Magicus Ensis Art Online
Magic Sword Art Online
HP/SAO x-over
Asuna/Kirito HP/Argo
A/N: Well done to the following: Dragooner. Also well done to those to guess correctly about my acronym, now on with the show.
The meeting went brilliantly and Mr. Mutch left with a Nerve Gear Rig and contact details of Harry Potter. Harry checked his phone, it was 4:30…He might have enough time get to a couple of pc stores and order the parts that he needed. His gaming computer was running seriously slowly, despite getting rid of the games he no longer played. He could have bought parts to increase its specs and abilities but considering he had spent the equivalent of £600 on it and it had served him a year playing decent Strategy Games like Total War, First Person Shooters like Crisis and Open Sandbox games like Witcher 3 and Fallout 5 on close to 120Frames Per Second.
"What is it Harry?" Harry, grinned and squeezed Akio's hand.
"Nothing, just thinking what I need to programme this project and if the Computer is up to it."
Akio snorted "Not likely…What you've got back at home, the bank would be an upgrade."
Harry stared at her "You're serious?" She nodded.
Shouzou and Kouichirou looked at each other "We understand that you like to work from home, but would you consent to meeting us and showing us your progress every two weeks?"
Harry nodded "Keeping me under close scrutiny…Okay. Can I get some minions?"
"You can, we'll have to vet them personally." Harry grinned.
"I know four people." Harry said, time to put Kazuto in some hot water.
"You're so mean to Kazuto…Why are you doing this?" Asked Akio slapping Harry on the shoulder.
"I'm giving him his first paying job. He doesn't even have to send a CV in."
"It's also a publicity stunt…Sowing RECT are recruiting heavily from those who were trapped in SAO."
Harry nodded "Yes, I'm being a manipulative and meddlesome bastard but at least you're not bankrupt."
The Yuuki's nodded "I expect one of them will be Kirigaya-kun, so we can give him the shovel talk?"
Harry snorted "What gives you that idea?"
"The fact you asked for minions; the fact you knew who you wanted and the fact Akio-san hit you for some reason."
"You're right."
The group ended he night ad both Akio and Harry fell asleep absolutely content, with Akio forgoing her normal sleepwear.
The next morning dawned and Harry, rolled over. Akio heard hit, the fist coming down and the all too familiar crush of an alarm clock meeting her boyfriend's fist. "Do you have to get up?"
Harry groaned and his eyes widened when his hands normally held Akio in one of his t-shirt it was gone. "You like?"
Harry merely growled and pulled her into a steamy kiss. "Now, let's get dressed have some grub and go shopping."
Akio grinned "Boy toys or general shopping?"
"Both…I/We need some better kit if we are going to build something along the line of SAO. Let's make a day of it…I also want to try and get a few more pages of my book done."
Soon enough they materialised in the shopping centre. Harry grinned, he looked down and his eyes widened. Sitting on and around a group of benches were three of the people who made up his guild of 'Ring-Wraiths' and coming out of a coffee bar were Kazuto and Asuna.
Harry grinned and they descended on the escalator, Harry had been waiting for Akio outside of Victoria Secret and then a Desire store. Harry didn't want to know, but was willing to be shown when Akio decided to show him later on.
They headed over to the group "Obito, Jashin, Tenzo, Kirito, Asuna!" Harry called. The Wraiths looked over to see Kirito and Asuna join them.
"So what's happening with people?" Kirito asked curiously.
"Looking for work…Not exactly helpful that we were trapped in the games for two and a bit years." Said Obito.
"Yeah, all that programming…"
"I have a job." Harry said. They looked at him.
"Who with? What are you doing?"
"RECT and Freelance. Creating a game…Interested?"
The four boys looked at him like he was a genuine saviour "You mean it? What do we have to do?"
"Come with me. We'll go to RECT and I'll see if the Boss is available."
"Who is the boss?"
"Her brother and dad. We're more likely to see more of the brother than the dad and on occasion both. They're going to be keeping eyes on us."
Obito was about to protest but remembered what had happened in the news "Balls…I forgot about that."
"What are we going to be getting?"
"Practically anything within reason. RECT need a win and right now we are it. Along with Jieber Mutch." Harry explained.
"Basically top the range computers, custom built, several Tony Stark style tables and an AI called Jeeves." Harry said with a smirk.
Aiko shook her head as did Asuna. However the males nodded "How do we go about getting an interview?"
Asuna smiled "I have always been meaning to go and see tou-sama at work along with nii-san. I can get us in."
With that Asuna took Kazuto and the other three off leaving Harry and Akio alone "Since you've been so patient, let's do the computer stuff."
Harry ended up buying enough kit to build from scratch three top of the range and cutting edge gaming pc's. It was also helping that Harry was also thinking of moving out of his two bedroom apartment and into a five bedroom house with three en suite bathrooms. Due to the fact, Harry and Aiko tended to have people around nearly all the time, the desire to move was suggested.
Kazuto was thinking of moving out of his house. Harry had a room and considering he was going to be employing Kazuto full time over the summer and part time during college, he could stay. Asuna was tempted but was not sure if she could get away from the control freak of her mother.
Edward Lupin was growing quickly as well. He wanted to learn Japanese to communicate with his surrogate Aunts and Uncles that his Godfather had introduced him to. Andy and Harry had wands pointed at each other over the child's education. Akio had ended it by stepping between the pair, wielding a bokken and clan in nothing more than a kendo skirt and training bra "Let him decide when he is old enough." Were the closing words to that argument.
The team were set up "Three, two, one…Link Start!"
Kouichorou linked in from his office. He knew, he would be detected but it was going to be interesting to see how they created the game. Harry, Kazuto, Tenzo, Jashin and Obito arrived and it was pitch black.
"Ah, Harry…This must be the minion squad that you referred to?" A voice said.
"Jieber Mutch?" Asked Harry.
"It is…What is this place?"
"This is an empty Cardinal Plane…Cardinal is an interactive system that is depending on how much coding is placed in it makes it more life-like or less."
Jieber nodded "Okay, I want a life-like modern day looking Chicago."
As Jieber began to explain what he wanted, Harry, Kazuto and Hayate (Obito) opened up several programming windows and to Jieber's amazement, Chicago began to appear. The tarmac roads, the sidewalks, and vague outlines of the City Blocks, that were then reshaped and either reduced or enlarged.
"What about the Undercity? I mean it's important for the books."
"Mr. Mutch, we are a small team since we do not have a release this game if you're willing to remember of at least thirty two months. So, I have to ask you this 'Do you want a game made up of half assed patches which would then need more work to make it viable or do you want a game that feels, tastes, looks like the universe you created?'"
"I want the game to feel immersive much like the books."
Harry grinned "Trust me, we shall do your work justice…I need to. My misses will kill me if I do not…And eight thousand or so people's jobs depend on it."
Jieber stared at him "So much to weigh on so few. I understand, I'll be in touch say every month or so, so I can see your progress. Can I get some pictures taken to show people some projects I'm working on?"
"It is yours and RECT's property. We are obligated to make it to your demands."
Mutch stayed with them for another four hours, assisting them in creating Chicago as if one lived there. Kouichorou had asked Harry to write a viewing programme, and that was what he, his father and sister were doing. They were observing their workers unobtrusively, as they brought a game to life. So far all they were looking at was a layout of Chicago.
Asuna was amazed "Tou-san, Harry-kun, Kazuto-kun and the rest are going full out Kayaba for this game."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Good thing. Kazuto explained that nothing pissed off game players more than having a game that was badly designed with a bad story arc…People liked SAO due to the fact of the different quests and sandbox style play with the overhead goal of clearing the floors."
"Reddnes Files intends to be a massive open sandbox from what I can tell. The books that make up the Universe are intended to be DLC's or Patches. So it should be interesting." Explained Asuna.
The pictures subsequently leaked onto the expanse of the internet and Harry's YouTube Channel 'Green-eyed Lightning Reviews' exploded into life. The question mainly being asked was 'Is the game safe? Can you guarantee that this will not be a repeat of SAO?'.
Harry grinned, got a set of cameras and managed to incorporate them into the rigs, activated them and went into Cardinal. "Welcome to Green-eyed Lightning Reviews…I am your host, Harry Potter and these…are…my minions. The camera panned out to reveal the rest of the workers inside Cardinal "Oi! We're on air. Be semi-nice…For the more intellectual types you may well have noticed that we are in Chicago. However, this is not Chicago, Illinois, USA…This is Cardinal Chicago. Home to well hopefully you lot."
Across the world people stopped what they were doing and they tuned in. Several news team representatives appeared. "You're going to have to excuse us as we work because this is not really a Q&A session. This is more of a 'Welcome to RECT's new project to save VRMMORPG."
Scowling from behind his screen in his apartment Kibaou snarled 'Who do you think you are! You utter cheat and murderer. Confess your crimes- K'.
The message appeared and everyone stopped momentarily "Ah…I was expecting this. I name this commentator as Kibaou…A grouchy petulant little keyboard warrior from my days back in SAO."
"What happened? What is he referring to in calling you a murderer, a cheat and to confess your crimes?"
Harry smiled "Okay, I was one of the lucky or unlucky depending on your point of view Beta Tester's for the game. My only crime that I can think of is willingly encouraging people to purchase SAO before we found out it was a Death Game. To everyone who has or had bought/lost a member of their family either in the game or because I encouraged them to buy the game then I am truly sorry. As for Kibaou, he created a guild to help clear the game, coincidentally he tried to turn everyone who was new to the game against all the Beta Testers and he succeeded. Out of the five thousand Beta Testers, all of them bought the game and during the first month recorded some two thousand had died. Three quarters of them were Beta Testers…" Harry continued his scathing tirade revealing a lot of anger towards the ginger prick.
"As for that outburst, I am sorry for that. That was unprofessional of me. I am with a group of SAO survivors are writing a series of biographies called 'SAO; How it Changed Us' or words to that effect…Anyway I think that wraps up this small interview. Anyway Project Reddnes shall be released when it is deemed ready and safe. I know these words are hollow but rest assured since I am creating the game under close supervision I am open to suggestions."
With that the crews vanished leaving the Team to their own devices. The first few days had been relatively successful. Now time will tell.