[YUI's DATALOG, January 2023]
"Datalog start."
2 months have passed since Sword Art Online has been live. The Cardinal however, has issued a prerogative preventing me or any of SAO's systems to intervene and alter player behavior.
Seemingly, the Cardinal is unable to respond to my inquiries. Without support from the system, I am utterly confused. I am still left with my monitoring functions, and have aimlessly wandered throughout Aincrad's floors, supervising the players' movements ever since. Sadly, I am unable to be seen or heard by anyone.
Today, I am fortunate to have travelled unto the 2nd floor which was recently opened by the adventurers. While the exploration rate has been slow, player progress has been steady and rising.
Player mental stability however is on a decline. I am unable to decipher the reasons behind it, but many of them, are under a terrible feeling of depression. I am seeking to observe a couple of players today and hopefully gather a few observations and help find a solution.
"Datalog end".
The Tragedy of Two Lovers – January 2023
Roaming the mountainous terrain of Aincrad's 2nd floor was SAO's Mental Health Counselor «Yui». Unable to be affected by player-related mechanics such as fatigue, hunger and sleep, the girl was constantly moving from place to place, trying to take grasp of the situation from her curious childish eyes. Being an Immortal Object, she need not worry about the monsters either. She was like a ghost, a specter, a being without a defined existence other than monitoring and supervision – a freedom that was as harsh as a curse.
She roamed the land, tracing and reading the mental signatures of everyone she encountered. Thus far, results have been conclusive: everything, every human player in SAO was in suspended disbelief of their situation – this so called Death Game. Constant feedback heard from them was "This can't be real." And "What did I do to deserve this?" Despair filled the hearts of the innocent players and it gradually changed them, some hardening their resolve to finish the game, while others losing their will to carry on the fight.
The AI girl was conflicted with decisions. She wanted to understand them better. She knew she had no capability to do so, but she was deeply moved by the experience. Yui wanted answers.
«Urbus» is the main city in this floor. Travelling by foot took her quite a while, but Yui was fortunate to see it well populated by a growing influx of players seeking new quests and new training grounds for the next level boss. The topography was a mixture of hilly plains, vast expanses of savanna, cliffs and the distinct mountainous crater upon which Urbus is located.
The city is housed beneath a gate and a formidable set of walls which lie within the crater, giving it a fortress-like feel. Despite having seen Urbus during the beta phase pf SAO, finally stepping into its walls was a very different experience for Yui, who prior to her integration by the Cardinal, never really got to experience the world first hand.
Lining the streets were well-designed buildings of Greco-Roman design (a recurring template of SAO's villages and cities) all of which were of equal height, some containing NPCs, shops and houses for the players to stay in. If it weren't for the gloomy atmosphere of Urbus and the harsh environment of the 2nd floor, it would've been a key settlement for many low level players.
Yui's destination was the city square which was identified by its famous Corinthian-styled fountain. Around it was a vast area for player activity: pubs, merchants, and the ubiquitous teleport stone. Food merchants were strolling across its wide dusty streets selling food stuffs ranging from fruits, vegetables and bread. Merchants who catered to equipment were on the opposite end, not far by.
Tracking a pair of unique mental signatures, she was able to locate a pair of players sitting together around one of its benches. One was a blonde-haired boy, named «Eli» and the other was a brunette girl «Denise». Both of which were in their teens.
What attracted Yui to them was the mental register of Eli's brainwaves. It was registering a sense of fear, a hint of doubt, but what stood out was his determination and love for Denise. The two were deeply conversing with one another, but it was evident that the girl had been crying for a while.
"Denise. Haven't we talked about this already?" The boy sighed.
"I'm doing this for us. I'm going to get us out of here. I promise you". Eli spoke with a gentle tone, as he touched Denise's hand briefly.
Denise looked up to Eli's eyes.
"It's too dangerous! I don't want you to go. What if… what if you got killed out there? What would that leave me? I don't want to be alone in this cursed game!" She sobbed.
Eli reluctantly stood up.
"The guild's waiting for me. We can't delay this too longer. I must prepare." The boy said, kissing Denise gently on her cheek.
"Don't… go. Please… please… please." She begged as she tried holding his hand as hard as she could trying not to let go of him.
Eli released her hand and left the girl sobbing even more deeply, leaving her to stare at him with a worried look as she buried her face into her hands.
Yui sensing the gravity of the situation, stood there patiently, watching the girl cry through deep ragged breaths, wanting to warmly comfort her. But alas, she could not.
Denise recalled that night, that Eli almost lost his life to a semi-boss on the 1st floor. The quest involved slaying a large group of high-level wolves and obtaining a specific number of required item drops from them. Underleveled, Denise was assisted by Eli, knowing that he could not leave her behind in terms of progress. He tried whatever he could to make it easier for her, but the enemies simply overwhelmed them. The fear of dying almost cost them, had not Eli taken a nearly fatal attack intended for her, she wouldn't have had the resolve to finish the task. Denise was never the same again. The experience slowly corroding her view of life and survival.
Despite not being able to see her, Yui still decided to watch over the girl throughout the night, knowing that she would be waiting for him until he came back. People who passed by the square could not help but worry over the distressed girl, some of them even offering their assistance and advise for her, with Denise's constant reassurance that she was, and she would be fine.
Hours passed, and the boy and the guild still haven't arrived yet. Yui was sensing that Denise was starting to panic and be scared. She was starting to think her nightmare was finally becoming true.
Eli's guild, «The Herald», wasn't known to have very strong players, but all were smart and patient enough to know their limits of exploration. They mapped out dungeons, planned and analyzed the relative difficulty of the tasks, divided loot equally and trained with Denise as often as they could, ensuring that she was never left behind. Denise would try her best to participate, but all the dangerous tasks were done by them, and them alone, always making sure that Denise – would never fall into that risk of death ever again.
Eli was being too overprotective of her, but it was all for her own good.
A few hours later, dawn had finally come, and with it came the arrival of the guild.
Yet, Eli was nowhere to be seen.
Denise who was still weakened from her lack of sleep that night, stood up from her place, and immediately demanded for Eli.
"Where is he? Is he resting? I need to see him." Denise demanded.
The guild leader could not look her in the eye and bowed his head in shame.
"I'm sorry… Eli… Eli was just too selfless. I warned him not to…"
"HE PROMISED. HE PROMISED ME, THAT HE'D COME BACK! WHY NOW? WHY… WHY…"
Denise, who was still in shock of the situation, ran away from them as hard as she could. The guild dared not stop her, vanishing from Urbus never to be seen or heard from ever again.
A few days later a player suicide was reported. «The Monument of Life» on the 1st floor where a list of the names of the 10,000 players was kept, indicated this. Yui was able to trace it and confirm that the girl found was in fact Denise. She apparently jumped to her death by leaping over the boundaries of the floor, instantly causing her health to drop to 0.
A truly tragic end to a fate... not everyone deserved.
The AI girl who was witness to everything that happened that day, felt so powerless and helpless, that she broke down and cried so hard – the first time, she truly ever did.
Not one person could feel her pain.
Author's Notes: Another chapter with some OCs! Yey! I know its not exactly a pleasant one, but Yui's experiences are really tragic to say the least. Don't worry I'm not going to be torturing Yui a lot with these things. Though the next datalog(chapter) would probably help visualize what happened before she broke down completely. Thanks for reading!