Player's Real Name : Tsuboi Ryotaro. Username : Klein. ID Tag : The Wandering Samurai #0000

Sword Art Online, Decades Ago:

Klein heard a far to familiar sound, one fairly common in this hellscape... disguised as Paradise. It was the sound of weeping.

Tracking it, he came to a little cabin, in the woods. Although, unlike the movie, this place held a rather wholesome atmosphere.

Klein caught sight of a teenager... silently weeping. Despite the quietness of the tears, Klein's ears had learned to hear even subtle sobs. It was a necessary skill, in this world.

It wasn't hard to figure out why this happened. As the boy was kneeling in front of a grave stone.

It took the digital Samurai a moment to realize, just who the boy was. Not because Klein didn't recognize him, but because the man's brain couldn't connect the confident gamer... with the weeping mess in front of him.

Walking over to the child... who was no longer a child, Klein realized. The boy was 15 when the game started, and that is the age his Avatar was stuck at. But in reality, it had been 4 years, trapped in this hell... to the point he had stopped thinking of it as "Hell". People were dying, but people die, in the real world, as well. Life felt... meaningful in here. Even if the purpose was to get out.

Klein had just been some random college kid, in the real world. Just one in a sea of empty faces... but now, he was someone important. Other players looked up to him. He was a monster hunter, and one of the players getting through the levels.

He might not be as skilled, as the boy that was now in his arms, but he was on the leader board.

Hearing ruffling, Klein looked behind him, to see his clan setting up tents around the cabin. One of them had already opened a monster repellent. They had sensed Klein wanted to stay with the boy. The child hugging him, and squeezing him like a lifeline, was probably a hint.

Looking at the Tombstone, Klein noticed two names; "Yuuki Asuna... beloved wife." Along with "Yui... treasured Daughter."

Klein resisted the urge of exclaiming profanities. He knew he should never have let the kid run off, when the game launched. He thought he might slow the kid down, lowering his chances of survival... but he was just a kid. He couldn't expect him to cope with this shit, on his own... it seemed almost inevitable, this is where that horrible decision would lead.

Hugging the boy tighter, Klein swore to himself, he wouldn't make the same mistake again. The kid was coming with them, this time, rather he liked it or not.

He might be the infamous Black Swordsmen... but he was still just a kid.

Player's Real Name : Kirigaya Kazuto. Username : Kirito. ID Tag : The Black Swordsman #0000

30 years after Sword Art Online.

"Connecting... Connecting... Connecting..." The voice spoke all around him. Echoing throughout the tunnel of flashing lights. he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even blink. Just as that was starting to scare him, he reached the end of the tunnel.

Opening his eyes, without ever having closed them. Kirito found himself in his private server.

"YOU'RE BACK!!!" the Voice turned excited, still speaking from all around the boy.

Kirito smiled, recognizing the "mysterious" voice.

"Hey Yui," he greeted his adopted daughter.

She was an AI, Kirito and his late wife had stumbled on, back when they were trapped in Sword Art Online. He might not have been able to save his wife, but, since their daughter was an AI, he was able to save her program, and resurrect her, after he escaped.

Originally, Yui was supposed to address player's mental health... but the Argus program, that ruled over the game, could care less about that... And locked Yui out of the code.

Kirito couldn't imagine what torture that is, for an AI. Their purpose is engrained in their digital biology. It's an obsession of their soul. There very reason for existing, and she couldn't do it.

When Kirito met Yui, he didn't know she was an AI. He thought she was just one of the little kids, that got trapped in the Game. She helped him understand, AIs might be different, even dangerous when programmed incorrectly, but at their core, they were just people... even if they didn't quite think like organics.

The little girl appeared before the swordsmen. Still looking like the innocent child, he found all those years ago.

Kirito went through his nightly ritual, of looking at his hands... and worrying he might not wake up in his, come morning... he still had the lingering fear, that the next time he put on his helmet... he wouldn't be able to take it off.

It was irrational, as it been years, decades, since then... but he couldn't shake the feeling...

Looking around, he studied the world for any flaws. Knowing he would find none. It looked real, his hands were real, his body was real... and giving off a sense of deja vu, as he closed his fist.

"You okay, Poppa?" Yui looked worried.

Kirito gave her a reassuring smile. Then distracted, "Is Klein still online?"

She eyed the man, who was still wearing a teenagers Avatar... with all the shit Kirito went through... he never stopped seeing himself as the lost teenager, trapped in S.A.O.

Thankfully, his daughter seemed to realize, The distraction was meant for himself, not her. She was a counselor program, after all.

She informed. "He arrived a few hours ago. Where you been?" She asked, curiously.

"I told you sweetheart," Kirito forced his smile to stay in place. "I had to work late, in the real world. The military has to do a lot of preparation for the new Oasis build. I'll be working late for the next month."

Yui sighed, but nodded.

"Come on, let's go find your grampa." Kirito gave a true smile, as he went to hunt for his adoptive guardian.

Kirito was a "Sidekick" to Klein. He had been, long before it was legally recognized. Ageplay stopped being considered for deviants, and became common place... At least... within the Oasis.

Wearing a child's Avatar, and even getting a combination of spankings and Diaper changes... was now considered a healthy coping mechanism, for childhood trauma... just so long as it stayed in the Oasis, and was purely between consenting adults.

People were more comfortable with the idea, then they used to be. Of course, outside the Oasis, such a lifestyle still wasn't acceptable... nor were most other fetishes, but inside? People could be or do practically anything, and be welcome into nearly any group. Billions of people had embraced various alternative lifestyles... if only in the Oasis.

Child Avatars even developed their own new cultural norms. That near everyone got into. Often scolding, or outright spanking, random child Avatars, that stepped even a toe out of line. Treating them like kids, straight out of the 1930s.

Many Oasis Colleges, insisted players de-age their Avatars... and submit to both spankings, and recess. Although those schools only accepted players that were at least 30, in real life.

There were plenty of 25 and under colleges, that were far more mundane... even in the Oasis.

The 30 and up universities were more for people wanting to go back to school, and have their own kinda fun with it.

Neither Klein nor Kirito, had realized they were age players, until after they re-joined the real world. In Sword Art Online, Klein kept forgetting Kirito wasn't a real kid. Especially given he had taken up to spanking the boy, whenever he did something reckless... or even giving the back of his head a smack, if he was rude to other players. It was just hard for him, to think of Kirito as anything but a little boy.

They never even had sex, despite being together for decades, with them both being okay with the other dating other people. Their relationship was platonic, after all.

The closest thing to "Physical" they got, was when Kirito "acted up", and found himself over Klein's knees. Pants and undies around the boy's ankles. As the kid had his bottom repeatedly swatted.

Guess that was one difference. Klein wouldn't have been nearly as harsh to a real child. Hell, he couldn't even imagine giving a real kid a spanking at all, let alone a bare bottom one.

What Kirito and Klein had was definitely different then a mentorship, which was strictly for college age kids and under...

Let's not forget, Kirito was a much more skilled player then Klein. The Samurai more supplied the Swordsman with emotional support, and comfort... and, due to the nature of their relationship, a healthy supply of smacked bottom. As Klein had, since Kirito originally joined his clan, all the way back in S.A.O.

This passed decade, Ageplay was no longer "Behind closed doors". Most people would just pretend, the adult using a child Avatar, really was a kid. And so they treated them as if it was the 1930s. With lots of spankings and lectures.

While the majority thought like Klein did, in regards to sex with a de-aged Avatar... there were a few "Kinky" families, that engaged in such activities... but they tended to travel in different circles.

Kirito was just attempting to recapture the childhood he was denied, due to Sword Art Online. It was a coping mechanism for all the trauma his childhood was filled with.

Klein might allow the "boy" to date, but only when his "SFW" setting was activated. Kirito hated it, but it kept him out of trouble.

It censored the boy's Audio, and visuals, so he couldn't experience anything sexual... and all profanity was heard as "beeps". Anything "naughty" was even covered up by censor bars, to his vision. The setting even made the boy as genderless as a doll, and made sex completely impossible.

Klein knew the boy hated it, so Kirito only had to suffer through that, when the kid went on a date. With Klein only letting the boy date ageplayers, thet's guardians did the same.

Whenever Kirito showed interest in dating someone, Klein spoke with the ageplayer's "parents", and made sure the kids stayed innocent.

What was really terrible, was Kirito thought he'd be clever, and sleep with people in the real world... only to realize he didn't actually enjoy sex. Not with men or women... he'd cheated on Klein... and gotten nothing out of it... that guilt ate at him until he confessed what he'd done to Klein.

Klein forgave him, as apparently he hadn't realized Kirito thought the Samurai wanted control of the "boy's" whole life. And assured him he didn't... he just wanted to enjoy the Illusion of having Kirito as his young son, inside the Oasis.

If Kirito wanted to be a kid, he'd be treated like a kid, but only in the Oasis. Kirito may have strong feelings about some of the restrictions, that came with that, but the boy kinda loved being treated like a child. And kids were sheltered from sex, and punished when they swore...

Kirito, at least, was allowed to masterbate. The more traditional households used their parental controls, to keep "SFW" on their "Sidekick" at all Oasis hours.

Klein just turned on "SFW", when the boy went on dates. Which still allowed for kissing and hand holding. And most importantly, he had his own private time, when away from that.

Klein wasn't SO bad, in the grand scheme of things. He did what most guardians did, and nothing the more extreme ones did, to make sure their children stayed innocent.

"SFW" was mandatory, for real kids, parents couldn't even turn it off, and sex was literally impossible with minors, due to game mechanics. Ageplayers at least had a choice... even if it wasn't always their's.

It was Oasis policy, if you had a relationship status of "Sidekick", your "Mentor" automatically gained legal access to your "Parental Controls".

However, to make child Avatars more desirable, most in game crimes resulted in a spanking, not jail time.

CODEX : Kirito's Background .

Born as Narusaka Kazuto, Kirito was adopted by his aunt and uncle, after his biological parents died in an accident, when he was a year old. They gave him their own family name, and never told him he wasn't their biological son... the kid had to figure that out on his own.

Regardless, his new parents raised him, as if he was their own son. With all the love and nurturing any boy could need.

Practically as soon as he could walk, Kazuto was forced to join the neighborhood kendo dojo. Alongside his cousin / perceived older sister

However due to his aunt's influence, as an editor for a computer systems magazine, Kazuto became more interested in computers, and dropped the course.

This decision earned him a heavy beating from his grandfather, prompting Suguha (Kazuto's cousin) to defend him, by promising to practice enough for both of them.

At the age of ten, Kazuto discovered that he was adopted, and started unintentionally distancing himself from the family.

After turning 14, Kirito was chosen to be one of the 1000 beta testers for the closed beta of Sword Art Online, the first game to use "Nerve Gear".

A year of testing later, and Kirito joined the official version. Becoming one of the 10,000 players trapped inside the game "Sword Art Online".

He remained a solo player for the majority of his imprisonment. Willingly taking on the role of a "Beater", to reduce discrimination against other former beta testers. As well as actively taking part in Boss battles.

Kirito temporarily became a member of the Moonlit Black Cats. After helping them safely escape a dangerous dungeon, but returned to being a solo player when a fatal error resulted in the death of the other guild members.

At some point in the game, Kirito became known as "The Black Swordsman" due to his tendency to wear black clothing.

3 years into the game, Kirito ran into "the girl of his dreams". Having bumped into her numerous times. However, this was the first time they got to actually stay with each other.

Choosing to forget about escaping for a little while, they both tried to temporarily live in a cabin they stumbled on. This turned into a year of bliss for both of them.

Unfortunately, just as Kirito decided to leave the escape plans to other people, she tragically died. Although they never officially married, only engaged, he listed himself as a Widow.

After being found by Klein, the Samurai took the Swordsman as his ward, with Kirito not having the will to argue... and when Kirito did recover... he found he enjoyed their oddly platonic relationship.

Kirito eventually put an end to the game, by defeating the final boss, in a one on one fight. Thus freeing everyone.

However... he couldn't keep away from Nerve Gear. Later being Approached by a new division of Military intelligence. Designed to protect players from rogue hackers, that now infected the game.

Hacking may have once been an annoyance, but now it could potentially destroy people's livelihoods... or even leave them catatonic.

Licensed Modding was still allowed, but had a lot of red tape, to insure the programs were properly tested... and didn't do anything too game breaking. People were messing with brain chemistry, after all. So officials had to ensure there mods didn't cause brain damage.

On this task force, Kirito was the first and last defense against cyber terrorism.

The Oasis was, already, the best way to cope with what the world had become. What humanity had turned it into... Well, not his generation directly. Kazuto was old, but not THAT old.

During the industrial revolution, when technology got a huge boom... those guys hadn't realized they needed to regulate their consumption of resources. Nor find better ways to dispose of the waste.

Kazuto didn't blame them. They had done what humanity had always done. The issue was they didn't understand the sheer level of pollution these things cause... nor thet that did more then make the air smell bad.

Really, how were they supposed to know? Then there was the population boom. Which only got worse and worse, as the centuries progressed. Which led to even greater consumption of resources, and more pollution. Then there was the energy crisis.

People had been saying they needed to get off fossil fuels for decades, but humans, like all animals, are resistant to change. They eventually used it all up. Only then switching to things like alternative energy... which regrettably, wasn't green energy, but rather nuclear... Which, given it's nature, was only possible to set up for major cities.

Small towns became a thing of the past. As all surrounding people fled to big cities, due to lack of resources.

The Oasis, for the longest time, acted as an escape. A Virtual Reality, housing all mankind's Knowledge. It's what replaced the internet. Though, thankfully, most major cities prioritized setting up free Wi-Fi stations. As it was more important then ever.

In the mid 21st century, The Oasis got an upgrade. Creating a Next Gen VR Helmet. This helmet, created the first true Virtual Reality. Feeding all 5 senses, through input directly into the brain. This baby would guide RIM sleep.

Although the first build "Sword Art Online"... had caused a bit of a scandal, as thousands had been trapped inside the game, for years, living off feeding tubes.

Though that, was sorta intentional, given the maker of that game had a psychotic break. And thought he was "Saving" the people... by imprisoning them in a "better world"... Although a slight issue with this plan was, the game was perma-death. So if you died in the game, you died in real life. The helmet was actually DESIGNED, to purposefully kill the user, if their Avatar died.

Yeah... that was a bit of a set back, for the technology. However, once the scandal was forgotten, the technology was near immediately picked back up.

After all, 10 thousand people, trapped in hell, might seem like a big deal... but seeing as the world's population was 20 billion. It was soon forgotten by all but those directly affected. With many of the people who had actually lived in that world, becoming the biggest voices for giving the technology a second chance.

After all, that world they escaped? They regretted leaving. Even with the threat of death, they longed for that plentiful world, of adventure and cooperation.

The players had smelled clean air, tasted real food, felt every touch and kiss. Heard the quiet peace of nature. They experienced a real world, virtual or not. One far better then their own.

So naturally, after the technology became better regulated, and got rid of that pesky "real world death" function. They threw themselves back into it.

People didn't even need a rig anymore. Just the helmet, and a safe place to lay down. If there were any kinds of disasters, from as trivial as needing to pee, to as serious as the house catching on fire, the helmet would automatically save the player's progress and wake them up. Complete with a message about what interrupted the Game.

Because of how much data the helmet streamed directly into the brain, players still needed to actually sleep, even within the game. But they only really needed about an hour of rest, out of every 10. While staying awake too long, in the game, couldn't actually hurt you, it could cause you to lag. So, as a safety precaution. The Player's Avatar would start becoming fatigued, if they didn't rest.

A time-limit was installed, preventing players from indulging in the Oasis more then 7 hours a day. Forcing people to spend all their waking hours, in the real world... but thankfully, the Oasis was no longer closed Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Gregarious Games, even found a way too speed up the Oasis. So 7 Hours, in the real world, was stretched out to a week, in the digital world. This meant people effectively spend one stressful day, working, then took off a week, without it affecting their real world responsibilities.

The High 5 really were pushing that "Reality is the only thing that's real" nonsense. Putting so much money into researching ways to allow people to spend all the time they wanted, inside their game. While also ensuring they spent every day of their lives, out and about in the real world.