Chapter 12: Truthful Revelations

Monday, December 23, 2024. Early evening.

Kazuto was sitting on a stool at the kitchen nook next to Suguha. Laid out on the counter in front of them were several math worksheets, a spiral notebook, and an open math textbook.

Suguha threw down her pencil in disgust. "I give up. I'll never pass this test."

The pencil began to roll off the counter top as Kazuto leaned over to grab it. "Sugu, it's easy."

He scooped up the pencil and began to write with it in her notebook. "Watch me. When you have an improper fraction like that you simply need to factor out the whole number and remove it from the fraction. Reduce the fraction like this so that remaining numerator is smaller than the denominator..."

Suguha snuck a peek at her step-brother as he wrote.

What a geek. He actually enjoys this stuff.

Ah, the joy of proper fractions.

He was now leaning in close to her as he wrote. In response Suguha leaned in too, pretending to want to get a closer look at Kazuto's writing. Their shoulders were now touching.

She started to daydream.

I should take him out somewhere. Just the two of us.

But where?

Shopping at Cocoon City maybe?

Oh yeah. He desperately needs new clothes.

Her head remained propped on her hands as her mind continued to drift.

We'll go out together, just Kazuto and me. We'll go out on a nice quiet evening when that girl isn't around.

His leg is still too weak to walk long distances, so I'll offer to push his wheelchair. Hmm, maybe if he has trouble trying on clothes I should offer to help him in the changing room?

Oh, that's too embarrassing!

Maybe if...

Eventually Kazuto saw the dreamy look on her face. He stopped talking.

"Hey, Sugu, you paying attention over there?"

She sat up. "Uh, yeah. The joy of fractions. Keep going."

"The joy of what? Uh, right. Just pay attention. Now here you need to divide.." He started writing again.

This is so perfect.

"...then you need to remove the whole part of the fraction. The way you do this is by reducing the numerator..."

Being together like this, mmm.

I should tell him.*

".. so that by the reducing the numerator by the correct number of multiples of the denominator it becomes less than the denominator..."

Yes, this is perfect. Except for her. If only...

Kazuto had stopped talking again.

Suguha suddenly realized that he had caught her spacing out again. She quickly pretended to carefully study the worksheet. This time Kazuto wasn't buying it.

He put down his pencil. "Sugu, what's with you? You haven't heard a word I said."

"Oh sorry."

He swiveled on the stool to face her. "Something on your mind?"

She sat up and looked at him guiltily, then she turned her face away. "Nothing, really."

He knew her better than that. "C'mon, tell me." He waited.

"Well, uh.."

"You've been floating on cloud nine all day."

"I have? I guess so."

"So what is it?"

"I'm just happy, that's all."

"Happy?"

"I guess I'm really jazzed because... well... because of..

"Because?"

She said quietly, "Of you."

"Because I'm back?"

She said shyly, "Uh huh."

"I'm glad. You know, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Suguha was looking at him with a bashful smile.

She's doing it again.

She had given him that coy and shy smile several times since he had awakened. At first Kazuto thought nothing of it, but she had done it enough times now that it was starting to bother him.

He was feeling uncomfortable, so he tried to change the subject.

He rubbed his shoulder. "The recovery sucks though. All that PT, the strength exercises, it's a killer."

"Well, I think it's paying off. You look absolutely great."

"I do? Thanks, Sugu. Sachi says I'm doing really well with the workouts."

Suguha's face fell and she turned away. "She did? Oh, that's nice.."

He crossed his arms. "My, do I detect a hint of jealousy there?"

She glared at him. "That's ridiculous. Why should I be jealous?"

He joked, "I dunno, maybe because I get to be all hot and sweaty with her every day in the dojo? Heh."

"That's not funny!"

He got serious. "Look, Sugu, I understand. We spend hours doing PT every day together. Meanwhile you're stuck at school so we don't get nearly as much face time. I get it."

"I am not jealous!"

He leaned back in the chair.

Wow, she is really bent out of shape about it.

"Honestly, Sugu, you have nothing to worry about."

Suguha looked at him suspiciously. "Then why does Sachi still keep a private key to your bedroom?"

"Huh? No idea." He started to chuckle. "You think she's going to try to crawl into bed with me?"

"What? Of.. of course not!"

"Ah, I know why. She's trying to keep you from sneaking in."

"Oh, just stop it!"

He looked at her. She was genuinely upset.

"Sugu, this is really bugging you. Why?"

Suguha started to fidget. "Uh, I dunno.. maybe.. maybe it's because I still don't trust her. With you."

"Seriously? After all this time?"

She glanced around. Midori was due to come home from work any minute. Sachi had already left for her hospital shift.

Finally she said quietly, "No, I don't."

Kazuto was perplexed. "C'mon. You don't have to worry about us."

Suguha leaned forward in earnest. "Kazuto, she's obsessed with taking care of you. And she's so sweet, and caring, and pretty and... and ..."

"Sugu?"

She whispered, "How can you not.. you know.. with someone like her?"

"You mean fall for her?"

She fidgeted again. "Uh huh."

Kazuto became thoughtful.

"I see."

Sugu is right. If it wasn't for Asuna, would I have fallen for Sachi?

Sachi really is nice, caring, smart, pretty..

And on the mat she had closed her eyes.

She was waiting.

She was waiting for me.

Was I tempted?

I mean, man, heh, that was like the start of every teenage boy's fantasy ever: Eye closed followed by a kiss, going deeper, hands moving, her letting me take her..

Ugh, Stop it! Stop thinking like that!

Think of baseball! Dirty gym socks! Yaya's litter box!

Asuna, I'm being tested.

Suguha poked him. "Hey, you listening?"

Kazuto blinked his eyes. "Uh, say that again?"

"I said, back when you were still in the hospital Mom had you two practically betrothed like she had your wedding all planned out already."

"That sounds like Mom, heh."

"I'm glad she stopped doing that after Sachi moved in. But the point is, Sachi has a long-term plan for you. She told me that. She was busy creating it in her head the whole time she was sitting watching you in the hospital."

"I know: Her LPN training, my mental rehab, my physical rehab.."

"Yeah, and what's next on her agenda? What if the next step in her plan is for her to work on your feelings? To get you to.. you know..?"

He scoffed, "That's ridiculous. She would never manipulate me like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! She doesn't have a selfish bone in her body. She just wants to take care of me, that's all. And she doesn't want to receive anything in return."

Kazuto was shading the truth a bit. He never saw any indication that Sachi had any kind of ulterior motive, but he had to admit that he still wasn't 100% sure.

Sugu bounced in her chair. "But don't you see? That's not normal. Nobody is that selfless! It has to be a trick!"

Kazuto tried to reassure her. "Sugu, you need to relax. You don't have to worry. And even if Sachi tried to manipulate me, it will never work. I don't have those kind of feelings for her. I really don't."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't."

"Good."

She smiled shyly at him. "I just want you to be careful around her, that's all."

"Hey, I get it. You're just watching out for me. Being protective of your big bro."

Suguha rolled her shoulders and looked down.

"Maybe I am. Sorry if I'm being weird."

"No, I'm glad you looking out for me."

Then he smiled at her. "Thanks, Sugu."

On a whim he mussed up her hair.

She giggled, "Hey!"

"I think it's neat that I have such a great sister. You're pretty cool."

She looked up at him.

Again she gave him that shy smile that was both bashful and coy.

"I think you're cool too."

After a moment they both looked away. An awkward silence followed.

Finally he yawned.

"I'm tired."

She yawned too. "Me too."

He rubbed his eyes. "Let's take a break?"

"Good idea."

Kazuto jumped off the high chair and padded over to the fridge to grab a can of soda. He opened it as he entered the living room and sat on the couch. Suguha grabbed a second can of soda and sat close next to him. It was time for the news so he pointed the remote at the TV and turned it to NHK.

A man was speaking on camera. The text at the bottom of the screen read, "Remaining SAO Families".

"Hey, check it out." Kazuto turned up the volume.

A politician was standing at a lectern in front of several anxious looking people. A text caption appeared underneath his image, Diet Member Morita Ueda.

"... standing behind me are representatives of the 300 remaining families, many of whom live in my district, whose loved ones are still trapped inside of SAO to this very day. This sad fact was only acknowledged by the government publicly yesterday, after weeks of refusing to answer questions from the news media, from the public, and from the National Diet. It is an established fact that the government has deliberately suppressed until now any information regarding the status of the remaining victims, or even that they existed. It is for this reason that I speak on behalf of the remaining families who have been stonewalled..."

Morita Ueda was a leader of one of the major opposition factions in the National Diet. The fact that he was an ambitious politician who had an eye on reaching higher public office was well known. "This unconscionable delay was no doubt a failed attempt by the current administration to hide their embarrassment in allowing this terrible tragedy to continue. Therefore we demand that..."

Midori entered through the front door. She was wearing a business pantsuit and carrying her laptop case. She looked tired.

".. and so my committee in the National Diet will continue to press for an investigation of the current administration's irresponsible failure to..."

Midori went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of ice tea from the refrigerator, then she sat next to Suguha. Ueda was still talking on the TV screen.

Kazuto turned down the TV volume. "Mom, you look bushed."

Midori took a sip of cold tea. She sighed, "It was one of those days. Endless phone calls, meetings. I didn't get any article writing done at all."

She gestured with her can of tea at the TV screen. "That's why."

Kazuto sat up and looked at the TV. "Really? How come?"

She explained, "Yesterday the government lifted the media gag order about the remaining players who are still stuck inside of SAO. The government had no choice, really. Too many families were loudly complaining to keep it a secret any longer. My publisher and I have been wrangling with the Ministry of Information to try to get permission to write about it for weeks, the tech angle."

"The tech angle?"

"There are so many questions. Why did some of the NerveGear helmets fail to release their owners? Why are five percent of the players still stuck inside SAO? Is the Argus building still guarded with booby traps, or are the mainframes accessible now? And if they are, what is the government doing to try to rescue the remaining victims?"

Kazuto nodded. These were questions that he wanted to ask too. The day after he awoke Kazuto had been perfunctorily debriefed by a harried and nameless MINFO official. The official would not answer any of Kazuto's own questions about Asuna, and he was angry that he had to learn about Asuna through backchannels. It was for that reason that Kazuto had refused to sign any non-disclosure agreements with the government. He had no compunctions about later telling his mother about his dreamlike experience in meeting Kayaba in the clouds and talking with him.

His mother smiled as she recalled his disclosure. "I've been sitting for weeks on your big scoop, that Kayaba had destroyed Aincrad and that he didn't know about the remaining five percent. However, my publisher has been really nervous about printing it, legal-wise, so we sat on it. Yesterday the government dropped the media blackout order but I'm still going to report that the scoop came from an anonymous source. Partly it's because your name is still being redacted by the government, but the real reason is because I don't want a bunch of press reporters laying siege to our home."

Kazuto nodded again. That would be the last thing he wanted too.

She added, "Also, it would be a bit awkward for me to reveal that the source for my big news scoop was my own son."

"Yeah, I can see that."

She went on with her explanation. "This afternoon my publisher and I had another long conference call with the Argus caretaker team about the story I wanted to write. The negotiations were unexpectedly difficult."

"Caretaker team?"

"RECT Progress, the company that bought most of the assets of Argus at auction."

Midori explained that in 2023, after Argus was sued out of existence by the flood of lawsuits that were filed on behalf of the victims' families, the assets of the company were auctioned off by the courts to pay the damage claims, including the computer mainframes in the basement of the Argus building that were running SAO. Most of the assets were scooped up in bid by a competing VRMMO company named RECT Progress, a wholly owned subsidiary of RECT Ltd.

The Argus servers had been running non-stop 24 hours a day since 2022, and they needed significant maintenance and refurbishment. Nobody else wanted them. It was not only because they were old, but also because they were untouchable until the SAO victims were released. For this reason RECT Progress was able to grab the servers with a lowball bid.

The asset purchase also gave RECT the ownership rights to SAO's base application software layer, called the Cardinal System. It was believed that RECT could not exploit their new software assets until they could gain access to the Argus building and download the source code. However, less than two months after the auction, RECT had announced their own competing VRMMO system that was based on Kayaba's original basic design.

Experts in the IT community had wondered about this. There was speculation that RECT Progress might have had some prior backroom dealings with Argus in the past, but nothing was certain.

RECT's marketing department then heavily promoted their new VRMMO in several advertisements, highlighting the fact that it was based on SAO with several new built-in safety features. Given the fact that nobody had actually died in that game, the ads drew a lot of attention. SAO was quite popular with the gaming community, with many wishing they could join the adventure. The ads hinted that this was the next best thing.

"Our publisher is negotiating with RECT to do a big feature cover article on their new Full Dive Environment. RECT wants us to highlight the new safety features in their gear and basically give them a bunch of free publicity for their VRMMO. In return we want the scuttlebutt on what's going on with the Argus servers and the remaining sleepers."

Kazuto asked, "What have you found out so far?"

"I am afraid not much. There's a rumor that the security barriers around the Argus building went down on S-F Day, but no one will confirm it. The building is still cordoned off. Since RECT now owns the servers you would think they should know, right? But our negotiations with RECT have been really difficult. They kept citing government restrictions and would not tell us anything."

Suguha announced she was hungry and left for the kitchen.

Midori smiled at her daughter and then went on with her explanation. "As I said, the government gag order was dropped yesterday, so my publisher and I have been busy on a conference call with RECT all afternoon trying to hammer out an agreement for a major article. We are promising them a big cover splash page featuring their Full Dive gaming system in exchange for some tidbits on what's happening with the remaining SAO sleepers."

She sighed, "I don't know why they are still being so obstinate. My publisher finally had to end the conference call, telling the head of RECT Progress that there would be no feature article unless he reconsidered his position and revealed something to us about what's happening with SAO."

Kazuto thought, "Hmm, you would think they would want all that free publicity. Why won't they talk about it?"

"I don't know. It's a pity. With Kayaba gone the head of RECT Progress is probably world's foremost expert on Full Dive Environments. I would love to get an interview with him. An exclusive interview like that combined with what you told me about Kayaba would be a huge scoop."

"So why are they being so tight-lipped about it?"

"I'm guessing that RECT might be getting some heat from somewhere inside the government to keep it quiet, possibly for political reasons, even though the SAO Glitch is not officially a secret anymore."

"Well, if you get that interview I want to be the first to know. I gotta find out what happened to Asuna."

"Of course dear. I'm so sorry about your friend." She sighed, "Right now the SAO Glitch is the number one topic on the IT boards. All the experts want to find out what is going on. What we need now is more information."

She tried to reassure her step-son. "Don't worry. If I can find out what happened to your friend, I will."

"Thanks, Mom."

They both turned back to watch the news conference on the TV.

Wednesday, January 1, 2025, 12:15 p.m.

Sachi picked up a lunch tray as she entered the hospital cafeteria. She was working a double shift because of the holiday. The cafeteria was crowded, with many family visitors taking advantage of the time off from work and school to see their loved ones.

She found an empty table and sat with her tray. There were open seats available at the tables occupied by the other staff members, but she did not try to sit with them. With her VRDP status she knew the others would be put off if she had the temerity to sit close to them.

As she sat Sachi saw Nurse Kurosawa roll in. Kurosawa collected her tray and looked around. Sachi tried to remain inconspicuous but Kurosawa had spotted her sitting by herself, so she rolled over to greet her.

"Hello, Ms. Watanabe. Do you mind if I join you for lunch?"

Sachi was nervous. She stood up.

"Not at all, ma'am. Yes, please sit with me."

Sachi cringed at her dumb remark. "I mean not sit! I mean yes!"

From her seat in her wheelchair, Kurosawa looked up pleasantly at the nervous girl. She saw that Sachi was wearing a pleated skirt below a pink sweater and a white blouse underneath. On her cuffs were small brass cufflinks in the shape of intersecting half-ellipses. Around her neck was lanyard with her photo ID and green keycard. The keycard was the same color as Nurse Kurosawa's.

"It's quite all right, dear, think nothing of it. Sit down and enjoy your food."

Sachi did as she was told. Meanwhile Kurosawa unfolded her napkin and gestured at the large picture window near their table. "Just look at that. Isn't it marvelous?"

Sachi looked out at the scenic vista. In the distance she could see a pair of billowy cumulus clouds just kissing the top of the cone of Mount Fuji. Above it the higher cirrus clouds slowly swung their horse tails in the sky. Viridescent forests climbed up the foothills of the great dormant volcano, met by pure mountain streams that flowed down and fed them from the melting snow pack. The streams merged into a meandering river that shined with silvery sparkles as it lazily flowed away to the horizon.

Kurosawa leaned in and confided, "I love the view from here. It is even more glorious at night when the moon and the stars shine over it. Truly breathtaking. It's almost as if someone or something is showing off their handiwork, don't you think?"

"Yes, it is quite beautiful."

Kurosawa broke apart her chopsticks. She smiled indulgently while Sachi nervously looked down at her plate. "I tell you what, Ms. Watanabe. Why don't you and I dispense with formalities. At this table we are just friends having a nice little chat. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You can call me Akira if you like."

Sachi shook head head. "Oh no, I couldn't do that. It wouldn't be right."

"May I at least call you Sachi?"

Sachi nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Please, call me anything you like."

Kurosawa smiled again pleasantly. Previously she had read Sachi's government file, including her medical history. It was mostly un-redacted except for the parts pertaining to her interactions with Kirito.

Kurosawa asked offhandedly, "So, I am told that you are living with the Kirigaya family now?"

Sachi nodded. "Yes. The Kirigayas took me in after my mother was institutionalized. It was very kind of them."

"I am sure it was."

Sachi unfolded her napkin. "I would like to again apologize for taking Kirito to see his friend without your permission."

"Oh, you can forget about that. Now that I understand the situation I can see why you did that for him. Honestly, if I was in your shoes I would have done it too."

Sachi looked down. "No, I shouldn't have done it. It hurt Kirito terribly."

"Pshaw. You shouldn't blame yourself. You didn't know."

Sachi leaned forward. "Oh, but I did. That's why I feel so bad about it."

"You do?"

"Yes. The same thing happened with him and me. I should have anticipated it."

Kurosawa paused. She said carefully, "So how are you two dealing with the, uh, situation?"

Sachi said cheerfully, "We are getting along quite well. I am helping him with his daily PT and strength exercises."

"That sounds wonderful." Kurosawa now realized that the girl still did not know about Asuna. She decided that it was better to not pry any further.

Kurosawa picked up a rice omelette and bit into it. She said idly, "So, how do you like working here at Tokorozawa?"

Sachi replied, "It's fine. It's pretty much the same as where I worked before."

"I see." Kurosawa then added dryly, "By 'the same' I assume you mean they are ostracizing you here just like they did there."

Sachi sat up. "Oh, uh.."

Kurosawa sighed. The few deliberate snubs that Kurosawa had spotted she had dealt with personally, but the prejudice against VRDPs ran deep. Sachi herself never reported anything, and Kurosawa did not press her.

Kurosawa said cheerfully, "You know, they give me the same treatment, actually."

Sachi was surprised. "They do?"

"It's just a bit more circumspect."

Sachi smiled. "You do seem to be a nice person."

"Why, thank you. I think the same of you."

Kurosawa picked up some rice in her chopsticks and mused while looking at it, "It's just the way people are."

Sachi admitted that was true.

"I must say you're dealing with it very well. Few VRDPs have volunteered to work in the wards like you have. None have lasted more than a couple weeks."

Sachi understood. Few could weather such withering scorn and rejection.

Kurosawa confided, "I read your full file, so I know how difficult it's been for you."

That surprised Sachi. "You have?"

"Yes. Oh, I am sorry if you think I invaded your privacy."

"No, I don't mind you reading my file. You're my superior, after all. It's just that if.. if you know.."

Kurosawa said sympathetically, "You've had a difficult life. I understand."

Sachi looked down. "It's been hard."

She looked up again. "I just don't get any of it."

Kurosawa correctly guessed the reason for her remark. "You are thinking, 'I didn't do anything wrong.'"

Sachi was becoming upset. "That's just it. I didn't."

Kurosawa said indulgently, "It's all right. Feel free to vent all you want."

"Then please, explain it to me. I try to be a good person. Why did all these bad things happen to me?"

"Fair enough question." She glanced down at her wheelchair. "I admit it's one I've sometimes asked myself."

"Then please, tell me why?"

Kurosawa put down her chopsticks. "Hmm, all right, let me think a bit."

She thought a moment. "Well, first recognize that you are not alone when you ask that question. I lost my own mother when I was six. Like you, she was my only family. After that I spent years in a so-called 'orphanage'. It was horrible. Then I was lucky enough to be taken in by a large foster family, something that happens to very few children in our country." She chuckled at the memory, "We were a wild bunch."

Sachi wondered if she might have a relative who worked at MINFO but decided that now was not the right time to ask.

Kurosawa went on. "Anyway, later I ended up in this chair, a hit and run driver. I looked back on my sad life and asked myself the same question that you just did, the same question that has been asked by men and women from the beginning: Why does God allow so much suffering in this world? Even to good people? Why does He allow accidents, illnesses, natural disasters?"

Sachi leaned forward. "Yes, why? I want to know."

Kurosawa leaned back. "Well, the truth is, I don't have a fully satisfactory answer for you."

Sachi looked a bit disappointed.

"But I tell you what, I will try to answer your question the best I can, is that all right?"

"Yes, thank you ma'am. I appreciate it."

"Hmm. Let me think a bit more..."

Sachi waited.

"Here it goes. Now, please understand that this is only my personal view on the subject. Don't take my word as gospel."

"Of course, ma'am. I understand."

"Well, let me see. First of all, let me ask you a question: Assuming there is no God, what kind of world you would like there to be? Would you like a world that was a utopia where there was no pain, no labor, no hills to climb? Nothing to accomplish? No obstacles? No challenges?"

"Well, uh.. no.."

"Now, pick any human trait or quality that you admire."

"Uhm, courage."

"Courage only exists in the face of adversity. Whether it be war, serious health issues, or a threat to oneself or another. In a utopia there would be no need for courage. Now pick another."

"Compassion."

"Compassion only exists where another is in pain or in need. Otherwise there would be no need for sympathy, no empathy. Or how about healing? Healing can only exist where there is sickness or injury. We can keep doing this endlessly. Sachi, don't you see? No good quality of mankind can exist without suffering in the world. We have to understand and accept this."

"I see. I have heard this is a basic Buddhist teaching."

"Indeed. It is one of Buddhism's most central concepts, called dukkha. The Buddhist's response to suffering is basically, 'Yes, life sucks and then you die. So deal with it.' This is why Buddhism teaches that we ought to detach ourselves from worldly desires in favor of spiritual ones. I do respect Buddhism in that regard, but as a Christian I know there is far more to it than that.

"You see, I believe we suffer because we live in a fallen world, one caused by our deliberate and willful separation and rebellion apart from Him. It is also why I believe that it is through this suffering that we will be ultimately be reconciled with Him. You can categorize the kinds of suffering that we endure into three different types, what I call 'The Three Cs'."

"The three Cs?"

"Yes. Corrective, constructive, and controlling."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, can you guess the meaning of the first one, corrective?"

Sachi tried to think. "By 'corrective' I assume that you are mean to the bad things that can happen to us because we did something wrong."

"That's right. I am referring to the bad things that can happen to us as a direct consequence of our own willful, negligent, or foolish actions. Things that are our own fault. For example, when a chain smoker gets lung cancer. Or when a driver doesn't wear his seat-belt and flies through a windshield. It is our own fault that these bad things happen."

"I think I get it. And the second, constructive?"

"These are the bad things that happen in your life that temper or mold your character, that change you, that make you a wiser or a better person for it." Kurosawa looked at Sachi sympathetically. "It happens to all of us, and it includes even things that actually kill your body, even though the Lord will never put you in a situation beyond what your spirit can bear."

"I think I understand." Then Sachi took a chance and said, "And it includes the reason why you are sitting in that wheelchair."

"Yes, my, that's rather perceptive of you." Kurosawa started eating again.

Sachi leaned forward and asked, "But ma'am, I'm still unsure about that last one, 'controlling'. From what you've said so far I think I have a glimmer of what I think you mean, but I still don't really get it. I don't understand why God would allow things like terrible disasters to occur, like massive earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and such."

"Another fair question. Hmm, give me another moment to think on it." She continued to eat.

After a minute Kurosawa put down her chopsticks and sat back. "Again, please keep in mind that these are just my own opinions and should not be taken as gospel."

"Of course."

"Well, what is mankind's oldest sin? It is to try to become like God, which is what the serpent said in his lie to Adam to induce him to eat of the Tree. We do it all the time. We try to become God, to replace God. We do it over and over. We do it every time we try to create a utopia based on so-called 'scientific' principles. And it doesn't matter if it is a workers paradise, a Volksgemeinschaft, a Nietzschen dictatorship, or any other form of secular society that rejects God. These attempted utopias have always failed, and they always will.

"One reason they keep doing it is because the 19th century German secular philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, 'God is dead, and we have killed him.' He said that God could be replaced. All that was needed was the will and the power to do so."

"So you are saying that God has to keep reminding us who's the boss?"

Kurosawa smiled. "More or less. I think our endless attempts to replace God are one reason why natural disasters are periodically allowed to happen to us. God needs to kick down our little anthills once in a while, you see, to remind us who is really in charge."

"But why did all that rebellion and suffering have to happen in the first place? Why couldn't we all just be happy living together with God up in Heaven right at the start?"

"Ah, another excellent question. Well, I think it is because God is trying to make a point."

"A point?"

"You see, I think that all of human history is basically a demonstration exercise."

"A demonstration exercise?"

"Yes."

"But for who? Himself?"

"No of course not, silly."

"Then for who?"

An overhead speaker sounded.

Nurse Kurosawa, please report to Ward A.

Kurosawa put down her chopsticks. "Oh dear, so much for our nice little lunch chat." She wiped her face with her napkin.

Sachi stood up. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit with me, ma'am. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, think nothing of it. Maybe we can do this again sometime." She waved Sachi down. "Go sit down and finish your food."

Sachi sat back down as Kurosawa began to move her wheelchair away from the table.

Kurosawa then slowed, paused, and turned her chair back towards her.

"Sachi, can I give you one final piece of advice?"

"Of course."

"Just remember, no matter what happens, you are never alone."

Kurosawa motored away to the exit.

Sachi picked up a battered shrimp and bit into it thoughtfully.

I am never alone.

January 6, 2025. Chiyoda, Tokyo.

A short man wearing a dark business suit sat by himself in a small booth at the back of the lunch cafe.

After a minute another man sat in the adjacent booth. He was tall and thin and wore black-rimmed eyeglasses. They were sitting back-to-back, facing away from each other.

Ueda spoke quietly. "This is foolish. Why do we have to meet like this?"

Sugou pushed up his eyeglasses as he continued to look away. "I don't trust anything electronic."

"Fine, whatever. Is it ready yet?"

"Not quite, but we are making excellent progress."

"My benefactors are becoming impatient. We need to see results."

"You'll get them."

"We better."

"Don't worry, you will, and soon."

Friday, January 10, 2025. Early evening.

Midori came home very excited. "I got it! I got it!"

Sachi had already left the house for her shift at the hospital. Kazuto had just finished a hot bath and was wearing a bathrobe while sitting on the couch. He was reading a brochure from the Ministry of Education regarding a new mixed-grade school that was being set up for SAO returnees. Classes were tentatively scheduled to start in late April.

Kazuto put down the brochure and stood up as Midori ran up to him.

She was breathless. "I got it!"

"Got what?"

"An interview, a tour, everything!"

"An interview?"

"I got an exclusive one-on-one interview with the head of RECT Progress! It will be just me and one photographer. Our magazine is going to be the first to actually see the Argus mainframes! What a scoop!"

Kazuto shared his mother's excitement. "Really? Wow, that's great!"

"I gotta prepare. Sorry, no dinner. Order some takeout, will you?"

Midori ran downstairs to her basement office.

Kazuto smiled as he picked up his tablet. He opened the web page for the local pizza delivery service and placed the usual order, then he closed the page.

In the kitchen he poured himself a cup of tea.

Holding his teacup, he walked outside to the back yard and looked up at the darkening sky.

Asuna, this is wonderful news. We might finally get some answers.

I promise I'll find you.

No matter what it takes, I'll find you.

Saturday, January 11, 2025. Early evening.

Sachi was standing on a sidewalk in front of a restaurant in the Okachimachi shopping district. She had taken a train from the Saitama Omiya Station to Okachimachi, then she walked the four blocks her final destination. She read the lighted sign above the entrance to the food and drink establishment: The Dicey Café.

She had taken the day off from work because she wanted to meet with Kirito's SAO friends and compatriots, the SOARs. She knew that the best chance of meeting them was on a Saturday evening at this location.

The SOARs. Officially the 10,000 players who had been trapped in SAO were all designated the same way by the government: Virtual Reality Displaced Persons, VRDPs. However, it soon became apparent that the 6000 players who had survived were different than those who had perished in the game. The ones who woke up together on November 7, 2024, had never tasted death, so they were not traumatized by it. The survivors all seemed to be well-adjusted and showed no sign of mental disability from their experience in SAO.

People soon called them the SAO Survivors or the SAO Returnees. The appellation 'VRDP', which had such a negative connotation in the mind of the public, did not seem to apply to these people, the heroes who had jubilantly celebrated their freedom on S-F Day. A government press release had used the acronym 'SAOR' to refer to the SAO Returnees. The media soon flipped it around to the more pronounceable SOAR - the SAO Over Achieving Returnees - and the name stuck.

The VRDPs were loners, isolated, unemployable, possibly dangerous. The SOARs were heroes, socially well adjusted, friendly, gregarious, popular.

VRDP soon became a stigma that was reserved only for those who had died.

Although the SOARs did need some counseling and support to help them smoothly re-integrate back into society, the fact that they woke up together as group made it much easier for them to quickly establish friendships and social connections. A special school would soon be established for them, the SAO Returnee School, and it was expected that many of the returnees would enroll in order to remain together as friends. Of course, the VRDPs were invited to attend the new school too, but it was expected that few would take up the offer.

Sachi took a deep breath. She opened the door and went inside the café.

The place was noisy and crowded. She saw a large black man working behind the counter. She recognized him as one of the men who had visited Kirito on the first day. She tried to remember his handle.

Agil.

Sitting on a stool across the counter from him was a man wearing a bandana.

That has to be Klein.

Nervously, she crossed the floor towards them.

As she approached the counter she passed by a table where two girls age 14 and age 17 were having an animated discussion.

The younger girl said excitedly, "Liz, you gotta try it. It's totally cool!"

The older girl was doubtful. "But it's all fairie stuff. I liked my weapons gig better."

The younger girl replied, "You can still do that. I checked it out for you. You can be a leprechaun and make stuff: weapons, cool gadgets, anything! The promo they got going will let your skill stats carry over too."

"My skill stats will carry over? Really?"

"Yeah! Everybody's will! It's all part of the promo. You see..."

Sachi passed another table. A man and woman in their late twenties were seated together. The woman was wearing a wool business pantsuit over a starched white ruffled blouse and a Colonel Saunders tie. Her brown hair was wrapped tightly in a neat bun with a short pony tail. The man was wearing round John Denver glasses and a brimmed hat. His clothes were rumpled and he was slouched in his chair with his head down.

The woman said crisply, "We're going to do this together. Just like the marriage counselor said."

The man said humbly, "Yes, dear."

Sachi reached the counter. The man standing behind the counter turned and greeted her.

"Oh, hello, miss. Please, have a seat."

Sachi sat at the counter on a tall stool. As she did so the man behind the counter apologized, "I'm sorry that all the tables are full."

She looked around. "This place is pretty popular."

He grinned. "Yeah. We bought out the laundromat next door last month, knocked out a wall, and we still need more room."

Sachi then noticed that the man sitting on the stool next to her was looking at her closely.

Agil saw the man's stare and frowned at him. "Hey, Ryou, don't scare the lady."

Agil turned to Sachi and winked. "Heh, you can ignore him. TV interviews, autographs, and he still strikes out." He turned to face him. "Ain't that right?"

Klein picked up his drink, took a sip, and said melodramatically, "Alas, what can I say? The life of a celebrity is a lonely one."

He then lowered his drink and peered at Sachi again. "Say, have you and I met somewhere before?"

Agil was about to intervene when Sachi said, "It's quite all right." She turned to face Klein. "Yes, I think we have. My name is Sachi Watanabe. We met at Kirito's bedside when he first woke up. It's nice to see you again."

Agil and Klein both looked at each other, their eyes wide.

Klein crowded in close to Sachi as they both stared at her. She tried to lean away from them.

Klein yelled, "It's.. it's you! You're Kirito's VRDP homegirl!"

Agil put a beefy hand on Klein's arm. "Dude, keep your voice down."

But it was too late. The conversation at the nearby tables slowed then stopped. Everyone was looking at her. Sachi slouched on the stool and stared at the countertop as she tried to make herself disappear.

Agil tried to explain. "Uh, sorry about that, miss. We hardly ever get any VRDPs in here." He sighed, "We try. Free drinks, free food. Look around. Everybody is friendly, see?"

Sachi nervously raised her eyes. She saw that the nearby diners were smiling at her. Many gave her a small friendly wave.

The 14 year old girl that was sitting at the first table jumped off her chair and ran towards Sachi. Her hair sported twin pigtails tied with pink ribbons.

The girl hopped on the stool opposite Klein.

"Hi! Hi! I'm Silica!" The other diners returned to their meals.

Sachi was still feeling very nervous. "Uh, hello?"

The girl grinned, "My real name is Keiko Ayano. Can we be friends?"

She smiled, "My name is Sachi Watanabe. And yes, I would be happy to be your friend."

"Cool!"

Klein tilted his head. "Huh. That's weird."

Sachi turned, "What is?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Kirito told us you didn't want to meet us, what with you being a VRDP and all."

"Huh? He said that?"

"Yeah. That's why we only visited your place when you weren't around. He said that's what you wanted."

Sachi stared at him in disbelief.

Kirito lied to them. He lied to me.

What is going on?

Suguha and Kazuto were at home sitting at the kitchen nook, eating dinner together. Midori had phoned earlier to say she would be working late.

Suguha slurped up a river of cooked noodles. "Kazuto, this is good. You're a great chef."

They were eating from paper cups that Kazuto had put in the microwave. Kazuto gave her a sardonic thanks.

Suguha swallowed the carbohydrate blob and then poked her chopsticks back into the cup. "Too bad Sachi isn't here. She never gets to have dinner with us except on Sundays."

Kazuto rolled up a ball of noodles on his chopsticks. "That's because she's working the evening shift at the hospital. You know that."

"No, not today. She took the day off."

Kazuto put down his chopsticks with the noodle ball still wrapped on them. "Huh? She did?"

"Yeah. She went to meet your weird friends at the Dicey Café in Okachimachi."

Kazuto became alarmed. "What!?"

"She invited me to come along, but I figured I'd be the third wheel so I stayed home."

Kazuto stood up. "No! Tell me she didn't!"

Suguha tilted her head. "What's the problem?

Kazuto was starting to panic. "Crap! Crap! Crap!"

He grabbed Suguha's shoulders. "When did she leave?"

"Uh, about 20 minutes ago..."

"My leg, I can't.. Sugu, you gotta stop her!"

Suguha was starting to get concerned. "Stop her? What's the big emergency?"

Kazuto clenched his fists and looked down. He came to a decision.

He sat back down and pulled himself close to his step-sister.

"Sugu, there is something you need to know. I should have told you sooner."

She looked at him expectantly.

"It's about Asuna and me. You see.."

Klein went on. "I mean, it's understandable with you're being a VRDP and all, so we obliged and stayed away."

Silica looked over at Klein. "Kirito's a stupidhead. Don't listen to him. I like Sachi. She's nice."

Agil addressed Sachi. "I remember you now. You were the girl standing next to Kirito's sister just after he woke up, right?"

"Yes, I was."

He chuckled. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. We should have known better."

"About what?"

"About Asuna."

Klein shook his head sadly. "Man, that is such a shame."

Agil replied, "Yeah. They were so close..."

Sachi asked, "Close?"

"I mean, they got married and all. Bought a house. Lived together as man and wife, even had a kid. That's about as close as you can get."

Klein piped up. "I still can't believe they had a kid together. Say, how is that even possible?"

Agil replied, "That was just a rumor. I think the kid was adopted."

"You sure?"

"Like I said it was a rumor. I never saw the kid."

Klein turned. "Hey Sachi, what did Kirito tell you about that?"

But it was too late.

Sachi was gone.

A/N:

* Suguha's mother had told her that she and Kazuto were cousins shortly after the SAO incident began. After Kazuto awakened Suguha had asked her mother to hold back, explaining that she wanted to inform Kazuto herself (LN Vol 3).