Date posted: 28 September 2021

Thanks to TC for her steely editorial skills!

Thanks to Panzer Hippo once again for getting the tech right!

Chapter 6: Who Dares Wins

The idyllic port city of Volos was a bit different from its real life counterpart.

It was more of a town than a city, lacking about 70% of the buildings the real Volos had, and that could be explained by the fact it was the post-apocalypse; most of the crumbling ruins were at its edge. Its beach was half of what it was in real life and its port far smaller. Its two museums, the Volos Museum of the City and the Entomological Museum were combined into one dungeon. Its most defining piece of architecture, the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, still stood in its ancient glory, the tallest building still standing.

South of Volos were the skirmishers of the Republic of Mutantopia's Self-Defense Force: twenty thousand strong, coming at the five thousand mercenaries holding the city.

Tanks dueled with War Behemoths, mutated and armour plated elephants packed with autocannons and machine guns, matching cannon fire with cannon fire. Corvo-Bats picked off players from above, the night sky their cover. Flesh-servitors ran into minefields to clear the way for Republic Stormtroopers, veteran soldiers that could easily match the high level players of Volos. Nuker-Suiciders, hopped up on combat drugs, sprinted into player lines, destroying player defenses completely.

Standing on one hill, rallying the troops was the «Discipline Master», a large mutated human with two limbs on his right side, clad in an ocher officer's uniform, billowing magnificently in the wind. He raised his gun in his left hand, and spoke passionately about the plight of mutantkind, and the oppression at the hands of the Corporate Tyranny. No longer were they to be slave labour, no longer would they be denied human rights, for all of mutantkind were humans despite their appearance. Nay! Today was the day they would destroy Glocken, and take their rightful place in a society where capitalism no longer existed! Where kindness to their fellow man reigned supreme!

The mutant warriors cheered on their brave leader, when suddenly the Discipline Master's head exploded in a fine pink mist.

From the church tower of Saints Constantine and Helena, the shooter said to herself, "Boom, headshot."

"Please stop saying that."

"Stop saying what?" she innocently asked, as she racked the bolt of her M24.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," said the other sniper, blasting a hole of a Mutant Rocketeer with his DSR-1. The mutant ragdolled around and blew up a nearby squad with his misfired RPG-7.

"It's my mantra, you wouldn't understand," she said, flipping her silver hair away from her. "You're just jealous I'm a better shot than you."

"Idiot."

"Ass."

In the tower of the old church, both Muskeeter X and M continued sniping the high value targets of the Mutant Army.

On the battlefield, a rough perimeter had been set up with sandbags, barb wire and prefab pillboxes as players desperately held the line against the enemy. Artillery bombarded Volos from a hundred kilometers away and that alone would have spelled the town's doom had the church not had a powerful generator in its basement, which the players were able to fix in the nick of time. It activated a city-wide forcefield that narrowly intercepted the artillery of the enemy, saving much of the hastily constructed HQ and its soldiers.

Yet, the players could not breathe easy, as the convoys that were hauling heavy artillery had been ambushed. Grim reports of a convoy of 2S19 Msta motorised artillery, which were to only be deployed for emergencies, was destroyed by the enemy in a scene of overwhelming power. Rocketeers in the hills with Stingers were shooting down Glocken choppers, including those hauling artillery, ammunition and reinforcements. The defenders of Volos could not expect the big guns to overpower the incoming horde and were making do with smaller mortars.

Ships were being sent from Glocken, yet the sea was hostile with fauna, not even controlled by the Mutant SDF. Already numerous ships were consumed by the monsters of the deep and the young Republic itself had no navy. It was a fragile stalemate between the Glocken Corporation and the Republic.

Fifty kilometres south of Thessalonica, the great heavy armour of Ashigaru Corp, Black Arrow, Mobile Guard and other medium to large sized guilds, were annihilated as anti-tank mines, set long before the invasion, were detonated. The metal corpses had dammed the flow of traffic; players cursed as they tried their best to maneuver out of the sudden traffic jams. Already, many players decided to risk their luck by marching on foot.

At the very back end, the convoy of four BTR-90s and dozens of other armour grinded to a halt as a flaming wreck of a Type 99 MBT blocked the road.

Major Chie Nikita cursed. "The enemy's good."

"Yes, the AI is quite impressive to be able to coordinate a huge war like this."

"Quiet, sergeant. Only I can compliment the enemy."

"Yes, sir."

Nikita picked up her handheld. "Buckaroo-1, take your Outriders and scout forward. The APCs will take a different route."

'Copy that, major."

Half a kilometre away, Tadao the Tornado stood on the saddle of Lyubimaya 2.0, looking through his advanced binoculars, the hills bathed in the green glow of night vision. There were flashes of light in the hills of Greece, and likely some outposts were set up by the base of Mount Olympus. The burgeoning republic's forces were impressive at such a scale. It was an hour drive from Thessalonica to Volos, then another two hours to Corinth.

Pulling out his PDA, he set a course from where they were to Volos and sent them to the rest of his Outriders. It would have been an easy ride, had it not been for the ancient broken down roads and skirmishers in the hills. To his east was the sea, dark and foreboding.

"Kirito-san, Titanium-san, are you familiar with these paths ahead?"

"Not really. We got here by chopper," said Kirito. Sinon sat comfortably on the horn of the saddle. "Not much in the way of enemy forces then."

"THE WALL IS NOT AFRAID OF A FEW MUTIES WITH AKS. THE WALL WELCOMES THE CHALLENGE!" declared Titanium Wall.

Tadao's Outriders were on Kawasaki KLX250s, a motorcycle still used by the JSDF today. Kirito's own bike in the real world was a Ninja 250R and he commended the Zakon I Dolg's good taste in motorbikes. The Wall's ride was an olive green 1942 Harley Davidson WLA. The ancient motorcycle was absolutely not designed for hilly terrain considering the lack of ground clearance. Chances are he was going to go up a slight incline and immediately ruin his engine.

Then there was the commissar, straight up wearing spurs that jingle jangled on stealth mission, a bright white and red striped poncho over his uniform. He cut a dashing figure that would make a gaucho proud; the only thing missing was a white stetson.

"Ah, so that's why he has them," Sinon said

"And you call me a weirdo," said Kirito.

"Nya."

The commissar clapped his hands plopped down on his saddle with practiced grace. "No matter. We move quick and quiet like Comanches." He whipped the reins of his cyber-steed. "Let's ride!"

In the darkness of the night, few would have spotted the dozen riders racing across the hills. Even from the short time Kirito spent with them, he could see that Tadao's Outriders knew what they were doing as they maneuvered about the once verdant hills on their machines, standing while riding and switching gears with expert timing. Lyubimaya 1.0 was doing most of the work for him as the cyber-steed's legs navigated the rough landscape expertly. Unlike real horses, she would not be needed to put down if she broke a leg.

They travelled some twenty kilometres, with only their night-vision and the moon to guide them. Kirito was still unused to his new ride, and he almost tripped into a hole had Lyubimaya not forcefully jerked away. "Careful!" Sinon cried.

Before he could apologise, gunshots rang and whizzed past. "Quick, into cover!" the commissar ordered.

The bikes pivoted on the spot as they all scattered. Kirito, completely surprised, followed the commissar's lead, as he, the Wall and Tadao found themselves taking cover behind the wreck of a van as the rest of the Outriders took cover or rode off. The hills cracked with the boom of thunder and the top of a boulder exploded into smithereens. The Outriders returned fire into the hills.

Kirito pulled out the MSR from a pennier and took position. Behind them was the Aegean sea, which gave the benefit of only having one side to fight against and the detriment of being unable to escape. The enemy was well hidden and flashes of gunfire were irregular in position; they were smart. "Damn, I can't see any!"

"That's why we brought one of these," said the commissar, thumbing to his horse. Strapped onto Lyubimiya 2.0's side was a long pole, a ring of sorts near the top, and branching out were smaller poles of what appeared to be … microphones?

Another sniper round whizzed past, and the lights on the pole flashed. Multiple red circles appeared in Kirito's HUD as a handful of enemy gunners lit up bright red for all the Outriders to see. Not asking questions, Kirito whipped out his MSR and sniped a Republic Rockeeter with speed and precision that surprised even him; the RPG flew into the sky and detonated harmlessly, bathing the green night a bright white.

Two Outriders poured fire into the hills with their RPK-16s, which to Kirito looked like an AK on steroids. Another Outrider started shooting with his own sniper rifle and silenced whatever sniper the enemy had on their side.

"Whoa! That's the Chukavin! It's been used by the Russian military since 2022, and has an effective range of 1600 yards! Can you ask the shooter what scope they're using?"

"Sinon, please, we're a little busy right now," he said as he missed his shot on an enemy machine gunner.

She yawned. "Look, I haven't shot anything for the past week. I'm bored. Hey! You know we're talking telepathically right?"

Kirito tied her mouth with her own scarf. "Shush, little Sinonon. Kirito's hunting."

Tadao commanded his troops, giving orders to lay covering fire for the machine gunners. Titanium Wall returned fire with his M1 Garand, the iconic audible ping ringing after a few shots. Whatever tech the Zakon had used, it was very useful. Kirito alone scored three kills in the twenty or so enemies. After losing half their numbers, the gunfire stopped and the outlines soon disappeared as they retreated. The HUD in the corner counted no casualties amongst the Zakon troops.

The commissar did the Fist Pump of Victory. "That's what you get for messing with us!" The rest of the troops cheered.

"What on earth is that?" asked Kirito. The pole had now ceased beeping and stood silent on the horse.

"This, Kirito-san, is a Gunshot Detector. I think you can tell what these babies do," he said, patting the pole. "We'll need this to win fights and conserve ammo. Now mount back, we're moving."

The rest of the night consisted of long stretches of quiet and sudden mayhem. It spoke to the skill of the troops that no one was killed, though a few sustained injuries. They traversed the hills of Greece and skirted about Mount Olympus, driving off many an ambuscade attempt. The Gunshot Detector proved highly effective in tipping the balance. The most dangerous of the half dozen infantry traps was a couple of machine guns on opposite sides of two hills which were handily finished with counter fire from the Outriders' snipers and their own rocket launchers.

Sinon sniffed. "You're shooting so well. That's my boy."

"You do remember I'm doing this to get your body back right?"

She snuggled into Kirito's lap. "Yes, minion. Do your mistress' biddings and you shall be rewarded with pancakes!"

"You've been acting very strange lately but I shan't say no to pancakes."

In the latest skirmish, one of the Outriders had managed to catch a Republic officer. The NPC was no different than any player, save for the fact half his face was sagging, he had boils all over and what appeared to be a mouth on his left arm. He wore a ragged jacket and a beret, his weapon was an old Lee Enfield in fine condition, confiscated by the Wall. His boots were bright yellow; a sign of them being a former 'servant' in Glocken. They were at the base of a rocky outcropping, the rest of the Mutant SDF soldiers lying dead around them.

"Piss off, wage-slaves! I ain't talking to the likes of you!" he snarled.

The rudimentary AI and script-writing alone was above and beyond SAO's, which had the unfortunate combination of well made realistic models and acting from a school play. Unconfirmed sources said all SAO NPC lines were read alphabetically, which added to the horrible voice acting SAO had. This voice acting algorithm sounded much more natural.

Tadao crouched down next to him. "The name's Tornado Tadao. I assume you've heard of me?"

"Uh, no?"

One of the corporals whispered to Kirito, "He does this to everyone. Commissar's like that."

"I'm familiar with the routine, yes."

He reached under his poncho and into his jacket. The enemy officer flinched, only to see that Tadao had pulled a stack of ancient fading, but still in good condition, liras.

"I'll give you two choices: you take this 5,000 liras, or I'll blow your brains out," he said, tapping on his revolver. Like player torture, NPC torture was a no go, and the default and most effective way for finding info was cold hard cash.

The officer looked at the wad of cash, then at the gun, then around him. Some sort of roll was made as the AI's algorithm finally made his decision.

Cursing under his breath, he said, "See, there's a base nearby …"

An hour northeast from the Volos Frontline was the small town of Agia. The old town was a low level dungeon filled with bandits, not even the mutant variety, but the leather wearing, steel pipes, baseball bats and homemade firearms-wielding variety. This small-time bandit gang was led by one Barak Bay, a bandit boss with little backstory save for the fact he carried a unique MPT-M76 assault rifle. He was a popular boss for an early game player.

Now Barak Bay and his bandits were dead, buried in a mass grave, and he would never ever respawn unless one uninstalled the new DLC. The few remaining buildings were occupied by a small skeleton crew of Republic soldiers. The most obvious was a still standing fire station, curiously patched with steelwork and with all the debris removed.

On the edge of town, Kirito stood over the body of a Republic soldier and wiped his bloodied sword on the corpse' clothes. Nearby, the Wall had slain another by breaking their neck. The Republic force had smartly placed a few guards on the perimeter of the town, but they were no match for the players.

An owl hooted, both players followed the source.

The two found themselves in the presence of the other Outriders. The other half were down the main street with the commissar.

Tadao had chosen Corporal Dave ("Just Dave?" asked Kirito. "Yep, just Dave.") to lead the infiltration. He seemed to be the oldest player by avatar age, a man in his fifties, with an easy going attitude. Regardless of his actual age, he carried himself in a way that befitted his rank.

They were all currently crouching in the bushes behind the fire station and before them was a high brick wall ("We meet again, cousin," said Titanium Wall. No one commented on this).

"We need someone to infiltrate the base, any volunteers?" asked the corporal.

A single player stood up. Well, more like pranced up. "Nya!"

"Ah yes, the cat girl," said Dave. Everyone had been briefed about the new guy and his cat companion. Kirito could see all of them were restraining themselves from petting Sinon. He couldn't blame them, she was most fluffy and adorable. "Is the whole lack of opposable thumbs gonna be a problem?"

"It won't, trust me," said Kirito.

"Well okay, but if she gets into trouble, I'm not gonna sacrifice my men for a furball, you got that?"

Sinon sat up and saluted with a paw. "Nya!"

"Can I pet her?" asked a female Outrider with an SMG.

"No!" Kirito snapped harshly. The girl was visibly upset.

Like at VitaWare Pharmaceuticals, she scrambled up the wall, and returned ten minutes later. Sinon told Kirito and he in turn told the rest of the team. They were surprised at the amount of detail Sinon had recalled, including enemy number, weapons, and any other security.

"Thirty guards, armed with pistols and shotguns, two menhirs, and three cameras, the last of which I've, of course, disabled. The officer carries an assault rifle and wears good flak, he's the most dangerous." Kirito relayed the information to the rest of the team.

Impressed, Corporal Dave produced a cube of halva from a pocket. "Atta girl, here's your reward."

"You do realise she's a human being, a player, right?" said Kirito.

"Oh no, the corporal gives everyone candy," said one of the players. Sinon nom nomed the halva graciously from the corporal's palm.

The corporal gave the order to move in. They climbed over the wall by hoisting one player with the palms of their hands, then the player on top pulled the other; and landed on the other side as quietly as someone with twenty kilos of gear could do. Kirito was the last one alongside Titanium Wall. They creeped in the dark, keeping out of the light.

Corporal Dave signaled the team to wait; Kirito and the Wall took cover behind a derelict forklift, long rusted. He had his Thompson out, and somehow, he found a suppressor to fit onto the bulky SMG.

The corporal spoke quietly into his handheld and they waited.

Nearby, two Republic soldiers were having a smoke break by the entrance booth.

"You know, I can't wait for this whole war to blow over," said the left mutie, his face covered in a cloth sack and armed with an old revolver. "Can you imagine, free healthcare for all?"

"God, that'd be the dream," said the right mutie, cradling a double-barrel shotgun. "This whole overthrowing the capitalist Overlords of Glocken, you think it's gonna work?"

"You saw the Big Guy. The Good Doctor's got an army of em'! We have this in the bag."

"Where is he anyway?"

"I think he's out scouting, he should be back by morning." Cloth-sacked Mutie placed a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Look, we freed ourselves from servitude, now it's our duty to spread that to the rest of earth."

"Revolution! A wealth limit! Taxing the rich!"

"Schools for our kids! They won't be as illiterate as their dad, that's for sure."

Shotgun Mutie muttered something like a prayer. "We just need to survive this. It'll be worth it."

"It sure will."

The two comrades came together into a wholesome hug when the gates suddenly exploded into rebar and metal. One of them reached for the radio when two shots fired from the smoke, instantly hitting both soldiers in the head.

"Ah, that must be the commissar. Just in time," said Dave. "No one shoot until I give the order."

The rest of the guards came out of the fire station to meet them as the commissar's strike team diverted their attention, an officer clad in full flak with an MPT-M76 leading them. The commissar refused to take cover and was dual wielding his Rugers with great accuracy backed up by the rest of the team. Corporal Dave counted the troops that streamed out of the fire station, shots missing as they lacked the NVG that the players had.

The corporal counted every soldier that came out the base: thirty minus two, just as the cat girl said. "Open fire!"

There were no survivors.

Twenty minutes later, the rest of 2nd Company arrived at the gates of the compound. The APCs entered with scratches and bullet holes, the turrets were manned and the shells and casings atop them. The major was the first player out of the APC.

"Sitrep."

Tadao snapped a salute. "Base safe and secured."

Major Nikita gave a nod of satisfaction, which was the single highest compliment Kirito had seen from the woman so far.

Vladimir and the major looked around the fire station. The walls were of sturdy red brick and had aged considerably well. The BTRs took the place of what should have been the station's fire engines. The fire station's upper floor was for the most part cleaned, and even had a working Republic radio. The station's infirmary was the cleanest room in the compound but was also far too small.

It was then they came to the mess hall, which was only half cleaned, and nearby was the sleeping quarters which had been of use to the station's previous inhabitants. The last room appeared to be an abandoned storage room, spacious and roomy, had it not been for the fact it was filled with junk and ancient firefighting gear.

"So?"

"Yes, I think this will do," said Vladimir.

"You can set your laboratory here?" asked Nikita.

The scientist put on a clean rubber glove and dragged a finger on a counter. "I'll need a clean place to set up the place. Without a clean sterile environment, it would be more difficult to do upgrades for the company." The last APC was used to haul most of Vladimir's equipment, which had proven to take up a good chunk of the room available.

Nikita nodded. She summoned the rest of the company and ordered everyone to grab a broom, mop, a bucket of water or other cleaning equipment. They stood at attention, tired but ready. "I want this place cleaned from top to bottom in an hour."

2nd Company, had been riding since eleven in the morning and travelled hundreds of kilometres from Syria. Kirito thought the woman insane, they were all tired and had been in-game for almost eight hours. The max amount of time limited was twelve hours and had been unchanged since SAO first launched and all VR games recommended a break every two hours. Eight was already pushing it. Surely they would protest?

Instead, they simply saluted and answered with a hearty, "Sir, yes, sir!" and immediately got to work cleaning up the base.

Oh no. He played GGO to stab bandits and shoot monsters, not do chores. He turned for the barracks to logout until a strong hand grabbed the collar of his flak vest.

"And where do you think you're going?" came Nikita's steely tone.

"Uh, I gotta … use the bathroom. Yeah, that's it! You don't need me around anyway. You guys are just way too hadcore for me!" He understood then Sinon's complaints of Serious Role Playing.

Vladimir said, "Many hands make light work, Kirito. The cleaner the room, the quicker I can make upgrades for the company."

"I mean, you're leaving in the morning anyway. Do I really need to sweep some dirt?"

Sergeant Gregory clasped a hand over his mouth. Commissar Tadao said a prayer for the soon to be dead man.

Nikita's piercing gaze was like that of some great predator. "We are using this building as our HQ for the time being, and for that, we must keep it clean and spotless for the next inhabitants! Do you not make your bed in the hotel you're staying at? Do you not bring your own cleaning supplies to clean the bathroom? Do you not replace the soap and shampoo that you've used up?"

"Uh, no?"

"You disgust me," she snarled with pure venom; one would think that Kirito ran over her dog.

"Well, I mean, er … hey let go of me! What are you doing?! Ahh!"

Somehow, in the span of a minute, the major stripped Kirito of his flak and pouches, and put him into a pink apron with frills, a matching pink cleaning cap, tied his long hair into pigtails with pink ribbons, as well as replaced his weapons with a feather duster. Kirito looked like the world's perfect maid. His blushing face matched his new uniform.

"But … why?"

"It increases your Cleaning stat by 200%! Be glad you have it, that's my personal one. You should be honored. Our maid uniforms are only given to our bravest soldiers."

"... that stat doesn't exist!"

"You should also cut your hair, it gets in the way of work."

Cats could not physically laugh but Sinon tried her best to mimic human emotions which took the form of rolling around erratically on the floor, her laughter thankfully only audible to Kirito.

In return, Kirito picked up the fuzzball and dumped her in the nearest trash can. The trash can did not stop shaking. "Fine, I'll tidy up, but I won't like it."

Sergeant Gregory and Commissar Tadao had also produced familiar pink aprons. They looked absolutely ridiculous. "Onwards, 2nd Company! For Order!" the sergeant bellowed.

"And Duty!" the rest answered.

Damn role players.

When it was all done at two in the morning, the major called for a rest in which everyone logged out in one hour shifts. Scrap turrets were built by Vladimir around the perimeter and patrols established. The last cloning vat they biotuned themselves at was all the way back in Glocken with Volos likely having the closest set. Kirito was so mentally drained he plopped his avatar onto a cot and struggled to even log himself out.

It was only eight pm and already he was tired. It was as if he spent the entire day trying to code and bug hunt while also explaining to the client why the program didn't work. He exited his bedroom, drained and angry.

"I can't believe that crazy woman! She literally made me clean up the toilets! We are literally incapable of shi -" he stopped to sniff. "What's that smell?"

The apartment living room was tidied up and even the carpet felt clean though Kazuto had yet to vacuum it; it was supposed to be his turn this week. They didn't have a radio in the apartment, instead Shino had a pair of speakers which she hooked up her smartphone to, usually while doing work. Instead of playing some podcasts about guns or warfare or other very boring things, it was instead playing music.

There she was tapping a foot to the beats of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

Shino had already made up a good dozen pancakes and placed them on the table. Curiously, Kazuto noticed at some point she had swapped her normal clothes of t-shirts and sweatpants for a casual sweater dress. This surprised Kirito for two reasons: one, he had never seen Shino in a dress, ever. She was very much a shirt, slacks and tie kind of woman, not even a pencil skirt.

Secondly, she had a very nice toned pair of legs. The fuzzy bunny slippers were the most out of place thing about her getup.

She turned around, not even surprised to see him there. "Pancakes for dinner?"

Kazuto's first choice of words was, "Holy shit, you look so damn cute I want to cuddle you forever," but he settled for, "I'll never say no to your pancakes."

The coffee smelled amazing too.

They ate dinner in comfortable silence though he did notice that she ate very little. When he was done with the last bite and almost exhausted all the syrup, he lay back in his chair, hand on belly. "Ah! I really needed that. What, what's wrong?"

She giggled. Shino never giggled. She pointed to the tip of her mouth. "You got something here."

She reached for his face with a napkin and cleaned it up. "There, all gone!"

"T-thanks. For the dinner, I mean. It was very good."

She cupped her face with her hands, still smiling. "It's the least I could do for you, Kaz."

Whatever fatigue that Kazuto had evaporated right then and there.

They cleaned up the dishes, with Kazuto washing and Shino wiping. He noticed that Shino had 'accidentally' bumped into him a few times. There was a spring in her step.

"So what's up with the slippers." They were done now and Kazuto wiped his hands dry.

"Oh, you mean this?" She lifted a foot and the bunny ears flapped alongside. "I've had them for a while, what's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong with it! You're just … a very serious woman." And you wear a gun to work and have nicer suits than I do, was what Kazuto wanted to say.

"Kirito, we literally play video games together." It wasn't often she referred to him with his in-game name. "I take gaming very seriously."

"That's the Sinonon I know," he said, reaching to pat her head. He stopped instead.

She in turn grabbed his hand and nibbled on his fingers.

"Ow!"

She brought her hand in a fist in an imitation of a paw and swiped at him. "Nya."

"I see you're really enjoying being a cat, maybe you should be stuck in that form forever, if you like it so much."

Shino brought up both fists now and tilted her head cutely. "Nya?"

"Okay, that's enough with nyas."

Shino then opened her right hand in a claw. "Hiss!"

Kazuto poked her in the side. "Hey, stop that!" she shouted.

He poked her again. "Hey, I'm ticklish!" she shouted again.

Now he had a weapon to use against her. Shino realised then her mistake.

The music switched songs, to Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

The two of them engaged in a fight to the death as both tried to slay each other with only tickling. Their duel brought them out of the kitchen, around the living room, and neither was willing to give up. Kazuto attacked Shino at the sides while Shino counterattacked at his armpits. Kazuto was far more resistant to the tickling but Shino was far faster. Both of them were determined to get the other to admit defeat.

"Got you now, Sniper Girl!"

"In your dreams, Sword Boy!"

Somehow Kazuto tripped and fell back onto the couch. Shino came to deliver the coup de grâce but her fuzzy bunny slippers betrayed her, losing traction and falling onto Kazuto. He had caught her just in the nick of time by grabbing onto both of her wrists.

Now their faces were mere inches from each other, their torso press closed. They both stopped talking, their game forgotten.

"I, uh .." she began, stammering. "I should go …"

The song in the background blared out. "And you're mine, and you look so divine,"

"Come and get your love~"

Who dares wins, Kazuto thought to himself and placed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened, before Shino got ahold of herself and returned it. They melted into each other's arms as she leaned into him, their heartbeats synchronising. They kissed for a long time. It had been so long since he had a girl in his arms.

Shino broke contact first and gasped for air. Her face was entirely pink and she had the biggest smile. "So … that just happened."

Kazuto said the first thing that came to mind, "You taste like pancakes."

Despite the excitement, Shino couldn't help but sigh. "My first kiss with a boy and the first thing you say is that I taste like pancakes."

He sat up and cradled her close to him. "Yeah, but you make the best pancakes in the world so it evens out."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in into his forehead. "Maybe we can do this more often."

"I suppose I can teach you a thing or two, yes. In return for all your lessons in sniping."

She pecked him on the lip. "So, are we dating? Boyfriend and girlfriend? I've never really done this before ..."

"I like the sound of that, yeah." He became brave and snuggled into her neck. Shino giggled again; it was the most pleasant sound in the entire world. "Maybe I should ask more random girls to shoot me with an airsoft gun."

"Only I'm allowed to shoot you with an airsoft gun, got it?"

Kazuto did his best impression of the Serious Role Players and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir."

It was then Kazuto's phone rang. He had set a timer and there were ten minutes until the one hour break was up.

"I need to clean up. When I get back, I'd better not see my first boyfriend lying dead on the ground, okay?"

"No promises, my little fuzzball."

She pawed his chest. "Nya~"

Kirito logged back in at ten pm and the time in-game was already seven am. There was a sudden sense of unease and shock as he went from modern Japan's night to post-apocalyptic Greece's early morning; it was something he had not gotten used to despite playing months of GGO. He saw that most of the players were still logged out despite the one hour limit though a few were up and about.

He also noticed a considerable weight on his chest. The dangerous beast was snoring peacefully, purring like a smooth engine. Someone must have fished her out and placed her on him. Sinon herself was taking a quick shower to freshen up, and no force on earth would wake any logged out player up for obvious reasons. The closest thing it would do is send a message to your email if there was danger about, though this only applied to players; mobs for the most part ignored sleeping players.

Carefully, he cradled the cat in his arms and brought her out. Sinon would have gotten an e-mail that she was being manhandled, but hey, it's not his fault that she was so adorable.

He passed the office where one of the Zakon soldiers was fiddling with an ancient radio. A makeshift armoury had been set up as well. It almost felt homey in that military sort of way.

He walked outside to find the rest of the offices behind the station; the commissar flipping his revolvers, the sergeant cleaning his shotgun, and Titanium Wall preaching the genius of God's Prophet, John Moses Browning. They sat around a fire, roasting sausages on sticks. The major was there too, sitting upright and logged out. How on earth this was possible, Kirito had no idea. He took a seat on one of the folding chairs.

Tadao was the first to greet him. "What's up with that huge grin on your face. Won the lottery?"

His smile only widened. "Something like that."

"HO, KIRITO. BEHOLD, OUR SCIENCE FRIENDS' MOST WONDEROUS GIZMO!" said the Wall.

On a log by the fire was an elaborate vase with a wide top. It was beautifully etched with azure and had two silver handles on its side, and on the bottom was a faucet. Atop the vase was a long cylinder from which smoke was coming out. Next to the vase was a matching porcelain teapot and teacups. It was very out of place amongst the gruff macho military players.

"What is it?" he asked.

Vladimir arrived then, clad in his splattered lab coat. From the cylinder, he took out firewood and tinder, with a pair of tongs and put the cylinder aside. In his other hand was a large tin of black tea leaves. "It's called a samovar," he explained.

"Ah, so, it's like a kettle?"

"Something like that." He scooped quite a large amount of tea into the teapot and from the fancy kettle came pouring out hot water. He stirred the tea in the pot before finally pouring a cup and handing it first to Gregory. "Gentlemen, enjoy. I apologise for the lack of cakes."

Kirito took a sip and it tasted … malty. It was not an unpleasant taste though.

As if sensing the tea, the major returned to virtual reality, crimson eyes snapping open. She graciously took a cup. "How goes the upgrades? Is your lab sufficient?"

"It would have to do," said Vlad. "The problem is trying to give it to everyone in the company, considering how many types of bullet calibers everyone uses. Even if I were to just upgrade 5.45mm rounds, that alone would take half a day in-game, and a day tops. I have assignments to complete, unfortunately."

"How does it work exactly?" she asked.

Vladimir produced a vial from his pocket, a glowing greenish glow. In GGO terms, things that were green and glowy were bad news. "In short, it's a huge damage buff against the enemy mutants. It'll do fine against the standard Republic soldiers, but that's wasted on them. From my own research, the new DLC enemies are very … spongy. The spongiest standard enemies outside of Colossi. I also lack an ammo bench to do most of the company's upgrades, and even if I do, it will be pricey."

"Have no fear, the Zakon I Dolg pays their employees well."

"Well you ain't paying me!" protested Kirito. The Zakon members ignored him.

"I can do a few magazines, and I would suggest upgrading your specialist troops first."

The major frowned. "Shame, but it'll have to do. Sergeant, I'll need an update on our current ammo situation and we can decide on it later."

Titanium Wall snorted. "THE WALL DOES NOT REQUIRE ALCHEMY TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY. THE WALL REQUIRES ONLY COLD IRON AND SCIENCE!"

"Firearm and ammunition production is science, Mister Wall," said Vladimir.

"NICE TRY, SCIENCE-MAN, BUT YOU CANNOT OUTSMART A 200 IQ INDIVIDUAL SUCH AS THE WALL. HE IS ABOVE SUCH PETTY THINGS AS LOGISTICS."

As the two argued, Kirito asked, "So, Nikita ..."

"Commissar, discipline the auxiliary." The commissar loaded his Vaquero with malicious intent.

Kirito corrected himself, "So uh, Major Nikita. A question."

"Proceed." The commissar loaded his Vaquero with neutral intent.

"Why does a major lead a company anyway? Shouldn't you lead something bigger?"

"Party sizes are different according to guild, it's not even the same according to most real militaries. A fireteam alone is dependent on which country. Besides, we only have 4,000 members, and we rarely bring them in full strength. GGO stats shows that player groups rarely go above a dozen players. The Zakon I Dolg's discipline is we are even able to have so many in our company."

"I mean, sure, but shouldn't you be captain instead? Forty players are a bit too small."

"Major is a completely reasonable rank to lead these players and we would have had fifty if they were available," she said quite defensively, Kirito noted.

"What's with that sword, anyway?" asked Tadao. "Not very optimal."

"Says the guy with single-action revolvers."

Tadao twirled one of his Rugers vertically, horizontally, before holstering them on his belt making that smooth sound of metal meeting leather. "Don't knock it till you try it."

"Single-action is archaic, we have fully automatic rifles, you know." Oh God, now he was sounding like Sinon.

"You're running around with a sword, in a game where rifles have an effective range accurate to that of real life." Tadao adjusted his beret. "Kettle, meet pot."

Not satisfied at being left out, the Wall suggested his own controversial take. "OPTICS ARE DUMB AND I HATE THEM. IRON SIGHTS ARE THE WAY TO GO."

Both of them turn to look at the Wall as if he had grown another head. "Optics are the thing that greatly increases a firearm's range," said Tadao. Even then, Kirito noticed that none of his ye olde firearms had one either.

"I HAVE PERFECT EYESIGHT. IF MY HANDGUN CAN SHOOT A HUNDRED METERS, MY HIGH CALIBER EYEBALLS CAN MAKE IT SHOOT TWICE THAT DISTANCE."

"That's not how it works!" said Gregory.

The Wall shrugged. "IT IS QUITE CLEAR YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF MY HOT TAKES."

Suddenly, the major's handheld crackled to life. "Alert, alert! Enemy at the gates!"

"Let's move!" the major ordered. They picked up and made their way to the front gate, save for Vladimir who took off into the fire station. He left Sinon on the chair, still logged off.

Unlike the NPCs, the Zakon had left enough soldiers to guard their perimeter and most of them stayed put; there was even a sniper on the roof, something the mutants did not have. Yet there was something off about it all. Kirito couldn't place his finger on it.

Corporal Dave was there with his fireteam, peaking over the barricade. The gates were still in disrepair and currently it was held up by a collection of debris and sandbags. Dave was looking through a pair of binoculars. It was then that realisation came to Kirito: no one was shooting.

"Corporal, sitrep," said Nikita.

"Sir, I think you should take a look at this." He handed her his binoculars. Kirito was wishing he had Sinon's sniper rifle right now; he only had his sword and his new SMG in hand.

The fire station's main gate faced east where it opened up to the main road; the road itself was littered with the husks of ancient vehicles and debris. Kirito could just spot a blurry black figure standing before them, the morning sun reflecting onto the sea, damn near blinding them. Whatever this enemy was, they were being a real showboat about it. There had to be a five hundred yards between them and the barricades; a dozen rifles were pointing at them.

"I can't see anything," said Nikita as she put down the binoculars. She reached for her radio again, "Sniper on the roof, eliminate it."

Thunder cracked in the ruins of the ancient town. Even with the volume of the shot and the glare of the sun. Everyone could hear it. The audible sound of a bullet pinging off metal, like that of heavy armour.

The figure was still standing.

"Sir, I think …" Whatever reply the sniper had to say was completely interrupted by the fact their nest exploded. Everyone flinched and took cover from the falling burning debris and the rain of blood. The Chukavin fell too and was but molten metal.

"Shit! Saito was our best sniper!" said Sergeant Gregory. Everyone opened fire on the stranger.

The main street exploded into puffs of smoke. The enemy had thrown its grenades so fast, Kirito could barely see the enemy throw the explosives. The enemy then sprinted towards the gates and it was fast. It knocked away all the offending rusted vehicles like an APC. There was a sudden change in the cool morning, as if someone had flipped the switch of genre.

The barricade boomed as rifle and machine gun fire poured into the smoke. Two riflemen exploded, one losing their upper torso and the other sliced in half, instantly dead. What weapon were they using?! Kirito could hear large stomping noises, like a great Troll from SAO.

Titanium Wall had switched his Thompson for his BAR, gritting his teeth. "OH NO, IT'S HIM! IT'S THE -"

The barricade erupted in a shower of splinter and sand. Kirito found himself right in front of the enemy. It towered over mortal men and women, seven feet tall and clad in bronze battle plate like a knight of old. A large reactor was strapped to its back, revving like a car engine, spewing smoke. On his warbelt was a massive revolver and a knife the size of Kirito's sword. In his fist was a chainsword, and its other fist was a hand-held grenade launcher. Its face was twisted in a grimace and its helmet's visor covered his eyes. A red plume flowed from the top of its bronze helmet. It looked like a child's rendition of a supersoldier, a barbarian warlord born from an accursed Dark Age.

In that instant, Kirito found himself transported back to SAO, battling black clad Hellknights.

"IT'S THE THUNDER FIGHTER!"

It brought its sword to life, the teeth of the chainsword accelerated - a ludicrous weapon for a ludicrous warrior. Kirito was stuck in place, a sense of transhuman dread had gripped his heart. All he could think about was Sinon's safety, and how much of a pain it was to travel back all the way from SBC Glocken.

"Ah, shi-"

RIP Kirito. That's the end of Sinonon. See you next time, on Merchant Prince of Ai - nah, I'm just kidding.

You know this fic was supposed to be seven chapters long, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Ah well.

Now our hero and heroine are together, what awaits them? Will they be wearing matching sweaters? Can Sinon even be more fluffy? Are they going to ... cuddle? Hope I'm doing the romance justice, and if you want more fluff (literally and figuratively), do tell so in the reviews.

Till next time.