Jack followed his monster quietly to what would be his bedroom for the foreseeable future.  

Jack was cautious not to utter so much as a single word.  The situation, for the time being, was completely out of his hands.  Even so, he was reluctant to surrender even the slightest bit of intelligence to his foes.  

Jack supposed it would have been a simple enough task to figure out what a duelist's  favorite card was.  All the Khan really needed was access to Industrial Illusions tournament database.  

That was not a complete answer, however, and Jack was not satisfied.  

There was no Jack DuBois to find in I.I.'s records.  
So, then, how could Khan know so much?
"Your room, sir" Lily interrupted as they arrived.  
"Thank you," Jack responded.  "You're dismissed."


Within the threshold, he found the lights and revealed quite a luxurious setup.  A four post bed draped with what appeared to be fine silk commanded the centre of the room.  Say what you want to about the man, Khan really knew how to treat his guest.  Understanding now what was meant by being customized to fit each duelist’s needs, Jack noticed a small desk and lamp off to the corner of the chamber.  This would be his destination.

Could The Khan have known his intentions here?  It was a terrifying thought, and it certainly seemed to be the case.  There would be time to address this later, however.

Jack allowed his bag to drop gently at his feet as he himself dropped into the overly cushioned chair.  Wasting no time, he opened his backpack and retrieved  his laptop.  It would be a vital tool in his investigation.  The device instantly linked up with the mansions own wi-fi connection, but that would hardly do.  Jack could not afford to let his host know what work he was up to, so instead he connected to his own cell phone’s hotspot.  Meanwh, he used the phone’s browser to connect to the local internet and searched for some rather suggestive videos involving women and pasture animals.

Safe, now, from any prying eyes, the real work could begin.

This was not Fubuki’s first tournament, Jack had remembered her saying as much.  If that were true, finding a lead on who the girl was should be as simple as logging into the Industrial Illusions database and finding her name.  The irony was bitter, as Jack suspected that his rival may have already used a similar tactic, but the exercise should yield results all the same.

Jack’s fingers were well practiced at the motions, and he typed information into the required fields quickly.  Fubuki… Motorei… search.

Loading… Loading… yes, there she was.

Interesting, Jack thought, and not exactly what he had expected to find.  It appeared that in her earlier duels, Fubuki had required a financial sponsor.  Some kind of corporate interest, by the looks of it.

This didn’t make much sense to Jack.  She did not seem like some kind of corporate pawn, only in it for the money; for personal gain.  And she certainly didn’t seem like the type to rely on others to get what she needed.  There must be more to it than this..  

Conducting a search on the company itself now, he found mentions of a dueling academy and ties to Industrial Illusions.  Apparently, Fubuki’s prize winnings had been used to fund the academy.  This, at least, began to paint a better picture.  She duels so that others might learn, how quaint.  Still, though, Jack felt he was missing pieces of the puzzle.  

No matter, though, he had gathered enough to make his next move.  On to other matters then.

Leaning over to dig in his bag again, he had noticed something had fallen from it and into the floor as he had brought out his computer.  It was a small photograph, meant to be carried in a wallet.  

The portrait was of a young woman, probably in her twenties.  The edges were worn and yellowed, but other than that great care had been taken of it.  Gently, Jack picked it up and smiled,  beginning to let his thoughts wander to better times.

No, no, not now.  He could not afford to be lost in his own memories at the moment.  The game had to take priority right now.  He needed to know more about this Khan fellow.

Setting the photograph aside on the desk, he returned his focus to the computer and his work.  He had found his angle to approach Fubuki with relative ease.  Finding something to use against the Khan would be a much greater challenge.