STORY EDIT: 12/30/14- Changed Guns from having Energy Classes to having Manufacturers
STORY EDIT: 1/8/15- Changed Aincrad from ten planets to one planet, with the previous planets now becoming continents.
SORRY EDIT: 3/4/15- Bumped up the ages of all major characters by two years.
Author's Notes
Hello fellow readers! Welcome to the Sword Art Online Fanfiction, Galactic Warfare Online: an adventure through an Alternate Universe that follows an Original Character named Jace as he crosses paths with your favorite characters like Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon. Before you start I have a few things I'd like to get out of the way.
First of all, these chapters are planned to be around ten thousand words each, so updates should not be expected every other day. I will try to post one every week or two, but I can't promise a steady stream of updates. In some cases I may even go back and completely rework a chapter, like I've done with this chapter.
I appreciate the time you have taken to read these notes, and am honored that you are reading my story. Please enjoy the story after the following disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, nor do I own any of its characters. Sword Art Online belongs to Reki Kawahara. Please support the official release.
Characters' ages
Kirito- 16
Asuna- 17
Sinon- 16
Jace-17
Chapter 1
Sunday, November 6th, 2022. Planet: Earth. Tokyo
"The first VRMMORPG, Galactic Warfare Online has officially been released as of midnight!" The reporter said, voice full of electric jubilance on the TV screen. "The game's creator and inventor of Nervegear technology claims that this game would change humanity as we know it. Here to tell everyone about the game before the servers open is the genius himself, Akihiko Kayaba."
A man in a white long coat and jeans stepped up to a podium that had just entered view. His glasses gave a sharp impression, supported by the way that he walked to the podium without a piece of paper in his hand. He had an air of confidence that could not be described by mere words as he stared straight into the camera, eyes gleaming.
"I'd like to take three questions today and only three before we open the servers for the game, so I guess I'll get the questions rolling." Then Kayaba took a swig from his water bottle as about fifty hands raised in the background. When he looked back, he pointed to a woman with sleek glasses and brown hair tied back in a ponytail. "Yes ma'am?"
"Natsumi Kimura from the Japanese Video Game Network," the woman said, introducing herself. "Could you give us a brief explanation of the game?"
"Galactic Warfare Online is a game where each player is a soldier in the International Galactic Armed Forces. The player travels through the galaxy to the planet of Aincrad in order to conquer an alien race called the Xylotes," Kayaba explained. "By choosing a weapon at the beginning of the game and leveling up a nearly endless variety of skills, the player can become stronger. As the player levels up more and more, they progress through the ranks and become the ultimate interplanetary soldiers. And now for you sir, in the blue suit."
"John Smith from Gaming UK," the man said with a thick British accent. "Could you tell us a bit more about the weaponry the players will be dealing with?"
"Certainly," Kayaba answered with a smile. "There are five main weapon manufacturers for the International Galactic Armed Forces: Isodex, who specializes in pistols and SMGs; New Tech, who specializes in Assault Rifles; Sci-Gen, who specializes in shotguns; Saito Corp, who specializes in LMGs and Missile Launchers; and Pyrolith, who specializes in Sniper Rifles and specialty weapons. They all make every type of gun however, with Isodex having a weakness in Assault Rifles, New Tech having a weakness in Shotguns, Sci-Gen having a weakness in LMGs and Missile Launchers, Saito Corp having a weakness in Sniper Rifles and special weapons, and Pyrolith having a weakness in SMGs and Pistols. There is, however, another company that manufactures incredibly rare weapons called Primal Issue Weaponry, and they make guns that are exponentially better than any of the other companies. And now, for the last question, the woman in the back."
"Alice Vancleave, American Gaming Weekly," the girl said. "What is the goal of the game?"
"There are 10 small planets- made up of ten biome types- that are owned by the Xylotes," Kayaba explained. "The players, who make up the International Army of Earth, have traveled to the planet, Ianides and will spawn in a space station called the Astronomic Radial Craft. From there, they will be beamed down to the planet in a small Safe Area/Base called 'Base Camp.' The players will have to fight through the ten major cities of that planet and invade the towers, or Command Centers, that resides in each of these major settlements.
"These Command Centers, which are about 10 stories tall or so, house a commander of the Xylotian Federation called a Planetary Boss. Work your way up to the top of the tower, kill the officer, and you'll conquer the planet. Mobs will die and only respawn in special areas called Xylozones, which can be found around a click or so outside of some cities. Conquer all ten continents, and you beat the game." Kayaba looked over the crowd again. "Thank you for your time; the servers should be up now."
Shino Asada grabbed the remote on her desk and turned off the TV. Without a second thought, she walked over to her dresser and open one of the few drawers it had revealing a black pistol: a Type 52. Instantly, her breath caught and she felt slightly sick. Even though her friend, Shinkawa, had said that she needed to attempt to hold the god-forsaken thing before each time she played GWO as a way to gage her progress. If she passed out now though, she wouldn't get online for nearly another hour. By that time, all the spot on the server would be taken up and it would take far longer to log on for the first time.
Shino walked over to her bed, pulling out a gray helmet with a tinted grey visor. The phrase Nerve Gear was emblazoned across the forehead of the device that would become Shino's new therapy. As she laid down on the bed, putting on the headgear, she felt a feeling of fear. This was a world entirely filled with guns! What if Shinkawa was wrong and she wouldn't be able to handle the game?
Stop it, Shino, the girl thought to herself. It's not like you're going to have to be there every day. You can just log out if it gets to be too much. With a breath, the girl took a deep breath and said the two words that would change her life forever.
"Link… Start!"
Instantly colors flashed before her eyes, circles with the names of her senses began loading and attaching themselves to the edge of her vision. The system asked her to touch herself all over, starting with her head, moving to her neck and down her chest, across her waist and pelvis to touch her toes. After she had skimmed virtually every inch of her body with her fingers, her vision went white for a moment and then slowly darkened to a point where she could see her surroundings: a single mannequin in a small white room.
She walked around the mannequin twice curiously and stared at the white head before placing a hand on the podium. A menu popped up from the podium and went vertical, so the girl could look at it without tilting her head.
"Welcome to Galactic Warfare Online's character creation program! Start from default, or use and edit current appearance?"
She pressed the button to start with her current appearance and watched as the mannequin became black with a neon green wireframe. Shino saw her appearance slowly come into being, as if being printed from the crown of her head. The way the mannequin loaded her appearance astonished her. She remembered ten years ago when the first 3-D gaming device, the Nintendo 3DS was just coming out. To see it come so far within her lifetime was astonishing.
After confirming her gender as female, she started on her body type. She decided to add muscle and a full foot to her height- making her six feet and three inches tall- but kept her face mostly the same, only making her eyes an icy blue-green, like the color of spearmint gum. Then came her hair.
Shino hated her hair. The black strands fell with no character along the sides of her face, and the fact that it was always up in a pair of pigtails made her seem girly and weak. She was finally going to do something about it: she was going to change her hair, everything from its texture to its color.
The sliders for her hair flew wildly from one side to the next as she changed how course and long it was. She played with the colors a bit, finding that she didn't want a regular color. Blonde hair made her look too pretty, and brown hair made her look nondescript. She didn't want to use black hair because it was too similar to her real self.
The small girl opened the color wheel, drawing her finger across the wheel from various points. She got to a shade of electric blue and stopped, looking at the mannequin's hair. The figure was that of a soldier, with eyes and hair that screamed icy threats at her.
Shino proudly pressed the button that confirmed her character's appearance and waited as another box came up.
"Please enter your username."
Shino had never played videogames much, so when she was asked to name her character, she was taken aback. She couldn't enter Shino. What would she call herself? Suddenly a name hit her like a fire truck.
Sinon. Sinon was a name similar enough to Shino that she could recognize it as her own, yet safe enough that no one would know it was her. She typed in the name and pressed accept, watching as the final system announcement came up.
"Your name is «Sinon». Is that okay?"
Shino pressed accept with pride and watched as she grew a bright shade of cyan. As she closed her eyes, she knew not what was happening, nor where she would go next. The only thing that she knew was that she would be one of the most fearsome warriors in the game, even with her crippling fear of guns.
)-0-(
As soon as the lights faded and Shino opened her eyes, she felt sick to her stomach.
Guns.
Lining the eight out of the ten walls of the room in which she resided were guns of all types. She saw Rifles (both automatic and semi-automatic), Machine Guns, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers. It appeared to be a store where only weapons were sold to players.
Guns.
People holding guns. People aiming guns at other people in jest and anger. People reloading guns. People tossing guns to one another.
Guns.
Shino fell against the wall she had been teleported beside, clutching her sides in a tight hug. Her breathing came out in hard gasps as she felt the panic attack coming on. Her intestines lurched inside of her torso as she grew green in the face.
She closed her eyes tightly as a high ringing filled her ears. Thunderous bangs resounded through her mind as the vision that had haunted her for so many years drifted into existence: the face of a man, blurry with red and peachy orange. She heard a distant voice that called quietly a few indecipherable words.
Shino snapped opened her eyes as a gentle hand rested on her arm. A boy with red hair and black eyes was kneeling in front of her. His teeth were a brilliant shade of white that almost astonished her, and he was overly muscular. He looked about sixteen, and had a strange aura about him that made her uncomfortable.
"Are you okay?"
Shino jumped at the boy's voice. This was not the voice of she had expected. It was high pitched and bright, certainly not the voice of the boy that she thought was sixteen. She frowned deeply and turned her head away.
"Fine," Shino told the boy in a cold voice, shrugging his hand off of her upper left arm. His hand went down to hers as it fell, but she quickly smacked it away, not wanting to let the boy touch her.
"You seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack," the boy said, moving the hand to the back of his neck. "I ask out of curiosity, not pity."
"I'm fine," she assured him, shooting him a glare. When she saw the boy smile, she cursed herself for not practicing the glare beforehand; she must have seemed rather tsundere. "Wipe that smile off of your face, or I'll wipe it off for you," she added angrily.
"You're icy façade is melting," the boy said with a smirk as he stood, holding out a hand. "My name is Jackal."
"What façade?" Shino asked as she cursed inwardly. This was most certainly not how she had intended her first day in Galactic Warfare Online to go. She was going to be a soldier who needed no one, and this Jackal boy was messing everything up!
"It's impolite to not introduce yourself," the boy said with a cocky grin. "What's your name?"
Shino swore again, this time under her breath. Now she would be considered impolite if she didn't give him her name. Then a thought hit her: She was still acting as Shino Asada. Shino Asada was a polite, well-mannered person. Shino Asada was a cute schoolgirl. Shino Asada was afraid of the damage a firearm could do. Shino Asada would die in this world over and over.
Sinon, on the other hand, was by no means kind; she was actually the opposite, sassy and blunt. Sinon was not a cute schoolgirl; she was a warrior who demanded respect. Sinon was not afraid of the raw power a firearm in her hand could have; as a matter of fact, she embraced the power. Sinon wouldn't die in this world; she would live to be one of its legends.
"Get used to disappointment," Sinon said, getting up and brushing off her shoulders. "I'm not some pushover schoolgirl, and I didn't come here to impress you."
Shino felt a natural impulse try and force her eyes open wider out of shock at her words, but Sinon kept her eyes still, staring into the boy named Jackal's eyes. Shino could almost feel ice covering her heart as the blue-haired warrior took control. And she took control.
Jackal stared at her in slight shock, keeping his facial features slack. He seemed to look her over once, studying her as if to see a switch that might have flipped to Sinon-mode. Shino's knees were knocking, but Sinon stood tall and strong as she was examined.
"Suit yourself," the boy said with a nod. And with that, he turned and walked away.
Sinon smirked, suppressing Shino's urge to grin like an idiot, and headed over to one of the gun walls. These guns had long barrels with scopes that the girl had seen people look through in movies. They were Sniper Rifles, and she knew that they had long ranges. If Sinon was going to get a gun, she supposed that a Sniper would be good for her; the girl didn't want to have to see the light leave the enemy's eyes as she shot them.
She had started with 1,000 «Col», which was the currency of the «IGAF». That would be enough to buy a base level sniper and maybe a pistol, she thought; Kayaba would surely give the players enough for a Primary and Secondary weapon of some type. She found the cheapest one, a gun called the «Pyrolith Snyper».
"Excuse me ma'am," a voice called from behind her, "but I see you're looking at the «Pyrolith Snyper». Why is that?"
This voice was one that hushed her and make a shiver run down her back. It was deep, yet soft; dark, yet warm. She felt her stomach jittering as she boy walked beside her. He was tall, with blonde hair and bright green eyes. His white tee was emblazoned with the «IGAF» logo (two guns crossed behind a star) and his jeans were a dark shade of blue. He was strikingly attractive, Sinon thought, before mentally shaking her head and focusing.
"Why do you care?" She asked with no emotion in her voice whatsoever.
"Well, you're new, so you likely wouldn't know about «PIGs»," he said curiously.
"Pigs?" Sinon asked, unable to restrain herself from looking at him in confusion. "Why would I care about a pig?"
"Not like an oink-oink pig," the boy laughed. "I mean a «Primal Issue Gun...» As in made by «Primal Weapons?» Pyrolith makes great snipers and all, but you could probably afford a better one, unless you're looking for a Primal."
"What's the big deal about them?" Sinon asked sarcastically.
"You really didn't do your research, did you?" the boy asked, rolling his eyes. "They don't have to be upgraded because they level up with the user. They're exponentially more powerful and valuable than any gun counterparts."
"Well that's nice," Sinon said without any sign of interest, but underneath she was writhing with curiosity. How could she get one of these «Primal Issue Guns»? "And I suppose you get these by killing random Xylotes?"
"Actually, yes," the boy said with a smirk. "Every humanoid Xylote carries a gun, most of which are «Standard Issue Guns,» made by the regular comapnies. Every now and then though, a Xylote is spawned with a «Primal Issue Gun», and there's a ten percent chance that it's dropped on death. There are also some missions that give them as a reward, but there's a limit to how many people can do them."
"That's lovely," Sinon said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I suppose you think you'll get one?"
The boy looked left and right as if looking for any eavesdroppers before answering the blue haired girl. "I know of a few places where someone may be more likely to find one, but don't make a big deal out of it. You'll draw attention if you freak out."
Sinon felt something leap in her stomach. Was this kid serious? If he had this kind of knowledge, that could only mean one thing.
"So you're a Beta Tester, then?" Sinon asked, still fighting to keep her emotion down.
"You've got me," the boy said, turning to her and holding out his hand. "Jace. And what's your name?"
Sinon hesitated. She didn't want anyone to know her until she was a legend, but this boy had assets to weapons that would make her stronger. And wasn't that the goal that she had set when she shouted those two words and immersed herself in this game? Was the risk of giving this Jace boy her name worth the possible gain of a «Primal Issue Gun»?
After weighing the options for about three seconds, the girl reached for the «Pyrolith Snyper» and introduced herself as Sinon as she paid for the weapon.
"My pleasure, Sinon," Jace said, pulling his hand back from the icy soldier. "I'd be happy to form a Squadron with you until we find some better weapons."
"If you want," the girl said emotionlessly as she walked to another wall and purchased a cheap handgun called a «Isodex Phaser», "but I tend to leave things early."
"That's fine," Jace nodded. "I'm more of a solo player myself, but the places where these weapons are found can get a bit difficult to get to and clear alone. Would you like to form a Squadron now, then?"
"Sure," Sinon said with a shrug. "Add me."
Jace held up two fingers, as if giving a Boy Scout pledge, and swiped down across a vertical plane of air. As he did so, a menu popped up, and he pressed a few buttons. As soon as he stopped, a menu flashed in front of her face.
"Jace has invited you to join his Squadron! Accept or Decline?"
Sinon pressed the accept button with a yawn and cheered mentally. She would certainly become a powerful soldier if she had a strong gun, despite the fact that she would have help acquiring it.
"Good deal," Jace says. "Meet me in «Base Camp». I won't go far." Then the boy opened his inventory, pulling out a small device and equipping it to his arm. He tapped it twice, said "teleport, «Base Camp»," and vanished in a blue light, much like the one Sinon had been shrouded in after making her avatar.
Sinon glanced at her inventory. The «Pyrolith Snyper» had cost her 300 Col, and the «Isodex Phaser» had taken her 200, which meant she had 500 left. She walked to the wall that had cheap energy shields and bought one called the «Mk II Silverstream». It was good enough to protect her, but not so expensive that she couldn't afford anything else if needed.
Sinon figured it was a reasonable assumption and opened her menu, searching for the inventory. She had no clue what the item the boy had equipped was, but after momentarily searching, she found the item: a «Mobile Teleporter».
"The «Mobile Teleporter» is used for teleporting to previously discovered destinations. Equip?" the system asked after giving a brief explanation of the item, bringing up two boxes containing the words yes and no.
Sinon pressed yes and a cyan wrist guard appeared on her left hand. It had no buttons, but there was a screen that she remembered Jace tapping to turn it on. She knocked on it twice with a gentle finger and watched it turn on. "Teleport, «Base Camp»," Sinon said.
And just like that, Sinon was taken away to a new place, a place she would come to know very well: the Planet of «Aincrad».
)-0-(
When Sinon opened her eyes again, she was in a bustling city. People were walking everywhere, carrying guns across their back and partying up with other soldiers. There were even some civilian NPC's that were selling everything from food to clothes to weapons. The city was most certainly metropolis level, even though many of the buildings looked like some of the rust-buckets in an old game called Borderlands. Everything about it seemed homely though, and she couldn't help but smile at the sounds, sights, and smells all around her.
All around her were soldiers, talking about how they couldn't wait to go out and hunt. Some were headed into buildings that appeared to be futuristic bars in this beautiful city. It was at this moment that she fell in love with Galactic Warfare Online.
Sadly, that would have to change.
A hand grabbed her arm and Sinon tensed up, automatically moving to open up her menu and pull out her pistol. The girl soon recognized the boy who was grabbing her however, and jerked her head away from him before telling the boy "That's not very nice, Jace."
The blonde boy smiled, ruffling his hair a bit as he pulled the hand back. "Sorry, Sinon, but we've got to move as quickly as we can! Come on!" And with that, the boy ran towards the northern part of the city without waiting for the younger girl to follow him.
"Hold on, Jace!" Sinon groaned as she dashed after him. Thankfully, the boy was over six feet tall, so she could see his every move. This did not, however, make maneuvering around the crowds as easy as it was for him. "Slow down, I can't move like that!"
"Take to the skyline, then!" Jace shouted over his shoulder as he dashed towards one of the trailer-type houses. The boy leapt with finesse onto a small rooftop, pulling himself up by his elbows. "Just hop on top of the building and pull yourself up. We'll get to there soon enough!"
"You're insane!" Sinon said, unable to suppress a laugh. The wind in her hair felt amazing as she dashed forward and leapt to the building, chasing after Jace on the rooftops. "What if you fall; you'll lose your HP!"
"We're in a «Safe Zone»!" Jace laughed, leaping onto another rooftop from the one Sinon had just finished climbing on top of. "Hurry up, kiddo, we're going to lose the advantage of leaving early!"
Sinon glanced to the side as she leapt between the buildings and realized it was true; many of the players that she had seen in the room of guns were heading north. "Where are those people headed?" Sinon asked her companion as she caught up to him.
"They're going to hunt, like us. You got that sniper, so I'm going to teach you how to use it," the boy said, opening his menu as he ran. He jumped over a large gap between two buildings and selected an item which presently dropped into his hands: a «Pyrolith Snyper». "I've got a bit of experience with these guns," he said with a small smirk as he continued sprinting towards the edge of the city.
Sinon shot him a wary glance. This boy seemed much too energetic to be a sniper; how did he manage to stay still long enough to fire a shot, let alone surprise an enemy? "Are you any good?" Sinon asked cautiously.
Jace did not respond, seemingly focusing on his breathing.
Soon enough, Jace had jumped onto the final rooftop and rolled to a stop at the very edge of building. "Control your heart-rate," he said quietly. "The faster your heart is beating, the larger your «Aiming Circle» is."
"«Aiming Circle»?" Sinon breathed. "What's that?"
"Aim down the sights," Jace ordered. As she did, Sinon found that a large green circle was pulsing in the center of her scope. "That is your «Aiming Circle». When you shoot, the bullets may land anywhere in the circle."
"How do I make it smaller?" Sinon asked, breathing heavily still.
"Stop breathing so hard and slow your heart rate," Jace said with a smirk. "But zoom in, too. You should be able to see that greenie easily."
"Shut up," the girl said, punching his arm and slowing her bodily systems. As Sinon zoomed in, she saw a green creature lurking about with ragged clothes. It looked humanoid, but had scales like a lizard, similar to an Argonian from a game that Sinon's father had played long ago called Skyrim. Its yellow eyes gleamed brightly in the sun, and its muscular tail flicked around.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a Xylote," Jace said. "Probably a barbarian, since he's all alone and not carrying a weapon. Focus on a good memory that has always calmed you down now; it will shrink your «Aiming Circle»."
Sinon closed her eyes briefly, snagging a memory mentally. She thought of her mother's fresh baked chocolate cookies; the way they tasted, the way they smelled. She imagined sinking her teeth into one of the chewier ones. She always snagged one fresh from the cookie tray, even if she got a small burn in the process. It was worth it for those cookies, the way they crumbled under their own weight when they were so fresh.
Sinon inhaled deeply, able to smell the scent of her mother's cookies due to focusing so hard, and opened her eyes. She was shocked greatly to find the «Aiming Circle» had shrunk to the size of a quarter on the Xylote's forehead. She saw the circle start expanding due to her alarm and quickly focused on her mother's cookies again. As it shrunk smaller than before, she moved it to the Xylote's yellow eye and brushed her finger against the trigger.
From there, everything went downhill.
As soon as her fingers felt the frigid metal of the «Pyrolith Snyper», Shino surfaced, her terror of guns suddenly remembered. Her pupils dilated to the size of a crab apple; her breath came out in short and heavy gasps as she struggled to breath. She was having a PTSD attack.
"Put the money in the bag, or I'll shoot another one!"
"Please don't kill me!"
"Faster!"
Bang! BANG! BANG!
A hand on Shino's shoulder snapped her out of the flashback, and she looked up through panicked eyes at the blonde boy who was with her. For a moment, she didn't recognize him, but the longer she was in the present, the more she realized that the oh-so-horrible memory was just that: a traumatic memory.
"Sinon?" Jace asked quietly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Shino lied weakly. She looked around for a brief moment, searching for something before turning to Jace and croaking. "Where did I drop my gun?"
"I caught it just before it fell off of the edge of the building; it's right over here," Jace said with a raised eye. He picked up the gun that the blue haired girl had dropped, but pulled it away when Shino reached for it. "What's wrong Sinon?"
Shino closed her eyes. Inside of her, the avatar that she had created almost fifteen minutes ago punching her real self and pushing her into a closet. Then, Sinon slammed the door and locked it before walking away. The girl's eyes then snapped open.
"I'm fine," Sinon said with a tone that said that the topic was not up for discussion.
Shivering, Jace frowned. He stared at Sinon for a moment, much like Jackal had. She stared back with cold fire blazing in her eyes, forcing Jace to swallow hard and drop the subject.
Inwardly, Sinon smiled. She wondered if she had mastered the glare, but was interrupted by the sight of the gun. She knew that this was essential for her mission to gain power. She had to shoot this Xylote.
After telling herself that it wasn't person (rather a string of 1's and 0's that formed an image in her brain), Sinon lined up her shot again. Her «Aiming Circle» pulsed quickly between a massive circle and a tiny dot as the girl aimed for the Xylote's head. The pulses grew smaller and smaller as she focused on her heart-rate and her breaths, until finally, it was the size of a pen's tip on the beast's forehead.
A red prism appeared above the Xylote's head, a clear indication that it was an aggressive type of alien. It had one HP bar, currently at green, and was a level one monster. This mob would change her life forever though; it would change the girl who had entered here originally, Shino Asada, into the warrior that would take her place, Sinon.
Without thinking twice, she smashed her finger against the trigger.
At first Sinon saw a red laser burst from the tip of the gun that landed on the alien's head. Then came the gunshot, which was much louder than she had expected; it caused her to jump with a tiny shriek and smack her hands against her ears. The bullet traveled along the red line, roaring to life and flashing through the air about two hundred meters until it buried itself in the Xylote's skull. Where the bullet had entered, Sinon saw a hole made of a red, wireframe-type design, and the monster crumpled to the ground in a heap, as if it had been held up by invisible strings that had just been cut.
Sinon lowered her rifle and looked at the beast through her own eyes, stunned that she had managed to make such a perfect first shot. A white popup menu soon appeared. Sinon examined it.
"Congratulations! You have gained: 25 EXP/30 Col!"
Jace smiled. "Congratulations, Sinon. You just killed your first enemy."
Sinon grinned on the inside and found that she was unable to completely suppress the emotion on the outside of her face. From what Jace had told her though, the look she was now wearing was a "cocky smirk," and that she "shouldn't let her head get too big."
"That was a weaker enemy, wasn't it," Sinon asked as she stopped smiling. "I killed it in one hit, and I doubt that its head is its weak point for some reason."
"You would be right on both accounts," Jace said, leaning back to rest. "They're the equivalent of slimes in other games, and their weak spot is their stomach- right where their belly buttons would be."
"Well, thank you for the lesson on how to shrink the circle, Jace," The girl said with a quick bow. "It's been a pleasure getting to know you today. If I could ask you one last thing; where can I find the logout button?"
"It'll be in the tab with the gears, but do you really have to go?" Jace asked. "I was just getting you started on the basics? How will you ever learn how to survive without this tutorial?"
Sinon knew by the smile on Jace's face that he had been messing with her with the last bit, but the look he gave her when she had told him she would be leaving soon was of genuine disappointment. The girl desperately hoped that she wasn't blushing as she shook her head. "I have to cook dinner. But maybe I'll see you around."
She turned around, opening the menu just as Jace showed her, but was astonished to find that the settings tab had absolutely no logout button. She checked everywhere, but there was nothing; just a symbol of a door with an arrow leaving it was present, and the button to the side had no text. It was just an empty white box.
"It's blank," Sinon said dully.
"Sinon, don't be daft," the blonde boy said, getting up and walking behind her. "It's right… not there." Jace frowned and opened his own menu, but grunted after realizing that he was missing the button. "This is particularly troublesome," he concluded, sitting on the ledge of the building.
"What's wrong?" Sinon asked, looking over at the boy with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"The log-out button seems to be glitching," Jace said grabbing her hand and tapping the logout button with it twice.
Sinon jumped and reached out to smack the boy, but stopped. She hadn't been logged out. If that truly was the logout button, something was wrong. "Why didn't it log me out?" She wondered, poking it repeatedly. "Maybe we should contact the maker or something?"
Jace laughed, this time earning him a fully executed smack from Sinon. He reached up and rubbed his cheek, explaining. "If anyone could just contact Akihiko Kayaba, I'm sure that he'd be swamped with congratulatory messages. What we do is we call the DC." He pulled up the menu and opened the social tab, clicking the one contact he had.
"The DC?" Sinon asked the blonde boy.
"There are two hundred and fifty «Division Commanders»–DC's as we like to call them–that answer the questions of the players," Jace explained. "Each of the two hundred and fifty are assigned one hundred players each. We're going to call them and inform them of our glitched menus."
The girl with blue hair frowned, looking at her companion. The boy's face was line with an emotion that Sinon couldn't place. It was somewhere between distress an intrigue. As he noticed the girl watching him, he smiled. "Hey, don't worry, kid. The server people are probably trying their hardest to fix it or to force a system-wide log-off. And if they aren't, they're probably answering calls and telling people that it's all part of the system's launch event or something."
"This whole thing gives me an uneasy feeling," Sinon muttered. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, not realizing that her MT had turned on and was flashing on and off, before turning red. Her body began to glow a bright blue as she was shot through space and thrown into another area.
)-0-(
When Sinon opened her eyes, she was shocked to find herself in a cavernous room with tables everywhere. Everything about the room was foreign. Its walls were made of stone like a dungeon, but it had floors like the room of guns back where the two had met; the «IGAF» insignia was even emblazoned on the floor every few meters, marking it as an official building. As more and more players were thrown into the room by the system, an eerie cyan light was cast on the walls.
Sinon found it terrifying.
"What?" The girl shouted, backing into a table.
"Our MT's went off," Jace said, putting his sniper rifle into a position where he could easily aim it at any threats. "It's a forced teleport, which is odd considering there was never one in the Beta."
"Where are we, Jace?" the girl with blue hair asked.
"I'm not certain," the boy said cautiously as he pulled up his map, never lowering his weapon. "Apparently we're still in «Base Camp»- or rather under it- but I've never been here. This place hasn't even been discovered though, from what the map says, which is even weirder."
"Why is that weirder?" Sinon asked in confusion. "So a building wasn't discovered in the Beta. The testing period was only, what, two months? And wouldn't people have moved on pretty quickly to try and reach the next continents?"
"That's all true," Jace said slowly, "but we got an achievement after we entered every accessible building in «Base Camp». And none of the NPC's mentioned something about a massive fucking renovated cavern underground…"
Suddenly Jace's eyes widened. The blue haired girl grabbed his arm, shaking him once. "Hey, Jace! What is it?"
"There's a place that had been mentioned in the Beta, a place that could hold twenty-five thousand people," Jace whispered reverently. "Some people had thought it was a dungeon, some thought it was a building that had been coded and then removed right before the Beta. Others thought that it was just something NPC Soldiers said instead of 'restaurant' in order to add a small sense of realism to the game. It was a place called the «Mess Hall».
"The «Mess Hall» had only been found with hacks. A player named Vector, who was responsible for most of the information on the GWO's wiki article, had taken out a world save and found that «Base Camp» was a town built on a shape like a mostly buried soda can. On the wiki, he had mentioned that the curvature of the land was much too perfect to be natural, and that he had a theory that there was a room under the bulge. This started a search for an entrance to this mystery room that lasted for nearly a month, but all for naught.
"Vector was not satisfied, however, and decided that he was going to hack the game to get into the area. After another month, he developed a type of X-Ray modification to the game that was almost immediately patched. The only thing that Vector saw was an underground cavern type area with hundreds, even thousands of mobs that spawned in the unlit area. After that, nothing else was found out about the underground area. Vector had always suspected that it was the «Mess Hall» that various NPC's had spoken of, despite the fact that there was no proof supporting his theory, and said he would not stop searching for information about the cavernous area until he had sufficient information.
"I can't wait to see what he thinks about his obsession," Jace finished
By this time, the room was full of people, the lights had stopped flashing, and sound filled the room like a bubble. Jace opened his menu and opened a tab; Sinon didn't know for sure which. By the way he slid a slider into a different place, however, Sinon could only guess it was the settings tab. Then the boy began typing something in the Social tab.
"New Message received from Jace: Turn ur sound setting to 10%"
Sinon groaned. If Jace was one of those people that abbreviated things like he had, she wouldn't be messaging him frequently. She followed his instructions however, and watched as a new pop-up appeared, reading "Jace has asked to form a Squadron with you! Accept or Decline?"
Sinon frowned slightly. She didn't have time for Squadrons, but there had to be a reason why he was asking her. She begrudgingly accepted the request, and watched as his name popped up at the edge of her vision.
"Can you hear me now?" the boy asked. "I'm using something called the «Squadron System Assist»; it lets you talk solely to Squadron members and teleport to them. Focus on speaking only to me."
Sinon twisted her face in concentration for a few moments before opening her lips. "Am I doing this right?"
"Yes," Jace said with a smile, then pointed up. "This will help later, but for now, I wonder what that is."
Sinon looked to where Jace had just begun pointing, finding a green hexagon with yellow, unreadable text in the center. Without a second thought, Sinon pulled out her sniper and looked through the scope at the hexagon.
"System Announcement. Please sit."
"Jace, count the tables," Sinon said as she unequipped her sniper, sending it back into the inventory.
"The tables covering the area have ten seats on each side," Jace muttered. "Judging by the rows, columns and sections- when added with the fact that there are ten seats per table- there are enough seats for 25,000 people: the exact number of players in the game."
"Come on, Sinon," Jace whispered over the headset. "Let's sit."
"We're stuck in this game, and all you can think to do is take a seat?" Sinon asked in confusion. "What's wrong with-?"
"The only way we'll figure out what's going on is if we all sit down," the boy snapped, turning to stare into her eyes. "The hexagon up there says a system announcement is coming and that we need to sit down. There's no way that we can tell everyone, so we'll just have to hope they catch on."
As Jace went to sit down, Sinon felt her cheeks heat up as blood rushed through them. He had snapped at her! How was she supposed to know what he was thinking?
Sinon growled and sat furiously beside her cohort. As she did, a few others sat down with her before mob mentality totally took over. There was no noise at all as the hexagon cloned itself, spreading across the ceiling and the walls. Soon the whole room burned with a yellow-green light from the hexagons that prophesized an announcement from Kayaba.
A bloodcurdling scream rang through the room as a red liquid-looking substance oozed from the cracks between the hexagons at the farthest end of the «Mess Hall». It flowed into the mold of a soldier in red. He carried a red «Minigun»–ironically named, as it's so heavy that it would cause any player to acquire a movement penalty–over his shoulder in one hand as if it was a children's toy. The figure stood in silence for a moment as everyone held their breath in fear of the massive soldier.
"Welcome to the «Mess Hall»," the soldier said in a loud voice that carried through the room.
"I knew it!" a voice belonging to Vector, who sat on the other side of the room, shouted in glee.
"I AM AKIHIKO KAYABA, CREATOR OF GALACTIC WARFARE ONLINE," the soldier boomed in an explosive shout, filling the room instantly with sound like water could fill a tub. Multitudes of hands flew to their owners' ears, menus opening to lower their sound settings. Sinon thanked Jace silently for having her turn down her volume. It had indeed come in handy.
"I am the sole person that can control this world," he continued at his normal voice, which still filled the room. "I'm sure that you have already noticed that the log out button is missing from the main menu. This is not a defect in the game, but a key feature of Galactic Warfare Online."
At this point a few of the other soldiers began to panic, standing up and shouting in protest. Various cries of "you're kidding," "no way," and "this is part of the launch" ricocheted from the vaulted ceiling and walls. Many of the soldiers ignored him though; probably thinking that the speech was simply a tutorial.
"You cannot log out of GWO yourselves, and no one outside of the game can remove or even shut down the Nervegear," Kayaba went on. "If this is attempted, the Nervegear will emit microwaves that will fry your brain, and simultaneously end your life. For those of you who don't believe, there have been two-hundred and seventeen cases worldwide of deaths that came directly after removing the Nervegear. Though this is sad indeed, it is necessary for the purposes of the game."
"That's not possible," Sinon said with a slight panic in her voice. "There's a safety on this thing, right? The government wouldn't have let the company release it if it wasn't safe!"
"It is," Jace groaned slowly as Kayaba explained that the only way to escape was by beating the game in more words. "If someone tries to remove the Nervegear then the safety could be removed also. That could also be another reason why everyone was warned to use Nervegear while lying down on a bed, because then we would fall and the Nervegear would come off too. Then the media would find out and not all of the 25,000 players that got copies would have joined. If Kayaba really does want to trap us here, I have no doubt that he could pull it off like this."
"So we're stuck here until we beat the game?" Shino asked, growing into a panic. "But I have school! I can't be stuck in this game, I don't even like video games! I just wanted to…" The girl held her head in her hands and began shaking, crying due to the extreme stress that she had been put under. Her world was falling apart.
A hand slowly brushed against her shoulder and Shino felt herself grow simultaneously tense and calm. She looked up and saw Jace's eyes staring carefully into hers. "Relax, kid," he whispered to her as she sighed. "This might be bad, but I'm here. Keep in mind there are 25,000 people in Japan going through the same problems. I guarantee everything from exams to jobs will be waiting for us when we get back."
Kayaba continued. "As you can see," he said, spreading his arms slightly, "news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume the danger of a Nervegear being removed is now minimal. I hope you relax and attempt to clear the game, but I want you to remember this clearly: there is no longer a revival system in the game. If your HP drops to zero your avatar will be deleted forever and simultaneously, the Nervegear will destroy your brain."
Shino began breathing heavier, on the verge of a panic attack which Jace stopped by moving his hand to her opposite hip. He hugged her gently until Shino felt herself breathing closer to normally. "Calm down, Sinon, there has to be a way to get out. And I promise you that I'll get you out."
Shino looked down at Jace's hand on her hip and flushed a bright shade of pink. This stranger was dangerously close to one of the more intimate areas of her body. She should have pushed him away, but she needed human comfort right now. If the boy tried anything, however, she'd kick his ass.
As if on cue, Kayaba plowed onward, ignoring the cries of his prisoners. "There is only one means of escape: to clear the game. Presently, you are on the 1st continent of Aincrad: «Ianides». If you make your way across the planet and clear all of the Command Centers, then the «ARC» will teleport those who participated in the boss fight to the next continent, «Ronia». The players will acquire the coordinates of the continent on arrival, and other players will be free to travel to «Ronia». Conquer all the the continents and you will clear the game.
"Finally, I have added a present to your inventories," he finished. "Please equip the item, which will be found in the Profile section's Items tab under Miscellaneous."
The sound of soft clicks and swooshes sounded as people opened their menus and began selecting the correct tabs to arrive at their 'Miscellaneous' tabs. All that awaited them was a mirror. Shino looked at the mirror, looking at the face of the warrior that was Sinon.
Suddenly the whole room was glowing in a dark crimson light. Screams erupted from Sinon's left and right, everywhere as panic filled the room. When the light faded, Sinon noticed nothing immediately different.
She glanced over at Jace, who looked exactly the same. She only noticed a few scars that trailed over his body. Maybe she hadn't noticed them before. But when Jace jumped at the sight of her, she began to get slightly offended.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Sinon asked the boy. "It's just me, I'm not a Xylote or anything!"
"And who the hell are you? Sinon was just sitting here a moment ago," the boy said, picking up his gun a little bit. "Where did she go?"
"I am Sinon!" the girl said, glancing at her mirror, then doing a double take. She had turned back into Shino somehow. "I was Sinon… Now… How does it know what I look like?"
Jace thought for a brief moment. "The Nervegear covers most of our face with the visor. Maybe it has some sort of camera type thing that allows it to see our face, but that wouldn't explain how it knows our body types; you look like you shrank a few feet, Sinon."
"Shut up!" the girl said, punching his arm. "It must know because of the calibration it made us do back when we first put it on. Remember? We had to touch all over our bodies and it recorded the data and everything?"
"That's right," Jace said thoughtfully. "That means everyone here looks like themselves in the real world now; there's no anonymity remaining."
"Right now you're probably wondering why," Kayaba continued over screams of outrage and confusion. "'Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Galactic Warfare Online and the Nervegear, do all of this? I created GWO for one reason: because I wanted to create a universe and intervene in it. I wanted to become God. And now it is all complete." With that, Kayaba spread his arms and said one last thing. "This ends the tutorial for the official Galactic Warfare Online launch. Good luck players, and may you survive."
Kayaba turned back into the red liquid-like substance that originally dripped from the cracks in the hexagons above and floated back from where he came. The hexagons were replaced by ones that read, "Begin," and then they disappeared.
Then the room erupted in turmoil.
"Sinon, teleport to «Base Camp» now," Jace said over the system link, turning his hearing sense back up to 100%. "We'll need to run to the next town before the others get there and grab what we can."
Sinon nodded, hitting her MT and pressing the button to teleport to the place where she had first emerged from the «ARC» and into «Base Camp»: the «Grand Plaza». As she turned a shade of cerulean blue, she closed her eyes, feeling herself teleport for the last time that day.
)-0-(
"Sinon."
As the girl opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a small crowd. Jace was at the edge, and everyone was moving from his direction at her, sprinting towards the northern edge of the city. People bumped into her, pushing her. As she fell to the ground, Sinon cried out in fear. "Jace! Help me!"
Jace dove through the others, landing over Sinon. Many boots were pummeling him, but he gritted his teeth and took it. Sinon looked up at him, nearly crying due to her panic, but held her emotions together. After a few moments, the crowd had dispersed, and Sinon just laid under Jace, staring up at him.
"Thank you," she whispered, barely able to choke out the words.
"We need to get moving quickly," Jace told the girl, jumping up and grabbing her hand to help her do the same. "Are you ready to go?"
"Go where?"
"To the next city. We need to grab the quests before the others to get an advantage," Jace explained. "If you aren't coming, I need to be going now, but… I want you to come."
Sinon felt her cheeks growing warm. This was all so sudden; she'd just met the boy and now he wanted her to go on an adventure with him? "Why do I matter?"
"Without me, you'll die."
Instantly, Sinon went from feeling pleased to being horribly offended. Jace seemed to have picked this up, because he shook his head. "No, back when you first tried to shoot that Xylote, you froze. If you don't have someone to back you up, that freeze will be more than enough to get you killed."
Sinon stopped for a moment. She could either stay here and learn, or go on the road with this stranger who was much more experienced than her. If she stayed, she could just sit in the city all day and make money by picking fruits and stuff. She would certainly be safe, and possibly never even have to leave «Base Camp».
If she went with him, however, they would get into situations that she knew she wouldn't be able to handle. She would have to learn how to survive quickly and level up everything as fast as she could just to survive this game of death. And in learning how to survive, she could very easily die…
But she would have Jace to protect her.
Sinon nodded without even truly thinking of the first option as a viable one. "Let's move on out."
Author's Notes
I will f*cking get to Sinon's decision to go with Jace in a moment.
List of discussion topics.
Edit, Kayaba's tutorial, Sword of the Living Dead, Panic attack, Shino vs. Sinon, PIGs, Armor, Game Masters, Kayaba's speech, Sinon's decision
A certain user named Agent 94 brought something to my attention: I tend to start with my OC's, and this scares people away. I decided to rewrite this chapter to fix that and the 1st Person POV that Jace used. Jumping between multiple points of view would have just gotten confusing, and I didn't want that.
I know that Kayaba gave as little of an explanation of the game as possible in at least the anime, but I felt that the press conference was needed for the story to begin. With a story like Sword of the Living Dead, not as much of an explanation is needed as the enemies are just zombies, but when it comes to a Sci-Fi like this, I felt that–without any introduction–the story would be confusing if I just dove in. So I made him slightly OOC by making him go to a press conference.
Speaking of Sword of the Living Dead, that is a fanfiction by nanaya88 where I got a few ideas, such as the mannequin and the Primal Issue Guns (which I will get to in a moment). I highly suggest reading it, as that story is largely my influence in making this story.
I have no clue how to accurately portray a panic attack, so I apologize that Sinon's reactions aren't very realistic.
When I intermix the terms Shino and Sinon, it is not an inconsistency. Shino and Sinon are doppelgangers, meaning they are different sides of the same person. Shino is a timid girl plagued by her crippling fear of firearms. When that side is showing, the name Shino is used. Sinon is a strong woman who shows no fear, and is not influenced by Shino's fears. When that side of her is showing, I use the name Sinon.
I got the idea of PIGs from the Cursed Weapons in Sword of the Living Dead. Basically, they level up with the owner, and are worth way more, but they have a certain drawback. What that is, I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out. And those that used them in the Beta, never had them long enough to figure out much about them as they were added in later in the Beta.
Energy Shields were brought up very briefly when Sinon was buying stuff and was not explained at all. I will explain these now and in later chapters. Essentially, an energy shield is a force field that has a certain temporary durability. After that durability runs out, the player can be hit and the shield must cool down before it recharges and finally, regenerates.
In the Anime/Manga/Light Novels, the Division Commanders were called Game Masters. This reminds me way too much of Dungeons and Dragons however, and I wanted to make the term fit the genre more. It also made more sense to have multiple DC's so that people could get their questions without hours of waiting.
Kayaba's speech is word for word, except for the parts that I had to change to fit the genre. Fun fact.
And now what you've all been waiting for. Yes, I know that Sinon most likely wouldn't go off with a stranger in a Squadron. Yes, I know that she's a bit more of a solo player. But at this point she was frightened by the whole dying issue. Plus it just works better for the story if she goes with him.
Thank you for reading the chapter. Please leave reviews for any questions. I may even rewrite the chapter for you :p All questions I receive before I post the next chapter will be answered in the first section of Author's Notes of Chapter Two.
Definitions
ARC: Abbreviation for Astronomic Radial Craft
GWO: Abbreviation for Galactic Warfare Online
EXP: Experience Points
Col: The currency of the IGAF
DC: Abbreviation for Division Commander. Equivalent to a Game Master
Xylote: The most common mob in GWO, a humanoid lizard. The inhabitants of the planet Aincrad
Sinon's Game Data
Level: 1
HP: 250 (200+50xlvl=HP, where lvl=level)
Col: 130
MainEquipment
Pyrolith Snyper- Sniper Rifle made by Pyrolith Firearms ideal for players below level 13. Real counter-part, Barrett M21
Isodex Phaser- Pistol made by Isodex Weaponry ideal for players below level 17. Real counter-part, Beretta M9
Jeans- Basic jeans with no stat boost
Tan IGAF Shirt- Tan shirt with the IGAF Insignia on the chest
Mk II Silverstream- Low-level Energy shield that can be found on the ARC.
Skill Slots: 6
Skills (Basic 0-249 pts, Advanced 250-499 pts, Proficient 500-749 pts, Expert 750-999 pts, Master 1000 pts)
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available
Available