– Pathogenesis –

Several days have passed since Kouki returned from the Testing Track, illness in tow.

The situation in Aincrad has worsened since then.

If one were to look out on the streets of the City of Stone on Floor 34, they would find the streets much quieter than usual. Anyone who dares to step out onto the streets holds pieces of cloth over their mouths and around their hands, in an attempt to stave off an infection. Traders on the streets who don't have gloves use tongs to avoid having to handle items with their bare hands. An air of hushed worry lingers in the air, everyone wondering if they would be infected next.

A newspaper, the renowned Aincrad Today, lies in a puddle, its edges torn and covered with footprints.


"It is now day five of the epidemic, and already 1,089 people have fallen ill with the strange sicknesses. It is currently not known how these diseases originated, or who patient zero is. No known cures have been found yet, however certain mixtures have been known to counteract certain symptoms..."


On a nearby wall, a small orange piece of paper hangs by a corner, wet from recent rains. A painted black logo in the corner is that of a rod with a snake entwined around it, swords crossed over it.


"If you have fallen ill, you are advised to make your way to a quarantine area immediately. This will reduce the risk of spreading disease to anyone else. Quarantine areas have been established on floors 2, 15, 25, 37, 50, 65, and 72."

"If you or someone you know is showing new symptoms, please send any information you have to a member of the Disease Research and Containment guild, in a PM."

"Thank you for your cooperation."


A shadow flits past.

The player who cast it moves quickly through the streets, making sure not to get too close to anyone; the latest news he's heard is that simply being near someone who's sick can lead to infection.

He walks toward a merchant who owns a stall selling various crystals. He looks at the lone healing crystal on the table, which lies away from the others. Its price has been marked up considerably, influenced by the massive outbreak of disease. It now costs almost two to three times as much as normal.

The player buys the crystal, regardless of the price. He then hastily walks back towards home, intent on spending as little time as possible outside. A few minutes later, he's home. He makes his way to his front door, quickly walking inside. He feels tired, presumably from the running (or rather, the fast-walking). He takes off his armor and slips into bed, eyes shutting as he drifts off to sleep.

When the player awakes, he finds himself dizzy and nauseous. As he stands up, the world seems to spin and tumble in all different directions. A small "biohazard" symbol sits by his health bar, telling him that he's been infected, as if it weren't obvious already. He puts on most of his armor and stumbles to the door. As he grips the doorknob, he vomits, a dark greenish fluid staining the carpet below. He stares down at the stain in fear. A chill spreads through his body as he exits the door. His fatigued and spinning mind can't tell whether the chill was out of fear or from the sickness; it decides that for all intents and purposes, they're one and the same.

He exits his house, nearly falling over as he crosses the threshold. He takes unsteady steps down the street, resisting the urge to vomit every time he lurches forward. As he walks down the street, people take note of his movement patterns and appearance, and stay well clear. A few look on in pity, others in fear. He would be able to see exactly what look they had on, if only his vision hadn't dimmed and gone blurry.

After a few minutes of near-blind stumbling, he makes it to his friend's house. A few minutes after knocking to the door, a man steps out. After taking one look at the player, his friend gestures for him to come inside.

He's just able to walk past the threshold of the door frame before he falls to the ground unconscious.


The first thing that the SAO "residents" noticed on the day of Kouki's return was a new addition to the typical "player info" screen: a Condition sub-menu. Opening the menu up would reveal a list of various body parts and organs, all marked Healthy (or potentially Severed for the limbs). Beyond that, however, it had no other function. Everyone assumed that it was merely a bug, and waited for it to inevitably disappear.

The second thing they noticed was a new skill: Treatment. Everyone was curious about it, but no one seemed to know how to train it; not even the beta testers. Various methods were tried, ranging from deliberately hurting and then healing people to tapping parts of the Condition screens of injured people.

However, when the outbreak hit, their intended use became very clear.

The outbreak was sudden; no one knew who or where the sudden sickness came from. It spread like wildfire across the floating castle, the more populated cities becoming filled with the sick. Quarantine zones were established, with a few players trying to find a cure or treatment for the disease. It didn't take long for players to find that certain items, typically used for potion ingredients, could alleviate certain symptoms, and would also train the Treatment skill if used in this manner. A few players began to devote their time to training Treatment and learning about the game's intricate system for medicines.

However, as the outbreak progressed, the illness kept changing; mutations occurred daily, and derivative strains began to spread as well. This only compounded the severity of the situation. The newer strains caused new, more severe, symptoms to manifest in those infected. While the original illness was like a severe case of flu in its effects, the newer strains showed even worse symptoms. Blindness, paralysis, and other symptoms were all reported by those with the new strains, and the "doctors" rushed to keep up, constantly trying new treatments.

Amidst all this, various guilds and factions reacted to the outbreak in various ways.

The clearing groups were set back in their explorations, due to their members falling ill.

The Army created a new group, the "Disease Research and Containment" guild, dedicated to finding a cure, stopping the spread of the disease, and providing care for those already infected.

The PKers began to prey on the sick, and a guild dedicated to spreading disease had already arisen: the "Plaguebearers".

In the middle of it all were the smaller guilds, the "bands of brothers" formed by and populated with friends.

They merely lived life as normal, even though it contained more chaos and fear than the usual.


AN: So here's another part of Testing Track. I'm probably not going to write from Kouki's perspective in this part of the story or even write about him at all, aside from perhaps a few offhand mentions.

However, I'm facing a problem: I have no idea where to go with the whole "disease outbreak" plot I've set up here.

In any case, if you have any suggestions or criticism, please feel free to write a review.