Once again, special thanks to Lady Lily Anne for helping me bat about ideas. This one was something I'd been hemming and hawing on since I use to play a shit ton of MMO's back when I was married to that horrible...right. Anyway streaming live play from a specific player isn't anything new, and something tells me that it would be even easier in 2022 C.E. so that's the route I took on this. I actually haven't really delved into SAO fanfics like...ever (SAO Abridged is my head-canon regardless) so if this ideas been used I didn't steal it intentionally, it just made sense to me.
Anywho, please review!
Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka Seijirō leaned back into his rather luxurious chair as he rested his chin upon his steepled fingers staring at the email before him. He understood his orders and was aware he really had no say in them despite his reservations, but this just seemed wrong, and an extreme violation of privacy at best.
Truthfully when he'd accepted his undercover assignment at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Division, or as it was being colloquially called these days the 'Virtual Division', he'd expected boredom and paper pushing, and little else. The military's interest in VR technology was a no brainer and he was the perfect man to wheedle his way into the bureaucracy that would one day oversee it.
Then it happened, ten thousand innocents locked into a death game by a megalomaniac and damn near 1500 of them were now dead less than a month later. Sighing he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he let his composure slip a bit at his next thoughts, not really liking where they were going.
When he'd done some digging, he'd found a live feed broadcasting to multiple WiFi nodes and once he had tracked it down he discovered something rather interesting. Kyaba, for reasons only he could fathom was keeping tabs on the top rated beta tester and left the line unencrypted, meaning the government had at least one avenue to view what the hell was going on in the world of Aincrad.
The only issue? The beta tester in question was a fourteen year old girl with a massive chip on her shoulder when it came to her place in society; in fact it was fairly clear the if she hadn't been a natural genius with a low tolerance for idiocy she'd likely be a yanki. If she had been he'd probably be able to ignore these orders and pull some bureaucratic bullshit out of thin air and prevent anything ever coming of this.
But she wasn't a yanki, in fact she'd taken a major leadership role that had the brass paying extreme attention to her as she trained her fellow players on how to survive in their new environment. She was sassy, snarky, mildly belligerent, and a born leader on top of being a budding beauty, people listened when she spoke and his division had already credited her for keeping at least a hundred players alive as of last week.
To top it off? She was pushing herself to her mental limits, after training she'd slink off on her own or with that friend of hers, Klein, and grind her level operating on loosely four hours of sleep daily. The borderline fatigue her personal training was pushing her to was worrying, yet she somehow managed to avoid a mental break which was impressive to say the least. So rather ironically despite her rather vehement protests she was actually proving herself to be quite the proper Japanese, living to work and pushing forward to perfection at all costs.
That's what his bosses saw anyway, what he saw was a somewhat terrified teenage girl with the aggression of a warrior and the mind of a genius taking the only route she could to get the hell out of that virtual prison. She was keeping people alive because she needed them, she was pushing herself so she could be stronger and surive, she was drawing attention to herself solely so her fellow players wouldn't lose all hope and keep pushing forward. She was selfish, but in a way that was inspiring.
Yet he dare not say these thoughts out loud, once again his bosses had their own opinions and he wasn't paid to give his, just the data, and so here he found himself once again having to relay orders he didn't agree with.
There was nothing for it, but...well at the very least he could tell her family so it wasn't such a shock to them, and it might earn him some long term endearment from the girl when she got out of the game. That was a good idea actually...something told him he and Kirigaya Keiko were going to be working together in the future, and it was best to put a good impression forth with the people she loved.
Kirigaya Suguha felt like she was in a waking dream, or rather a nightmare. Ever since her big sister had been taken away to be watched over while trapped in the death game she'd felt like she'd been set adrift without a rudder, and she didn't quite know what to do about it.
Keiko had been her rock for so long, while her father rarely bothered making an appearance, and their overworked mother did her best to support them, her big sister was always there to keep her life stable. If it was randomly grabbing Suguha for a bit of kendo practice, trying to get her to at least attempt playing a game, or just surprising her with a homemade meal, her big sister was always there to fill the void.
And now she wasn't there, and she may never be again...
Sighing as she entered Keiko's room for the third time today Suguha flicked the lights on and took it all in, a Kill Bill Volume 1 poster, a cork board covered in notes and references she couldn't follow, and shelves lined with various books and disks.
Turning to the desk she could only glare at Keiko's custom computer and the various game systems haphazardly hooked to each other, more then a few random plushies scattered along their tops along with empty snack wrappers. Approaching the main monitor Suguha couldn't help snorting as she observed the dozens of overlapping water ring stains upon the desks surface as she snatched up Keiko's glasses, that girl drank far too many energy drinks for someone so young.
Putting the glasses on she pushed them up her nose and glanced at the mirror hanging off the back of the door, staring at her reflection a few moments she eventually sighed and removed the spectacles as she hastily wiped away newly formed tears.
Damn did she miss her big sister. The house, school, and her life was just too quiet without her barging into it to complain about the newest patch nerfing her build or...or whatever had her irritated that day. To think that Keiko's behavior use to annoy Suguha...irony at its best really...
"Suguha, please come downstairs we have a guest!" her mother yelled. Sighing Suguha reverently placed Keiko's glasses back on the desk and turned off the lights as she made her way to the stairs.
Making her way down she nodded to her mother politely, "Here mom, what's going on?" Their guest was a tall man with square glasses and the stance of someone who was comfortable with his own body, a sort of relaxed tenseness if that made any sort of sense.
Frankly, he reminded her of Keiko before a spar, which was interesting in on itself.
"Hello, as I was just telling your mother I am Kikuoka Seijirō of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Division, for brevity's sake we just call it the Virtual Division, and I am here to discuss your sister's current situation."
She felt her eyes widen in horror and she very likely paled if the man's hurried voice was any indicator, "She's fine, I promise, there's just something a bit...shall we say unique about her that has drawn the attention of my superiors." Sighing he began rubbing the bridge of his nose lifting his glasses slightly in the process, "I am going to state now that I don't agree with my orders but I have no real say in it. Could we perhaps sit down?"
Mom nodded and Suguha followed the adults into the dining room, taking a seat across from them Kikuoka soon pulled a laptop from his bag and placed it on the table, he began absently typing on it before stopping abruptly when her mother spoke.
"Mister Kikuoka...what is happening with my daughter?" There was hope and fear in the woman's voice, and that alone seemed to get the man moving again.
"Your daughter, who goes by the handle 'Kirito' in SAO by the way, was the top rated beta tester of said game. It isn't all that surprising due to her intellect and her background with parkour and kendo, the system amplifies natural ability at the same time as it brings those less skilled to an acceptable level thanks to the assist protocols.
"Regardless of that, for reasons we've yet to discern, it would appear that the instigator of this madness, Kayaba Akihiko himself, has taken special interest in your daughter and has been streaming her actions to an offsite server. The thing that is truly baffling about this is he left it unencrypted, and we've been able to hijack the signal."
As he turned the laptop to face Suguha and Midori both women gasped as they saw Keiko conscious and active for the first time in a month. Suguha soaked in the image like a woman who'd been in the desert would with her first taste of water, Keiko looked so, so like herself that it brought a smile to her face in an instant.
She was wearing what looked to be black skinny jeans or their equivalent, knee high combat boots, a sleeveless black turtleneck, and fingerless gloves, her long black hair was billowing behind her as she spun about deflecting the sword strikes of a tall redheaded man.
"Can do better than that can't ya senpai?" They heard her drawl out in amusement, the man snorted as he blocked one of her blows and while they could only see the back of his head it was fairly obvious he was rolling his eyes.
"Kirito I could train for the rest of my life and I'd never be able to keep up with you, you're a freaking squirrel on meth when you get going."
Keiko frowned at that while cocking her head to the side, "I have no idea whether to be insulted by that or not."
The Kirigayas were brought out of their reverie as Kikuoka turned the laptop back to himself and turned off the volume, glancing up he locked gazes with Midori and gave her a faint smile.
"The man is a friend she'd made her first day before they were aware it was a death game, his name's Klein, or rather Tsuboi Ryōtarō. He's a teachers aid who was shooting for the history department when this all happened, you'll be happy to know he's taken your daughter under his wing and keeps on eye on her. Well...as much as anyone can really keep an eye on someone with her disposition."
Neither mother nor daughter felt any need to argue that point, they were well aware Keiko could be difficult if she chose to be.
"I'm glad she is being looked after, truly I am. He just seems to be quite a bit older than Keiko, is he..."
Kikuoka smirked as he shook his head, "Klein doesn't seem to be romantically interested in your daughter Miss Kirigaya, in fact while she calls him a pervert often he goes out of his way to shield her from what I would label 'fanboys'. She's quite popular with those that are actually attempting to win the game, going out of her way to teach them what she can in an attempt to get out as fast as possible."
Suguha smirked and shook her head at that, only Keiko...
The mans smile fell away as he sighed and suddenly he looked to be completely exhausted, "My superiors, upon finding out about this feed, and who it is recording have come to a decision, one I disagree with entirely. This weekend, they are going to begin live streaming Keiko's adventures to the world at large, and I think you are aware of what that means."
Suguha was confused for a moment but Midori caught on in an instant, "What the hell do those bastards think gives them the right to violate my daughter's privacy like that?!" Suguha's eyes widened at that as she put it all together, no, no this wasn't good, Keiko was a very private person if she was being watched by the world she'd...oh hell...
"I know, trust me I do, I made it a point to bring that up as well but they didn't care. The only concession I received was that I'm allowed to have someone man the feed at all times to cut it if anything...risque occurs, outside of that my hands are tied."
Midori's hands were clenched in her lap, shaking in impotent rage before she finally ground out a response, "How is this legal?"
Kikuoka shook his head at that as he threw his hands in the air in exasperation, "Apparently since the feed is being broadcast on Wifi unencrypted they see it as already in the realm of public access, and since we can't deactivate the WiFi hubs without taking the servers offline it's staying that way. Please, trust me, I understand. I felt enough like a perverted old voyeur watching a fourteen year old girl as is, this is wrong on many levels but the VR industry needs this. That's all my superiors care about at the moment."
"Why does the VR industry need the world to watch my big sister fighting for her life?" Suguha spat out, not bothering to hide the venom in her tone.
"That," Kikuoka began, "is thankfully easy to explain. The VR industry is the next great step in technology, everyone is invested in it. Us, the Americans, the Chinese, the Koreans, everyone has a stake in it, and Kayaba very nearly ran the entire thing off a cliff. Everyone sees it as dangerous now rather than the gift it is."
Standing he began pacing as he rather animatedly swung his arms about, "The NerveGear gave paraplegics the chance to move and interact with their fellow man again. It allowed blind little kids to see for the first time in their lives, to experience light and color. It opened the door to soldiers being projected into robot bodies to fight on the front lines, to never be put at actual risk. It was supposed to start a Renaissance period, but now it's nothing more then-"
"A blood sport," Midori stated cutting him off. She rubbed her brow slowly while shaking her head, "Since my daughter has gone out of her way to make herself integral to freeing herself and her fellow players from said blood sport, your superiors want to use her as a poster girl. What VR tech could accomplish, if given the chance."
"Exactly," Kikuoka stated as he fell back into his chair, a minute of silence later he sighed and pushed the laptop forward. "This is a gift to you two, RECT entertainment is building a second generation NerveGear that will be released in a few months that will allow you to walk right by Keiko's side. This is just a stopgap, when the units are ready to enter production I'll make sure you are sent a few, it's all I can really do at this point."
Standing he gave them a polite bow before making for the door, slipping his shoes on he glanced over his shoulder giving the two conflicted ladies a wane smile, "The feed goes public this Saturday. That computer though will give you access to it beforehand. It isn't an ideal situation, but it is the best we can have at the moment."
With that, he left the house feeling like the worst kind of bastard in the world, silently cursing his superiors the entire way home.
Kirito sneezed and rubbed her nose in confusion, Klein glanced at her while cocking a brow, something that still hadn't gotten old for him yet.
"Something up princess?"
Kirito frowned and shot her friend a glare, "Stop calling me that, and...I dunno, just felt like someone was talking about me or...something..."
Rolling his eyes Klein shot a thumbs-up over his shoulder while replying, "People are always talking about you, come on, we need to get these newbies through the tutorial so we can get some freaking sleep. I swear I can't wait till we get to the second floor and wash our hands of this, most of these people are hopeless."
Grunting in agreement she followed her redheaded friend while glancing about her surroundings suspiciously. Something...she didn't know what, but something told her things were about to get very, very stupid.
Keiko is going to be sooooo unhappy when she gets out of Aincrad, just saying.
Also, as an aside, do you guys want this to be yuri? I've gotten a lot of requests for this to be Fem!Kirito/Asuna and I could do that even though it would be an incredibly slow burn. Anyhow, I gotta go, take care all!