Artificial Mirror

by Victory3114

Kirito, a solo player who has traversed the passage of life unaccompanied. He has never built any ties, preferring the freedom of solitude. Until he meets one who is like him, one without memories, one who reminds him of himself before he traveled down this path of desolation. And from then on, things change. For better or for worse?

8. Chapter 7: Light of the Past

"Hmm... Interesting."

The clicking of keys filled the void as he typed in a few more commands, then he watched the screen that popped up, listening to the audio only he could hear. Not that there was anyone else around him to listen.

Absently chewing on his lip, the man swiped the window aside and made an elegant gesture. Three new popups materialized around him, each bearing lines upon lines of code. To the average person, the information would have been decoded as gibberish. But the man nodded knowingly as he scanned through the program, the light of the screen reflecting off of his eyes.

All around the man and his terminal was darkness. A few bubbles rose here and there, perhaps allowing one to guess that they were deep in the ocean, a place where no light could penetrate. It certainly explained why the man was floating. Except that there was no water and they weren't crushed by the deep sea pressure.

A sigh came from the man, echoing through the empty space off of something. He idly perched his head on his hand and continued scrolling down the list. Eventually, he came to an area that caught his attention. He settled down and began to study it carefully.

Several minutes passed in complete silence.

Then he let out a deep breath and leaned back, stretching. The corner of his mouth tightened as he apparently found his problem.

"...well, this was an experimental program anyway...", he muttered to himself.

He typed in a few lines on a virtual keyboard in front of him, and watched the video on the popup that materialized. Its glow danced on his face, a multitude of colors and the occasional flash. His eyes narrowed, watching the contents of the screen carefully, noting every detail, no matter how trivial.

There was a certain action in that video that made him wince. As he watched the scene unfold, he commented, "Ouch."

Eventually, the screen blinked out, once again dropping the room into near darkness. Nothing moved, nor were any noises made.

The man finally broke the silence, talking to himself.

"Well, the system has been finalized… there's nothing I can do about it."

Quiet.

A sigh. "Bugs... the difference between a bug and a feature can be so unclear. Hmm..."

More silence.

"Oops."

---

Chapter 7: Light of the Past

---

"What's a truck?"

"A truck is a kind of car with a large open container behind it designed to carry stuff."

"What's a car?"

Kirito gave Mane a deadpan stare. "I thought we told you before already."

"Did you? I think I forgot…"

Sirius gave another of his trademark sighs, while Kirito simply placed his hand on his forehead, as if he had a headache. Which he did; Mane always seemed to forget what they told her.

"A car is a thing people use to transport themselves around. It uses wheels and an engine to run, and it's a lot faster than walking, though not teleporting. It's shaped like-"

Mane interjected, "What's an engine?"

Kirito's head snapped up and he outright glared at her, to which she cutely tilted her head in confusion. Almost immediately, he could feel his annoyance being siphoned away by that innocent look; he could never stay mad at her.

Sirius obliged to explain. "A car engine is a contraption that generates power through burning gasoline. It's what provides the strength for the car to run."

Mane looked thoughtful for a moment, then perked up. "What's gasoline?"

Kirito's eye twitched as he searched his mind for a description that wouldn't lead to more questions.. "It's like… food for the car, but it's a liquid. It's all the car needs to run, though. Understand?"

The girl nodded repeatedly, an earnest smile on her face. "So the car eats gasoline, which goes through its stomach, the engine, so it can have enough energy to carry people around?"

"That's the basic gist of it, yes."

"Yay! I understand cars!"

Kirito's mouth twitched into a smile at her enthusiasm. Having lost all her memories of the real world, she was always interested in finding out more information about reality. Always listening and then asking questions for clarification, fascinated by whatever she heard.

Mane suddenly seemed to deflate as she thought of something. "Um, Kirito-kun, Sirius, what's a contraption? I didn't really completely understand that."

Perhaps too many questions.

Both males sighed and flopped onto their backs, their fall cushioned by the soft forest floor. "I'll tell you next time." Kirito groaned.

"Okay!" Mane lay down next to them and stretched, yawning like a cat.

Kirito watched them both for a moment, then turned his head to look at the slightly shimmering white boundary that marked the end of the safe zone. Of course, taking a nap in a forest area, teeming with monsters and hostile plant life, was akin to suicide, but in a safe zone, one could rest without worry. Monsters could not cross the holy line, and one leaving the area had a few second of invulnerability to monster attacks.

He looked upwards, at the clear blue sky that could just be seen through the canopy of leaves and branches above them. Of course, he couldn't see the sun, but the light streaming into their little space was enough.

A month had passed since the clearing of the first floor. Passing with the flow of time, they front lines were currently on the eighth floor. Their little group of three were also on the eighth floor, in a side area containing the target mob for a rewarding quest.

Many things had changed since the defeat of «Illfang the Kobold Lord». With the fall of the lizard king, the news that the first floor had been cleared had spread like wildfire. They simply couldn't believe that, after a month of giving up, a glimmer of hope had appeared. That it was actually possible to clear this game of life and death. Most dismissed the news as complete nonsense.

Thousands flocked to the «Teleport Gate» in the center of Starting City's plaza after hearing the news from players who had witnessed it: Inactive for a month, the stone columns sparked to life and fired up, runes glowing a deep powerful blue. Several tested it and confirmed it: the first floor had indeed been cleared, and the gate connected to the Gate in the center of the second floor's hub town, «Urbus».

There had been a huge commotion at this news, as people finally realized what had happened. They cried, several hugged random strangers in gladness, some others organized their friends and family, and went straight out into the fiends with gusto.

Which should have been suicidal. Most of them hadn't held their weapons even once in their lives, and if they had really gone out there, unprepared, they would have been slaughtered to a man, with no means of fighting back.

Fortunately, Klein and his friends, along with some of the people Kirito had taught, were there to catch them. They had predicted this would happen; that with the news, many people would rush out into the fields to help with the clearing effort, unprepared. Stationing themselves at each gate, they had stopped every person going out, asking if they knew the basics of «Sword Art Online's» Combat system, «Sword Skills». If their answer had been no, they would have been pulled aside and taught how to survive in this death game. When they were ready, they would have been told to pass on the word to other people, to help them live. In this way, Klein and his friends had saved well over a thousand lives. Kirito had been especially glad when he heard.

Of course, with less than twenty people, they couldn't catch everyone. After the news of a few pointless deaths out in the fields around Starting City, Diabel, who had been elevated to high status because of his position in the boss raid, organized a team of players to guard each gate of the city to help make sure everyone knew the basics of combat.

He had been joined by an influential character in helping the new players. Thinker, the creator and administrator of the popular gaming website «MMO Today» used his fame and leverage to found a player relief group, named the «Aincrad Liberation Force». It distributed food, col, supplies, and information to newer players so they could have a better chance at life in Sword Art Online.

The number of players actively grinding and progressing through the game skyrocketed after that. Before, the only other contact Kirito had outside of Mane and Sirius was with the rare beta tester or player who had dared to leave the safety of the walls and survived. Now, meeting a whole entire party of players while questing out in the wilds became a common occurrence.

It was no wonder then, that the second floor was cleared in a little under two weeks. The boss fight, once again heralded and led by Diabel, had a raiding party of over two hundred eager participants. Diabel had to send away over a hundred others due to the fact that they were at a level low enough to be considered "unsafe".

The «Minotaur» lay at the end of the dungeon's twentieth floor, which had been modeled in the pattern of a labyrinth, like the old Greek myth. Roughly around the same height as Illfang had been the «Minotaur» wielded a large two-handed axe, and while its attack patterns were relatively simple and did not change, its «Strength» stat was through the roof, and its «Agility» had been nothing to scoff at either.

Diabel, now extremely cautious in his leadership, ordered for the first battle to simply be a scouting battle. Everyone should be on guard, he had said, for any special pattern changes or unique deadly attributes the boss may possess. He ordered everyone to retreat at the slightest sign of trouble.

But there had been no need for that. The boss, while challenging, was relatively simple. The "scouting battle" turned out to be the "final battle" as the «Minotaur's» HP bars were dropped to zero, every player still tense, awaiting something strange to happen. Nothing did happen, so the boss was slain then and there.

The celebration that followed was even larger than the first floor's. Any doubts people had about clearing the game were swept away, and Diabel had been hailed as a hero.

The clearing slowed down a little after the fifth floor, where the NPC «Guildmaster» could be found. Now that guilds could be organized, Diabel wasted no time in creating a clearing group: the «Divine Dragon Alliance». It quickly became very popular and famed as one of the top clearing groups. It now consisted of around a hundred people.

Heathcliff had also formed a small guild, called the «Knights of Blood». He had offered Kirito and Mane a place in the guild with a small smile, knowing that the answer would be "no". His goal, he explained, was to gather a group of the strongest players to help clear the game. Kirito had wished him good luck and went on his way.

Later, he heard from the «Rat» that Asuna had joined the Knights. Sirius had perked up at the information, but gave no comment.

Klein formed a mildly popular guild as well, named «Fuurinkazan». Kirito had been surprised when he found out that they consisted of the other people he had taught as well as Klein's friends. Their help in teaching the newer players made them relatively well known, though not as much as the «Divine Dragon Alliance» and the «Aincrad Liberation Force».

Once guilds could be made, the group lead by Thinker became an official guild, and the largest of all of them. The force welcomed any players, and quickly became both a strong presence in the field and at the home front, supporting players and distributing information and supplies. Their main goal was to provide motivation to clear the game, at which they succeeded admirably. Kirito had heard their numbers had swelled to over a thousand.

Of course, maintaining order among such a large group was nigh impossible for Thinker alone to achieve, and thus he designated for the force to be led by several people. Kirito had heard about Thinker; thoughtful, kind, very considerate of others. But Kirito had also heard rumours of discord and trouble among the other leaders. Power plays and lust for authority.

More disturbingly, he heard that Kibaou was one of them. After the hateful cactus-head had nearly PKed him, Kirito had always wondered what happened to the man. Perhaps he had expected him to be punished in some way. But for him to be one of the top authorities in Aincrad, with that kind of mindset and hate against beta testers, was a little unnerving.

So far, though, nothing was wrong with the «Aincrad Liberation Force». Nothing bad had happened yet, and Kirito had learned from Argo that Kibaou was actually training newer players in combat quite well. Perhaps cactus-head had mellowed out a little, Argo commented. She had heard what had happened after Illfang's defeat, from one of her informants, no doubt.

However, upon remembering Kibaou's last words to him, Kirito wasn't so sure.

These recent month had passed without incident. With the creation of the clearing guilds and player relief from the Force, life in Aincrad had improved drastically. The clearing effort was far more organized, with the Divine Dragon Alliance leading the way, followed by the several official clearing guilds. The «Aincrad Liberation Force» took care of all the players below the front lines, making sure their lives were okay and that everyone had the proper information and preparation.

Everything seemed to have settled down. There was actually a structure of society now, with nobody being left out of the effort except if they wanted to be left out. There was, of course, the large number of people who refused to step out of the safety of Starting City, but there was still a huge increase in the number of active players. Certainly, it had been better than that dreary, desolate existence during the first floor.

Kirito snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at his two friends. The girl sighed in her sleep, wiggling slightly into a more comfortable position. She twitched now and then as her dreams took her to distant lands of imagination.

Upon watching her peaceful face, Kirito was abruptly reminded of the first boss fight, when that weird phenomenon occurred. He gingerly traced his chest where he had felt that fire burning his flesh and turning his brain to mush.

He still did not understand how that had happened. For a while after that incident, he had not been able to sense her thoughts, nor could she sense his. Gradually, they managed to somewhat feel each other again, but Kirito was wary of these connections now.

Mane had been unusually quiet during that time. Once, she even crawled into his bed in the inn room and huddled next to him, eyes screwed shut. Kirito guessed it was trauma; with her memory loss, she apparently had forgotten the sensation of pain, and the realization must have shocked her. Over time, though, she seemed to recover.

They had discussed the phenomenon a little, and after a few tests Kirito confirmed that they could only hear each other when they were thinking the same things. Why, he still did not know. Neither could they replicate the feeling of being completely connected, nor did Kirito want to. He shuddered again at the memory of the pain, then looked at Sirius.

Sirius' eyes were open, staring into the sky just as Kirito had been a moment ago. Sirius had listened to what they figured out, but couldn't come up with an explanation either. He seemed to take the news well, though. Kirito had feared he would view him and Mane as freaks or something, but Sirius had been understanding...

And a good friend.

Kirito studied him for a bit, then softly called his name.

"Sirius?"

He shifted and his eyes flicked over to where Kirito was. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking."

His answer was short and to the point, tone blunt and leaving no room for a reply. Kirito hesitated, then continued, "She's asleep now, she should be safe here. Do you want to go do...?"

"Go complete it. Bring us a nice meal later. I'll look over Mane. We'll meet in the village at that chef's restaurant at 4:00."

Kirito frowned. They had planned to do it together.

"Sirius... are you okay?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about... things that have passed."

Kirito was reluctant, but he knew Sirius would never budge once he made a decision. He nodded. "I'll be off then."

"Take your time, Kirito." Sirius turned his head and gave a weak attempt at a smile. "Don't get lost."

"I won't. I'll get all of us some good food. Might make you feel better."

Sirius turned back towards the sky and murmured, "So it may."

Neither of them moved, then Kirito silently got up and checked his map, before walking out of the Safe Zone. He looked back once, making sure they were okay, then started jogging in a general Northwestern direction.

The silver-haired boy watched him run off, his eyes dimly luminescent in the shadows of the leaves above him.

---

In the kitchen of one of the NPC restaurants in eighth floor's most populated town, «Friben», the chef was offering a quest that could be done once a day, «The Savory Boar Dish». In exchange for gathering greens and a cut of boar meat from a rare but powerful mob around these forests, the quester gained no col, but a high amount of experience and a free meal with the same name as the quest. It was actually quite delicious, and Kirito was sure Mane would enjoy the surprise.

He and Sirius had decided to surprise her with the yummy dish, as well as gaining some very nice experience points on the side. But now it seemed that Sirius was not feeling all that well. Kirito knew from his silence and cryptic words that he still hadn't completely gotten over the death of his friends.

...he'll be fine... I hope.

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Kirito crouched in the underbrush, peering through the gaps between the leaves at the monsters in the clearing beyond. A group of «Nepents» wandered around in the open, hissing from time to time and curling their vines apprehensively. Much larger than the «Little Nepents» on the first floor, though at Kirito's level, not much of a threat at all.

After some scrutinization and thought, Kirito decided that it would not be worth the time to clear away the small fry, and stealthily crept away. This area should also contain several parties or perhaps solo players, as this was a good farming spot on the front lines. It wouldn't do if someone slew the target mob before he got there; he'd have to spend around twenty minutes waiting for it to respawn. Wasted time. Plus, he couldn't be late.

His black coat, blending in with the shadows among the leaves, gave him a decent enough «Hiding» bonus to avoid detection by the alert «Nepents». Silently, he slipped away unnoticed.

For around ten minutes, he weaved around small mob camps and drew ever closer to the cliff face on the Northwest corner of this forest zone. When he stood in the shadow of the stone wall, he slowed down, ears perked for any sign of a nearby hostile.

He sensed only one. Creeping slowly forward, he inched towards the edge of the thicket he was concealed in, gently prying one of the fat leaves down so he could see past it. At first, he could see nothing; then the beast lumbered into view, snorting and pawing at the ground. Focusing on it, he could see its full health bar, red cursor, and name, «Apers Boar». The target mob for the quest.

It was quite a large foe, beefy shoulders nearly making contact with the canopy of leaves in the trees around it. Its face appeared squashed, snout wobbling dangerously as it took several angry snorts. It vented its rage on a nearby tree, gouging deep scars across the trunk. While most objects in towns were classified as «Immortal Objects», most constructs in the field could be damaged, carrying a durability value. They were known as «Obstacles», and included things ranging from trees to old ruins to debris.

Like all boars, Kirito mused, its AI was nothing but simple algorithms and scripted behavior. If there was a target, charge at it. That was all there was to its attack patterns. Although, it was backed up by its enormous «Strength» stat, so it was nothing for the average player to laugh at either.

However, Kirito wasn't the average player; although he was not completely aware of it, he, Mane, and Sirius were among the top ten players in Aincrad. Even on the eighth floor, all three of them were already at level twenty-two, a result of long hours of grinding and farming for experience.

Mane always complained about the monotonous boredom of it all, but, without fail, stopped talking once Kirito handed her some food. She was simple in that way. Yet, deep down, Kirito knew she understood this was necessary in order to clear the game.

In other words, this «Apers Boar» was no threat to him. It was at a mere level fifteen, Kirito knew, and armed with this information, he dashed out of his hiding spot. In one smooth movement, his blade pulsed with dark light and sliced deep into the monster's side before it could react.

It whipped around and screamed, a horrible pig-scream that grated at Kirito's sensitive ears. Without sparing a moment, it charged with tremendous force, shaking the ground with every step. Nimbly, Kirito leaped aside, rolling and coming back to his feet using the momentum.

The pig, knowing it had missed its target, skidded to a halt. Kirito's weapon shined once again and descended towards the monster's unprotected back. «Fury Edge» activated and he dealt two swift strikes and for good measure, thrust the blade once more to deal a large amount of damage before falling back.

Now thoroughly infuriated, the «Apers Boar» screamed again and charged with even more force. «Rage» based monsters, such as boars and other barbaric enemies, grew stronger when damage was dealt to them, at the cost of some of their defensive instincts. Which suited Kirito just fine; he daringly skipped around the boar's charge and scored a lacerating hit along its side.

Being a mid-boss, however, the boar had quite the amount of «Vitality». When Kirito focused on the monster's cursor and HP again, he noted his previous endeavors had only taken off around twenty percent of its health. That was a lot less than the other nearby mobs; they would have already been defeated, their HP depleted.

The boar once again turned and pawed the ground, eyes burning bright red with rage and hate. It's mouth was slightly open in a sort of twisted snarl, and its snout wobbled dangerously.

Abruptly, Kirito was reminded of Kibaou. The strange thought made him shake his head.

He tensed as the boar charged again, poised on the balls of his feet, ready to spring to either side and counterattack.

---

Shifting into a more comfortable position, Sirius closed his eyes and breathed out. In, and out. In, and out. Wearily, he reopened them and stared straight up.

For some reason, now, he felt inclined to remember. Groaning quietly, he grasped the side of his head with his hand. His mind just couldn't seem to focus on the present, and he could feel the tendrils of the past reaching out for him.

Perhaps the nonstop training of the last few days was starting to get to him. Sirius had always woken up earlier or slept later than the other two in his group, fighting more and more to get even stronger than he was now. He yawned, letting out a "Fwaahhh" sound.

Raising his hand to shield his eyes, he squinted at the scene above him. The canopy of vegetation appeared dark, silhouetted against the sunlight above it. Tree branches raised above his head, as if holding up the green leaves.

It was a cool, dark, and hollow room. The elaborate arches arced high above his head.

The gentle light filtered in through the gaps in between, casting rays and columns of light that danced as the dust moved through it.

A dim, misty light filtered through the warped glass windows, providing minimal illumination upon the large block of life and death in the middle of the structure.

The monument...

He stepped forward, dread clinging to his heart. He had heard what this monument stood for, and had no reason to doubt it. Their names were on there, no doubt.

He had tried to distance himself from the truth. What had happened naught but a little under two hours ago, he had tried to persuade himself, this was a dream. They couldn't be dead.

The black haired-boy suddenly stepped forward and ran to the left end of the tablet. The girl, so similar to him, followed, casting curious glances over the room. He himself walked slowly up towards a section somewhere near the opposite end, looking for a certain name.

'The S's...'

He found the first S-name: Saba. No line crossed through it as it pulsed gently, with the meaning of life.

'This guy... must really like sushi.'

The next one: Sade. An unmerciful line had dulled the name, leaving it a soulless etching into the cool, stone surface of the obelisk.

His heart dropping ever lower into the void pits of his stomach, his finger, ice cold by now, traced down the list of words with the fantastic speed of a glacier. He let out a pent-up breath; it might have just been his imagination, but he thought he could see the air condense into white steam in front of him.

Surely the room wasn't that cold.

Or perhaps that was just him. His entire being froze as the tip of his finger alighted upon a certain name, bluntly scratched through with the straight line of death.

'Soichi...'

He could feel the tears beginning to form in his eyes, and gritting his teeth, he wiped them away before they could flow. He could still remember her, chestnut hair dancing in the sunlight as both of them and all of their friends danced in fun in the real world.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he stayed there for a minute, then continued searching. It didn't take him long to find them all, all of them with their names defaced by that cold, ugly line.

All of them.

He dipped his head and clenched his fist, shoulders shaking. The obelisk was icy cold under his hand.

'So they're gone... gone forever.'

'Makoto, Susumu, Jun, Katsumi, Hayato... and Soichi...'

His chest heaved, and he quietly sobbed. All alone in the darkness.

Several minutes passed in sadness. He despaired, shaking, and his a part of his agony turned to anger. Anger at the unjustness of this game, Kayaba Akihiko, all of it. Why would he do this? Why would he just tear away the lives of so many people, so many individuals lives with their memories and hopes and dreams, why would he doom them all to oblivion?

He remembered the pigs, the boars that had killed them all. The saliva drooling from the open mouths, eyes bright with artificial hate. Simple algorithms, created by Akihiko, that had killed live human beings.

He raised his head and stared at the last name he had checked.

A tap on his shoulder. "Sirius?"

He ignored it. A moment of silence.

The boy behind him seemed to come to an understanding. "Oh... Was he... one of your...?"

He nodded slowly. The name in front of him, dull, black, and grey, read Susumu.

Susumu... he was always the optimistic one...

He realized he had said his thoughts out loud, and tacked on, "A pretty nice guy..."

There was a light pressure on his shoulder, and he looked at the boy beside him. His face was full of sorrow.

Sirius sighed and walked away.

---

The dark afterglow had not even faded from his blade when the «Apers Boar» screamed its final scream and burst into the cloud of shards signaling its death. With a little dingling sound, the rewards window filtered into view, detailing the decent amount of col and experience dropped.

Breathing lightly through his nose, Kirito straightened and lowered his blade and stance. With a flick of his finger, he dismissed the results screen, causing it to quickly swing around him and vanish. He knew, in his stats screen, his exp bar would be slowly registering the new experience, and his virtual wallet would be getting slightly fatter.

Kneeling, he picked up the fat, neatly cut piece of meat that had appeared on the ground and with a shimmering effect, it vanished into his inventory. A small dinging sound rang out as his quest log updated to reflect its completion, and the name of the quest glowed bright gold before the log disappeared in the same way the rewards screen had.

With a sigh, he turned to return to the village. Now that he had claimed the quest item, there wasn't any hurry in heading back. Perhaps he could hunt those «Nepents» he had seen crawling around for extra experience. They didn't have much defense anyway, and with his high «Agility» stat, he didn't have much to fear from their offense. They had too long of a wind-up to their attacks to be effective.

Pondering his next move, he wandered down into the underbrush in the general direction back to «Friben». The leaves rustled quietly as he passed, and he stooped low to avoid a stray branch as he continued on his way.

The sky seemed to be slightly dimmer than before, and Kirito idly flicked his eyes towards the chronometer in the corner of his vision: 2:57. Almost three o'clock, late afternoon. He yawned and continued on his way.

He entered a clearing and left it with slightly more exp and col than before. The poor «Nepents» didn't even stand a ghost of a chance.

Kirito began to jog, picking up his pace. His mouth slightly watered at the thought of the food that awaited him once he completed the quest. In exchange for not rewarding any col, the meal that the quester received was of pretty high quality. Savory was in its name; savory it was. It was enough for three people, which was perfect for the three of them.

Plus, he was sure Mane would love this dish.

He abruptly shook his head and swallowed. It wouldn't do for him to let down his guard out here in the wilderness. Even if it hadn't been a death game with his life at stake, he wouldn't have risked the «Death Penalty» most MMORPG games carried. Banishing the thought of food to the back of his mind, he scanned the area with his increased awareness from his «Searching Skill».

He heard a rustling to his left.

Instinctively pressing himself against a nearby tree, Kirito slowly peeked around the trunk. He could not see anything yet, but he could hear grunts and movement from somewhere in the bushes.

Squinting hard, he could make out the faint outline of their cursors through the leaves. Neither of them were the red of a computer-controlled enemy, so they were obviously players. One of them was green. Disturbingly, the other cursor was a sickly shade of orange.

Kirito frowned. Orange was the color of a criminal player, either someone who had stolen things using the «Thievery» skill or - more ominously - had attacked and killed another player. The orange player might have just been a thief, but thieves usually just hung around cities. Thieves usually had next to no combat stats, relying on others to generate their income before stealing from them.

But out here, so close to the front lines, the only kind of person who carried an orange cursor would have to be a Player Killer. Kirito tensed, ready to fight or flee, if needed. But then he wondered, something felt off about the positions of the cursors.

The bushes shook, and out came two people. One person supporting the other, unconscious, on his shoulder. Their breathing was heavy, and the man who was still standing was looking back the way he came in a frantic manner.

Kirito lowered his weapon, blinking, a confused and thoughtful expression on his face. They sure didn't look like Player Killers, and surprisingly, the one with the orange cursor was the one being supported. His arm swung limply with the back and forth motion.

They looked very similar. Both looked slightly foreign, with neat hair and the same nose. Both were quite handsome-looking, although the carrier's face was scrunched up with some tense emotion.

Then Kirito realized both their HP bars were not green. Yellow and Red, the red one belonging to the one with the orange cursor. He was almost dead, and squinting closely, he could see the level dropping even more, second by second.

DoT effects. Standing for «Damage-over-Time», it was a common lasting effect of many lance/spear skills. Effectively mimicking the "blood loss" effect from real life puncture wounds, once a person was injured by the weapon, they would suffer continuous bonus damage for a while. Sometimes it was simply a nice augment to their attacks, but sometimes it could also pick off a fleeing enemy.

It might pick this one off too. After a few seconds of watching, Kirito could see he wouldn't be able to survive this DoT. Some lance skills did next to no damage, but left a horrendous DoT that usually required several potions to counteract. It seemed the two had run out of potions and crystals as well; at least, they weren't using any, and people on the front lines always had enough potions and crystals at the ready. It was how they stayed alive.

Kirito hesitated. His instincts told him to stay back; this was an orange person, and most likely a player killer. Only a player killer would be out on the front lines with an orange cursor. But he was about to die, and there was a green player helping him. Of course, the green player could be a mole, one of those who scouted out potential PK targets. The fact still remained that Kirito could not bear to see another person shatter into that horrid death animation. He couldn't just let another person die. Even as he watched, the bar dipped below five percent.

And for some reason, he didn't believe the man was a player killer. Some sixth sense reassured him of his innocence.

His decision was made in a split second. Dashing out from behind his cover, he ran towards the two, startling the one who was still conscious. Ignoring the man's shout of surprise and the sound of a dagger being drawn, he called out his inventory and withdrew a «Healing Crystal». A shower of blue particles appeared and coalesced into a hexagonal red crystal, shot through with streaks of gold. Although these items were more common than they had been several floors ago, they were still very valuable and had a high market price.

Still, Kirito had no qualms about mashing the crystal against the man's face and tapping it. The system registered the motion for activating the crystal, and it shattered into red light. It hung motionless in the air for a few seconds, then as if the man was a black hole, streaked towards him and covered his body in a crimson healing glow. Immediately, the man's HP stopped, bar quivering at around two percent, and immediately shot up at an alarming rate.

Almost dead, red, yellow, green, full. The bar hit the end of the HP container with an almost inaudible tink.

Something in that man seemed to relax. Even though he was unconscious, he seemed to understand he was not dying anymore. Some of the tension in his face eased, and he heaved a deep breath.

Kirito sighed in relief. He had seen how close the man had come to death. Had Kirito hesitated a second more, there might have been no person to save.

Then he felt the sinister touch of cold steel against his neck.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

---

"No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong!"

He wearily scratched his head and sighed. "How? I'm sure you have to factor these out, right? Then I can get the X-intercepts..."

"No!" Jun waved her hand in indignation, then groaned and clutched her short black hair. "You CAN'T find the X-intercepts! They're nonexistent!"

"Huh?" All four of the boys echoed in unison. Four clueless voices.

"This parabola does not, ever cross the X-axis! You see, if you graph it..." She whipped out her graphing calculator and punched in a few keys rapidly.

The boys waited in silence for their execution.

"You see!" Jun held up the calculator triumphantly for them to see. Indeed, the graph never reached zero, a levitating parabolic graph reaching offscreen. "I told you! It doesn't even touch it! Not once. If you try to factor it out, Sirius, all you'll get is an imaginary number! You'll get the square root of negative one! An i!"

"I see." They replied. A big lie.

"You can't use imaginary numbers as an X-intercept, so you know this graph never touches the X-axis! It's a trick question, you can't find the zeroes of this equation." Jun waved her hand at the textbook lying open in front of them. "Understand?"

"Yes."

Another big lie.

"So, what are you guys just staring into space for? Write down the answer!"

All four looked in tandem at their papers. Each paper was neatly written on with the same handwriting.

Jun's handwriting.

"Um..." Makoto ventured bravely. "Jun, what do we write?"

Jun clutched her forehead, and all four of them shrank back, expecting some kind of blow.

"You dolts." She rolled her eyes. "Of course you just write 'no solution'! Didn't I already tell you that for question eight?"

A mildly relieved silence.

Jun's eyes narrowed. "Do you idiots EVER remember anything?"

They instantly answered. "Yes."

It didn't take a genius to tell they were lying. Jun's mouth tightened, and she pouted.

"Sigh... I guess you boys are all just pretty dumb anyways."

"Don't say that, Jun. "

Katsumi's soft voice drifted over from the other table, where she was helping Soichi with her biology homework. The girl looked up and kindly continued, "They just need time to understand."

"Pssh, yeah, and we girls don't. I guess we're just naturally smarter than they are!"

"Perhaps you may be smarter, but please do not be so arrogant about it." Katsumi's tone took on a slight scolding quality. "You are one of the smartest people I know, Jun, but you honestly need to learn some courtesy."

Jun opened her mouth to reply, then remembered who she was talking to and deflated. "I guess... maybe you're right. Sorry."

Soichi looked up from her cells homework and Sirius briefly made eye contact with her. She gave him a small smile of encouragement, and the silver-haired youth felt a slight fluttering in his heart. Her long, chestnut hair shifted as she swiftly lowered her head and continued working on her homework as Katsumi looked back at her.

"I'm sorry, Jun", Sirius dipped his head. "We'll pay more attention next time."

Jun blanched, taken aback by his frankness. Then she recovered. "Well, see that you do. I don't want to teach you all a second time."

Makoto, Susumu, and Hayato all nodded rapidly, eager to move on to the next question in their homework. With a sigh at their helplessness, Sirius reached out and dragged the textbook closer to them.

27) What is the domain of the following function? y = (x-3)/(x^2 - 6x + 5)

The boys stared blankly at the question, then switched their deadpan gazes to Jun.

She sighed. "Sometimes I wish I didn't get so darn irritated."

---

Kirito froze, knowing that if he made the wrong move, he could quite possibly die. The neck was a weak point; damage inflicted there was multiplied, and the numeral for the neck was high enough to constitute a one-hit kill.

The man's voice was icy, cold, suspicious. Tinged with a slight foreign accent that made his words sound all the most threatening.

"I'll repeat. Who are you, and what do you want? Answer now."

Kirito swallowed, then slowly said, "I was just passing by, and I saw you two. He..." He gestured to the prone figure the man was carrying. "...was about to die, I can't just let anyone die."

"I don't believe you."

Kirito was startled into silence.

The man prodded with his knife, and when he spoke, his tone was slow and menacing. "Why would you just help us? You must, must have some kind of ulterior motive... are you planning to assassinate us? You want our items? Our information? Go away, I know your kind. Before I really hurt you."

The sheer unfriendliness of the man shocked Kirito, and he indignantly furrowed his brow and and protested, "Is it really that alien to you? Helping people when they're in need, what's wrong with helping people?"

The man didn't respond. Both of them didn't move for several seconds.

Then he lowered the knife. Kirito stepped back.

"Who are you?"

"I was just hunting in the area. My name is Kirito."

The man slowly let down the unconscious one on his shoulder. "If you do anything, anything, to harm my son, I will make sure you suffer for it."

"You son?" Kirito blurted out in surprise. But then he looked more closely at both of their faces, and he could see evidence behind the man's words. It would explain why they looked so alike.

"Yes. My son. If you hurt him..."

Kirito raised both hands. "Yes, I understand."

The man laid his son out on the ground before slumping, apparently exhausted. Kirito realized he must have been very worried to actually become exhausted like that; the only fatigue in this world came from mental strain.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine, but my son... I don't think he is."

Kirito's ears perked, and he straightened, looking around. It was highly unlikely monsters would pass by this place, but one could not take any chances. "We need to leave, it isn't safe here. Monsters could set upon us. Are you guys at a safe level?"

"It's commonly known that ten levels above is considered safe, correct? No." The man shook his head, knife still in his hand. "We were traveling in a party. Safety in numbers."

"Why are you alone then? What happened to the party?"

He replied shortly and bluntly, "It was wiped out by Player Killers."

Kirito nearly dropped his sword. "What!?"

"Later." The man, the father, shouldered his son and stood up. "It's not safe here, as you said. If you really just want to help... let's leave. It's not just monsters, we're probably being chased. We're the only survivors."

Kirito could scarcely believe it. Organized player killers taking out parties? Even near the front lines? Surely that was not possible?

Ever since the game had become a death game, an unspoken fact had appeared in everyone's minds: Player killing is akin to murder. Because the NerveGear would fry the victim's brains, a killer in game would become a killer in real life. The two might have have had different meanings before, but now they were the one and same.

Every now and then, there was the odd PK. Maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. But organized parties of those willing to kill attacking other groups of players? From what the father had said, We're the only survivors, it was most likely everyone else had died.

A mass murder.

"But then-"

"Not now. We have no time, they could be hot on our tail. You should hightail it out of here, kiddo. They'll kill you too if they catch us. This doesn't involve civilians."

The man rattled out the words like an army commander and ran in the general direction of the town. Kirito suddenly realized something and grabbed him by the hand, stopping him.

"What in the blazes-"

"You're heading straight into a «Nepent» nest. If you're really being chased, you're going to be delayed long enough for them to catch up. I know the general area, there are a lot of these nests around."

The man cursed. "Darn it!"

"But I know the way around here. I know the closest way back to the nearest town, «Friben». Hurry, follow me."

Kirito glanced back the way the two had come from. Just barely, picked up by his «Searching» skill, he could discern several faint cursors. Squinting, they focused into the dreaded color of orange.

It seemed the man's story did hold some water.

The diamonds slowly fanned out, in a common searching pattern. Searching for them, most likely.

"I can see them. They have orange cursors, they're in a group, they're definitely Player Killers. Come on."

The father looked suspiciously at him. "My son has an orange cursor too. He could be one of them, we could be baiting you into a trap. Why do you do this for us, complete strangers?"

"Because I don't think you guys are bad people. I just know." Kirito honestly replied, then he looked back behind him; the cursors were closer. "This way... hurry!"

He pulled the man in the direction of «Friben», taking careful note to plan a path far enough around the «Nepent» area to not draw any aggression.

With mostly silent steps, he stepped into the undergrowth, pushing aside the branches and pulling the two strangers in with him. He quietly listened to his own breathing; loud and hard. He could feel his ability to think being clouded by his tension. While he knew he was overreacting, the news and the orange cursors of their pursuers still unnerved him. The thought of someone willing to kill another was too much for him.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Kirito paused. He pointed out the nest, then beckoned his followers.

The man squinted in the direction, then nodded as he saw the cursors. He moved more willingly now, seeing a little bit of concrete truth in the young boy's words.

They vanished among the trees long before the owners of the cursors they saw showed up behind them.

---

"Sirius, you okay?"

"Hrk..."

Sirius gasped and gritted his teeth as he clutched his leg, an ominous numb feeling spreading from where he knew something had gone wrong. The guy was already apologizing, frantically waving his arms at the nearby coach.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop when you stumbled, sorry I stepped on your leg, are you okay? Man, I'm terribly sorry!"

"That looks serious." He sensed Makoto crouch down and gently poke at his leg. The slight touch caused him to shiver, a lance of pain racing up his leg. "You'll need a cast for a few months or so. No more track meets for you this season, then."

"Heh... that stinks." Sirius closed his eyes and continued to lay down on the ground. He knew the slightest movement of his leg would cause more pain than what he was already experiencing. "I'll need a doctor for sure."

"Hey, Sirius! What's wrong, man?"

Makoto quietly explained to Susumu, who had stopped beside them. "He tripped and fell, and the guy behind him accidentally stepped on his leg with enough force to break it."

"Shoot, that sucks. Sirius! I never thought you were this fragile, come on! You're stronger than this! Weakling." Susumu knelt and did the "I'm looking at you" motion with his index and middle fingers. "Heh, don't die on me, man. I'm still not done with you."

The corner of Sirius' mouth twitched. He knew Susumu didn't mean what he said; he was just trying to cheer him up. He could tell Susumu was worried through the jerkiness of his movements and the tightness around his eyes. "Don't worry. I won't."

"Make sure you don't. I'll hunt your soul down till the end of time if you do!"

They were beginning to cause a holdup, as the rest of the track members slowed down to look at the spectacle. Sirius became mildly self-conscious and realized they were blocking the inner lane of the track.

Makoto realized this as well. "We'll have to move Sirius off the track before the ambulance arrives."

Sirius groaned, partly due to the sudden flaring of pain from his leg, partly due to the realization his leg would hurt even more. Still, he realized he should. "Alright..."

He tried to sit up, but fell back as the numbness faded and was replaced by an agonizing spiky feeling in his leg. Determined, he did not look at his leg, knowing his brain would amplify the pain if he looked.

"Here..."

He felt an arm around his shoulders, and Makoto gently lifted him up, minimizing the movement of the broken leg. Sirius tensed, but the pain he felt was less than before.

Carefully and slowly maneuvering him around, Makoto gradually moved him off of the track onto the faux grass that covered the inside of the track, forming the football/soccer field. Attempting to cause as little pain as possible, he laid Sirius down on the grass with ease; he was quite strong, perhaps around six feet tall.

The coach had reached them by now, talking animatedly into his phone.

"...yes, broken leg, it appears. We'll need someone to get him to the hospital right now, I can see the tip of the bone, there's a bit of blood - Makoto, can you tie this around his knee joint? Stem the blood flow." The coach handed Makoto a towel and continued speaking. "Immediately? Thank you. Please hurry."

Makoto looped the towel around Sirius' leg and drew it tight. Sirius gasped, but then felt a slight numbing feeling around his leg that dulled the pain. Susumu, face drawn tight in a rare uncharacteristic expression of worry, wiped the sweat off his face with another towel.

"Thanks, guys."

"No problem. We do this for each other. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I'm only doing this so you can live and pay me back those two pizzas you owe me."

Sirius' eye twitched. "I already gave you them, last week. Remember?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh- I'm just messing with you, man. Glad to see your head's still working. I remember I broke my leg once, it hurt so bad, I was just screaming like a little girl. Couldn't think clearly at all. Boy, wasn't that embarrassing."

All of them cracked a smile at this. The coach glanced at his watch. "They'll be here in a few minutes." Then he turned and shouted at the other runners, roaring at them to stop gawking and to get back to running.

Makoto checked the towel, then tightened it a little more. Sirius could feel his blood flow almost ceasing, and the pain lessened even more. He dared a little to look at his leg; it was bent at an unnatural angle, at an area that wasn't meant to be bent. The sight made him nauseous.

"Steady, now. Don't look, you'll make it worse." Makoto quietly chided.

"When I looked at my leg that time, boy, I blew out everyone's eardrums for sure. Except for mine, of course. I'm just perfect like that, but everyone else just died. Poor guys-"

"Susumu, I know you're trying to cheer him up, but perhaps he just needs some rest right now."

"Oh." Susumu seemed to shrink. "Okay."

Sirius chuckled, even though it hurt a little. "It's alright guys. Don't ever change."

"Hey, you can laugh after all!" Susumu seemed to revitalize almost immediately. "Of course I won't! I exist to make people happier. Can't exist without a purpose."

"Um..."

Sirius looked up to see the runner who had been running behind him, and accidentally broke his leg.

"It's alright." Sirius interjected before the boy could continue apologizing. "It's fine, it was not your fault."

The boy opened his mouth, then closed it in surprise. Before he could react, however, the coach put an arm around him and led him off.

His eyes screwed shut for a moment at a sudden arrow of fire shooting up his nerves and into his brain. "I hope he doesn't get punished too badly, it wasn't his fault... if anything..."

"Sirius, I hope so too, but you shouldn't be talking." Makoto sighed. "You shouldn't move, Sirius. Rest."

Sirius considered the wisdom of his words, then conceded. "All right."

The three lay in companionable silence for a long while. Sometime during the interlude, Sirius began to feel the full brunt of the pain, numbness fading away. His breathing quickened and his brow shined with sweat.

Makoto noticed this and reassured him, "It's going to be alright, Sirius. Just don't make any sudden movements or anything, the pain won't grow."

"Alright..." Sirius grunted.

"Here's the ambulance."

Sirius looked up to see a few men in white uniforms carrying a stretcher, running towards them. He relaxed slightly, tense muscles unknotting, even though he knew he would feel slightly more agony.

He inadvertently looked towards his leg, and his heart jumped. It was pretty bloody, to say the least. The tip of the broken bone could be seen poking out of the skin.

"This is bad." He murmured in surprise. The realization caused him to gulp and clench his fists, as the agony seemed to amplify.

Makoto frowned before realizing what Sirius had done. "You shouldn't have looked. I didn't want you to know, it would have been less painful that way."

"Hrm, yes it might... hrk..." Sirius looked away from the frightening spectacle. "Thank you for helping me."

"I already said, no problem. It's what friends do for each other." Makoto smiled worriedly. "We help."

---

They stumbled out of the trees an hour later, both of them panting. Not from the running, but nervousness. The young man being carried shuddered for a moment as the stopped moving.

Kirito looked back the way they came, stretching his «Searching» skill to the limits of what he could currently do. His eyes flicked back and forth, alert for any sign of the orange cursors among the green foliage. He did not see anything.

The trees and leaves rustled for a full minute as Kirito made sure they had lost their pursuers.

With a sigh, he dropped back and sat on the green ground. Only now did he realize he had actually been strained, muscles all scrunched up from tension. The thought of people actively murdering others had spooked him.

"Did we lose them?"

The man grated out the words, tone tense. Perhaps even fearful. Kirito looked up.

"Yes. I can't detect their cursors anymore, and I have a pretty high «Searching» skill level. They aren't around anymore."

Slowly, the father let his son down onto the ground. "Good. We should be safe then?"

"I should think so." Kirito peered back into the forest. "I took several confusing paths that should lose them if they don't know about them. They most likely gave up."

"I doubt it. They looked far too organized and determined to give up on us. But I suppose we have some time."

Kirito looked over at them, at the cursed orange cursor the son carried above his head. The mark of a criminal player.

"Time... I think we have enough for you to explain to me what happened. What happened and how does your son have an orange cursor. I... feel, I know, somehow, that you aren't bad people, he doesn't deserve that cursor... what happened?"

The father paused, as if he didn't expect this. Of course he had, but he seemed reluctant to share the information. Then he sighed in resignation.

"...You saved our hides there, I suppose you deserve to know. Hmm."

He fell into a deep silence, composing his thoughts before beginning his story.

"We were a part of a party looking to hunt this boar thing for experience and a food reward. I don't think our objective matters all that much, but we were questing somewhere in the Northern Areas..."

Kirito bit his lip, guessing, most likely correctly, they had been looking for the same target he had. This floor had been one of the last ones explored during the beta, so Kirito had known its exact location, but that party apparently didn't. They were searching pretty far from the boar's spawn point.

"Well, we entered this small valley place, sort of a dip in the ground with moderately high sides? I was pretty stupid, I suppose, that was a prime ambush spot. They attacked there, from under cover, from behind and in front of us. We were essentially trapped in the valley. They began to hem us in and killed two people, one lagging behind and our vanguard up ahead."

He paused to take a breath, then glanced around. Kirito also looked around, but he didn't sense any cursors nearby.

"We were caught off guard. Some of us tried to fight back, but we were highly disorganized. They had the advantage of surprise and position, as well as having good teamwork, I suppose. We were falling over each other in panic."

"There were around ten of them, I think. Seven ahead and three behind, but they were all green cursors. Most likely this was their first PK attempt in this game, but they knew what they were doing, probably did it before in other games as they seemed well-versed in the art... We numbered six, and two of us died almost immediately. We tried fighting back-to-back, but then my son and I decided to try to make a break for it. We charged straight at the three people guarding the rear entrance to the valley."

"I attacked them first and forced them aside, but it was three against two, and we couldn't break through. I don't remember clearly, but I think... I think my son slew them all."

Three kills...

Kirito quickly recalled that three infractions resulted in an orange cursor for a week. Five criminal actions would permanently stain your cursor orange, and with the death game setting of SAO and the inability for an orange to enter «Area Protection Code» protected areas, that was highly dangerous.

"His cursor flashed and turned Orange. We were both stunned for a moment, and my son collapsed. See, he's a good kid, one of the best there is. He abhors killing, and I think it was too much for him... I grabbed his arm and tried to run after that. However... they had overwhelmed the other two of our party and were already coming at us. One of them was faster than the others, he was a spear user. He managed to stab my son several times before we could react."

His voice tightened. "I left my sword in his shoulder, but I don't think he died... I picked up my son, he was twitching, and just ran for it. I don't know, we just evacuated as fast as we could out of there, but I was sure they were still chasing us. I saw how professional their actions were, they aren't the kind to let a target escape."

"And I think that leads us to when we met, I believe."

"...to think that..."

Kirito leaned back and looked up at the sky. Troubled, he let out a big sigh as the father lowered his head. He decided to trust his instincts and believe their story.

The thought of organized PK had always been lingering on the outskirts of Kirito's mind. Like any other MMORPG, it had always been a possibility. Many games had guilds dedicated to the slaying of other fellow players. Kirito had encountered these kinds of groups before, usually on terms that could have been much better.

But SAO was a death game. In Sword Art Online, death in-game meant death in real life. In essence, murder. Everyone knew that, as everyone had been at that fateful tutorial on the first day of Aincrad. Which meant these people had the mindset and will to actually kill others.

And they were targeting these two people...

Seized by a sudden spurt of fear, he whipped his head around and scanned the area again for any sign of the PKers. Then he shook his head and forcefully calmed his crazily beating heart. He was just being paranoid: there wasn't anyone there. Nor should there be, Kirito had already said himself he had taken measures to lose them for sure.

And the son...

He knew the guy had killed in self-defense. He himself had, intuitively, guessed the man was not at fault. It was the fault of the PKers, and they most likely had deserved what they got. But still... killing was not right. At all.

Killing PKers... killing those with orange cursors...

"Wait." Kirito scrambled to his feet. "If you attack and kill someone with an orange cursor, your cursor shouldn't turn orange as well."

The father had started at his sudden movement, but simply shrugged at the point. "I've already told you. They were green... now they're orange from killing the rest of our party."

Kirito blinked before remembering that part of the man's story. Slightly abashed, his sudden suspicions died down.

"What is your name again, sonny?"

The question startled Kirito, causing him to flinch. The father tilted his head to the side, still facing his son and eyeing him out of the corner of one eye neutrally.

"I-I'm Kirito."

"Kirito... it's a good name. I am Cadmus." Cadmus' eye flicked back towards his son.

"..."

"What are you going to do now? Do you need-"

"No. It's fine." Cadmus frowned. "I can take care of both of us. I just needed some time to put some distance between us and our pursuers, and we have managed that."

Kirito opened his mouth to protest.

"And you'll be in deep trouble if you're seen with an orange cursor, no?" Cadmus sighed. "In addition, that will make you a target of those PKers. We shouldn't involve you in this. It's not your problem."

Kirito abruptly blurted out, "It is my problem if they're killing people. I won't allow it."

He quickly covered his mouth, afraid he might have offended the man. But to his surprise, Cadmus quietly chuckled. A low, deep, rumbling sound that might have indicated some measure of mirth.

When the chuckles subsided, he murmured, "You sound just like my son here." He indicated the man resting on the ground beside him.

At loss for words, Kirito stayed silent.

"You should go. I recognize this area now... I think. This Orange Cursor prohibits us from entering protected areas, correct?" Kirito nodded, to which Cadmus's mouth tightened. "Then we will have to make do, perhaps use this area's safe zone. It's our safest bet right now. We'll plan our next move from there when he wakes up."

"Um, are you sure you will be okay?"

"Yes. Civilians shouldn't worry about us soldiers. I used to be in the army, you know. I know how to take care of my comrades. I'm sure he'll wake up... my son will be fine."

The last few sentences seemed to be directed at reassuring himself. He started as if remembering Kitio was still there, and turned to look into Kirito's eyes. "You should leave."

Kirito could feel the thinly veiled command under those words. He stepped back, then asked, "Are you-"

"Yes, yes. I'm sure." Cadmus cut in as he anticipated what Kirito would say. "Kirito, you should leave. I'm not involving anyone else in this."

After a second of stalemate, Kirito nodded and turned.

"Kirito."

He turned back.

Cadmus hesitated, then forced out the words, "Thank you. For helping us."

"No... problem."

Kirito abruptly turned and ran towards the village. He could feel Cadmus's eyes on his back as he vanished into the foliage. He silently wished them luck.

I do hope they'll be all right.

---

"This isn't possible."

The seven of them sat around a circular table in one of Starting City's many inns. The dim lighting was provided by the ever-present flames, the fireplace and the torches along the walls. Flickering and licking the stone columns upon which they were hooked, the wavering light accurately depicted the mood.

"Death? The NerveGear will destroy our brains?" Hayato stared at the table. "What is this? Real death? This doesn't make sense... This is madness."

"Nope. This is Sparta."

Nobody laughed.

Susumu shrugged. "It was worth a try."

Silence once again fell upon the area. The group all stared at the table, eyes boring holes in the wood. If looks could kill, the poor piece of furniture would have dissolved into azure shards many times over by now. Every once in awhile, one of them looked hopefully at the others, as if they believed one of the others held a relatively simple and harmless answer to their predicament.

It was wishful thinking. They all returned their gazes to the table soon after.

A few hours had passed by like this. A few hours had elapsed since the conclusion of that fateful tutorial. The tutorial had only taken five minutes, yet because of it, they had been sitting around this table in such a despairing state for over forty times that.

The fire crackled merrily, as if laughing at them. Sirius glanced over and looked into the hypnotic depths of the flames, as if something had interested him. Then, shaking his head to clear it, he sighed and thunked his head down on the table, a classic facedesk.

The movement seemed to unfreeze time, as all six of his companions resumed blinking and began to move naturally again. Makoto scratched his head and grunted for no good apparent reason. Jun mirrored Sirius and thunked her head down too, letting out a deep, troubled breath.

Katsumi made no movement, seemingly calm and composed, but Sirius could see the worry in her eyes. Then, abruptly, she twitched, hands clenching and opening in a gesture that conveyed frustration. Hayato suddenly blurted out, "What in the world do we do now!?"

The question echoed in Sirius's mind. What do we do now?

The memory was all Sirius could think about. The crimson sky, the hooded GM. The deep voice of Kayaba Akihiko, emotionlessly, or perhaps with a slight hint of sadistic satisfaction, informing ten thousand people that he had rigged their NerveGear headsets to fry their brains. Should one's HP drop to zero, they would be erased from two worlds at once.

Permanently. There was no recycle bin for the condemned.

Soichi sat next to him, eyes wide with shock, traces of tears down her face. Sirius raised his head and straightened as he looked at her, gently touching her shoulder in a reassuring movement. Soichi flinched, but caught Sirius's eye and smiled weakly. He nodded in return, before his attention was caught by Jun's words.

"I would think we have either of two choices. Either we be safe and stay in this city until someone else clears the game, or-"

"Stay in this place? For how long!?"

Jun returned Hayato's outburst with a long look. "As long as it takes for the game to be cleared. If we want a surefire way to stay alive, we should not take a step out of Starting City. Possibly years."

"Years!?" Hayato yelled, then he caught himself and seemed to deflate. He sank back into his chair, suddenly exhausted. "I'm sorry. I mean, years? It will be years before I can see my family again? My sister, my mom, dad, my house, everything, everyone?"

"Looks like it." Jun, who was the youngest of all seven of them, appeared to age far beyond her years, shadows of worry of the future under her eyes. "If we don't want to die. Monsters cannot enter this city, I've heard. If we stay here, we should be safe. But if we fight, if we take a lot of damage, if our HP reaches zero..."

Sirius inadvertently flicked his eyes towards the green bar in the upper left corner of his vision. His name, Sirius, underlined by a viridian gauge. The numbers 250/250 inscribed in bold white letters underneath it.

250. 249. 248. In less than 5 minutes, he could count all the numbers, a final countdown until his death. When his avatar in this world would be deleted, along with his soul and his grains of life. Deleted and forgotten, tossed back into the grand design of time.

Suddenly, his imagination got the better of him, and he wondered, what would death be like?

He had never thought about it or considered the possibility before. Which is right; nobody at his age or in his setting should be contemplating the feeling of the void. But now, faced with the possibility of the end, he forced himself to consider the notion.

Imagining darkness, the end of it all. Would there be an afterlife? Would there be some kind of utopia he'd be sent to? He hadn't done anything notable as of yet, but he hadn't done anything wrong, either. Unless the fact that Jun had done most of his homework counted.

What if there was no afterlife? If, like that manga he had read, there was no heaven or hell, "All humans are equal in death", and all that remained was nothing? He couldn't wrap his mind around the notion of never thinking again, his consciousness dimming and sleeping and never waking up again. An eternal, dreamless sleep. An eternity of emptiness, of no thought-

He just couldn't visualize it. Instinctively, he reached out under the table and grasped Soichi's hand, seeking a comforting touch.

Instead of being surprised at the contact, Soichi instead squeezed his hand. Sirius guessed she had been thinking along the same lines as he had.

"Either that," Jun continued, "Or we go out and fight. We join whoever tries to clear the game and make sure ourselves that we return home. To real life. We fight for our freedom."

"Of course..." Katsumi muttered, "If we do that, there is always the possibility of death. Final death. There are no respawns."

The room fell silent again. It was almost impossible to tell what everyone was thinking. Sirius rested his forehead on his palm, covering one of his eyes. With the other, he stared down at the natural intricate patterns in the wood he rested on.

'Fight... for our freedom. With our lives on the line.'

It was certainly an interesting dilemma. So often had Sirius played video games with his "lives" on the line, diving into possibly lethal situations with no hesitation. And now, with his own life at stake, he had second thoughts.

'Death...'

That was the problem. It was natural; all human being feared death. Because of this, in this situation...

He thought about his younger brother. His parents had always been away from home, so he had always been the one to take care of him. His stupid, cute younger brother, always causing trouble for him, yet always so faithful. Sirius had loved him. And now he was trapped on a floating castle, a world so far from his own, and he never even got to say goodbye.

How would he face him if he never came back? How would he face himself? He simply couldn't think about it. He had to come back.

Makoto slowly stood up. Even with this prelude, everyone was startled when he began to speak.

"I may speak for myself... But I wish to fight. I do not want to just hide in this city and wait for others to free us all. This may be my pride speaking, but I just don't want to sit around and do nothing. I want to help. I'm sure we can fight, to help free those who are not as strong. I saw several children in that plaza... I don't want them to be trapped forever. So I want to fight."

He sat down. As if galvanized by the speech, Hayato reached out and pounded his fist on the table.

"I... I'm scared. Scared of what might happen now." Hayato forced out through gritted teeth. "But I think... Just staying in this city will make me even more scared. If there's something out to kill me, I'll feel a lot better knowing I can fight it. Even if I have no chance of going home... I want to be able to fight back. I don't want to wait. I'll do all I can to get out."

"Well spoken, sir." Susumu stood up and slapped Hayato and Makoto on the shoulders. "I suppose I'll tag along with you then. Things are dull without you guys. Who would be the butt of my jokes if you two die a tragic hero's death? Gotta make sure you two don't go overboard, ya'know."

In tandem, all three of them looked towards the four who had not spoken yet.

Jun's mouth twitched. "Well, I can't let myself be surpassed by you boys, right? A girl's gotta have her dignity. I don't want to be afraid either. Count me in."

Looking at their determined faces, Katsumi sighed, then smiled tiredly. "Who's going to take care of you all if you all leave? I guess I'll go along with you, then. Keep Jun in line, keep you all sane, hmm?"

She stood up and looked out the window set beside the door of the inn. "I... am afraid too. But, as they say, 'The only thing to fear is fear itself.' I don't want to be afraid either. I'll fight so we can get home as well. Someone mature has to protect you all."

Katsumi looked over at Sirius and Soichi. "Will you join us? I understand if you want to stay safe, but... it's your decision."

Sirius looked down at the table, thinking hard. Fear of death, the emptiness and nothingness, was a strong force. For a moment, he was tempted to say no. It wasn't worth risking his life.

But...

To forever be trapped in this city, relying on others to free him, the idea of it made him reconsider. To never know what was going on or be able to fight for himself, the feeling of weakness. He would be reduced to nothing.

All of a sudden, he was filled with an uncontrollable loathing, directed at Kayaba Akihiko. Because of this madman, their lives were in danger. Because of this man, so many people would die, so many others would be wracked by the fear of death. In this world, where being weak was fatal. Where they had to fight for their freedom.

The feeling vanished after a second, replaced by a drive to grow stronger. To fight back against this man who thought he could do whatever he wanted with their lives. For a moment, he had complete confidence they would all survive to clear the game, and return home safely.

Then he remembered death, and he thought about it again, before looking into Soichi's eyes. The girl had been staring at him the whole time while they were thinking. She blinked twice before smiling encouragingly.

Sirius hesitated, then closed his eyes and nodded.

Soichi looked at all of them. Softly, she said, "We'll fight too. To clear the game, for our freedom. We won't allow that man to dictate us as he wishes... we'll fight back."

Exactly as Sirius had been thinking. Always a man of few words, he simply nodded in agreement. Although he had hoped...

Katsumi closed her eyes. "Then we'll help. Should we start tomorrow? It's starting to get late... we could set out early. To begin."

There were murmurs of agreement all around the table, though as Katsumi and Makoto left to purchase three rooms for the night, the mood returned to being stunned, as many of them still could not believe this was happening.

Sirius slowly stood up and announced, "I'll go outside... for some air."

Nobody around the table said anything in response, but they all blinked at the same time. Taking that as a "yes", Sirius slipped out the door into the cool night air.

He waited outside for some time, then the door creaked open once again. Soichi poked her head out, looking both ways before spotting Sirius, and trotting over to him.

"Soichi..." Sirius opened his mouth.

"Shh." She placed a finger on his face. "I know what you want to say... but I don't want to be left behind."

"It's dangerous."

"It's dangerous for Katsumi and Jun too, no? Makoto, Susumu, and Hayato too. Even you. I should be no different. We're all in this together. Don't worry." She smiled. "We'll clear the game. We'll make it back to reality. For sure."

"You'll be safe here, Soichi. You won't have to cry anymore, you won't have to fear death."

"If I'm with you, I don't have to fear anything."

Sirius paused, hesitated, opened and closed his mouth at this statement. Even though she still had trails of tears on her face, Soichi giggled a little at his reaction.

"The game will be cleared. We'll survive, we'll live to see home again. You don't have to worry, Sirius. As long as I'm with you... I'm happy."

---

Sirius opened his eyes and stared at the dusky sky above him, through a canopy of trees. Streaked through with lines of gold, a grey glow lingering around the edges before slowly fading to black in the east. Of course, that was only the bottom of the ninth floor, but it sure looked realistic.

Sighing, he wondered when the line had been, when he had stopped thinking and had fallen asleep. He had been thinking about the past, and then somehow the memories had slipped into his dreams. Idly wondering when was the last time he had a peaceful dreamless sleep, he thought about the past that he had viewed again in the depths of his rest.

They had all been so adamant on clearing the game. Yet, looking back, he could see how foolish they had all been. Not even Jun, who supposedly had a really high IQ level, even thought about how they would fight. None of them had been a beta tester, and none of them had had the slightest inkling of what Sword Skills were. Neither did they guess it would be different from the other games they had played.

And because of that, they were all dead. Even Soichi.

He felt something wet form around his eyes. Grimacing, he reached up with one hand and wiped the offending drops out of his eyes.

Carry on, and carry their dreams. They'll live on in me.

Katsumi and Makoto had the drive to protect others. Susumu always liked to keep other happy. Jun and Hayato always wanted to be the best. Soichi...

Sirius could feel them again. Growling out loud now, he furiously rubbed his eyes.

"Sirius?"

He jumped in surprise and nearly attacked, sliding his sword from his sheath and beginning to swing it, almost activating the «Mortal Draw» skill, but managing to prevent himself from doing so when he realized it was only Mane.

The sword halted moments before the «System Assist» would have activated. Mane squeaked in fear, taking a step back and tripping, falling on her behind. She landed with a small, "Oof!".

Lowing his sword, he heaved a huge sigh and sheathed the «Talis Blade» back into the scabbard on his back. Muttering, "Don't scare me like that," he reached out and grabbed her hand. With a grunt, he pulled Mane to her feet.

"Sorry Sirius... I thought something was wrong, so, I thought you needed help..." Mane swallowed and shivered.

Sirius offhandedly murmured, "It's alright" before noticing Mane was visibly shaking, as if she had a seizure. "Are you okay?"

Mane whispered, "Where's Kirito-kun?"

"Kirito? Uh, he's... off to get some food for you."

He had thought the mentioning of food would have calmed her down, but on the contrary, she hugged her arms around herself and looked frantically from side to side. She took a deep breath, but she hardly calmed down at all.

"Mane...?" Her behavior set Sirius on edge. He began to feel worried. "Are you okay?"

At first, she didn't reply. Then quietly, she managed to whisper, "Can we... go find him? I'm scared... Where is Kirito?"

She shuddered violently after she spoke. Alarmed, Sirius quickly patted her on the shoulder. He had never seen Mane like this before.

Then again, as he thought about it, Mane had never actually left Kirito's side before either. In the whole time he had known them, they had always been together. Going on quests together, eating together, sleeping... in close proximity, all together. This would be the first time Kirito had actually left her immediate area... out her line of sight.

Sirius wondered if she was in such a plight because she felt alone and scared? They probably couldn't hear each other's thoughts anymore, since they were so far away. Or maybe because they couldn't think the same way because they were in different situations? One in dreamland and one, most likely, in battle. Either way...

He checked the time. Almost four, they should start heading towards the village now.

"We're going to meet back up with him right now. Don't worry, Mane... Mane?"

It didn't seem like she was listening to him. Mane stared straight ahead, breaths deep and frantic-sounding. Gently, Sirius tugged on her arm. "Mane, we're going to see Kirito."

She jerked back in shock, then nodded swiftly, bobbing her head like a woodpecker's.

A little unnerved by her reaction and demeanor, Sirius cautiously stepped away and tentatively poked his head beyond the shimmering white line that marked the edge of the «Safe Zone». After making sure with his high «Searching» value that there were no monsters nearby, he led the way out, hand on the hilt of his sword. He gestured to Mane to follow, and after a moment of hesitation, she complied, gingerly taking one step at a time as if she were testing the waters.

She never strayed away from Sirius's side, eyes wide and staring all around her. Every little noise spooked her; half of the time she yipped in fear and pulled Sirius around in between her and the source. Because of that, they moved so slowly, and by the time they had reached the village borders over three-fourths of an hour had passed.

By this time Sirius felt slightly infuriated by Mane's strange timidness, but he tempered it down and snuffed out the emotion. It had been one of Jun's wishes, to not be irritated anymore.

It was a little after four, so the NPCs had not lit the town's torches yet. There was still a reasonable amount of natural radiance from the setting sun, enough to clearly see by. The game soundtrack, a multitude of violins, was playing a happy and cheerful tune, which curiously made Sirius feel like dancing. Which would have been highly awkward.

«Friben» was quite lively, players milling around buying their evening meals beforehand or just lounging around chatting to each other. Sirius had never really gotten used to this multitude of people after a month of ghost towns on the first floor. It still surprised him from time to time.

Threading his way between several pedestrians, he drew out his menu in one smooth, practiced movement and called out a minimap of the town. Quickly plotting a course, he stowed away the window and hurried forward. Mane, not wanting to be left behind, ran after him. While she had calmed down noticeably after entering the village, she was still quite nervous.

Rounding a corner, Sirius spotted the black-haired swordsman idly leaning next to the door of the establishment. He raised a hand in greeting, to which Kirito nodded and jogged towards them.

"Did you complete it?" Sirius asked. Kirito nodded and gestured vaguely towards his belt pouch, silently communicating, "In my inventory."

"Yup. You're late." Kirito added, a mock glare on his face. Sirius raised both of his hands, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. Mane was acting weird."

Kirito frowned. "She was? What happened? And how about you, you feeling okay now too?"

Sirius hesitated, then shrugged. "I think so."

"That's good, I suppose, what abou-Oof!"

Kirito was interrupted rather rudely when Mane ran over and hugged him. The air crushed from his lungs, Kirito stumbled backwards before pinwheeling, regaining his balance. "Hey, Mane-"

Mane stayed uncharacteristically silent for a second before looking up into Kirito's face. "Are we gonna eat yet?"

Kirito wryly smiled. "Of course. I have the food right here. It's something special."

Mane's face immediately brightened and she began to comically salivate. Chuckling, Kirito patted her head and seemed to relax a little. Mane began pestering him about the contents of her dinner, to which Kirito simply shook his head and smiled.

Sirius noted she was no longer hyperventilating or showing any signs of her previous tension, as if meeting Kirito was a miracle cure or something. Perhaps she just felt alone and afraid? Abruptly, Sirius remembered the first boss battle, where Mane had collapsed out of fear. Fear of Death, Kirito had told him. Although not a serious, just now, she looked almost the same...

In any case, she looked a lot better now. Sirius shrugged to himself, dismissing the matter.

"Well, then, should we head back to the inn?" Kirito quipped, catching Sirius' attention. He realized he had been spacing out and staring, and he coughed in embarrassment.

"Yes, we should. We can eat in the room." Sirius's stomach growled, and he realized he was actually quite hungry. "Um, I'm hungry too."

"Heh, as am I." Kirito shrugged Mane off and straightened. "Come on, guys."

"Can I have a taste while we walk?" Mane pawed at Kirito's pouch.

Kirito nonchalantly walked off, towards the inn where they had rented a room. "Patience, young padawan."

The girl latched onto Kirito's back and gently poked his side over and over, highlighting each movement with a "Pweaseeeeee?" Every time, Kirito politely declined and Sirius sniggered a little bit. Mane was like the little sister of the group that they always teased.

The trio walked by several groups moving in the opposite towards the restaurant, most likely to go purchase foodstuffs for their evening meal. Most of them were happily chatting, a warm and inviting atmosphere. A far cry from a little more than a month ago, when most passersby were closed and withdrawn, an air of fear and anxiety around them.

Sirius felt a tap on his shoulder, and he tilted his eyes towards the boy next to him. Kirito was no longer looking so bubbly; his face was serious. Sirius sensed something was wrong. "Yes?"

"Today, while I was out hunting the target mob, I saw a group of PKers."

"PKers?" Sirius repeated.

"Organized PKers. They had hunted down a party and killed most of them. Some others managed to escape. I didn't see that, but I heard it from a few survivors as they passed by me. I saw their orange cursors, there were around seven."

PKers? This really was a serious matter.

"I was just thinking we tell Heathcliff and Diabel, right? Notify them. Organized PK is a very grave issue, especially since their actions are all real now, in this game."

Sirius nodded and rubbed his eyes. "That's true. I'll send a PM to Heathcliff, you should send one to Diabel soon as well."

Pulling them to the side, Sirius brought up the PM function and designated the recipient as Heathcliff. He was about to begin typing on the virtual keyboard that appeared in front of him when he hesitated.

"Where did you see them?"

Kirito thought about it for a few seconds. "Around the northwest quadrant of the floor. They were heading in a southeastern direction."

Mane was tugging at Kirito's arm, whining childishly. Strangely fascinated by the sound she made, Sirius shook his head to clear it. "So they were heading towards someplace near the entrance of the forest area?"

Kirito stopped whispering to Mane for a moment to answer. "I think so. They were also moving in a sort of search pattern. I had already gotten the item, so I had no trouble keeping ahead of them."

Pondering about it, Sirius sketched a rough map in the air with his finger and his mind. "Well, if the PKers are heading in that direction, perhaps we should go see if anyone's in the Safe Zone."

"The Safe Zone?"

"Yeah. It's a big target spot for PKers, you know. Lots of people go to rest there, AFK there, plus they would most likely be at low health. In a game I once played before, my friends... and I, we were all slaughtered because we went to get a drink of water while resting in a Safe Zone." Sirius rubbed his head in shame. "Although, I think nobody would be there at this time. It's starting to get late, and I never saw anyone nearby, so it should be empty."

Sirius pondered his words before amending, "Unless they're really adamant on training or have an orange cursor or something. If they were orange that would be the safest place for them. Right Kirito?"

No response. Sirius paused in his typing and craned his neck to look at Kirito. The black-haired boy was staring straight ahead, eyes wide in shock. Mane was blinking in surprise, pausing in her tugging. "Kirito-kun?"

He didn't respond.

"Hello? Kirito? Are you there? Is there something wrong?"

---

Author's Note:

Well, this sure took long. Homework's tough. Speaking of homework, the next update will be heavily delayed due to school issues (SATs and AP Tests, hoo boy). It may not even come for a month or two... my apologies.

Well, dun dun dun dunnnn, Kirito didn't know that. Oops. Sure to be battle scenes in the next chapter.

Why is Sirius getting all this screen time, you ask? Cause something baaaaaaaad's gonna happen.

As always, please leave a review in that box below. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Well, until next time (which probably will be very far in the future ;-;), baaaai~

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Review Answers:

First of all, the fact that Kirito did not get the LA on Illfang. Yes, with it, Kibaou's arguments would seem more reasonable. However, Kirito did not get the LA, yet Kibaou still argues against the Beta Testers, and even most of the clearing group believes his words. This is intended, it was to show the irrational hate that not only Kibaou harbors but many other players share with him. You can guess where all that hate will lead.

Second, I am completely aware that SAO does not normally allow its players to experience pain.

Third, I will NOT be ignoring dual blades. Kirito'll get his double swords, for sure.

And I think that's all... I think.

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Thanks to all my friends on the SAO chat and Rainbowlalaland for beta'ing this chapter.

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I may not have to do this disclaimer, but I'll do it anyways. *Ahem* I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own this story and any OCs.