(Kirito's Perspective)

"We're going to clear all the floors at once!"

Silence. I look around at the others to find either states of shock or, in Klein's case, resignation.

"B-but how is that possible?" Lizbeth splutters.

Klein sighs deeply. "It's not what you guys are thinking. I told her not to go with the dramatic line, but noooo." He stands up. "Have fun explaining it, Asuna. I'm going to go lie down for a while."

All eyes turn back to our leader, who suddenly looks a bit nervous. "Oh, uh, well I made a plan." Her hands clench and unclench restlessly. "See, this plan is a lot riskier than it sounds. Um… It basically boils down to us going and clearing each floor, but not activating it."

"Huh?" Silica raises her hand. "I don't get it!"

Asuna smiles at the youngest member of the group. "On each floor, there's a switch or a button that allows each floor to be open to teleportation. So far, Kirito has activated all 35 or so switches he's come across. In my plan, we're going to purposely avoid flipping them until the very end."

Klein, obviously still listening, calls from his sleeping mat about twenty feet away. "Don't forget to tell them the complications!"

Asuna sighs. "Yes, Klein. I was about to do that. Klein, Yui and I were all discussing this when we thought of something. So far, no floor has been cleared without activating the teleport for the one below it. There's a chance that refusing to flip the switch will make it impossible to clear the floor. Our main reason for considering this is that Kirito continued to open the new floors as he got to them."

Huh. I didn't think of that. If this plan works… I might've gone all the way to the top without dying.

Asuna continues. "So, it's going to be a gamble on whether or not we can make it. I do have a solution though."

She opens her inventory and selects an item, which materializes in her outstretched palm. It looks a bit like an ornamental temple, mostly a translucent blue with red crystal fused in odd places.

"This is a corridor crystal. It's used by setting a position by breaking off the red parts where you want the teleport to go, traveling elsewhere, and using the blue portion. It allows multiple people to go through at once, so it's unlike a regular teleport crystal. Also, if you return to the spot without using the crystal you can reattach the red bits and reset the endpoint, so we can keep them if the plan succeeds."

I remember the Army used one of those on me when I became a red player.

Lizbeth gestures and Asuna hands the pink haired girl the crystal. "I've heard of these, but aren't they ridiculously expensive?"

Asuna nods. "Leader- Heathcliff had a few of them in the guild vault for who-knows-what. I decided that we could use them more than anyone in the KoB could."

Lizbeth hands the crystal over and Asuna puts it back in her inventory, safe from accidental shattering. Asuna clears her throat. "Yeah. Um, we're going to move out as soon as the sun comes up. We'll head to the topmost level we can access currently, floor forty nine. Then we'll start searching for the dungeon. As far as I can tell from when we were up there, it's not going to be hard; it looks like an entire floor made of water. From there, we defeat the final boss and go to the next floor, fifty, which we will not activate. We'll set up the corridor's warp point and then go and finish floor 50. If we can progress without problems, then we'll continue until we get all the way to the top. Otherwise, we go back to the way Kirito did things."

Kuradeel crosses his arms. "If we can't progress without flipping the switches, what are we going to do? As in, how are we going to avoid getting killed when we have to flip the switches?"

Asuna hesitates, and Klein again chimes in. "We can just use the corridors. Asuna has ten of them, and in an emergency we can warp to a safer place." He rolls over on his mat, almost invisible in the darkness. "I wish we had a few more of the crystals, maybe forty or so."

"Don't we all?" I mutter.

Asuna starts talking to Kuradeel and Silica, Lizbeth wanders off in Klein's direction, and I try to stand up, only to remember my personal space invader.

On my lap, Yui shifts around, twisting her torso around. I look down at her sleeping form. Wasn't sleeping in people's laps reserved for couples and siblings? I mean, yeah, Yui's cute, but she's also about ten… or, rather she's one hundred and six. Of course, she looks like she's sixteen...

She's also fake.

She hums deep in her throat as she sleeps. I smile slightly at her sleeping face. There's still a lot I don't know about her. Does she have emotions? She's never shown any in her normal form, but with this new software, she was acting all sorts of human. If she does and just never felt the need to display them, then maybe this programming s just forcing her inner self out into the world. On the other hand, Yui herself stated he was an adapting program, and on top of that was trying to adapt the new program into herself completely. Maybe she doesn't have emotions, but with the new code is just responding how it was programmed to respond to emotions. Yui's obviously excellent at reading emotional states, and could easily display the correct one for a situation without too much trouble.

I wonder if I could tell between the two. I mean, technically, they're functionally identical. The only difference is one Yui has her own feelings, and the other she's responding to outside emotions. Of course, if you want to get philosophical, isn't that what we all do? I respond to everyone else's emotions and base how I react off of their moods. If Yui is doing that, is that the same as her having her emotions?

I think about it for a few minutes before coming to a solution to my thoughts. In only one scenario would I be able to tell whether Yui actually has emotions or is just responding. It has to be an argument with her. If I can get her to disagree with me about something, that will prove she can feel strongly enough about something to stop helping us wholeheartedly, I can pretty much say at that point that Yui truly feel emotions.

I let my brain return to my reality to find my right hand had decided to tangle itself in the blue hair while I was thinking. Yui's new teal eyes are half lidded, and the open fully as I gently try to untangle the mess I made of her hair and my hand.

She yawns before speaking. "Did Asuna explain everything?"

"I think so." I finally extract my hand, but her hair is still a snarled knot. "We're going to have one hell of a time, aren't we?"

"Yep." Yui says. "I can't wait. I can go and fight like you used to, and maybe even be remembered for my contribution."

My smile freezes on my face. I know Yui has less control of what she was saying with Sinon active, but referencing Kirito when talking about Klutz is a large risk.

"Oy, maybe you don't talk about that in front of others?" I admonish softly.

"Talk about what?"

My head jerks up to find Asuna looking at me with a mixture of curiosity at my words and disgust presumably from Yui's head still being in my lap. I gently tip Yui upright and she yawns yet again. Maybe not sleeping for over a hundred years is still catching up to her.

"Er, nothing. Just chatting with Yui here."

Asuna slowly nods, disbelief written plainly across her face. "Right. Well, I forgot I had something very important to do. How many contacts do you have?"

I automatically reach out my right arm to open my menu, but Asuna's rapier is at my throat before I fully extend my arm. Damn her for increasing her speed to such absurd levels.

"I need to check, okay?" I grumble. "Just watch, I'm not gonna send out any messages or anything."

"Good. Despite your compliant attitude, you're still close enough to Heathcliff to make me wary." Kuradeel steps out from behind Asuna. "In fact didn't you say you can here as a spy?"

I raise both my hands. "Whoa. I know that, but he approached all the Black Cats as a guild. I just happen to be willing to work for you honestly just as much as for him deceitfully."

Kuradeel's eyes light up for the first time… actually, this is the first time I've ever seen him even come close to smiling. "Asuna, I have an idea!"

Asuna turns to him, the point of the rapier slightly lifting off my throat. "Really?"

Kuradeel beams. "Yes! We can have him send false information back to Heathcliff, with just enough truth in it to make it hard for him to track us. Since we hauled him off as a captive, we can say we released him, have him mention where we are currently, and then move out. Heathcliff will be on our heels, but we can stay a few steps ahead of him easily. Since he's been treated like an enemy, any time he sends off a completely wrong message, he can write it off to Heathcliff as him being forced to misinform him."

Asuna frowns. "That's very problematic in its own right. If we let him continue to communicate with the others in his guild, there's a good change of him being able to betray us."

Kuradeel's left eyebrow lifts. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you would've thought about that."

Asuna blushes. "Well, I was bored, and that book you loaned me has made me kind of paranoid."

I didn't realize I was staring daggers at Kuradeel until Asuna looked back at me and let out a small 'eep' sound. I don't even know why-

"Well, the solution is to have him enable the ability for others to look over his shoulder at his menu. Then, he can't hide messages, their content, or anything else from us. Have Klein or someone watch him all the time, and if he acts suspicious we can have Yui deal with him." Kuradeel puts a smug smile on his face that made me want to smash his face in for some reason. I don't know. I'm just getting a very weird feeling from him.

Asuna considers this for a moment, then smiles. "Well, I think that's a good idea, but he's still going to have to lose his guild. Remember, you can track others in your guild in certain areas."

Ah, damn. Less than a full week, and already have to quit the Moonlit Black Cats. I slowly open my menu and upon not having my head removed, I press the leave guild button. I hesitate at the final warning, the words "Are you sure?" glaring at me like Sachi herself was pleading me not to go… first chance I get, I need to tell her that I'm alright.

I press the okay button. Asuna relaxes a bit as the small icon next to my health bar disappears. The pointy end of her sword drifts away from the skin over my throat.

Yui finally opens her eyes fully and looks around. "What did I miss?"

"I've been forced to leave my guild to avoid being tracked, and I've been assigned a bodyguard to keep me company."

Yui blinks. "Really? Who is it?"

Kuradeel coughs. "We haven't picked anyone yet-"

"I volunteer!" Yui waves her hand around like an excited ten year old.

Asuna glares at me again. I give her my best helpless expression, seeing as I have no control over Yui. "I guess I have no reason to say no." She grits out from between her teeth. "However, I will be watching you two."

I rub the back of my head. That would work out the best for both parties, seeing as Yui can search through my mail without having to try especially hard, can keep an eye on me from floors away, and on my end can give me reports when everyone else is gone. Yes, I'm starting to like this arrangement-

Wait, Yui has demonstrated that she can read mail I send, so that means she knows about x, and the way x doesn't trust her.

Though, if that's valid, then x just let himself be exposed to Heathcliff, which would have been a very stupid move on his part. So there must be something I'm missing. I'll have to think of a way to ask Yui without her catching on.

She turns to me, her teal eyes searching my soul, possibly literally. "Is something wrong?"

I shake my head and smile weakly. "It's… nothing that needs to be said here." I stretch my arms up and yawn. "Alright, so we're leaving first thing tomorrow? I'm going to get some sleep in then. See you all in the morning." I stand up, followed by Yui. I give her a sharp glance, but she misses its point and continues to follow me over to a spot I had decided to sleep in.

"Yui, find somewhere else to sleep." I point back to the campfire, outside hearing distance. "Asuna already is acting weird. I don't want to make her stand over me with her blade drawn."

"But I'm supposed to watch you to make sure you don't do anything suspicious." Yui pouts. "I can't do that if I'm far away from you."

I roll my eyes. "Of course you can. You said yourself that you can track me across floors."

Yui falls silent. I wait for an answer briefly before remembering that she supposedly has blocks in place to prevent her from spouting technical stuff.

"Oh, right, you can't talk about that." I place my head in my hands and try to think. I can't force her leave, seeing as I'm under watch and that would constitute rebellion, but… As far as I can tell, Yui has every intention of sleeping right next to me, something I am not comfortable with. I couldn't even use her true nature as a reason to avoid the issue because I'm not supposed to know about it-

Oh, that's why Yui can't leave. I'm not supposed to know that she can almost read my mind, and that letting me run down to the first floor wouldn't be far enough to get out from Yui's omnipresence.

A seed of doubt is insidious. My thoughts turn towards x's message. If Yui really is an enemy, then she knows entirely too much about us and what we are doing. She's also tied into the system in a way we can never be, which give's Heathcliff an even more unfair advantage over us. I look up to see the Blue haired Yui, once stock still when not engaging anything, now sway slightly and rock back and forth on her heels.

I would have to ask x somehow. Maybe while Yui is transferring between personalities.

In the meantime, I'm going to set up camp. I open my inventory and am surprised to be relieved when I didn't immediately feel metal at my neck. I pull out a sleeping bag and lie down on it, barely registering Yui mimicking my actions beside me. I look at the bottom of the next floor up, little pinpricks of light shining from what looks like a much larger distance than it actually can be.

I have no idea what I'm doing, really. I've had to keep so many things in my head recently, I feel like I'm going to burst.

I used to be Kirito, and only two people know it, x and Yui. I know x is more or less on my side, seeing as he resurrected me. I don't really know enough about him to say that he's a friend, but he's done nothing overtly out of my best interests so far. Yui is more complicated because while she seems to be on our side, she could just be being told to act that way. I suspect Heathcliff has at least some control over her, being part of his system, so trusting her completely is not a good idea. The problem is that everything she says has the weight of information behind it and can't be disregarded.

As for Asuna's group, they're trying to go to the top floor. I don't know why, if it's just to continue where I left off or if they each have their own reason for going up there I have no idea. I do know that if Asuna's plan works, we're going to be out of this sooner rather than later.

Speaking of which, Heathcliff said that outside there is nothing. Literally nothing. In the handbook's written notes, there was a mention of something called space that sounds awful, and I think that's what Heathcliff was talking about when he said there's nothing out there for us.

Just big, empty space.

Is it even worth trying to go to the top level? Being trapped in those jelly tubes for all eternity sounds a lot worse than the situation we're in now.

"Klutz? What's the matter?"

I open my blurry, tearing eyes to see the normally cheerful face of Silica looking down at me.

"Oh, hi there. Nothing too much. Just wondering if what I'm doing is the right thing to do."

Silica sits back, and I have to turn my head to see her outline against the stars. "Of course it is!"

"Really? How are you so sure of yourself?" I ask.

"Well…" Silica frowns. "It's like this. Heathcliff is lying to everyone, right?"

I nod. If nothing else, he has shown that that is true.

"Mom and Dad taught me that lying is bad. Since he's doing bad things, that means when we do the opposite and stop him, we're doing good things."

I smile a bit. "Is that how you see it?"

Silica beams. "Of course! If I didn't, why would I stay with these guys? I mean, Klein's creepy, Asuna's strict, Kuradeel's creepy, Lizbeth's crazy, and Yui's a pro- um, I mean, Yui's a pro with a bow. Which is creepy."

Despite myself I laugh. "Is that how you see them? Creepy, strict, creepy, crazy and creepy?"

Silica pouts. "Well, they are. Look at them, Kuradeel's always looking at Asuna, Asuna's always making someone do something, and Klein's drooling over some picture he hides whenever I walk towards him, Lizbeth throws things for no reason (usually at Klein though), and Yui is always spouting things that make no sense, even after she explains them three times." She crosses her arms and puffs out her cheeks. "You're the only normal guy here, and you've already been taken by Yui."

I really, really wanted to disagree with that last bit, but Sinon's personality sure wasn't helping matters. What did she think she was doing anyway?

"I wouldn't say taken, but she does seem to be coming after me for some reason." I smile weakly again. "Honestly, you're right, it's a bit creepy. I don't know anyone here that well yet, so her familiar attitude throws me a bit."

Silica flops over sideways in the grass. "It's something about Asuna. She's so attractive to people that they just kinda follow her wherever she leads them. Even Kirito followed her when she decided to form a guild back when all this started. Klein said she activated a sword skill using a kitchen knife."

I snort. In retrospect, that was kind of funny. Living it, not so much. "Heh, yeah, sounds like she's a real charismatic leader alright. Say, don't you have a familiar? I saw it a few times."

"Yes! His name's Pina. He's a great dragon, but on most floors he shrinks to about three feet long. I lived on floor thirteen until I met Kirito, and on floor thirteen dragons are big enough to ride!"

"Wow." I say. "What was it like growing up with dragons?"

"It was great! I could go anywhere I wanted without having to walk very far, and flying is a great feeling. I once went all the way to the edge of the floor and looked down, and it's really scary out there. There's a lot of clouds and nothing else. Grandpa says that there's nothing below the clouds, but Dad says there has to be something."

"What do you think?"

Silica places her chin in her hand. "I don't know. I want to look someday when I'm done with helping Asuna get to the top of the castle."

Good luck with that, because if Heathcliff's to be believed, this world will end when we clear the game.

Hmm. 'If Heathcliff is to be believed.' That's a sentence to consider. If only I knew how much he knows about me, I could figure what that hell was the truth around here.

"Sounds like fun. Can I go with you? I never thought of looking under the clouds before. Actually, I've never been anywhere near the edge before."

Silica stands up and twirls in place, almost bursting with joy. "Of course! I'll let you ride Pina with me, and we'll see if there's anything under the clouds. Here," She holds out her hand, pinky finger extended. "Promise that once we finish this mission, we'll go flying."

I smile and hook my pinky in hers. "I promise. Heck, I'll go flying with you before that if we get the chance."

Silica beams and releases my finger. "Oh, no dying, okay? You promised, so if you die you'll break the promise, and you'll be tormented for a thousand years!"

"Eh… I don't remember that part."

"I made it up, it sounds better than a thousand needles anyway."

Maybe for you, but if I break the promise, I'd take eating a thousand needles over a thousand years of anything.

"Anyway, goodnight!" Silica says. She runs away before I can even open my mouth to respond.

"Yeah. Night." I flop back down and stare back at the stars.

"I apologize for my actions earlier."

I turn my head the other way to find a stony faced Yui. She's probably back in her regular personality now.

"No problem. What was that anyway?"

"Sinon has been programmed to be very affectionate with those she likes. I am still attempting to find where this behavior is located so that it may be modified into a more socially acceptable action. I have however found two folders full of actions I have yet to reference in normal conversation. The descriptions are vague enough to require testing, but I have no way to do so effectively. I may ask for assistance in the future. For now, I will return to Sinon and keep up my disguise for a while longer."

"Wait, I had something I wanted to ask you earlier." I frown in concentration. "Oh yeah, why are you so tired as Sinon?"

Yui frowns. "The average player requires eight to ten hours of sleep a night. I took my sleep during a time where I was the least needed, and thus enabled me to maintain Sinon's outwards operational effectiveness without letting any crucial data pass by. If you were not aware, I was still collecting information at that time, if not responding to it."

I nod. "That makes sense. Just remember what you've told to who and don't get it mixed up." I think for a second. "That includes not referencing Kirito while in Sinon mode."

Yui nods. "I need to modify some of the data that pertains to how long I have interacted with various entities. That is the main reason for Sinon's actions."

"Out of idle curiosity, how much control do you have over your actions while Sinon is activated?"

"Almost none. I have limited decision making power, but it is similar to trying to convince a player to do what I want them to. The more control I attempt to exert, the less effective it is, so I must choose certain moments to make decisions that override Sinon's."

I frown. "That sounds frustrating. How's the re-purposing project coming?"

"It isn't. I need to utilize time without Sinon active, and that seems to be less than forthcoming. You will probably have to deal with Sinon's advances for a day or two at the current rate."

I grimace. "If Asuna doesn't kill me first. I still don't understand why that is either. It's been too short of a time for her to grow feelings for me, so I don't think it is jealousy, but it sure plays out that way."

Yui turns and sits down on the edge of my sleeping mat, facing outwards. "I believe he has significant emotional attachment to me, and Sinon's actions made her feel less needed."

"Ah."

"I am going to activate Sinon again. Please watch over my form as I transfer."

Once again, her form locks up into a stony state.

Now's my chance. I open my messages window, type as fast as I can, and at the first sign of movement from Yui, I send the message.

Yui yawns. "I am going to go talk to Asuna before I turn in for the night."

I nod and flop backwards. "Don't worry about me. I'll still be here when you get back."

I close my eyes and listen to her footsteps as she walks away.

Ping.

I crack my eyes open to find x has responded. I open the letter and read.

"Klutz,

"Don't worry about me; I took all available security measures. Interestingly, there's a flag on the message system that prohibits admins from reading messages, which is a very problematic mechanic to include in the game, so I have to question its legitimacy, but I have tested it on Yui and she is unable to read messages flagged this way. I sent her a direct message and it's still there in her inbox from what I can tell, as if she couldn't see it.

"In any case, you can send messages to me in the same way. I've triggered the flag on all outbound messages from you to me. Just try not to let Yui see you typing, because then she will figure out something is up.

"x"

Oh, good. That's honestly a lot off my mind.

I fall back on to the sleeping mat for the last time, and finally drift off into peaceful slumber.

(Asuna's Perspective)

"Mama."

I look over at Yui, standing still in the doorway.

"Yes, Yui?" I ask. "Did something happen?"

She nods. "It is most disturbing."

"Does it involve Klutz?"

Yui nods. "He has recently been exhibiting strange behavior at odd times. I am unable to find the source of these irregularities, which is where the problem lies."

I frown. As far as I could tell, Yui knows everything. For her to be perplexed, something very odd has to have occurred. "Yui, are you telling me that something happened, but you don't know what?"

Yui blinks. "That is correct. Klutz ha on several occasions mimed sending and receiving messages. The latest attempt was just before I arrived here. He waited to take advantage of a fault in my programming. Before sending this invisible message, which is the only reason I am bringing to your attention. As far as the message subsystem is concerned, he has sent nothing suspicious, but I find no record of anything being sent."

"That's… disturbing. Is he not actually sending anything, and just a bit touched in the head?"

"While that remains a possibility, it does not fit in with Klutz's behavior patterns in the slightest. Next time he attempts to send a message while in front of me, I will record his finger movement, match them to the keyboard and attempt to parse the relevant data."

"The key words there are in front of you, Yui. He could be sending another message right now."

Yui shakes her head. "He is currently sleeping. I will know when he wakes up."

I smile. "Of course you will. Alright, as long as you feel you have control of the situation. How's the new personality working out?"

"It overrides to many of my functions to be declared an improvement, but hopefully I will have access to only the most essential functions without activating the program sooner rather than later. I have already appropriated a portion of Sinon's voice code, and can speak in her mannerisms." Yui turns to face the direction she had come from. "I will probably decode the physical moments in about four hours of downtime, thought that seems unlikely to occur at this time."

I nod. "Sorry to dump watching Klutz on you. I mean, you did ask for it, but-"

"Sinon asked for it. I was merely a bystander in that affair, though the outcome is much the same as it would be if I had not had Sinon's influence on events."

Ah, it's nice to have the old Yui back. Sort of. It's kinda like being talked down to be a ten year old. "How does that work? You not being in control?"

Yui turns back to me. "Do you ever have a small voice in the back of your head that tells you what to do in tough situations? I am that voice in this case, and the substitute personality Sinon presents takes over ninety five percent of my functions. She still uses my stored information, and the goals she intends to accomplish mostly coincide with mine. I can suggest courses of action but there is never a guarantee that my solution will be chosen as the one to implement."

"So…" This is going to be awkward. "When you were cuddling with Klutz before-"

"That was entirely Sinon's programming. I am working on a way to deactivate that particular program as well, though it is a lesser priority."

"Oh, good. Just make sure not to get in over your head with him."

Yui pauses for a moment, then gives her typical curt nod and fades back into the darkness.

I sit down on my bedroll. Tomorrow's going to be a pain, isn't it.

(Kirito's Perspective)

The teleportation sound rings in our ears, signaling our arrival. Despite their cost, Asuna had given each of us a teleport crystal with which to head to floor 49. Personally, I was wondering if she knows just how dangerous I could be if I decided to go report to Heathcliff now. It wasn't like she could stop me, since once inside a city zone, any city zone, I would be able to safely head to Heathcliff.

It's not like I'm a red player anymore.

I stare at the crystal in my hands. I could go and see how the Moonlit Black Cats are doing. I could go see mom and dad, not that they'd recognize me. I could get Heathcliff and end this charade.

"Klutz?" Klein pokes me with his index finger.

I sigh. "Yeah?"

"It's your turn to go through."

I nod and turn back towards the gate that lies in front of us. It's not any special gate, and has nothing to do with teleportation, but Asuna had thought is symbolic enough to drag us an extra mile out of our way to teleport in front of it.

I take a deep breath. I'm not looking forward to seeing the place I died, but it looks like I have little choice. I hold the crystal in front of me and call out the name of the floor.

"Teleport: Katamaran village!"

White lights swirl around me, obscuring my view of the surrounds and replacing them with the visuals of floor 49.

I had forgotten this. The tower in the center of the smallish island, surrounded by boats that form a city. Unlike last time, there is no fog obscuring the farther areas, and from the top of the tower, I can see the edge of the floor, dotted here and there with boats almost invisible in the distance and islands around the edge of the floor.

If I wasn't being hunted, I would totally find a place to live here. It looks nice and peaceful.

It would be nice and peaceful, but as the winds shift, I hear muffled crying. I turn around to see Asuna is sitting down, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her, face buried.

I walk over slowly and crouch down, unsure what to do. The choice is quickly taken out of my hands.

She springs at me and grabs me in an embrace and starts crying. I let her, a little bewildered. I slowly bring my hands back around and rest them on her back.

We stay like this for a few moments, me gently rocking back and forth in a comforting manner.

Finally she lets go and wipes her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just a bit…" She gestures vaguely over the edge of the tower. "Kirito died over there. I can't…" Her eyes squeeze shut.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "I can't pretend to sympathize. Is there anything I can do?"

She shakes her head. "I need to go down there and get his equipment. I saw it down there. I don't know why it hasn't been taken yet, but I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted it to just lie there."

I nod. "Do you want me to go get it? You can rest and recover up here for a bit."

She nods. I give her shoulder a parting squeeze just as Klein falls out of the teleporter. He looks around in confusion for a second before recognizing his surroundings. I wave as I climb down.

He quickly disappears out of sight as I descend the winding staircase along the inside edge of the tall object. On the long way down, I involuntarily send a chill down my spine. I'm going to visit the place where I died. That sounds horrible.

Finally at the bottom, I open the door of the tower and head towards a large pile of stuff. It's all the items Kirito had on his person when he died. When I died. I shake my head. Dwelling on that isn't a good idea. It probably will never be.

I walk up to the pile which is emitting a strange, low hum. I can feel my hair pricking as I arrive within ten feet of the pile.

"AH!"

I look behind and up at the red and white striped tower as a series of thumps, getting louder then softer then louder again comes from the windows. I track the sound as it winds its way down the staircase and finally finishes at the foot of the staircase, still visible through the open door.

Yui looks up from her upside down position on the ground and groans. "Ouch."

I smile. "Try not to kill yourself." I admonish playfully.

She groans again.

I turn back to the pile and reach out to grab the sword on top.

"Klutz, don't, its trap-"

I lose consciousness as my brain is shocked into darkness.

Okay, spoilers for the books are present after this point.

You've been warned.

The Alicization arc introduces a lot more background into the series, and adds clarification to a lot of things. For instance, Yui is considered to be little more than an advanced Siri, a "Top down AI." In my story, she's a true AI, one where she can think and learn things as she goes along. As far as fluctlights go… I really don't like fluctlights. It's technobabble, pure and simple. I know Reki Kawahara had to make up something to make his story make sense, but this seems a bit off to me. In the end, it's not my intellectual property, so I'll accept it as a slightly different universe.

Asuna is pretty much outright stated to be very good at figuring things out in the second alicization book, but there wasn't much evidence of that when I read the books, except for the detective bit in the SAO arc. I wonder if I missed it or if this is an informed ability that she didn't have much time to demonstrate due to the nature of the series.

Lastly, I wanted to point out that in the books, there is a lot more information than the anime can possibly convey. If you enjoyed the anime (If you're reading this and didn't, what are you doing?) I would seriously go check them out.

Until next time.