Sorry for the delay! Grad school just started recently so I've been getting adjusted. This chapter may sometimes feel like retreading for readers of Part 1, but I made sure to include some newer information and developments as well. Hope you enjoy!
Best,
EF.
2
Skeletons/Specters
Asuna
Underworld: Cardina, Centoria: August 3rd 2027
17:37
A crowd's gathering to gawk. Cratered sidewalks, broken windows, glass shrapnel littering the street, and the biggest eye-turner: two integrity knights carrying each other out of the front lobby. The sliding glass doors open to the clamoring streets outside.
Integrity pilots section off the crowd with yellow tape barricades. Eolyne stands in front of it all, cross armed with Stica at attention beside him, and her gaze twitches between Eolyne and us. I can't read Eolyne's face because of the mask, but I've held that pose before—in SAO meetings after a raid went terribly wrong.
Eolyne focuses on Alice. His shoulders relax. "What's your status?"
"I'll be—all right." Alice grips her left arm and sighs. She needs rest. Although, knowing her, she'll never admit to it.
"And the rest of you?" Eolyne looks between Eydis, Kirito and I.
"We've seen worse." Kirito answers.
"All right." Eolyne pauses a moment as the murmurs of the crowd across the street fill the air. He sums up his next words. "What happened?"
"The assailant." Eydis speaks up. "He was here."
"Zizek?" Eolyne snaps to Eydis. He ponders.
"No, someone else. It seems they came here to silence Zizek." Alice stands on her own. Eydis relaxes her support and lets her.
"Zizek is—" Stica pauses a moment to take it in. She must've noticed Zizek isn't present.
"I'm sorry." Even after everything, I couldn't heal him. I couldn't even give comfort before his passing.
Eolyne walks between us and starts for the lobby entrance doors. "Show me the scene."
"Yes sir." Eydis accompanies his side. The rest of us follow, but Kirito sheds a glance back toward the crater in the street, the spot Alice and Eydis fought Zizek's assassin.
I know that look, when Kirito looks back on the past, replaying every moment for a chance to prove it was his fault for not being able to save someone.
But he's wrong.
I take his hand, and his black eyes turn to meet mine. "Hey," I say. "You did the best you could."
Kirito squeezes. "Yea, you too." He still looks back as we step into the empty lobby.
"You said it was the bellboy?" Eoylne analyzes the surroundings. He vaults over the front counter and checks behind the desk.
"Yes." Alice answers.
The elevator carriage rings. Men and women in the same navy military dress as Stica file out. They stop at attention in Eolyne's presence.
"Commander on deck!" One of them shouts and clicks their boot heels together.
"Aye!" The rest salute in unison.
So, there were other pilots in the building.
"Integrity Pilot Zizek has been killed in action." Eolyne steps back over the counter and approaches his pilots. They stiffen their posture as he paces down their row. "I want every part of this building thoroughly searched for any signs or evidence left behind of his attacker. This must be handled with expediency and care. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir! Yes sir!" The Integrity Pilots break salute and formation. They start splitting into groups amongst themselves.
Eolyne turns to us now for a private conversation. "Back here." He leads us back over the front counter. Did he find something already?
We follow behind the commander, each of us clambering over the front desk. Hidden monitors with security feed on each floor reveal themselves. It's all lined under the main counter, and obscured from our side earlier. That means the bellhop could've seen everything outside Zizek's room when we arrived there.
"And there's more." Eolyne directs a finger to further back—to the door where the bellhop first came through to greet us. Some type of worker's break room? Eolyne paces to the door's edge and opens it ajar. He swipes a finger across the inner edge. It's subtle, but matched beside his white gloves, the marking on the door is distinguishable: a dried blood stain.
He surmised all of this after stepping behind the counter for a moment?
"The bellhop came out from back there." Kirito wonders as he checks the stain beside Eolyne. He stops when he considers the implication.
It's only a feeling, but I catch Kirito's thought too. I think someone might be back there.
Eolyne and Kirito push open the door together. The room is dim with only an overhead light, but splayed out on the floor, a limp body wearing trousers absently stares into the light. Their temple looks smeared in dried blood.
"This must be the real bellhop." Kirito leans over the body.
Eolyne tsks. He leans over the body and closes its eyes gently. "Looking at employee listings for the killer will likely be a waste of resources and time."
"Cameras?" It's a slim chance.
"I'll have someone comb through." Eolyne looks to Stica. She nods and has a seat behind the counter to get started. "But more than likely, if they already had access behind the counter, there's no way they'll have left footage. We'll have better luck using a time-based sacred art to see into the past, but that'll take time and resources." Eolyne slouches on the doorway and slides down to the floor. He doesn't show it behind the mask but—
He removes his mask. Bags and wrinkles are under his crystal blue eyes. His resemblance to how Kirito's described Eugeo is uncanny, but that restlessness—it reminds me of how Kirito looked when he came home after the war. Eolyne just looks down.
"Sir? Are you ok?" Eydis speaks up first.
"Yea, I just—need a moment." Eolyne turns and looks at the body. The sounds of bootsteps echo from the lobby between elevator chimes. The entire building is in motion, just like the thoughts probably racing through this room. Actually, I think Eolyne's may be at a loss.
"Eolyne." I crouch to his level. He and Kirito have the same gaze when an obstacle gets in their way. "This isn't on you. We'll figure this out, together. We just might have to take a moment to regroup and rethink."
"C'mon." Kirito offers a hand. "Stay cool."
"Thank you Asuna, Kirito." Eolyne takes it and stands. He pats his military trousers. "Stay cool, huh?"
"Just a—saying." Kirito chuckles, but there was something in that pause. I'll have to ask him later.
Eolyne nods. "Before he died, did Zizek say anything, and I mean anything?"
"He said—Failsafe." But I don't know how that helps. Eolyne's face stiffens. His cold blue eyes meet mine through the mask.
"Failsafe? Are you sure?" Eolyne asks.
"Does that—mean something to you?" Kirito asks.
Eolyne bites his glove. "Failsafe." He murmurs. "Failsafe…"
"Eolyne?" Alice poses the question again with sterner tone.
Eolyne sighs. He looks between Kirito, Alice, and I. "Failsafe—take that name back to Dr. Rinko and your outside world. It might have some significance, but only they can say for certain."
"How do you know it's a name?" Eydis wonders.
"I'm hoping it's not." Eolyne answers. "In the meantime, we'll comb through here, see what we can find. Maybe the time-based sacred art will yield some results. We'll reach out to Dr. Rinko for you guys when we find something."
"Wait, hold on," Kirito steps in. "Eolyne, what is it you're not telling us?"
"Kirito." Eolyne sighs. "Do you trust me?"
Kirito shuns himself for a moment by holding back what he wants to say. It's like the way Alice questioned him before, questioned how he sees and trusts Eolyne. The resemblance to Eugeo probably makes him think he's compromised.
But love for a missing friend isn't a weakness. "Yes." I answer on behalf of both of us. "He means to say yes. We'll find what you need to continue investigating."
Eolyne nods to that.
"I'm staying here for now," Alice says.
"Really?!" Eydis practically squeals.
"Huh? Alice, are you sure?" Kirito asks.
"I want to do all I can for my home." Alice nods. "I have a few ideas for how."
"We can do it together!" Eydis rubs shoulder to shoulder with Alice.
"E—Eydis." Alice sighs.
"Sorry, sorry." Eydis backs away—only just a bit.
"Suit yourself." Eolyne walks out of the break room and leans over the counter beside Stica.
Kirito looks to Alice. "Be careful."
"You too." Alice nods. Her blue eyes take me in. "Both of you."
I think I know the other reason she wants to stay, the same regret Kirito's feeling right now. Alice just nods to me.
"Hurry back or we'll catch the bad guy withoutcha!" Eydis grins.
Asuna
RATH (Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean): August 3rd 2027
19:12
The pinpoint of light peels away into darkness, and I can hear the low humming of the STL above me. The weight of my body returns. I'm back.
I slide across the foam cot and out from under the cuboidal machine as I readjust.
Kirito slides out to get his bearings as well. And Alice? I look to my right. She looks asleep, in fetal position. She's really staying behind. I guess the rest is up to us on this side.
"Kirito? Asuna?" Dr. Rinko's heels click into the room before she walks in, dressed down in sweatpants and a lab coat. Behind her, a woman with braided brown hair and glasses in a nurse's uniform: Nurse Aki.
"What happened?" Dr. Rinko asks straight away. She checks Alice. "Why hasn't Alice woken up yet?"
"She's staying behind for a little while Doctor." I slump off the bed.
"Huh? Why? What happened?" Dr. Rinko walks up to and crouches in front of Alice. She brushes one of Alice's golden hairs aside while Alice stays unresponsive.
"It was her choice." With all the motherly attention Dr. Rinko's gives Alice, I don't want her to worry. "She's staying behind to help."
"As long as it's what she wants." Dr. Rinko sighs.
"Dr. Rinko." Kirito slides out. "Does the name, Failsafe mean anything to you?"
Dr. Rinko raises a brow and frowns. "That's a name?"
"Or an alias, maybe." I clarify.
Dr. Rinko shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry. That doesn't ring any bells. Why?"
"We may have encountered the assailant." Kirito answers.
"And his last victim's words were Failsafe." It's hard to look away from the mental image of Zizek struggling to breathe or how his last words crawled away from him before he died. In the end, were his last words credible? Did he try to make things right? "Eolyne said it was a name."
"Eolyne said this?" Dr. Rinko rubs the back of her head.
"Yes ma'am." I respond. What's Dr. Rinko thinking of? If she doesn't know what it means—
"Let me make a few calls." Dr. Rinko stands up. "I don't know what it means, but—no, it's more like a hunch for sure—something tells me I might know someone who does."
"Who?" Kirito asks.
"Nurse Aki? Could we have the room, please?" Dr. Rinko turns to the nurse.
"As long as I'm not needed in an emergency. It was good to see you two again." Nurse Aki smiles and exits. The sliding door to the STL room slides closed.
"I'm going to make a call to Kikuoka." Dr. Rinko bites a nail.
"Kikuoka?" Kirito sits up.
Great. Anything having to do with Kikuoka likely takes us down a sketchy path. Although, I guess in this situation that is who we need. "But why him specifically?"
"I can't say." Dr. Rinko admits. "It's just a gut feeling that he should know something."
"I understand." Kirito slowly finds his footing as he steps off the bed. "What can we do in the meantime?"
"I'll have you both go back to the mainland for now." Dr. Rinko answers. "You've both been gone long enough from your regular lives. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get Kikuoka to meet you—if he knows anything."
I look back at Alice lying down. While Kirito and I return to our lives, Alice and Eydis, and everyone else are still investigating. "Will you two be all right without us?" It feels like we should keep working.
Dr. Rinko nods. "Yes, you two have already been a big help, and I'm sure I'll have more questions for you later, but for now, let's get you both home."
Asuna
Tokyo, Yuuki residence: August 3rd 2027
22:05
It's so late, and the moon's out in full. Mother's going to kill me. How am I going to explain the past 24 hours? Another VRMMO incident? That won't fly with her.
Should I explain how someone died on my watch?
"Asuna?" I hear Kirito's muffled voice under his motorcycle helmet as we drift down the empty streets. Streetlamps flare above as the wind resistance howls. "You ok? You haven't said a word since we got back to the mainland."
"Just a little tired." That's technically true, with all these thoughts and information flowing through my head, and then the thought of getting home so late, or what Kirito's going through too. "How about you?"
"Yea, same." He only says. The street starts to look familiar; we must be close. Down the block, there's the concrete border and fence to the Yuuki household.
I don't want to let go of Kirito's waist just yet. It's the first place, the first moment where I've felt able to breath all day. But the bike pulls up to the house entrance. He drops the motorcycle's kickstand.
"W—wait, will your Mom be mad!?" Kirito suddenly catches up to my concerns. "It's so late."
I chuckle a little. "We'll probably hash it out."
"I don't want to get caught up in it! Should I come inside with you to apologize?" Kirito offers.
That might actually make things worse. "No, no." I finally let go of his warmth. "I'll handle it. You should get home right away too. I'm sure your family's worried."
"R—right." Kirito sighs.
We both remove our bike helmets at the same time. His black eyes gaze into mine, and we both manage to smile. "We did everything we could, right?"
"Of course." I kiss him on the cheek. "And there'll still be more to do."
"Well then," Kirito stays close. His warm lips kiss mine. I hold my breath for a moment and close my eyes until his lips pull away.
"Thank you." I don't even know why I said that, but I know it's how I feel.
"Goodnight, Asuna." Kirito smiles.
"Goodnight." I finally let myself swivel off the motorcycle seat and pull away from him. "Text me to let me know you got home ok?"
"Sure thing." Kirito puts his helmet back on. His gentle eyes disappear under the black visor. He lifts the kickstand and starts the roaring engine as he waves goodbye. With a sputter from the rumbling tailpipe, he starts down the street on his way home.
I know his father will probably give him the most trouble. He's supposed to be preparing for college entrance after all.
"Asuna?" I hear the front door squeal open up ahead. Mom must've heard Kirito's bike.
"Mother, I'm home." I walk down the cobblestone walkway to the two-story modern-house. I see Mom under the doorway with dim lighting behind her. She still has her red business suit and makeup on.
"Why are you coming home so late?" She crosses her arms.
Right, explanation time. What was I going to say again? That kiss earlier swept my thoughts—crap.
"Young lady?" Her voice is rising, not good.
"I was—helping Kirito—and Dr. Rinko."
She relaxes—only a little. "Well, that's very admirable, but you still should have called."
Does the Ocean Turtle even have open reception to call? I'll have to ask Dr. Rinko next time. "I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again." I bow before her in the doorway, but as I look up to her, her brown eyes soften. "Mom?" That's unlike her.
"Sorry, just—work all day." She makes way for me. "Would you like to finally come in?"
I nod. "I'm home." I walk inside and slip off my shoes. From the hallway I can see that only the dining room light is lit. I probably missed dinner. I walk past the dining room. A lonely plate waits on the table. Across from it, my mother's work laptop.
She walks inside behind me as she slips off her red blazer. "I wasn't sure when you'd be coming home." She was working as usual—but she also waited for me. "There's some food you can reheat in the kitchen.
"Thank you, mom." I wade to the table and grab my plate.
"Try letting me know if you're not going to make it to dinner on time next time." She finds her place at the table with her work laptop. Her fingers tap keys, and the usual quiet and contempt atmosphere starts, but her typing hands stop. "It seems like we both had pretty long days."
"Yeah—yeah it was." I stop to absorb the surprise moment of connection. "Can I tell you about it?"
"Dinner first. You need to eat. Then we can talk." A thin smile breaks.
"Right."
Kirito
Tokyo, Kirigaya residence: August 3rd 2027
22:45
"Onee-chan." Suguha complains in the doorway. She has on her pajamas and a sleeping mask strapped to her forehead. She rubs her eyes and yawns. "Why are you coming home so late?"
"Sorry, Sugu." Honestly though, this is better than dad answering the door. "I was doing a favor for Alice and Dr. Rinko."
Suguha steps aside to let me in. The house lights are off. I step in and slip off my shoes.
"Is everything all right?" Suguha asks. "Do you and Alice need any help?"
I pat her head and caress her short black hair. "If I do, you'll be the first one I call, ok?"
"Promise?" She gazes at me with grey puppy-dog eyes.
"Promise." I chuckle—wow, I really needed that. "Now let's get back to sleep before we wake Mom and Dad up."
"Before you do. I was already half-way asleep before I heard you come in." Sugu whispers. "You're lucky Dad didn't get down here first."
"He'll still probably give me an earful in the morning."
"Just leave for your internship at RATH early tomorrow, before he wakes up."
"And keep running from the inevitable lecture?"
We silently climb the steps to our rooms. I lay my feet flat across the wooden floorboards to dull out my footsteps. The coolness of the house lulls me. My bed is calling after a long day.
"Ya know," Sugu whispers. "He might go easy on you if you at least look like you're focusing on your studies."
"I am focusing on my studies." I yawn.
"Sure." Sugu smirks. "When you're not playing hero."
"Psh. Go back to bed."
"Goodnight onee-chan."
"Goodnight Sugu."
Her door slowly shuts without a creak. I make sure to do the same to mine.
The lock clicks. Safe.
The room hums. I turn around. My PC's power, I left it on—well, I didn't expect to be out all day today. I click off the power button. Monitors are off.
I sit on the bed's edge, facing my bookshelf and my rustic Nerve Gear on the second shelf.
All of this, from that.
I wonder what Kayaba would say about the current state of the Underworld. Did it expand beyond his dreams—beyond that castle in the sky, or did he foresee something like this happening? Did he see a harmony between both worlds in that dream?
What would you think, Eugeo?
Kirito
Tokyo, Kirigaya residence: August 4th 2027
9:35
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
Too early. More sleep. I'd rather keep to the dark under these warm blankets, or at least stay motionless for a while. Yeah, no moving, just—being still. We were out so late last night.
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
That might be Asuna. I forgot to text back last night, but she'll understand; it was so late. Just, a few more minutes—
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
My eyes feel so heavy. That's a sign. I need more rest.
"C'mon, stop sleeping in so much, Kirito!"
Eugeo? I flip the covers over. Sunlight filters through the blinds and blue curtains. Chilled air sweeps across my exposed legs and sends shivers. I pull the blanket back over—well, not all the way. I'm already up, I guess.
I look around. All quiet. No sounds from downstairs either. Mom and Dad must've headed out already, and Sugu's probably practicing kendo in the dojo.
My phone.
Crap! Gotta text Asuna back—I flip the bright screen over on my headrest: missed call, unknown number.
Telemarketer?
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
They're calling again—that's not a telemarketer—Kikuoka? I pick up. "Hello?"
"Kirito?" It is Kikuoka. "I'm sorry to call so many times in the morning, but I spoke with Rinko just now—you're certain the name you heard was Failsafe?"
So Rinko was right.
Kirito
Tokyo, Sweet shop: August 4th 2027
12:00
Stop twiddling your thumbs; don't look nervous.
I scan around the sweet shop again: pink pastel walls, a noisy register with cakes and cookies on display for customers perusing, and packed booths all around. The air smells like sugar.
I feel bad for taking up a table by myself. Every time we meet, Kikuoka finds a new sweet store—and he's always late.
Bzzt.
Probably Asuna. I pull out my phone.
Asuna: Should I head there too?
Nah, I'll just relay what Kikuoka says later anyway. Besides, her Mom probably wants her to stay in today after last night. I text.
Asuna: Ok.
"I hope I didn't keep you long, Kirito-kun." Kikuoka creeps behind me. "How's Asuna doing?"
"You're late." Don't keep me waiting and then eavesdrop, dude.
Kikuoka comes around the booth and has a seat. He adjusts his clear-framed glasses. "Right, sorry, it's just, this is my first time at this place, so it was a little hard to find, but I hear the chocolate mousse is fantastic."
He's a child.
"Did you order something yet?" Kikuoka asks.
I'm afraid to look at the menu anytime he sets a place. It's probably overpriced. I finally garner a look at the pamphlet in the window. I peek—2000 yen?!
"May I take your order, please?" A waitress comes to our booth.
"Let's see—uh, I'll have the strawberry mousse." Kikuoka presents a smile; he didn't even look at the menu—has he actually been here before? Why lie? Just say you're late.
The barista scribbles something in. She turns to me. "And you?"
I don't want to pay. "Uh—"
"It's on me, of course." Kikuoka offers as usual.
"Thanks. I'll have the chocolate mousse."
The barista nods and walks away.
"Good choice." Kikuoka crosses his hands and rests his chin. He takes me in for a moment with calculating eyes. He presents another smile. "You know, once you're in college, you can start paying for our outings—consider it a rite of passage into adulthood."
"I don't know, I might be a little busy—" I can't come up with another excuse.
Kikuoka chuckles. "Well, hopefully academics will be your only concern by then. To be honest, I was surprised when Rinko reached out and told me you and Asuna had gotten involved in this."
I lean across the table now. "What have we gotten involved in, exactly?"
Kikuoka unfurls his fingers. "You want the long version or the short version?"
"As many details as it takes to make sense." Obviously. What does Failsafe mean, and what does it have to do with attacks on the Underworld?
And why should Kikuoka know about it?
"Well," Kikuoka sits back. He deeply sighs and stares up to the ceiling before removing his glasses. He wipes them with his black tie and readjusts them to his head. "We'll have to start at about one year ago."
"During the Underworld-?"
"After." Kikuoka immediately corrects. "When you and Asuna were comatose, after we'd stopped the Acceleration phase."
Something else happened? "What else happened during that time?"
"A lot," Kikuoka says. "A lot I didn't tell you." Kikuoka stops to search for words, for where to begin. "It all started after Kayaba's reemergence on the Ocean Turtle."
"Yeah? Rinko told me he saved everyone there."
"Well—I chose to pursue him." Kikuoka explains. "I figured Kayaba on the loose like that would be far too dangerous in our world, especially with how widely adopted VR's become after SAO. Seeing him interacting with our world—frankly, it shook me."
"You—chased him?" It's hard to imagine Kikuoka chasing after Kayaba. How would that even work? He's a digital ghost, and although Kikuoka's spent time in VR worlds like Alfheim, what he's describing is more—ambitious.
"Not me, just a team." Kikuoka frowns. "A team I initially put together to find out what Kayaba was up to, and, if necessary, stop him."
"So then—what happened?" And why the secrecy? And why tell me now? "What does this have to do with 'Failsafe'?"
"After tracking Kayaba's activities, the team uncovered a plan of his—to bridge the gap between our world and the virtual world."
I was thinking about this last night.
"I see that look on your face, Kirito-kun." Kikuoka reads me. The pleasantries he hides behind in his smile are gone, just the glare reflecting off his glasses. "Except, Kayaba's plan included too many potential casualties. He wanted to indoctrinate players into performing high-output scans on themselves, to spend their lives in the VR world across the SEED, a brute force method to force integration. Have people walk in the artificial fluctlight's shoes, I suppose."
"What? That's ridiculous." I know Kayaba's ambitious, but to repeat the same mistakes from SAO—"No one would actually go through with that, right?"
Kikuoka stays silent.
"Right?" There's no way. Kayaba's success probability was 1 in a 1000 when he did it. Even if he somehow managed to make the odds more favorable—"Kikuoka?!"
"Kirito-kun, please keep your voice down, just a little." Kikuoka shushes.
How could I not have known about this? There's just no way—"How many players?"
"By the time it was over, at least 35 successful scans. I don't know how many failed. I've been kept out of the loop on that much."
"You mean how many died? How can you not know?" How could he only be telling me now?
"Because a deal was struck with the Ministry of Defense to keep the matter secret—it's all complicated. I'm only telling you now because—well, because of Failsafe."
"What is Failsafe? How does that name fit into all of this?"
"That team halted Kayaba's plans by stopping the arbitrator of it." Kikuoka removes his glasses to look me in the eye. "And that arbitrator, was an A.I. of Kayaba's creation: known as Failsafe."
"A real A.I., bottom-up? Like an artificial fluctlight?" I ask. I didn't know Kayaba ever possessed something like that.
"Think of it more like something akin to Yuuna, an A.I. program base with the emotional data of a real human being—well in its case, more like several."
"Several?"
"Emotional data—from every dead SAO player." Kikuoka drops weight off his words.
Every player? "That's—thousands of people—thousands of memories in one program? That shouldn't even be…"
Even Sachi?
"You can imagine with that much, an A.I. could perform multiple high-demanding functions. It took everything the team had to take him down and place him in Ministry custody," Kikuoka says.
"Then what happened to the players afterwards?" The casualties and collateral damage of hundreds going missing—it's too large to go unnoticed.
"Your cakes!" The server interrupts and slides two saucers across the booth table with delectable slices of mousse wafting strawberry and chocolate aromas. If it weren't for the conversation, I'd be salivating.
Kikuoka gives a loud sigh.
"Are-are you dissatisfied with your order?" The waitress stammers while recoiling back.
Kikuoka waves it off. "No, no, not you." He puts on that smile like a mask and sets his eyes dead on hers. "Just a long day. Thank you for the service."
It's hardly noon.
The waitress frowns but bows and hurries away.
Kikuoka turns and faces the window. For once, he's not touching his cake right away. By the handle in his palm, he swivels the teeth of his fork across the saucer and watches pedestrians pass by.
Is he going to tell me what happened to the players? "Kikuoka?"
"My understanding is that they—started to relocate them. I was kept out of the details on how. I just know the people involved."
Or he just didn't want to know for plausible deniability. "Relocated where?"
Kikuoka turns and looks me in the eye. "The Underworld, by a deal between the new vice minister of defense, that team—and the commander of the Integrity pilots."
"Eolyne—knows?" How much does he know? Why wouldn't he tell us?
Was Alice right about suspecting him? Not for the attacks, but-
"Kirito?" Kikuoka leans in and scans me again. "Something about that bothered you."
"We'd met with Eolyne, the commander of the integrity pilots, when we dove into the Underworld yesterday." I recall.
"And? What did he have to say?" Kikuoka asks.
"He told us nothing about this." I lean back and feel the weight underneath me. I could sink through the cushion and fall deeper still. I know he's not Eugeo. I know he's not. So, I shouldn't have the same expectations, but still—can I trust him? His reaction to the crime scene seemed so genuine.
Kikuoka leans back and finally digs into his pink mousse. I guess having the pressure put on me instead of him in the conversation brought back his appetite. "If he'snotsnaring detalls, you'll maftogo tofanext bespershon." Kikuoka mumbles with a mouthful.
"What?"
Kikuoka swallows and draws a napkin to clean the pink crumbs off his lip. "If he's not sharing details, you'll have to go to the next best person."
"How?" I thought Kikuoka liked to stay out of ministry contact since he faked his death record.
"Don't worry." Kikuoka cuts into another slice as the ceramic square plate squeals. "I'll set you up for someone to meet. Someone who was there the day Failsafe was captured, and who stuck around for the cleanup."
Miles (Mylo)
Tokyo, Cemetery: August 4th 2027
13:30
The grave markers look freshly cleaned, both the marble and the granite. My reflection stretches across bronze stenciled words:
Here lies Ravyn Laboue, soothing as lavender. Mother, wife, friend.
Dark skin, locks tied back, and brown eyes gaze back across the headstone's reflection. I'm looking more and more like them, his slender cheeks, her eyes.
I'm glad.
"Did you leave a prayer yet?" That sounds like Umbra's light teasing tone. She can't help it; it's just the natural inflection of her voice, even when she's serious.
"More like meditating actually." I turn. Her raven black hair shimmers in the afternoon sun. A breeze passes over the grass fields and through her longer bang. Her blue eyes smile.
"Yo, Miki," I say.
I watch her stuff her hands in the pockets of her black trousers and strut towards me, but her lip frowns. Something wrong? "What?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing, just feels funny when you call me that."
"Sorry, that's what Arimoto-sensei calls you at home, anytime it's about work and teaching."
"Oh? What does he say about me?" Umbra leans against my shoulder like the first time we met in ALO—that's the body language she has when she's fishing for something. "A good eval I hope?"
Called it. "If you have to ask, are you doing a good job?"
"Hey." She punches my arm and separates, but with a smirk. "I just don't want him to think I'm distracted. Working on my therapist license takes up all my time."
"I know." And I admire her so much for taking that path. "You're amazing for doing that."
Umbra scoffs.
"What?"
"You mean that?"
"Of course!" I half-heartedly chuckle. Did I sound fake?
"Sorry." Her tone suddenly drops with her gaze.
What? "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, I just—I've had a lot on my mind lately." Her attention turns to Mom's headstone, and then the entire lot. "Especially after coming here—after seeing him and Alice in our class the other day…"
Another breeze rolls through the grass and rattles the trees. Their shade washes and wanes over the plots. Her attention returns to Mom's headstone.
"Were you thinking about the relocation effort?" It must be, or it's about losing her best friend, or backing out of VR affairs, or all of the above.
She sighs and crosses her arms.
So it is about that.
"Yes. No. I don't know." Umbra rests her head on my shoulder. The wind kicks up and brushes her raven hair across my cheek. She tidies it back.
"You're always welcome to come back and help. I'm sure the others would—"
"I can't." Umbra finishes before I can. She raises her head.
So, she's sure about that at least. "Sorry. You're right, I know you're busy getting your license-"
"No, no, it's just—I think I still need some time away from VR." She politely smiles. "I know it might be selfish-"
"Whatever you need." I don't want to pressure her to do otherwise. After all the work to relocate those players—the strategist who helped put it together deserves a break, and to get as far away from it all if she can.
"You mean it?"
"You deserve to be happy."
Umbra gazes on Mom's grave again. Her body language fixates there. About one year ago, we stood in the exact same places when they lowered Mom into the ground. That was after Kayaba, after Failsafe, after all of it.
"Look, Miki."
She stays fixated there.
"You've done more than enough. If anything else happens, we can take it from here." I reassure her. People have started moving on with their lives, she deserves a chance too. I take her hand. "My prayer's finished. Lunch?"
She gently smiles and brushes her longer bang. "I thought you were just meditating?"
Cheeky. "Same peace of mind."
Miles (Mylo)
Arimoto Residence: August 4th 2027
17:30
"I'm home!" I slip off my boots at the front door as the baby's crying reverberates across the wooden walls and floorboards. The high pitch rings in my ears. Pots and pans bang with lower resonance, but the sound scrapes across the kitchen counter along with steam and the scent of fresh vegetables.
I look toward the crying. At the baby seat of the tall wooden table, center room, sits Arimoto Elsa, Arimoto-sensei and Julia's-sensei's 13-month-old daughter.
"Miles, can you grab your god-daughter?!" Julia-sensei shouts above the commotion.
"On it!" The freshly waxed floor squeaks under my footsteps.
Water sizzles on the other side of the countertop edging the wall as Julia-sensei wrangles a boiling pot of water over the stove. She draws her frizzled black hair back into a new bun, then resumes checking over her work.
"Elsaaaa." I sing in a similar tone as my dad would've. Her big brown eyes take all of me in. She claps as she cries, and I can tell then—she wants someone to hold her. I scoop her small body out of the chair and cradle her in my arms with a bounce. "There we go. Were you crying because you needed some attention?"
She hiccups and whines down. It's working.
Now, the next crisis. I check toward the kitchen as Julia-sensei finally puts cookware down and wipes a brow.
"Thank you." She sighs. "To be honest, I think the crying made me more stressed than usual."
"Well, she's got quite the pitch." I make eye-contact with my god-daughter again. "Are you trying to be like Yuuna someday?"
Elsa just gazes back, both emptily and with wonder—what goes on in baby's minds when they stare like that?
Anyways— "Arimoto-sensei's not back yet?" He's usually home by this time—per his agreement with the university, only two sections of lecture and virtual office hours so he can be home while Elsa's growing up.
Julia sensei turns from the cooking and watches us with her steady brown eyes. She smiles briefly between Elsa and Me.
"What?" I ask.
"Oh, nothing." She wipes her hands with a dish towel. "He called a little while ago and said something important held him up at work."
Held him up? "Did a student have some moral conundrum while interpreting Shakespeare?"
"Oh, you know that'd make his day."
"Yeah…" I sigh. He might be late for dinner then. But that gives me some time to—
Just then the door knocks, but it sounds less heavy than Arimoto-sensei's, like someone younger, smaller?
I turn to Julia-sensei. "Were you expecting someone?"
She shakes her head. "Was Miki planning to come over?"
"I walked her home already." I wade to the door with Elsa in hand. Geeze, I hope this isn't a Ministry check-in. The men in suits always spook Elsa.
I shift sideways and lean in with my free hand, revolving the doorhandle—It doesn't usually feel this cold and brittle. The door squeals open, and on the other side, stands a skinny boy with black hair and searching black eyes. Behind him, Arimoto-sensei juggles twin messenger bags and his off-kilter clear framed glasses.
"Who is it?!" Julia-sensei shouts from the kitchen.
"Arimoto-sensei's home! And…" The Black Swordsman?
"I brought a guest home for dinner if that's all right?" Arimoto-sensei shuffles past who I'm assuming is Kirito, nervously stepping aside to let Arimoto-sensei through. The hero of Aincrad shuffles his gaze between Arimoto-sensei and myself, and then, he awkwardly stands erect in the doorway until he notices I'm watching. His eyes spread wide, and he bows.
"Kirigaya Kazuto! Please pardon the intrusion! I had a meeting set up with Arimoto-sensei on campus and he invited me over here instead!" He stays down but inches a squinting eye up toward us.
"And he gave you a lift along the way?"
"Yes sir," Kirito says.
His body language reads timider than Kikuoka's portrayal of him in the files and incident reports, but—I can tell—behind those eyes, there's experience, and with that, a certain wisdom, just like-
"One of your students, hon?" Julia-sensei asks.
"Hopefully soon!" Arimoto-sensei taps my shoulder. "Make him feel at home? Maybe show him a good spot for star gazing later?"
Code: take him somewhere to talk later. A conversation outside our Ministry bugged house. "Sure." I pat Arimoto-sensei back. "Welcome home by the way." I pass Elsa off to her dad; she deserves to feel that for as long as she can. Arimoto-sensei coos as he huddles inside and past me. I chuckle, then look to back to our guest. "Well, don't stand out there all alone. The professor invited you in, Kirito."
His eyebrow arches. He cautiously walks by, and I catch his glance turn toward me as he passes.
Ooops, slipped. I can't fake closeness with someone meeting me for the first time, but still, after this past year, he's familiar—well, the older one at least.
Kirito
Arimoto Residence: August 4th 2027
18:05
I don't mean to be awkward, but I feel like I'm totally intruding, an intimate family dinner at the table, an extra seat pulled up just for me on Kikuoka's whim. Arimoto-sensei said it'd be no problem when Kikuoka called Arimoto-sensei, but still—I don't think the other two expected me, or even know what I'm doing here. Do they think I'm one of Arimoto-sensei's students? Also, what are the odds that he would be tied to Failsafe and the Specter incident? Alice and I were just in his class a little while ago—is that why he took an interest in us?
He didn't say much either when he picked me up from home or on the car ride here—all he asked me about was school; he didn't talk about himself.
And another thing, the one named Miles spoke to me very familiarly. Have we met before? Maybe he and Kikuoka just work together, so he knows of me?
I wish I'd brought Asuna or anyone for backup. I'd rather fight floor bosses than sit at this quiet table with strangers. The screech of utensils over ceramic plates fills the silence for a while.
"So, Kirigaya—" Arimoto-sensei starts before taking a bite of the last few vegetables on the plate. He has a similar carefree attitude as Kikuoka, but there's also a retention of genuine empathy in each glance he gives, especially with his glasses off. "Have you given our conversation on imagination anymore thought?"
"Oh, uh…" I didn't know there'd be a quiz?!
"You don't have to answer that right away." Miles speaks up. I turn to him—darker brown eyes, slim cheeks like Agil's with the top of his head in locs loosely tied back. "He just gets a little excited is all."
"What? I didn't think it was intrusive. Kiriguya, does the topic of incarnation and fate not interest you?" Arimoto-sensei sets his utensils down with a soft clang.
Incarnation, a perfect Segway. "Well, it's interesting you brought that up, because—"
"Now that one's a trap." Julia laughs. "Give him any answer and he'll start raving all night."
"O—Oh?" So much for speaking up.
"Old man, don't pressure him; he's probably got other things on his mind than school." Miles jokes.
Yes, and I'd very much like to let you all know. "Well, actually, there was something I wanted to ask—"
"Oh, honey," Julia cuts in again. "If you've finished already, can you help with cleaning?"
"Of course." Arimoto-sensei sighs. "Kiriguya, next time?"
Arimoto-sensei immediately gets up from his seat before I can get a word in. "S—sure." Should I wait until after dinner to talk with him? Didn't Kikuoka tell him about the situation over the phone?
Maybe I should just be upfront now. We don't have time for formalities—but these people also seem nice—a bit weird, but nice—are they the ones with intel on the Specter incident? Nothing about this setup strikes me as anything covert, just a family, a newborn, and me invading their dinner.
"Kirito." Miles' tone takes a hard shift, a heavier voice.
I turn toward him at the table. His cheery exterior evaporates to a colder, more attentive stare. "We really appreciated you coming by, but next time, a little more notice would be nice."
"Ri—right. Look, I wasn't trying to intrude or impose, I was just told to come here for—"
Miles' chair squeals before I can finish. He stands up, bearing over me. "I'll see you out, ok? We're a little busy at the moment."
Wait! "One quick question! I'm here to ask you about—"
In one swift motion, Miles' hand clamps across my mouth and his forearm forces me to the wooden floor. His weight—his strength—I can't get up.
"Everything ok in there?" Arimoto asks.
"Everything's good!" Miles relays back, but then switches tones as his brown eyes gaze into mine.
"Go." Miles whispers and lets himself off.
What the hell? I dust myself off and stand back up. Miles doesn't move closer, just watches, and not with aggression, but fear. Behind him, the baby absently watches, and the clanging of pots and pans—Julia and Arimoto-sensei are still washing dishes, away.
I don't want to leave without answers, but as I stand in front of Miles—and the responses of everyone else in the house—it all feels like the front of a brick wall.
Eolyne then.
I start back to the door. Julia and Arimoto-sensei have their backs turned while washing dishes. Miles paces beside me to open the door, but I slip past him. "Thank you all for being so accommodating." I walk out into the warm nighttime air and cricket chirps.
Was Kikuoka wrong?
I hear the door open behind me and turn. Miles steps out in sneakers and sweats. He glances toward me, but then walks by without a word. He starts down the empty street under the lamps.
"Whatever." I should tell Asuna. I reach into my pocket—something's there—a paper, napkin? I pull and unfurl it to reveal chicken-scratch writing:
"Not here. Aoyama Cemetery"
When did—I look up. Miles has already turned somewhere down the block and vanished.
He was heading there. But why the secrecy?
I start with a jog.
Kirito
Aoyama Cemetery: August 4th 2027
18:35
I'm out of shape. I should've walked.
"You sound out of breath." Someone calls from the dimly lit gravesite.
I look up from my non-running shoes. Miles leans against a street post hovering over a plot.
"Sorry about earlier. The Ministry doesn't pay us much mind these days, but our house is still bugged." Miles sighs.
"Bugged?" I pause in between breaths. "Why—why is your house—bugged?"
"Do you—want to sit down first?" Miles cocks an eyebrow. "We could find a bench, or—"
"No, no, I'm all right." I need answers. "Tell me about Specter."
"Specter?" Miles asks.
"Kikuoka told me—"
"Ah, it was Kikuoka then." Miles starts down the gravel path of the gravesite.
At least we're moving at a slower pace now. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"All I know is that Arimoto-sensei brought you home and told me to bring you out here, away from the house." Miles pauses his gait and scans across the graveyard. It's almost like he's still checking if we're clear—what does the Ministry—and which department—have on them?
"Actually, that's not entirely true. I'd been meaning to reach out to you for the longest, but there's been several life-developments," Miles says.
"Reach out? Why? Did Kikuoka tell you about me?"
"Initially." Miles turns and smiles under a pathway lamp. "And because Asuna and Shion told me good things."
What? Asuna? "Wait, how do you know them?" She's never told me about this guy. Neither has Shion.
"We met during what you called 'Specter'. They didn't know it at the time, but we were in the middle of an operation to put a stop to it; they helped."
"Unknowingly?"
"Right."
Everything about this feels shady. Sure, that's Kikuoka's wheelhouse, but first there's the way Miles acted both before and at diner, and then the fact that he lied to Asuna to get what he wanted. It feels like his emotions—his persona—can change at the drop of a hat. Can I trust him to tell me what really happened? He's still delaying talking about it, I've noticed.
I hate this feeling, this uncertainty, like the power-scales are entirely shifted in his favor. I try glancing at Miles' to read him, even a little. The surrounding nighttime darkness hides everything behind him, but his facial features, the brown eyes reading me back, they all glow under the tiny lamp as moths flutter over his head. I catch Miles tracing my line of sight up there as he looks up to watch them.
"Miles," I need a straight answer; I need him to trust me somehow, or give him some piece of information that settles the urgency of what's happening in the Underworld. Anything, think. Think. Think.
Think about what brought you here in the first place. "What does Specter have to do with Failsafe now?"
Miles grunts. "Failsafe?"
I think that got his attention. "That was the name someone uttered during their dying breath in the Underworld. Do you know about it?"
"The Underworld?" Miles murmurs.
"A virtual world where your senses are indistinguishable from that of the real world, where real bottom-up A.I. liv—"
"I'm familiar." Miles stuffs his hands in his pockets and sighs. "They said Failsafe?"
I nod.
"Failsafe doesn't have to be a name though. It could've been code, a jumble of words, an incomplete sentence, or any number of things—they were dying right?"
"Both Kikuoka and Dr. Rinko assumed it to be a name."
Miles frowns and bites a nail. "Damnit."
Enough dancing around. "Tell me what happened; tell me what I need to know. That's why Arimoto had you bring me out here, right?"
Miles cautiously glances towards me. He looks me up and down, and then again before rubbing his chin. He sighs with a slight grin. "Well, this day may have been coming one way or another." He turns his full body and attention towards me. "Failsafe was an A.I. program developed by Kayaba Akihiko, and it's primary function was to indoctrinate players to perform high-output scans on themselves." Miles looks out toward the darkness. His eyes glaze over the gravesite, quiet beside the buzzing lamp. "We had several encounters with it, and it took something akin to a raid to stop it. It had the memories and skills of almost every dead SAO player and the capabilities of hacking or adjusting the cardinal system to its advantage."
"And then? What happened after it was taken down?" How could it be out causing trouble now?
"It was turned over to the new Vice Minister of Defense in return for Arimoto and Julia-sensei's 'freedom'."
But their house is bugged? "What were they in for?"
"Nothing." Miles seethes while looking out. "The old Vice Minister was corrupt scum and wanted nothing about Failsafe to get out to the public, especially after the ALICE reveal. When he found out our team was getting close to ministry secrets: abduction of minors, sanctioned killings, internet blackouts—he kidnapped the Arimoto's and held them prisoner until we cut a deal." From the side profile, I can see Miles' eyes scowling. "Otherwise, we would have wiped Failsafe, not handed him over, Kayaba and that Vice Minister be damned."
"Kayaba?"
"He was in on it too," Miles says. "He let us take Failsafe and deliver it to the Vice Minister, but he re-tooled it as a Trojan horse, and once the ministry had it, Failsafe stole swaths of their data and uploaded it to major news outlets across the net."
"If that's the case—why haven't I heard about the Specter incident anywhere else?" If news does exist, everyone should know about it, right? It would've been news on VRMMO today, or—
"Because it only covered the Ministry's crimes." Miles shuffles his shoes across the gravel and looks down in shame. "All that effort—Failsafe's went under the rug. Anything having to do with players performing high-output scans, snuffed—only the kidnappings went public. We took down one criminal, but let another one go free."
"Failsafe?"
"Kayaba." Miles frowns and sighs. "Once the prior Vice Minister's crimes were exposed, someone new took his place. They honored the prior agreement we had for Arimoto and Julia-sensei, but on one condition—"
"To never speak of it?"
"And to help clean up the mess." Miles adds. "Arimoto-sensei and special Ministry forces went door to door finding the families of the players who'd scanned themselves, offered compensation to them, and then had them sign agreements to keep quiet."
I can't imagine, being a parent and keeping quiet about losing your child—that couldn't work—it shouldn't.
"To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if their houses were bugged too." Miles sighs.
"And you were ok with this?!"
"Far from it." Miles snaps back with eye contact and an intense glare. "But the Arimoto's had been good to me. They were the only family—" Miles pauses, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath to recompose. "The rest of us did what we could on the digital side of things."
"In VR?"
"Of course." Miles nods. "You can do all the information wiping on this side, but it all falls flat when you've suddenly got about a hundred players living in the VR world games."
"So—what did you do?"
Miles leans his back against the post and looks up, watching the moths. "We did what we could—we offered counseling services, built a guild to house the ones who needed it, and eventually—relocated them to something that resembled more of a life."
"To the Underworld?"
"So Kikuoka filled you in on that," Miles acknowledges. "Yes, we relocated them to the Underworld, a virtual reality so real, they could start up a new life there, at least until we figured out a way to bring them back to their normal lives—if they wanted."
"Is that—possible?" A.I. going back and forth between our world and VR—it seems like a dream-
"Doesn't Alice already?" Miles retorts.
I've gotten so used to it—sometimes imagining everyone being able to do the same thing as Alice- "It just seems so far away still."
"I learned from someone to stay a little optimistic." Miles smiles.
"Asuna." I smile just a little imagining her spirit carrying on in all the people she meets. Crazy.
"Nothing's ever so far out of reach as we think. If we can imagine it, we can make it so," Miles adds. He slides down the post, takes a breath, and has a seat on the sidewalk. That position—it reminds me of Eolyne's reaction when we found the crime scene a day ago.
I take a seat beside Miles. None of this sounds easy to recount. I'm sure the memories feel heavy—I know mine from SAO still do sometimes.
Miles takes a deep breath. "Even after everything, we believed we were doing good work. We had the new Vice Minister on board, the Integrity Pilot's captain, and a few others that'd been involved from the start." He nods to himself. "We had to smuggle the players in through the exchange program, but we got everyone over to the other side. They live there now."
That conversation between Eolyne and the parliament on Cardina—the names on the roster. "It might not hold for much longer."
"What?" Miles asks.
"Recently there was an attack on the Underworld, and it was right before a vote to allow more real-worlders in." I still think this might be the intention behind the attack too- "That gave them notice about irregularities in the roster of who comes in and out. They may be onto your players."
Miles stands, steps off the light pole and skips a breath.
"That means it isn't just the Underworld in danger; it's also the players you relocated." If it's true.
"How do you know this?"
"A meeting between Cardina's Parliament, and Eolyne." I want to be transparent with Miles after everything he's shared, and besides, I still need one piece of information. "If Failsafe is the culprit, how can he be captured? If we bring him in, maybe they won't look into it anymore."
Miles rubs his chin in deep thought. "I suppose in the Underworld he could be captured more easily, since he can no longer split his programing around like before, but—I'm still not convinced it could be him, I'm sorry." Miles approaches me as his tennis shoes crunch the gravel. "If you can give me a week or so, I can check in with the Ministry of defense—they're supposed to be the ones holding onto Failsafe. I can check whether or not he's on the loose."
"If they didn't tell you already, would they really tell you now?"
"I have ways of finding out regardless. I just need to get in there."
A week's time—more carnage could already be inflicted on the Underworld by then—it could be going on right now—and I don't expect Alice and the others to sit idly by for that long if they find something on their end.
We need to be ready to dive in the next two days at least to check in. "I really appreciate it Miles. Let me know if you find anything." No harm in working two fronts—just like with fighting on the front lines in Aincrad, and then solving the mystery in the safe zone—I can come back to this thread later.
"Sure thing." Miles nods. "Thanks for letting me know about all of this. Do you need someone to walk with you back?"
"I think I'll be all right, you?"
"I'm going to stick around awhile. Take a moment to think." Miles waves goodbye and walks away. "I've got Asuna's number still, so I'll reach out to her for yours. Get going, and good luck." Miles starts down the gravel path, his back and features fades into the dark.
"Sure." I manage. My head is spinning, there's so much to unpack—shadowy government operations, deals with Kayaba, relocation. I should go over this with everyone—in VR. It's not safe to talk to Asuna or Sugu about this at home.
Home. How do I get back from here quickly? "Yui?"
Miles
Aoyama Cemetery: August 4th 2027
19:00
Failsafe might be back—is this Kayaba's doing? Is the deal we made with the devil coming back to haunt us? I lean back against Mom's headstone and feel the briskness in the nighttime air. For a moment the heat of summer faded, or maybe it's just the chills running through my fingers.
I'm on edge; need to calm down; need to act.
First thing's first. I need to get everyone together—
But Umbra—she said she wanted time away. And Arimoto-sensei and Julia-sensei are taking care of Elsa now. Should I ask them to dive in and handle this? Who knows how messy things could get? I still remember when the black vans came for them.
I reach in my pocket and unfold the augma.
"Yuuna?" We'll have to make do with who we've got on hand. "You get all of that?"
A flurry of sparks and glitter illuminates the dark cemetery with a white glowing silhouette: long flowing hair, twin ponytails in braids, and a small slim figure with a one-piece dress. The details fill with color. The hair stays white. Black and red fill the colors of her one-piece as the white glow dims. Ruby red eyes open to take me in as the moon reflects on her fair skin.
"Mmm." Yuuna frowns. "What should we do?"
"Could you call Eiji? Let him know we have more work to do? Maybe Dr. Shigemura too if he's feeling generous?"
"Are you going to tell Umbra?" Yuuna places her hands on her hips and pouts.
"Don't worry, I won't keep secretes from your best friend." I surrender. "In fact, I'm sure you wouldn't let me."
"You better." Yuuna averts eye contact with swelled pride.
"In the meantime, I'm gonna reach out to the vice minister." It's not that I don't believe Kirito; I just don't want to. If Failsafe is out, then what was the point of it all?
"You really think it's Failsafe?" Yuuna asks.
I certainly hope not, but my gut says yes.
"I don't know."