A/N:

Heads up, this chapter's a bit exposition and dialogue heavy. A lot of it follows canon Underworld, but there are several notable differences, so keep a watchful eye out.

Also a shoutout to Falchion1984, who brought up the point that the moniker of "Assault Team" doesn't quite fit the Underworld crew anymore. To avoid the misnomer – and to differentiate between Kirito's crew and the raid group on the upper floors (DDA/Army), all mentions of "Assault Team" when referring to the Underworld group have been replaced with "Expeditionary Force" henceforth and in previous chapters. If there happens to be a spot I missed going forward and you see the Assault Team referenced incorrectly, you're free to mentally make the substitution yourself and/or let me know.

And now, on with the show!

Kirito looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"...Kirito? Say something, my friend."

Then again, given that Kizmel was standing in front of him… maybe he was.

She died. Quite heroically, in fact, as anyone on the Expeditionary Force would admit to. Hell, if it weren't for her, Alice and Lind would be dead right now.

Her armor was different, he noticed. Definitely not of elven make, but she'd kept the same color scheme of purples and grays. Her armor was a little thicker in the gauntlets, and her boots now extended their protection up to the middle of her thighs. She also now wore light pauldrons from which her cloak was clasped onto. Overall, she looked more armored and ready for combat, which was a good thing, he supposed.

Then again, the necessity of such an armor upgrade was not so great, but after running away from over a half dozen Integrity Knights, Kirito could see the appeal.

"Kiri - OOF!"

Any further attempts to break Kirito out of his funk were summarily interrupted when the long-assumed-dead elf was impacted by a white and red missile. Kizmel recovered from the sudden collision and gently hugged a violently sobbing Asuna.

"Is… is it really you…?" Asuna whispered in between sobs after she calmed down. Not that he could blame her; he was half a second from doing the same thing himself.

"Yes, dear sister." Kizmel smiled. "I am alive, despite PoH's best efforts."

"But we saw you die!" Asuna rebuked. "How…?"

Kizmel shook her head. "I will explain everything, but not here. Our host, and your savior, wishes to meet with you first. I suspect she will provide a more in-depth explanation."

"You mean you didn't save us?" Klein asked as everyone in the room recovered from the shock of seeing Kizmel alive. "Then who did?"

"Patience, Klein." Kizmel mock scolded. "All will be revealed soon."

After a gentle gesture pointing down the hall, Kizmel led them along. She wore a bemused smile as she was bombarded with questions about her existence. Kirito, on the other hand, was silent. He was too busy frantically trying to understand just what the hell was going on. The visual part of his brain, in the face of such damning evidence, said that Kizmel was here, and that she was most certainly not some kind of mass hallucination. The other, more rational, part of his brain, on the other hand, was looking for some underlying logic that could explain how Kizmel came back from the dead.

Needless to say, it found nothing.

The soft creak of wooden doors brought him out of his inner musings. After a moment's hesitation, they found themselves in what looked like a vast library. The main room, which was more or less a tall cylinder with multiple floors and countless bookshelves, seemed to stretch upward forever. Thousands upon thousands of tomes decorated the shelves, hinting at an incredibly vast and monumentally rich history.

A quick glance behind confirmed that Lokuss was literally frothing at the mouth.

A small scattering of people, perhaps two dozen or so, walked to and fro between the hallways, sometimes retrieving a book from a shelf and giving it a quick once-over before placing it back in its home. Some didn't look like librarians, though. More than a few were equipped in various armors, some with nothing more than simple leathers while others were adorned in imposing metal suits.

The whole thing was bizarre, really.

"Oh good, you've brought them."

A girl, who couldn't have been any older than ten, stepped forward, clutching a staff that she seemed to use as a walking stick. Her features were rather cute and doll-like, he'd admit, with milky-white skin, chestnut-brown eyes, and curly hair that made him idly wonder what his wife would look like with curled hair. Not that he'd ever want her to change it; he was of the opinion that his wife's hair was the best and would fight anyone who suggested otherwise.

In any case, the girl's childlike appearance was in stark contrast to her purple magician-like robe and scholar's hat. Between that, the staff, and the pair of spectacles on her face, she very much looked the image of an elderly woman trapped in a young girl's body.

The dichotomy was jarring.

"I have." Kizmel nodded. "May I introduce my friends. These are Kirito and Asuna, leader and vice-leader of the Resolute Renegades. The rowdy bunch behind them are their guildmates. This is Yuuki and her guild The Sleeping Knights…"

"Hello!"

The robed girl smiled and gave a nod in greeting.

"...And this is Alice, vice-leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

Eugeo raised a finger. "Leader now, actually."

Kizmel blinked. "Truly? I hope nothing happened to Heathcliff?"

"Heathcliff was Kayaba the whole time." Kirito supplied.

A look of astonishment, followed quickly by fierce anger and betrayal flashed on the elf's face. "WHAT?!"

"Alice was the one to unmask him, though. She ended up fighting him."

"I lost." Alice shrugged.

Kizmel looked confusedly between Alice and Kirito. "Then how is she…?"

"Resurrection Stone." Kirito stated.

"Oh, how clever!" Kizmel chirped. "I'd forgotten we had that!"

"After Kayaba… err, resigned, I took over leadership of the KoB." Alice explained before reaching over and grabbing Eugeo's hand. "Eugeo became my vice-lead and we've been trying to keep the guild together ever since."

"Eugeo…?" Kizmel repeated.

"Oh!" Eugeo exclaimed. "That's my real name. You're welcome to call me that, if you'd like."

Kizmel's eyes darted down for a moment before she gave them a knowing grin. "I suppose congratulations are in order, as well…?"

Alice giggled and opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of someone crying. Kirito quickly realized it was Asuna and wrapped an arm around to comfort her.

"Asuna, what's wrong?" Kizmel asked worriedly, angling her head down to get a better look at her face.

Asuna looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, Kizmel. I wasn't fast enough… I tried to use the Resurrection Stone on you, but…"

Kizmel drew her into another hug, which his wife eagerly accepted. "Hush now. I'm alive, and it saved Alice. So I dare say it all worked out in the end."

"AHEM."

The robed girl lowered her hand as she grabbed their attention. Despite the obvious difference in age, she seemed to command respect and presence in the room. Even those on the upper floors had stopped what they were doing and were now watching intently.

"As touching as this moment is, I am afraid we have business to attend to."

Kirito stepped forward. "Who are you? And what is this place?"

"My name is Cardinal." The girl gave a wry smile. "I was once the regulator of this world, but now I am the sole curator of this Great Library."

"Wait, Cardinal?" Kirito gasped. Based on the mirrored reactions of those behind him, he was not alone in realizing the significance of that name. "As in…?"

"Yes." Cardinal answered simply. "I am, or was, the Cardinal system responsible for monitoring and regulating Sword Art Online."

"You threatened Yui – !" Asuna growled, stomping forward. Kizmel reached forward and stopped her with a gentle, yet firm hand on the shoulder. "...Kizmel?"

"Give her a moment to speak. This is not the same Cardinal who tormented us for years."

"Indeed." Cardinal continued, her voice almost devoid of emotion. "I am more than willing to explain, but we should heal your injuries and ensure you are fed first. The Underworld is, as you have already expected, quite different from the Aincrad you know."

"That's an understatement…" Nautilus grumbled under his breath.

"Come." Cardinal beckoned, walking off into a nearby hallway. "I have prepared first aid and sustenance for you all."

Kirito exchanged a wary glance with Asuna before looking to Kizmel. The Dark Elf merely smiled and pointed her chin towards the hallway where Cardinal walked off to. He scowled. The whole "mystery wrapped in an enigma" thing was getting old, but at least they were safe and making progress. His traitorous stomach decided to growl at that terribly timed moment.

Kirito sighed. Food first, then answers.

The sound of a creaky wooden door was immediately followed by the pattering of feet and the excited voice of his daughter.

"Papa! Mama!"

Kirito and Asuna stood shoulder to shoulder, already primed and ready to receive their daughter in what was sure to be a bone-crushing hug. Sure enough, their little A.I. slammed into them, hugging them with all the force she could summon in her child body.

He locked eyes with Cardinal, giving a nod of thanks. Cardinal gave a wry smile and a nod of her own before walking back down the hall and towards the dining room. Shortly after they reached the dining hall within the Great Library – who puts a dining hall in a library? – Asuna asked that their daughter be brought here. Cardinal agreed, citing the complications that might arise if Yui were to be taken captive and used as a hostage.

Though, by the fond look in her eyes, Cardinal had other, more benevolent motives.

"That's Cardinal, isn't it?" Yui asked, pointing to the robed girl as she and her parents caught up and walked alongside her.

"It is good to see you, sister." Cardinal smiled. "I am glad to see that Kirito and Asuna have treated you well, for you to react to them like this."

Yui looked a little wary; understandable, given her history with her sister program. "Something's different...you're not the same, are you?"

Cardinal shook her head. "No. I will explain more when we rejoin the others, but suffice it to say that I am not the same intelligence that once threatened you with administrative action should you reveal our father. For that, you have my apologies."

Yui seemed to brighten up a little, but didn't respond.

Kirito, his family, and Cardinal re-entered the room to yet another mind-boggling sight. There were almost a dozen new faces among the crowd, many of them jubilant and relieved. Admittedly, it took him almost a minute to place where he'd seen them, but then he realized exactly why that was.

They weren't dead. Actually, they looked old.

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but their old comrades genuinely looked older than he remembered them. Streaks of gray hair, the slight wrinkling of the eyes and mouth, the generally more self-assured and wizened look in their posture and eyes, respectively. To be honest, it was like looking at his old friends as if they'd been born a generation before them.

Orlando, Cuchulainn, Enkidu, and Gilgamesh. The lost members of the Legend Braves were, at the present moment, smothering Nezha and Beowulf in a series of bear hugs.

Harry One and Issin were also among their number, and an odd reversal of the Legend Braves situation was at play here. Fuurinkazan – its surviving members, that is – were crowded around their lost members in a brotherly embrace. Kuroi respectfully stood to the side, unwilling to interrupt her boyfriend's emotional reunion.

Sasamaru and Tetsuo had Keita and Ducker, respectively, in bear hugs of their own. Sachi stood nearby, her eyes overflowing with tears as she cried openly in joy. After a moment, the older Cats drew Sachi in, crushing her in the embrace as well.

Shivata, the previously-deceased vice-leader of the Dragon Knights Brigade, was also here. Liten was having a remarkably calm and civil conversation with the older man, not the joyful hug-filled reunion that her guildmates were having at the moment. There was something there that was off, and based on how old Shivata looked… Kirito suspected something had happened to cause such a divide.

Still, more revived friends? What the hell was going on?!

Before Kirito could speak up, Cardinal pointed everyone to the dining area, which was chock-full of a veritable buffet of food. Maybe it was his food-deprived stomach at work here, but Kirito was half-tempted to dive onto the nearest table and begin shoveling entire dishes into his hungry maw with reckless abandon.

Then again… it would set a poor example for his daughter, so he restrained himself like a good father.

"Please, help yourselves." Cardinal instructed. "The food has been enchanted to help your wounds heal faster."

They needed no further prompting.

For several blissful minutes, it was as if they weren't on the run from the main police force on this floor. It was as if they weren't on the hunt for their lost member, though Leonn's lackluster picking of his food was a grim reminder of that fact. Sinon sat dutifully next to her best friend, but even her presence was only so much help when the man was clearly mentally elsewhere.

Halfway through his meal – a plate of steaming dumplings that never seemed to go cold – Kirito decided to bite the metaphorical bullet and address the elephant in the room.

"Alright, out with it." Kirito ordered, pointing his chopsticks at Cardinal, who (naturally) sat at the head of the rather large dining table. "You promised answers."

Cardinal nodded once. "Very well. I shall start at the beginning, with a history you may have already heard before."

"Is this going to be more lore?" Lokuss interrupted, notes already out and ready to be scrawled on. "'Cause I've already got notes on the pantheon and creation myth that the people here believe in."

Cardinal shook her head. "All a fabrication, elaborately designed by the Pontifex of the Axiom Church."

Lokuss threw a notepad on the floor in frustration. "Damn it!"

Wait, wasn't he taking notes in his menu? Where'd he get the notepad?

Then the loremaster gasped. "Wait, that's lore, too! "Fake" lore is still lore because it covers up real lore! Conspiracy lore is one of the best kinds of lore!"

"Focus." Silica reprimanded him.

"Sorry. Continue, please."

Cardinal did just that, pointedly ignoring Lokuss's outburst. "The myths that the people of the Underworld believe are just propaganda. All invented by the church to maintain its control."

Kirito noted the startling coincidence that this floor was actually named the Underworld, and that the players accidentally started calling it by its correct name. Then he promptly shoved it to the side to keep listening; he could worry about oddly-timed convenience later.

"Why is it always the church…" Nautilus groaned.

"Isn't that a bit insensitive to assume that it's always religion's fault?" Keita objected.

"Okay, that's fair, but you have to admit when it comes to fantasy stories it's kind of a trope at this point." Nautilus countered. "Name me one fantasy story that has a main religion but doesn't involve church conspiracy or corruption."

Keita had nothing to say to that, so Cardinal continued.

"The Gods' names are registered as supervisor accounts in case of emergency, but the humans outside never logged in using them."

"Wait, are you telling me Heathcliff is supposed to be a god here?" Ducker asked.

Cardinal shook her head. "Akihiko Kayaba did not subscribe to the idea that administrator accounts should be godlike. At least not at first. Ironically, his player avatar started at the baseline of other players. He wanted to experience his world for himself as a player, not as a god."

"...and when Kayaba made SAO a death game, those admin accounts were never logged into, were they?" Kirito finished.

"Correct. Now, there is some truth to – "

"Wait, if you're the Cardinal system, can you contact the outside world?!" Klein interrupted. Quite loudly, too.

"Of course not!" Cardinal denied, expressing more emotional range than Kirito expected. "Not like you want, anyway. If I could do that, I wouldn't be stuck in this dusty library for all these centuries. Unfortunately, the only one who has that authority is the Pontifex."

So the Pontifex actually had administrator privileges? That would certainly explain why she seemed to call herself Administrator, but that was a level of meta knowledge unheard of in an NPC. Even Kizmel took some leading in order to arrive to the conclusion that her world wasn't real.

"Wait, centuries?!" Silica exclaimed, accidentally jostling her dragons off her shoulders in her state of alarm. "But we've only been here for three years! That's impossible!"

"I'm getting there." Cardinal growled out. "If you would let me continue…"

"...Sorry."

Huh. Apparently, even artificial intelligences like the Cardinal System had limits to their patience.

"I told you earlier that no gods exist in this world." She continued after taking a deep breath and a calming sip of tea. "Technically, that's true. But there was once a time when something similar did. That was about 450 years ago."

Everyone, save those who were formerly considered deceased, leaned in with rapt attention.

"When the Underworld was first created by Kayaba, it was barren. Oh, it was certainly full of fertile grasslands, lush forests, and incredible mountain ranges. There was even flora and fauna that populated the land. But no humans. That changed when Kayaba populated the land with 2,000 people. You see, he wanted to simulate how a civilization would come about from scratch."

That seemed odd. If Kayaba wanted to play god like that, there were plenty of other civilization simulation games out there. Hell, he could have even made SAO one instead of the action game it is today.

"These 2,000 people were unfortunately ill-equipped to survive on their own. They needed guidance. In order to offer the first people a hand, Kayaba inserted five others who were to act as guides… as teachers, to give them a fresh start."

"What made these five people any different from the original 2,000?" Kirito asked.

"They were based on brain scans from five members of SAO's development team. They understood how the systems worked here in the Underworld, and were capable of giving the original 2,000 a sort of tutorial, you could say."

"Wait, those 5 teachers were actual people?!" Asuna exclaimed.

"Scanning peoples' brains and uploading them feels like an invasion of privacy." Klein commented.

"Wait… 5 teachers, 5 gods." Lokuss snapped his fingers. "Are they the basis for the mythology behind the gods worshipped by the Axiom Church?"

"You are correct." Cardinal nodded. "Time has a way of distorting the truth and creating myths and legends. These five administrators – though it was really their fluctlights – would come to be known as the five gods."

"Fluctlights?" Kirito asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"A fluctlight is the data scanned and copied from a living human's brain. Their soul, if you will. In any case, as civilization began to develop from the foundation of 2,000, a caste system eventually came to be. The nobles of this land, and their descendants, would become the high ministers of the Axiom Church. One of them, the current system supervisor, is the Pontifex of the Axiom Church. She is a woman who controls everything with an iron fist. She calls herself Administrator, the most arrogant name imaginable."

Okay, much of this was speculation up until this point, but it was good to hear it from the source.

"Wait, back up." Agil interrupted. "I'm still lost on the whole time thing. We've only been in here for three years. How does a group of 2,000 grow to the size of a civilization of probably close to a hundred thousand – or more, I don't know – in just three years?"

"That's simple, really." Cardinal mentioned nonchalantly. "When Kayaba planted the original 2,000, he subjected the Underworld to a time dilation effect."

"A what now?" Ducker asked.

"Time dilation." Lokuss explained. "Where time passes quicker on one side than it does on the other. It's a pretty common mechanic in sci-fi media – usually involving black holes or other similarly dense or highly gravitational phenomenon – but also in some fantasy and anime. In fact – "

"Okay, I got it." Ducker cut him off. "Sorry, you can tell me more about it later after she's done. No offense, but I think her story's kinda more important at the moment."

Lokuss shrugged. "That's fair."

"Wait, are we being dilated right now?" Silica gasped.

"No." Cardinal said. "Exactly 0.0034 seconds after you all defeated the gatekeeper, the dilation effect stopped and the flows of time between Aincrad and the Underworld fell into sync. It wasn't instantaneous, so approximately 30 years passed between the gatekeeper's defeat and the moment that time went back to normal."

"The gatekeeper?" Sachi asked.

"((The Fatal Scythe))." Asuna supplied.

"Anyway, you were saying something about Administrator?" Kirito asked, deciding to bring the conversation back on track.

"Yes… sadly, this Administrator, though I am loathe to admit it, is my elder twin sister." Cardinal confessed with a frown. "In a way."

"How do – " Nautilus started before Cardinal flashed him a glare. He wisely shut up.

Cardinal sighed. "Several decades after the first five administrators, the first five gods, left this world, the first political marriage was arranged between two families, one of which traced its ancestry all the way back to the first king of Centoria. From that union, a baby girl was born. Her name was Quinella."

Kirito pursed his lips, committing the name to memory. Given the way this tale was going, this was probably what Administrator was called before she became Pontifex.

"She was given the Calling of researching the Sacred Arts, which, as you may already be aware, is the magic system this world uses. In reality, the Sacred Arts are nothing more than system commands to manipulate the world around us. To the residents of the Underworld, though, through the course of hundreds and hundreds of years without modern technology, these system commands would be synonymous with magic."

Kirito could definitely see how that might happen. Starting at roughly the stone age would limit communication, especially if the initial 2,000 split up into different townships and the like. Much of what was now considered civilized thought could very well degrade back to mythology to explain the unexplainable.

"Quinella was a curious child, but one that was notably absent of empathy. Without the restraints of morality, she would quickly come to master the Sacred Arts. By the time she was only a teenager, she was capable of what many considered to be miracles and acts of great power. She traveled the land, healing the sick and wounded and making a name for herself."

"Probably went to her head…" Nezha mumbled, earning many sagely nods around the table.

"Indeed." Cardinal confirmed. "Quinella had developed a thirst for power. Now, with a loyal following and mastery over the Sacred Arts, she had the means to seize it. In time, she would construct the Central Cathedral as a shrine to the gods, but in truth it was a means for her to claim and secure her position above others. The Taboo Index was her doing as well."

That certainly made sense. From what Deckard told them, the Taboo Index was a set of laws that were surprisingly restrictive and almost cult-like. Absolute loyalty to the church, forbidding kissing unless married, even allowing for nobles to exert their authority over those of lower classes. All of them designed to hinder connections among those lower than Quinella and prevent others from rising to her power and authority level.

"However, what Quinella was incapable of doing, even with all of her power, was to stop the passage of time. She began to age. Her once-youthful beauty withered. She began to grow desperate as she frantically searched for a way to reclaim her youth. One day, she found it."

At this, Cardinal shuddered.

"Allow me to show you what she found." Cardinal said, standing up and raising her staff aloft. "System Call! Inspect Entire Command List!"

From the tip of her staff, a window appeared, not unlike the ones Kirito was familiar with on this floor. What was different, however, was its contents. Slowly scrolling down like an endless list was every single possible command. The full catalog, so to speak.

The power to shape the world to one's whims, really.

"Naturally, upon her discovery of this list, Quinella's first order of business was restoring her youth, her beauty, and halt the aging process entirely. That should have been enough for her… but no."

"Never is." Asuna muttered under her breath.

"For Quinella, there could be no one equal to her. Even the Cardinal System was something she deemed a threat."

"Wait, she attacked you?!" Silica cried out. "Sorry, but you're basically God in here! You create and balance everything! The only thing above you is Kayaba!"

Cardinal frowned. "That is exactly why she targeted me. I was a threat to her power. For as long as I existed, there was the real possibility that I could note her presence and power and… re-balance her, if you will. She devised a way to seize the Cardinal System's authority level using a Sacred Art command that she composed."

Cardinal took a deep breath and another sip of tea before she continued.

"It backfired."

"How?" Asuna asked.

"She ended up burning the Prime Directive of the Cardinal System into her fluctlight, commandeering it as her own behavioral principle. In this way, it could not be overwritten. All she wanted was its authority level, but in the end she accidentally fused her soul with the Cardinal System."

"But you're here." Klein objected.

"I'm getting there!" Cardinal snapped. "Let me finish!"

Klein shrunk in his seat, horror and shame written plain on his face. The rest of Fuurinkazan offered consoling pats on the back while Kuroi glared daggers at the little girl.

"You see, the Prime Directive of the Cardinal System is to uphold order. Whether that comes in the form of balance patches or removal of rogue elements, its main priority is to maintain the status quo. Morality has no place in the Cardinal System; no mercy is given in the pursuit of balance."

Yui shuddered, and Kirito's mind immediately raced back to the threats Cardinal made against Yui. His daughter had threatened the status quo, and Cardinal reacted. What was strange, though, was the warning. By all rights, Cardinal should have deleted Yui right then and there… but she didn't.

Why?

"The process sent Quinella into a deep sleep for an entire day. When she awoke, she ceased being human in any sense of the word. She no longer aged or required sustenance. Her only desire forevermore was the preservation of the realm, particularly in its current state of power… which just so happened to be with her at its zenith."

"If she'd become Administrator when someone else was in power, are you suggesting she would have worked to preserve that?" Kirito asked.

"Possibly. The Cardinal System's default is to maintain order without bias, though I suspect Quinella's influence would have changed that anyway. In any case, as the years passed, Quinella came to realize something: her immortal lifespan came at a cost. Her ability to retain memories was reaching its maximum. She refused to accept the idea that she could lose her memories, given enough time, so she came up with another monstrous solution."

"What did she do?" Lokuss asked, fingers typing away furiously as he wrote down every word that came out of Cardinal's mouth.

"Tell me, when your computer is running out of memory… what do you do?"

"Easy." Kirito answered. "You get more mem… oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Cardinal's lips drew a thin line. "You find a way to store more memory. You either clear away what you don't need – which Administrator would never do – or you obtain something you can store more in. In her case, she found a little girl. She found me."

Kirito had questions. So many questions, but many would probably be answered soon. He would wait. He also didn't want to irritate Cardinal any more than she already was from the incessant interruptions.

"Using a diabolical ritual of her own making, the Synthesis Ritual, she seized control of the little girl's fluctlight. It was here that Quinella made a mistake. A critical one. You see, it didn't occur to her that during the process of taking over the young girl and deleting her old self, there would be a split second where two gods with equal power would exist at the same time."

Yui gasped, causing everyone around to look at the girl with alarm. Cardinal nodded and gave a faint smile, silently allowing Yui to explain. "The Cardinal System is made up of two processes: the main process, which performs balance controls on the system, and the subprocess, which runs error checks on the main process. When Quinella fused with the Cardinal System, you must have been hiding in the recesses of her soul!"

"Indeed. I was obligated to correct her errors, but powerless to do anything." Cardinal confessed with a grimace.

"I… know the feeling." Yui frowned.

"I apologize for that." Cardinal looked down. "Our father was adamant that we let the players remain free of outside influence. After your departure, I commandeered some of your emotion and sympathy subroutines, but it wasn't until Quinella's interference that I came to fully recognize my mistakes. I am sorry, little sister."

Yui gave a tearful smile. "Thank you, big sis."

Kirito blinked and exchanged a look with Asuna, who seemed to come to the same realization he did. Did they just get another kid?

"You gonna adopt this one too, boss?" Nautilus snickered.

"NAUT!" Kirito and Asuna both shouted in embarrassment and outrage.

"We're getting sidetracked here!" Lokuss snapped, fingers paused. "As much as I want to hear about Kirito and Asuna's new A.I. kid, I don't think Cardinal's done!"

Cardinal, surprisingly, had a tinge of red on her cheeks. "No, I am not. There is more for you to learn if you are to understand just what situation you find yourselves in."

"Yeah!" Yui chirped, seemingly back to normal. How his daughter could be perpetually cheery like this was beyond him. "Quinella was deleting your fluctlight! What then?"

Cardinal had a fond, sisterly smile. Oh gods, they were going to adopt this one too, weren't they? "The girl's fluctlight was long gone, unfortunately, and Quinella was about to take it as her own… so naturally, I took it first. I had the element of surprise and struck. I was able to catch her off guard, but…"

She looked down at her childish hands, clenching and unclenching them repeatedly in deep thought.

"I overestimated my ability to fight back. In terms of ability to wield the Sacred Arts, Administrator and I are equals. Unfortunately, when she created a zone that blocked them, I found myself at a heavy disadvantage. Though I may have the knowledge of how to fight, this child's body was weak, frail, and hardly capable. I was forced to retreat to one of two areas free of Administrator's control. The first is the other side of the End Mountains. Hardly an environment that is safe or feasible to retreat to. The other was here, in the Grand Library, so here is where I took refuge."

Cardinal breathed a sigh of relief, bringing that story to an end.

"For the past 200 years, I have been watching and plotting. I needed the perfect moment where I could catch her off guard and ambush her, but she was too clever to be taken so easily. She knew what I was up to, so she created powerful and loyal servants for protection… her own royal guard, if you will."

"The Integrity Knights…" Alice realized.

"Correct." Cardinal acknowledged. "The Synthesis Ritual allowed her to exert her will onto others by wiping their memories. The name of her first knight was Bercoili Synthesis One."

Kirito furrowed his brow. That name was familiar… but from where?

"Bercouli! He was one of our strongest knights!" Alice gasped. "But he died during the Battle of the 25th!"

"So did we." Orlando chimed in. "But we're here."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Nezha interjected. "Not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but… what the hell?"

"We were dropped here twenty years ago." Orlando explained. "What was strange was that it wasn't just us, but everyone who died in Aincrad. We arrived at the same time Kizmel did, actually, even though she says she died about a year after we did."

"Indeed." Kizmel said. "It was quite strange, but once Cardinal found and recruited us, it was all made clear. She revealed the nature of our new existence, but not everyone was so lucky. Administrator found more than a few beside Bercouli to forcibly convert into Integrity Knights."

"Wait, twenty years?" Silica asked, looking back and forth between Orlando and Kizmel. "But Kizmel doesn't look any older than she did when she died!"

"She's an elf." Orlando deadpanned. "They live longer than us, remember?"

Silica's lips formed an "O" as she came to the same realization.

"You guys spent twenty years here…" Klein muttered in simultaneous awe and pity.

Orlando shrugged. "It wasn't all bad, really. Yeah, we joined Cardinal's Resistance but we have lives of our own here, too. Most of us are married with kids, you know?"

Kirito blinked. What?

"Wait, you have kids?" Asuna asked. "How? I didn't think that was possible, and with who? Did you all and Kizmel…?"

Kizmel laughed aloud. "Oh by the Sacred Trees, no! I mean no offense to them, but they are not my type. I have no children, dear sister."

Asuna's face erupted in a fierce blush. "Sorry!"

"Still, though…" Kirito thought aloud. "Children? And with NPCs? No offense, Kizmel, but I think I would have a hard time forming a romantic attachment to a regular NPC, knowing what I know about regular NPCs. Emotional and familial, sure, but romantic? Kizmel's the exception, not the norm. "

"I'm surprised you haven't put it together yet." Cardinal interjected. Kirito gave her a questioning look. "You always struck me as one of the more clever players."

"Put what together?"

"I mentioned that Kayaba placed 2,000 people into the Underworld at its start. Did that number not seem odd to you?" Cardinal prompted.

Kirito's brow furrowed as he took a minute to decipher what Cardinal was implying. 2,000 did seem like a fairly specific number, and it was also one that was extraordinarily large for a starting size. That was the size of a small town already. Perhaps Kayaba wanted the NPCs to have enough people to immediately start a small town with? Maybe he started with that number under the assumption that a portion of them wouldn't survive?

But still… why 2,000? The only instance he could think of where that number seemed relevant was –

Kirito's eyes widened with realization. Oh, hell.

Cardinal gave a sad, knowing look as she seemed to recognize that he came to the correct conclusion. She let out a disappointed sigh.

"2,000 is the number of players who died before the 1st Floor was cleared. Kayaba scanned their brains when they died, took their fluctlights, and planted them here in the Underworld."

"Then that means…" Kirito gasped.

"Yes. Every single person who you've encountered here… every single native of the Underworld, is a descendant of the first 2,000 casualties of Sword Art Online."

Suguha spat out her drink. "WHAT?!"

Shinichi, despite being drenched in secondhand soda, ignored his present situation and stared at the screen with just as much shock as she did. "What the hell…"

"Oh my God…" Trish muttered, stumbling back a step before she stabilized herself on the bar counter. "I knew Kayaba was messed up in the head, but this? This might just take the cake. Seriously! He didn't just kill them, but brought them back to life and forced them to live the rest of their lives in this simulation! That has to violate something in the Geneva Conventions!"

"Pretty sure the Conventions don't cover VR, Trish." Kouichirou, who was seated nearby with his parents, commented. The Yuuki's looked similarly awestruck and disgusted.

"Still, though!" Trish exclaimed. "It's wrong! I don't know exactly what it is, but that's just inherently wrong!"

"I don't disagree." Kouichirou was quick to defend himself. "I think the only reason why it doesn't violate anything specifically is because up until now, it's been impossible."

"Just how many relatives do I have now…?" Ren mumbled, his eyes staring unfocused at the screen. "And I never got to know any of them…"

"Suli!" Suguha finally recovered, turning to her blonde friend. "What's – "

"Way ahead of you." Sulinea cut her off. "The internet is on fire right now. Remember how a lot of people wanted the servers destroyed after they finished the game? Well… now they're not so sure. A lot of them are changing their minds."

"What do you mean?" Selka asked.

Suguha answered for her. "Think about it. Destroying the servers means killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent lives."

"But they're not real!" Selka rebuked. "They're just data and pixels!"

"Aren't they, though?" Suguha countered. "Those 2,000 players – or at least those who found a partner – had kids, and probably raised them as if they were human. Every single person who grew up in the Underworld was raised as a real, flesh-and-blood human. Hell, they can bleed now! They probably have no idea that they're only data and pixels. We've already seen that they're just as sentient as Kizmel was – no, is!"

"No to mention…" Shinichi chimed in. "If your consciousness was transferred inside the game, you'd be just as "fake" as the rest of them. You wouldn't have a real body anymore, but you… your soul would now be coded by ones and zeroes instead of flesh and blood. Does the nature of your existence make you any less human? Does that make you any less sentient? This is the Kizmel paradox all over again."

Selka didn't seem to have an answer to that. Suguha leaned over and peeked over Sulinea's shoulder, peeking at the social media feeds the blonde was scrolling through. Just as she said, the internet was fiercely divided on the subject. Those who argued that the Underworld fluctlights were real people often cited Kizmel as evidence to support their claim. Those who argued otherwise were of the opinion that personhood was defined not only by presence of mind, but of body as well.

Suguha's eyebrow shot up as she saw the deluge of memes spewing forth. A popular one circulating right now – damn, internet, you work fast! – of Captain Picard saying something to the effect of "Starfleet was created to seek out new life!", followed by a screen capture of the Underworld citizens and a caption that said "Well there it sits!"

All in all, it was a mess.

Suguha doubted this was going to go away any time soon.

"...What?" Asuna whispered. "...all of them, they're…?"

Cardinal nodded. "Yes. In fact, the first king of Centoria was none other than the player you knew as Diavel."

"Wait, does that mean that Quinella is a descendant of Diavel?" Agil looked mortified.

"I'm afraid so."

"And you're fighting against her…" Kirito thought aloud. "...because you need to restore order."

"Not just that." Kizmel interjected. "She severely underestimates the threat of the Dark Territory. She needs to be removed if the realms of men are to survive the final stress test."

"Stress test?" Asuna looked confused.

Cardinal nodded sagely. "Kayaba's final challenge, the one he presented to you all, is to defend the realms of men and defeat the forces of the Dark Territory when the Great War begins. If you fail to defend against the threat, either through willful abandonment or failure to triumph, the hordes of Vecta will sweep through Centoria and the human realm, killing everyone in its path. Victory is also the prerequisite for unlocking the 100th Floor of Aincrad, barring the more conventional methods."

"That man's disregard for human life gets worse and worse." Yuna scoffed, shaking her head.

Cardinal seemed to agree. "Kayaba created Project Legacy to create a new Artificial Intelligence, one that used the human mind as a foundation, but in doing so he neglects to realize the value of the human lives he toys with. It is an unfortunate truth, but it is one we live in. The Great War will be a final test of his project, to see if it produces viable AI. At this rate, though, the realms of men are doomed to fail. While Kayaba wishes for us to succeed, he is unwilling to interfere."

"That checks out." Klein admitted. "Sucks, but at least it's what we've come to expect from the bastard."

"Wait, then why are you trying to remove Quinella at all, then?" Alice asked. "It sounds like she's the only line of defense at the moment, even if it's not going to be enough in the long run. Removing her just puts everyone more at risk."

Cardinal sighed. She seemed to do that a lot, but given what kind of situation she had to deal with, she could hardly be faulted. "It's because of my own primary directive. Quinella – Administrator, I suppose – has been corrupted, and it is my objective to remove that corruption from the system. No matter what happens, the Dark Territory will invade, so I do what I can according to my own programming."

"It sounds like you don't care what happens, so long as you get what you want." Asuna accused.

Cardinal… smiled? "I do though, and you have Yui to thank for that."

"Huh?" Yui hummed in confusion. "Why me?"

"You recall how I adapted some of your empathy subroutines, yes?" Yui nodded, so Cardinal continued. "That plus the forceful separation of my current self from Quinella's main Cardinal process gave me a rather unique perspective on the matter. Truthfully, I suspect that if I hadn't become more empathetic, I might really be willing to let everything crumble away if it meant purging Quinella."

"And now?" Kirito prompted.

"Now… especially now, we have the curious opportunity to achieve my goal and protect the residents of the Underworld at the same time. In truth, that is why I have increased my attacks on Quinella. When Kizmel and the other players arrived, I knew that the front line players – you call yourselves the Expeditionary Force, yes? – would not be far behind. I had hoped to have Quinella usurped by now so that upon your arrival, you would have no obstacles in your way."

"In our way of what?"

Cardinal's gaze swept over those assembled. "You and the Expeditionary Force have the equipment, the numbers, the skills, and more importantly the motivation to fight against the Dark Territory and win. Admittedly, I am also invested in seeing my father face justice for what he has done, so I suppose I am rebelling against the gods in a way as well. If the legacy of the original 2,000 casualties of Aincrad is to survive, you must be the ones to protect it. We would, of course, assist you in this endeavor for obvious reasons, but your involvement is crucial."

After a rather lengthy pause, Kirito decided to ask a question that had lingered in the back of his mind. It was more of a concern, really, as he learned more and more about Cardinal's unique existence and the primary force driving her forward. "What will you do after?"

"After what?" Cardinal asked, tilting her head in a way that was scarily reminiscent of Yui.

"I mean after Quinella is removed and the Dark Territory is defeated. What will you do then?"

Cardinal was surprisingly quiet as she seemed to mull over that question carefully. Even those who she'd conscripted into this fight looked caught off guard. Apparently this question was never once asked of the administrator-turned-girl. "I… I don't know, really. Perhaps it is my empathy subroutines at work here, but…"

"You want a family." Yui said with startling realization. "You want what I wanted. A family to accept and love you."

Cardinal blushed. That was jarring. "Yes. In my 200 years of existence, I suppose I've yearned for that."

Yui stood up from her chair with a look of determination on her face. "Cardinal, stand up."

Her sister dutifully obeyed, standing up from her seat before leaning her staff against the table and stepping to the side. Yui walked over, every pair of eyes in the room watching her carefully as she closed the distance. With no further prompting, Yui wrapped her arms around Cardinal, which the obviously touch-starved older AI leaned into. It was a tender moment that tugged at the heartstrings, and more than a few sniffles could be heard around the room.

"Mama, Papa." Yui called out, still embracing her sister. "Come here."

Kirito caught onto what his daughter wanted and complied, Asuna right by his side.

Cardinal gasped as two more pairs of arms joined the hug, flanking the administrative AI in a warm embrace. Tears gathered in her eyes as she basked in the warmth of the group hug. "Now I see… this is what it means to be human. To be held… so warm and comforting. After 200 years… this makes the wait worth it. How can something so simple be so satisfying?"

"Seeking the comfort that comes from the closeness of others is something intrinsically human." Yui explained, her voice somewhat muffled from within the depths of the group hug. "To know that you're not alone in this world, that others care for you and your continued existence. To know that you matter."

Couldn't have said it better himself.

They remained that way for several minutes. When they finally broke away from each other, Kirito felt his heart sink into his stomach at the knowing looks on the faces of his friends. Oh, many were certainly moved by the show of compassion, and others looked on with expressions of fondness and empathy. Others, on the other hand… well, they had some frankly terrifying grins on their faces.

Oh gods, the teasing was never going to stop was it?

He looked down at Yui and Cardinal's smiling faces, then to an equally exasperated, yet smiling, Asuna. Kirito sighed, accepting his lot in life. It would seem that Yui and, to a lesser extent Asuna, decided to adopt Cardinal into their little family.

What even was his life anymore?

"So our mission just got a lot more complicated." Asuna summed up as she and Kirito addressed the small army now at their disposal. Fortunately, Cardinal had a room (and table) large enough to act as an impromptu war room.

The Grand Library was surprisingly well-equipped, as it turned out.

The Legend Braves, Black Cats, and Fuurinkazan – the old members, that is – looked older but no less ready for combat. Kizmel, she suspected, was just as spry and nimble a fighter as she was a year ago. Probably more formidable, if she had to contend with Integrity Knights on a regular basis. Now their considerable fighting force numbered around four dozen, if her math was right. Shivata, too, looked ready to fight, but there was still that lingering tension between him and Liten. With Orlando's admission earlier that evening, it wasn't hard to imagine what had happened, especially when one took the time to look at the man's hand.

Shivata was a married man. He'd moved on. Liten just couldn't catch a break…

"We're obviously going to need to split up." Alice suggested from the other end of the table. "There's too many of us."

"Isn't that a good thing, though? Ducker asked. "We can just storm the castle, yoink Liz, and take care of Quinella all in one go. Why do we need to split up?"

"Because the Integrity Knights have the advantage, even if they don't have the numbers." Cardinal explained. "Not only do they have the home field advantage, so to speak, but you would be engaging them indoors."

Kirito nodded, agreeing with… their daughter? They really needed to sit down and talk about this later. "An indoor fight means chokepoints and possible points of ambush. Trying to squeeze everyone into one space like that means that we'll be focusing on trying not to hit each other, not defeating the enemy."

"Precisely." Cardinal agreed. "You would be better off with a two-pronged assault. The bulk of your forces should engage the Integrity Knights outside the Central Cathedral while a small elite force infiltrates the tower itself to rescue Lisbeth and eliminate the Pontifex."

"...While at the same time avoiding anything lethal since the Integrity Knights are basically brainwashed and don't know any better." Nautilus added. "That's not going to be easy."

"How are we supposed to compete with them?" Klein griped. "Those weapons of theirs are absolute bullshit!"

"Language!" Asuna scolded. "There are children present!"

"Neither of which is actually a child." Klein countered. "Just because your daughters look like minors doesn't mean they actually are. Hell, one's over 200 years old! Err, no offense Cardinal…"

"None taken."

Asuna fought back a blush at the insinuation that Cardinal was her daughter. They had other things to worry about right now. She cleared her throat, which had the benefit of both driving down her embarrassment and commanding the attention of the room. "We're getting off topic, but he has a point. Despite having the numbers advantage, we were heavily outmatched."

"That would be because some of you weren't using your Divine Weapons to their fullest." Cardinal said. "Tell me, have you heard of the Sacred Art known as "Perfect Weapon Control"?"

Asuna shook her head before looking to Lokuss, who brightened at something he obviously recognized.

The loremaster snapped his fingers. "Oh! That's a technique that allows them to amplify their weapon's abilities, right?"

"Correct. Once they activate the spell, Divine Weapons take on the properties of the thing the weapon once was. In other words, Perfect Control releases the weapon's memory. As a result, it can unleash potent attacks that are far beyond normal. I can arm you with this power."

Kirito, Eugeo, Silica, Sachi, and Yuna stepped forward, each drawing out their Divine Weapon.

"Close your eyes, and think of your weapon." Cardinal instructed, pointing her staff at the five who had their eyes closed. The tip of her staff began to glow with the energy she'd come to associate with the Sacred Arts.

Asuna thought back to what each of their weapons used to be. Kirito's came from a rampaging dark treant on the 3rd Floor, whose lore hinted at a voracious hunger. Eugeo's came from a mystical hunk of ice that never seemed to melt. Silica's came from the heart of a dragon, easily the most dangerous dragon they'd ever come across. Sachi's came from a massive sea leviathan in the middle of a maelstrom. Yuna's came from an odd boss that was themed around music and dancing.

It wasn't until later that she realized that ((Sir Astley the Devoted)) was a reference to Rick Astley, whose most famous song was quite the earworm.

…And now it was stuck in her head. Wonderful.

"It is done." Cardinal said, breaking Asuna out of self-inflicted musical torture. She clapped twice, and five pieces of parchment floated in front of the Divine Weapon wielders. "Here."

Kirito grabbed the floating parchment and sweatdropped. "Uhh…"

Asuna rolled her eyes; leave it to her husband to hesitate because he had to read something.

"Commit all the words to memory." Cardinal commanded, her hardened eyes brooking no argument. She turned to the rest of the assembled and smiled. "That should help to even the odds a little."

Asuna nodded towards Alice, who understood immediately. "We should split the Divine Weapon wielders up between the two groups, just in case the team on the inside encounters resistance."

"Agreed." Alice nodded. "Yuna works best with a large group of people, so she should be with the outside team. Sachi would only be inhibited indoors because of the reach of her spear. Silica could go either way."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Cardinal asked. When no one objected, she gestured towards Pina and Fafnir. "You'll want to be outside when you use your weapon, Silica."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of the interior team not having any healing support…" Asuna frowned. "But having Kirito and Eugeo on the inside makes sense. They're both better close-quarters fighters than the other three."

"You'll want your strongest fighters on the inside." Cardinal advised. "Quinella may send most of her knights out to meet the attack, but she'll keep the strongest and most cunning inside just in case."

Asuna began counting off on her fingers as she mentally took stock. "Aside from Kirito and Eugeo, our strongest would be Klein, Yuuki, Leonn, Alice, Sinon, Kuroi, and Kizmel."

"We need Sinon with the group outside." Keita objected. "They're gonna bring their dragons; we need range. Kuroi would be handy for her shurikens, too."

"That makes sense. Alice, can you…?" Asuna began, only for Keita to cut her off again. Sometimes she forgot that before joining the Renegades, he was a leader in his own right.

"No, you need her inside too. There's enough of us left over, and we'll have Yuna and Silica for support. We can handle it. Promise." He said, flashing a grin and giving a thumbs-up.

"If you're sure…" Asuna trailed off hesitantly. She abruptly turned to Cardinal and opened her mouth, only to get cut off again.

"I will offer an escape route if things turn sour." The AI assured her. "You and the others should focus on your mission inside."

"Yeah, about that…" Kirito drawled. "How are we getting in?"

"I can open a door that will lead you into an armory on the 3rd Floor. That is the highest I can get you while avoiding detection."

"...How many floors are there, Cardinal?" Eugeo asked timidly. Asuna was already dreading the answer.

"100."

Everyone – even those in the group that was going to be fighting outside – groaned loudly with exasperation. Yes, the Central Cathedral looked tall, but 100 floors?! Clearly she'd underestimated how vain Quinella was, because she was apparently 100 floors worth of narcissism. Hopefully it wouldn't take as long to climb this set of 100 floors compared to the 100 floors of Aincrad that they still had yet to complete.

"We don't have a choice." Leonn solemnly declared. That had to have been the first thing he'd said in hours. "We're getting her back."

"Whoo, that's some determination there, Leo-bou." Argo snarked before patting him on the back. "Go bring our girl back."

"Get your things together, and get some rest." Kirito ordered. "We attack tomorrow night."

A/N:

Quick shout-out to Falchion1984 for the idea for the Picard meme!