Hey guys! I'm not quitting!

So ... long time no see, right?

Sorry for not getting material out to you guys. I'm very guilty of being lazy, busy at the 'wrong' times (*cough cough* times I actually felt inspiration *cough cough*) though I couldn't always help that one. Sometimes I can't write to three in the morning, sometimes I need to sleep and get ready for the eight o clock bus etc. I've also been sorting out a place to live, and assignments for University have been coming at me like bullets - no dodging these ...

Also I've been working on an original story, as in ENTIRELY original. Plot and characters, the world and lore, culture and other little details. It won't be posted on any internet site, as I hope to make this a novel which I could have published and put in paperback/hardback and sell in bookstores. It's a book written by me FOR me, don't get me wrong, but if others like it then WONDERFUL! I'd love to share it, but not before it's finished and been put before a few publishers (even twilight (love it or hate it) got turned down fifteen times by fifteen people, so I've got to prepare myself for that if/when the time comes).

However, here's something for you now, and I hope it'll be enough for you to forgive me! *grovelling* so sorry all my wonderful fans and followers! Please accept me back! Accept my excuses and apologies! I'll never leave you again! WA!

*clears throat*

Anyway~

I was considering setting up a tumblr blog/account purely for my author related things, like stories, future stories, answering unanswered questions or skimmed over facts/situations. I'd be able to tell you all when updates are coming a bit easier, and what's being updated. Plus any delays or other random happenings. I realise it's not fair for me to leave you all without a word for ages on end, so maybe this will ease the waits a little?

It won't be a blog about my personal life, I'm a private person by nature so please understand I won't be telling names, or too personal things about me like where I live, my age, images of what I look like. But I'd be willing to answer things about other things (that sentence sounded better in my head ...).

But if you'd like me to REALLY do it or REALLY consider it, then please mention it in a review along with a comment on the actual story. Thanks!

This next part of the chapter was interesting for me, but also really hard because it's not the previously established 'Earth' environment I'm used to having Atem and Yugi run around in. Scraps too.

This is the ship, which means new lore, new systems, new appearances and characters and different ways of describing things to fit the new environment. For example I've got to start looking at Atem's mannerisms and ways as 'wrong' or 'unusual' to put it mildly, whereas it's always been how 'strange' Yugi is up to now.

So that's been something to get used to, and I've also had to get used to creating the new environment and adding 'realistic' alterations to it so it feels like a future reality and not just something from a comic book. E.g. it's space, where would they get the nutritious to feed all those passengers, and all those clothes, where did they make/get those?

Anyway, I don't like leaving such questions unanswered, even if I don't write them into the story because they just don't contribute to the plot or characters in any way or are just too random, I like to have it in my mind so that I can feel that it's a literal place that's fully self sufficient.

A lot of people suspected Joey would be MOE, but it was always going to be Mokuba for that role. He's short and he's neat, and MOE kinda reminds me of a little brother figure for WALLE anyway. Also Mokie was easier to make into a cleaning name then Joey or Wheeler ... hee.

Joey's making an appearance elsewhere with a fellow character! He's not been ignored, just specially placed.

Also some of you are concerned that Kaiba/Seto isn't going to have a brotherly relationship with Mokie since I've made him a very scary KAIBAMAN (a joke at his own invented character that appears in GX - HA! I love making references and I love making fun of those even more!). Kaiba has a VERY VERY special role in store. You'll understand in a few chapters.

Also a few of you are confused about why I'm giving these guys Nicknames like Aibou, Mokie, Kaibaman, and the like. It's because the Atem I have has a habit of naming people who do not have names already, so he's already named Aibou "Yugi" (not a very similar to the movie's Eve into Eva, but kinda), and that implies that he'll name the other's their usual names. Mokie will become Mokuba at some point, likely Kaibaman will become Seto, and VV.O.N.G will be named in due time too.

That's all, I love your comments, some of them are so intelligent they literally make me smile - fanfiction-folks are not all the stereotypical fangirls who write dumb shit like Harry Potter becoming a Cullen or whatever; some of us and practically all of you are very intelligent and can spot my tricks and references, and you have even get me thinking about my own lore and debating my own stories with your feedback. It's honestly a privilege to have your time.

Please comment more! You're all amazing!

The brown and purple haired man drew everyone's eyes, he was blinking at a small as if expecting it to explain itself. He then looked at the pod Atem was hiding by and scanned again, pressing buttons twice as fast.

*Beep!*

"M-my circuits … A code green!"

The two white-helmets snapped to the man's location.

The man pointed at a pod … Yugi's pod. "C-code Green!" he scrambled for his communicator and spoke loudly "Attention! This is not a drill, we have a Code Green! Repeat! Code Green! Carrier to hanger 2 immediately!"

Sirens sounded and Atem was once again confused, and out of his depth. It only took him a moment later to realise it was Yugi's pod that the man was shouting and pointing at. Atem stood up slowly and watched as the people began to bustle around like sand slipping down a dune, or roaches from a rain storm.

The two white-helmets marched to stand on either end of Yugi's pod. Their poses were still as alert as always, but now their auras were different, as if they had changed on the inside. Changed their directives …

Atem shivered at the unnatural thought. Everyone only had one, his Mother, Scraps, Yugi - that was how it worked.

The little man was waving over a hovering stretcher that was brought by two more little men who looked a lot like him – they held a lot of keys and had streaks of purple in their hair too, they had been standing, bored, in the corner throughout the cleaning and checking process. Just waiting for a chance to be useful, for their directives to be activated.

Yugi's pod was lifted by the two white-helmets and the hovering stretcher, with no effort whatsoever, and the stretcher was slipped under. When the heavy looking pod was placed down onto the stretcher it stayed at two feet off the floor. Those men were very strong, their slim arms and frames held more strength than Atem's compact muscly ones.

Atem promised to stay out of their ways.

But while this was going on Atem had been watching with a slightly tilted head. Yugi had been singled out. Did that mean something? He still wasn't awake, that worried Atem a bit and confused him further because every other pod had someone waking up inside it.

Maybe Yugi was broken - That would explain why these people were acting differently.

Atem whimpered and raised his arms to hold himself. Was it all his fault Yugi was different? Was it because of that plant?

Atem felt an awful pressure in his chest, like it was about to burst, and a weight upon his shoulders which made them lower. It felt hot and it felt bad, his eyes stung.

Atem felt guilt.

He looked up, more determined than ever to have Yugi wake up so he could apologise and make up for his mistake. However when he looked up, he saw, to his distress, the white-helmets and the little man marching away towards the doors, the pod in tow.

Atem couldn't hold back his gasp. "Yugi!" he called and ran after them.

The other humanoids looked in surprise at the running, filthy humanoid in their midst. They watched him leave and a few exchanged glances before returning to their routine. It was just a rouge, sooner or later he'd be … 'taken care of'.

Atem slipped into a metal box just behind Yugi's pod. The box closed off and hummed as if charging up, it reminded Atem of his own solar powered noise which signalled that the battery for his in built life support. The humming kept up, but a new feeling appeared. Atem felt like his body had gotten heavier … and were they moving?

He put his hands on the pod to brace himself, but didn't find the feeling that unbearable. Just new and odd. He wasn't sure if he liked it.

He looked at his fellow occupants of the metal box. The two scary-helmet men were standing on the left and right of Yugi's pod, with the little man with the hat speaking into a communication device on the side of the box.

"Robotic Extra reporting. Aibou pod 224 on route to arrive at the Captain's quarters. Requesting passage clearance, and captain quarter's access."

Atem heard the man talk, but ignored him in favour of checking Yugi. He peered in at the window and saw his hazy form under the so cold glass. He smiled slightly and put a hand forwards to pretend to brush at his hair – he had done a lot of pretending lately. "Yugi …" he murmured, he had to wake up soon … maybe he should start practicing his words to express his guilt and regret? Where to start!

When he spoke the two helmet-men turned sharply and seemed to scan the room for the unexpected voice. They mirrored each other, looking left, then right, then turned back to attention. Once again they had missed what was right before them, they were too dependent on technology, Atem's nano-model was so out of date, unknown or unclassified that he hadn't been picked up on their scanners.

Atem was invisible to them.

Luckily.

The little man spoke again, sounding impatient. "Well drop us off as close as you can! This is a Code Green! Alpha-112!" he snapped. "Do you realise how important this is?"

There was a soft buzzing that reminded Atem of when his radio was broken, when the voices were all over the place, then the man hummed in satisfaction "Confirmed. Arrival in roughly T minus seven minutes."

He turned the glowing part of the wall off where he had been speaking and stood to attention at the front of the pod. "There's no possible way of clearing all the corridors during the evening rush, it would impact upon too many humans. We will have to travel with the crowds, then go through the human's quarters of the Lido deck. We've got to keep this quiet, no drawing attentions or revealing directives." He moved to stand on top of the pod that was hovering, and Atem ducked out of sight warily.

The helmet-men were passive. Then they spoke identically "Orders confirmed. Cover story, code rouge." Atem thought their voices were like the grinding of stones or of metal bars; low, growling and robotic. They almost didn't sound like voices. It was as if something with no voice was making sounds as best it could.

Atem didn't like the sound. It was distant, harsh and too emotionless. Even the voices on his radio had more tones than these tall men!

The little man hummed in response "Let's go."

Before them a light lit up and the heavy feeling vanished!

Atem stood up in surprise when the door of the metal box opened with a soft hiss, and a blinding light. He covered his eyes slightly before blinking back his vision.

When he opened his eyes he could only stare.

The bright lights, whites and silvers hurting his eyes weren't enough to close them, no matter how badly his retinas burned – after five centuries in a dull and dusty world these artificial lights pierced his eyes sharper than pins, and made them water against their mutated dry nature. But the pain didn't stop him from seeing.

People …

So many people.

Atem's eyes widened as he numbly followed the men out of the metal box which made gravity feel stronger, his eyes drinking in the sight of so many humanoids rolling, rushing and flying along the long straight room.

They were all covered in slightly robotic parts, but retained the ideal human appearance. They all moved at identical speeds despite their heights, everyone's eyes focused on the back of the head of the one in front. Their expressions ranged, narrowly, between schooled, bored and purposeful – though it was only through their body language that you could tell the difference at all. Their hair colour and eye colours were a range of shades, mixes, styles and tones, while all the clothes were white with traces of blue, black or yellow.

Atem felt overwhelmed and timidly reached over to place a hand on Yugi's pod like a child reaching for the comforting touch of an adult's hand or of a blanket. Atem silently wished he was awake to hold for real, and explain this scary new world.

All these people changed everything … absolutely everything!

Atem felt very small. Once he was by himself, he was his entire world, his own company and crutch and reason to be. He was a giant, a single mark on the landscape. He was the only company within his small world. Then Yugi was there, but he was soon alone once again as Yugi went into a coma-dying-sleep. But Yugi's appearance made his world a little bigger, if only by a little, by a voice, by a presence …

But now, all these people … Atem felt so small now. There were thousands of marks on the land now, Atem was just one of them. He would barely be noticeable in their midst. He was not used to being so … surrounded, crowded, and side-lined …

The pod under Atem's fingers moved away!

Atem let out a gasp of distress when he lost contact with the unfriendly, but familiar metal.

The white-helmets and the littler man had stepped into the never ending flow of people and merged seamlessly. The sounds of the white-helmet's marching feet was metallic and heavy. It was a stark contrast to the light humming of the electric powered wheels and hover boots.

Very militant.

The height and width of the group compared to the others in the corridor made them stick out longer in the conveyor belt of people. Atem could see them speedily walking away, the white-helmets with their long strides and the little man taking advantage of the floating-moving pod. Standing tall on the hovering pod he came just under the white-helmet's noses.

Atem unconsciously made a frustrated noise. There always seemed to be obstacles in his way, and he wasn't equipped to move all of them. Recently he had been left behind more in five minutes than he had in most of his lifetime!

He brushed such feelings aside and turned to the problem of catching up with Yugi's pod and his escorts.

He glanced both ways at the mass of oblivious, or excessively focused, people and hoped a gap would appear – another glance at Yugi's rapidly disappearing escorts made Atem's chest tighten. There wasn't going to be a gap soon enough! How was there even a large enough one for the pod, let alone the tall men!

Atem gulped and braced himself for possible confrontation.

These strange people didn't look friendly, what if they were like the feral Atems who roamed and prowled Atem's nightmares? Would they attack him if he touched them? Atem didn't know how to interact with these people. He had nearly been killed by other people before … people with cold eyes like these …

Atem felt fear overwhelm him and he shook his head violently. He nearly backed out of his plan to follow, and nearly resolved instead to wait for Yugi where he was.

But a glance at Yugi rounding a corner away from him made him panic. He didn't want to be alone without Yugi with these people! He feared that more than interacting with them. He steeled his resolve, and braced himself for confrontations that may end up as bad as his childhood nightmares, and barged into the rows of people.

Around him outraged cries and insults were snapped, yelled or growled as he stumbled to find the speedy rhythm they were all drifting too. Atem felt his heart judder at each cry and expected a harsh blow to land at any second!

"Watch it!"

"Clumsy! Put on your rollers!"

"Defective rouge…"

"Idiot!"

Atem cringed and jogged on ahead and out of their ways, feeling like a child scolded by a stranger. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong and they were unknown, tall, and scary. It was best if he got away from them, he decided. He kept his head down, and, with a few accidental bumps, made it to a clear part.

The space made him breathe a sigh of relief. He looked around.

It was a crossroad where the people filtered into designated lanes and went four ways. There were lanes running along the walls in a square shape, with rounded corners. The middle was a square empty spot with holographic screens hanging overhead, scrolling through an endless loop of general information and rules.

Do not drop litter.

Do not touch another humanoid's equipment.

It is a violation to interact outside your designated roles.

It is a violation to harm a human. Critical punishment.

Rouge robots and humanoids are to be reported on sight.

Report for sleep hours at 22:00

Never be unpleasant towards a human.

Humans should be kept healthy.

Human needs are a priority.

Kaibamen are the authority.

Do not challenge the authority.

Be pleasant, be present, be presentable.

They circled in many different languages and had a few helpful pictures, along with advertisements for food and cosmetic offers.

Atem couldn't read, so barely glanced at the constant scrolling words. He looked down the corner, and new corridor, Yugi had been taken down. He glanced around again and joined the movement of people once again, this time walking down the space in between the light-lanes these people seemed to like walking down.

A few humanoids glanced at him suspiciously, Atem paid them no mind since looks didn't hurt him nor stop his search.

Up ahead he spotted Yugi's pod being lead up a slope to another floor. The men were still marching heavily, purposefully. The little man was still standing commandingly upon the pod, arms crossed and looking aloof.

Atem's eyes lit up "Yugi," he whispered and began to run. He gained even more glances as he ran by. The other humanoids briefly exchanged glances as he sprinted by.

That was … unusual. After a moment of silent eye contact the humanoids universally decided it wasn't worth commenting on and with shrugs, sighs or absent minded noises of disinterest they went back to their normal routines.

Atem outran everyone around him and was quickly back to ambling behind the two tall white-helmets and the little man hitching a ride. No one stopped him, and there was plenty of space left around these marching men and the pod. Atem was glad, these scary men were scaring off everyone else – as long as they didn't turn on him he was fine with walking with them, and even more fine that they weren't stopping him being near Yugi.

He glanced around again at his surroundings, having not paid attention before.

There was a change in the decor now, it was only subtle but it was noticeable: The walls were opening and becoming transparent and more ornate, while retaining enough modern uses it matched the systematic level below. The ceiling had gotten higher and was curving rather than flat, to maximise the space that this corridor had. The floor was the same, if slightly more spread out to a leisurely gap where one could stretch or even weave in a line without hitting a neighbour.

Atem picked up on the change, but wasn't interested enough to wonder why there was such a difference – it didn't matter to him.

However, he got an answer anyway when a voice from nearby spoke up and gained his attention.

"Hey Joe."

"Hey!"

Atem looked to his right and saw …

He frowned a little. What was it?

It looked vaguely human and humanoid shaped, it was a plump middle with pudgy arms resting heavily upon the rests of a floating chair. Fingers as thick as sausages pressed down upon the buttons right beneath them, barely having to twitch for a reaction. There were legs which were fat, saggy and held awkwardly in the air since they were rounder than the chair design was built for, it didn't look comfortable. The bare toes were also fat, so fat they barely bent at their natural joints. The nails looked squashed into place. The legs were an odd colour, the tips of the toes were tinged purple, likely from disuse.

It was dressed in red with a few lines of white down the arms and legs of the rubber looking suit. The head was large, with fat hanging off every part, it was barely round. It had a face, which was the most normal thing it showed. Round eyes, big nose, surprisingly normal lips and even a healthy head of hair and a pair of ears. But it had a double chin, almost a triple, and bloated cheeks with weak looking teeth in a jaw swallowed within its own coverings.

There were no robotic parts, and no scars or blemishes of any kind. It was weird!

Atem was baffled by it.

It spoke again. "You wanna head to the golf stations and hit a few virtual balls into space?" there was no one before it, and it didn't seem to be speaking to Atem. Atem moved closer and examined it closer. There were holographic lights before it, maybe that was what it was interested it.

Either way, it spoke very well. Better than Atem.

What it was speaking to was a screen. Atem leaned over the shoulder of the … presumably male … thing, and looked too. There was another Thing on the screen, the head of one in a clear image, answering the first.

"No we did that yesterday, I don't wanna do that." It shook his head back and the voice came out of the odd little speakers which helped support the Thing's head. The neck didn't exist so it was the only thing keeping him upright.

Atem looked at the chair. The chair hovered about two feet off the ground and moved almost as if predestined or automatic, there didn't seem to be a way to control it from what Atem could see. There were lights beneath it, padding for the Thing to be comfortable, and it moved at a leisurely pace which Atem could easily walk beside.

"So what do you wanna do?"

He walked alongside it watching this new Thing with silent interest, and jumped when he heard the answering voice sound right next to him.

"I donno, something."

Atem looked left and saw the same person drifting aimlessly within the same type of chair. He glanced between them as they kept speaking facing forwards. Why didn't they turn and speak normally?

He kept glancing and felt more and more confused. They were barely five feet apart, what was wrong with them? Atem didn't know much about these Things … but something was very, very wrong here.

Atem had no idea of the terrible history of mankind that was the product of everything around him: Consumerism.

Their ancestors desired items which made life easy and helped cut corners. They got more and more lazy with the technology doing jobs for them until there was nothing to do but indulge themselves. They wanted more things, they wanted things to be simpler, easier, and multifunctional. And they got it.

Then they got more.

And more.

And more.

It got to the point where humans barely had to sit up to receive what they wanted. There was no beginning or end to their leisure, all systems were self-sufficient and self-advancing, humans only concern was entertainment.

A call at a touch of a button. Transport at the touch of a button. A bed and chair you never had to leave. Food upon calling, collection of leftovers upon calling. You didn't have to move. You didn't need to raise your voice. You never even had to move your eyes from your screen …

Atem looked around when their voices raised slightly "I'm in a tunnel!"

"Hello hello?"

"Wait a moment! I'm going through a tunnel!"

"Can't hear you!"

"Damn single!"

They were in a place with shade, not because it was dimly lit, but because there was an even brighter light ahead causing such shadows. Atem squinted as they all moved forwards out of the tunnel and into a bigger space.

It was like the mouth of a Cave.

Atem stepped into the light.

Once there was a girl and boy who had lived their entire lives in the back of a cave.

The girl was called Mary, the boy was called John. One day a stranger came to their dark cave and took them outside. They saw light, the world, each other, and themselves for the first time.

They each reacted differently:

John refused to accept this new world and ran back into his cave. However he could not return to his previous way of living as the light had changed his eyes. He spent his life trying to unsee what he had seen, and lived in denial that he could go back to his easy life from before the Cave mouth.

Mary was just as scared as he, but couldn't turn away now her eyes had been opened. She went into the world of new, different and unknown and lived to overcome and become the new changes.

Whenever you come to something new, a mouth of a Cave, you have a Choice. Mary? Or John?

"Say goodbye to the world you knew, welcome to the mouth of the cave." - Jackson Pearce

A Little Philosophy for you all. This is a legitimate story which reveals parts of human nature and thought processes. I first read it in a book called "Sisters Red" by Jackson Pearce, supposedly an adapted version of Plato's Cave analysis. It's not word for word, but the basics are there.

I find that it fits WALLE very well, so chose to include it to educate you a little - Hey! Who says you don't learn things from Fanfiction?

This situation happens a few times in the movie WALLE - when WALLE meets EVE, and vice versa, when Mary (the main human character) is freed from technology by WALLE, when John is freed from technology by WALLE then Mary, when the captain discovers Earth, when EVE discovers love, when Humans walk for the first time, when A113 is revealed, and probably a few others that I haven't listed.

It's a powerful, and empowering story, and we're all guilty of being John sometimes, retreating to our own little caves after seeing, hearing or learning something we didn't like.

But we're also Mary, the one who didn't run from something new or unsettling to her accustomed world.

Just as these characters do.

I actually wonder if Pixar chose the names John and Mary for this particular reason, since John sees the 'sun' outside his Cave when WALLE knocks him out of his chair, but he clearly retreats back into his technology world because Mary reawakens him later. On the other hand, Mary only needs to see the mouth of the cave once and appears to overcome the fact that her world has changed ...

Films are indeed very thought out.

This chapter I wanted to have a bit more of an ominous and overwhelming feeling. Ominous for what's in stall for Atem, and overwhelming as Atem's never seen these levels of NEW before. That's kinda why I had to draw the line right there because the rest didn't really fit the ominous theme. It's also ominous, I just realised, because there's a secret system and acknowledgement that all 'rouges' have a certain future that no one speaks about, it's a taboo - which is also pretty scary since it's unknown.

Also, humans are barely recognised as humans by Atem, which shows how the human race has let itself go. I thought I'd leave you all with that impact before introducing you to the more memorable characters of John and Mary.

Once again I apologise for the time it took to get this chapter out to you, and for it being a little shorter than my normal ones. But this is what it is, and I'll have some more ready soon, and I mean under a month soon, not that annoying 'soon' which turns into six weeks or something.

Please review! And tell me what you think about the Tumblr idea~