rivalry

Chapter 14

Kaiba went into work the next day with a zeal. After his drive with Aria, Kaiba's pursuit of her had been renewed with a fervor. He would show her that there are ways around their working relationship. He just needed the right moment. But there was something, or someone, Kaiba needed to look into first.

There was nothing Kaiba hated more than a disloyal employee. He knew he wasn't a kind hearted boss by any means, but he paid them well and expected them to act accordingly. Aria said it had to be one of the other six programmers, which at least gave him a place to start.

Kaiba hit the intercom on his office phone to page his secretary. "Susan, send Rowland in."

"Right away sir," came the curt reply.

About five minutes later, Rowland walked in, black suit and shades as was his customary look. "How can I be of service sir?"

"We have a breach in our company," explained Kaiba. "Someone is trying to steal highly classified plans. I need you to thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of the six programmers on the Special Development team. The snitch is most likely one of them."

"I'll leave no stone unturned," Rowland said with a bow. He deftly turned around and left the room.

Now Kaiba had his own research to commence. Turning to his computer, he began investigating his competing counterparts. There were only three other companies in the world who were in direct competition with Kaiba Corp, and who could also produce the same level of technology. Kaiba had always kept a close eye on them, not willing to ever let them get the advantage on Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba pulled up the three companies' websites. Maxilect was a Russian company that specialized in video game technology. Kaiba noted that they had dabbled in Duel Monsters, but nothing compared to Kaiba Corp. The second company was Inflexion, a software company located in Dubai. They cranked out high-tech programs for Fortune 500 companies, but as far as Kaiba knew, they had never done business with Industrial Illusions. That left the third company, Schroeder Corp.

Kaiba didn't know too much about Schroeder Corp, a German technology company. The CEO liked to stay out of the spotlight. Kaiba didn't think he'd even met the man. The name Schroeder did ring something in Kaiba's memory, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Kaiba leaned back in his chair and contemplated the information before him. Although there have been a few attempts in the past of stealing Kaiba Corp technology, usually it was someone working alone, trying to make a quick dollar by selling it to one of Kaiba's competitors. They never made it very far. But Kaiba had never known one of his competitors to try and personally steal his intellectual property. Was this person working alone then? But then who could be working with Aria's stepfather so that he could use such powerful threats against her?

Kaiba gritted his teeth in anger towards Riku Ito. If he ever got his hands on the man, Kaiba would make sure that he personally paid for all the undue hardship and neglect he caused Aria over the years. A small chuckle escaped as Kaiba realized his protectiveness over the young woman. He could just see Mokuba squealing with glee.

Kaiba's mood turned somber again as thoughts of what Riku could be planning surfaced. Even if Aria's stepfather did get a hold of Kaiba Corp's latest plans, Fenrir Inc was at way too low of a standard to be able to do anything with them. They are simply too small of a company to be able to handle a project of this magnitude.

Kaiba stroked his chin as a new theory began to form in his mind. He knew that Riku had promised someone very powerful that he would get them Kaiba Corp blueprints. But what was he getting in return? Kaiba remembered Aria mentioning that it seemed that Fenrir would be promised the contract for the software. But what if it was something more personal? Something only Riku would benefit from? He would have to discuss it with Aria later.