A/N: And so it begins... I've recently just watched the newest episode of Alicization on Toonami, and I gotta say, it was a very cold perception towards those artificial Fluctlights from Kikuoka. So, I figured if I were in there, I'd choke the life out of him. But I'm not, so I'll let you guess who will. Also, I noticed that language is pretty strong here, and while I can't approve of their usage, I know that they were just angry with the situation presented to them, so I decided to alter a few curse words here and there to make it so that they're still showing that they're angry whilst being sensitive to others who may be offended with the language. And a couple of new faces will appear. For one, Shiki Kayaba will be voiced by Emily Neves and Kira Kayaba, younger half-sister to Korai, will be portrayed by Apphia Yu while Cancer will be voiced by Darin De Paul (love his work as Ardyn, BTW, for those of you who've played Final Fantasy XV). Now, during the story, there'll be some flashbacks that would explain how Korai has managed to look after Sachi and Yuuna, though, I can't tell you when. So be sure to keep reading and be patient. Until then, enjoy the show. :)

Chapter 1: Underworld

The next morning, Yuuki and Korai were still snuggled together with the blanket scattered, exposing their beautiful bodies to the air as the wife felt a little chill before she opened her eyes to see her husband waking up at the same moment. With the two of them awake, they looked at each other for a moment before they remembered their discussion from last night, but Yuuki wanted to be sure that he meant it.

"Well... you gonna call, or should I?"

"I'll take care of it."

With that, as Yuuki got herself washed in the shower, Korai began to call Kikuoka as he picked up the phone and typed his number down before he did so, surprising him as he spoke up quickly.

"Oh, Mr. Kayaba. I didn't expect you to call so early where you are. What's it about?"

"Actually, we've given it some more thought. And it's a unanimous decision. We're in."

"R-Really? You're finally coming over?"

"Yeah. Just on one condition. You need to know how serious Kirito and the others are. They helped me and Yuuki at the siege of the Yokohama Hospital, so you can't keep them out of the loop."

"What? B-But they're just—"

"No, they're not. Trust me, they've been through more than you can ever imagine. You'll need their help."

As Korai brought up this dilemma to Kikuoka, he gave it some thought of his own before he conceded.

"Alright. Just as long as you do something for me. Can you bring Rinko in, too?"

As Kikuoka spoke of her, he recalled how she told him about how the three of them slept together with the both of them impregnated. While Kayaba chose to marry Shiki, Rinko had a baby born shortly after, leaving her to look after her little girl. With that in mind, Korai felt it best to bring the both of them in.

"Alright. And I'll see if her kid can come over, too."

"Kid? What do you mean?"

"Well, Rinko told me a long story."

Meanwhile, at his house, Kazuto woke up in his bed to find Suguha and Sachi beside him with the three of them under cover of the blanket as they were all stripped bare of their clothes. Normally, it would've upset him, but ever since that one time at Yuuki's birthday party/wedding proposal, he's felt as comfortable as can be. Of course, he still holds Asuna in high regard, but now, Sachi, Keiko, Rika, Shino, and even Suguha have all gained a place in his heart as well. To him, they're more than just friends. And he's beginning to wonder if they knew that... maybe they have. But the real question was this: how would this kind of thing work?

In real life, he could only select one to be married with. It was supposed to be a clear choice, black and white, but now that the others got to him, it's become grey. The only thing keeping him from completely shutting his brain down at the thought of it was Sachi's humming.

"Sachi?"

As Kazuto looked to her, Sachi was humming to herself the very tune she hummed to him in her message, and that brought up painful, if not meaningful, memories. At that moment, not willing to subject himself to its torment all over again, Kazuto placed his hand upon Sachi's shoulder before she opened her eyes and looked to him with a smile.

"Oh. Morning, Kirito."

However, the moment she saw his worried face, Sachi became very concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just something on my mind."

Sachi knee very well that it was more than that. However, she wasn't willing to start a fight about it, knowing how rough it was to go through the daunting war with Laughing Coffin that overran the Yokohama Hospital and how close she was to being dead for sure. Now that she thought about it, she became curious as to how it was prevented even when it happened.

"Hey, Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you manage to bring me back after I died?"

This made Kirito altogether hesitant as he remembered what he had to do for her.

At the snowy plains, Kirito had just defeated a monster to claim a revival item. As he went to retrieve it, though, he was given the worst news. It could only revive someone dying in ten seconds. As his eyes widened at this, he began to fall into despair before Sachi spoke up.

"Kirito? Are you alright?"

Hearing her voice, he looked at her, still unbelieving of what actually happened. With the way the item worked normally, Kazuto shouldn't even be seeing her. How did that become possible in the first place? At that moment, he didn't care. For now, he's just happy to see her again.

"Y-Yeah. It's just... I still can't believe you've been alive all this time."

With that, Kazuto hugged her tightly, afraid she'll slip away from him again, much to the slight discomfort of Sachi, but she adapted with a hug of her own, trying her best to comfort him. As they hugged each other, Suguha took her turn to wake up and see the two of them hugging, earning a slight pout from her before she remembered that it's something she'll have to get used to. A lot of times since their own seven minutes in heaven, Suguha enjoyed his company but had an unfortunate habit that made her forget that the others were interested in him as well. She could understand Sachi's case, seeing as she supposedly died after that one incident with the Moonlit Cats. Even now, Kazuto wasn't in the mood to talk about it, and it's less likely that he ever will with the memory of it all practically hugging him. As both his stepsister and his lover, Suguha just couldn't bear to see him like that anymore.

"Kazuto?"

Upon hearing her voice laced with concern, Kazuto turned to his sister and saw it over her face as he became confused for that moment.

"Yeah, Sugu?"

"The four of us know how much you've suffered since what happened. You, me, Sachi, and Asuna. Since then, we can tell how much you've been hurting. And we know you well enough to know that you're still hurting right now."

"Well, what do you suggest I do about it? Just let you go?"

"No. It's not like that, Kazuto. It's just— you tried so hard to be our hero. Have you even considered how important you are to us too? And I know this isn't your first discussion about it."

She's right. It really wasn't. The first time he had this discussion was with Asuna before they set out to fight a boss, only to find out Heathcliff's true identity as her voice echoed in his mind.

"You know what would happen if you didn't come back? Huh? I would kill myself. I'd never forgive myself if I stayed behind, so what would be the point in living?"

And she meant every word of that. Asuna somehow got in the way and took the blow for him, and she should've died, but she was moved to ALO in time. How could that have happened, even if Sugou had a hand in it all? What's more, how was she able to get back to the real world even after what happened against Sugou? There had to be more than that. However, he realized he was quickly straying from the topic and got back to it as he replied with his voice becoming shaken.

"I watched two of the people I loved most die right in front of me, Sugu. You really think that after this, I'd ever let it happen a third time? I can't just trust that you'll come back to me like Asuna. Like Sachi. I have to keep you safe, even if I have to d—"

Before he could finish, Sachi interrupted him as she placed her hand over his mouth, not just to keep him from being loud enough for them to be discovered this way, but also because she felt the same way Suguha did.

"Don't. Just don't. No one blames you for anything, Kazuto."

However, there was one evidence to the contrary. When he told the truth to Keita, he blamed him for everything that happened and jumped off the bridge, killing himself. If the memories of his loved ones dying didn't do it, this memory would've put a stake into his heart if it were personified.

"Tell that to Keita."

As he said his name, Sachi realized she'd forgotten about him. In all of her time, not once had he ever crossed her mind, thus stumping Sachi as she held her tongue. At that moment, Kazuto's phone began to ring as Suguha picked it up from a drawer beside her and handed it to him.

"It's from Kikuoka."

As Kazuto noticed it, he became very confused as to why he'd call them this early. Determined to find out for himself, he took the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kazuto. I'm calling to tell you. I need you and your friends to come see me."

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Kazuto knew it was serious business. Then again, he did try to give an offer to Korai and Yuuki at their wedding. Maybe he's become so desperate without Korai and Yuuki that he's done waiting. However, Kazuto was no pushover.

"Yeah? On who's authority?"

"That's just it. Korai asked me to bring you all in the loop. He told me about what you've done for the Yokohama Hospital."

Hearing his name, Kazuto became very surprised. This meant only one thing; he actually agreed to it. He signed himself and Yuuki up for whatever he had in mind. And now, he's dragging everyone else into it.

"What?! It's that serious?!"

"Dead serious."

As he looked to Suguha and Sachi, Kazuto became concerned with how they're going to handle it.

"But, how are we supposed to get to you without drawing so much attention?"

"Don't worry. I've already got it all figured out. I'll see you all later today."

With that, Kikuoka ended the call, leaving Kazuto a bit confused as Suguha spoke up, wondering what the conversation was about.

"What is it, Kazuto?"

"I don't know. But if he's calling us for help, something must be going wrong."

"Like what?"

"Didn't say. But I have a feeling we're gonna know soon enough, whether we want to or not."

As for Rinko, she was staying at a house in California with her daughter, Kira Koujiro, a girl who bore the same hair color as her father, but she had longer hair than her mother's, complete with hazel eyes in a light blue jacket with purple pants. As the mother was working, she couldn't help but look at her daughter, sleeping with a blanket over her as she breathed in and out rhythmically as she'd finished studying. Ever since the SAO incident, as well as her meeting with Kazuto, Rinko and Kira had moved to America in order to gain a more personal understanding of VR. At least for the mother's case, whereas her daughter simply had no choice. Although, Kira didn't hate her mother for making them move away as most children would have. In fact, she saw an opportunity to accustom to a new culture that sparked interest in her, including the designs for their technology. As Kira slept like a baby, Rinko remembered what it took to bring a blessing like her into the world: a person she now sees as a curse.

On top of a bed, Shiki and Rinko were on a blanket, looking to Akihiko before the former spoke up to him.

"Is something on your mind, Akihiko?"

"Yeah. I've had that dream again. About... a floating castle."

Having heard this, Rinko became interested as she turned to him.

"Wait, a floating castle?"

"Yeah. A castle in the sky with numerous floors. A hundred floors, maybe. And each one has a town, a forest, and plain. To get to the next floor, you climb up a long staircase, and when you teach the top, you'll find a palace."

As Shiki marveled at his imagination, Rinko couldn't help but ponder of its contents.

"So, what's in the palace?"

"I don't know. When I was young, I used to go to that castle every night in my dreams. Every night, I'd climb up each staircase and get closer to the top, but by bit. But then at some point, I wasn't able to go there again."

As he finished, Akihiko moved the hair on the right side of her face behind her right ear as he smiled.

"It was just a silly dream. I pretty much forgot all about it."

At that point, Shiki didn't believe that as she smirked and jumped on him, rubbing her chest on his.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that? If you forgot all about it, then why would you tell it to us?"

"Maybe because... you two helped me remember."

As Shiki and Rinko heard this answer, the former gave a giggle with a smile while Rinko just gave a small smile.

However, Rinko felt otherwise as she grunted while a small part of her hair fell over her right ear before she clutched on her necklace and whispered to herself, having just remembered what occurred to Shiki, supposedly at the hands of Sugou Noboyuki, and the position it left his son.

"Liar..."

At that moment, she received another email on the computer, much to her dismay as she groaned.

"Not again."

However, the email she noticed was completely different. In the first place, it belonged to that of his very son.

"Korai Kayaba?"

And in the second place, it was not a request, but a demand. And considering how well things had gone over with him, Rinko knew she needed to read his message. With that, she clicked in the message, and she could practically hear his voice and tone in her head as she read on.

"Hi, Rinko. You're probably wondering what I'm sending you this for. Well, as I think you've noticed, an organization called R.A.T.H. is developing a device called the Soul Translator. It's based off of the Medicuboid that my wife used for years on end. Heh, I remember how Yuuki geeked out over you. Anyway, her doctor, Kurahashi, was just syncing the data from it to one of them when he found out something odd. Apparently, there's a soul trapped in the Mediciboid."

As Rinko read that, she became gravely surprised as she read onwards.

"Kikuoka said that he figured it's been around since it got moved. Worst-case scenario, it's the Sorcerer. But my wife, she seems convinced that it was my father's soul. And I don't know if I have the heart to believe it. I just don't want anything to happen to Yuuki in this project. She thinks it'll be alright, and I want to believe that, but if it's anything like SAO, I just can't take any chances. So, what I'm basically asking is... can you look over me and Yuuki while we're doing the project, like you did for my dad? There's no one I trust with it more than you. And... if you're worried about Kira, she can come with. Just make sure she gets some study notes in advance. Thank you for your time."

With that, Rinko looked to Kira just in time to see her yawn as she turned over before she smiled and looked back to the email as she considered the stakes. If there's a chance that Akihiko is somehow inside the Medicuboid, that would mean she'd get answers of her own. And if not, she'd have wasted her time. Still, if there's a chance she'd see him again, she could finally understand why he did the things he did, just like his son would. Like her daughter would...

The next day, Yuuki, Korai, Rinko, and Kira we're traveling in a helicopter, much to the daughter's nervousness as it was her first time flying in it and was afraid that the doors would collapse open and she'd fall out of it. Nervous as she was, Kira was comforted by Rinko as she held her hands around the little girl with one of the pilots speaking to them.

"We're almost there. You'll see the Ocean Turtle in a sec."

When it came into view, Korai and Yuuki took notice of it as it was held up by four large battleships while Yuuki saw a black pyramid at the center of it all, confusing her.

"Uh, what turtle? All I'm seeing is a giant pyramid."

Rinks then took a look at its support and knew it was a reference as she pointed it out to Yuuki.

"There. See it?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it looks like one."

As they came to the landing pad, Yuuki and Korai noticed a man in uniform by it before the four of them got out and looked around. As they did, though, Kira couldn't help but feel how close she was to the ocean and grew a bit nervous as the heights of it all petrified her.

"W-Why are we so high up?"

With that, as she noticed it, Yuuki did the honors of giving Kira a piggyback ride, which didn't quite help out as she stammered before Yuuki spoke to her while holding onto her legs.

"Don't worry, Kira. Your Aunt Yuuki's gotcha."

With Kira having calmed down a few from Yuuki's method, the group simply walked towards the man before he addressed the ones who responded to his invitation.

"Dr. Koujiro. Mr. and Mrs. Kayaba. Welcome aboard. And who's this?"

As the guard made Kira nervous as she hid behind Yuuki's head as much as she could without falling off, Rinko explained to him.

"This is my daughter, Kira. She's asked to come here, too."

As Kira looked at the guard, she still felt a bit small before her Aunt Yuuki urged her on.

"Hey, it's alright. You can greet him."

As Kira grew a bit nervous in the effort, she nonetheless tried her best.

"H-Hi. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. My name is Lieutenant Nakanishi. I'll escort you below deck. The others are waiting inside. This way. Watch your step."

With his position clear, Nakanishi led the way with Korai, Yuuki, Rinko, and Kira following him. As they entered below the deck, Kira grew amazed by the space and decoration in the hull before Nakanishi gave a guard the salute before he spoke up.

"I need you to verify Dr. Koujiro and the Kayabas for access to Sector S-3."

"Right away, sir."

With that, the guard got out his phone and scanned their faces, causing them to appear for clearance as he spoke up.

"I.D. Verified."

When the guard noticed Kira on Yuuki's shoulders, he spoke to her as she peeked her head out of it.

"I'm sorry, little girl. You'll have to keep your head out for this."

In compliance, Kira held her head up above Yuuki's as she spoke.

"Okay."

Seeing the girl above Yuuki, the guard didn't hesitate to scan her and approve her as a part of the sector clearance.

"I.D. Verified. Proceed."

As they walked forward in the hull, Rinko looked behind her to see Kira reaching out to her before Yuuki noticed and she spoke to Rinko as she handed Kira over.

"Oh. I guess you prefer her to me, huh? Here. Sorry I couldn't make it work out."

"It's fine, Yuuki."

With that, Kira was now riding on Rinko's shoulders as she spoke of the drastic measures of security to Nakanishi along with Korai.

"Security's awfully tight here."

"Yeah. You'd think the middle of the ocean was safe."

"Actually, we're required to run full body checks on guests. But you've gone through three metal and explosives detectors already, so..."

When they reached the door, Nakanishi got out his card and swiped it before the group entered with Rubio being forced to duck slightly so as not to bump Kira's head by accident. Upon entering in, they were met with a large-scale simulation of a kingdom with a White Castle in the center of it all just as Kazuto spoke up.

"Hey, guys."

Upon hearing him, Korai and Yuuki noticed him along with Asuna, Keiko, Suguha, Rika, Shino, and Shino as they stood before Korai smiled.

"Hey yourself. How are things with you guys?"

Rika, having felt like her whole life was interrupted, didn't hesitate to vent her frustration at him.

"Well, they were going great until you dragged us into this! What crossed your mind to bring us into this?!"

As Korai was taken aback for a moment, Keiko tried to soothe her, given everything he's done.

"Easy, Rika. I'm sure he's had a good reason for us being here."

At that moment, Kikuoka spoke up from afar as he walked in with Kurahashi, Tetsuhiro, and a little girl with light brown hair.

"That's right, Keiko. He really does."

When they looked to see the three, he noticed that out off the three, Kikuoka's outfit was more business casual as he had a blue robe with sandals as he spoke to the group.

"Welcome to R.A.T.H., everyone."

Having introduced himself, Rinko felt it a bit weird as she and Yuuki pointed out his attire.

"You look comfy."

"Wait, you mean we get to dress like that here, too?"

Seeing the awkwardness, Nakanishi spoke to his Lieutenant Colonel as Kira noticed the blush on his face.

"Um, sir? I'll be at the comms if you need me."

With that, Kikuoka gave him a salute, allowing him to carry on before he spoke to Rinko and Yuuki with the latter responding next.

"I've been stuck out here in the ocean for about a month now. I can't always be in a uniform, or a suit for that matter."

"I know, right? They're just too tight for my liking."

As he walked forward, Kikuoka spoke particularly to Korai, Yuuki, and Rinko.

"I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to finally have you three here. I was starting to worry my persistence scared you away."

Rinko spoke matter-of-factly to him before Korai spoke up about the reason he said "no" before.

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I've agreed to anything."

"And the only reason I said 'no' was because of the risks. But with what you've told me, I had to agree."

Hearing about the risks, Kazuto spoke up before Sachi.

"Wait, risks?"

"You mean like the same rule in SAO from before?"

Kikuoka heard the fear in Sachi's voice and tried to soothe it as he spoke.

"Well, not quite. But before we explain why you're here, you should know that you guys are four of seven people whose skills are crucial to this project. And now, you're all here, with present company, of course."

At that moment, Rinko took notice of a familiar face as she noticed him working on the designs for the landscape currently projected.

"Well, well, look who it is. Don't tell me he roped you in on this, too, Higa?"

In response, the boy with spiky messy blonde hair and glasses turned to her and replied to Rinko.

"What do you think? Of course, he did. Honestly, I'm stoked to be here. I'm carrying on the legacy of Shigemura Lab."

"I swear. You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Speaking of Shigemura, Korai and Yuuki took notice of him and his daughter together before the husband spoke up.

"Hold on. Is that why you're here, too?"

"That's right. As you can tell, I'm getting a bit older than I would've liked."

At that moment, the group noticed Yuuna beside him and Yuuki couldn't help but smile as she remembered how Korai spoke about her.

"Oh! You must be Yuna. It's great to meet ya."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you, too."

As Yuuki and Yuuna shook their hands, Suguha was actually more concerned with what they were needed for as she spoke up.

"Excuse me, but I'm still curious about why we're here. When Kazuto got your call, he told us that something must be going wrong. So, do you care to explain what exactly is going wrong? Because we wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

As Suguha called Kikuoka out, he looked at the room to see everyone's eyes on him. Feeling as though the pressure would somehow crush him, Kikuoka gave a small sigh before he spoke up.

"Alright. You all know the Meducboid that was in the Yokohama Hospital, right? Well, so far I've only told Yuuki and Korai the news, but since we've managed to boot it up, we've found something we shouldn't have been able to find: a living soul."

Hearing this, everyone except Kurahashi, Tetsuhiro, Korai, Higa, and Yuuki became surprised as they all let out shocked gasps while Rika made a vocal reaction.

"Say what?! You mean you guys have an actual 'Ghost in the Machine'?!"

In order to ease tensions, Kikuoka tried to explain their situation as he spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. And we've tried to place it in one of our STL's, or Soul Translators for short. But each time, it's been rejecting our efforts."

This made Korai look to him out of confusion as he didn't quite understand how a soul can reject any action that takes place.

"How can a Fluctlight do that when it's so disembodied?"

"Actually, it's not quite as disembodied as you'd think. Which reminds me... before then, we've already copied a human soul."

As Kikuoka said this, the group gasped in slight surprise as Kirito spoke of how impossible he knew it could be.

"But... you've gotta be kidding, right? To just copy a human soul like that, it's— well, it's gotta be very difficult at the least to capture their essence that perfectly."

However, considering the title of the device, Yuuki didn't see it that way.

"Well, with any Medicuboid, Yeah. Except they're called Soul Translators. At least, that's what I think. But, there's one thing I don't get. If you'd already copied a human soul, you would've known that you could do the same for whoever was trapped in there. So, why even bother asking us for help?"

Kikuoka only smiled at Yuuki's astute observation as he moved his glasses up a bit before he spoke.

"Well, you must be very bright. Of course it is possible, and we did try that, but the main reason you're here is because, like idiots, we missed something. Like Kirito explained not too long ago, the human soul is complex. Sure, we can copy it. But there's a wide gap between it and a true A.I. Higa?"

As Higa looked up to him at his mention, Kikuoka turned to him before he spoke up.

"Go on. Show our guests a couple of demonstrations."

With that, Higa sighed before he complied, although reluctantly due to the usual result with it.

"Man, you're sadistic."

With that, Higa ran up the simulation as the screen went blank before two small green orbs appeared there as Higa's voice replied from it.

"Is the sampling done yet?"

As he said this, the whole group became surprised as they looked to it while Rika spoke up.

"It's witchcraft!"

Despite her comment, Shigemura spoke up to try to ease him from any future panic.

"Why, yes. There doesn't seem to be any problems so far."

"Suh-weet! So, why is it dark, and how come I can't move? Oh, I know why. Eh, let me out. The STL's glitchin'."

However, the other soul beside it spoke quite to the contrary in a sort of elegant voice.

"Sadly, I'm afraid you're out of luck. You can't be logged out, not in the state you're in."

As it replied, Korai and Yuuki were the only ones among the increasingly surprised group to look at it suspiciously. How could it possibly know its own cold circumstance? Maybe Kikuoka conditioned the copy somehow? However, the other soul was more concerned with the presence of its neighbor, along with the inability to exit as it spoke.

"Dude, what the heck? Let me out of here! Wait, who are you? I don't recognize your voice!"

"Of course you don't. Supposedly, I'm just as new as this as you. But, for future reference if you can manage that, just call me... Cancer. And you, my friend, are actually created by Takeru Higa himself."

As it replied, the other soul became very miffed as it seemed convinced that Cancer was spouting nonsense.

"What?! No way! You're crazy! I'm Higa! Let me out, and you'll see!"

"Easy there, buddy. Of course you are. The fact is, you're a copy of Higa. One might even call you 2.0. So, try your best to relax, and we can simply move on to—"

"SCREW YOU! I'M ME! If I'm a copy, then I'd know it, gosh darn it! C'mon, please! LET ME OUT, YOU SON OF A SNITCH, RIGHT NOW!"

As "Higa" panicked, Cancer attempted to try again to soothe him in vain before Kikuoka stopped him and took charge next.

"We talked about this. You need to calm down. If you can't think rationally, your Fluctlight won't be able to take the strain."

"I AM RATIONAL!"

As "Higa" snapped at Kikuoka, Cancer proposed a solution to him as he spoke.

"Perhaps we can try to immerse ourselves in a relaxing activity?"

"Okay, then. Let's see who's faster at Pi: me or that faker?! 3.14159265..."

As the soul spoke up, it soon became distorted as it seemed to repeat the numbers while it flowed red and expanded out of proportion as Kira and Yuuna hid behind their parents while Yuuki couldn't bear to see it happen as she shut her eyes and clutched tightly on Korai as he put on a mad look before the soul disappeared completely, leaving only Cancer's soul inside before it spoke to the real Higa who sighed.

"Oh, dear. How long was it this time?"

"Full collapse, one minute and eight seconds."

As Asuna and Yuuki quivered at this, Sachi, Shino, Suguha, and Keiko had their mouths covered as Rika became very troubled herself as she and Rinko spoke to Kikuoka.

"Are you outta your mind?!"

"That was beyond twisted!"

"It is disturbing. Still, it's the best way to explain what we've been able to accomplish up till now. I'm sorry you had to see it. We copied over a dozen Fluctlights, including the soul trapped in the Medicuboid once Kurahashi decided to copy the data on it and store it into this drive. Anyway, we submitted them to the same test. The results were always the same. The logic systems went haywire and they collapsed."

With that, Yuuki looked up to Cancer's soul as she spoke to Kikuoka about it.

"And, uh, how come that guy hasn't shut down like the other one?"

"Well, it's simple. He's actually a soul archetype within our project. In fact, his name is abbreviated as 'Concentrated, Artificial, Neurotechnical, Cybernated, Existence, Revolutionized.' He's currently communicating with us from a world we created. Although, in his world, he referred us as his people's gods."

As Yuuki heard that, she became very surprised as she spoke to him.

"Oh! Uh, hi, Cancer! It's nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki."

"Oh, hello, Yuuki. It's a pleasure to see you as well."

As Yuuki giggled, Sachi got stuck on another aspect.

"But wait. If they all shut down after those tests, then how did you make what's in front of us, then?"

As she asked that, Rinko turned to her as she gave his answer to her question before coming to a realization on her own.

"Maybe he wiped their memories? Or raise a soul from scratch."

As she said this, Korai widened his eyes in disbelief. The only way he could raise a soul from scratch was if... Upon coming to that realization himself, Korai became very agitated.

"No. Don't tell me you did what I think you did."

"Yes, we did. We put newborns into the STL and copied their souls."

As Kikuoka replied so casually on this, Korai, Kazuto, and the whole group of women became very stunted, worrying that the same thing would happen to their currently unborn children, if any. All the while, Rinko spoke up about the Fluctlights. Copy or not, they're still souls.

"These copies are essentially human. So, how would you raise them? Not in a void. You need an exact copy of the real world."

Knowing as much of modern technology as he could stand in all those boring meetings at the time, Korai knew it wouldn't come easy.

"And that's impossible. The science always has been so far. But you didn't need the real world, Kikuoka; you needed a simulation of something similar, and you found it online, didn't you? And we both know the only thing that provided it: VRMMO."

"That's right."

With that, the simulation of the Castle and the neighboring kingdoms returned as Higa spoke up.

"Dang, you're sharp. Using the Seed, we managed to create our own world with villages and terrain, and converted it to pneumonic visuals for the STL."

As it showed the kingdom in its olden day's shade a small village resided, four people were shown before more of them arrived and got to work before several more appeared and white walls were built, as well as the castle itself as Kikuoka and Shigemura explained further.

"We placed four of our staff in the first village they are created. They acted as parents to sixteen A.I. infants, or soul archetypes, and raised them until they were eighteen. We monitored the youngsters as they grew up. Oh, by the way, officially, we call them artificial Fluctlights. Anyway, we were more than satisfied with how they turned out. They were sharp, obedient, and upstanding."

"When they eventually paired up, we made them parents and gave them new soul archetypes to raise. Our staff was out by then, so we accelerated time by 5,000, and soon we had multiple generations. After three weeks had passed in our world, 300 had passed in theirs. Now, they have a fully functioning society with a population of 80,000."

As they took in the sights, Rinko couldn't help but speak of the unbelievability of it all as Kira became amazed herself as she went down the steps and tried to get a closer look as Yuuki did the same.

"You simulated an entire civilization."

"Exactly. So far, 480 years have passed there. The capitol, Centoria, has 20,000 citizens living in it."

"No way..."

With that, Kurahashi spoke next to Yuuki, catching wind of her fascination as he spoke up.

"Way. At this point, all the A.I. Fluctlights gave matured into the bottom-up A.I.'s we were shooting for."

Hearing this, Korai became confused as he looked to them.

"Wait, bottom-up?"

Higa turned around from his chair and explained the sitch as he spoke up to him.

"Well, you see, top-down artificial intelligence can't exactly react to anything it hasn't learned yet. But bottom-up would be constantly evolving. Anyway, we were all ready to hit the next phase and were stoked about it. But then..."

"Then what?"

Kikuoka took the opportunity to explain next as he walked up to Korai.

"We noticed a major issue which stood in our way."

"And what exactly is that?"

"The governing body there called the 'Axiom Church' created a set of laws called the Taboo Index. It contains laws like one forbidding murder, just like we have. And, if you've been watching the news recently, you can see how difficult that one is for humans to obey. But the Fluctlights obey all their rules to the letter. In fact, they're obsessive about it. This town is beautiful, but too perfect. There's no litter on the streets and no crime to speak of. Needless to say, there's no murder committed here, either."

As he said this, Kazuto and Asuna figured out what it was that Kikuoka really strived towards. Needless to say, it made them very frustrated and angry as the former spoke up first.

"So that's why you need us. You want us to turn them into A.I.'s that can kill."

As he said that, the whole group gasped in surprise before Asuna spoke up next.

"Kirito and I were wrong. We thought we knew why you were so interested in VRMMO's. For training. We figured you'd use the technology to train soldiers and police. But... for the officer of the SDF to attempt something on this scale, there has to be more at stake. And there is. This project is about creating A.I. for warfare, isn't it?"

As Asuna made this accusation, the whole of the group, save for Kurahashi, Higa, Rinko, Shigemura, and Korai became even more stunned than before as Korai spoke up, thinking of the dread of having to send his digital daughter, Aiko, to a war zone she may not come back from. As he thought this, Kikuoka explained the reason for this as he spoke up.

"Five years ago, when the NerveGear was first announced, I had an idea. Although it was meant for gaming, this new technology had the potential to change how wars were fought. When the SAO incident happened, I asked to be transferred to the Ministry and joined a task force there. That was all so I could get this project off the ground. And five years later, here we are."

As Korai tried his hardest to rein in his temper, Yuuki held onto his hand, worried for how he could view Aiko and Yui before Rinko spoke to Higa about his own reasoning.

"Well, that's his reason, but why did you decide to take part in this?"

"Oh, um, that's a whole different story. For me, it's personal. When I was I college, I had a bud in Korea who was in the army there. And he got killed on one of his tours."

As Yuuki heard this, she felt sorry for him as she spoke up.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's alright. So, I thought, 'this stupid world's not gonna stop wars anytime soon. But if we can figure out how to have them without killing people...' heh. That's naive, right?"

At that moment, Kazuto spoke up how he honestly felt.

"Of course it's naive. That world doesn't exist, and it never will. Not even your project could make that a reality, Kikuoka. There's one important issue your plan doesn't even address."

"Which is?"

"What do you think? The rights of the A.I.'s. Those artificial Fluctlights, even Cancer, are still mentally and emotionally human."

"True, but it's not like they have physical bodies."

"So what?!"

As Kazuto snapped at him, Kikuoka was taken aback for a moment as he spoke onwards.

"Any way you slice it, they're no different from us! And you're forcing them to be your tools of war! Like hell I'd ever agree to that!"

As Kazuto made his position clear on this matter, Kikuoka stated his own opinion on this topic as well.

"Look, I understand the point you're trying to make here. But... to me, the life of one SDF soldier is worth far more than 100,000 A.I's."

That was the last straw. As Korai heard this, his eyes immediately widened with rage as he didn't hesitate to lunge at Kikuoka as he shouted and clutched his throat, surprising everyone around him as he snapped viciously at the Lieutenant Colonel while choking him to death.

"YOU FILTHY SCUMBAG! TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

As Korai's rage helped to tighten his grip, Rinko and Yuuki acted quickly and grabbed onto his wrists to try to pull them apart as they spoke up.

"Korai, snap out of it!"

"This isn't the time for it!"

"Do you want Aiko to see you like that?!"

Hearing Aiko's name, Korai snapped out of his rage-induced event and released his grip, earning Kikuoka's weary and hollow inhale before he coughed roughly as Rinko and Yuuki moved him back as Korai took his deep breath. While he did so, Yuuki felt that Kikuoka was uninformed about their own A.I.'s as she explained his feelings to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Sorry about that. But you should know, Kirito and Asuna has their own A.I. that was like their own daughter to help them. She gave up her life to save theirs in that death game. So you bringing it up as casually as you did, well, can't say it wasn't a surprise. Maybe next time you should keep your mouth to yourself."

As Yuuki and Kikuoka stared at each other, Shino spoke up to the latter as she walked to them.

"But there's one thing I still don't understand. Why are we even here? Why would you bring in a group of kids to help you?"

"I'm sorry. I got so carried away talking about the project, I almost forgot. Before we found the trapped soul, we needed to know why the A.I. Fluctlights couldn't disobey the Taboo Index. So, I came up with an experiment we could try. What if we blocked a human's memories, reverted him to childhood, and had him grow up in our VR world? Would he be able to disobey the Taboo Index? To carry this out, we needed someone with experience navigating in a VR environment. Not just a week or a month's worth of experience; I'm talking years."

As Kikuoka said that, the whole group gasped at this again before he spoke onwards.

"That's why I needed you here."

Korai, however, considering how easily he just disregarded his digital daughter's life, didn't feel that they haven't wasted their time for nothing

"Yeah, sure. And what makes you there's any way we can help you with that?"

"Bearing in mind what has been said, I'll keep my opinions to myself. But the truth is, as rightfully angry as you are right now, I'm focusing on using them to protect people. And I'm afraid someone would try to use this project for his own ends."

"Yeah? Like who?"

"I think you know the answer. In fact, you were right to suspect it. That soul trapped in the Medicuboid... not too long ago, just before you came in, we found out who it really was: the Sorcerer."