Binary Codes

Disclaimer/authors note: Right. I do not own any characters from yu-gi-oh. I'm just here trying to do who knows what. Most likely ease the disease more commonly known as boredom. This is an AU fic, so if the characters seem different, that's why.

Katsuya Jounouchi sat behind the keyboard, typing commands in a hurried but professional fashion. He had been dared by one of his friends to hack into one of the most technologically advanced buildings to date. Kaiba Corp. was currently in possession of special defense system, purely one of a kind created by the CEO himself. When he got into the files he was supposed to leave an interesting message and/or virus for Kaiba himself. Jou grinned at the thought.

He watched as another password was required, and stretched a bit before pulling his attention back to the screen. He stared impassively and dragged up as many ideas as he could. He began to type a series of numbers and letters and magically, he passed through another barrier.

The hum and whirr of the electronic equipment always provided comfort to his mind. It was a quiet purr compared to his fathers drunken yelling and shouting and the keys offered more release than he had ever felt. His laptop was a group gift he received from his friends when he turned 18. Some of them, Bakura mostly, taught him the wonders of hacking. It was a quick and easy way to make money and he loved it.

Speaking of making money, wouldn't it be great to rob moneybags himself? He could imagine the article in the newspaper already. It would mention the sheer brilliance of the one who was able to beat down the amazing prodigy Seto Kaiba. It would mention what Kaiba would have to do now that he wasn't a powerful public icon. Then there would be a lovely picture of the man wracked in despair as he held his stuck up brother close to himself.

The mental image made Jou grin. The Kaiba's were so famous. They had life made for them. It was about time someone knocked them back into the real world. He had seen the way the older brother smirked cockily at everyone else on the television. It was almost as if he were that damn cat from Alice in Wonderland. He had seen pictures of the little Kaiba as well. The press had found them one day at the zoo and the little boy put on a good show of being innocently happy rather than snide or cruel, unlike the elder who just glared and dragged Mokuba away.

The pleasant purr of his laptop was interrupted harshly as it beeped annoyingly before the screen went black. It hadn't shut down but there was no way he could get rid of the screen. He growled in frustration until slowly a cursor appeared. He watched as it blinked once…twice…and then moved forward leaving behind a big, bold, white, capitalized letter "I".

Jou blinked in awe as the letters which had started off appearing slowly one by one quickly gained pace until the were flying across the screen. An "S" had followed the "I" and then a pleasant black space followed by the letter "T" and it continued from there. His peculiar hazel-gold eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously as the message flashed across the screen. It read:

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Damnit!" Jou growled pulling off his glasses and slamming them angrily on the desk. Then, to make his mood worse, his computer shut down. "God I hate you Kaiba!" he hissed through clenched teeth. Only one phrase could describe this situation in Katsuya's mind. "This sucks!" He sighed and slumped down on his bed in defeat. A small yawn tried to escape, but he quickly smothered it with more caffeine. He had to wait until his dad came home or else he could sleep through one of the old man's request's and wake up do to unpleasant circumstances. What could he do now?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kaiba stared at his laptop in wonder. Someone had nearly hacked into his company. Sure he had left a cocky message, but someone had almost reached into his company! An exhausted sigh passed his lips and he tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Now he had to stay even later to improve his systems.

"This sucks." He muttered. Not only did he have to run his company and keep up with the new creations to ensure his business' success, but he also had to update his defense systems. Wonderful. He rubbed his eyes and took a sip of coffee to wake up. 2:52 a.m. Why couldn't he just have others fix up the system for him? He stared at the brown muck in his mug. Why didn't he hire people? Then he shook his head. Because then there was an opportunity for information would leak out to the public and hackers like the one he just thwarted would be falling over each other to get at his money and ideas.

However, maybe he could just find that one hacker…Find that one and have that person help out. It would be better to have more than one mind at work here. Also, he could afford to have just one expert hacker, than 50 inexperienced ones trying to grasp the situation.

He new he could trace the laptop and write a message, but should he? It would be a welcome relief to have somebody to shorten his hours, but just what kind of person would try to hack into his company? It must be somebody who is pretty confident in his or her ability to hack. Would that confidence make them stuck up? Would they gloat over the fact that he would ask them for help? He ground his teeth together. No way! There was no way he was going to get help on this.

His cell phone rang and he groaned as he looked at the name of the caller. "Why are you still awake?"

He could almost hear the frown. "I thought you said you were going to be home no later than midnight."

Kaiba looked at his watch. 3:32 a.m.

"I'm sorry Mokuba, I'm on my way home right now. So go get some sleep and I'll take you to the game shop you like so much tomorrow. Alright?"

Mokuba grinned on the other end of the line. "K Seto! See you tomorrow! Goodnight!"

Kaiba chuckled and said goodnight to his brother before hanging up. This settled it. He would have to take a chance and find this hacker. His brother needed him, and he'd be damned if he ignored his little brother. He called his limo and exited the building. The cool breeze felt nice on his skin and the fresh air woke him up a bit more. As he entered the black vehicle one thought played through his mind: "Find the hacker More time with Mokuba."

He closed the limo door behind him and relaxed as he was driven home.