Review Responses:
setokayba2n- I've seen clips of it of things that popped up on my TikTok actually. That didn't interest me anymore than the summary, especially since a lot of them have captions talking about Kirito basically not moving for half a season or something? Which. Given my personal interests in it, why would I watch it if so? Since the main appeal for me is a combo of the story and Kirito's badassery. Not side character's. Kirito's. I mean, if other people like it, good for them, I'm glad they do, and maybe I'll end up watching it despite my misgivings someday and find myself surprised, but as things currently stand, my interest in it is a flat zero.
waytodawn0- Since you said "separate her Demon power" I'm going to assume you're talking about Marzanna? He doesn't really have a reason to do that. He knows what happens with that, he's made from that. The only thing he'd learn are any gender differences, and maybe if there were any minor variations from her being a human witch, and I can't see him caring about that all too much.
ShadowPhoenix34- Lol, I did say in that note that some of you may have started to pick up on where it was headed a little ahead of the name drop.
As much as they've been working to mitigate the damage of the invasion, there just really wasn't a whole lot to work with. Medeia was getting the US to take in refugees as fast as possible, especially given while there was a local Teleport Gate it could only Teleport so many at a time, and while other countries had also opened themselves up to taking in refugees their was still enough that they still had to hide as many as they can, both in the pre-existing magical districts and in the bases her mother was creating as fast as she can. However, the difference between now and five thousand years ago before the seal was that one, they had the help of the Angles, and two, the human population was significantly larger now than it was back then, and that meant that even with all of that, there were still plenty of people running around trying to stay out of the Demons collective grasp.
Hell, given how large the population was just here in the Saitama prefecture, the population here was undoubtedly a sizable amount of the entire global population the last time the Demons walked the Earth freely, and it wasn't like things would stay to just Saitama.
Point being, as frantically as they were running around trying to help as many people as possible evacuate, there were still an unfortunately large number of people around. Though Medeia had absolutely pulled through, given how much her people were also running around helping, though the broken seal means they had gotten a few Demon outbreaks, the benefit of the sheer size of the US means they have an awful lot of Demon Hunters, and given that the Demons tend to be after humans when they come to Earth, they don't really have reason to go for low population areas, so they don't even have that much ground to cover. Plus, with the fact Urizen is focused on the Qliphoth, the Demons don't really have the ordered structure of working under a monarch's command to work together to build Hell Gates.
There was also the somewhat strange state that there were a load of intelligent non-humans practically crawling out of the woodwork to help as well. None of them tended to be treated anywhere near as they were in the UK, though there were unfortunately other countries with similar ideals, but Japan certainly wasn't one, and between the fact the place they were hitting hardest was one of the ones that treated them well, combined with, as one vampire had dryly pointed out to her, the fact that if the Demons weren't stopped then they certainly wouldn't be ignored just because they weren't human, and it was their home plane too that was being attacked, so it was entirely understandable. Didn't make it any less strange to see vampires, and groups of Goblin soldiers who frankly seemed rather ecstatic to put their skills to use, or even a herd of centaur that she'd seen once, all running around helping get people to safety as well as killing hostile Demons as quickly as possible.
Actually, while there wasn't a huge amount of room given the way they tended to build below the surface, making entire ravines as they strip the earth of minerals, then branching off for vaults, the goblins had even opened their local bank as additional refuge for the masses.
That being said, with the fight now over, she can't help but turn to the group of Goblins that had been escorting a group Yui had told them was in danger with a somewhat distasteful expression. While she was incredibly appreciative of their willingness to help, and the fact they had even opened the almost sacred grounds of one of their banks to refugees, as well as the fact that even now, a group of them were healing the wounded amongst both the Goblins and the humans injured when the former began getting overwhelmed, she's still not very fond of them after that show of cruelty towards the dragon her mom and uncle saw.
The leader of the group, who had briskly introduced himself as Brightblade when they showed up to help, eyes her with narrowed eyes as their respective groups begin working on post-battle assessments, "I would think, Lady Kirigaya-Sparda, that being non-humans themselves, the Sparda's would not be amongst those who discriminate, and yet you look at us like we are, to be blunt, shit you have to put up with as it's going to be fertilizer."
Now normally, she would know that it would be better to tread carefully, given their dealings with the magical world and the goblins' position as worldwide bankers there could make things difficult for her family. Normally, she would make excuses and slide around the problem without having to admit to anything in such a delicate situation.
Normally, she wasn't nearly out of her mind with worry for her dad and aunts because her dad's soul bond and twin bond indicates he's still alive, and the family rings he and her aunts have back that up as well as showing that the latter two are also still alive, and yet the way the Qliphoth was interfering with the flow of energy was making it hard to find them, and they all know damn well all three of them would rather they focus on saving people first.
It's because of that, as well as that absolute tragedy of the mission two days ago to try and escort what was supposed to be the majority of a daycare's children only for them to be late, that her mouth is not dictated by her sense, "Yeah, well. My mom and uncle went over to one of your high security vaults in the UK and saw what your kind thinks is appropriate for nothing more than security, and we do not appreciate such cruelty."
Brightblade pulls back, expression confused, "Cruelty? Lady Kirigaya-Sparda, if you are referring to the fact Vaults suck in non-goblins who try to open them and the fact we claim we don't check them often, I assure you, that is just a joke we make to get a laugh for ourselves and discourage would be thieves."
She tiredly narrows her eyes, "I am referring to the Dragon and the, what'd mom say they called them? Clackers?"
Immediately, the Goblin to Brightblade's left starts cursing heavily in Gobbledegook. Brightblade himself had reared back as if slapped, but after a few moments he turns his gaze to the other goblin before gruffly stating, "Calm yourself Gleamstone."
The other Goblin, Gleamstone as Brightblade called them, snarls, "The UK-!"
Brightblade narrows his eyes and cuts him off in a flat tone, "I am aware." Then he takes a deep breath, "But now is not the time for rage. Not at the moment anyway."
He turns to her, "Lady Kirigaya-Sparda, let me assure you that- Actually, no." He holds up one of his hands, "I, Brightblade, swear on my life and magic that it has been illegal in the Goblin nation to torture dragons, or any other species for that matter, into submission for over five hundred years, so mote it be."
A flash of light goes off, and she feels the magic settle. She blinks quickly at him, then her brow furrows, "Illegal? But…"
He nods sharply, "Just so." He gestures to Gleamstone beside him, "Hence why my second in command here was so enraged at the very notion."
Gleamstone crosses his arms, and angrily hisses out, "It would seem our brethren over in the United Kingdom have been surrounded by that monstrosity that calls itself the British Ministry of Magic for far too long." He snorts, "Especially since while it was made illegal five hundred years ago, that was only because our general government found out some branches had started such horrendous practices and realized there weren't actually laws to prevent it."
Brightblade nods grimly, "Quite." Then he gives her a tired look, "We ourselves have been subject to cruelty, by the hands of wizards specifically as well as others, we do not condone such treatment towards other species, intelligent or not."
She tilts her head at them, "Why do I get the feeling I just accidentally instigated a Goblin civil war…"
Brightblade smiles at her sharply, "Oh, don't worry Lady Kirigaya-Sparda. At best this will be the subjugation of an insurrection. And we'll leave it to other branches since our help is needed here."
She hums, "Well, I guess that means that my family may be able to get the funds from our various Right of Conquests on those terrorists away from them without having to worry about pulling the money out of Gringotts entirely since we can't condone such behavior."
Brightblade nods, "As would well be your right. If we get this mess sorted out and your family gets around to that with their understable current distractions somewhat out of the way before we get a chance to clean that up, I can guarantee you at minimum that we over in the Japan branch do not practice such despicable behavior, and our UK brethren cannot stop you or slow you down if you're just transferring from one branch to another since while no branch likes a significant portion of funds leaving us, the system was designed to be easy to shift assets easily from one branch to another."
She nods thoughtfully, then murmurs her thanks for the information before they get back to work.
She darts over what's left of the ruined rooftops, practically untouched in some areas of the city but completely leveled in others with this area being a mixed bag, her mate hot on her heels as they rush ahead of everyone else. It isn't long before they see the Great Demon in question that they were beelining for. As she starts Trickster blinking forward rapidly to close, she makes out the group Yui had said she was reading rather grim feelings from through their Augma's.
Which makes perfect sense if they're up against a Great Demon, especially since while there were human Demon Hunters capable of such, she doesn't recognize any of the group. Regardless, they're in danger, and the people they were escorting would absolutely die if they fall before the Great Demon is taken care of.
Without hesitation, as she becomes level with its head she launches herself off of the roof, pushing herself into a spin, head over heels, originally holding Aquila for the light weight so as to not interfere with it, then switching to Arbiter to give it extra momentum as she bears down on it with her ax.
It roars in pain as she cleaves off two of its four arms completely, trying to snatch at her with the other two, which she deftly backflips away from before using a dash from Trickster to take a large swing at its legs with Osiris as she goes through.
Behind her, she hears someone gasp out in astonishment, "Hanna? What-? Why do you look just like…"
She doesn't take her eyes off the fight as her mate hums, "Well, I don't recognize you, but given you also don't know the answer, I assume we know you from ALO?"
The female's voice responds, "Uh, yeah? I mean, in ALO I'm known as the Cait Sith Lord Alicia Rue. But she…"
Her mate laughs at her confusion before explaining, "I don't know if you ever owned a NerveGear, but when you first turned it on, it wanted you to go through this whole 'calibration' process, where you'd pat yourself down and touch the ground and stuff. It said it was because it was supposed to help the NerveGear learn your brain specifically since there are some deviations from person to person. As I'm sure you already know from the AmuSphere, that is not, in fact, necessary in the slightest, but no one questioned it because it made sense. But it turned out that it, as well as the full face cover, were there because of Kayaba's plans. Specifically, in SAO, when Kayaba told us about his little death game, he told us he would prove that it was our only reality, and gave us all hand mirror items. After you pulled it out and looked at it though, your avatar would be replaced with a digital rendition of, well, you using the images the NerveGear got of your face from the full cover on front and an idea of your height from touching the ground and body from the pat down."
She hears someone from by her mate make a choked noise even as she dodges back from an attack before darting back in and launching up off its knee to stab it directly in the throat with Shuraba, and her mate continues, "Well, when those of us interested transferred over to ALO, Ymir found our player data buried in ALO since it was just a copy of the Cardinal system from SAO, so they offered SAO players to use their old characters, and basically everyone did, even if it meant it'd have their actual face. Honestly, for most of us, after two years in SAO, the idea of the avatar having a different face was just weird. For most of us, there really wasn't any difference between the avatar and the player. We weren't someone else within the game, we were just ourselves. That's also why ALO saw that sudden rush of players who had absolutely zero qualms about always showing how they felt in game rather than trying to act cool or professional in game too."
As she evades another grab as she moves in to shift to Arbiter, after her weapon is already above her so she doesn't have to heft it, and bring it down on one of its legs, cleaving it off in the process, a male voice behind her mumbles out an, "Oh… Hold up, you keep saying we, but I do know Hanna but I don't recognize you."
Her mate laughs, "That. Is because when I got wind that Marzanna may be in ALO and the NerveGear that I had gotten special permission to keep could run the game, meant that the fact they were both technically SAO's Cardinal system means that I got through the player creation and the acquisition of a new avatar before it realized I already had save data and it tried to read that. Whiiiich lead to me falling through a glitchy void onto my face as the conflict resolution kicked me to my sister's in game location instead of into the Spriggan capital."
As she brutally releases a Demonically charged Eryx punch straight into one of its kneecaps, shattering it in the process, she hears someone gasp out behind her, "Wait! Kirito?!"
Even as she takes advantage of it falling partially down to fling Aquila into its eyes as she launches herself up, grabbing back onto them and tearing them out before switching back to Arbiter as she slams down, ripping through its torso on the way, then switching back to Osiris to hook the back of its legs and tear through them to hamper it further, her mate laughs in the background, "The one and only, lady I don't recognize but assume I know from ALO."
Her stunned voice murmurs back, "Sakuya."
He hums as she darts around its desperate grab to swing up onto its back and lock her legs around its large form partially and switch to Nephthys to start tearing into it, "Ah, that would explain it I suppose. I sort of figured that one time I heard Alicia Rue say you owed her yen that you knew each other IRL, but still a bit of a weird coincidence you were together."
As it reaches behind itself to try and grab her, she hops off, tossing Aquila in the process, and even summoning Lucifer to toss some explosive needles into its back after Aquila buzzsaws it's way back out and starts back towards her, and the male voice from before pipes back up, "Not really. Because there are still some tensions between the Races in ALO we were wanting to meet up but didn't want to deal with any of those players who like to accuse us of betrayal because we're meeting with other Lords, so us ALO Lords met up in IRL to discuss trying to ease some of the lingering tension. It's Ururirior by the way, though I must confess I never expected to meet IRL. Alicia Rue and Sakuya already reintroduced themselves, but that's Mortimer, his brother Eugene, because as it turns out, that rumor they're IRL brothers is true. Anyway, that's Rina the Undine, Wakana the Pooka, Daegal the Leprechaun, Itzaru the Imp, and Daichi the Gnome."
As it ignites with some sort of fire ability, she switches back to Shuraba to have a hand free and casts a water sphere around it. The water immediately starts bubbling and trying to boil away, but she just keeps feeding the steam from it back into it. Behind her, another male voice pipes up, "You know, I was going to ask why you aren't helping, but she seems to have it under control."
Her mate laughs, "That she does Eugene. That, and she told me to hang back unless she gets in a bind to take care of any potential lesser Demons that pop up and come over here, given you guys look pretty beat up."
The guy who had introduced himself as Ulririor dryly answers back, "That's fair, we are in pretty bad shape. Though I am kinda curious how she's doing all that. Like, magic obviously for that sphere, but I've met a couple of Witches and Wizards since all this started and they've never done anything like the way she was fighting."
A bitter voice cuttingly answers back, "Isn't it obvious from the energy that comes out with that ax, or those gauntlets, or that thing on her back that made the explosives earlier? It matches the Demons', she's clearly one of them. Maybe one of those doppelgangers just pretending to help."
Before anyone else can say anything, an unknown woman's voice responds, "Them's fightin' words. That's a Sparda. Yeah, the Sparda family has Demonic blood, their patriarch is a Demon. But they've also got Angelic blood since that Demon's wife is an Angel, and on top of that, you have that Demon to thank for the fact Earth hasn't had to worry about true Demonic invasions in over five thousand years, because he worked with the Angles to put a seal between our planes. They're also the best Hunters in the world, as well as the ones who organized the evacuation to begin practically immediately. They're also the ones who created the International Demon Hunters Association to better network us together, as well as the fact that unless I'm misremembering it was that particular Sparda your talkin' shit about and her Husband here who's hangin' back just in case rather than helpin' his wife fight a Great Demon that invented the Demon Detectors that not only are used for your mini-maps on the Augma to help you steer clear of danger as much as possible, but also have been deployed enough for most of the other countries Demon Hunters to have a good idea of how much activity is happening in their country and therefore how many of us foreigners our respective local branch of the IDHA is comfortable sending to both help but still leave enough behind to defend if we get a bad outbreak. Point being, most Demon Hunters, and the supernatural world in general, will turn away from you in utter disgust if you go around talking shit about the Sparda's, so I'd suggest you keep those opinions to yourself."
Multiple voices call out in relief, "Everin-san!" Sakuya continues after the relieved cries, "You're alive! We thought when it threw you and that debris collapsed on you… I apologize that we didn't help get you out from under there."
Evelin, as she assumes her name is without a Japanese accent changing it given her English, snorts, "It's fine kid, prioritizing the Great Demon and these people's safety was the correct choice even if you'd realized. And I was hit awfully hard. Honestly, I'm surprised I-"
She's cut off by a huge roar from the Demon as her spell finally smothers its flames and it bursts out of the sphere by lunging towards her, "No water should be able to extinguish the flames of Hell, you traitorous little Sparda Spawn!"
It's off balance though after everything, so it isn't too hard to back off enough for its grasp to miss before moving back forward to launch herself up from the back of the hand it was reaching with and slam Arbiter straight into its skull, cleaving down enough to leave a gaping wound above it. As it reaches up with the second of its two remaining arms, she swings herself around Arbiter and up into the air above it, pulling out Pandora as she flips through the air.
She lands on the handle of her own ax as she levels Pandora in its gatling gun form right at the gaping wound in its skull. Its eyes blow wide in horror and she smiles in satisfaction, "Jackpot."
Then she opens up with it, firing directly into its brain with the energy rounds Pandora produces.
It isn't long in the slightest before the Demon is dead and its body begins turning into energy, rather than her sword though, it's absorbed by her directly as she falls, storing Pandora back into her Devil Bringer as she shifts Arbiter to Shuraba, scooping it up with a flip before landing back on her feet as the Demon finishes breaking down and disappearing.
She turns back to the group, only to see her mate shaking his head in amusement before teasingly saying, "Pretty sure that's your dad's line."
She snorts, "I'll say whatever I wanna say, thank you very much." Then she tilts her head at the vaguely familiar older woman being supported, "Do I know you? You look familiar."
The older woman who's just getting her first gray hairs snorts, then the voice that had been identified as Evelin responds, "I stayed with your family briefly back before all that SAO nonsense you got caught up in."
The voice that had accused her of being a doppelganger Demon, which turns out to belong to a woman about Kazuto and hers age, though from the cheap makeup and the more stylish styled clothes she looks like she'd been living a rather frivolous life, especially since she's still wearing them two weeks into the invasion when the vast majority of people have realized what a waste of time makeup and the like it at the moment, scoffs before muttering, "I don't know what's more of a ridiculous notion, that the woman known to have Demonic blood and her family are held in such high regard, that Kirigaya of all people married into a family held in such high regard, that he did so by marrying such a beautiful woman so high above his league, or that he thought he'd be able to help in regards to Demonic attacks…"
Kazuto looks over at her with furrowed brows, "Do I know you? You seem to have pretty firm opinions about me despite the fact we just met." The woman jolts, and the ALO Lords give him confused looks, and he glances over quickly, "I have very keen hearing."
The woman quickly recomposes herself and narrows her eyes before she speaks up, "I'm surprised you forgot, since I would think it would've been memorable for you."
Her mate's brows furrow, and through their bond she can feel him starting to go through his memories. She reaches out for him mentally, 'If she doesn't know about me, it would've had to have been before Aincrad.'
He turns to her, 'Right.'
She reaches through their bond to help him start going through his memories, which after the XaXa incident he'd taken advantage of the digital media his brain tends to sort memories in to add what's basically facial recognition software, so it isn't long before they get a almost perfect match, though time has clearly not been kind to the woman, given the last time he saw her she'd been considered one of the prettiest girls in the school he was attending before SAO.
The facial match the facial recognition 'software' his subconscious runs and his conscious approval of it being the correct match automatically pulls up the relevant files to the forefront of his mind for his perusal, and a flick through the summary of them reveals why the bitch thought she'd be memorable to her mate. She was one of the 'popular' kids in school, and absolutely fell into the stereotypical category of a bully for the unpopular kids, like her beloved nerdy geek had been categorized as.
She straightens with a snap of her fingers as she turns to her, "Oh! You're, what was it, Shiratori Kimiko? That used to bully him in school before SAO." She sees the ALO Lords and Eugene all tense, which… makes sense given that where their interests lie given where she knows them from, statistically they were probably also 'unpopular nerds and/or geeks' and had their own histories with those kinds of people, "Weird that you think you're important enough that he'd remember you after SAO and all this. And I really hope for your sake that if this hasn't served as a wake up call that you get over that mentality, because you are in for an incredibly harsh awakening otherwise when you start getting out into the wider world and find that not only are you not one of the prettiest girls around, but no one is going to fawn over you and bow to your whims."
Shiratori twitches, "Well, clearly he does remember me if you know who I am."
She snorts, "Don't flatter yourself. As you have no doubt realized if you have even a lick of sense, a lot of concepts that exist in the non-magical world have some sort of basis in the magical world. Such as soulmates, mind reading, and mental protection from the former. All of which is relevant because Kazuto is my soulmate, and given he's a practiced Occlumens, the term for the magical organization and defense of one's mind, it's not that hard to dig through old memories to find where he knows you from and given that bonded soulmates like myself and Kazuto also have a telepathic connection, then just him managing to dig out those old dusty memories he hasn't given a sliver of thought to beyond recalling the academic knowledge he gained during those years for the purpose of continuing his schooling, I saw it myself when he located the memories and pulled them back out to place you." She eyes her, "Hence why I said it's weird that you expected him to remember you though. Because while it's true some people get bitter enough to hold onto those grudges even after leaving school, Kazuto isn't one of those people, and it's kind of hilariously sad that you think you rank high enough for him to remember."
Shiratori makes to open her mouth before she's quickly cut off by an older woman at her side, her mother presumably given the similarities in their looks, "That is enough Kimiko. I did not raise you to be a bully to begin with and I'm utterly ashamed to hear the sort of behavior you were conducting yourself with at school, but this is even less of a time for such displaced superiority nonsense."
Shiratori flinches, then looks down towards the ground with a scowl, mumbling, "Yes mother."
She snorts, then turns back to the ALO group, whose lips are twitching into attempts to hide smiles, which if her previous assumption regarding their personal experience with people like Shiratori is correct, is likely at the satisfaction of seeing her put in her place, as well as feels Kazuto hesitate briefly when he remembers the torment Shiratori and her little group used to put him through before shaking her off as utterly unimportant and put the memories back allowing them to fade back into the obscure recesses of his mind. Though even as he does she does also pick up faint satisfaction that the woman who used to be amongst his tormentors is now little more than another random life to protect rather than anything noteworthy to his brain.
Obviously he cares about lives and that's vaguely noteworthy, but between his experiences since he last saw her, and a need to focus on people as a whole, and their group in particular, as well as the fact he isn't petty enough to let her die for her past, and present if they're being honest, digs at him, she's nothing more than that, "Anyway! Kinda strange to see you guys with a full blown Demon Hunter, since from the brief conversation earlier it seems like you know Evelin better than just brief acquaintances from her rescuing you?"
One of the males shakes his head, and quickly reveals himself to be Ulririor by the voice, "We were unlucky enough to be in one of the areas that was quickly under attack by Demons, but when Yui informed everyone that melee weapons would be better while they obviously weren't ideal we managed to fend off the Demons around the restaurant we met up at with the sharper knives and some blunt weapons Daegal and Daichi made with some table legs since they were sturdier and the two of them prefer those kinds of weapons. We were surprised to realize we were actually… kinda good at fighting? Even with the less than ideal weapons?"
Kazuto snorts, "As Marzanna, Hanna as you'd know her, pointed out to our friends, there really isn't any difference between manual fighting in game and IRL. Since you guys would've been amongst the top players, it's not that surprising that even if your muscles weren't used to it, your brains would know what to do."
Another of the males tilts his head, then his voice lets her know that it's Eugene, "That… makes a whole lot of sense actually. Anyway, we managed to gather up everyone still around after we fended off the Demons and made for the nearest shelter. They were already pretty full, and while there technically was enough room for us it… didn't feel right to me to abandon other people who may not be able to defend themselves as well, and we didn't really talk about it and I don't know how much of it is because our group of the ALO Lords and me is used to taking care of other people, but we didn't really need to talk about it to make it clear everyone else agreed with me after I said it so we just… went back out to help. Picked up some slightly better weapons at one of the magical shopping centers when we noticed a Smith and they were more than happy to just give them to us to help since that shopping center was somewhere we'd taken two groups previously so they knew we'd make good use of them. After a bit we ran into Evelune here and she straight up told us that she was technically supposed to be mostly retired and just helping younger Demon Hunters learn the ropes, but she said she was old enough that she wasn't afraid of dying and had been a Demon Hunter so long that she couldn't ignore the crises, so she volunteered to be amongst those sent and just sort of took us under her wing to teach us how to take our skills and apply them to Demon Hunting and protecting people we're escorting. Managed to get significantly better weapons with her help and we've been running with her since."
Evelin snorts faintly, then smiles at her in amusement, "From the stocks that were offered up to the Demon Hunters to distribute, so you definitely know their quality."
She makes a noise of understanding, and a woman leans forward, "Hold up. How would she just… know?"
Not recognizing her, Kazuto seems to notice and quickly realizes she obviously hadn't been looking during introductions and been going off of the voices that had been identified to link names to faces, he quickly sends her a brief burst of memory of the introductions, letting her recognize her as Itzaru. Evelin snorts as she looks over at her in amusement, "Because the weapon stock that was handed out to us Demon Hunters to distribute to those with promise that were willing to help were made by her grandfather. Who, due to the Sparda's incredible life spans because they aren't human, has been a blacksmith for literally thousands of years. He knows what he's doing."
Itzaru makes an 'o' expression as she murmurs it as well, and given the digs she'd been tossing towards her, Kazuto can't seem to help himself when he glances at Shiratori and adds, "Her Demon of a grandfather that is, y'know, the one who originally made the seal that let humanity live mostly in peace away from Demonic influence for so long."
Shiratori wilts even further as her mother and even the other people they were escorting to safety give her looks at the knowledge of not only everything the Sparda's had done but even that the weapons that have been defending them while they traveled were provided by them, and yet she'd been rather insulting to them.
She shakes her head, but doesn't say anything to Kazuto since Shiratori had tormented him when they were younger and has been insulting him practically since they showed up, so she doesn't like her either, "Anyway, is everyo-"
"Hey!"
She looks up to see Asuna and the others coming in to land, and hears Sakuya mutter in disbelief, "Are- Are those ALO style wings?"
She snorts even as she raises a hand to wave to let them know that they see them so they know it's safe to come land since no one will instinctively attack thanking they're flying Demons, "There's already magic that exists that let's people fly, though it is falsely thought to be highly advanced, so it wasn't very hard for Kazuto and I in some down time when we needed to rest to come up with a device that absorbs ambient magic and lets you fly."
Asuna lets out a snort of her own, "She says, like it isn't actually advanced magic and she and Kirito didn't practically revolutionize a new method of flying-type magical transportation as basically an absent afterthought."
She rolls her eyes at her friend, "I keep telling you, it isn't. It just falls under body magic, and since most magicals practically never use it, if they ever do, they're unfamiliar with using it. It is simple if you are familiar with body magic though." She turns to the ALO group with Evelin, "Anyway, while Asuna assesses wounds because she's actually a witch and while she's too young to have become a certified Healer just yet, she was already training to get there and knows enough that she was able to pass an emergency mediwitch exam and get her provisional license in light of the current event since despite not being a full Healer she knows enough to at least not make things worse if its beyond her skill level, we have some extra flight devices for anyone familiar with manual ALO flight since we designed them to work the same way."
She glances up towards the sky, "Though, fair warning, there are some disadvantages, since while for obvious reasons you can move faster with them than on foot, it does open you up more to flying Demons since you no longer have the assurance that they can't really come from below and it, as I'm sure you know from ALO, can be significantly harder to get cover when flying unless you're lower to the ground."
There are murmurs of understanding from the ALO group as they approach and Suguha pulls out her small bag of them and hands them over. She pulls one out, "Ok. First things first, fair warning that while it doesn't hurt and it does position itself automatically via magic, these are implants. The original design was basically just a harness, but given the possibility of straps being cut through and the like, we scrapped that idea. You just press one of these to the skin around that same area in ALO between the shoulder blades that you imagine virtual bones and wings growing out of and it uses magic to basically phase through the skin and properly get into position before latching onto the spine and linking into the nerves for you to control. They're perfectly safe, they were run through extensive testing to be sure of that, and even if you manage to find something that will make them short circuit they won't put any feedback into the nerves or anything."
There are somewhat hesitant looks shared between them, and into the pause Suguha glances at her, "You certain they know how to make use of them?"
She glances over in amusement, "They were meeting up IRL because of the lingering tensions and a desire to avoid those players that like to try and call traitor when they're found talking, so these are the ALO Lords and Eugene." She points at each of them respectively as she tells Suguha their screen names, before finally finishing, "And that's Sakuya. Sakuya, this is Suguha, or as you'd know her, Leafa."
Sakuya straightens quickly, "Leafa! It's so good to see you're ok!" Then she glances between her and Kazuto and comments, "I can see the resemblance." Then she looks around their group before her brows furrow a bit as she turns back to Suguha, "No Recon?"
Suguha shakes her head with a faint smile, "He's with us in general, but he said himself that he's not great at fighting, and since there's no respawn in the real world…" Suguha shrugs and points a thumb at her, "He's better at living up to his screen name, so he and Argo are running around with Marzanna's aunt Kat learning the ropes of IRL reconnaissance and info gathering and the like."
Sakuya's worry fades, "Ah. That… makes a surprising amount of sense actually." Then she glances behind Suguha with faint amusement, "Why do they look like full blown ALO wings though? I mean, you have straight up Sylph wings, Asuna over there has Undine wings…"
She snorts, "Technically, the visible wings aren't really necessary but Suguha suggested adding them to help people gadge how much of a charge of ambient magic the flight device has, and since Yui got in touch with them when all this originally broke out, the Ymir people actually met up with us and having been helping out with the map and any possible programming additions like those digital lists of bases and their capacity and the ability to search names to see if any loved ones made it to one. Anyway, we had to link it to the Augma anyway both because we wanted to add an option to display actual battery charge left in percentage rather than having to gadge it based on the wings which are more meant for other people to be able to give you a heads up if your too focused on something else, as well as to send an order to it to unhook itself and use its magic to phase back to the surface if needed for whatever reason. So when the guys at Ymir found out about it they offered up the use of the designs of the ALO wings, mostly out of humor, though I think at least somewhat for a vague sense of familiarity and the old norm they were used to, so on the Augma menu for it you can select the kind of wings it displays. Though since they can't do fully infinite flight since it can only absorb ambient magic so quickly, they're less subtle about how they show how much magic they have left. On most of the wings they steadily turn black from the tips inward as they run out of charge and on darker wings they do the same bit in an ashy gray color."
There are murmurs of understanding and they share a few more hesitant glances before Eugene steps forward, "If you're all worried I'll try it first, I can't see Kirito and Hanna giving anything dangerous to their friends." He tilts his head at her, "Do I need to pull my shirt up because it'll confuse it or something, or can it phase through that just fine too?"
She shakes her head, "It'll phase through the shirt. You just need to turn around so I can put it sort of in position. It'll correct to the exact spot it needs to be in by using the 3D model of a human body we gave it to know exactly where it's supposed to go, so you don't need to worry about it being misplaced."
He nods and turns, and she lifts it up, "Ok, I'm gonna place it against your skin now, you'll feel a tickle as it moves into position, so try not to squirm. It won't hurt you if you do, but you can push it off course with the muscle movements which can make it take longer."
He nods, so without another word she presses the oval black device to his skin. He twitches slightly at the beginning of the tickling sensation, but does a good job holding still as it moves into position. After a beat, he glances over his shoulder at her, "I just saw a 'flight module attached' flash across my vision. I assume that means it's done?"
She makes an agreeing hum, "In position and connected to your Augma. If you wanna change their style you just need to pull up the Augma menu and it'll be under a new tab simply labeled 'wings' since Kazuto and I haven't bothered to come up with a snazzy name like AmuSphere or Augma for it."
He snorts as he steps away, waving a hand to pull up the menu only he can see and quickly manipulating it. A moment later, red Salamander style wings come out of his back as he glances back to see them with a faint smile before looking back at his group as they disappear, "She isn't kidding, it just tickles."
As Sakuya steps forward to get one, she adds, "One last thing, if you ever feel that fatigued feeling around your shoulder blades like you can feel in ALO if you fly for long periods, there's no actual strain, but Kazuto and I specifically designed them to send a signal your brain would interpret as that strain if the charge in it drops to twenty percent as an additional warning that it's battery is running low."
Sakuya nods her understanding then turns to get her implant. Once it's done she shakes herself off with a mumble about hating being tickled before getting another for Alicia as she hands a second to Eugene for Mortimer while Kazuto handles Ulririor. It isn't long before they all have them, and have set them to their preferred ALO race wings style and pulled them out briefly to check them out.
When they're all done and satisfied Asuna steps forward, "I've taken care of all of the injuries. None of them were beyond my abilities thankfully, and while some of them are longer potion heals and will need assistance, I've already organized that so we're ready to head out."
She glances over their group, getting nods in agreement then glances over the ALO Lord group and gets more confirmations before turning back to Asuna with a smile. She claps her hands, "Alrighty then, let's get moving!"
As they start to make their way through the torn up streets, Ulririor approaches her and Kazuto with the other Lords' group, "So… Yui?"
She knows exactly what he's asking, so she just shrugs, "Since they didn't know Kayaba's plans and were concerned about the possible effects things like dying in VR would have on people, Argus developed what they called a Mental Health Counseling Program with the intention that it would monitor players mental states and go to them if they were distressed. But when he turned it into a death game, Kayaba banned her from going to players. The conflict between what she was literally designed to do and the fact she was banned from doing it even as her programming forced her to keep an eye on players eventually had a very… strange effect on her. Somewhere in that mess, she became a fully sentient AI."
Ulririor's eyes widen as the rest of his group gapes at her, and she shrugs again, "Kazuto and I apparently caught her interest. She said we were the only players in Aincrad that were consistently happy and we tended to make the people around us happy too, so she started appearing at the nearest GM emergency console and watching us out of desire to be close to us. Eventually the bugs built up enough from the conflict in her system that she collapsed and lost consciousness, and her memory data was also damaged so when she woke up all she could recall was her name. Yui. Or, Mental Health Counseling Program 001 codename Yui anyway, though she only remembered Yui. We got… admittedly alarmingly attached to her unbelievably quickly, though part of that may be because the damage to her language program meant she talked like an even younger child then she appeared to be and struggled to pronounce our names, so we told her to just call us whatever she wanted and for some reason she decided to call us… Papa and Mama, and she looked so innocent and everything that I really didn't have the heart to correct her, so we just sort of… rolled with it?"
Ulririor is starting to laugh, not meanly, just somewhat incredulously, so she flashes him a smile, "So yeah, the Papa and Mama thing on top of how adorable she is and the fact she was doing things like gently insisting she wanted to try one of Kazuto's spicy sandwiches because she wanted one just like Papa's probably had a good bit to do with how ridiculously attached we got. Needless to say, since we didn't know she was just an AI at the time, we were actually rather dreading having to give her back to her parents or guardians. Anyway, fast forward a bit and we were recruited to go rescue Thinker while we were looking for her parents or guardians since she looked young enough that we figured no one would've let her dive alone, and while that was when we met Sasha and the kids she was taking care of, she refused to be left behind, so we ended up taking her with us since from the difficulty level the dungeon was we figured it wouldn't be difficult to keep her safe."
She shakes her head, "Thinker turned out to be inside a safe zone, which we were figuring from the fact Yulier said his dot on the map hadn't moved in literal days even though he was in a dungeon, but the emergency GM console meant they'd put an incredibly strong boss in the hallway in front of it, so we sent Yui with Yulier and sometime while they were inside, she bumped up against the GM emergency console which made the Cardinal system finally take notice of all the errors and damage to her programming and fix them, and then she used her Admin power to make a barrier to keep Thinker and Yulier inside while she came out to us. Paralyzed Kazuto and I as well, to keep us from potentially dying trying to save her. Then even though she knew Cardinal would run her credentials and realize she was acting as a rogue program and delete her, she deleted the boss so it couldn't kill us since Kazuto and I were actually struggling with it."
Ulririor sucks in a sharp breath and gazes at her with wide eyes, though he's far from the only one, and she smiles tiredly, "There's a reason we know she's fully sentient. Anyway, with the boss gone, we retreated to the safety zone and she told us the whole story. Since she hadn't told us that she was going to be deleted yet, I was actually kinda happy at the time, since it meant we didn't have to give her back to anyone. Then she told us of her approaching deletion, and it all came crashing down. Luckily, the Cardinal system's first job was to isolate her program to keep whatever had made her go 'rogue' from spreading, and she later told us it would've kept her isolated for a while for study to try and work out what went wrong to prevent it, so it wasn't as close a call as we were all worried. Anyway, Yui had absently accessed the console to show us what it was when she was explaining and Kazuto managed to use the minute or so he had using her credentials on the console before the system realized he wasn't supposed to have access and blast him away to take her isolated program away from Cardinal, stop it from deleting her, and set it to download to his NerveGear when the game was beaten since he didn't exactly want to risk compromising his NerveGear and causing it to go off, especially since that's the last thing Yui would've wanted."
She gazes into the distance in thought for a few moments as she remembers the past, then she shakes herself, "Anyway! When RCT obtained all the SAO data and rights, they got a copy of Yui's programming too, but given that Sugou is a bastard, he saw no reason for it, he stripped it down to an incredible degree and made it a micro-transaction to purchase it in the form of what you would know as a NaviPixie. So when Kazuto found out about Asuna being in ALO because of that picture of the birdcage with her avatar inside at the top of the World Tree that group of players managed to get and came to ALO to confirm that it really was her and that we were there and rescue us…"
She shrugs again, "Well, since he was in to much of a rush to bother buying an AmuSphere since the game was technically backwards compatible, and the NerveGear wasn't gonna go off even if he died in game or something, as you guys know, he just used that and after Character Creation and the copy of the Cardinal system ALO was made with realized he already had save data, in the end he ended up being relocated close to his sister with a new avatar but all his old skill levels, Yuld, and most importantly, inventory. Most of the latter was just gibberish lines of text since none of the items existed in game, but Cardinal, for obvious reasons, recognized Yui, so the crystal he'd stored her in when he isolated her was clearly labeled as MHCP-001 so he brought it out, and the moment he touched it Yui popped back out. Though, unlike other NaviPixies she has both a full sized eight year old looking form and a NaviPixie form she can switch between at will, since the fact NaviPixies are based on her programming means ALO recognizes her not just as an older program but as one of them."
She glances at Ulririor to find him, and the others, rather enraptured in the story, "She actually helped save all of us that Sugou snatched, and later with magic, I managed to create an artificial body, using my own and Kazuto's blood as it's genetic basis, and Kazuto used Technomancy tech for her brain, and the whole thing lets her essentially project herself into her IRL body in a reverse of how the AmuSphere and the like allows us to project our consciousness into VR. Originally she needed an entire specially enchanted bed to go back into the digital world, since she doesn't have a subconscious or the like to leave behind to take care of things like breathing for her, but we'd gotten it down to a bracelet by the time of the seal break occurring a couple weeks ago. So while I was talking to Hirohito and Medeia, the elected magical officials for Japan and America, about getting evacuation started, and we started discussing how to lead people to safety, Yui was trying to get my attention. Though I'll admit at the time I was so focused on the crises I didn't notice until Yui just… started broadcasting her emergency message through the Augma."
She looks over at their dumbfounded expressions with a smile, "It's kinda funny actually, two of the only things she's ever done wrong, and they were breaking into ALO's server to get the Ymir company heads' contact information to request the use of the NaviPixie programming, and technically illegally accessing the Augma emergency broadcasting system. And whether it's the magical branch or the non-magical branch of the Japanese government, both of them dismissed any criminal wrongdoings given the circumstances and exactly why she did it."
Not far from them, Eugene crosses his arms as he turns his gaze towards the ground, "Then she's more brave than a lot of people I've met since this crisis." She hums in question, and he looks up with a tired smile, "Obviously it all worked out, but she had no guarantee that she'd be forgiven, especially since fiction regarding sentient AI likely leads people to be more inclined to being scared of her, and if the government had been afraid, taking those actions would've opened up a potential possibility as to how to shackle or destroy her legally. And Ymir could've been a bunch of bastards and insisted her programming belongs to them rightfully and taken her away from you, and that's without touching the fact she knew she would get deleted but not that Kirito would manage to save her when she made the choice to delete that boss to save you two. That's a hell of a lot more brave than some people I've met in these times."
Sakuya leans forward with furrowed brows, "Ymir is being cool about it right? I mean, I assume they are if they're working with her and you guys, but…"
She smiles at Sakuya, "The guys who own Ymir basically came to us and insisted on have a government official present and once we had one basically said, 'look, we wanted you here Mr Government official to clarify on record that this is not some form of slavery, but since everyone is a bit… distracted right now, Yui hasn't been granted the Sentient recognition she deserves, and that's a bit low on everyone's priority list since she's not in any danger right at the moment, but we wanted to make sure she'd be safety in the hands of her parents and no one could dispute it, so we've drawn up these legal documents considering Yui as a separate entity from the NaviPixie programming and all that and since sales are easier than just giving something away, we are going to sell the rights to Yui's specific programming to Kazuto and Marzanna for a single dollar. Ok? OK. Cool, read the paperwork over, sign it, then just give us a dollar and that way no one can try to seize her away from us and then take her from you.' Which was really cool of them, because yeah, since it's not really a priority given everything going on, she's still not acknowledged as a sentient being, so. Best course of action. No one can try to seize the rights to Yui from them by grabbing the NaviPixie since it got publicly made available through the Augma given the crises since she's legally considered something else separate entirely, we don't have to worry about anyone taking Yui from us, and the government gets notified and assured that it's just because it's the cleanest way to handle the situation right at the moment, not because of someone trying to own an as of yet unrecognized sentient being."
Alicia Rue lets out a huge sigh, "That's a relief! Like, the couple times I saw her in ALO even without knowing she was sentient I thought she acted way more adorable than other NaviPixies, but given the risks she took just to try and make people as safe as possible, and to know she is sentient on top of all of that…"
There are murmurs of agreement from the rest of the Lords' group, even amongst the people that they were just escorting, having heard it given how quiet the group was in general. That is, with one glaring exception, as she hears Shiratori's voice murmur, seeming to be purposely pitched to carry, "Kind of pathetic to get attached to a program and think it's your child. Though, I suppose it's not that surprising from Kirigaya, since there's no way he's ever getting a kid the normal way. Honestly, the only way he got married was because of that soulmate nonsense, there's no way she would've given him a second glance otherwise."
There's a brief moment of stunned silence as everyone stops to turn to her and her mother gapes at her in horror. She tilts her head at her, "Actually, for your information, the soulmate bond does not in any way create feelings between a bonded couple. Hell, if one of them goes through a major life event that changes them drastically, they can even hate each other. So no, my husband is not my husband just because he got lucky enough to have a soulmate like me. He's my husband because I love him, which I suppose is a rather alien concept to such a shallow woman like you. And if Yui isn't sentient then you don't have a claim to it either, since you can no more provide more so-called proof than she can." She pauses, then adds, "And for the record, it's Kirigaya-Sparda, given we hyphenated."
Shiratori opens her mouth, but then her mother's hand clamps down on her shoulder, "Not only that, but it is disrespectful beyond comprehension that you would be bad mouthing them after learning all of that. That program as you called her, is damned far more brave than you, or do you think I didn't notice you run out of the kitchen when those Demons broke in, abandoning your own parents to save your sorry hide. I didn't mind at the time, and I still don't given that regardless of how infuriating your behavior is you are still my child, and parents generally want their child to survive even at their own cost, but by the gods are you an absolute disgrace right now."
She narrows her eyes down at Shiratori, "Since you care about it so much despite the fact we're in what's basically an apocalyptic city that you looted that cheap makeup when me and your father didn't give you time to grab yours along with some of your clothes before we left, when we get to the shelter you can hand it all over and we'll see if we can rustle up a change of clothes to something more plain, and no nice clothes and makeup will have to serve as adequate punishment for the time being since your phone got smashed and you actually need your Augma." Then she turns to them as she shifts her hand to the back of her outraged daughter's head and forces her to bow at them in apology with her, "I cannot even begin to apologize profusely enough for my daughter's behavior, especially since even despite all that you are still good enough people that you haven't even suggested trying to leave us behind."
The last is accompanied by her squeezing her daughter's head to drive the point home of the fact if nothing else possibly angering the people protecting them was a stupid idea, but she waves her to straighten with a tired smile, "Just because I don't like your daughter given the past I saw her having with my husband in his memories and the fact she's unbelievably rude does not mean I'd essentially leave you, both of you even the spoiled brat your daughter seems to have become without your influence, to what would likely be your deaths. I'm not that petty." She shakes her head as she glances at Shiratori, the younger not the older, as she begins to turn away, "Honestly, unless your daughter physically attacks my husband, the worst she has to worry about from me is me suggesting she be given bedding that's a bit too small or be roomed with a bunch of screaming kids or something. Petty at best, not dangerous."
She waves her hand vaguely at the end, and the man who seems to be Shiratori's father snorts and eyes his daughter, "Which she would absolutely deserve at the rate she's going."
She flashes Shiratori's father an amused look over her shoulder then turns back to the Lords, "So! How have things been with you guys the past couple weeks in this sorta apocalypse? If nothing else, I'm sure Suguha, Leafa, wants to hear how you've been doing Sakuya, since you guys are friends and all."
The others smile at her, then begin filling them in with surprising cheer. Or maybe not so surprising. It was incredible, the circumstances people could grow accustomed to when necessity.