SAO-X: The Lost Tales

Disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of the SAO series. I really enjoyed it and I feel it was a great story. However, what was an amazing concept got caught up in the restrictions of its genre and lost out on the huge potential it had. This story is intended to build on the ideas and questions introduced in the original show from the perspective of an OC. Constructive criticism is more than appreciated as this is my first time putting my work on the web, and I figured here is as good a place as any.

Stage I: Birth of a World

SYSTEM READOUT

TIMESTAMP: [DATA CORRUPTED]

PLAYER: Auran (ID 35182738)

STATUS: [HP] 3/2154 (.0014%)

Level: 89 (6872 to 90)

Equipment: Cloth Band of Agility (Head)

Light Leather Armor (Torso)

Hunter's Cloak (Outer)

Light Leather Greaves (Arms)

[DATA CORRUPTED] –wo hands

. . . [DATA CORRUPTED]

Guild Data: L [DATA CORRUPTED]

[DATA CORRUPTED]

[DAQᾧӋӁѨ?RRUpt ꜠…

He was happy. Dammit, he was happy. Happy right up until this game. He was done. The status bar blinked.

You know, his life hadn't been that bad. In fact, it had been amazing. He knew too many people without two parents. He knew too many people without a future. He knew too many people who were alone. He was none of that.

Of course it was too good to be true. The red polygons spilled out, floating away into the dark sky like they had a life of their own. But they didn't. They were just numbers, after all.

Just numbers.

His dagger clattered to the ground. Its durability decreased by two points, a negligible amount. Just numbers, you know? It's all just numbers.

He didn't want to plead that he was too young to die, because it wasn't true. But he couldn't die like this. Not like this.

2 YEARS, 1 MONTH PREVIOUS

TIMESTAMP: 04 November 2022, 07:48:37

"Thomas! Yo, Thomas!"

He turned around. Walking down the school hallway was the long-haired, jeans-wearing, tie-dye-sporting modern-day hippy of a friend, Mark. Although for some reason he liked to go by Marcus. Usually it would be the other way around, but…that's Marcus.

"Dude! How did it go last night?" The obligatory high-five was swift and held way too long as always. He draped his arm around Thomas' shoulder, the two of them staggering down the raucous high school corridor, books in hand. If they weren't a pair of seniors somebody might have thought they were drunk. "So? Did you score?" Marcus raised his eyebrow.

Thomas glared. "Not cool, man. We've only been going out a month now and you know I'm not gonna do crap. Also, everyone can hear you."

Marcus looked around, his dirty blonde ponytail swishing. The glares just seemed to bounce off his Vietnam-style jacket. He grinned before turning back to the slightly miffed other 17-year-old. "Huh, sorry. Anyway, you're not gonna believe what Antonio pulled off."

Another one of Marcus' nicknames. Andrew was the third in their little circle of friends. They had been together since the second grade so many years ago, but this was their last year together. He was always calling Andrew random names that started with A. Mostly cause it made him angry.

"Don't tell me he got you to play one of his MMOs. You'll be sitting around in your underwear on the weekends in no time."

"No man, this one's different," he said. "It's—it's like an—an experience," he cried dramatically, throwing back his arms.

Thomas stopped. "Wait—you don't mean—"

Marcus grinned. "Four of 'em."

"No—with the game, that's like—"

"Told me himself. Normally would've been a full $3,200 but he was able to cut a deal with some internet friends for $1,900."

"He had them shipped?" Thomas asked in disbelief. "Four NerveGear with the game? Hell, I thought it wasn't even being released outside of Japan."

"Yup," Marcus responded. "Said one of his guild leaders was a beta tester, but he was enlisting, so he passed off his discount. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"It's unbelievable. Are you sure it will work? Like, nobody's really had a reason to buy a NerveGear over here since there wasn't a single company with the stuff to make one."

Marcus shrugged. "Look, you know I don't follow that stuff and neither do you. We can ask Andromeda all about it later. Okay?"

A shrill ringing sound echoed off the cinder block walls. The few students left took off sprinting for their classes. Thomas' books flapped against his hip as he and Marcus ran in opposite directions.

TIMESTAMP: 06 October 2022, 12:58:50

"No way," Thomas muttered. The Styrofoam made a scraping noise as it slid out of the black-glossed cardboard cube. Encased in the white material was a black helmet, the same smooth design as the advertising and the features list. Andrew's pudgy hands lifted it gently and reverently toward the ceiling.

That was Andrew. 250 lbs as a high school senior, he was never as good as his friends at sports. Or anything athletic, really. However, when it came to video games, he was without a doubt the best of the best, as evidenced by his four-figure gaming computer permanently attached to his desk. The almighty NerveGear sat in the center of attention.

Marcus broke the silence. "The Worm goes first." Thomas looked at the last occupant of the poster-plastered room.

The Worm was nickname for Jack, the last member of their group. He was actually a sophomore, so at 15, he often looked out of place. His ridiculously skinny frame and jet-black hair that always fell in his eyes didn't help, either. Two years ago, he was the perfect emo, complete with piercings and self-harm scars. In fact, Thomas still remembered the day he asked the kid with his head bent down if he wanted join them for pizza. The day the kid told the three sophomores that the gun he was going to use to commit suicide that night was still sitting on his bed. He was in the eighth grade.

Eventually the group found out about the problems he had, the system he was locked into day after day with the beatings after school, mental and physical. School officials found the ringleader with a broken arm next week, and from then on Jack was a part of their group. It was ironic, really—the bullies used to call him "Worm" as an insult, but Marcus naturally assumed it was a nickname he liked. Of course, once Marcus begins to call you something, you don't really have a choice, and it stuck. After a while, it became a point of pride, and he even began introducing himself as Worm. Thomas forced him to get his stupid piercings removed, and over time, the wounds began to heal. His single father thanked them profusely.

"Well—I don't know," Worm stuttered. "What if there's like a bug and it—"

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Andrew. "This was designed by Akihiko Kayaba, the greatest game producer in the world. It's perfectly safe."

"But—"

"No buts! Besides, three hundred people already played for six months in the beta test."

"Speaking of which, I hear you weren't accepted, Alejandro," teased Marcus. Andrew politely ignored him.

"Just put it on your head like a bike helmet. You'll know when it fits right."

Worm took the black helmet and slid it over his skinny head. The visor completely obscured his eyes. It was an unsettling effect.

"I can't see," he complained. "And my hair's in my eyes again." He tried to blow it out of the way, but it was futile with the tight-fitting device on his head. He slid it off again.

Marcus leaned forward, already grabbing the second box. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than ready for this. Let's see if this thing really holds up to what you dudes had to say about it."

Andrew gasped and put his hands over his mouth as Marcus tore into the packaging. "Careful Marcus, you'll break it! Ah—do you have any idea how much that cost?"

Thomas laughed as he picked up the third. "I thought you said they were the greatest design in the history of video games?"

Andrew finally opened the last as Worm achieved the great feat of wearing the helmet with his hair in the right position. "Well yeah, but I don't have another three hundred bucks to blow on another one of these. There's probably not even any more legitimate ways to get them anymore. Scalpers are selling them for more than a grand apiece now."

Thomas whistled. What a price. Who would have thought the greatest scientific breakthrough of the century would be in the field of games, instead of medicine or space or something. If anything, it said a lot about what people value.

"Marcus, what the hell are you doing?" Andrew asked. Thomas turned to see him twisting around, putting his hand on his back.

"I—the thing's telling me to touch my back like this," he said. "Wait—now it's telling me to hug myself. And stretch my arms. And—"

"It's telling me to do the same thing," piped up Marcus from the other side. "I have to—I have to stretch my arms? Did you put some kind of yoga game in here by accident, Alicia?"

"No, of course not. This is the only game for the NerveGear I have," replied Andrew. "Just do what it says. I'm sure it's an important game function."

Thomas slipped the helmet onto his head. The internal sensors made light contact with his wavy hair. It tickled a little. He couldn't see.

"Andrew—what do I do now?"

"Just press the power button on the side," came the reply. He reached up and felt the small indentation. His finger pushed it.

Instantly in a flash of color and light all his senses were stimulated at once. He jolted back, crying out in shock, but his body didn't move. He calmed down in a second, realizing his real body hadn't moved. He felt like he was floating in space.

Suddenly, a hologram of some sort appeared in front of him. NerveGear™, it read. A calm female voice spoke to him.

"Hello, and welcome to the NerveGear, an Argus product. We ask that you perform a few calibration functions before you dive into the world of your selected game. First, please reach your right arm behind your back as far as you can, followed by your left arm."

What an odd request. Oh well, if Andrew says it's necessary, it's necessary. He attempted to perform what the voice told him, and with surprise his hand bumped into the side of Andrew's bed, even though it still felt like he was floating in space. That must have meant he was moving his real body. He stretched his arms one at a time as far as they could go.

"Thank you," continued the disembodied voice. "Next, please hug yourself around the chest, as pictured here." Another hologram appeared, displaying a diagram of somebody wrapping their arms around their chest. Once again, Thomas did as the voice instructed. When it sensed that he had finished, it moved on.

"We appreciate your cooperation. Lastly, if you would please stretch out your arms as far as possible." Another hologram took the place of the first, filling his vision with an image of a man with outstretched arms. Thomas followed the directions.

"Thank you," finished the voice. "The NerveGear calibration is now complete. Please feel free to initiate your selected game. We at Argus recommend our newest release, Sword Art Online. Enjoy your experience." And with that, the device powered off.

Thomas reached up and lifted up the visor. In a circle around him, his three friends were lying on their backs, their minds in a different world. It was kind of weird, seeing them lying there motionless like that. They might as well be dead. He put the helmet back on and pushed the power button.

Nothing happened.

"Damn," he said. "What was it they were always saying in the commercials? I can't remember. How to power it on—NerveGear on!"

His vision remained dark.

"Power on!"

Nothing.

"Link open!"

"Game start!"

"Just start the game already!"

This was embarrassing. But what was it they were always yelling in the ads for the NerveGear? Something about—

"Link start!"