-Floor Three-

Kirito rubbed his wrists where the rope had dug into his skin, leaving a bright red rash that itched and blistered. "What do you want from me?" He said bitterly, still angry as to what had transpired last night. He was currently sat in the kitchen across from Klein and Agil whilst Love leaned against the kitchen islands counter top, his lead low. Sinon on the other hand, was pacing back and forth in the living room, both hands placed atop her head as she inhaled and exhaled heavily.

Klein sighed and clasped his hands together. "They're gone." The man shrugged, his words seemingly taking a huge weight off his shoulders.

"What?" Kirito snarked.

"Lisbeth, Asuna, and Silica." Love confirmed. "We woke up today, and none of them were in their room. The window that led outside was left wide open, and Silica's recurve bow was on the ground."

Kirito's face went cold and his leg started bouncing nervously. "W-Where the hell did they go?"

"Don't know." Love shook his head. "We've tried messaging them, but they aren't responding."

The swordsman felt his whole body be set ablaze by anger, the heat boiled up to his head to the point where he felt to urge to scream, but at nothing in particular. The boy slammed both hands on the table and shot to his feet, knocking his chair behind him as he did so. No one else in the room seemed to be startled by the sudden outburst - it was as if they were expecting him to display this type of reaction.

Kirito raised an arm to point an accusatory finger at each and everyone of his friends, however his body was too shaky to even listen to his brain. "You... I'll kill you!" Kirito lunged across the table, grabbing ahold of Agil's shirt and tackling him to the ground. "If you had just listened to me instead of throwing me in that damn closet, none of this would have ever happened!" The swordsman raised a fist and brought it crashing down towards Agil's face. Before it could connect, Klein shoved Kirito off the tall man and held him down.

"You can't blame him! We thought you were going insane! You were talking crazy last night!" Klein yelled.

"Well clearly it wasn't crazy! What I said turned out to be true!"

"We don't know that!" The redhead hollered back. "For all we know, they were kidnapped by one of those clones that have been popping up out of nowhere!"

"You don't get it!" Kirito delivered a firm shove into Klein's chest, knocking him off the teens body. "That thing yesterday wasn't Asuna, it was one of those body doubles. Same for Lisbeth. Neither of them were the girl's we knew."

Love, who had previously been silent throughout the whole ordeal, suddenly spoke out. "How do you know?"

Kirito scoffed. "I know how my own girlfriend acts, Love. Asuna had been acting different all night last night when she got home from her shopping trip with Lisbeth. I didn't think anything of it until I realized that Lisbeth was also out of character. Then... I saw Lisbeth's eyes... It was only for a moment but... they were green."

"God dammit!" Love threw his arms up in frustration. "Why the hell didn't you just tell us that yesterday?!"

"I needed more proof before I started making accusations! We're in a damn videogame, glitches can happen! I had to be sure! Can you honestly say that you'd believe me if yesterday afternoon I told you that our friends were actually NPC's without any other proof other than the way they were acting?!"

"Well we would've certainly considered the possibility! But instead you decided not to say anything, and now look at the situation we're in!" Love fired back.

"Liar! You would have either laughed me off or accused me of being crazy like you did last night!"

Everyone in the room fell silent minus a few heavy, frustrated breaths coming from Love and Kirito. Among them, Sinon spoke up. "Hey. Three of our friends are missing. We have no idea where they went and they're probably in danger. We need to start thinking of ways to track them down."

Agil opened up the party tab of his user interface. "Hmph." He scowled. "They aren't in the party anymore so they wont show up on our map."

"Yeah. They're names still show up on the player directory menu, but no other information is given." Klein confirmed.

Kirito, who still shot unsure looks at Love, opened his menu and began scrolling through it to find something, anything to help find his friends. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Well..."

"What? What is it?" Sinon asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"This floor... It has a special item given after a certain quest."

"What item?" The blue haired girl asked.

"I can't remember what it's called, but it tracks a path to anything you select as a target, and that includes players."

"So you wanna use the item to track a path to Asuna, Silica, and Lisbeth?" Agil nodded approvingly.

"It's not like we have any other option."

Klein tilted his head in confusion and said, "How can you select them as a target if you can't even see them?"

Kirito shrugged, "The player directory. We can select them as a target through there and use the item to track a path directly to them."

"That works?" Sinon pursed her lips.

"I uh... I think so?" The swordsman sounded unsure.

Sinon groaned. "I suppose it's worth a shot. Do you remember where the quest is located?"

"Yeah. It should be on the north side of town where all the rich NPC's live."

"Well then!" Klein slapped Kirito's back harshly and beamed ear to ear, though the smile seemed fake - a ploy to instill a false sense of confidence and calm to his friends. "No time to waste! Let's get a move on, folks!"

Despite the redheads upbeat mannerism, everyone begrudgingly began to suit up to leave. Sure, they wanted their friends back, however they knew that no matter what would happen, a danger would present itself that they would have to take on. It was as though they were being kept in the same cycle of distraught without any way out. All they could do was keep pushing forward until one day, hopefully, they could escape the death game once and for all.

-Tokyo-

-Real World-

Akira and Suguha peered intently out of the coffee shop window and across the street. Yellow police tape surrounded a large office building that pierced hundreds of feet into the sky. Sapper Co.

"I can't believe it." Suguha mumbled to herself. "Such a huge building, yet the entire company was evil hiding in plain sight."

The police standing guard outside would occasionally shoo away curious bystanders that dared to ask questions as to what had happened. Akira nodded, "This whole thing seems really shady, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. And I bet they aren't telling the public the full story." The girl said whilst pointing at one of the police officers.

"What exactly is your plan? It's not like we're able to obtain any information from one of the officers. We could pretend to be members of the press but I'm sure that wouldn't work. Like you said - the police probably aren't telling the whole story."

"Hmm..." Suguha bit her lower lip as she scanned the outside of the skyscraper from where she was sitting. She counted four cop cars, and four cops. There also wasn't any cars in the parking garage that connected to the building in question - or at least that's what it seemed from what Suguha could observe. "Doesn't it kind of seem like there's a lack of investigation?"

"What do you mean?" Akira sipped his coffee and placed the now empty cup onto the circular table.

Suguha sighed and rested her chin against her palm. "I've watched a lot of true crime stuff on TV. Cops usually have a partner with them that rides passenger in their car, but I only see four officers."

"So you think there should be eight?"

"Yeah. This is a high profile investigation. The other four officers are probably in the building somewhere."

The teen boy squinted and leaned back in his chair, a puzzled look on his face. "Only four?"

"Or less." Suguha corrected. "But yeah... Four at the absolute most."

"That certainly isn't as much as I expected... Ha, four people to investigate an entire skyscraper. Must take forever."

"Wanna make it six?" The dark haired girl smirked.

Akira's calm demeanor suddenly dropped upon hearing his friends suggestion. "W-What? You wanna break into a crime scene?" He whisper-yelled.

"...Yes."

"No. I'm drawing the line there." Akira said bluntly, to which Suguha threw her head back in frustration and moaned like a child. "I have scholarships lined up, Sugu! I can't be breaking the law. Plus my parents would kill me!"

"We have an opportunity to save thousands of people, Akira! That's worth a scolding from your parents."

"And what if it doesn't work? Then none of this is worth it."

Suguha shook her head and pursed her lips. "Fine. But you're still gonna help me." She rose to her feet and put both of her earbuds in. "You can find a layout of the building online right?"

"Uh... Y-Yeah."

"Find it, and guide me once I'm inside."

Before the young teen could walk off, her friend grabbed her arm. "Please reconsider what you're doing. This is getting to the point where we're becoming criminals, and for what? We don't even know if our theory is correct. For all we know we could be dead wrong about this entire situation."

Suguha quickly broke her arm away from his grip and returned it to her side. "We're not criminals. Think of us more as vigilantes." Her words dumbfounded her friend, who just sat there and watched her walk towards the coffee shops front doors. "Find the buildings layout."

Once the girl left and was onto the bustling street, she pulled out her phone and began playing calming music that projected through her earbuds. What she was about to do was very dangerous and risky so she wanted to be level headed and relaxed. She crossed the street and stepped onto the sidewalk that Sapper Co. stood upon. Along the sidewalk ran a thin strand of yellow police tape. Speaking of police, the four officers watched her as she walked towards them, her path destined to cross in front of them.

"Little lady. Move along." One of the larger officers said.

Suguha nodded and pointed absently in front of herself. "Just passing through." She brisked by them, avoiding eye contact as she did so. After a few dozen more feet, she arrived at the parking garage. Between the two structures was a small alleyway that was the perfect cover in order to gain access into the parking garage. There were large rectangular windows that ran along each floor of the garage, and the first story one was low enough to grab from the alley. The garage itself had yellow police tape around the actual entrance where the toll booth was, so once Suguha was inside, there was no turning back.

Before she made the commitment, she paused her music and dialed Akira's number.

Hello?

"Hey. I'm ready. Did you find a layout of the building yet?"

Working on it... Believe it or not the criminal enterprise is not very public about their architecture. Akira said in a snarky tone, still bitter over his friends rash decision making. Right. Found it. Seems like the only other entrance besides the front doors are security doors that you'll need keys to. Alternatively, there's an entrance on the third floor of the parking garage.

"Good. I'm already there." Suguha stared down the length of the dark alley one more time before climbing over the wall and into the garage. As suspected, it was completely empty. To her left was the toll booth and the exit that led out to the street and on her right was a dark stairway. "Third floor." She whispered to herself confidently.

I can't express how much I object to this idea.

"Yeah well... What's the worst that could happen?"

You going to jail.

Suguha's eyes widened as she realized the very real possibility of being arrested and did her best to shrug it off as she climbed the stairs to the third floor. This was to save her brother after all, it was worth the risk. Once at the top floor of the parking garage, the glass door that led into the main building was directly in front of her. "Okay, I'm here." She whispered.

Is the door locked?

The girl placed a hand on the glass panel and bit her lip as she pushed forward. "Dammit!" She groaned.

Locked?

"Yeah."

Well um...

Suguha ruffled through her pockets and pulled out one of her black hairpins that she always kept on her just in case the one she was using broke somehow. The door only had one padlock so she hoped that she could shimmy it open.

Hey! I hear that! Are you trying to pick the lock?!

Suguha grunted at the resisting lock, and Akira's shouting didn't help, so she promptly removed her earbuds and turned her full attention to the lock in front of her. After about a minute of struggle, the lock turned, and the door opened slightly. Suguha laughed audibly, surprised that managed to accomplish something so mischievous. "I'm in!" She exclaimed - probably to loudly given the situation she was in.

Dammit... There's no turning back now... I'm an accomplice to criminal activity.

"What else are we suppose to do? It's not like we can call the cops, they're in David Herara's pocket, I bet."

Akira didn't respond, instead he opted to parcel out directions as to where Suguha should go. Alright. This blueprint I found online doesn't have any labels to the rooms so all I can see are the shapes of them.

"Do any of them look strange or out of place among the rest?"

Yeah one. But it's on the thirteenth floor.

Suguha squinted down the hall. Luckily, there was no one in sight for the time being, but she needed to move fast. Staying crouched, she walked the length of the hall searching for a door that had some sort of label that indicated a stair case. Taking an elevator would be too obvious especially since the police most likely had the whole building on full lockdown. Suguha eventually found a flight of stairs that spiraled up a small square shaft. She peered all the way up to the top and felt a strange sense of vertigo. She was never a fan of heights, but luckily she only had to go to the thirteenth floor.

How you doing

"I'm fine. Just passing the fifth floor now. No sign of any guards yet."

Shit...

"What?"

We got company. Seems like every police officer in the country just pulled up to the scene.

"What?! Seriously?"

Yup... One sec... Some guy in a suit just got out of black van and he's talking to one of the officers.

"Is it Herara?" Suguha nearly yelled, her voice echoing up the stairwell.

How am I suppose to know? I've never seen the guy.

"Fine... Just keep me updated on what their doing. I can't just sit here, I'll be caught."

Roger. Seems like all the police officers that just showed up are waiting on the suit-guys orders.

"Probably one of Herara's goons." Suguha said as she passed the tenth floor.

Maybe. His conversation with one of the original officers is getting heated. I can't hear what they're arguing about but based on their body language, it's not pretty.

Suguha finally reached the thirteenth floor and pushed the door open. The hallway she appeared in looked identical to the one she had broken into, however this one had far fewer doors and no windows. "Alright, Akira, where to?"

You on the thirteenth floor?

"Yup."

Okay... One sec... Go left from the stairwell. It's the third door on the right.

"Got it." The young girl, feeling more relaxed, tip toed over to the specified door and and glared at its glass frame. It was a foggy glass, like the type you'd commonly find at doctors offices, so she couldn't see what was on the other side.

Hey. Looks like the guy in the suit won the argument, he and his men are approaching the building.

"What're the officers that were here first doing?"

If I had to guess, these new officers are with some sort of detective agency and they're here to seize the building so they can investigate. The officer who the suit-guy was arguing with is talking through a walkie talkie.

Just as Akira said this, Suguha heard a staticky voice come from the door positioned directly behind her. She froze and tensed up, her heart dropping. She slowly turned and stared at the door, which was labeled 'Janitors Closet'. She hoped and prayed that this was just a walkie talkie that was accidently left behind by one of the officers. After all, why would an officer be in a janitors office in the first place? If Suguha could obtain one of the walkie talkies, she could hear what the local police are doing in the future. It wouldn't help now that they were seemingly removed from the scene according to Akira, but it could help sometime down the line.

Feeling confident, Suguha slowly reached out for door handle and gently turned it. Before pulling it open, she pressed her ear against its cold metal surface and listened for any disconcerting sounds. Nothing. With her lip bit and mind braced, she swung open the door and jumped back, expecting the worst.

There was... nothing. The room was small and the radio sat upon a small stool in the corner of the closet. Suguha chuckled to herself and picked up the radio, listening to the officers voice as he spoke from the ground level.

'I'll say again, the federal government had obtained court ordered warrants to begin investigations on Sapper Co,. Anyone that belongs to the Tokyo City police must leave at once.'

Suguha picked up the walkie talkie and gave it a puzzled look. "The federal government?" She whispered to herself.

I heard. Akira's voice through her earbuds startled her.

"Jeez. I forgot I had still had you on the line." Suguha gasped.

Sorry. But yeah that's very suspicious. It's been weeks and the feds are just now starting the investigation?

"Something's up..."

Well you need to get out of there. They're piling into the first story very quickly.

"Right, We can-"

Just then, from the darkness of the corner behind a bunch of mop bucks and brooms, a hand reached out and grabbed Suguha's foot. The young girl let out a scream and kicked at it as she slammed her hand against the light switch to turn it on. There, on the floor was a man wearing a Tokyo City Police uniform. His mouth was taped over and blood and tears ran down his face.

Before Suguha could even process what was going on, she felt a sting in her hip, followed by a hand around her mouth. All she could hear as her vision faded was the yelling of Akira, asking if she was okay.

-Floor Three-

An ominous blue haze guided Kirito, Agil, Klein, Sinon and Love down an otherwise pitch black forest trail. Kirito's plan to get the item that could track players went off without any blunders, and the friends were now tracking Asuna's and the others position using the special item.

Love impatiently checked the time in his menu. "It's two in the morning." He said vacantly. "I hate to be that guy but surely we're close, right?"

"I think so. I know this floor pretty well." Kirito said, keeping his eye peeled on the dark tree lines that ran along both sides of the trail. "The only other structure on this corner of the map is an old warehouse that's only involved in a few quests."

"Well then surely that must be where Silica, Asuna, and Lisbeth are being kept." Sinon theorized.

Kirito shrugged. "Maybe. Unless there's some place that I don't know about. I mean this game is far different than what we are used to so I wouldn't put it past the game developers to tweak a few things here and there like they've already done."

Love stopped dead in his track and sniffed the air, recoiling once he did so. "Oh god... Do you guys smell that?" He pointed towards the tree like to the groups left.

Suddenly, from the darkness a silver tipped arrow flew directly into Agil's shoulder. "Ah!" The tall man grunted.

"What the hell?" Sinon yelled and knocked an arrow of her own, aiming it in the general direction of the attacker. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." Agil ripped the arrow from his arm. Luckily, it wasn't deep enough to hurt too badly. He pulled out his axe and and took up a defensive stance.

"It's probably just a group of mobs. I'll take care of it." Love used his maxed out dexterity and dashed forward, disappearing into the tree line before anyone could object.

Kirito sighed and shook his head. "Sometimes I can't stand him. Come on, let's go help." The remaining friends began a brisk jog into the darkness. Before they could reach the tree line and begin searching for their friend, two people burst through one of the trees and landed on the ground in front of Kirito and the others.

Love was beneath a gigantic man getting pummeled in the face by two leather wrapped fists. "Get this guy the hell off of me!" the madman yelled between each devastating blow to his face.

Agil reeled his axe back and swung it towards the stranger. It impaled the mans back, sending blood cascading across the grass. However, to Agil's horror, the man grabbed his arm without looking slowly rose to his feet. It was then when everyone got a good look at his face. It was an older gentleman with white hair and a braided beard that reached down to just above his chest. He stood at a towering height just above Agil.

"Artificial!" Was all the stranger said.

Agil, still struggling against his grip, wince in pain. "W-What?!"

"Where is she?" He forced the dark skinned man down and stood over him, his other fist winding back for a punch. Before he was able to deliver the blow, Klein jumped in and practically bear hugged the mans shoulders from behind, preventing any movement of his shoulders.

"Get off him!" The redhead grunted against the force of the stranger.

Agil took this opportunity to wrap both of his legs around the attackers chest and began squeezing them together as tightly as he could.

With the subdual in progress, Kirito stood before the stranger, a puzzled look on his face. "Who the hell even are you."

The man, instead of answering, let out a loud, ear piercing scream. On queue, two more people came charging from the tree line. One from above, and one on the ground.

Love, who was now free thanks to Agil and Klein, held his spear in one hand and jumped up to meet the descending attacker in mid air. They collided with a thud, but thankfully this attacker was no where near the stature of the previous, so Love actually stood a chance. Kirito and Sinon turned their attention to the other attacker who appeared to be a young blonde girl holding a short sword. She looked no older than eight and had an extremely worried look on her face.

Kirito and Sinon looked at each other doubtfully. "Hey!" Kirito yelled towards the large man who was still being held down by Agil and Klein. "You're recruiting kind of young, aren't you?"

"You're players?" The little girl asked, her sword lowered to the point where it was scraping against the ground.

Kirito cocked his head in confusion. "Y-Yeah. Are you?"

"Okay!" Love yelled, bringing everyone's attention to him. He had already beaten his target and had them in a tight headlock. It was too dark to make out what they looked like but they appeared to have a similar build and height as the madman himself. "Everyone calm the hell down!" Love pulled a small dagger out and pointed it at the large man and the little girl who stood about ten feet away. "We know what you are."

"We do?" Sinon quipped nervously.

"Yes, we do. They're attacking players for no reason. That's bad enough on it's own, but you're doing it extremely close to where we suspect our friends are being held captive. Now you better start talking, where's Silica and the other two girls?"

The boy struggling against Loves chokehold let out a confused hum. "We aren't falling for your tricks again, you stupid computer!"

"Yeah?!" Love pressed his dagger against the strangers neck, causing a small drop of blood to flow down the shimmering metal. "You really want to test me?"

"Love! Stop!" Sinon screamed. The madman glanced over at the blue haired girl and saw her pointing at a small frame of the young child who had previously emerged from the trees along with the other two attackers.

Love sighed and delivered a firm kick into his captives shin, sending him to the group as he winced in pain. "You guys have a weird group... Old man, young guy, and little girl. Who are you?"

The old man who was still being restrained by Agil and Klein growled in agony before saying, "Players."

Kirito glanced back and forth between the three strangers and frowned deeply. "Our own friends were kidnapped and were replaced by A.I without us even realizing it. How can expect us to believe you?"

"The A.I's are powerful. If we were one of them, you really think we wouldn't have just killed you?" The old man struggled to take a deep breath against Klein's headlock. "We thought you were one of them too."

"How do you know we aren't?" Love taunted, causing his friends to shoot him disapproving looks.

"They don't bleed."

"Huh?" Kirito squinted.

"It's true." The boy who Love was previously restraining confirmed. "No matter how much damage they take or how hard you try, the don't spill blood." He pulled a torch from his inventory that illuminated his face. His skin was dark, similar to Agil's, and his face was bloodied from Love's attacks. His hair was long and tied back into an unkempt ponytail. "We're looking for people too."

A moment of understanding solace enveloped the group of new acquaintances. Kirito hesitantly nodded at Klein and Agil, making them feel confident enough to release their grip on the titan on a man. "What are your names?" Sinon asked neutrally.

The dark skinned boy spoke first, "Dwight."

"Alice." The small child gave a small, awkward wave.

Lastly, the large man rose to his feet and brushed himself off before stating, "Mateo."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Kirito, this is Sinon, Klein, Agil, and Love. We're out here following a trail that we're hoping will lead us to our lost friends."

"Did they disappear last night?" Mateo asked as he rubbed his neck where Klein had been holding him.

"Yeah." Klein nodded. "They were somehow able to clone themselves to make it look as though they were our friends and they masqueraded like that all day without us noticing. Once night came around and everyone was asleep, they took our friend Silica and disappeared."

"I'm sorry." Dwight bowed his head as if to show he requited the empty feeling of despair that they were currently feeling. "We have reason to believe our friends are in a nearby warehouse. If they actually are there, there's good chance that your people are there too."

"Yeah." Kirito equipped the tracking item and quickly used it, illuminating a path that led down the trail towards the location of the warehouse in question. "I think you're correct. This item has been leading us directly there. Or at least so we think."

"Good." Dwight nodded to himself. "Well that nearly confirms it in my mind then. Did any of you play Sword Art Online during the first go around?"

Sinon confirmed, "Yeah, all of them did. I didn't."

"Well, at least most of you know what we're getting ourselves into, then. The warehouse is small, so it's not good for groups to fight in."

Kirito, Agil, Klein, Sinon all shrugged at the teenager. "I can't speak for everyone but I know that I never came down here during the original Sword Art Online." Love stated exaggeratively.

The rest of his friends mumbled in agreement. It's not as though this area was particularly dangerous, thus encouraging players to stay away, it was just that this floor offered so many other better questing zones with far higher yield, so this portion of the map fell into obscurity.

"Hm." Dwight sighed and placed his chin in his hand. As he did so, he turned and began walking down the path towards the direction of the warehouse. "Come on, we'll talk as we walk."

Kirito and his friends gave each other uncertain looks, but nevertheless agreed to follow Dwight and his group whilst also keeping a close eye on the mountain of a man, Mateo.

"I like your blue hair." The little girl, Alice, said to Sinon.

"Hm." Sinon smiled warmly. "Yours is pretty, too. You hair is so blonde. I'm jealous."

"Thanks." The young girl lowered her head and held her short sword close to her chest. "My mom says I get it from my dad."

The blue haired girl suddenly frowned, noticing the change in the child's voice as she said this. "Are these your friends?" she pointed to the front of the group towards Mateo and Dwight.

"Mhm!" Alice perked up happily. "Mateo is my uncle. He's really brave but also really... quiet. And Dwight is really smart, we found him back on floor one a few weeks ago."

Sinon giggled. "I see. It's good to have close friends when you're in a different world, right?"

"Yeah! We're gonna get my friend back too!"

"You're friend?"

"Yeah! Her name is Aoi, she's Dwight's little sister."

Sinon felt a ping in her stomach as she glanced up and saw Dwight slightly lower his head upon hearing what Alice had said. Clearly his feeling of sorrow had been eating at him. Wanting to say something to clear the air and give an uplifting word of encouragement, Sinon said, "Don't worry. We'll get her back. We'll get them all back."

Dwight turned his head and gave a forced smile and nod of appreciation towards Sinon before refocusing on the road ahead. Alice on the other hand, looked less motivated. She glared at the dirt path beneath her as she walked and took a quiet, deep breath. It was as if she had heard those words before, likely because she really had. Being forced into such a situation as a child must do things to a person. Having your innocence taken from you with no remorse was brutal, especially without any explanation. Sinon was saddened to see this little girl be so distraught. Realistically, there was nothing she could so to comfort her without lying or making false promises that she wasn't sure she could keep. Pain can be perceived as a virtue to some - a tool to grow character. But is it okay to hold that standard when the subject of that growth and pain is someone who is forced to partake in it at such a young age?

Sinon shook her head to herself, feeling pathetic for not even being able to say something to make this little girl feel better.

Love dropped back to the rear of group and glared at both Sinon and Alice. Apparently he had been listening the whole time. Instead of preaching about strength and pain as he usually did, however, he simply placed the handle end of his spear under Alice's chin and used it to lift her head up towards the horizon.

"Head up. It's okay to be upset, but don't ever put your head down." The madman said warmly. It was the first time Sinon had ever seen Love talk or act like that, and it made her smirk. Sure, she thought of him as a psychotic freak who had anger issues, but she supposed he could do what was necessary when it came down to it.

Love brought his spear back to his side and looked away from the girl, resituating his gaze on the path ahead. Through his peripherals, though, he noticed Alice still starring at him with a hopeful, wishing eyes. After about five seconds, he looked back down at her and cocked his head. "Eyes forward, too." He said sternly.

"R-Right!" Alice flustered, her head now held up high sporting a determined aura.

It took another ten minutes before the group emerged from an opening in the tree line and were ejected into a flat, grassy field - in the center of which stood a large wooden two story rectangle of a building with sheet metal roofing and shatter windows. Since the warehouse was so close to the floor border, the mountains that encircled the play area were just a few miles behind it, cutting off the moons light in an ominous, eerie way.

In this absence of light, however, made clear the odd activity going on within the warehouse. Through the shattered windows and broken down doors there was a faint green glow that pulsated at the same rate as a slow heartbeat.

"Alright." Dwight cleared his throat and pulled out his sword. "Let's take this slow. No reason for this to get messy." He glanced over at Kirito, "I have an idea, if you'll hear me out."

Kirito nodded as if to say, 'go ahead'.

"Well-"

FSSST

A flash of silver whizzed through the air in what little light there was in the field. It struck the ground right at Dwight's feet, causing the boy to hop back in surprise, nearly tripping over Klein as he did so.

"Dammit!" Love screamed and readied his weapon.

"Don't rush!" Sinon grabbed the madman's arm in attempts to get him to not make any rushed decisions.

Another arrow pierced the ground, this time right in front of Sinon's feet. Whoever this mysterious archer was had no intention of hitting them - He or she was toying with the friends in some sort of sadistic game.

Dwight quickly ripped one of the arrows from the ground and checked its 'info' tab. "Th-They're just iron arrows!" The dark skinned boy said with jubilance.

"So?" Agil growled, preparing for another arrow to be directed at them at any time.

"Those are the weakest arrows in the game!" Kirito exclaimed. "They hardly do any damage and can be blocked by even the weakest of shields!"

"Exactly!" Dwight quickly opened his inventory and quickly equipped a low level shield that he had laying around and held it up to cover his upper torso and head. "Does everyone have a shield in their inventory?"

The rest of the group members fumbled through their menus before all manifesting shields of all different sorts and sizes. "Let's move!" Dwight gestured towards the warehouse and began a slow jog, being sure to keep his shield held high to cover as much of his body as possible.

Kirito didn't advance though - instead his eyes hopped back and forth between the little girl Alice, and the charging members of his group. Sinon seemed to be thinking the same as the swords man and gave him a subtle nod. "Wait!" Kirito yelled.

The rest of the group stopped dead in their tracks and spun around, their shields being held behind their back to block any arrows that may come from the rear. "What're you doing Kirito and Sinon?" Klein pried, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"We're really going to throw this kid into harms way like this?" Kirito asked with a scowl. "I know she's only a few levels below all of us but does that justify dragging her into this dangerous of a situation?!"

"She's more than capable of handling herself. Trust me." Dwight assured.

"Look at her!" Sinon exclaimed, pointing at Alice, who looked petrified in the wake of the warehouse. "She may be capable, but these things - these AI's. There unlike any regular monster in this game. She's just a kid, it doesn't matter what her level is!"

Mateo, who had mostly been silent this entire time, finally spoke up in his deep, booming voice. "We won't get anywhere unless we take chances. Alice is my nephew, the daughter to my sister who... who isn't around anymore." Mateo shook his head in a depressive, disappointed manner. "I took her and her brother in when they had no where else to go. Now her friend is missing, but I reckon she's about to be found." The large man motioned his head towards the warehouse behind him. "I'll be dammed if I let some computer rip apart these kids lives anymore."

"So your solution is to bring her to a dangerous fight with the AI's?!" Sinon spat back, ignoring the mans heartfelt disposition.

"What would you have me do? Leave her back in the city where it's already been proven that it isn't safe from the AI's grips? You're own friends got kidnapped from right under your noses and you're going to judge me about danger?!"

Sinon froze and stared blankly at Mateo. He was right and she knew it, but her pride told her to hold steady in her ideals. "Whatever. You guys go enjoy throwing yourselves at the enemy. I'll stay here with Kirito and Alice and actually do what any normal person would do, which is to not put our youth in danger... Something you clearly couldn't care less about."

Mateo stepped towards the blue haired girl with a snarl, his hands closed into a fist. "Why you-"

"Stop." Dwight said in a monotone way. "Alice will be safe. That's what you want, right?"

The large man scoffed and turned with everyone back towards the warehouse where another volley of arrows pierced the sky.

"Shields up!" Agil demanded. A hail of metallic shaded arrows pierced into the friends shields with a thud.

"We can't sit around! We have to move, now!" Klein yelled. The marching friends seems to silently agree and resumed their slow trek towards the entrance of the warehouse, being mindful to keep their shields up the whole time.

Kirito felt powerless as he watched wave after wave of arrows pelting into his friends shields - some being so forceful that it made a few of them stagger from time to time as they approached their goal. "I..." He whispered.

"What?" Sinon asked, frustration still laced in her tone after the confrontation she had just been through.

The Swordsman continued to fixate his gaze on his marching friends. They were only about a fourth of the way to the warehouse, yet they already had seemed to slow down. Nonetheless, they pushed onwards. "I have to..."

"Kirito!" Sinon nearly yelled. "What's wrong?! What are you saying?!"

Kirito turned to stare Sinon dead in her eyes, guilt ridden for what he was about to say, "I have to help them."

"W-What?!"

"I have to go with them." He went into his inventory and began searching for a shield he could use to block the arrows.

Before he could select anything, Sinon grabbed his hand and held it tight. "No, you don't!" She nearly yelled. "You were just telling me about how you thought it was a bad idea, right?!"

"No." Kirito snapped his arm back to his side and away from Sinon's grip. "I said it was wrong to drag the little girl into that damn warehouse!" His attitude began to flare as the stress of the situation began to eat at him. There he was, standing by as his friends did all the dirty work. He was becoming the thing he so valiantly despised. Lazy, and expecting.

"So you're just gonna leave me here to look after Alice all by myself?! For all we know there could be more of those body doubles out here in the woods and you expect me to be able to fight one by myself?!"

"Take her back to town! You'll be safe there!" Kirito readied his shield.

"That's a lie! The AI's are after us! You know that!"

Kirito forced a fake, confident smile. "Just trust me." And with that, he charged full speed towards the group of his marching friends.

Before the Swordsman could even take two steps towards the warehouse, he heard Sinon yell, "You're pathetic, Kirito! You know that?! You can't even do the right thing anymore!"

His teeth gritted as he felt the cool night air slice his cheeks before quietly saying to himself, "I know."

Once Kirito was caught up with the rest of the group, they were stood just underneath the second story window where the mysterious archer was firing from. At this angle, no more arrows were launched, and the area silent besides a pulsating hum that emitted from inside the warehouse.

"What's the plan?" Love asked quietly.

Kirito scanned the wall they were huddled against for a door. "There!" He exclaimed. "We can enter through- GAH!"

An arrow flew directly into his side, causing him to fly backwards into the wall behind him.

Just then, a shadowy figure who was presumably the same one firing at them from before, landed in front of them about ten meters away. Her twin tails and small frame made it clear who it was.

"They cloned Silica!" Agil yelled and tucked his shield close to his chest.

The body double of Silica blinked, revealing her fluorescent green eyes. "Look," She said in a voice that almost sounded worried. "I really don't want to have to do this."

"Yeah, well, we don't either." Dwight unsheathed his sword defensively.

"Then don't." The double said bluntly. "Nobody has to get hurt here. Just walk away. I won't even shoot at you when you do." The look on it's face sent shivers down Kirito's spine. It was so alike to Silica that it was even mimicking her speaking mannerisms and facial expressions. Had it not been for the discoloration in her eyes, she could have passed as the real thing.

"You stole our friends!" Love shouted, looking as though he was ready to charge.

"I didn't do anything. I'm just a clone - a line of text in a software-"

A shield was thrown from one of the party members, and it hit Silica's double directly in the face. Kirito glanced over and saw Mateo empty handed, an angry scowl on his face. "You AI's always say the same things!"

The clone held a hand over her face where the shield had struck and let out an annoyed growl, her innocent personal fading instantly. "Fine." She knocked an arrow and aimed it at the large man. "Have it your way." She release and it flew true, however Mateo managed to step out of the way, causing it to impale the wooden wall behind him. As if on queue, everyone charged, weapons out and prepared to battle with this clone. Agil was the first one up, once he was within range, he raised his huge axe high above his head, but before he could bring it crashing down, Silica's double stepped past him, and in the same motion, used her dagger to slice the skin around his ribcage open.

Agil fell to the ground, clutching as his wound as blood began to pour out rapidly.

Love and Dwight tried to attack simultaneously. Love went high, his spear head pointed directly at the clones heart, while Dwight went low, trying to knock her off balance. Love received an arrow in his upper shoulder, causing him to waver midair and thusly missed his attack, slamming into the ground with a thud. Dwight managed to land a sweeping attacking with his sword against the clones legs, but was swiftly kicked with so much force that he flew back into the warehouse's wall, his upper half slightly penetrated the wooden structure. He was knocked out cold.

"Damnit!" Klein exhaled as the worry on his face grew more apparent. "What the hell are we suppose to do?!"

"Attack at the same time!" Kirito instructed the only two remaining group members, Klein and Mateo. "There's three of us and one of it! We can overwhelm it."

A sudden, chilling voice softly began to speak from behind Kirito and through a crack in the wall he stood against. "There's three of us, too." A set of arms crashed through the warehouse walls and grabbed Kirito. Once the debris settled and the Swordsman was able to comprehend what had just happened, he looked up and saw Asuna standing there, her hands gripping his shoulders so tightly that he tensed up from the pressure. "You!" He screamed and tried his best to break free. "I knew you were an AI this whole time!"

Asuna's double laughed hysterically and shoved the Swordsman down to his back. "If only your friends weren't so naïve. All of this could have been avoided."

Ignoring it's taunt, Kirito quickly jumped to his feet. "Where's the real Asuna?!" He demanded.

"Who knows? I'll give you a hint - you're close." She motioned her head towards the hole in the warehouse wall she had just created.

"Yet so far." Another voice from inside finished. Lisbeth's clone stepped over the debris and let a cocky smile creep across her lips, eyes shining like two emeralds. "The programmers instructed us not to kill any of you, however your actions are making them reconsider."

"Well why don't you just kill us right here then?" Klein taunted.

"Because." Lisbeth's double chuckled. "They still think you and your friends can be spared from an early death."

"Yeah." Klein did his best to mimic the clones nonchalant demeanor. "You and your AI buddies aren't making that easy to believe."

"Trust us." Silica's double, who had largely remained silent throughout this whole ordeal, suddenly said. "If you knew what was waiting for you, you wouldn't try to progress."

Klein began laughing even more as if he was trying to anger the AI's around him. "Well, what can we say? We're humans, we're all sorts of naïve."

"Then we'll break it out of you." Lisbeth's clone swung her mace, cracking it against Klein's lower jaw, knocking him unconscious immediately.

Next, the AI of Silica wrapped an arm around Kirito, and plunged her knife deep into his back. The Swordsman tried to resist, but his dropping health made it harder and harder to move. Eventually, his vision began to fade in and out as he felt his body go limp. Through intermittent cycles of nothingness, to blurry, shaky vision, he saw Mateo put up a final stand against the clone. It seemed as though he was putting up more of a fight than anyone else had up to this point, however the AI's levels were just too high, and he too eventually fell victim to their brutal tactics.

The dust had finally settled and the clones stood over their foes with cocky smiles. "Shall we finish this, then?" Lisbeth's double asked excitedly.

"No." Asuna's gave her companion a dirty look. "You know the orders. We can't kill them... Not until the programmers decide to let us, at least."

"So now what?" The AI of Silica asked cautiously.

"We have to move our prisoners out of this warehouse - take them somewhere more secluded. Remember, we're stuck on this floor just like the rest of the players so we need to go somewhere where we won't be found for a while." Asuna's clone instructed.

"Hey." Lisbeth's double said vacantly.

"-Furthermore," Asuna's continued, ignoring her fellow AI. "We also have to-"

"Hey!" The pink haired girl yelled.

"What?!"

"Look!" Lisbeth's double pointed toward the tree line where Kirito and his friends had begun their brave march. The darkness was difficult to see through, however Asuna's double could make out a lit torch as it danced up and down within the blackness of the night.

"A traveler?" The blonde asked.

"No. There's more of them, look." Lisbeth's double pointed as seemingly nothing.

"I don't see them. I only see the torch."

Just then, the area around them began to darken, similar to how it would if a cloud passed underneath the glowing moon. Asuna's double glanced up and saw a hail of arrows so large that it blocked off what little moonlight there was shining through the clouds. A loud, collective whistling noise echoed through the field as the hail flew closer and closer, eventually pointing downwards at the top of their trajectory and began cascading towards Asuna's double and her two companions.

With the impending damage about to bestow upon her and the inconvenience of another fight approaching, Asuna's double opened her mouth and managed to utter one word before the storm of arrows connected, "What?"

CRASH

The hellfire of iron tipped arrows rained down onto the AI's bodies, causing them to curl over and hide their front's in order to avoid getting impaled anywhere too vital. As the storm of attacks didn't let up, Asuna's double checked her health bar. She knew she wasn't invincible, however she had always enjoyed a power so great that she may as well been. Now, though, her health was lower than it had even been: Ninety percent. For the first time since she was programmed, the clone had a stirring feeling in her chest, unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was... a feeling... a feeling of worry.

"No!" She screamed to herself over the sound of the arrows crashing into the ground around her as well as the warehouse. "I am an AI. I don't feel anything!" She rose to her feet and faced the brunt of the hellfire. "You can't hurt me!" She yelled into the darkness. Just as she said this, attack stopped, and she was finally able to clearly see the world around her. Feeling as though she had scared off the attackers, she smirked confidently. She was an AI, after all - stronger than anything else in the game. Suddenly, once that thought had engrossed her mind, she glanced up towards the tree line where the attack had came from only to see a line of charging cavalry just fifteen feet away.

The clone wasn't even able to gasp before a spear was lodged into her shoulder. She slammed into the ground, the wind being knocked out of her as she quickly looked around to try to comprehend what had just happened. An absolutely massive line of heavily geared players charged towards her, screaming and yelling ferociously as they did so. All of the soldiers sported a white and red uniform with a cross patch on their shoulders.

"It's the girls!" A man on a horse behind the charging line yelled. "Kill them!" His army did as commanded and began to attack the three AI's, who all stood little chance against the pure numbers of this mysterious army.

Asuna's double put up a fight - slashing and impaling everyone she could before the sheer amount of soldiers swarming her got the better of her. Despite their high level and superior stats and gear, the three AI's were eliminated with little damage being sustained by the army.

Kirito's vision was still hazy, however among it, he noticed a certain blue haired girl kneel down next to him and use one of her healing items on him, raising his level of consciousness to a near lucid level. He inhaled sharply once he came to, the sound of chattering soldiers and medics filling his ears - a welcomed surprise. "S-Sinon." Was all he could muster. Having his life flash before his eyes wasn't anything new to the Swordsman, but this time for some reason felt all the more real perhaps due to the fact that if he had perished, he would have never been able to rescue the girl he loved, and henceforth, never see her again.

Sinon pulled Kirito in for a tight hug. "It's alright, Kirito. We're safe now."

Kirito could hear the emotion that Sinon rarely ever allowed to slip through. It almost caused him to nearly choke up had it not been for the shocking sight around him.

This army, these patches, and these uniforms. They were familiar. The Knights of the Blood Oath.

"I've heard about you." A tall, skinny man said as he dismounted from his white horse with a smile. "Kirito, in the flesh." He glanced down to the stab wound Kirito had sustained and grimaced in disgust. "What's let of it, anyways."

The Swordsman patted Sinon's back, subconsciously asking her to release her grip from him. She did as instructed and made her way to her other friends to care for them as they slowly began to wake up from their recovery coma. "Yeah." Kirito said. "That's me."

"I was told you'd be here. Though I'll be honest, I didn't really believe it."

"Can I ask who you are? Sorry, but I don't know you." Kirito tried his best to be polite after the pain and tribulation he had just experienced.

"Sorry. My name is Julian. I'm the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

Kirito's eyes widened. This man was no where near what he assumed the leader of the most powerful clan in the game would look like. He was skinny, almost to the point of scrawny, and he sported a dorky grin that in no way would inspire anyone to charge into battle. "Uh." Was all the Swordsman could say.

"I know what you're thinking." Julian said with a chuckle. "Trust me, I've heard it before." He extended a helping hand to Kirito and assisted him to his feet.

"Sorry." Kirito said as he brushed himself off. "You just weren't what I was expecting."

As he said this, another man rode his horse next to the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath and dismounted casually. He had more of a stocky build and wore all black. His face was concealed by what looked like a metal mask that resembled a mannequin face. Luckily, the stranger unclipped the mask from his head and gently took it off, revealing a gruff, hardened looking face that was covered in unkempt patches of facial hair. Speaking of hair, this stranger had a lot of it; it hung down to his shoulder blades and looked dirty and unwashed.

"Ah!" Julian said pleasantly. "Kirito, this is Desmond. He's the leader of a group called the 'Afterlifers'."

Kirito squinted. He was certain he had heard this name before, however he wasn't sure where. "Oh... Desmond... Were you the one who sent out that message to every player a few floors ago? The one that said that you had knowledge about the game that no one else had?"

Desmond calmly rose his right hand and gave a subtle nod.

"He doesn't speak much." Julian chuckled.

"Is he a mute?" Kirito asked.

"No." Desmond said in a voice that was higher pitched than expected from a man of his stature.

"He's a brilliant leader." Julian praised as he patted the large man on the shoulder. "Not to mention the fact that he really does know more about this game than anyone I've ever met. I think his men speak for themselves."

Kirito glanced around and noticed a handful of soldiers among the Knights of the Blood Oath. Unlike the white and red uniforms that the Knights wore, the soldiers of Desmond's army wore all black just like their leader and were all leveled somewhere around the high teens. The Swordsman chuckled in surprise and shock as he repeated quietly, "The Afterlifers."

"Hey!" A voice from inside the warehouse yelled. "We found them!"

A sudden line of people began funneling out of the warehouses front door. Kirito shot to his feet and quickly ran to try to get a better view of who was exiting. He pushed through a line of soldiers just as the first people began to hobble out. Everyone who made their way outside looked traumatized and injured. Some had cuts on their faces or gashes on their arms and legs. Kirito began to feel less and less excited at the prospect of seeing his girlfriend after all this time and instead felt a sense of impending dread and guilt.

More and more of the AI's prisoners continued to exit one by one, each one looking more beat up and damaged than the last. It was clear that they were soldiers of the Knights of the Blood Oath and the Afterlifers based on the uniforms that they were wearing.

There was still no sign of Asuna, Lisbeth, or Silica. After what felt like an hour of standing around waiting for the prisoners to make their way out of the warehouse, he finally felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw an Afterlifer soldier step out of the door carrying a small girl, her injuries preventing her from walking. Silica.

"S-Silica!" Kirito screamed and broke away from the line of soldiers that watched the scene unfold.

Once their eyes connected, the young girl immediately began to sob. "Kirito!" She cried out and held out both of her arms with what little strength she had left. The Swordsman hugged her as best as he could given she was still being carried by one of the soldiers.

"Are you okay?" Kirito asked frantically and placed a hand on the young girls cheek.

She took a few seconds to cherish the touch of friend and nodded confidently. "I-I'm fine."

"Where's Asuna?"

"S-She's fine, too."

Kirito took a step back from the soldier, who continued to walk her towards a large wagon where they were placing all of the freed prisoners. The Swordsman impatiently stood right next to the door just as Lisbeth was walked out. She was slouched over, a hand on her head as a soldier kept her standing. She was in no shape to speak, so Kirito figured he'd let her make her way to the wagon where she could get the proper care she needed to heal her injuries. He wanted to jump out of the line of soldiers and hug her and tell her how relieved he is that she was okay just as he did for Silica, however her health was more important.

Two down. One to go.

The Swordsman's heart began to race and his legs bounced insentiently as he waited. After what Silica had told him, he was sure Asuna was okay, however a certain part of his mind still worried about her condition. Finally, his patience was rewarded when from the darkness of the warehouse, Asuna emerged. She was hardly able to walk, so two soldiers held either side of her as they led her in the direction of the wagon.

"A-Asuna!" Kirito once again began to run out in the middle of the passage that was cleared out to give the rescuers a straight shot to the wagon, however this time, he was grabbed from behind by an Afterlifer soldier.

"Let them do their job, kid." The soldier scolded. "I understand that your emotions are all over the place right now. We have people in there too, but it's important to let them get the care they need in order to make as quick of a recovery as possible."

Kirito glanced back and forth between the soldier and Asuna, his breathing totally inconsistent and wavering.

The teen girl looked over to her side where she heard her name be called and locked eyes with her boyfriend for the first time in what felt like an eternity. The world around them seemed to grind to halt as the feeling of relief, joy, and also sadness filled the air between them. This mixture of emotions overflowed Asuna's already fragile mind state after everything she had been through over the past twenty four hours. Her eyes slammed closed and her body went limp. She had fainted.

Both of the soldiers that were holding her up caught her as she fell and began to carry her towards the wagon.

Kirito felt a hand grab him by his collar and pull him back through the line of soldiers and to a less crowded area. He looked up and saw that it was Julian.

"Your friends are all safe." The leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath stated. "You did a good job holding out until we got here."

"T-Thanks, I guess." Kirito mumbled.

"So what will you do now? Clearly the AI's have a vendetta against powerful players and guilds."

The Swordsman shrugged. "I'm just gonna take everyone back home for now. Once everyone is well rested and healed, we'll talk about our next move."

"You need to start planning for the long term." Julian instructed. "It's likely that we will be trapped here for a long period of time once again, so your concept of day by day strategies wont do you any good."

"How can I plan for the long term in a game that's so different and throws curveballs and my friends and I at every turn? Long term planning can't happen when I don't even know what I'm planning against."

Julian chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe you're right. You should have contingencies, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that in the meantime, while you try to sort yourselves out, you can stay in our fortress. It's a castle on the other side of the map in the north east section of this floor. We have plenty of room."

Kirito let out a exhausted sigh. "My friends and I aren't interested in joining a guild right now."

"Sure." Julian smiled. "I'm simply offering you a contingency. Your injured friends whom we just rescued are on their way to our castle to be healed by professionals anyways. Why not just stay with us for a while, then once you're ready to move on, you're free to do so. If you decide you want to join after that point or sometime in between, we'll welcome you with open arms."

The Swordsman glared at the man for a few moments before averting his eyes over to Sinon, Love, Agil, Klein, Dwight, and Mateo. "Where's Alice?" Kirito suddenly realized.

"Little blonde girl?"

"Yeah."

"She's safe. The one with the blue hair... Sinon I think she said her name was. She's a fiery one. She saw me and my army approaching and thought we were hostile. She seemed pretty on edge, yet even still she appeared as though she was prepared to fight all of us in order to protect that little girl."

Kirito let out a breathy laugh. "So that's how you knew we were here."

"Yes. Desmond ordered the barrage of arrows to be fired once he noticed the AI's were just standing in plain sight."

"Hm. Nice of him to fire at them knowing we were here as well. That could've ended with one of him men delivering the killing blow to one of my friends."

"Not quite." Julian leaned down and plucked one of the arrows that just so happened to be sticking out of the ground next to his feet. "We always come prepared. These are a special arrow used for dueling. They can hurt enemies creatures, but not players."

Kirito inspected the arrow before shrugging. "Fair enough. Whose idea was that?"

"Desmond's."

The Swordsman watched as Agil, Klein, Love, Mateo, and Dwight finally struggled to their feet, legs shaky and weak as they did so. Julian noticed that the boys focus had shifted and followed his gaze towards the injured players.

"They need rest." Julian said with a affirmative nod. "I already told you, I'm not asking you to join the guild. However, we can provide for you during the time you spend with us. We have plenty of room, food, and supplies to nurse your friends back to health."

The teen boy never wavered his sight from his friends as he thought hard about Julian's proposal. "I..." He started, but was cut off when he saw Sinon proactively helping each of her friends to their feet one at a time, offering words of encouragement as she did.

Kirito sighed as he remembered the argument he had with the blue haired girl just ten minutes earlier. How could he have been such a fool? "Alright, Julian... Deal."