Rayakumi Kayaba spent the majority of her time either playing video games, on the computer, or hacking into her Uncle's computer. As the niece of the great Akihiko Kayaba it was only natural that she would be curious about the games he was programming and developing.

She sat in a great leather armchair in her uncle's personal computer room, diving deeper into the computer's main files. She'd been hacking into his computer since she was 12, and now at the age of 19 she had become quite skilled at navigating a system undetected. Just when she came across some recently added files marked ANJUWALK her uncle's voice could be heard from the other room. Akihiko was not the loving uncle he once was, and would surely throw her out onto the street if he knew that invading his personal computer was a regular activity for Ray. She closed out of her programs and logged off, leaving the space exactly as she'd found it. She quietly snuck out of the side door and into the halls leading to the main part of the house.

This house used to be her castle; she would explore the many rooms and have imaginary adventures with her cousin Anjali, also called Anju. But now sweet Anju was living in the hospital paralyzed, and this house was just big and sad. Ray was almost accustomed to this sort of tragedy. A car accident was the terrible fate of her family years ago, leaving Ray alone to be raised by her uncle at the age of 8. Akihiko always treated Ray like his own daughter; he taught her about computers and gave her all of the best video games. Then Anju was hit by a car and everything changed. Her uncle became a man obsessed with getting his daughters life back to normal. Anju couldn't walk, but there was still hope for her. She went through therapy and rehabilitation to help her get strong again. Ray would visit her every day in the hospital to encourage her. She couldn't wait for her cousin to be home again. One recent and fateful day Anju tried walking on her own and had fallen. Anju had landed hard against the frame of her hospital bed, damaging her spinal cord even more. This time she would not recover, this time she would never walk again.

Akihiko hardly spoke to Ray after Anju's second accident. He forbid Ray from visiting the hospital, although she snuck in whenever she had the chance. His work seemed like his only escape, and he would spend all of his time on his computer. Akihiko no longer looked at Ray like his loving second daughter, but instead with despise. He never said the actual words but Ray knew exactly what he was thinking every time he saw her. "Why couldn't it have been you?" Just the thought of him saying it played over in her head and filled her with rage. How could she go on living a normal life while her best friend was stuck in a hospital for the rest of her life and her uncle resented her for still having her legs?

Ray walked mindlessly throughout the house; her boredom was getting the best of her. She stopped by the kitchen and saw that even the family chef was having an uneventful day. At one time he would be buzzing around preparing an elaborate meal for a fancy dinner party, but now his only jobs seemed to be buying groceries and making meals for Ray. "Why do you stay here? You look so unhappy." She said to the chef. "I could ask you the very same question." He replied handing her a sandwich and a glass of juice. She thought for a moment but could only shrug. There really wasn't a reason as to why she stayed here now, other than the fact that she had nowhere else to go. Feeling so alone sent a pain through her. She thanked him for lunch and made her way up the stairs to her room where she could eat in peace; not that anyone was here to bother her. Her room was a tech nerd's dream; she had all of the latest technology and her video game collection was massive. She ate slowly and couldn't help but wonder what were in those new files on her uncle's computer. Her imagination ran wild with the possibilities. Her favorite idea, and probably the most farfetched, was that her uncle was building a robot to transfer Anju's consciousness into, allowing her to use a metal body. The image of Anju clunking around the halls as a robot made Ray choke on her juice with laughter. This silly moment was stopped abruptly with a knock on her door.

Ray was confused, why would anyone be at her door? Her room was in the farthest corner of the top floor of the house, it certainly wouldn't be her uncle paying her a visit. Low and behold when she opened the door Akihiko Kayaba was standing there with an irritated expression. Ray stood in the doorway, still confused. "Rayakumi our chef has just resigned. What is the reason behind this?" her uncle demanded. "Uhm…Uh… I really don't know Uncle." She stuttered. She knew this was her fault, but she couldn't blame him for leaving. He was an amazing chef and this house was just full of sadness, it was time for him to move on. "Very well then. You'll be responsible for making your own food from now on. I know that you're capable." He said bitterly, the look in his eyes were like daggers stabbing Ray in the heart. Ray nodded, and her head hung low with pain. "For now I am going to the hospital. Good day." He sneered and shut the door in her face.

Once her uncle had gone to the hospital she knew that she had several hours before he would return. She made her way to his computer room, and when she passed the kitchen she couldn't help but smile. "At least someone got out of here." She said to herself. She punched in the access code to the computer room; the code was so simple, Anju's birthday. She stretched and cracked her knuckles before sitting down in the large chair. She cracked her way into the files where she had been before until she found what she was looking for. ANJUWALK. She opened the file and multiple files and programs appeared. NRVG, SAO, BETA. It was a good thing her uncle would be gone for a while because she would be busy.

The files contained the designs for her uncle's newest invention, Nerve Gear. She read about its mechanics and capabilities and got increasingly excited. Her excitement grew exponentially when she read about SAO. Sword Art Online would be a virtual reality game compatible with the Nerve Gear. Ray was no stranger to MMORPGs and the thought of a virtual MMO sent shivers down her spine and had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She read on about the game's inner workings. "It's not really cheating." She told herself as she read about the floating castle, 100 floors, bosses and so much more. After she read every detail of the game she tried opening a cryptic file called LOGMOD. No matter what hacker tricks she tried, she couldn't break into the file. She moved on and opened a BETA file. The screen came to life and the world of SAO was before her. This was the SAO beta program! She squirmed around in the chair, far too excited to sit still. According to what she had read in the files, the Beta was complete and would be released next week. "Only 1,000 people get to beta test the game? I have to be one of them!" she was just about to log off of her uncle's computer when she came to a grim realization. "There's no way Uncle will let me be a tester… unless he doesn't know." A devious smile grew on her face as she fumbled with several discs. "It's not really stealing, right?" she nodded as if someone had confirmed her. "Now all I need is the gear." The computer made a ping, signaling that her copy of the beta and all other SAO files was complete. She logged off of the computer and made sure that everything was exactly as he'd left it. Ray was full of nothing but joy and ran as fast as she could back up to her room. But something was still bothering her.

When she got to her room she locked the door and logged onto her own computer; it was time to do some research. She couldn't find anything on SAO, but it turned out that her uncle had made an announcement about the nerve gear several weeks ago. Stating that it would "revolutionize the gaming industry", and that they could expect "big things in the near future". The internet was also buzzing over the fact that the nerve gear would be going on sale this week. That was truly exciting but she couldn't help but think back to the files on his computer. They were saved as ANJUWALK. Did he do all of this just so that Anju could live a normal life again, even if it was only in a virtual world that he'd created for her. Or was there something she was missing? There was that one file on his computer that she couldn't access. She couldn't help but have a bad feeling about it; like that file contained some important detail. She tried not to think about the file anymore; her cousin would walk again and that was more important.