A/N: Heeeey so this isn't my first time writing fanfiction but it is my first time actually publishing it sooooo I may or may not be a little nervous... okay then umm I would really really like some constructive criticism but if you're reading this just so you can flame then leave because I don't want to hear it. For everyone else enjoy. :D

Chapter 1

"What?"

I nearly spit out my coffee onto the table.

"Yup. It's been confirmed." Kaito nodded at me through the computer screen. "All of the people who logged into SAO yesterday are stuck. Don't you watch the news?" He asked, his brown eyebrows pulling together.

If he was standing in front of me I would've thrown my mug at his face. "Jackass. I don't watch the news it's depressing." I took another sip of my coffee, hoping it would replenish my energy after my all nighter. It burnt my tongue and I yelped. Kaito laughed at me through the computer and I stuck my slightly burnt tongue out at him. "Why are you telling me this anyway? You never contact me unless you need something. You and your stupid company at least."

He sighed and shook his head, a loose brown hair shaking in front of his face. He used his fingers to comb it back. "Listen, the authorities are going to contact you soon, once they figure out that they can't handle this on their own. Kayaba pulled out all the stops. If someone takes off the helmet here it fries your brain, you get hit in the game your brain gets fried." His brown eyes looked dull when they made contact with mine. "They're going to ask you to help, they'll give you access to everything they have on the game and Kayaba. Work with them, you're going to be the only prodigy they have so they're hoping you'll agree to help. Please help."

Something was off. Kaito wouldn't contact me for something like this, he wouldn't care. My brown eyes narrowed. "Kaito… how is your wife?"

Kaito looked a little uncomfortable but nodded, "She's fine."

I nodded back, "And your daughter? Miya was it?" Kaito winced. Bingo. "Is she in SAO?"

He visibly drooped. I wasn't an expert on reading people but the guy was obviously depressed. "Y-yes. She was so excited when she got the game… I…" He looked at me, his eyes were very dark. "Please help her."

"I planned on it from the start. I want you to do something for me though." I set my coffee down on the table.

Kaito nodded almost eagerly. "Yes, yes. Anything."

That's what I needed. "Since your company is so huge in the advertising business I want you to put out warnings to make sure that everyone who logged into SAO gets found. They can't stay in their homes without treatment for long. Alright? And I also want to make sure that we have enough room for all the SAO people to stay. I don't care if it means a new wing in the hospital, it needs to be done free of charge. Some families won't be able to pay for it, see if you can get the funds from Kayaba's bank account. My last demand, find somebody who can keep the public upbeat about their chances in the game. Motivational speaker I suppose. If these families don't have any hope of its members returning things could go ugly fast."

Kaito nodded at me and began tapping at his screen madly. I paused, "And Kaito?" I waited until he paused to look at me. "You need to keep it together. You are now the face of this new campaign, if you don't believe in their chances people will see it in your eyes. You have to believe it yourself. Do you understand me?"

After a slight hesitation he nodded. I returned it. "Tell your wife I'm on the job."

Just as I was about to end the call Kaito stopped me, "You know every time I call you, you tell me you're not a people person. I beg to differ."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Agree to disagree. Bye Kaito."

"Goodbye Kauze." The screen went black.

I sighed and leaned back in my desk chair. So everybody who logged into SAO was now trapped into the virtual game. You die there, you die here. I spun in my chair and pushed myself over to my mini fridge. The coffee maker sat on top of it, the pot still mostly full but I ignored it. Instead I opened the fridge door, sliding an energy drink out of the side and popping the tab. I took a sip of the fizzy drink and braced my feet on the wall behind the fridge. I pushed off the wall, zooming across the room to my desk. I took another sip from the can before setting it down.

"Alright, first things first; how much of a chance do these guys really have of surviving in the game…" It only took a few minutes to find some illegal videos from the beta gamers. "Sword skills, HP bars, XP. Ugh, this is going to give me a headache."

The phone rang and I tapped on it after seeing who was calling. "Hello!" I said in an overly cheery voice.

Police Commissioner Hibiki Kayata sighed. "Yes Kauze, hello. I hate to ask you to do this but-"

I continued typing on my keyboard, my eyes searching for anything that could help me in my search. "You need me to use my amazing hacking skills that you asked me never to use again to get into the SAO game to see if I can help out?"

I heard him sigh again. "I see you've already heard."

"Yes, a friend of mine contacted me asking if I could help when you called. I told him I would. He's now on public handling, I told him to find someone to do motivational speeches. It's a fight on this side too. His company's gonna' help with finding people who logged into SAO and transporting them to somewhere we can keep an eye on them. As rude as it sounds, dead bodies start to stink after a few days."

Kayata grunted, "You're right. That was rude."

"Sorry, my brain's in several different places right now. Kaito, the one with the company, give him access to Kayabas bank account. Kayaba can pay for everything we need regarding this situation. Oh and hey I need contact information of the people who made the Nerve Gear and all of Kayabas coworkers."

"All of Kayabas coworkers are in police custody; they're being interrogated as we speak."

I cursed, "I need some of them. Find out who was in charge of creating the game code for everything, including the players' avatars and the game system…" I tapped on a few more links. "The Cardinal system. Anybody who helped in the process of making it, I don't care how small. Find those people and clear them as soon as you can. I don't care if you need to send them over here with a police escort, whatever it takes."

Kayata snorted, "Are you telling me how to do my job Hatashi?"

"No, I'm telling you what I need to try and help save peoples' lives." I snapped at him. "Oh and I need a master copy of the game."

"Don't you dare think about going in there, Hatashi." Kayata growled at me.

I snorted, "Wouldn't dream of it. I'd die in a minute, trust me. I'm useless."

"Alright," he said in a gruff voice, "I'm sending you the links for the Nerve Gear people." Another tab popped up on the second monitor. I clicked on it and it opened to give the contact info I needed.

"Thanks," I said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I need to go."

"Update me when you get the chance Hatashi." The call ended.

I set up a call to the Nerve Gear people, "Hello?" A tired female voice came through the speakers.

"Hello. I'm temporally on the police force, I need you to connect me to whoever helped create the Nerve Gear." All business baby.

"Right away." The line switched and a different voice sounded through the room. "Hello?"

"Hello. Am I speaking to a creator of the Nerve Gear?"

"Listen, if you're going to complain about the Nerve Gear being a problem-"

"Not by a long shot buddy. First off; congrats on making one that works. Second, I need the blue prints for the Nerve Gear. And third, I need to know if you can make a version of the Nerve Gear that doesn't include the fry-your-brain piece." I took a sip of my drink.

The man on the other end stuttered for a moment before regaining his senses. "Who exactly am I speaking to again?"

I felt the need to dip into an over the top bow even though he couldn't see me. "I'm sorry, that was so rude of me! I am Kauze Hatashi! Fifteen year old prodigy in just about everything electronic you could think of!"

The man stuttered again, "Kauze Hatashi? You're kidding!"

"Nope! So about those things I needed…" Another sip turned into a couple gulps.

"I'll send the blue prints over right away and it may take a while to even come up with a prototype for a new Nerve Gear set but I'll do what I can." A pause. "You're not thinking of going into the game are you?"

I sighed, "Not really, this is sort of a back up, for my back up, for my back up. But it's necessary so if you could please start on that for your next project it would really help me."

"I will."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, "Thank you and please don't tell anyone I asked for this."

"I won't as long as you do all you can to help get those people out of there."

I set down my drink, "I will."

"Thank you. Good bye Ms. Hatashi."

"Goodbye." The line went dead and the phone hung itself up.

From there on I zoned out on the computer, tuning out everything around me. I went for all the angles I could think of on the internet, throwing out anything I deemed useless. My brain started to go blank, processing information within seconds and finding anything give me a lead. Where was Kayaba during all this? In hiding obviously but what would he be doing? Watching the game? If so, then how? Did he have something set up to where he could watch multiple things at once? Then a thought occurred to me that nearly made me trip up in my typing. What if he was in the game? My typing sped up. If Kayaba had a master copy he could watch from the real world, but if he created an account before everyone else on that master copy of the game he would have a superior account to everyone else. Admin privileges. Crap.

A finger tapped on my shoulder. I squeaked like a little girl and toppled out of my chair. My head hit the floor hard and I sat up with a headache. A cackle sounded from where I sat before and I instantly recognized the culprit.

I glared at the redhead that now sat in my chair, grinning down at me. "Honestly, What do you want Yuu?"

She tapped me on the head with her finger, "Really is that how you're going to greet me? Even after I took time out of my busy schedule to come see you?" she taunted.

I snorted, "What busy schedule? You're a writer, you don't have a schedule."

"Mmmm." She spun in circles in the chair. "I got a call from the Police department today. They said you were helping out with the SAO situation."

"Well I was 'till you scared the crap outa' me." I stood even though it made me dizzy. "Now would you move so I can go back to helping?"

Yuu stood so suddenly I didn't see it coming and leaned in to look at me, she was so close I almost had to cross my eyes to look at her. Her tone was serious when she spoke, "How in the hell are you supposed to help anyone if you're dead on your feet? When was the last time you got over five hours of sleep?"

Her question caught me so off guard that I blurted out the truth before I could stop myself. "Last Tuesday?"

"So you've been up for over a week without a decent amount of sleep?"

I nodded no point in even trying to lie to this crazy woman. She scowled at me and grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me out of my computer room. She led me through the halls of my house and into my bedroom. The crazy lady had me change into my pajamas in the connecting bathroom and then insisted on tucking me in.

We were basically sisters so her coming by to force me to sleep about once a week was usual and of course I never realized how tired I really was until she actually got me into bed. When she started singing is when my eye lids started to droop. I vaguely hoped my computer saved my work and that Yuu didn't touch it before I slipped into darkness.