Chapter 4 - Human Beings

"Everyone! No more fighting... We have a lot to discuss."

Asuna shouted out to the whole courtyard in front of her, with a voice that was sharp and clear. Meanwhile -

I could only stare.

–Those people...players...that one, was incredibly fast.

It was the short man who seemed to have taken up the position of Leader from that group. The player who stood before him, weaponless - the so-called Commander of that huge Army group - was trembling in fear, looking down to the ground. There, his spear was lying, having been knocked out of his grasp by a ridiculously fast parry. The sword that had done it...was a simple, straight-edged blade.

How?

That was my thought, but I already had begun to decide - they can't be new players.

That group - if that one short man who'd swung his weapon was anything to go by, they were strong. Very strong, and so that should rule out the possibility of them being new, level-one players. Right?

Except then...what? Are they actually NPCs, with that strange uniform? An event? Something like that - an NPC-like mob army force, triggered somehow and therefore sent into the game as some sort of apocalyptic event - isn't unreasonable, when thinking in terms of other RPGs I've come across. Even though this was not a regular RPG, by any means...

But still, the idea didn't feel right to me, in my mind. Both ideas - players or mobs - seem impossible.

Before I could figure out just what or who these new arrivals were, Asuna began to take long strides in their direction. Of course I had to hurry to keep pace with her - the high-level rapier user was the highest-ranking person from the most prestigious guild present at the moment, so she was taking charge of the situation. It's not that I didn't trust or have confidence in her - I definitely did, and couldn't say differently anyway - but this situation, in particular...

I remained close behind her as we marched across the courtyard. Behind me, the rest of the assault team followed at a slower pace, reflecting their shock - though of course, the other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath tried to follow close on Asuna's heels as well.

Ahead of us - the newcomers all stood as if frozen, staring at us. Meanwhile, the group of Army players had already backed away to where the crowd of onlookers nervously stood. Only the Commander remained, still standing there in shock - finally he backed away on stumbling feet, rushing towards us, the clearing group.

When Asuna brought our informal March to a halt, placing her hand obviously on the hilt of her sword, she stood roughly ten meters from the strange group. The short man who was apparently their Leader turned towards her almost uncaringly. His eyes were narrowed in a tight scowl, but aside from that he didn't really seem so concerned.

Again, the word NPC darted through my thoughts like a question – but there was no time to wonder.

"Well, if you think we can have a discussion like civilized human beings, then fine," said the man in a low and dismissing tone. He still held the two blades out, with them pointing carelessly towards the ground – but, I got the feeling that if the need came, those blades would be flashing in an instant.

Asuna seemed taken aback by the man's words. She paused for a moment in silence, before speaking again with more force than ever. "That's fine with me as well," said Asuna firmly, nodding sharply. Still, her words were leading somewhere, and I could guess where. "But before we can do that, I need to know – are you really? Human beings, that is."

Right, so she thinks they might be players.

I could only watch for their reactions anxiously, because by that point I desperately wanted to quell that curiosity myself.

The man said nothing for a long moment – only his scowl grew deeper. Behind him, however, all of the others of that group did show reactions. Some looked around in confusion, a few whispered to one another, while several towards the front of the group looked angrier than ever. I watched, amazed, as one woman with red-brown hair mouthed the words human beings to herself, her brow furrowing tensely – nearby, another tall girl with short black hair scowled in rage.

–Impossible.

But it's somehow true…

There's no way that they're NPCs. I can't possibly think else.

At the same time - how?

From her position at nearly beside and a few steps ahead of me, Asuna turned her head to the right slightly – just enough that we both exchanged glances, eyes tight with concern. I knew that she was most likely thinking the exact same thing that I was.

It was then that the short man finally broke that uneasy silence. "Well, we sure as hell aren't titans."

His eyes were dangerously narrowed.

"What did you think we were?"

This isn't making sense

Asuna took half a step back, making a soft sound of shock that only I could hear. I could see her hand trembling slightly. "Eh?! – uhm…I mean –" She takes a moment to square her shoulders. "Sorry. You must understand how strange this is for us…well…"

I have no idea how she's managing to keep her composure so well. At that point, I was barely okay with just standing there watching this impossible thing unfold.

"I actually don't understand. After all, you're the ones who brought us here, aren't you?"

The short man had a deadly glare on his face, lacking heat but still appearing completely terrifying. Just who is this guy?

"What!? No!" Asuna raised her free hand into the air as if she were warding off the man's words, shaking her head quickly. "Ah-I mean…it's not like that. We didn't do anything."

The man's glare only intensified, and Asuna seemed to teeter on the verge of saying something else. Before she could – another shout rang out into the air.

"Just stop it!"

It was the commander of that Army group. He had at some point ended up standing a distance from my left side, clutching his right hand in his left. Slightly hunched over, with his eyes burning in fury, he looked – murderous.

"Just stop – talking to them, as if they're like us! Can't you see they're not players?!" The commander jabbed a pointed finger straight at Asuna, snarling. "And you call yourself top players? It's obvious that they're – some sort of mob, just another thing out to kill us in this hell hole –"

"Hey! You'd better shut up –" "That's the second-in-command of the KoB you're talking to like that!" Indignant shouts from the other members of KoB rang out, while Asuna only turned silently to examine the commander with a scrutinizing gaze. Finally –

"…Don't worry." Asuna dismissed her guild members' concern with those few quiet words. The words that followed were as sharp as knives. "After all – if they were some kind of mob who did want to kill us all, then you'd already be dead, wouldn't you, commander-san?"

The commander clenched his teeth with an even deeper scowl.

"Th-that's all the more reason –"

"–No." Asuna cut him off, shaking her head. "You've lost the right to make any decisions here. And you certainly won't be the one to decide whether or not we should condemn them without knowing the truth."

The conversation was obviously over. Asuna gave a slight nod to make her point before turning away, facing back towards the newcomers, while the commander glared at her in silent rage. Standing in quiet observation was the short man, slouched slightly as if he were bored. The others gathered behind him, however, were still standing as if on their toes, nervous and tense.

Meanwhile…something niggled at my thoughts, sharp and insisting. "Hey, Asuna," I said quietly, frowning. She looked over at me with a curious sound of acknowledgement, probably hearing the serious sound of my voice.

"…You're right. I've never seen a mob that makes a move to disarm only, not going any further even though they had the absolute advantage…"

I stared at the array of strange people before me, looking into their eyes with what was probably a little more intensity than what would have been proper anywhere else – in each one, I only saw real emotions and reactions. Even that man at the front – he glared straight back at me, indifference and aloofness written all over his features.

"…and what's more, there's no appearance of the red mob icon that would normally appear automatically. Not that a green player icon has appeared yet either…but that doesn't really mean anything, does it…" I uttered these words while still deep in thought.

The truth was, that nothing we could observe right now could really be used as any sort of evidence in either direction. It didn't make sense at all, so how could any sort of small details help to clear it up? This is a safe zone, so no mobs could possibly come here anyway. Meanwhile, why would anyone decide to log in as new players anyway – and then, how would they all log in all at once, in the strange uniform that wasn't presented as an option at the first setup screen?

The only way to figure out exactly what was going on was to stop making these assumptions, first.

And so, I lifted my head and raised my voice. "So, the only way to decide is to just ask. How did you get into Sword Art Online? And…why?"


The flashing of light bulbs still seems to follow Akihiko Kayaba as he makes his way from the press conference hurriedly. He'd never been present at one as big as this before - it isn't that it fazed him, just that it wasn't very pleasant. The constant stream of sharp questions, along with the endless clicking of cameras and the heat of the room...it just doesn't agree with him.

It was a necessary evil, at best. Irritating - and yet, Kayaba can't help but feel excited.

It's an underlying excitement, anticipation and eagerness that lies underneath his skin, always simmering. But now it feels slightly more satisfied. After all, his dream is swiftly on its way to being realized. He'd just announced to the press that his Nerve Gear has been successfully developed and tested, and that had gotten quite the reception. It is the gateway to his dream - and he'd announced that, too.

After finishing explaining about Nerve Gear and the Full Dive, Kayaba had proudly told the press that his new VRMMO was on its way; the development has already started and though it will take time, soon the game will be complete. Soon, his dream will become reality.

Reality...and yet, not reality, muses Kayaba with a slight smile.

It will be called Sword Art Online.

So caught up is he in his thinking that Kayaba walks straight down the hallway he is traversing, not once looking up to see a familiar face.

"It's been a while."

The voice, light and yet still slow and somehow weighted, is friendly and completely recognizable. Kayaba pulls up with a start, turning towards the voice - of course, there she is. Classy dark coat, a warm-looking hat, blonde hair braided over her shoulder, black-framed glasses low on her nose. She is the same.

Kayaba looks over her with a faint smile before he meets her eyes. "It has, hasn't it? Four years...you look the same as ever."

She nods slightly, eyes sharp. "You've done well for yourself. What do they call you now - Dr. Kayaba?"

He shakes his head, blinking slowly. He's never liked the title, not really. "You can't deny your own success. You've certainly done well - Dr. Sveta, quite the name."

Kayaba glances over her again, narrowing his eyes. Though I don t mean to be rude. But, what are you doing here?

She only gives him a hint of a smile. "I wanted to speak to you - about this new project of yours."

Sveta is a very straightforward person. It is something Kayaba has always liked about her - she isn't a social person, and neither is he. Ever since their college days together, studying computer programming and all the fields that it touched, they've gotten along well because they both respected boundaries. And beyond that, Kayaba has always thought that Sveta was a similar sort of person to himself.

At the moment - her words would have him slightly intrigued, except that he's aware of Sveta's capabilities. She is like him - a genius.

"I would ask how you know about all that, seeing as how I just released the information to the public moments ago," says Kayaba, tilting his head. "But I also know you, and so I'm not surprised. What did you want to talk about, specifically?"

Sveta's smile grows into something more substantial as she takes a step closer. There is a familiar light in her eyes - a glow of excitement and a desire for knowledge. "Let me see if I've got this right. You've already had success in developing your Nerve Gear, which is an instrument that will allow the user to experience a Full Dive - a completely immersive experience which places the consciousness inside a virtual reality. A remarkable invention - I'm sure you expect it to revolutionize the gaming industry."

She pauses, as if waiting for Kayaba's assertion that her words are correct. Kayaba nods once, smiling slightly. Of course she is - she's always been able to find information somehow, especially when she isn't supposed to. What it took to get that information didn t matter. After all, it was only ever in the honest pursuit of knowledge, just like a true scientist.

"It is incredible, but your Nerve Gear is just a tool, isn't it? Your true creation...will be a virtual reality." Kayaba shows no reaction except for his small smile at her words, and yet her own pleased grin only grows. She pushes her glasses up her nose and takes another step closer, lowering her voice. "An entire world...combined with the Full Dive experience, it will be truly incredible. I can see it now...it's what you've always dreamed of, isn't it?"

Kayaba freezes, narrowing his eyes. How could she know that?

He's never mentioned it to her, or to anyone for that matter. No one knew about his dream. They only knew pieces of it - the Nerve Gear, Full Dive, the possibility of a virtual reality. Together, those three things painted a fairly complete picture - but the way that Sveta spoke just now said that she knows more. Always dreamed of, she said.

But still - Sveta always was strangely perceptive. Thinking about it, he really shouldn't be so surprised ...and if anything, she definitely doesn't know the true extent of his dream.

He doesn't say anything, and she tilts her head at him in a strange way - it's almost coy.

"Well," says Kayaba. "You're not wrong. But, why do you want to talk about that?"

Sveta blinks. "I want to help you."


Hey, sorry this is taking so long! But in my defense, I originally wasn't planning on posting this story at all for a long while so...anyway. Yeah, backstory! That's going to be a pretty huge part of this story. As in, lots of angst will take place in real-world backstory scenes. You'll see...and I think most of you will approve. :) Let's hope for a quick update! Reviews will definitely affect how long that takes... ;)

Oh and by the way - I've gotten questions about a few things, and here are the answers:

Yes, Kirito and Asuna will be paired here. (Of course!)

Yui may make an appearance, though so far I don't really have plans for it. That can change though. Your thoughts?

Though this may be obvious at this point, (almost) all of the major characters from both animes will be significantly present here. Also, yes I will try my best to give both animes equal representation and screen (scene?) time.

So...if you were wondering any of those things...hope that helps. Feel free to ask away!