"Hiya!"
Zziing!
Slash!
Her mother's words echoed in Asuna's head as her rapier pierced the air in front of her in a movement the normal eye would be barely able to track.
"...failure until you return to reality!"
Her mother was wrong, she was in reality.
Asuna's rapier hit the reinforced training dummy as she twisted toward it in a change of a training subject.
She was in a reality she had never in her lifetime wanted to be in. A reality she had not once asked for.
Shhiinng!
Asuna was living in a real world fantasy mixed, hell of a reality. A hell of missing memories, missing people, an aching heart that grieved for someone she couldn't even consciously remember.
Asuna stirred awake at the feeling of someone gently sweeping her long hair away from her neck-
Asuna lunged forward again, her blade moving faster than even her eyes could track.
This hell, a reality where she had thousands upon thousands of people's lives cradled carefully in her delicate hands. Lives of those who like her, had no memories of who or what they were and were shaken, confused and lost even now, months after this reality just magically began.
She was supposed to give them a foundation, a place to stand while this world constantly shifted and crumbled beneath their feet or threatened to swallow them whole like quick sand. Threatening to devour their spirit, their hope, and their very soul while they were vulnerable and confused.
But…
How could she deliver the promise of a foundation when she herself felt like she was standing on something about to break?
Her feet danced lightly as she instinctively manuvered through a complex set of footwork, making sure she was in top shape.
Watching her baby girl break down and bawl, scared of the reality they now lived in and missing her father, had completely shaken Asuna's stance in this reality and had let the vulnerability of just how much she missed him and her other daughter crash down all at once around her shoulders. She didn't just miss him like she did her brother or her family. There was a distinct hole and ache in her heart where her missing husband belonged, one she usually mostly blocked behind a wall with the training SAO had given her.
Whereas now, after the meeting with her mother and the reminder that she lived in a reality that was more broken than a mirror shattering against the floor, it was all flooding out.
Zing!
Swish!
She couldn't escape this reality.
This was the personal hell she and ten thousand other people lived within and she was responsible for getting it all organized and under control.
It was a reality that her mother would never understand, and Asuna would be forever grateful that her sister would be here to protect her, just like she had in the meeting whose memory lingered in Asuna's mind.
Argo slammed a hand down onto the visitors table and something burned in her brown eyes, anger, hurt, fury, some dark mix of them all. "Look 'round ya!"
Asuna could see the shock in her mother's eyes at the rare but loud outburst from her sister.
"This is reality!" Argo snapped and Asuna could feel the anger rolling off of her older sister, "we didn't 'ave a choice in becomin' some science guinea-'igs and yet we're livin' with it!"
"Akira-"
"My name is Argo," Argo growled and cut their mother off.
Asuna nibbled worriedly on her lower lip, amber eyes flickering between her mother and her older sister, who had never had a good relationship as far as she was aware.
"Akira," their mother ignored Argo's demand for her gamertag be used as her name and the following growl of disagreement, "you both have lives to return to outside of this science project and fantasy built off of a videogame in your heads."
Asuna's eyes widened before they narrowed and she moved to stand up and retort, but Argo beat her to the punch, almost quite literally.
"Ya think we're fakin' the chips in the back of our 'eads?!" Argo seethed and to Asuna's surprise, the blonde pulled back her arm and slammed her fist into the metal of their side of the visiting table, which easily gave way into denting and molding into the shape of Argo's fingers.
It didn't take a rocket science to see the almost fearful shock that resulted in Argo's reckless display.
"My name is Argo," Argo seethed in a low volume and Asuna hated the near revulsion she could see in her sister's eyes directed toward their parent. "And contrary to what you believe," she spoke slow, forcing her accent to be dormant to make her words more profound, "this is my reality, and it's Asuna's as well."
"Akira," Kyouko's tone was a warning, "you were supposed to protect-"
"It's A-R-G-O!"
"Honey, call her by the name she's made for herself," Asuna's father broke in and Asuna breathed a mild breath of relief, at least her father wasn't going against her sister's logic as well.
"Fine," Kyouko relented on that, "Argo," the name sounded foreign on her lips, "you were supposed to protect your sister, not get her involved in a videogame that could've killed her!"
"It could've killed Argo too!" Asuna quickly butted in but stopped when Argo gave a light shake of her head.
"Just leave it Asuna," the use of her full first name sent alarm bells ringing through Asuna's head. "As for protectin' her, I did Kyouko." Argo replied flatly while she leaned on her arms on the table, "I gave her all the 'nformation I could throughout the entire 'ame from beginning ta end. I protected Asuna 'rough being SAO's entire media."
The widening of eyes gave away how little they all knew about their lives here in the complex.
The meeting had also been a harsh reminder of something Asuna had always forgotten due to just how close she was to Argo and Kouichirou.
Argo's brown eyes burned with hurt and anger as she stood up straight, "I did everything ta protect yer little baby Kyouko."
"Argo-"
"This meetin' is over," Argo cut her off flatly. "next 'ime be civil.'' The blonde told them with her arms crossed over her chest with a nose wrinkled scowl that wrinkled the whiskers tattooed into her cheeks, "or I'll 'ake a way to ban ya."
"You can't-"
"Mother please," Kouichirou cut her off this time, "stop antagonizing Argo."
"It's 'ine onii-chan," Argo's use of the honorific made Asuna worry about her sister's mental state. Argo rarely stood still and it was only something she remembered her doing when she was putting up a shield because something hurt her.
Argo turned around and started to walk away, "she's not my 'other anyway. My 'other's dead."
Asuna struck the training dummy again with her rapier with gritted teeth at the memory.
Argo and Kouichirou were her half-siblings, children of her father's before he married Asuna's mother. Asuna had been just barely thirteen when Argo had had a fight with Kyouko and had left home. The argument that had started about joining the journaling club at school and it had ended with Kyouko's silent threat to disown her under slandering the Yuuki name.
Where Argo had simply stormed out the door.
"Dad?" Asuna timidly spoke to her father after the front door slammed shut, effectively separating her from her older sister for what could be forever. "Will onee-chan come back?"
"Akira's like her birth mother Asuna," Shouzou chuckled softly and ruffled Asuna's strawberry blonde hair, "she loves you and Kouichirou so she'll be back."
It hadn't taken long for Argo to legally separate herself from them with the help of Caylee's family, but Asuna had never really noticed a distance between her and her sister. Argo had been as free-spirited as ever and always up for an adventure while being as protective as usual.
Asuna gave a yell and swung her sword again, and again, and again.
Why couldn't her mother just understand that this was their lives now? It was their job to protect the ex-players who couldn't protect themselves and to even protect those who could protect themselves.
It wasn't just her job though, it was Argo's too and Argo's method of doing it was even more important than her own.
Argo provided key information about the events of the game, the players, and the game itself. Argo was the representation of what the players could call 'media.' Argo's voice was the accumulated voice of everyone in SAO, she was the key to keeping everyone sane, informed, and in a way alive.
Asuna swung a sword and directed about a thousand people into being a well oiled machine of an army and was essentially in charge of all ten thousand people, something other people could've done. While Argo banded everyone together, she, while being a mystery to other players, had united everyone under Asuna and gave them the information they needed, wanted, and would give them all peace of mind.
"Why can't you just understand?!" Asuna shouted as her blade was bathed in vibrant pink and in the blink of an eye her sword pierced clear through the dummy's center with her sword.
For a moment Asuna just stood there, panting from exertion with her thoughts in a thousand places and all of them refusing to mesh together into some cohesive state that would result in her mind functioning properly.
She didn't want to go back to being the weak, compliant girl she had been back before SAO started, the type of girl and daughter her mother wanted her to be.
There was a part of her that firmly insisted that despite the hell she lived now, SAO was the best thing that had happened to Asuna and it was something irreplacable. Despite her memory being filled with hundreds of holes, Asuna knew it was true.
She had a family of her own now, a young daughter to love and care for, another daughter somewhere, who she missed dearly, and a husband who she just knew loved her just as much as she loved him. She had friends, real friends, that cared deeply about her and she had learned to come out of her shell and become the leader she was today.
Yes, she couldn't vividly remember anything of SAO, and yes she was terrified of making mistakes when so many people needed her to be strong and unshakable, but…
Asuna felt her body relax, the tension draining out of her lightly burning muscles and melting into the ground beneath her.
…this was her world, her reality, and nobody could take that away from her.
This place, surrounded by all of these people, was the home of her heart.
It was where Asuna belonged.
Casually crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back into the desk behind her, Caylee listened to the report of the non-ex-player tech team member.
She was inside the compound's computer hub at the moment, having just arrived after the inspection of the main doors she had been summoned for. The hub would've been interesting to Caylee were she not used to the complex mechanics of SAO. Hundreds of computers all aligned together in neat perfect rows that were all occupied, save for about ten, by the people constantly watching them.
This was the compound's "brain," as the other people on the tech team referred to it. They monitored surveillance, the status of everyone's biomechanics, the security of the compound, the compound itself, supplies, ways to keep the ex-players in line in case of anything happening, and in general, kept a close eye on all of the ex-players, especially the ones they were told to keep a close eye on.
Caylee knew that about half of the computers here were dedicated to around the clock surveillance around the entire compound. With the exceptions being the ex-players' rooms, something that everyone when they found out, could thank Argo for.
However… she also knew that the terminal she was leaning against right now, had direct access to the "brain's" servers, as it was the terminal of the guy in front of her. The science division's division technician.
"-been on the fritz and we're unsure why, do you have any suggestions?"
As an ex-player herself with her kind of family, she wasn't allowed to touch this terminal, or any of the terminals here besides one, which was labeled as hers. In fact, most of the science players that were in here and not the reverse engineering lab, only had access to the terminals in the row closest to the door. They didn't have access to the inner sanctum, nor access to anything with information that they didn't already know or were monitoring.
Caylee however, was an exception.
With some tactics, and sacrifices, at the science building, she had convinced those controlling all of them that her skills with a computer were invaluable and her help was required. So here she was, with four stars, the position of lead tech, and was usually running around fixing things for the lazy incompetant team or doing her main job as a security and outside communication specialist.
"Check with technician four," Caylee suggested calmly to the division technician, "it's possible their new locking code has a few errors that are making the computer skip and fail."
While the technician nodded thoughtfully, mulling over her suggestion, Caylee subtly pressed down on the face of her digital watch with two fingers through uncrossing her arms and adjusting the watch's position on her wrist.
Operation Alpha Two commencing. Searching…
It was only through her experience in SAO and the science building that Caylee avoided flinching rather violently at the AI's voice sounding in her skull.
Searching…
"True," the division tech gave in and gave a mild shake of his head, "you sure know your computers, Mitsuko."
Caylee shrugged calmly, deflecting the compliment. "It's the one thing I remember, so I might as well use the talent."
Data found.
Beginning download now. Download is at one percent…
"Yes," he agreed and took a step closer to her with a rather intense look, "but, you're a pretty big threat to my position, huh?"
Download is at twenty-five percent.
Estimated time till completetion is fifteen seconds.
Caylee could tell by his voice that he was serious, and the words had gotten the attention of many people within the inner sanctum with her. Justin by the looks on their faces, they were debating about reporting it. Which, since she was trying to stay under the radar right now, wasn't a good thing. Even if the guy was technically right. After all, Caylee wanted his position, she needed it for her plan.
Caylee held up her hands in a surrender position and leaned a bit of a ways back from him, "I have no personal interest in taking your position, sir," she lied easily. "Besides, I'm an ex-player, there's no way the 'guys upstairs' would even think about putting me there."
Download is at fifty percent.
Estimated time till completion is ten seconds.
Thank god she had pulled an all nighter increasing the possible download speed.
The division tech gave her a narrow eyed look, "right…"
"Seriously," Caylee reassured him and stayed calm, even though the amount of eyes on her made her inwardly shift slightly, uncomfortable. "The only way I'd be promoted is if the high ups promote me. I'm fine where I am and have enough work to do already, sir."
Download is at eighty-nine percent.
Estimated time till completion is two seconds.
"Fine," the division tech looked satisfied enough that Caylee could assume she wouldn't be reported and or get her ass kicked-
"Report to the security office at eight pm," the division tech stated flatly and Caylee inwardly cursed while everyone else returned to whatever they had been doing prior to looking up.
God damn it.
Download complete.
All selected data has been copied and downloaded to the implant.
That was her cue.
"May I be dismissed, sir?" Caylee requested, if a bit warily, aware that she really didn't want to make the insecure division tech even more aggravated.
"Granted."
With that, Caylee was off.
Walking with long strides, she reached the glass door and walked through it without breaking a stride as it slid open automatically.
Keeping her head down as she walked, Caylee opened her tablet and skimmed through the earlier footage of the many cameras on the compound, aware that opening her menu here would be a horrible idea. From what she was seeing, the cameras had been all pretty normal, at least so far. Still, she needed to finish those devices and fast.
At least she was almost finished with them.
The doors to the exit of the computer hub slid open and Caylee walked briskly through them.
There was just a few more steps before they were all completed beyond the cosmetics. She'd have to show Argo, Asuna and Kirito, and Liz soon… Caylee's train of thought screeched to a halt and her feet even slowed down at what she saw on the earlier footage of a particular camera. It was time stamped about thirty minutes ago, and while it didn't surprise her, it did tug on her heart.
What she would've given to be able to just magically fix everyone's memories.
Catching sight of Asuna sparring with the air, traces of rage and a mixture of other emotions in her body language and movements reminded her of the impulsive urge to help her, to fix every hole in her memory when she was hurting so badly.
Or even remake the device she had used to fry Argo's chip back before they were separated.
If she had the device she could unlock the memories being suppressed by the implant device in the brain, which meant she could free everyone from the grasp of whatever mad man put the devices in their brains. Then the memories of what was SAO and afterward for everyone would be free.
The vague headache pounding at her temples brought her mind back to reality.
She didn't have the device, nor did she have the time to make the device right now, even if she had access to the locked and hidden technology lab.
So unfortunately, with everything that was going on right now…
Caylee folded the tablet in her hands and kept walking.
… she couldn't help anyone regain their memories.
Just like she couldn't undo the extra amnesia that came from her time in the science building.
