Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp.

A few streets away from the building containing the Teleport Gate and the Great Hall, was a rectangular building that appeared mostly uniform and standard for the District, save for the size of it; it was twice as long as the other buildings in the vicinity, and almost as tall as the Central Building. Moreover, it had a giant flag draped across the front of the building: it had a vibrant green background, with the Survey Corps' crest – The Wings of Freedom – shining out to the world. The Wings of Freedom seemed like a good moniker to adopt for the players of the clearing group, given their situation.

They had been shaken by the Titan attack, but fired up to defeat Akihiko Kayaba; however, something else played on a few of their minds. Kirito and Taiki were both considering the reasoning behind the Survey Corps' existence. Why would Akihiko Kayaba give the players all of this help now, on the final Level? Would one of these NPCs turn on them? It would be impossible to tell at this stage, but both of the players were consumed in this speculation.

The Survey Corps had organised the players into a few of the larger rooms of the Camp, with each of the Squad Leaders addressing the players' concerns in turn, each discussing one area before moving on to another group of players. Erwin gave the players an overview of the situation that Trost was in and the history of the attacks of the Titans in the past few years.

"We had lived in peace here, until the Titans broke through the outermost wall, Maria, a few years ago under exceptional circumstances." Erwin addressed the group in front of him. "Now, we live in fear of the Titans, trying to reclaim this land for ourselves."

Meanwhile across the corridor, Levi was instructing another group on the strategy for fighting Titans, and how to kill them. "The only way to kill the bastards is to slice the nape of their neck. As you may have noticed, they're much larger than us. So, how do you think we do this?" He asked, the sarcasm bleeding from his brain into his speech as it so often did. He wasn't a fucking teacher; he was just like those before him, if not worse. They had hope.

The third partition of the clearing group was being lectured by the ever-enthusiastic Hange, who was explaining the knowledge that the Survey Corps had on Titans. "They don't seem to need to eat us for energy or power, it seems to be programmed as a desire that fuels them for another reason; however, it appears blocking the sun can impact their energy levels." She seemed thrilled at the very mention of Titans, and so having a chance to explain even some of her findings elated her beyond her powers of hiding.

Erwin concluded his final talk, feeling tiredness engulfing his body and mind. "We have already evacuated the residents of Trost, so we are the only ones currently in the firing line; however, if we fail, many will die. But we will succeed in defeating the Titans. We are the Survey Corps."

Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Mess Hall.

"Hey, Asuna?" Kirito began, looking to the beautiful young woman sat across from him. She looked up, smiling as she always did at the sight of his eyes. "I bet I'll be able to beat you in a race with the 3D Manoeuvre Gear!" He exclaimed, making his darling unable to contain her laughter.

"You're on, Kirito!" She replied with a fake intensity that reminded him of her fighting spirit.

"You know," he said, altering his tone from playful to serious, "something bugs me about this place." Asuna sighed, saddened by the fact that their life in this death game was always on the edge, always concerned. They could have little fun or relaxation without it being followed moments later by destruction and despair. She yearned for the end of this game, for their return to reality.

"You shouldn't say that so loud, they might get offended." She replied, cautious and considerate as always.

"I know... I can't put my finger on it, but it doesn't feel right. Like, why would Akihiko Kayaba give us all this help and knowledge about these monsters after 99 floors of doing nothing? It doesn't add up..."

"Well, I think we should use the knowledge we've gained but... not get too close to them. They're only NPCs, so when it comes to it, the numbers could be helpf-"

"This is Floor 56 all over again, right?" Kirito cut in, frustrated and unhappy at the thought; Asuna gasped a little, before looking over at Kirito defensively.

"Look, I don't know whether we can trust them or not, but-"

"If you give us no reason to doubt you, you will be able to trust the condemned bastards known as the Survey Corps." Neither had noticed Captain Levi had slunk over and remained behind Asuna, listening to their discussion. However, before either could react to his statement, he sauntered off with a sneer on his face.

Asuna began to collect her thoughts, but as she did so, another man appeared at their side: Commander Smith. He appeared oblivious to his subordinate's encounter with the two lovers, but could tell there was a sense of uneasiness in the air; however, he couldn't wait to speak to them.

"Good afternoon, both of you!" He greeted them, though both knew it was a formality that preceded an important conversation for politeness' sake only. Asuna smiled at the slightly overbearing man, while Kirito nodded, acknowledging the greeting.

"I've been meaning to speak to you about something... do you remember the bargain we spoke of when you first arrived?" Erwin pressed on, a sense of purpose in his voice.

"Hmm. Go on..." Kirito answered slowly, taking time to think back to their earlier conversation.

"Well, I think it's time we discuss the finer details of this, if it's not too much trouble." Kirito nodded in agreement, understanding that this was of pressing concern. "Gather up those who are the leaders of your group – the girl who was in charge of the earlier group – and meet me and the other Squad Leaders in the Meeting Room upstairs in half an hour so that we can discuss the terms of our agreement."

With that, the two lovers were left to themselves once more, in the middle of the large hall.

On the opposite side of the Mess Hall, a young woman was sat by herself. She was of average height, hunched over her empty plate in passionate grief at the fact she had finished all of the food before her. Her bright amber eyes were hidden temporarily beneath the sweeping fringe that was lightly drooping over her forehead; most of her hair had been tied back in a ponytail, with a fringe and bangs swaying lightly in the breeze, the vivid brown hair glistening maroon in the midday sun.

Sasha didn't notice a tall man enter the room, with red hair sweeping over the top of a blood-red headband, wearing long white trousers and red robes, with a black breastplate over the top; even if she had looked, she wouldn't have been able to see his hands fiddling with nerves, despite her intuitive nature, which had grown particularly in her three years in this nightmarish land; she had grown so much from her youthful, 13 year old self who last felt the sensation of real food.

Or real anything.

Klein forced his feet forwards towards the mess hall, his entire experience of Sword Art Online flashing before his eyes: fights, friendships, deaths. It all seemed like nothing in terms of nerves, relative to the situation he currently found himself in. He entered, and he could see her across the room. He walked over, slowly, every step the result of an ongoing internal conflict that he was forcing himself to win. He cleared his throat, swallowing a lump and took a deep breath.

"Here..." He said gently, trailing off, as he stretched out his hand, offering a small roll of warm bread to her.

"Oh?" She turned to face him, her beaming eyes lighting up the whole of Klein's vision with the reflection of the sun that had crept through the windows. She looked up, realising what was happening. "Uh... thank you!" She exclaimed.

She took the bread from his hand, her mood lifted entirely from just moments before. Klein felt a surge of relief and happiness course from his virtual feet all the way up to his head, his cheeks blushing to turn a similar colour to his headband and robes.

Sasha took the warm roll in both her hands, taking a second to breathe; she then broke it into two pieces, offering one half to the man stood next to her. Klein quivered a little in surprise, before taking it gratefully with a smile and accompanied blushing. She gestured lightly towards the seat next to her and asked him to join her: Klein sat in response, still quivering slightly.

"Hi! I'm Sasha," she began excitedly, glad for the company as well as the food. She smiled warmly towards Klein, realising that he was trembling and blushing a little in her presence.

"Hey! Uhm... I'm Klein. I'm new around here-"

"I'd have never guessed!" She joked, before realising they'd only just met, and thus that she didn't know his barrier for humour. However, this temporary worry soon passed, as Klein began to chuckle; this allowed Sasha to relax a little and giggle along.

"That was really impressive," Klein continued, after composing himself, "what you were able to do yesterday."

"Oh, it's nothing really." Sasha replied, before finishing her bread; she didn't want him to know just yet how bad things were, how often the Titans came. She wanted to protect him, at least for now.

There was a brief pause, in which both looked at each other, taking a second to appreciate the details of their avatars: the detail in the eyes was something that Akihiko Kayaba should be praised for, as there was little discrepancy to indicate to the players that their eyes were part of a virtual world.

Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Meeting Room

Three players from the Clearing Group followed the Squad Leaders upstairs to the Meeting Room; Kimiko and Asuna were fulfilling their roles as Commander and Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath and therefore of the clearing group, while Kirito was largely regarded as the strongest player in the game and thus was considered a vital member of decision-making. Of course, had he still been with them, Heathcliff would have attended under both the banner of Commander and strongest player, but the others had been promoted since the tragedy that was the Level 99 boss fight.

Eight chairs surrounded a large round table, made of solid oak; Kirito wondered the reason for this, as there were only four Squad Leaders along with the three players from the clearing group. One chair remained empty as the seven sat round the table.

"Unless your position has changed since your arrival yesterday, you are looking for our assistance?" Erwin began, straight to the point and yet soothing at the same time, as ever. "We would also be interested in cooperating with you, as we have goals that would be more achievable with the support of your people."

"More like they owe us one." Levi bit quickly, make his position crystal clear.

"Hmm I wouldn't say that." Erwin was quick to calm the room, sensing the impending agitation from Kimiko in response to Levi once again. "I think that what we did to take them in bares no cost. Had we not, their blood would be on our hands. However, any future collaboration would be at the price of your time and efforts in return."

There was a momentary pause from the members of the clearing group, before Erwin concluded his pitch-like introduction. "I believe that working together will be mutually beneficial, from what I have already seen of your people. It is up to you."

Levi and Mike both sneered a little, while Hange appeared to be reading through and adjusting some papers with great enthusiasm, while her ears stayed stood on edge, tuned into the conversation that was beginning.

Kirito gave a little cough to clear his virtual throat, although its true cause was to alleviate the intensity that built with every passing second of silence. He finally built up the guts to ask the question that'd been bugging him since he'd met the Survey Corps, and even more so since the information that they'd been given earlier in the day.

"So... if you can tell me, why are you here? Why did Akihiko Kayaba programme you to give us so much information?" He quizzed, his eyes not rising above his hands from apprehension at what the answer could be. Could it be that they'd been programmed to kill any who questioned their motives? The response was far from any scenario Kirito had run through his mind over the past day.

Laughter?

Erwin was laughing hard, harder than he had for a long, long time. At least three years was the best estimate he'd be able to come up with, had he not been so consumed with laughing that he'd doubled over, pounding the table hard with his fist. Kirito looked up with an arched eyebrow of confusion. He was joined in confusion by Kimiko and Asuna, who could see Hange slowly break out into a fit of sniggering, Mike chuckling a little and the greatest surprise of all: even Levi smiled.

"Programmed?" Erwin was just able to articulate, before being overcome with the hilarity of the teenager's question and returning to deep, long overdue laughter. Hange decided to take over from Erwin, having recovered along with the other two Squad Leaders present from the momentary lapse in composure.

"We're not NPCs, Kirito. We're all gamers who've been logged into SAO too!" And with that, Kirito and the others saw into the depths of Akihiko Kayaba's abilities to manipulate everything. But how could they prove or disprove the claims?

More importantly, could they trust the Survey Corps?

Notes: Sorry this chapter is like, 23 days after the others! I ended up getting a load of Maths homework for college, and also wanted to begin another cool creative uh.. thing, which is creating AMVs; I have a YouTube channel which I've put a link to in my Profile, so it'd be cool if you'd check those out! In future, chapters will probably be relatively slow because there are two one-shots I want to experiment with, and I also want to continue making AMVs; however, I will carry on updating this because I have some really cool ideas (in my opinion) and there are very few SAO/SnK crossovers at the moment! Thanks for reading :)