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.

Part II: The End of an Era

LOCATION DATA UNAVAILABLE: REAL WORLD

TIMESTAMP: 31 October 2022, 13:02:17

The sensation of being stimulated in every possible neuron for an instant came back with nauseous familiarity. Once again he jolted back out of instinct, only to find once again that his movements were intercepted and deleted. It threw him off-balance more than he cared to admit. A stream of different colors appeared in front of him, shocking him out of his musings. Bubbles raced in front of his eyes, reading off the senses they now controlled. A screen popped up.

"Language?"

English, of course, he thought, reaching up to touch it. But the screen had already moved on, colors and smells and tastes streaming by him. He recoiled again with the realization that the machine had anticipated his movement. To be honest, he felt scared at that more than anything. But the menus stopped for nothing, and the next screen rushed at his face. A login screen. Blank. The bland female voice spoke again.

"No beta test data detected. Create new account?"

Yes, he thought determinedly. And it worked. The menu dissolved, only to bring up yet another 3D model. A generic male floated in place.

"Character creation initiated," continued the disembodied voice. "Please visualize the exact specifications to which you would like your character created. Voice the word 'create' when you are ready."

It was just too overwhelming. All he had to do was think of his character? He could be anything. He could look like a bodybuilder, or a biker, or anyone. Hell, he could look like his favorite celebrity if he wanted. He remembered playing another one of Andrew's MMOs a while back, some fantasy game. He spent more time creating his character than he did actually playing.

So what did he want himself to look like? This was his chance to be as perfect as he wanted to. He thought about it, then shook his head. He mouthed the word "create." And with that, a blue light engulfed him.

TIMESTAMP: 31 October 2022, 13:10:52, Town of Beginnings, Floor 001

It took a couple seconds for his eyes to get adjusted to the brightness. Voices clamored all around him, excitement pervading the air—if it could be called air. He opened his eyes.

Surrounding him in all directions, excitedly talking and jumping and waving their arms, feeling the movements that now controlled of the self they always wanted to be, were hundreds upon hundreds of players. He noticed a little bar in the corner of his vision and looked up at it. That must be his HP. At least he could identify that much. Below the bar was a name.

Auran.

Exactly the name he had thought of when creating his character. He hadn't even had to say it. God, that was weird.

"Thomas! Hey, Thomas!"

He turned around. Walking through the throngs of new players was a tall, muscle-bound man. He had a really deep voice, too. Did he know this guy? Maybe he was a friend of his dad's. It was kind of odd to find older people playing games, but it happened…at least he thought…

"Dude, you didn't change your avatar! Why not?"

Thomas—no, he was Auran now. He'd left that name behind when he put on the helmet. He looked down at his hands, wearing the starting gloves, and squeezed them. The man was right. He hadn't changed his avatar from what he really looked like, at least not that much. Just a little bit taller—and his hair was a little bit shorter.

"Do—do I know you?" he inquired. The sword on the man's back looked comically small, even though it was the same size as everyone else's.

"It's me, man." The muscular sword-wielder leaned in and lowered his voice. "It's Andrew."

"Andrew? Pfff—you look like you took more steroids than a professional athlete! Hahaha!"

Andrew crossed his brawny arms. "Hey, don't judge man. And it's Riko now. Don't use your real name in the game under any circumstances. Okay?"

Auran nodded, still looking around in wonder. He was—he was inside a game. Wow.

"Hey—uhh, dude…" He turned around. "What name did you pick for your avatar?" Andr—no, Riko asked.

"It's—it's Auran." He smiled. The name had a nice ring to it. It was kind of funny how he made it up on the spot. At least nobody else had already taken it.

"Auran, huh?" Riko mused. "I like it. Good job."

"Well I'm glad you approve, all-powerful warrior," he shot back. "What does your name mean?"

Riko wrung his hands a little. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea. It sounded Japanese though. I've always wanted to be Japanese."

"You speak less Japanese than I speak cat."

"Look, I thought we agreed not to judge, okay? Besides, who makes their avatar look just like them in real life?"

Auran laughed. "I don't know. I just figured I didn't really care what I looked like. Say, what you said just now got me thinking. Most of the new players are actually Japanese, right? So how are we going to talk to them?"

Riko smiled. "You're not going to believe this. The game actually electronically translates what you're going to say and broadcasts it to the other players, accent and all."

"You're kidding!" he exclaimed. "What is this doing in a game? He could be making millions on this! He's just completely invalidated translators! For God's sake, he's broken the language barrier!"

"Amazing, right?" responded Riko. "I can almost guarantee you he's going to release it separately as soon as everybody discovers what this game can do. This is more than just a game, Auran."

He shivered. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to thinking of myself with a different name."

"Well, it's new, but it's no different than going around with a username in a different game."

"Still, it's just—ah, oh well," he cut himself off. "Let's go find Mar—the other two. We don't know their names yet, right?"

"Right," Riko said energetically. "Oh, first, let me send you a friend request so I can find you on the map if we get separated."

"The map? How do you do a friend request in here anyway?" he inquired.

Riko sighed.

TIMESTAMP: 31 October 2022, 13:16:18, Town of Beginnings, Floor 001

"Okay, I think I've got most of it," he muttered. "Character menu, inventory, contacts menu, settings menu…that's really neat. What happens if I accidentally open my menu like in the middle of a battle or something?

"Don't worry, that won't happen. You have to be thinking about it and perform the right motion," said Riko.

"Alright then, go ahead and send me a friend request," he asked.

"On it," came the response. Riko's burly fingers flew over the menu commands, tapping buttons and scrolling down menus. He reached up and tapped towards Auran, and a small box popped up on his screen.

Player Riko has sent you a friend request. Accept?

Below it were two buttons, a blue circle and a red cross. At least that wasn't too complicated. He reached out and tapped the affirmative circle, and the box snapped closed. The feeling was different than anything else in the real world, since the tip of his finger didn't make contact with anything. There was a jingling of bells as his menu closed due to inactivity. He looked up at his friend once again—he had to look up to the beefy swordsman. It was unsettling, since he was at least half a foot taller than Andrew in real life.

"Anyway," Riko continued, "let's go find the other two. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what their characters look like. They should recognize you though. Speaking of which, why didn't you change your avatar? You know you can look like whatever you want here, right?"

"Yeah," Auran muttered. "I…well, I don't know. I don't really care all that much. I guess…"

"Hey there boys," came a voice—high-pitched, a girl's voice. Did he know—

Approaching the pair was a stunningly beautiful avatar with flowing long hair, dressed in the default female gear, a little bit tighter and shorter, though basically the same. Her gait swung a little bit to the side as she walked up to Auran and Riko.

"Do I—" he began. And then—"No…you didn't—"

The flawless virtual face nodded, a knowing smile on her lips. "That's right, Marcus is here. Or, I hear it's rude to use your real name in here—I went with Balti. What do you two think?"

It took a second for Auran to close his gaping jaw before spewing out angrily at his friend. "What are you thinking?!" he yelled, then quickly lowered his voice as the heads of nearby avatars began turning. "You made yourself a girl?"

The small hips tilted to one side and Balti shrugged. "Hell, why not? They say you should try something new every day…"

Auran crossed his arms angrily. "Yeah, well…doesn't that make you uncomfortable? I'm not exactly NEET-level like Riko here but even I know you're going to have guys hitting on you left and right."

The third member of their group laughed lightly, and the voice that came out sounded more like bells than the carefree laughter of the ponytailed senior. "I know, just imagine the looks on their faces, right?"

"Gah—" sputtered Auran. "You—you're hopeless."

Balti laughed again. "Granted. Where's the Worm?"

Riko scanned the central plaza. Which made sense, seeing as he towered over almost everybody else here. "I—I don't see him. That doesn't really mean much, just that he changed his avatar. I expected that. Looks like we'll just have to wait for him to see you, Auran—wait, you're right here—" He looked down at Auran and back up a few times with a confused expression on his face.

"What? What's going on?" Auran asked.

A huge, muscular arm was being waved in the air like a ship's mast, accompanied by a voice just as deep. "Hey—hey Worm, over here!" Riko called. He leaned down towards the other two, whispering "You're not going to believe this."

Auran craned his neck as far as it would go, peering out above the crowd. Truthfully, he was a little tall for his age, and certainly taller than the avatar Marcus was currently wearing. Was wearing the correct term, even? And then, the Worm came out of the crowd.

He caught his breath after a few seconds without even realizing he had, the Worm's appearance took him aback too much. The virtual character striding towards them now looked almost no different from his—that is, Thomas'-own real body, and thus his avatar as well. It seemed his friend was also shocked as he took a step back.

The Worm was the first to speak. "Wha—Thomas, you—you didn't change your character?"

Riko quickly snapped at him. "Character names, Worm. This is Auran. And no, he didn't, but that's his decision. What the hell did you do, though? You look just like him in real life!"

The last member shuffled his foot to the side and scratched his head awkwardly. Is that really what he looked like whenever he did that? Auran wondered. "Ah—well, you see—"

At that moment Balti stepped in. "Hey now, let's not question the Worm's avatar. It certainly can't be worse than mine," she said—no, he said—aw, hell.

"Eh, you have a point," shrugged Riko. "I'm not one to talk. To tell the truth, Auran's the only one here with a half-normal avatar. Speaking of which, let's formally introduce ourselves now that we know where we all are. My name in this world is Riko. To my right is Auran, ahead is Balti. So Worm, what did you name yourself?"

"Uh—" he stuttered. "I—I don't know, I just said Worm. I couldn't think of anything else. Naming is so hard!"

Riko let out a deep chuckle. "I know that feel, man. That's fine, Worm is cool, as long as you didn't use your real name. Hell, I don't think anyone else in our class even knows your real name."

The Worm scratched his hair again. Auran made a mental note to get rid of that habit starting tomorrow. "Haha, yeah. So—Riko, right?—so, what do we do in this game? There's fighting, right? I mean, we've got all this getup…"

Auran looked down at his hands as the tall avatar began to explain some of the basics. The digital model designed after his own body wore fingerless gloves and a leather armor set. A small sword was strapped to his back in a simple sheath. It seemed to weigh down on him as he thought about it.

"Well, first you have to plan your party with respect to classes, but you want to outfit your party with consideration to your guild's needs, and—oh, I know! Nobody here has played a VRMMO before, right?"

The three high school seniors nodded, and three avatars conveyed their affirmation to Riko.

"Well then," he continued, "I have something to show you. There's a hunger stat in the game, and if you don't maintain it, you'll start having debuffs applied. The great thing is, eating here actually makes you feel full, right up until you log out. Why don't we go to one of the restaurants in the Town of Beginnings to give you your first taste of virtual food?"

"Sure," Auran responded. "I don't see why not."

And with that, the four left the spawning plaza.

LOCATION DATA UNAVAILABLE: REAL WORLD

TIMESTAMP: 31 October 2022, 14:40:02

In a residential district of Japan, two children lay on beds across from each other. On their heads sat shiny black helmets, their gloss reflecting the light from a small lamp. There was the sound of wood grating on wood as the sliding door opened. A motherly figure rushed into the room screaming, tears in her eyes. Her cries of disbelief fell on unhearing ears. It couldn't be true. Lies. The TV was lying. The stunned reporters were lying. They couldn't be—it must all be a dream.

She rushed over to the near bed, where a boy lay, although he may have just as well been a million miles away. With shrieks of terror she grabbed the device, wrenching it off of the boy's head. In the same motion, a jolt ran through all his muscles, as if an electric current was running through his nerves, eyes locked closed, mind in a faraway world. An arm was thrown against the wall, impacting with enough speed to break the teenaged fingers. Perhaps, his consciousness returned for just a moment, just enough to wonder what was happening. Perhaps.

The jawline went slack. Blood oozed out of the mouth that had lived for less than two decades, staining the pillow that had been changed just that morning. The wails of a mother shattered the evening silence. The second body remained motionless, oblivious to the life that had just been extinguished.

TIMESTAMP: 31 October 2022, 14:56:39, Town of Beginnings, Floor 001

Auran chewed pensively on the bread purchased at the shop. Riko had said it was run by an NPC, or non-player character—which, in SAO, meant they were a program. It was all a little hard for him to swallow, but he guessed he would get used to it eventually. The way in which the people answered his questions with a blank affirmative or negative disturbed him more than he cared to admit.

"So yeah, that's basically how you execute your sword skills—of course, they're just called that, but there are skills for all different kinds of weapons. Depending on where you're going, you'll probably want a varied party, where everybody performs a different task. Say, for example—"

The deep voice was suddenly interrupted by another one, and a hand came to rest on Riko's muscular left shoulder. The party looked up to see another avatar standing near their table in the small restaurant, and to Auran's surprise, it was almost as large as Riko. Wearing the exact same starting equipment, they would almost have been hard to tell apart, had the newcomer not had slightly darker skin and a short buzz cut, as opposed to Riko's somewhat mismatched longer hair.

"Hey—excuse me, have you seen my brother anywhere?"

Auran was shocked by the childish words coming out of the mouth of the large man. He could definitely be called a man—while Riko had designed his character to be muscular but still young, this one looked maybe 29 or 30 years old. Even with his limited experience, he instantly knew that there was no way the person piloting that avatar looked the same in reality. Was piloting the right way to describe it?

"No sir, sorry," spoke up Balti. "I must say, what a strapping avatar—ow!"

Auran pulled back from kicking his friend under the table, then turned and calmly addressed the swordsman standing firmly next to the table. "I'm sorry, we might have but we have no idea what his avatar looks like. We might be able to look if you describe him for us. Where did you see him last?"

"Well," the big man replied in words that further highlighted the discrepancy in character, "he was showing me how to play, and he said it'd kay if I die, cause I would—what was it—"

"Respawn?" prompted Riko.

"Yeah, that's it!" the man cried excitedly. "I'd respawn. So we were fighting the big bad monsters, and the he disappeared."

"Huh," said Riko. "His body fell apart into a bunch of polygons, right?"

"What—what are polygons?" questioned the stranger.

A minute sigh escaped Riko's lips. "You know, like the monsters you defeated. When they shattered, right? Cause that's what happens when you die. He should be back at the gate by now."

"No," continued their guest. "He just kind of fizzled out, like a TV."

"I…I've never heard of that before," said Riko, more to himself than anything. "When his HP drops to zero, he should—"

"It didn't," said the man. "It definitely didn't—it was just static and—"

"Hey," yelled a voice from the corner. "Where's the logout button? I've got to go!"

"What—" Auran interjected.

Suddenly, Riko's eyes snapped wide open. The entire table could hear the sharp intake of breath the muscular avatar drew. And with that, he started laughing.

It began as a chuckle. Then it grew to a giggle. And finally, Riko started laughing hysterically, his digital head thrown back towards the digital ceiling, digital cackles echoing across the room. Players left and right began waving their hands in the space in front of them, scrolling and searching for their own logout button, checking just to be sure. And still Riko ignored them, lost in a world of his own hilarity. The mysterious swordsman took a step back from the only other man who could match him in terms of physical size, but who seemed to have completely gone insane. Slowly the panic began spreading across the restaurant, across the street and through the rest of the town.

"Riko!" yelled Worm. "What the hell are you laughing about? Calm down and talk to us! Come on man, you're scaring me!"

Upon hearing such an outburst, which was extremely rare for the Worm, Riko leaned forward and slammed his fists down on the table, causing cups and plates to jump. He looked at the Worm with a strange look in his eyes—and Auran felt worried for the first time since joining this game. What a look—he had never seen anything like this before…

"He's done it." Those were the only words that came out of Riko's mouth. A huge grin was spread across his face—it could be called smug or satisfied, but it wasn't really that. It was more than that, and Auran was actually a little scared. It was nothing compared to the Worm, though. The digital replica of his own body was leaning so far back in its chair he was sure it must be cutting into him. His eyes were opened wide, and a single bead of sweat was visible on his forehead.

"What—who—who's done what?" Worm managed to stutter out. "Just—what's going on, Riko?"

But Riko ignored his friend's pleadings. The avatar simply sat back down and began laughing hysterically again. A crowd of people began clambering for the exit, almost tripping over each other. But still, Riko's laughter echoed throughout the wooden building. The NPC shop owner sat in a corner, his eyes dull in the sleep they entered without active customers. Riko looked at the group with eyes impossibly wide.

"By God, he's gone and done it."

A blue light surrounded the group as Auran scrambled to do something, anything. There was a feeling of instantaneous travel, and then—and then—