Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

My name is Tanaka Niten, and I am seventeen years old. I tell myself this every day, just to keep remembering. It's been over two years since I logged into a game called Sword Art Online and couldn't log back out. Two years I've been fighting digital monsters and leveling up, just to stay alive and maybe get out of this death trap. Two years since Kayaba told everyone we can't leave until we beat the last floor and that we can really die in this world.

"What?" I take a step back. "Attempted murder of who?"

"Don't play any games, scumbag." One of the Army players, a big dude in spiky black armor, snarls as he draws his sword. "You know exactly who you tried to kill."

"Hold on." Heathcliff steps forward now, holding his hand over the pixellated wound in his abdomen. "Naitama may not be a member of my guild, but I can vouch for him. He's an honorable player, and isn't likely to attempt a PK."

"Thank you, Heathcliff, but I have my orders." Silica dismisses the commander with a wave of her hand and turns toward me. "Now, are you going to come quietly, or do we have to do this the hard way?"

"You're gonna have to tell me a little more before I go with you guys." I notice that I've got an arrow nocked to my bow, and put it back. "Who do you think I tried to kill, and when did this happen?"

"He's stalling for time, we should just take him!" The same Army guy from before shouts. He jumps forward and pulls back his sword, as if he's about to strike. At the same time as when I reach for my own sword, he suddenly goes flying to the side. Khai shimmers into view, his blade at the ready and charged up.

"Don't try that again."

"Wallis!" Silica shouts. "Get back in line!"

Rogers grabs me by the shoulder and whispers in my ear. "Alright, here's the plan. Khai's gonna use Obscure, and you teleport out of here. We'll keep them busy while you get to Granzam."

"But that'll make me look guilty." I argue. "Look, I'm not about to run away. It's not like they're gonna kill me."

"They're here to arrest you!" Rogers looks grim. "You know as well as I do that the Army will toss you into their dungeon and throw away the key!"

"Relax, I've got a plan." I assure Rogers. Truthfully, it's maybe a quarter of a plan and three quarters improvisation and bluffing, but I know there's been a mistake of some sort.

While Rogers and I have been talking, the Army players have been getting restless, and Kirito's arguing with Silica. Ten more seconds, and all this might blow up in our faces.

"-would never do something like that! He's a Clearer, same as me!" Kirito exclaims.

"Sorry, Kirito." I wave the Black Swordsman aside and face the small girl. "Okay, I'll come with you, but on one condition."

Silica frowns. "You're in no position to demand-"

"Actually, I am." I interrupt her. "I could've gotten away at any point before now, but I'm still here, aren't I? And if you try to take me by force, you're gonna have a fight on your hands. It won't look good if the Army started fighting with the Clearers, especially after Kibaou's Rebellion."

Silica grits her teeth in frustration. "What's your condition?"

"I get a trial." I talk quickly. "You can lock me up for a day, but then you have to give me a chance to defend myself, and let me know exactly what I'm being accused of."

"Is that all?" Silica looks relieved.

"No." Kirito answers, surprising both of us. "The trial has to be open to everyone, including the other Clearers."

"I don't think-"

"Thinker owes me his life." Kirito narrows his eyes. "Let him know I'm calling in a favor."

"Fine!" Silica huffs. "Can we get this over with?"

"I'm all yours." I nod to Kirito. "Thank you."

"We'll be at the trial." He's not smiling. That's probably not the best sign.

"Time to go." Silica points a Teleport Crystal at me, and everything goes white before I find myself in a dark prison cell. I've never thought about it before, but since walls are Immortal Objects, it isn't possible to install bars to make a prison cell, so the jail the Army uses must have been included when SAO was released. Kayaba must have been planning his death game for a long time.

The thing about jail in Sword Art Online is that you can't access your in-game menu, so no matter how much I swipe with my hand, the holographic display doesn't pop up. So I've been waiting in the dark for several hours I think, but it might actually have be twenty minutes.

I decide to go to sleep, but almost immediately I'm woken by a loud clanging. I turn over to look at the bars, and see Silica on the other side, her blue lizard on her shoulder.

"Wake up."

I smirk and stretch for a bit before walking over to the small girl. "You guys could put in a bed, you know. I've got a sensitive back, and sleeping on the floor can't be good for it."

"Boo hoo." Silica looks unimpressed. "You're in a virtual world, your body isn't affected by what happens here."

"Unless I die." I fire back. "Now, you want something from me?"

"I'm here to read you the case against you." Silica rolls her eyes.

I smile widely and sit on the floor. "I'm all ears."

"Is this all a joke to you?" When I don't reply, Silica continues. "Two days ago, the leader of the Aincrad Liberation Force was just outside the Entrance City shot with a poison arrow by an unseen archer. The arrow's poison had a paralysis effect, and Thinker was trapped. He says that another player tried to force him into a duel, but ran away when confronted by members of the guild."

"Thinker said he saw me?" I raise my eyebrows mockingly. I lean against the bars, pretending boredom, but my mind is racing.

No matter how good you are at Archery, it's impossible to hit a target outside of your visible range, which is the same for all players. So it's just not possible for whoever shot Thinker to be far away enough to be beyond his sight. At the same time however, most players who practice Archery are unable to hit targets at a very short range; that's a more advanced skill that only a handful of players bothered to develop, myself being one of them. Now, Khai may be the only player with true Stealth, but other players are capable of achieving a form of invisibility close to it. So if I'm right, this means that there were at least two players that attacked Thinker: one to shoot him with the poisoned arrow, and one to attempt to PK him.

"Are you even listening to me?" Silica demands, and I blink in surprise.

"What was that?"

"I said, I don't know why Thinker even agreed to give you a trial. We have enough evidence to prove that it was you."

I open my mouth to fire back a witty reply, but then Silica's words make me pause. "What evidence?"

Silica suddenly pales. "That-that's classified." She stands up abruptly. "Your trial is in an hour." With that, the little girl flounces off.

"Hey!" I shout. "Wait a minute, you can't just leave me without telling me how I've been framed!" At first, I thought this was a misunderstanding, but Silica's mentioning of evidence makes me suspect it's something more sinister. I've been framed for trying to kill Thinker, but why?

The next hour passes by quickly as my mind whirls. Who would frame me? I'm not the most popular player in the game, but I'm not going around making enemies either. The Clearers and other solo players respect me for the most part. In fact, I can't think of a single player currently in SAO that would want to pin a crime on me.

Suddenly, my cell door opens, and two heavily armored guards grab me by the arms. "Time for your trial."

"Naitama, the Lone Archer. You are accused of poisoning and attempted murder. How do you plead?" Yulier, the second-in-command of the Army, glares down at me from a raised dais. We're currently in a makeshift courtroom, which is packed with members of the Army, Clearers, and civilian players as well. Word of my trial has gotten around, I see.

"Not guilty." I scan the assembled players. Khai, Rogers, Klein, Kirito, Heathcliff, and the other Clearers are all sitting together on one side of the room. Even Urian's here. On the other side are all Army players, of whom I recognize only Silica.

"Present the evidence." Yulier bangs her gavel.

"The evidence, Your Honor: the poisonous arrow used by the defendant." A tall, skinny player with long black hair holds out an arrow with dark green fletching, of the kind that I usually use.

"Does the defendant have anything to say?" Yulier calls down.

"It certainly looks like one of my arrows." I frown. "But it's not impossible that another player could be using my design." A thought strikes me. "Hold on, is this the same exact arrow that Thinker was shot with?"

"The very same."

"It can't be my arrow then." I almost laugh in relief. "Your Honor, the only arrows I use that cause the Paralysis effect are ordinary arrows dipped in the Acheron River on Floor 90."

"What's your point?" Yulier doesn't look impressed.

"Dipping my arrows in the Acheron lowers their durability to the point that they shatter upon impact. So that arrow can't be one of mine, because it didn't break after it hit Thinker."

"So you didn't use your own arrow." Yulier sighs. "That doesn't mean you're not guilty."

I cross my arms. "Your Honor, when I have poison arrows that disappear once they hit their target, why would I use an arrow that can be used to identify me?"

"If I may, Your Honor." Heathcliff stands up from the side. "Naitama has proved many times over that he is committed to clearing the game and of good character. His mission is the same as Thinker's: to end the death game. There is no reason for Naitama to try to murder the leader of the game's largest guild and thus destabilize our mission."

"That doesn't prove anything!" Yulier screams, banging her gavel loudly. "So what if the bastard didn't use his own arrow?! So what if he's a Clearer?! Who knows why he did it, it's clear that he was the one who fired the arrow!" At Yulier's outburst, the entire courtroom dissolves into chaos. A lot of the Army players are looking at me murderously, and many of the Clearers have their weapons drawn. This isn't looking good. The room we're in isn't a safe zone, and if a fight breaks out, it'll be disastrous.

"Yulier, stop!" A new voice cuts through the uproar and silences everyone. "I know you're upset, and that you're worried about Thinker." I turn to see Kirito standing on his seat to address the judge. "But Naitama is not Kibaou. He has nothing to gain from eliminating Thinker. Moreover, this isn't justice. You've already decided that Naitama's guilty on a single piece of evidence, one that he's just disproved."

"Your Honor." I nod to Kirito and raise my voice now. "I am not the only player with the Archery Skill. Someone else could very well be skilled enough to shoot Thinker, but whoever it was, was either a member of the Army or associated with someone who is."

"Are you suggesting that there is a mole within our ranks." Yulier looks absolutely murderous right now, but I plow on.

"Yes, I am. We all know that Thinker's movements have been kept secret since Kibaou's Rebellion, yet somehow the assassin was able to shoot him. I doubt he or she was waiting at the Entrance City the whole time, which means someone on the inside had to have leaked his location."

Yulier opens her mouth to speak, but the guy who brought in the evidence begins to laugh.

"Ha! What do you know, the boy figured it out! You're a quick one, aren't you?" The player opens his menu and selects an item. A skull-shaped mask shimmers onto his face. "Still, you weren't fast enough."