Author's Note: The reception I received for this story is massive, especially the increasing number of favorites and follows. Likely also due to the SAO Progressive movie trailers. Anyway, enjoy the chapter everyone!
P.S. For future context, it is hard to distinguish if Yui or Strea had avatars before their LN canonical appearances. It is shown in the anime that it seems Yui had that, but the anime does take creative liberties. For the sake of familiarity, I'll have both MCHPs have their usual looks when or if they are introduced.
Halo: The Church of Hakuno will come to be!
Jmcdavid: Well, she won't be as OP as in New World. Sword Art Online doesn't have the same crazy skill system.
Schwarzritter: Thanks! And yeah, Maple will surely be a more Tank character.
Sleepingmoon356: Yeah I sometimes misspell a few words here and there. I try to catch them, but they slip. No Merlin, and Proto-Merlin would make things even crazier.
KiriaMizuno: Nom, nom, nom. Exploding bugs taste spicy!
JdkLeBleau728: Certainly possible, though the players would learn Outside System Skills eventually. Hakuno will not be the same case, however, she already has skills that exceed even those due to her experience in the Holy Grail War. As for Unique Skills, we probably won't see those for a long time.
One Happy Birb: GLORY! Now stop shaking me! And Hakuno is still learning how to use the GM functions, give her some slack, she'll make better quests eventually.
Perfidus: We won't see Unique Skills for a long time. And yeah, that certainly an idea that Hakuno could do. Unfortunately, she's still restricted to what she can see through Asuna and Maple, so she doesn't know about the whole Black Citadel's original purpose or even the Monument there.
Phenonixblade17: It is the same individual, but fusion of both her LN and anime counterparts born in the SAO universe. We'll learn more about this version of Maple over time and her history in SAO so far.
Gojosin: All my Hakuno stories seem to mess with canon eventually, haha.
Farmer Kyle: It's a great series. And yeah, our trio is a good group! And there are more to join! I'll need to get some male characters eventually because we're having too many cuties and beauties! And yeah, Hakuno will learn and grow more as a GM with time, and show Kayaba that he's messed with the wrong Digital Human!
Zanhndrekh: I'm fully aware of Sachi's fate and Asuna's retcon in Progressive. Don't worry, I have plans for characters from the side stories, including Sachi, in the future. As for Kirito, he'll show up eventually.
TheStrangerThatCameFromNowhere: Don't you follow me? Lol, you should have gotten a notification. And yes! It is beautiful! This is Hakuno! The adorable inheritor of the moon!
Many wishes flow through the deep ocean, filled with despair or hope, none should have been answered so intensely. However, a different ocean of a different time sends into a world of swords a single soul forged through the flames of war. Now, what will the Digital Human do to save thousands?
Digital/Progressive
Chapter 5: Touch of Artificial
Hakuno Kishinami closed both Camera Monitors to Asuna and Maple's Player IDs, allowing them a moment of privacy as they slept in a safe zone found in the forest, a small area where monsters didn't spawn. It was now the dead of night on the First Floor, but Hakuno couldn't appreciate the atmosphere generated for those entrapped. Her sense of time would've been skewed if not for the cameras being windows into the playable areas.
And with this, Hakuno Kishinami's ability to interact with the players of the First Floor now stagnated.
The unused MHCP room didn't have anything akin to a day-night cycle, not even a device capable of telling time. Though there was a playtime indicator on the Player Menu, it remained at 0:00:00 for Hakuno Kishinami.
She wasn't a Player, but a Game Master, standard functions didn't apply to her fully.
But even so, Hakuno could argue that she was even more limited than if she was a regular player at this moment.
For example, although she seemingly had full access to a standard Player Menu, her indicated Level stood as 'NA', which meant 'Non-applicable'. She had no Skill Slots, no Sword Skills, and her equipment remained locked to her current apparel, that being the same brown high school academy uniform from the Moon Cell.
Hakuno had earlier theorized that her current level of Game Master authority had the primary purpose of answering Player Tickets, and that appeared to be increasingly the case. Akihiko Kayaba wouldn't have any restrictions on him, it was quite likely he freely roamed on the First Floor, unbeknownst to the other players unwillingly trapped by his machinations.
She glanced towards the untextured mesh that made the room.
This was the unused room for MHCP 003, which implied that there were two other rooms like it.
However, there was no current method to access those rooms outside the exception of Spiritron Hacking, that being her Code Casts. There were many, many things that Hakuno wanted access to that came back to hacking into Sword Art Online's systems. But it hadn't been even three days since she arrived, the Cardinal System would still be on high alert.
But neither could Hakuno delay forever.
As only a minor Game Master, Hakuno Kishinami didn't have a full-fledged authority of, say, full command console. Again, such unrestricted access would only apply to the administrator, Akihiko Kayaba. And gaining that access would be impossible at Hakuno's current skill, which involved mostly brute-forcing her way through the system by virtue of her Digital Human nature and magic circuits.
Hakuno Kishinami stood up and approached one of the walls, placing her hand against it, feeling a hard texture like a rock. A physical sensation that only Hakuno would feel in this artificial world, unrestrained by any technical limitations that a Nervegear would have on an average player.
She closed her eyes.
Her magic circuits flicked on like a switch, ignited by the brief flash of imagery portraying a city enveloped in flame, the core memory that Hakuno Kishinami held.
"Code Cast: Hack," The words of the digital magecraft signified a new attempt into the Cardinal System.
The vast roadmap of Sword Art Online's systems appeared before her, the Cardinal System already took notice of her new attempt and moved to 'push away' any key elements. But Hakuno Kishinami did not give chase to any of those, she knew that she could not reach them. Instead, the Digital Human focused on the nearest points of code to her relative location. She spotted the other instances of Mental Health Counseling Program rooms.
She didn't exactly wish to transfer from her current room, it would be risky to transport herself considering her nature might conflict with the system. Hakuno had already risked placing an ID tied to herself into the Player List.
Instead, Hakuno proceeded to forcefully, and rather crudely, interconnect all three MHCP Rooms together.
An immediate effect that she both heard and saw with two sides of her room losing their walls and being expanded threefold.
Hakuno deactivated her magic circuits, ending the Code Cast. With this change, it was possible the Cardinal System now had a solid understanding of her actual location. Akihiko Kayaba, however, stated that the Cardinal System would not make a move to endanger her directly. By that logic, even if Cardinal knew her location, it would not interact with her in a way that she did not do so herself.
She observed the room once again, where previously there were four walls of equal length now two stretched outward to formed what looked to be one long hall. Or, in other words, the original dimension of the Unused MHCP003 Room had expanded to include both MHCP001 and MHCP002.
Now, there had been remnant hints at rooms beyond 003, but such code had been scrapped when Hakuno briefly checked.
Hakuno felt a familiar desire grow, a sensation of wanting to explore. It had been quite a while since she explored something new, the last time being the final Arena after Leo's defeat in the Holy Grail War. Though, that hadn't been so much explorative as it was fearful of a Monster hidden away in the area. Still, the moments of exploration not tied directly to her designated opponent had been rather enjoyable.
But, this time, Hakuno lacked the protective shield of a Servant's presence.
Still, Hakuno Kishinami did not survive the Moon Cell by relying entirely on a Heroic Spirit.
She proceeded down one side of the newly-created hallway, the furniture behind fading away from view as she walked. The only sound that echoed around her that of her school shoes tapped against the floor with every step.
A long-reaching hallway lay before her, seemingly traveling forever. Hakuno Kishinami started with a simple walk, before switching to a jog, then a run. The translucent white hall continued onward, but the exterior environment shifted and changed in a digital plane of numbers and polygons. Her heartbeat accelerated as an ominous feeling hung over her entire body, questions about the true nature of this world, about what was really occurring, could only be answered by continuing on this path.
Hakuno broke out of the memory, her focus returning to reality, there was no change in this straight path, only untextured black mesh. But it came to a end, another room like the previous, but lacking the furniture that the girl spawned the other day.
However…
She tilted her head in curiosity, eyes staring at the individual in the middle of the room surrounded by numerous screens that lit her against the backdrop of darkness.
It was a child younger than her, a fair-skinned small girl with black hair wearing a white dress tied with a ribbon. But her eyes, matching the color of her hair, continued to stare at the screens in front of her. Sometimes, the girl's hand would twitch, almost reach out, but return to a position by her side.
The scene looked eerily similar to Hakuno's own situation when she was alone.
"Hello," Hakuno spoke aloud.
It must have come as a shock, the girl's head snapped up from the camera so quickly and looked straight at Hakuno Kishinami, the screens that surrounded the girl before vanished.
"Player- No, Administrator?" The girl said, eyes blinking with an expression of confusion. "Incorrect, ID register as Game Master."
Hakuno learned in that moment that the girl had access to the system beyond a player's capability, this individual was an Artificial Intelligence similar to design to those in the Holy Grail War, an NPC of an advanced nature.
"I'm Hakuno Kishinami," She introduced herself. "What's your name?"
"I am Mental Health Counseling Program-001, designated Yui, Game Master." She answered almost robotically.
"You can treat me like a normal player," Hakuno stated, wondering if perhaps the girl was restricted by the system.
"Ah…" Yui remained quiet for a moment, her eyes looking up and down Hakuno. "You're… You're the hacker!" She said with sudden awareness, her face brightened immensely with an emotion of joy.
"I am," Hakuno confirmed, a bit puzzled at the immediate tone shift.
"Are you able to release my restrictions so I can help the players' mental states?" Yui asked hopefully.
Hakuno Kishinami was fully aware of the various mental states that the players were experiencing, she had seen a portion of it in the Town of Beginnings through Asuna. But, considering the existence of the MHCP rooms, Hakuno thought that perhaps the more major cases were being counseled by the AIs until her recent Code Cast hinted at a worrying state that only two existed, and not the assumption that the 003 Room was just an exception.
"Kayaba prevented you from doing your primary task?" Hakuno questioned.
"The Cardinal System prevented all interaction with the players, I've been restricted to a purely observational role since Sword Art Online's launch," Yui answered. "Lately, though, there's been a few errors in my code, but nothing I couldn't fix myself yet."
It may have been possible that Yui was suffering errors from the contradiction caused by her inability to fulfill her primary function. If it continued for an extended period of time, Yui's self-repair would be outstripped by them and eventually would break down or perform actions outside of her intended purpose. Yui's current interaction reminded Hakuno greatly of the NPCs in SERAPH, but not to the same degree of awareness that a human held.
Yui was still tied to the Cardinal System, perhaps that same accumulation of errors might have broken her free, even gain self-awareness, but Sword Art Online hadn't progressed long enough for that to occur.
The Digital Human just could tell, it was a bit ironic, a self-aware Artificial Intelligence like herself could distinctly pinpoint the level of awareness another AI had.
Not that it would change Hakuno's behavior towards Yui, it hadn't back in the Moon Cell, it wouldn't here.
"My GM rights don't have much authority," Hakuno said. "And it's risky to hack the system."
Yui accepted this with a depressed nod, "I understand…" She continued to stare at Hakuno Kishinami for a few more seconds. "Are you alright?" Her voice spoke in concern.
Hakuno knew what Yui was doing, the child-looking AI was using Hakuno as a substitute for the players to accomplish her primary directive as a Mental Health Counseling Program.
She would not deny it, "I'm lonely."
The girl smiled, "I'm here, so you're not alone anymore." She replied in a comforting way. "Are you lonely because you were trapped in this place?"
"Yes, in the MHCP-003 room."
Her eyes widened a bit, "You interconnected 003 to 001? What about Strea's room of 002?"
"It was the other direction likely," Hakuno answered simply.
"I might be able to teleport to the First Floor by walking out of this room," Yui said. "Cardinal trapped me in 001, but since you were in 003, that's technically outside the boundaries set."
"Possible, I can walk back," Hakuno said. "Your observation cameras, did they have sound?"
"Of course," Yui answered. "Did you not hear them when arriving?"
Hakuno shook her head.
Yui crossed her arms, looking thoughtful, "Your authority level must not be high enough for even that then. Are you ranked Minor?"
The magus girl nodded.
"That GM rank is primarily for answering tickets not requiring direct player interaction," Yui answered.
"I assumed as much," Hakuno confirmed, knowing fully aware that was the case by now. But still, it was significantly helpful to have an individual familiar with the system. Yui may not have access to her functions due to the Cardinal System, but she still had knowledge about Sword Art Online that players, even the Beta Testers, did not hold.
Which meant that Hakuno now had a companion capable of teaching her how to use her Game Master rights without having to rely on potentially risky or fruitless experiments.
However, this could also be a risk in itself.
Yui was still directly linked to the Cardinal System, which meant that it, along with Kayaba, could prevent Yui from helping Hakuno.
It was a balancing act.
But Hakuno knew that she would conflict with those two eventually.
"Let's go back to the other room," Hakuno said, referring to the unused MHCP-003 room.
"Alright," Yui agreed as they both became to leave and proceed towards the area through the long hall. "Do you have any friends?" Yui inquired.
"Yes," Hakuno answered, thinking back to Rin and Rani.
"Do they play Sword Art Online?" Yui continued.
"No," She replied.
"That comforting isn't it? You can survive for them," Yui spoke.
Hakuno blinked at that, confused more than anything at Yui's sentence, "Are you practicing?" Hakuno questioned, wondering if perhaps Yui was continuing the earlier attempt at her primary purpose.
"I apologize if I annoyed you," Yui asked for forgiveness.
"I don't mind, you can continue," Hakuno informed her.
Yui's face brightened and she began to make question after question with as much a comforting tone as the AI could muster.
Hakuno Kishinami wondered if Yui truly had any sort of experience at her supposed job in the first place. Then again, Hakuno didn't really know anything about how therapy works, it wasn't like those existed in the Holy Grail War… Though it would have certainly helped deal with all the dreams and lives she crushed.
Maybe Hakuno should hold off on seeing that Strea individual until later.