Chapter Four: Memories of a Mad Genius

July 25th, 2031

Edmond felt his body being sucked through a vacuum. It was the same sensation he felt when logging into the game. Only this time, he had no idea where he was going. Or, for that matter, if he was going to make to that destination alive, wherever that may be. He thought about yelling, but what good would it do? He was alone, hurling through time and space without direction.

Lines upon lines of codes were piling up in front of his eyes. Most of it was just illegible combinations of letters, numbers, and punctuations. However, every few seconds Edmond could make out one or two words. Words such as "locked" which he managed to make out after just barely catching a line of code entitled: Account logging ability. Also, he managed to make out "Error." It wasn't hard to spot, he'd seen it before, when he'd been automatically logged out the night of the escape. This time, however, it was flashing at the end of a line of code that read: Engaging safety log out measure, server stability critically low. He didn't need to be a programming genius to figure out what these two things mean. Logging ability obviously dealt with the ability to enter and leave the server. On the other hand, the "fail safe" log out measure dealt with the game's ability to purge players if it detected unnatural activity. With both of these disabled, it could mean only one thing. Hundreds of thousands of players were now potentially trapped within their own nerve gear.

Finally, the world stopped moving. Edmond was floating in a black expanse with no floor, or ceiling. He looked around, trapped in limbo. Was this it? Was this going to be the rest of his life? He raised his hands, and looked at his body. From what he could tell, his extremities still had function, for whatever it was worth at this point. He stood, or more or less floated, there for about a minute. Fear was still present, but curiosity had now trumped it.

"Hello?"

Edmond received no answer, other than the trailing echo of his own voice.

"Thatch? Kitami?"

Still nothing. He swiped his hand to open his menu, but nothing appeared. It was as if the entire server had been disabled, and he was a lonely bit of code that had been looked over, and forgotten. As he thought of this possibility, fear began to regain the spot of his prime emotion. What if they had shut down the server? What if he was stuck in an endless nothing? He could feel his heart begin to pick up pace. He'd been overlooked at work before, and for that matter, everywhere else in his life. But this was a completely new level of anonymity. For all he knew, now he didn't even exist anymore.

Then, as if out of nowhere, he began to see a light coming into focus.

"Oh my God…I'm dead."

Edmond couldn't even convince himself of what he'd just uttered aloud. But what other explanation could there be? He had always heard stories of a light approaching victims who were crossing over to the other side…but he'd never thought it to be true. He watched as the light came closer and closer to him. He'd given up trying to make sense of his situation, instead he squinted as the light stopped about two feet from his face. Was it alive?

"Edmond? That's your name?"

The voice was that of a man, most-likely in his late twenties or early thirties. His voice thundered throughout the open space.

"Yes, that's my name. What's going on here? More importantly who are you? Or should I be asking, what are you?"

"Hmm" The voice seemed vexed, perhaps even disappointed.

Suddenly, the light in front of Edmond intensified to an unbearable level. Edmond recoiled and covered his face. When the light became less assaulting, he turned to look back in front of him. The light was no longer there, instead, a figure with a slight aura glowing around him now replaced it. The figure was tall, maybe six feet or so, and very thin. He had short brown hair that was slightly disheveled. He wore a white dress shirt, and brown tie. The white shirt was tucked, neatly, into a pair of black, pleated, pants.

"I must admit, I was expecting someone a little bit different."

Edmond was confused. This guy…whoever he was, wasn't making any sense. Who was he expecting? And For what?

"Where am I?"

Edmond wasn't in the mood to speculate anymore. He wanted answers, and he wanted them this instant.

The man nodded. It was obvious that he wasn't in the mood to play games, either.

"You're in a part of the game that's unknown, even to the creators and admins. Don't worry, you aren't dead, not yet anyway. That's why I've brought you here. When I said I was expecting someone different, I meant someone from Japan."

"Japan? Why? How do you even have access to this portion of the game? Are you a Game Master?"

The man smiled, as if he was waiting for Edmond to ask this question.

"You could say that, I suppose. A few years ago, that would've been true. In fact, Edmond, I created this place. This entire game was conceived by my imagination."

"Impossible. Sword Art Online is a reconstruction of a Japanese game released in 2022, under the same name. Its creator was a man named Akihiko Kayaba. He was killed by his own nerve gear malfunctioning."

"Well, you're almost correct, there."

Edmond squinted and tilted his head in suspicion. Was this person claiming to be Akihiko Kayaba?

"You see, Edmond, it's true that my brain was destroyed by my nerve gear, but it wasn't due to malfunction. The nerve gear was merely a tool that was abused."

"You're telling me, that you're-"

The man held up his hand.

"Allow me to finish, it's rude to interrupt."

Edmond was taken aback by this simple request. But he complied.

"You see, what they say about the nerve gear, is an absolute lie. To call the survivors of the game I created "crazy" or "neurologically deficient" is an insult to the memory of the sacrifice they, as well as those who didn't survive, made."

Edmond was now completely lost. It now seemed like he was in some crazy dream, rather than an actual game. He was listening to what he'd read in the tabloids so many times, spoken verbatim. Only now, the story felt like it had weight behind it.

"So…who are you?"

The man smiled. He crossed his arms and shook his head from side to side.

"I'm nobody, I'm merely a figment of code, kept alive by the invention of nerve gear. But, and I'm sure this is what you were referring to, I was Akihiko Kayaba, creator and producer of Sword Art Online."

Edmond gulped. How could it be possible? Kayaba was dead, or presumed to be at least. But then again, the tabloids were turning out to be just what they were…tabloid. Edmond had no choice at this moment but to believe this man, claiming to be a memory of a once famous gaming developer.

"So what does that have to do with me? Are you the one trapping us all in here like this? Again?"

"No…actually, I'm not. But I'm not particularly fond of whoever's doing it, either. You see, my intention, all those years ago, wasn't to kill anyone, per se, it was merely to involve them in a fantasy world of my own liking and creation. I just wanted a game to be as realistic as possible. Isn't that what gamers want? It must be, when you consider the overwhelming support of virtual reality being so widely accepted. Death happens…but the problem is, it happens most of the time in locations and ways that people, if faced with the question of how they wanted to die, wouldn't have chosen. I simply wanted gamers to live…and possibly die, doing what they loved."

Edmond couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded like the babble of a sociopath.

"That's murder! Gaming is about community, and fun! Not about people being forced to confront their own mortality! Do you have any idea what that did to the gaming industry? Virtual gaming took a hit so large, that it almost toppled the entire concept! Look at all of the people you murdered…all of the brothers, and sisters, mothers, and fathers…look at the families you destroyed"

Kayaba lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He looked genuinely dejected, as if something within him had finally been made clear.

"I'm aware of the irreparable damage I've caused…that's why I want to help you."

Edmond's rage was extinguished in an instant. Was he truly sorry? Also, was he truly intent on helping him? Why Edmond? Of all of the top notch gamers and IT geniuses playing online, choosing him seemed…irresponsible.

"So…why me? Why an American with barely any experience with VRMMORPG's? There are multitudes of Japanese gamers who have been playing this game far longer than I have. Why not choose them?"

Kayaba crossed his arms again, and began to scratch his chin with his index finger.

"Edmond, it isn't about skill level, or how much experience you have. It's because my memory is permanently installed on your nerve gear."

Edmond couldn't speak. The concept seemed ridiculous at best. Edmond had purchased his nerve gear at his local gaming outlet…second hand, granted, but it was the same nerve gear as every other helmet on the rack.

"Yes, your body, in the real world, is wearing the first nerve gear prototype I ever created. Before entering the game, back in 2022, I wrote a will, and distributed it to my staff in Japan. Nobody could promise that my plan to insert my brain's genetic coding into the nerve gear, would actually work. But, in my will I made the request that, if something should happen to me while I was in the game, that my nerve gear would be recycled and redistributed to one lucky player. That way I could continue to live in the world I created. That is, if my plan actually worked…"

Kayaba looked at his own hands.

"It looks as though it did."

Edmond took a deep breath. Could he really believe what he was hearing? Was a computer programmer, supposedly resurrected from the massive pool of coding, really going to help him? For that matter, what was he going to help him do? Edmond still had no inkling as to why the game's log out function had been disabled.

"Okay…Let's say I believe you. Why has the game's ability to enter and exit properly been compromised, and by who?"

Kayaba smiled, he seemed thrilled to have won Edmond over.

"Well, the game was hacked by a long time player, and a few group of his friends. They are a group called "The Order of the Hidden Serpent," or TOHS. They're an exclusive guild, consisting only of people who chose the "assassin" class. They have been playing the game since day one, and take it very seriously. They are a small faction, perhaps a hundred or so players, if that. They're led by a player who goes by the name-"

"Khale…"

Kayaba frowned at the interruption.

"Yes…Khale. The player who attempted to attack you and your friend when you logged in. Khale has been planning this hack for months. He and his group of cyber bullies have been gathering information on the servers for over a year now, honestly, he could've have done it sooner, but he waited."

Edmond instantly knew what the reasoning behind this was.

"He wanted the game to reach other countries, that way more people would be logging in…"

"Precisely. But there's some information you don't know. Let me start by saying this…Khale is an extremely dangerous person. He's a veteran player…He was with me upon the game's initial release, not the re-release, but the actual release in 2022, he's a survivor. He was one of my officers in the Knights of the Blood Oath, my personal clan."

Edmond knew of the Knight's. Depending on which tabloid you read, sometimes you'd get to read an interview with one of the "survivors." Some, perhaps even more than half, spoke of Knight's, and their valiant effort to clear each floor. From what he'd gathered, the Knight's had all of the strongest players in the game. Asuna the Flash, Kirito the "beater" and…Heathcliff, alleging to be Akihiko Kayaba himself. Edmond couldn't believe it. Everything he'd read over the last few months was turning out to be completely true. The Survivors weren't lying…Now, adding the fact that Khale was in the mix, this clan was a powder keg of confrontation.

Edmond became curious of one subject in particular when thinking of the Knight's. Kirito. The name of the player who ultimately ended the game and awakened the remaining six thousand players. If this was really Kayaba, surely he'd come in contact with Kirito.

"You were Heathcliff? The guild leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

Kayaba seemed to perk up a bit at hearing the name.

"Yes, that was my avatar's name. As for your other question. That, too, is yes."

"Then you knew Kirito?"

Kayaba's face went from amused, to unenthused in an instant. He pondered for a moment, as if he were reliving a memory in his mind. Then, without speaking, he nodded and swiped his hand into the air. A beam of light appeared and encompassed his hand. When the light had dissipated, Kayaba brought his hand down, revealing a long, black sword.

"Yes, Kirito, the dual wielder. The young man who completely halted the game's progress. I never thought it was possible, but he proved me wrong. Of course, he alone cannot be credited with the victory…"

Kayaba pointed the tip of the sword at Edmond, who was taken off guard and recoiled backwards. Kayaba was amused by this.

"This was his favorite sword design…"

Kayaba pulled the sword close and examined it.

"Kirito wielded a blade, not unlike this one. But do you know what made Kirito unique among the gamers in the community?"

"He could dual wield weapons, a skill that was usually pretty rare."

Kayaba's eyes moved from examining the sword, to looking directly into Edmond's eyes.

"No…While it was true that he could dual wield, it, alone, didn't make him any better or worse than any of the other players. Each class load out has its strengths and weaknesses, this was implemented to keep the system in balance. What made Kirito particularly different was how he mastered his craft. Dual wielder or not…he was the only player to even come close to standing a chance against me…that is, when I was immortal."

Kayaba dropped the sword onto the ground, it smashed into a million tiny shards of glass upon contact. The shards had a brilliant turquoise sheen about them.

"What did you want to know?"

Edmond looked as each of the tiny remains of the sword disappeared into the empty nothingness of the black void. When the last one had fizzled away, he looked back up to Kayaba.

"You've already made it abundantly clear that he exists…you said he alone couldn't be credited with defeating you, what did you mean by that?"

Kayaba thought for a moment, and then swiped his hand again. This time, when his hand was brought back down, it held a radiant, blue and white rapier.

"You've heard of Asuna the Flash, I presume?"

Edmond nodded.

"The two were in love…In fact, before the final battle between Kirito and I, he made me promise to disable her ability to kill herself…should he be slain. Well, as fate would have it, just as I was preparing my final strike on Kirito…she sacrificed herself and took the blade...Something I'm still perplexed by."

Kayaba held out the rapier to Edmond.

"This is her sword, the sword that Kirito used to eliminate me in his unquenchable rage."

Again, Kayaba dropped the sword, also breaking into tiny fragments.

Edmond wanted to know more. He was now completely convinced the he was, in fact, talking to Akihiko Kayaba. The entirety of his skepticism on the logging errors had completely been turned on its head, and he was now looking at the situation through a new lens.

"So how are you going to help me, then?"

Kayaba smirked, yet again.

"You're essentially wearing my entire brain, in the outside world. You and I are now connected, I am now a part of your memory. This game, this universe, planted by "the seed" is my legacy. It's the only place where I can still exist. If virtual gaming is abandoned, or worse, outlawed…I will cease from all existence. So…not to be rude, but don't think of it as me helping you, think of it as me…helping myself, through you."

Edmond was getting angry. He felt as though he was being toyed with. He decided to stay silent, after all, Kayaba was his only way out of this purgatory.

"When Khale and his team hacked into the system at SAO Japan, I knew their intentions were sinister. He, personally, never killed any players when we were in the Knights together, but he always talked about "red" clans who did… One in particular, Laughing Coffin, or "the murder guild" was all he ever spoke of. He was obsessed with them. Before I revealed my identity, he'd praise my work when we were out on raids together. He always said my work was the greatest way to weed out the weakest of humanity.

"When you logged in, you awaked my genetic code…"

Kayaba paused.

"Thank you for that, by the way."

Edmond was slightly disturbed by the nonchalant nature of this thanks. He nodded in approval, nonetheless. Kayaba then continued.

"I'm now able to come and go as I please, anywhere in this virtual world. I began checking to see how many players from the first release, returned. I was surprised at how many I found. I was overjoyed with how much positive energy this game had created. It was Aincrad as I always wanted it to be…until I decided to look into Khale's activities. His guild was run around the entire idea of slaughtering new players to demoralize them and "put them in their place," to make them fear his guild. I listened in as they held meetings discussing their plans to override the system, and commandeer control of all of the servers…it was all very disturbing."

Edmond agreed, he was becoming very anxious at this point.

"So…what's his goal in all of this?"

"To trap everyone like ants, and dispose of them in whatever way he sees fit. Khale takes this game very seriously…It's more of a life to him, than his life in his actual body. The ironic thing now, is, that he can log out…and nobody else can."

"So then how do we stop him?"

Kayaba shrugged.

"Honestly, Edmond, I have no clue. What I do know is, he's got an enormous god complex…he, alone, probably holds most of the abilities to alter the game. He would never share such an opportunity with anyone, at least not after his hackers did his dirty work. Maybe you can use that to your advantage. Speaking of which…I should probably mention what I'm going to do for you."

Finally. Edmond was overjoyed to hear these words. He'd been hearing nothing but negativity, so it was nice to hear some good news.

"As a prior Game Master, I don't have a huge amount of authority with this new software that runs this game…but I can transfer character data to you. Everything about my character, Heathcliff, will be transferred to you. Since I created him as an administrative player, that means you will have full reign over ANY class specification you want. Essentially, you are every class, and you are not bound by any restrictions. You can use any weapon, any skill, wear any armor…Something that not even Khale is capable of…I'm sure of that, by the way, I've spend the last seventy-two hours reading mountains of gaming code, and developer notes. There's no way to achieve this. The only reason YOU can, is because I still retain character knowledge… that, and the fact that I was never supposed to exist."

Edmond stood there, staring wide-eyed at Kayaba, who again was speaking of monumental development in the most nonchalant of ways. Even still, he couldn't believe it. Any class? Any skill? It was a gamer's ultimate dream! His moment of euphoria was cut short when he thought of returning. What about Kitami? What about Thatch?

"Where are Kitami and Thatch? Are they okay?"

"They're fine, for now. If I had to guess, Khale has probably collected all of the players into the coliseum to decree his new rule…That's what I did, anyway. Edmond, I can't tell you how to get out of this…but I can wish you luck. Don't be afraid to befriend people. Hackers, sociopaths….they'll all come in handy in this situation. Any other questions, before I send you back?"

Edmond looked at his hands again, this time he felt more capable, more useful. Now, when he looked at his hands he saw tools, able to assume any role, like a chameleon of combat. He then thought for a second…there was one thing he was curious about.

"Why did I spawn outside of the Town of New Beginnings?"

Kayaba, again, raised his hand into the air, this time bringing down a single, digital leaf.

"I've always been fond of walks through the woods. They calmed my nerves and inspired me when I couldn't figure out a problem with a program I was writing…When I wrote the code that would eventually implant itself into your nerve gear, I made it so that the first thing I'd get to see would be the forest…Sorry about that."

Kayaba smiled one last time and bowed slightly. When he arose, he turned around and began walking away into the black nothingness.

"W-wait! I don't know what to do!"

Edmond yelled desperately as Kayaba went further and further out of sight.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Edmond. Besides, I believe in you."

He continued to walk away, stopping only once more. He stood for a moment, as if he were trying to remember something crucial. It didn't take him long to figure it out. He turned half way around.

"Say hello to Thatch for me, will you?"

The way he said it, seemed almost like a hint. After his words had faded away, he was gone.

Instantly, Edmond felt his body being sucked back through the vacuum again. This time the trip seemed to go much quicker. Everything was still black, but now his body felt much heavier. In addition to his sudden weight gain, he felt himself laying at a horizontal angle. He cracked open his eyes slightly, he immediately saw half a dozen dark globes encircling him.

"Thatch! He's waking up!"

As he opened his eyes more, his vision gradually returned to reveal that the globes, floating above his head, were actually faces.

The gunners helped Edmond to his feet. He was immediately assaulted with a hug. His eyes flew wide open, and his arms instinctively encircled the body pressed up against his. He adverted his eyes downward. Blue hair. It was obviously Kitami.

"We thought your nerve gear malfunctioned! You just collapsed without warning. I'm so glad you're okay!"

Kitami's voice shook with concern. The only thing Edmond could think was…A girl was really concerned about him? This was a rare, yet abundantly welcome sensation. Despite his current situation, he closed his eyes and squeezed Kitami, just a little tighter. He tried his best to relax, if only for a second.

"Edmond, are you okay?"

The voice belonged to Thatch. As Edmond saw his face, he immediately remembered all of the information he'd just discussed with a phantom memory of Akihiko Kayaba. He released his grip on Kitami and stepped up to Thatch, speaking softly, as to keep the conversation private.

"Thatch, we need to talk, in private."

Edmond looked around.

"Has Khale said anything yet?"

Thatch looked extremely perplexed. He squinted in a look of confusion.

"No, why would he? I haven't heard anything about him since the other night."

Edmond caught himself. He forgot that he'd been the only person speaking with Kayaba. Now he had the daunting task of trying to convince everyone that he'd just spoken to a dead game programmer. But he knew he had to try, for the sake of every player in Aincrad.

"Thatch, listen to me…I just spoke to Akihiko Kayaba."

Thatch's eye's shot open. His expression was absolute shock, instead of disbelief. Thatch grabbed Edmond and took him to the side.

"You're serious? How do you know it was him?"

Suddenly pain seared through Edmond's entire body, Thatch must've felt it too, because he was now gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Before he could turn around to see if Kitami was okay, he was forced to the ground. Screams and moans of sheer pain could be heard welling up throughout the Town of New Beginnings. The sound was unbearable, and psychologically putrid. Edmond managed to look into the sky which was now turning blood red. Figures began to spawn in the air, and finally, so did Khale. The Assassins…Kayaba was right.

His aura was now much larger, and burned like red flames all around him. The screams of pain began to become screams of fear. Edmond was terrified. He looked over to Thatch who was desperately trying to reach for his crossbow. He had no luck, it became obvious that he, along with everyone else, had been paralyzed.

Khale stood in the air, his arms crossed. His entire group of assassins began to fall from the sky and land on the ground, immediately drawing their weapons and aiming them at random players. Further thrusting the congregation into terror. Khale fed off of the screams of torment, it was like a vital sustenance to him. He grinned, deviously, and held his arms up, above his head.

"Players of Aincrad, thank you all for logging in today. There has been a slight change in the rules of gameplay. Allow me to explain. We will be starting this game over! You can keep your pithy skills, but every floor that you useless whelps have cleared thus far will be terminated!"

Khale crossed his arms, taking in the paramount terror he was creating.

"Also, listen, and let me make this abundantly clear."

Khale lifted one arm into the air and clenched his fist, causing the aura encircling him to flare into a massive flame.

"I am your god now!"

The assassins taunting people on the ground burst into roaring laughter. Pumping their fists and weapons into the air in victory.

Edmond lowered his head and clenched his fists. He was powerless, and would now be at the full mercy of Khale's delusion of grandeur. He closed his eyes as tears of anger and fear began to stream down his cheeks. He desperately wanted to be out, and he'd never wanted to be back in his normal, mundane life, so badly.