A/N: When this thought came to me, I realized that Reki Kawahara is a genius. He tried to predict something 20 years into the future, if you're confused, just read the story. This story is a remake of the Aincrad Arc ending.
Kirito opened his eyes and saw one if not the most beutiful sunset in his life, he looked at himself and saw that he was still in his SAO gear. He swiped his fingers and saw the menu saying 'Initiating Final Phase'. He dismissed it and looked around. "Kirito?" as he turned around his eyes widened as he saw the one person he never thought he could see again, and with a light hearted tone said "Sorry, I guess I died too"
Asuna sniffed and said "You really are a dummy" before throwing herself at him. As they embraced, they also shared what could be their final kiss.
After they separated, Asuna questioned "Where are we?"
Kirito pointed below them and the couple saw Aincrad crumbling. They had solemn looks as they saw their log cabin fall from the floating steel castle.
"Quite a view isn't it?" A voice asked
Kirito and Asuna looked at the source and saw...
"Kayaba Akihiko" Kirito gasped
"Right now on the level 5 basement of Argus, the SAO servers are being purged of every byte, within minuites, Aincrad will be no more" he said more to himself than the couple.
"And the players, what about them?" Kirito asked harshly.
Kayaba sighed "You need not worry. All 6147 players who remained alive to this moment have been sucesfully logged out. But-"
"And what about the 4000 that died, what happens to them!" They didnt notice the 'but'
Kayaba dismissed what he was going to say and replied "They will never awaken, be it that world or this, the dead do not return"
Asuna spoke "But why!?"
Kayaba chuckled "I forgo-" then there was a slight pause, then Kayabas face turned serious "No, you deserve the truth, about why I created SAO"
Kirito and Asuna were listening now, wanting to know the reason for their 2 year struggle and the deaths of almost 4000 lives.
"But first let me tell you something. Kirito, you admire me a lot, right? Considering the number of times you searched for articles about me on the internet"
Kirito widened his eyes, shocked he obtained that information
Kayaba noticed this and replied "What are you so surprised about?You do know I have the facial recognition and voice patterns as well as the entire body dimensions of 10,000 people. Your browser history is the least of privacy i've invaded."
Kirito was dumbfounded and Asuna was at a loss for words.
"Anyway back to the topic. You probably know all about my profession, how I developed the Nervegear and SAO, basically my lifes work, right?" Kayaba asked Kirito
"Yeah, where are you going at?" Kirito asked with only a fraction of anger in his voice.
"Let me tell you some stuff about me that's not on any website at all. My past" Kayaba breathed heavily "I was the classic nerd, always having my attention on a book or a website, be it about biology, astronomy, technology, any field in science. As a kid, I was amazed at mankinds capacity. Through all my searches of knowledge, I began to idolize geniuses, my biggest idols being Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. I thought to myself that with people like them, we humans could achieve the impossible." Kayaba sighs and his face went from happy to solemn "But alas, that was when I was a kid. By the time I entered highschool, my world came crashing down." Kayaba now had a hint of anger and something that could only be described as dissappointment in his voice.
"My highschool was for those who had talents in maths and science. But most of my classmates were ignorant of the world around them. They all fooled around, too proud of their intellect that they stopped developing it. It was also the time I found out about the ugly truth about our world. People are dumb, instead of listening to news about global warming and issues that really mattered, they were busy arguing about which gender they are or if PC was better than console games."
Kirito and Asuna were surprised at what they had just heard, before it sank in Kayaba continued his story.
"But the last straw was when I found out that Stephen Hawking along with other famous icons like Elon Musk and Bill Gates warned us about A.I. And people did not give the least bit of care towards that warning. They were ignored, and what should have been the thing that captured attention was replaced with fidget spinners, bottle flips, dabs, and gender equality."
"That was where and when I found my determination to warn the world and capture everyones attention and hopefully open their eyes, and snap them of their ignorance. You see Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun, the MAIN reason I created Sword Art Online was to stage a warning sign of the dangers and dark side of VR not just in gaming but in all aspects. While I was still the leading face of the industry, I found myself in what was most likely the place Stephen Hawking was in, the place where I realized that VR could be a breakthrough in science or the very thing that will bring us our doom. I thought about it for years. And then I decided, that I would personally stage an act so cleverly planned and so hidden and to the average person cruel, in order to get the attention of the people and burn into their minds a warning to take caution in exploring not only VR but all scientific fields. So I decided to create a game, something that usually would never get the attention of the public and turned that game into a death trap. I know that to most if not all, it is cruel, and some might even say I don't deserve to be called human but even I thought this through, I wanted to minimize the casualties so I only sold 10,000 copies, if it were digital then who knows how many would have entered the death game.I also sold SAO for an expensive price so that only those obsessed 'pro' players who would pay any price or those grown up hikikomoris who had jobs would buy the game. Second, I made the game fair and beatable, I heard it myself when you said that SAO was fundamentally fair during that time when you were investigating those safe area murders.Third, I gave everyone who died a chance to say their final words, be it to their friends or family, I sent an audio recording of what the victims said during the 10-second delay between in-game and real death. I wanted to avoid colateral damage to the families of the victims. And last but not the least, I chose an MMORPG because these games are unbalanced in a way that with enough grinding, you could become OP, along with my personal touch of Unique skills."
Kayaba then started to smile albeit barely noticeable.
"Of course I had other reasons for creating SAO other than warning the world. Knowing it was already doomed, I wanted to create a new one, and that world took the form of a certain steel castle from my childhood dreams. Floating there in all its glory. A world that was new and amazing. A world unbound by the real ones laws and limitations. One where everyones fate was in their own hands. A world where a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go, and although virtual, one where you can truly feel alive in."
Kirito gasped in shock remembering saying something similar to Klein when they first met.
"Tell me, Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun, would you have known each other, fought together, and eventually fall in love with another in the real world. An otaku gamer and the daughter of a CEO of a large company? And even if you had somehow met and fallen in love, do you think that that love would have been as deep and meaningful as the one you have now?"
Kirito was shocked and exclaimed "Wait, you're the daughter of a CEO!?"
Asuna replied "Yes" then answered Kaybas question " You're right, Akihiko-san, we would have never been able to meet. And if even if we had fallen in love, I do believe that our current relationship is deeper than most people our age."
Kirito held Asunas hand and smiled at her, expressing that he felt the same, their relationship was way deeper than those puppy love couples.
Kayaba smiled, this time he was showing genuine contentedness.
"As you can see, I created a world without all those useless things that only hindered humanity. And the effect was this, friendships forged in flames and true human emotion, at such a young age. Kirito and Asuna could see a tear fall from Kayabas eye.
"In short, I wanted to create a world where everyone treated everyone equally, where everyone can express themselves regardless of anything. I wanted to create a utopia." His voice broke a bit and he was now crying freely.
"There you have it, Sword Art Online was a warning made by a scientist AND the dream a young boy had. I don't have a god complex, of course no one can even begin duplicating his many creations, I'm not a maniac, I created SAO because I needed to warn the people, because I made a promise to myself to at least see that floating castle."
Kayaba wiped away his tears and swiped his hand in the air. He saw 'executing final phase 78%' . He dismissed it and turned to the couple who had finally let everything sink in yet did'nt have anything to say.
"Where are my manners? I almost forgot. Congratulations on completing the game Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun. It is truly an honor to see someone transcend SAO, there was always this feeling in the back of my head that everyone would die, maybe it was with the way I saw the world but I'm glad I was proven wrong. You see Kirito-kun, I always kept an eye on you, ever since you were the first one to exit the starting town on that day. It showed your wit under pressure. But what really made me pay much attention to you was when I saw you take all the heat from the non beta testers to protect the betas from witch hunts after the first floor boss. It was one of the few moments I was surprised, you did something so selfless, yet people react as they do. That was when I realized that I forgot to implement a very crucial factor, human response. I assumed that everyone would strive and work hard to get out of SAO after the initial shock that is but I was wrong, a huge portion commited suicide, some let the shock and trauma get to them that they became sick and twisted like Grimlock. Some even became villains, PK-ers. Yet the ones who did recover from the shock, specifically the clearers despised you. Where is the logic in that? Shouldn't they have helped you or at least follow you, you were the most powerful player in the beta-test meaning you had the largest amount of early game information, yet instead of asking for it or at least learn from observing you, they despised you. That was when I remembered one main reason humans are close minded creatures, anger, hatred, fear, all born of ignorance. It's the human condition, and it never changes. Yet when you willingly played the role of villain to protect the other beta-testers, it gave me hope. Hope that the game really could be cleared, that's why I decided to help you all as Heathcliff, I tried to fill up the role Diavel-san performed so well, but even I admit he was better at it, leadership, the ability to invigor the people and give strength to those around him and guide them towards a common goal. Which is why I was very interseted in you Kirito-kun. From a certain perspective, you and I are alike. I made SAO to warn the people sa that they can open their eyes yet in doing so, everyone will label me as 'killer' or 'psychopath' or some other form of that description, the same way you diverted everyones hate on you instead of the beta-testers indirectly protecting them but in doing so proclaimed yourself the 'beater'."
Kayaba now looked back at Aincrad and saw Floor 95 crumbling. He took a deep breath and finished his story.
"There you have it. Originally, I was going to lie and say I forgot the reason but remembering the things I put you through, you at least deserve to know the reason. I'm not asking for forgiveness, I'm not even asking you to understand, you can hate me just like the public will. I just wanted to let you know."
After analyzing everything he said Kirito stated "At least we know nobody died in vain." After saying this, Kirito remembered something from someone very dear.
'Live to see the reason of why this world exists, why a weak girl like me is here, and the reason we met.' Sachi's voice echoed in his mind.
Kayaba made a faint smile and said "Indeed, well then Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun, since you two defeated me, it is only right that I send you back." He swiped his fingers and pressed a few virtual icons and a faint light was slowly forming around the couple.
"Farewell"
Kirito and Asuna could only smile and look at each other both of them saying with their eyes 'I'll see you soon' and hugged each other tightly. As the light grew stronger, Kayaba suddenly said "Oh and Kirito, Asuna, that AI you saved, Yui, please take care of her, she was modeled off on my younger sister who died of AIDS when she was young"
Kirito and Asuna answered in tandem "We will" before the light took them back to the real world.
A/N: There you have it guys. This could very well be a hidden message in SAO, I mean just look at Fairy Dance, using VR to experiment on brains, Gun Gale, using VR in terrorism, and Alicization, using VR for military purposes. Anyway, I apologize for the grammar and spelling mistakes (I am from Asia actually) but I hope you understand my English enough. I am planning to write a sequel based on your reviews. Please read and review. Hope you liked the story.