Kazuto opened his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"The hospital," a calm voice spoke. "Your heartbeat went up drastically and Yui was cut off from you, so I forced you back."

He rolled on his side to look at her. Nurse Aki seemed pretty concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He sat upright.

"Kazuto-kun?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine."

"So, did you at least find some answers?" she asked.

"Something like that." Asuna was probably worried sick. "Can you hand me my phone?"

She retrieved it from his jacket.

"Kikuoka will want his report," she said as she handed it to him.

"I'll give it to him, once I've followed these new leads." And reassured Asuna. "Give me a sec."

He pressed speed dial. The most called number was automatically formed.

[Kazuto-kun? Are you okay? I was cut off.]

"They pulled me out, don't worry. Can you gather everyone in Alfheim?"

[Uhm, sure. When do you want to meet?]

"Right now. I have important news."

[I'll see what I can do.]

"I'll meet you there then."

[Okay. Love you.]

"Me too."

He put away his phone.

"I'm going back in," Kirito announced.

"Hold on a sec, I'm not sending you back. You were just pulled out because you were in danger."

"Not to DDLC, to Alfheim Online. I'm gonna discuss some things with the others."

"Oh, okay then."

He put on the circlet again.

"Link start."

In the menu, he selected Alfheim Online.

He didn't have to move anywhere since his character was still in the house from lost time.

Asuna arrived not long after.

They hugged.

"What happened to you in there?" she asked.

"I think I've found the answer. More or less."

Yui came to sit on his shoulder in her pixie form.

"You made us worry, Papa," she said.

"Sorry."

For a moment, it was just the three of them, but then Sinon arrived. And Klein a few seconds after that.

"I couldn't contact your sister," Asuna explained. "But I left a message for her."

"And what about Lisbeth and Silica?"

"They didn't pick up their phones."

"Should we wait for them?" Klein asked.

"I can brief them later. I just need to confirm some things."

They all sat down on the couch.

"Have you found anything, Sinon?" he asked her.

"I have actually," she said. "We've contacted players all over Alfheim Online, Gun Gale Online and some SAO survivors. There are more deaths related to this game."

"Suicides?"

"That's the weirdest thing. Not all of them were suicides. Several people died of what seemed to be heart attacks."

"Heart attacks? Hm." Laughing Coffin had made several deaths look like heart attacks. So there might be more going on there.

"I have my doubts too," Sinon said. "There are also several disappearances. Players who played the game and then just vanished without a trace."

"Did they have something in common?"

"Yes. They all happened earlier than the suicides and every one of them was an SAO survivor or was connected to SAO survivors somehow."

"There is more," Klein said. "I've spoken to Agil and he said several weeks ago someone came looking for you. But before he could say his name, someone else arrived. He said he knew you and could help the guy. They both went outside and Agil never saw them again."

"Hm." That matched Monika's tale. She had tried sending messengers to him. Many SAO survivors knew about Agil's bar and could potentially contact Kirito this way. Or they might go to the same school. But there was someone who made sure they never reached Kirito.

So Monika had decided that the only way to send a message was by killing the messenger. And that had certainly worked well. It had attracted Kikuoka who had send Kirito inside.

Wait a minute. If someone knew who the messengers were and could kill them, then wouldn't that mean he was in danger?

"Hold on a sec." He turned to Yui on his shoulder. "Can you check the security on the videostream?"

"What security?" she asked, blinking her big eyes.

"How do you mean? The game asked for my permission so you guys could watch me."

"Permission to open a voice chat with you. Anyone can watch you if they have your username."

"Oh."

That explained everything. No one had managed to reach him because they were being watched by someone. The only way to contact him for the SAO survivors he did not know personally would be through Agil's bar or their school. Two locations that would be simple enough to ambush someone. And he had noticed DDLC kept his appearance identical, so from their avatars you would be able to recognise them in public.

Still, that meant that whomever was watching them was watching all lifestreams. Or at least they had a method to find who Monika had sent as a messenger.

"Kirito?" Asuna asked.

"Someone might have been watching me," he said. "I'm in danger."

"You're at the hospital now," Asuna said. "No one knows you are there."

"Oh, right. Of course."

He had almost forgotten that. Even if someone had been watching him, there was still no way they would know where he was now. They had only managed to kill the others because they knew the location of Agil's bar and his school, both relatively simple things to figure out. But the room he was in now was top secret so he should be safe. Even so, it might be best to ask Kikuoka for protection if he went back to school since they might know his face now. And he would have to warn Agil.

"So, have you figured it out?" Klein asked.

"It looks like the girls inside that game can communicate with the players."

"Girls?" Asuna said. "You called them bits of code before."

"Their response is too complex for that. No, they are girls."

"You mean they are persons?"

"Possibly. I see three possibilities. Either they are advanced AIs like Yui, advanced neural networks copied from a brain like Kayaba Akihiko, or they are people just like us, trapped in some kind of Nervegear or AmuSphere in a human experiment of some sorts. Given what Monika told me, I think it's the third option."

"So they tried to contact the players?" Asuna.

"Indeed. And they heard of SAO that way, and about the one that cleared it."

"So they decided you could most likely help them out."

"But they were being watched and their messengers were killed off. So she decided to drive them to suicide instead in the hope someone would be send in to investigate."

"Sounds like a pretty solid theory," Klein said. "So what do you want to do now?"

"I have to go back in and talk to Monika."

"There is still something off about your theory though," Asuna said.

"How so?"

"If they are real girls, how can they talk to everyone at the same time? You're not the only one playing the game."

"Hm."

He had not considered that. There were probably thousands of people playing the game simultaneously, so there was no way Monika could interact with all of them at the same time.

"I guess most players only see a sprite playing the normal dialogue," he suggested. "And the real Monika takes over one of those sprites. Either that, or she really is a program."

"She's a person," a new voice said.

"Leafa?"

"Sorry I'm late." She sat down on the couch next to him.

"How do you know?" Kirito asked.

"Look at this."

She projected an image on the table.

"Hm." It looked like a timetable. "Is that…"

"Yep. Suicides only happen during these two hours every day. They are not randomly scattered."

"Interesting." The hours matched with when he had been in the game.

"So that probably means she won't be online now and you can only see her sprite."

"But how would she know who to talk to?" Klein asked.

"The AmuSphere detects several parameters for safety reasons," Kirito said. "If you go too long without food or water you are forcibly logged out. She could be using those"

"But you were not dehydrated."

"But my heartbeat was monitored, and that device is connected through the AmuSphere itself. That's how Yui kept me posted. So it's possible the sudden spike was detected and she decided to investigate."

"We'll know for sure tomorrow," Leafa said.

"You mean you're going back in?" Asuna asked.

"Of course," Kirito said. "I'm not giving up when I'm so close to an answer."

"It's dangerous," Asuna insisted. "She tried to kill you."

"Once she learns I'm Kirito, she won't kill anyone anymore," he reminded her. "I'm the only one who can stop this."

"Unless she's playing you."

"That's just a risk we'll have to take."

Neither of them seemed prepared to back down.

"We've uncovered a lot today," Klein said, in an attempt to defuse the tension.

"Yeah," Kirito sighed. "And I have to write it all in my report."
"I'll help you out," Leafa offered.

"Thanks."

"I'll see you at home then." Leafa stood up and logged out.

"I'll call if I know more," Klein said. He vanished as well.

"Be careful, Kirito-kun," Sinon warned him before logging off.

This left only him and Asuna.

"I uhm…" he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about…"

"It's okay. I'm sorry too. I'm just worried about you."

"I understand. But I have to do this. People are counting on me."

"Just, be careful," she said.

"Okay."

It was silent for a moment.

"I uhm. I have a report to write."

"I thought you might say that," she said.

"I'll make it up later, I promise."

"Hm. I'll keep you to that."

She moved closer and leaned in.

They shared a virtual kiss.

"It feels different to kiss you like this," she said.

"Maybe one day, the AmuSphere will evolve far enough that you won't be able to tell the difference."

"What if it evolves beyond that?"

"How so?"

"Well," she said. "This is already an avatar. I could change my hair color or body shape in the blink of an eye."

"Uhum." He tried to avoid staring at her chest when she said 'body shape'.

"So technically I could turn into your dream girl," Asuna continued. "I could even use the computer to alter what I'm saying so you only hear what you want to hear."

"But then who is really my girlfriend? You, or the computer?"

"Exactly my point. How can you love someone if you only see what they want you to see? The computer gives me increasingly more control over what I let others see. I'm online whenever I want to, and I can log out if things get difficult. I can change how I look and pretend I'm someone I'm not."

That was certainly an interesting way to look at it. "But if I came over now, you wouldn't be able to hide anything."

"I thought you had a report to finish?"

"That can wait. I want to share a real kiss with you."

"Just a kiss?"

"Maybe."

She smiled. "I'll be waiting for you then. Hurry up, Kirito-kun."

"On my way."

A/N:

-Thanks to everyone for leaving your nice reviews, I really appreciate it.