Kazu nodded with a wide smile.
"It seems you're finished with the rehabilitation, Yuuki-chan. Have you finally decided on what you'll do as far as your home situation? My aunt and uncle are still offering to take you in, as well as Asuna's parents. Your aunt and uncle are also offering to take care of you."
Yuuki nodded with the happiest expression she could remember having in a long time. She felt better than she had ever felt in her life. She felt strong, full of energy, and nearly as nimble as her virtual avatar. She just needed to make sure she didn't push too much because her real body wouldn't be able to handle some things her virtual avatar could.
"I talked with my aunt and uncle again this morning. They're really strict and don't want me to use AR or VR ever again, so I think...I'd like to be part of your family, if your aunt and uncle would still allow. I'm not too excited at the idea of being Yuuki Yuuki after all, and you've been reminding me more and more of my older sister. Like you're our long lost third sibling. I hope you're okay with me feeling that way..."
Kazu nodded and pet Yuuki's head gently.
"Of course it's okay. I'd be happy to have another younger sister. After all, I suppose that's what Suguha and me are as well, sisters through adoption..."
Yuuki smiled and hugged Kazu around the waist. She was still struggling through the understanding that her life had been saved. That she was actually, physically leaving the hospital. She entered the medicuboid with the understanding that she would most likely die in it, but she was going to be able to leave it. Kazu and Ela were her way out, and back to living a normal life once again. Ela was less known to her though, since Kazu did all the nursing work.
All of the Sleeping Knights guild were on their way to recovery. They wanted to compete with Alt eventually, so they refused to join the guild.
"Now, let's get you signed out and I'll escort you home. I have another job I'm starting today since I'm finishing up my education on being a nurse here."
Yuuki nodded and followed alongside Kazu, barely a few inches apart at the hands. Yuuki was tempted to take hold of her hand, remembering her sister lead her along before their terminal illness took the lives of her sister and parents. Depression took over the happiness and she retreated her hand from the reach she had started.
She knew that the Kazu with her was a virtual avatar, but the sense of connecting would have been enough for her if her depressing memories of what she had lost didn't return. She wanted to put those memories behind her. Not much further and they arrived at the bus stop nearest the hospital. It was cold outside. The fresh crisp air made Yuuki feel revitalized. Some good, fresh air was enough to bring her memories under control.
On the bus, Kazu seemed tired to her.
"Are you sure you should be working after this, Kazu-neechan?"
Kazu nodded.
"It's fine. I'll be able to rest during my work. I'm just tired since the others in the Sleeping Knights were so insistent on me attending to them as well. I'm no longer on medical staff anywhere after today, so I can finally take a break from working full time with that."
Yuuki pouted.
"Maybe my oneechan should just take a nice long break for once..."
Kazu shrugged.
"But then I wouldn't have been able to save you. There are good things that come from my actions, you have to admit. If I'm not doing anything, what's the point? I'll rest plenty when there's time for me to take a break. I've been sleeping properly, I just need to reach a point where the work load isn't so intense. That could be soon."
Yuuki sighed and leaned her head on Kazu's shoulder. She was tired too. She was just worried about Kazu because she was always pushing herself.
"What kind of job is your next one?"
Kazu hummed.
"Not sure. I've been told it's for developing AI, but that's the extent. Ela-san told me that for me it would essentially just be sleeping a lot. I don't have any idea how sleeping and developing AI would be linked, but that would also put you at ease as far as my energy level."
Yuuki smiled. It did make her feel at ease. She felt relaxed enough that she fell asleep against Kazu's shoulder.
Kazu relaxed a little, but not enough to return to her body. She watched the stops for the bus until they were a stop away from her neighbourhood. She nudged Yuuki both a little with the shoulder and in her AR device with a notification, which thankfully was enough to wake her up.
"Are we almost home, oneechan?"
Kazu nodded.
"Yes, we're just a little short of there."
She yawned and smiled. It was comforting to see her relaxed. Kazu had seen Yuuki show a lot of concern, worry and other emotions recently, but the relaxed state wasn't something she had shown recently. She was excited to go home, was working hard on her physical well being to be able to leave hospital care and she was talking back and forth with several people to figure out what her home situation would be like, where she would choose to go. Finally things would be able to calm down for her enough to have a normal life. She would no longer be the girl with a terminal illness. She would no longer have to abstain from going to school like anyone else. She would no longer have to hold back on the things she likes, and she wouldn't have to live 24/7 in virtual space. She was finally able to start moving forward with her life, and she was grateful every moment she could remember to thank Kazu, Ela, and anyone else who contributed to her finally having a life unbound from unique circumstances. She still had unique circumstances because of her past, but she was studied up for school, her grades put her into the grade at which she normally would have been for her age, and she was potentially able to keep up with most classmates physically, possibly surpassing them. She would need to keep it in check if she wanted to not stand out, but it was a gift, to be able to have a life like anyone else.
The bus slowed into a smooth stop, Kazu stood up and Yuuki followed her lead. The two of them exited the bus and Kazu led the way along the streets dyed vibrant orange by the sunset and they found themselves in front of one of the larger properties on the street. There was a dojo on the property, a good sized traditional house and three vehicles in the driveway. One of the vehicles was covered, and that was Kazu's motorcycle. Her aunt and uncle's vehicles were also in the driveway but not covered, both were cars.
Kazu continued leading right up to the entrance door and opened it, showing Yuuki in.
"I'm home~"
Kazu's voice was almost song like as she announced her arrival.
"Welcome back oneechan~"
Suguha's voice returned Kazu's greeting.
"Oh! This is Yuuki-chan?"
Suguha had met Yuuki before, but it was only as her virtual avatar when they were gaming together outside of medical attention times. The physical body was different from the virtual avatar after all.
"Yes, Sugu-neechan. I'm home."
Her smile looked so wide it might hurt.
"Oh right! Dinner tonight is one of Yuuki-chan's favourites! I'm going to get back to that. It should be ready in about thirty minutes."
Kazu nodded.
"Let's get you to your room, Yuuki-chan."
Kazu led the way up the stairs and down the hall until they reached the door across from hers. There was another door across from Suguha's room. The doors were all closed, and all but Yuuki's were labeled so far. Kazu and Suguha's boards signifying their rooms were very personal, showing a lot of things to their taste and probably fairly recent representation of their writing. The bathroom's sign was rather plain, but got the message across clearly. If someone was visiting and they said where the door was, the visitor only needed to glance at the sign to know they got the right room.
Yuuki followed as Kazu opened the door with the blank board, and they were in a cozy room with pastel purple walls, varied colours of purple bedding, and the rest was about the average expectation for a student. A good quality desk, shelves, a wardrobe, a large bookshelf, a fairly large window that took up a corner of the room over the bed, with enough space on the window ledge to sit there comfortably. There were more pillows than Yuuki could imagine using. There weren't any plushies or anything to signify the room was hers aside the colour purple being her favourite.
"I figure since you didn't have much for physical belongings when you were admitted to the hospital, you could use some things to make this room your own. First, I have a set of washable markers so you can decorate the board for your room, and...this."
Kazu pulled open the top drawer of Yuuki's wardrobe and held out a plushy on her hand that looked like a sleeping knight. The knight armoured up mimicked Yuuki's aesthetic a little, had eyes closed and peaceful sleeping expression while laying in a comfortable leg's crossed leaning back position. Kazu placed the custom plushy on the windowsill above Yuuki's bed and turned to face her, a shy smile on her face.
"I hope you like it. I worked pretty hard on making sure it was ready for today."
Yuuki had a happy expression on her face, she was nodding frantically and she walked over to take a closer at it on its perch. She was ecstatic. It was such a skillfully made plushy.
"I learned how to do proper stitching in between jobs. I wanted to also make some clothes, but the online classes I found centered around plushies. I think clothes would be easier, considering my virtual experiences and the fact there's so much more work to plushies than clothes. I did make a scarf too though."
Kazu went back to the wardrobe and pulled the closet door open beside it, taking the scarf off of the hanging bar and drooping it gently over her shoulders, winding it around to show how she had designed it. It was a beautiful combination of purple, white and black. The purple made up the majority of the colour, but the white was magnificently detailed snowflakes and the black border was a different quality which felt like it held the rest together, guided the scarf to hang neatly.
Yuuki's happy expression developed tears and she lost the happy smile at some point along the way. She was still happy, but she didn't know how to thank Kazu anymore for all the gifts.
"Th-thank you, oneechan..."
Kazu moved closer and held Yuuki in a firm hug, patting her head gently before she said anything more.
"Just let me know if you ever want something. I'll do what I can. Rely on me as your new big sister."
Yuuki nodded and wiped her tears away, a smile returning to her face.
"Now, let's get our faces and hands cleaned up before going down for dinner. I need to log out from the virtual avatar now, so I'll be wearing different clothes when you see me in a few seconds."
Kazu started walking out of the room and before her feet crossed through the door, she disappeared. The sound of her bed creaking from the other room was audible and Yuuki watched as Kazu walked out from her room in very cozy looking pajamas. She was somehow more beautiful. Her hair wasn't disheveled, she looked well rested, her pajamas complimented her figure and showed that she was developing very well on her transition, especially around her hips. Her chest was developing quite well, but she might not grow much bigger both because of genetics and because her growth there had been fast in the beginning but slowed soon after.
Kazu walked across to the washroom and washed her hands and face, hurrying downstairs to help Suguha. Yuuki felt she entered a daze. She had heard that Kazu wasn't originally a girl, but she only saw even in fairly vulnerable pajamas that she had a very feminine figure. It was pretty much natural for her to have transitioned, but Yuuki had no idea about the sciences and the details about someone needing to change their body from one to the other.
She followed Kazu's lead, eventually watching as Kazu helped set the table and finish a dish Yuuki's mouth watered at just from seeing. Just about everything was ready for dinner, the table nearly completely set with food in the middle of the five seats. It was a lot of food. Daunting.
"Are you already done that Kazu? Thanks, we're just about done then."
Yuuki hadn't sat down at the table yet. She knew that some people had usual seats they would take at a dining table at home, so she wanted to wait and find out where she should sit.
The sound of the entrance door opening drew Yuuki's attention away and the other two direct family members entered the house.
"Oooh, dinner smells amazing!"
"We're home~"
Kazu's aunt and uncle, Suguha's parents entered and they hurriedly washed their hands and faces in the downstairs washroom before returning and sitting immediately in their seats beside each other.
"Come and sit down Yuuki-chan! You look uncomfortable just standing there."
Midori's voice encouraged her and she saw where the spot was she was beckoned to. It was the end seat at the table while Midori and Minetaka sat beside each other. Presumably, Kazu and Suguha would be sitting beside each other. It was a very cozy family setting.
Yuuki sat and looked shyly at her new adoptive parents, bowing her head a little while introducing herself again.
"It's nice to finally meet you in person, mom, dad...thank you so much for taking care of me..."
Yuuki was about to start crying again but she sniffled and reigned it in so she wouldn't need to go and clean her face up again before eating.
"Of course. Like anyone else, you deserve the happiness and opportunities anyone else could have. We're just happy that you chose us. You had so many options you could have taken."
Yuuki nodded and sniffled once more. The smell of her favourite foods cleared up her sniffles just as Kazu and Suguha made their way over with one last dish and while putting away something in the fridge.
"Welcome home, Yuuki-chan~"
Kazu and Suguha both said the words in sync.
They sat down and everyone gave Yuuki welcoming smiles.
"Th-thank you for the food."
Yuuki blushed from ear to ear while making the motions and saying the words, beginning to fill up her dishes with a few of her favourite foods, starter foods at first. By the time everyone had their fill, it was fairly obvious that nobody had the appetite to finish the rest of the food. And there were some things that couldn't be reheated. It was a bit of a shame, but the food was all delicious and not one dish went untouched.
"I don't think I've ever felt so full in my life..."
Suguha had gone without holding back on the food until she felt too full to force another mouthful.
"I wish I could stay and keep you company longer. Unfortunately, Ela is calling me to go in for my new job. I'll be back in a few days."
Kazu stood up and left for her bedroom. They all knew ahead of time, but it still irked them that Kazu was leaving after dark for a job.
Kazu returned down the stairs in her favourite formal business attire and a suitcase with two changes of clothes and a set of pajamas and some other necessities. She loaded them up on her motorcycle, removing the cover from it and stowing it away. It took her about twenty minutes to drive to the location. The headquarters for Rath. She parked, seeing a strange vehicle hovering above the ground. She hadn't seen it yet, but she knew in the artificial lights coming from the building they were parked in front of that the strange vehicle belonged to Ela. For her to bring a vehicle, it was clear that she was there physically, with her new body. Kazu hadn't known she would be in Japan physically yet, so it was a welcome surprise.
Kazu hurried in putting the cover back over her motorcycle and taking her suitcase as she went inside. She saw a familiar face behind the reception desk and double took. She hadn't seen that face since her time in Aincrad. They had spoken a lot, but she didn't really talk to the rest of the guild. She had been a member in the end, but she stuck to her job as informant.
"It's been a while, Kirito-san. How is everyone in the guild doing?"
Kazu sighed and smirked.
"Everyone is doing pretty good for the most part. It's great to see you again, Argo-san."
Argo shrugged.
"I guess I shouldn't use your online name. Force of habit. It's great to meet you in person, Kirigaya-san."
"Agreed, Hosaka-san. But feel free to use my given name. I do consider you a good friend who supported me in a way no one else could back then. You supported everyone in the end through your information network."
She blushed and rubbed the cat ears of her headset.
"Well, Kikuoka-senpai is waiting for you in the back. You'll want to follow the signs that lead to the STL wing. And feel free next time to use my given name, Kazu-san."
Kazu nodded and headed forward. She found her way through the halls to the STL wing of the building in less than a minute. It was a fairly large building. There were so many branching corridors and paths that it was a surprise they could keep track of everything. There were so many prospective projects lying beyond the many doors she passed. She wondered what the projects were, but she didn't want to lose her way.
The inside of the STL wing was massive. It almost felt like she was arriving in some other world, full of computers and supporting machines. There was a large array of screens at the head of the room which showed some information, but the largest portion was a giant cube with several hundred small lights moving around inside of it.
Whatever was on the other side of the screen felt hugely significant. Like it might not even be in the building, but it was definitely real somehow. Just her first impression was running wild.
"Ah, there she is!"
Seijirou noticed Kazu first among the people in the room. There were at least another dozen people in there. Some of them, she recognized. Asuna was there, Yui, Ela, Shii, and Rinko were also present. She didn't recognize anyone else though. None but Ela gave the otherworldly feel, and it was rather easy to tell who was a virtual existence within the augmented network. Everyone else was physically there and not made of metal and circuitry beneath the surface.
"Welcome, Kazu-chan. Sorry about rushing you to get here."
Kazu shook her head.
"No problem. I would like to do my part here as quickly as possible."
Ela frowned, which made her nervous.
"Unfortunately, this might be a long job."
Seijirou nodded and walked back toward the group, leading the way between the computer stations to the main platform in the center. Kazu followed and looked back to the mysterious cube displayed through the screens at the head of the room.
Once she reached the platform, Asuna stepped up beside her and took hold of Kazu's right hand. Asuna already knew the situation fairly well, but she was ready to hear it again with Kazu.
"Well, it appears that we have some serious complications because of the basis of what we were approaching with."
Seijirou's introduction to the situation. He was mostly repeating what Ela had already said.
"The Alice program was to use the Light Cube as its basis of being able to give physical form and tangibility to AI we produce here. The Light Cube itself is a problem if we use Ela's formulas for raising bottom-up AI. Our technology here is something called the Soul Translator, or STL for short. We were going to convert the bottom up AI over to the light cube so we could more easily manage producing bodies for them, but that's an issue since we can't accurately track them either way. Ela-san's technology changes everything, but we can't abandon too much or the higher-ups will shut down Rath."
He was very stressed about it all.
"There is a way around it. It would just take a lot of work from both myself and from a few others in the development. First, we need to change the structure of the Light Cube a bit. Second, we need someone who has spent a lot of time in virtual environments with high natural adaptability reflexes, which would be Kazu. Third, we have the foundation set for the Alice project's virtual world so that part is done out of order. Fourth, I'm installing something into the program only Seijirou and I can control. I've been busy all day patching up security issues. I don't understand how you got this far without having a professional handling the security. I understand Higa is professional at hacking, but hacking and protecting from hacking is different from developing a no openings space."
Higa scratched the back of his head. He simply didn't have a valid rebuttal. He knew she was right. He had his skill set and he was good at it, but he had no idea how to create an online space that was totally secure. He also had to admit it was impossible for him to hack her. He tried for hours under her demand and he didn't get anywhere. He had no idea where to start. At the thing he was best at. He had been able to hack anything else, but when posed with the easiest challenge she could give him, he utterly failed and felt like he wasn't worthy of his position.
Kazu nodded, understanding her part in it. It was a little vague since she didn't know the details of her involvement yet. Asuna gripped her hand, telling her through sense of touch alone that there was something more she needed to know.
"Well, now that everyone knows the plan, I'm going to fill Kazu in on the details of her part since her part is crucial. Can everyone get to work on restructuring the Light Cube like I instructed?"
With some nods in response, she walked to Kazu and Asuna and passed them, heading to the back of the room where a seat protruded from the wall.
"There's a few details regarding your part in this which will make or break this. I am going to use suppression through the burst program to suppress your memories of this life while you're in there. Your memories you develop in there will not effect you out here since the suppression will work both ways."
Kazu was confused. To her knowledge, the burst program was for accelerating and decelerating perception of time.
"I can see the confusion on your face. It's because you're getting hung up on the primary intended functions of the burst program. Remember the most base function?"
Kazu sighed, nodding.
"Augmenting perception."
So Ela was taking that approach, she thought. Augmenting Kazu's perception so she doesn't accrue any negative side effects from the job. She really would basically be asleep the whole time. Because the her that would be helping with the project wouldn't be the her in reality. It would be the her which would exist within that virtual world. That perception, that branch of her wouldn't really be her.
"It seems you understand now. It's going to be working with the acceleration and deceleration bursting though, so it might not be 100% all the time, which is why I need to talk with you about this. There's the potential for bleed between perceptions. You might remember what happens there and the you in the project might get some of your memories here if your mind is too strong. I can work with it and correct it quickly if there is bleed."
Kazu nodded, understanding the problem.
"So if there's bleed at the wrong time and my perception here interferes with life there, I might ruin everything."
Ela nodded.
"So you understand. I'll need you to act and adapt in potentially very strange situations to keep the project from breaking. I would do it myself, but I can't honestly trust these people with taking care of the whole project while I'm in there."
Kazu nodded in response.
"I get it. Hopefully my acting won't be needed. I'm not sure I'll be able to fill the role of an energetic child, after all. Just in case that might be my role."
Ela motioned without the contact of scratching the back of her head. It was a signal that she was feeling awkward about the situation Kazu presented.
"You will be experiencing life from a young age and accelerating through much of life on that side. So, it's very likely that very situation could happen. How much time do you think you would need to prepare yourself mentally for fitting into any role?"
Kazu took a deep breath, closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
"You're not seriously considering this, are you? It sounds so dangerous. Playing around with memories and perception could lead to-"
"Mental disabilities or other mental health issues. I know. I'll need maybe an accelerated day to be fully ready if we can do that."
"Why are you continuing with this?! Even though it's so potentially dangerous to who you are right now?!"
Asuna was emotionally charged again. She had to be. Kazu didn't stick up for herself. She was more interesting in helping others than worrying about her own health. For Kazu's sake, Asuna needed to reinforce that she needed to be more careful. To not risk herself because there was someone who loved her the way she was and was terrified of seeing her broken from a tragic mishap during work and pushing herself so much.
Kazu hugged Asuna tightly and whispered into her ears.
"I already have several issues, so it wouldn't be anything new to add one more. There's not much more that would work with the issues I currently have. It's essentially without any risk to my health. I just need to be careful, stop, observe and act on the situation I land in when there is a bleed in the system."
Ela nodded.
"I would rather not risk your mental health either. I wanted to talk to you more about this too. You are much too self sacrificing. This is what I've meant for so long in seeing too much of myself in you. I was the same way and didn't start taking care of myself until my previous body was on the verge of death. I barely made it. You need to take care of your mental health. I might be able to find someone else-"
"But if you try to find someone else, you risk compromising your security you've been setting up, which is why you want to send in someone you can trust. I will be fine. Have some confidence in your programs. Have some more in me too while you're at it. It will all be fine."
Kazu's voice was relieving in tone, but it only made Ela more annoyed and Asuna more worried.
"Of course we're going to worry when you're being so overly relieving. It's unnatural! Stop acting to make this seem okay. It's a risk you don't need to take, so don't take it."
Asuna raised the tension to its limit and Kazu pressed their foreheads together gently, staring into her eyes.
"Believe in me. I will be fine, and I will come out the same person I am now."
Asuna closed her eyes, but it didn't last long before returning Kazu's intense stare.
"...okay. Be careful."
With that, Kazu kissed her and after a while holding their kiss, Asuna pulled away, deeply flush and out of breath while Kazu was far less out of breath. Kazu looked at Ela who sighed and led the way out of the large room and to a connecting area with a medicuboid.
"Let's get you in then. I do have another thing I could do for you if you want to protect yourself, but it might compromise the project. It's worth it if it saves you from mental damage backlash possibility."
Kazu stared at Ela.
"The additional measure I could take is to fully seal off your mind. It would mean that your mind would split off and this version of you would just be another version of you. There are several identity disorders which we could control this to develop instead of risking other things which would be more dangerous. In the worst case scenario, we could separate a fully developed identity into being AI data to have its own life unattached to you."
Kazu's stare turned into disappointment.
"And why didn't you mention this in front of Asuna? She's very likely still struggling."
"I will tell her. I needed to give you two a chance to have a heart to heart before you go into something like this. As much as you might think of it as another job, you do need to consider Asuna and yourself more. She's been stressing herself out over your sake because you have a horrible habit of ignoring your needs when it comes to others."
Kazu nodded.
"I'm just...determined to do what I can to not lose anyone else again. I'm terrified every time there's a chance to lose someone. That there was something I could do to contribute to preserving someone's life. My parents flash through my mind and I get fully reminded that I can't go through that again. And I've been having nightmares off and on which were more consistent when I was trapped in SAO. In these nightmares, it's as if I'm experiencing an alternate reality where I never transitioned, was a dense boy and dragged others into danger constantly. I lose so many people who are important to me in reality in those nightmares. I lost Sachi in those nightmares, and her friends from school. And so many others. I've changed history if those nightmares are what should have happened. I feel like I'm fighting desperately against fate. Especially with the medicuboid project. I was directly responsible for keeping Yuuki-chan alive. She could have died any day to her AIDS. If it wasn't for your long time preparing beforehand, I never would have been able to save her. You don't exist within the nightmares so maybe that's also of huge significance, but I don't want to have to rely on you forever."
Ela nodded.
"I understand. We really are far too much alike. We're the same yet not. Anyways, is there anything else you want me to tell Asuna for you before you go under?"
Kazu relayed a few things regarding a promise when she gets out of the job, and Ela smirked.
"I'll be sure to deliver it. Rest well, Kazu."
Kazu felt herself fade to sleep, and as if her soul had an unused chunk shaved off.