A/N: Here's the second chapter.

Insert standard carbon copy disclaimer of owning nothing here.

Kureha smiled at Laura's words. The smile, though brief, caused Laura to find herself returning it. "Alright, I'm going to wire you some credits. Use them to buy yourself a live ammo gun and some ammunition." Kureha swiped her hand to the right. Causing a holographic screen to block Laura's view of her. After a few moments, it disappeared. "It should be enough to buy a decent gun. I'd recommend a pistol for starters. It'll help you get used to how the gunplay in this game works." Laura could only mutely nod in acknowledgement to Kureha's words while pressing the holographic 'ACCEPT?' button that appeared in front of her.

To be honest, she didn't know how much 40 thousand credits would get her. But she wasn't going to deny the offered in-game currency. Nor the advice of Kureha, considering the massive gap in the experience between them. "I'll... get right on it." Laura finally said, her words somehow miraculously returning.

"Actually, now that I think about it, maybe we should go to Kirito's room first. That way we can just pick up a gun for you on the way to the teleport hub." Laura frowned at the statement. Going back to that man's room wasn't something that Laura felt particularly keen on doing. Even if Kureha would be with her. "It's only going to be for a few minutes. We have to come up with a plan, you know?" Kureha interjected. A serious expression on her face, "GGO isn't the kind of game that let's you get away with running off to do whatever. It's a free-for-all the moment you step outside of the Glocken."

The explanation served only to cause Laura frown to deepen. She wanted to argue Kureha's point. Say... something, anything, to get out of it. But nothing came to mind. Rational thought bringing no small number of recollections to the forefront of her mind. Each one proving Kureha's point one after the other. "... Fine." Laura said, crossing her arms and glancing back to the right. Already she could sense that she wasn't going to like the impending excursion. Especially given that every single one of Kirito's friends seemed to be extremely social. The kind of people to go out of their way to speak with others. That said, she already knew that she'd be bombarded by them for an explanation as to why she left so quickly. In the back of her mind, she could already imagine what it'd be like - Utterly bothersome.

Kirito's Room

It seemed like nothing had changed from the previous day when Laura surveyed Kirito's room. Everyone seemed to be as cheerful and happy as they were before. It seemed as though, to Laura, that time had seemed to stop when she left. And resumed the moment she came back. The only two guys in the room were sitting on one of the two couches in the room. Meanwhile, the other five people in the room that - Laura paused. There was someone new that she didn't recognize from yesterday. Amongst them is a very young girl with black hair. Dressed in a sleeveless pink dress, white gloves, and boots. Her presence surprised Laura. Considering the setting of GGO, it also confused her. Of course, it went without saying that Laura could care less about anybody that chose to associate with Kirito. Nevertheless, their presence served only to cause Laura to briefly wonder why she was there.

"Sorry for taking so long. I had to explain what was going on to Laura." Kureha said as she announced their arrival. Almost immediately, Laura felt immediately uncomfortable when the attention of the room became directed at the two of them. "Now that we're all - wait, where's Kirito?" Kureha paused mid-sentence. The question she brought up held no small amount of confusion as she looked around.

"Kirito had some quick errands he needed to run. But he'll be back soon." A girl with long blonde hair replied. She took a step forward and smiled at Laura. "It's nice to see you again, Laura." When she spoke, Laura felt a brief moment of confusion. Though it's dispelled almost at once after she had a good look at her. The white breast plate and utility belt with a white skirt attached to it are unmistakable. She was with Kirito at the Governors Office and also lead the announcement during the party of winning the tournament, "I'm sorry about what happened at the party yesterday. We didn't mean to overwhelm you."

"Yeah... it's fine. Don't worry about it." Laura replied with a curt tone. Slowly crossing her arms. In the back of her mind, she idly wished that her outfit had pockets. It would be nice to have pockets.

If her tone surprised the group, they didn't seem to pay any attention to it. Laura was ready to speak up when she heard movement behind her. "I'm back, is everyone ready to - oh, hey, you're here." The sound of Kirito's voice grated against Laura's ears. But she made a pointed effort too ignore the feeling. Yes, she disliked the man. Though she knew full well that it'd only cause problems, and draw unnecessary attention, if she immediately started arguing with him. Of course, that didn't mean she had a fair bit of difficulty with keeping herself from letting loose a biting remark.

The majority of the time spent within Kirito's room went fairly quickly. Kureha did most, if not all, of the talking for Laura. Even going so far as to introduce her to the rest of the group during the group introduction. As well as the plan for the search of the ArFA-Sys part. Which, unsurprisingly, appeared to be hidden in a underground ruin. However, during the explanation of said ruin, Laura noticed that Kirito and Asuna's apparent 'Child', the girl in a pink dress - Yui, continued to glance at Laura. Though she opted to simply ignore Yui and keep her attention directed at the map of the ruins. However, it wasn't until everyone was preparing to leave that Yui suddenly spoke up. Seemingly catching the group off guard.

"Excuse me, Ms. Laura." Yui said, stopping Laura from her hasty attempt at an escape, "Can I speak with you for a moment?" The request caught Laura off-guard. Knowing that the young girl was, in actuality, an AI. The initiative it took wasn't something that Laura had expected. Despite the explanation that Asuna, Kirito's girlfriend, gave. It sounded far too outlandish for Laura to believe. There's no real way to even prove what their saying. That said, she didn't trust them as far as she could throw them. If anything, what they really did was probably pay the developers of GGO an absurd amount of money to have a custom AI given to them. Then pretend that they smuggled the AI into the game. Regardless, Laura stepped to the side and allowed the majority of the group to leave. It wasn't until it was just her, Yui, and Asuna, that Yui finally spoke up, "Are you ok, Ms. Laura?" The question caused Laura's frown to deepen. It felt... unnatural. Looking at the AI as it looked back at her. An air of childlike innocence around her.

"Is... there a reason you want to know?" Laura asked slowly, glancing from Yui then to Asuna. Initially uncertain of what to make of the situation. But it soon clicked; This must be part of their roleplay or something along those lines. Laura sighed then shook her head. "Actually, on second thought, don't answer that." She said, "I'm not interested in whatever it is you and your boyfriend are playing at. If the two of you want to play house or... whatever, find someone else." Yui didn't show any reaction to Laura's statement. However, Asuna seemed rather offended. As well as preparing to say something. But Laura didn't feel in the mood to entertain the conversation any longer. "I'm only here to help Kureha and that's it. Not make friends." With that, Laura turned and activated the door. Teleporting to the main hub of the Glocken outside.

Glocken Weapon and Outfitting Shop

The first thing Laura did once she could move was begin walking straight to one of the many weapon shops that lined the sides of the main hub. One of which marked with a sign that simply read, 'Weapon and Outfitting Shop'. Inside were numerous holographic screens floating an inch or two above metal panels that lined the walls. With a small touch display just below them. Each screen displayed numerous different guns as well as their price, ammunition, and attachments. Several of these displays were in use by other players. All of which Laura took time to give a wide berth. Sticking as close to the wall as she could while dodging the occasional player who approached her until she found a display that wasn't in use.

"So many guns..." Laura muttered to herself. There were assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, and so on, that were for sale. Their prices as equally varied as the selection that laid before her. Several minutes passed before she found a pistol that fell within her small price range. She didn't pay much mind to its statistics nor caliber of ammunition. Only that it fell within her price range. As well as Kureha's suggestion of being a 'live ammo gun', as she had said. Once she bought the gun, she touched a button on the display that read 'Outfitting'. After a moments pause, numerous outfits and tactical gear flooded the display. Though to Laura's dismay, almost all of it appeared to be out of her price range. If only she could just find a - "Nevermind, I need to get going." Laura muttered to herself after switching back to gun display. Using the rest of her money to buy spare ammunition. Laura had wanted to buy a new outfit. The one given to her as a new play, a white cropped jacket over a metal breast plate and red/black outfit felt too out of place. Seemingly announcing her presence for all to hear and see. "I guess this is it for now..." Laura sighed after sliding her new pistol into it's holster on the small of her back, "Time to go."

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you!" Laura had precisely two seconds to register the statement before her whole world was enveloped in metallic purple. Another second later, she felt the life within her begin to gradually fade as said metallic world crushed down on her. If it were possible, Laura would cry out for help. But that became an impossible feat the moment she was enveloped.

"Mmph!" Laura struggled to fight the purple metallic world the surrounded her. Using all her might to push and squirm. Suddenly, the purple metallic world around her vanished. And she inhaled deeply. Sucking in all the air she could. "W-What the hell are... you... trying..." Laura began to say with great irritation. But she gradually trailed off as she began to get a good look at her assailant.

The woman that stood before Laura is easily a head taller than her. A wide grin on her face and hand on her hips. She wore a full, partially armored, body suit with a cut out revealing her cleavage. The body suit it self bore all the trademarks of a custom color design. Which, to Laura, explained why the world temporarily became a single, solid, shade of metallic purple. "It's nice to finally meet you! I'm Strea!" The mystery woman, Strea, said with enthusiasm, "Kirito asked me to be your partner for exploring the ruins!" The mention of Kirito caused Laura to frown. But she opted to not say anything. Instead keeping her focus on Stra. Whom made a gesture with her hand. A moment later, Laura noticed an alert appear in her vision. "Go ahead and accept the squadron invite. Your friend Kureha has already joined." Strea explained with a hand on her hip. The other hovering over her own holographic display.

When Laura hit the 'ACCEPT?' option, two health bars appeared under the one in the upper left corner of her vision. One had Kureha's name above it. The other, had Strea's. Knowing that Kureha would be with her made her feel a lot better. As well as tolerate knowing that Kirito had evidently sent this Strea person to accompany them. In some weird way, Laura felt like Strea had been sent been sent to watch her. But she quickly dismissed that notion as being paranoid. It didn't even make that much sense to begin with.

"Ok! Let's get going to the remnant wasteland, Laura!"

A/N: That's it, thanks for reading!

Make sure to leave a comment with any criticism you have, it'll be greatly appreciated!