"Ah, Monika, there you are."

Monika didn't reply.

"Now, now," the doctor said. "Where are your manners?"

"Good evening, sir," she mumbled.

He sighed. Slowly, he removed his glasses, cleaned them on his shirt and put them back on. "You know, I don't see what the problem is. We're treating you well, right?"

"We're prisoners," she said. "You're experimenting on us."

"Well yes, but given the situation, you're doing reasonably well for yourself. You get food, shelter, no one has raped you yet."

"Yet?" her eyes widened.

"Yes." He walked towards her.

Monika swallowed. This wasn't good. He was close. Too close.

"You see," the doctor explained. "The guards really want to have their way with you. They want to make you squeal."

He paused to see the effect of his words. But she would be damned if she gave it to him.

Even so, her treacherous body betrayed her. Her legs were starting to shake. A shiver ran along her spine. Cold sweet pooled at her brow.

"Now I," the doctor continued. "In my eternal goodness, have forbidden it. You see, something like that could have a terrible effect on your mental state. And we need you in good shape to use the Third Eye."

Monika took a deep breath. Stay calm. She was safe.

"But," he said. "I'm starting to lose faith you'll unlock it. Your values aren't improving. So maybe we should try something drastic? I mean, we're assuming violating you would not help, but we don't know for sure, right? Maybe the Third Eye can't be unlocked in virgins? The key to science is trying new things."

Kirito. Please. Hurry.

"Or," the doctor continued. "Maybe we should try it with someone else? Maybe Sayori? Or Natsuki? Or Yuri? They especially like her."

"No, please," Monika finally spoke up. "Don't hurt them."

"You're not a position to demand anything," the doctor pointed out.

"If…" wait a second. "You said the mental state is important for the Third Eye."

"What about it?"

"Maybe we haven't been motivated enough? We're prisoners. Maybe if someone tried of their own free will-"

"It's not free will. All of you are prisoners."

"Maybe with the proper motivation."

He pondered that. "Alright. Three days. If you can unlock it in three days, I won't harm you and your friends. If not…"

"I'll get it done," she promised.

Kazuto took a deep breath. This was insane. He should have just waited outside. Why was he endangering himself again?

But he knew he had no choice. A bunch of girls were in danger, so he had to save them. Those were the rules. He was a hero after all.

Here goes nothing.

"Link start!"

A whirlwind of colors and sounds hit him. Kazuto closed his eyes.

Then, he felt his feet hit the ground.

Kirito opened his eyes again and looked around.

He was in the classroom again. And someone was sitting at a desk.

"Yuri?"

She turned. "Oh, hey Kirito-kun."

"What are you doing here?"

"They took Monika away for experiments."

"Oh."

Kirito sat down opposite of her.

Yuri looked up. "Hey uhm…"

"Yeah?"

"Ah, nothing." She blushed and looked away.

"It's okay," Kirito said. "I won't bite. Much."

She blushed even harder. "I… I just… I wanted you to know that… it was really me."

"What do you mean?"
"Well there is a normal script that the players see. But we can take over our characters with the AmuSphere. What you saw of me… that wasn't in the script. That was the real me."

"Oh. Wait, how did the normal script go?"

"Well uhm… normally uhm… the player joins the club. And he writes a beautiful poem." She fiddled with her thumbs and looked at the floor. "All the girls want to keep it and they end up fighting a little. And then Yuri uhm… convinces the player to give it to her."

"Convinces?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"How?"

"Oh you know," she looked out of the window. "Not important. Anyway, so afterwards they start preparing for the festival."

"And the player ends up helping Yuri?"

"Yes. If they choose her at the beginning. The girl who tries the hardest is the one who likes the poem the most. So if you choose the correct words then she'll convince you by…" she blushed. "Uhum. It's really a pretty normal dating simulation."

"I see." Well that explained the warning. 'Not suitable for children'.

But what about the 'disturbing' bit?

He wanted to ask her, but at that point, she suddenly shut her eyes tightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…"

"It's the experiment isn't it?"

She nodded.

"What are they doing to you?"

"I don't know."

"Yuri?"

"Yes?" she looked up at him.

"How do things go when you take over the character?"

Her eyes darkened. "Badly."

"How badly?"

"I… I start to lose control. Things happen. I…"

"But not with me?" he asked.

"No. I… I don't understand. Usually by now, I…"

"Hey," Kirito said. "I believe in you. You're not gonna lose control."

"How can you know that?"

"I just know."

She said nothing.

"Listen," Kirito said. "We-"

[Kirito? Are you inside?]

He froze. "A-Asuna? I…"

[Are you crazy? They could be watching you.]

"There is no time," Kirito said. He pressed the button to cut off Asuna.

"What's going on?" Yuri asked. "Who's Asuna?"

"Oh, you know. A girl," he evaded. "Listen, I need your help. Right now."

"I don't know anything."

"There has to be something. You told me about the religious camp."

"That was just…"

"Where did you get that?" Kirito pressed on.

"I… I found a file. It mentioned God and a girl."

"Libitina."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"Where did you get the file? What did you do with it?"

"Nothing. I glanced at it on a computer. I tried to send a message, but they came back."

"Damn." She must have accidentally published it. But that didn't get him anywhere. The file didn't have a location.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Wait a second. When did you do that?"

"A week ago? I think. But I don't think anyone-"

"What time? Exactly?"

"Uhm… 8:12. I remember clearly. They come at 8 am for the morning experiment. They lost me out of sight for about a minute as they were getting more injections. So I-"

"This might help. I gotta go."

"Wait."

"Stay strong," he told her. "We're coming for you."

She nodded.

Kirito logged out.

Kazuto opened his eyes. Right in time to see a pillow racing straight at his face.

The AmuSphere was knocked off his head.

"You're so irresponsible," Asuna complained.

"Asuna? Hey, calm down."

She hit him again with the pillow. He put his arms up to defend.

"That's quite enough." The nurse pulled Asuna away.

"Let me go." She struggled.

"This is a hospital."

"And it's your job to keep him safe," Asuna shot back.

"I'm fine," Kirito said. "And I have some important information."

That calmed her down. Nurse Aki let her go.

"What do you know?" Asuna asked.

"Yuri managed to publish a file. The disturbing file that led me here in the first place."

"Which file?"

"Yui?"

A nearby screen lit up. It showed the Libitina file.

Asuna scanned it quickly. "Well that is concerning," she admitted.

"And it is a good lead."

"But this doesn't mention a location."

"Yes it does. At the bottom."

"That's a date and time," Asuna said. "Not a location."

"It's not where she is. It's when she is," Kazuto said. "That's the time at the server. And I know the time at her location, 8:12 am. So if we locate the server and subtract both times then…"

"We know which time zone she is in."

"Exactly. Now that might not lead us to an exact location, but it's a good start to-"

"Got it," Yui said. She appeared on the screen.

"That was fast."

"Don't underestimate me," she said, striking a pose. "Oh, and you're gonna love it. The time zone is UTC 5:45."

"That's a time zone?"

"Yes. Used in exactly one place."

"Where?"

"Nepal."

"Oh my."

Nurse Aki smiled. "Looks like you're going hiking. Oh you're gonna love the Himalaya mountains."

"Wait, I have to go?"

"Well you've gotta see this through, right?" she said.

"But… it's cold over there," he argued.

"Come on Kazuto," Asuna said, smiling. "Put on your hiking boots."

"But I don't have hiking boots," he protested.

"Then let's get you some."

"Hey, wait-"