365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Theory Success

8/13/19

"It worked," Judai breathed, the sound being the best thing Yusei had heard in days, "I-it's gone."

"For sure?" Yusei double-checked, but even he could see the readings in front of him, which seemed to back up Judai's claim pretty easily thanks to the lowered numbers around the board.

Judai let the portal he'd been holding open fade away, turning to him a giddy smile that Yusei found himself matching before he knew it, "For sure! Yusei, you're a freakin' genius."

"No kidding," Johan agreed, checking over a few of the machines as they finished processing before being shut off, "I still don't get how you managed to program one of these to be able to read aspects from the spirit dimension, considering how wonky the duel energy can apparently get there... according to Judai, at least."

"Pretty much."

"I applied some of the concepts my duel monsters taught me about when they were showing me all their creations," Yusei explained, not feeling like he'd really done much but knowing in his head that he'd accomplished something unprecedented (at least, in this world, that is). If it hadn't been for that time spent with his spirits, tinkering away and making a whole plethora of little projects just because they were able to, he highly doubted he'd have ever been able to figure out everything the way he had.

The main issue he'd encountered, after all, had been the action of actually moving the old duel energy - it was dormant but had the potential to be volatile, as Judai had essentially stated (and he trusted Judai's word on this kind of stuff), so he needed to be extra careful figuring out the safest way to move it.

Of course, that came after figuring out how one manages to move an energy that's not tangible yet seemingly has a mind of its own in the first place. That particular hurdle was one that required some consulting and idea bouncing with his duel spirits in the end, but finding the solution to it - in this case, fashioning a kind of 'magnet' for duel energy that would latch onto it and lure it to wherever it was - made the entire project feel a million times easier to deal with.

They did another two tests just to make sure it wasn't a fluke at all, and they all cheered when they successfully got the same result. They wouldn't be able to clear out all of the duel energy today, considering Yusei needed to compile a report first on what they'd figured out since it was pretty much the sole project everyone at his work was stuck with, but it'd succeeded and that was all they needed to be satisfied.

"Explaining how you figured this out is going to be pain, y'know," Johan realized as he helped them pack everything back up into Yusei's various bags, "If you want, I can send you some of my own research that's been published and you can try to spin off of it and a few other things."

"That'd be great," Yusei nodded, having come to the realization the second he thought about having to tell his work about it, "Hopefully they won't question it too much, though, because it works and it relies on a lot of ideas that simply haven't been used in any way before this."

"If you need me to, I could come in and provide a bit of proof by showing off that I'm a psychic duelist," Judai offered, though Yusei was quick to shut that idea down.

"No, you are not doing that," Yusei frowned, turning to give him a stern look and a pointed finger, "The last thing you need to do is put more attention on yourself than you already have been doing with the tournaments."

"I... Yeah, I see where you're comin' from," Judai sighed, pouting a little but mainly out of principle, "Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Exactly," Yusei smiled, shoving the bag he'd finished packing into his arms, "Now here, go find a space for it in the storage compartment."

"Got it!" Judai grinned, easily bouncing back from the small moment and looking like he was two seconds away from skipping as he walked away.

Johan caught his attention with a low whistle and a pat on the pack, laughing quietly, "Damn, you've really got him whipped."

"I wouldn't say that," Yusei replied, feeling a little embarrassed but laughing as well at the notion, "Well, okay, maybe a little, but it's two-fold."

"I've never seen him concede to a point like that so fast in my life - I'd say he's more than a little whipped," Johan reiterated, patting him on the back with a chuckle again before moving back to packing, "Either way, I'm sure he's still had the same issues as last time, so I guess what I said last time applies here, too. Make sure to take his mind off of the bad stuff!"

Yusei felt rather proud of himself for not getting as flustered as the first time, managing to get out an irritated, embarrassed grumble this time instead of a stuttered, high-pitched retort.